Topping for the cinnamon coconut muffins

I posted a cinnamon coconut muffin on here from Mel's kitchen cafe. I've slightly changed it up. 

Coconut crumb topping for the cinnamon coconut muffins:

1 T butter, cold

1 T flour

1 t cinnamon

6 T granulated sugar 

1/8-1/4 shredded coconut (depending on how much you want) 

I added in a zucchini shredded and squeezed out the water. 

(Had some I needed to get rid of) it made a nice change to regular zucchini bread. Coconut and zucchini go great together!! Yummy! 

Spinach balls

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed

3 T minced red onion 

7 tbs Italian bread crumbs 

1/2 c Parmesan cheese

1/4c butter

1 tsp garlic pwd

1/4 tsp onion pwd

3 eggs 

Ring all the water out of the thawed spinach with paper towels. 

Melt butter in sauté pan and sauté onion. Let cool slightly. Mix all ingredients together. 

With a cookie/ice cream scoop into balls. Place on a parchment sheet. 

Bake 350 for 15 min. Or until slightly brown. 

Serve as an appetizer with tooth picks or over spaghetti. 

Honey coconut granola

Recipe adapted from Mel's coconut granola

1 1/2c old fashioned oats

1/2 c chopped almonds

1/2 c chopped cashews

1/2c shredded coconut

3 T brown sugar

2 T coconut oil

2 T honey

1/4 tsp salt 

1/2 c raisins or Crasins 

Preheat 250*

Toss oats, nuts, coconut & brown sugar together. 

In a small bowl melt the oil & honey together. Stir in the salt. 

Pour over oat mixture. Toss well & coat everything.

Pour & spread onto a cookie sheet that's covered with parchment!! 

Bake for 45 min stirring half way through. Bake until golden brown. 

Keep an eye on it. The honey will turn it brown quick. 

Let cool on tray. Scoop into a bowl. Break up any big clumps, toss in dried fruit. 

Yummy!! 

Cilantro sauce

I love the cilantro ranch recipe on here but it makes a ton and calls for a ton ingredients. I have been searching for an alternative to use for my small little family. This is it! Easy and not that many ingredients. And you can scale it up or down for your needs. 

Adapted from this recipe: http://lovelylittlekitchen.com/baked-honey-lime-chicken-taquitos/

P.s. The taquitos are amazing. So are Mel's version in enchilada style!! 

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup La Victoria Green Taco sauce 

1-2 tsp Fresh lime juice

1/4 c cilantro 

Garlic powder 

Onion pwd

Cumin 

S&p 

Blend all ingredients. 

Chicken bacon ranch braid

1 cup chicken, diced

6 bacon slices cooked and diced 

8 oz cream cheese

1 T ranch dip powder

S&p

Cheddar cheese

Pillsbury crescent sheet dough or 1 batch of Mel's French bread roll dough 

Mix cheese, meat and seasonings together. 

Spread out dough into a rectangle. Smear filling out down the center. 

On the left and right sides of the filling make 1" cuts down the dough. Cris cross the dough "tabs" to make a braid effect. Tuck the 2 ends under and seal it up. 

Bake 350 for 15-20 min until golden brown. 

Easy cordon blue

This recipe is on Mel's kitchen cafe. I haven't tried the white sauce recipe she has with it. Check out her website to make it. 

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/06/chicken-cordon-bleu-the-easy-way.html

This was one of my freezer meals I made when prepping for the baby being born. So easy to throw together! Already had everything on hand and now I've got a great meal in the freezer waiting to be cooked up!  

2 chicken breast, cut in half so you have 4 thin slices of whole breasts

Ham slices

Swiss slices or any white cheese, I used shredded mozzarella 

1 cup bread crumbs, I blended up a bunch of frozen heels of leftover bread I saved. 

2 T melted butter 

Lay out your chicken in a grease 8x8 pan. Layer on your choice of cheese. Cover the Cheese with ham slices.

Mix melted butter and bread crumbs together. Cover over the top of the ham. 

Bake 350 for 30-35 minutes. 

Ham & veg pasta

This is one of those "what needs to get out of  the fridge" dish. I just used whatever veg and meat I already had in the fridge. If you have other things you need used add it in. Pasta and cheese sauce are the perfect vehicles for meat and veggies. 

Favorite tube pasta, cooked 

Ham, diced

Peas

1 carrot, diced

1 celery, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 cup chicken broth

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 c Parmesan cheese

1/2 c mozzarella cheese

In big skillet Sauté carrot, celery, onion, pepper until tender. Season with s&p and garlic powder.

Stir in broth, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese until it gets creamy and smooth. Add in pasta, and peas. Top with mozzarella cheese. If your sauce gets too thick you can always stir in a couple tablespoons of your pasta water. 

Coconut oil

Here is a post from Mel I found helpful and it was a big factor in converting me to use coconut oil. 

Along with the coconut cinnamon muffins I posted with this. 

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/10/coconut-oil.html

If that doesn't convert you try it:

Toasting some bread, spread on some coconut oil and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top. Or honey would be good. 

Make rice crispy treats with the coconut oil instead of butter. Wow!!! I added a couple heaping TBS of oil to a bag of mini mallows, melted and added in cereal. It tastes amazing!! I won't go back to butter. 

I also love to use it for frying. The best I've had so far was chicken dipped in egg and breaded in a mix of panko crumbs, garlic, onion, s&p. It made the chicken so crispy and flavorful!! Wow. Delish! Serve it with your favorite sauce. Sweet sour, wingers copy cat. Or dice over a salad (my favorite) 

Coconut cinnamon muffins

Coconut cinnamon muffins from Mel's kitchen cafe! So amazing!!!!

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup canned coconut milk (light or regular)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• Cinnamon and sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray (or you can line them with paper liners).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and coconut oil.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
4. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir the batter together until just combined. Don't overmix or the muffins will be tough and dry. It only takes a few stirs to incorporate the batter well enough. The batter will be lumpy and that is ok.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and sugar.
6. Bake for 16-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs. Don't overbake.

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

I've been trying a lot of Crock Pot stuff lately can you tell?

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 7 hours

Yield: 4 - 5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (1 3/4 cups)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 4 stalks celery, chopped (1 1/4 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (3 - 15 oz cans)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 tsp celery seed, finely crushed*
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
• 3 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Saltine crackers or parmesan cheese, for serving (optional) 

Directions

• To a slow cooker, add chicken (un-cut), diced carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Drizzle olive oil over top then add in chicken broth, water, thyme, rosemary, celery seed, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low heat 6 - 7 hours.
• Remove cooked chicken and allow to rest 10 minutes, then dice into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, add egg noodles and parsley to slow cooker. Increase temperature to high, cover and cook 10 minutes longer (or until noodles are tender). Stir in lemon juice and toss in cooked, diced chicken. Serve warm with saltine crackers or top with Parmesan cheese if desired.
• *I just crushed the rosemary in the palm of my hand then for the celery seed, I placed it in a ziploc bag and crushed it with the flat side of a meat mallet.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Easy Pad Thai

I'm not sure if any of your even like Thai food, BUT if you do this turned out pretty yummy. PS-I doubled the sauce recipe cause they recommended it. 

Easy Pad Thai

(adapted from Everyday Food)
Serves 4

8 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 squirt (about 1/8 teaspoon) Sriracha (optional)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 scallions (green onions), white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, light beaten (optional)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

1. Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add eggs and cook, scraping skillet with spatula until eggs are almost set (about 30 seconds). Transfer eggs to a plate.
5. Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.
6. Serve noodles with lime wedges, topped with cilantro and peanuts.

Notes and variations

• Per serving: 315 calories, 7g fat (0.9g saturated fat), 3.6g protein, 60.5g carb, 1.4g fiber
• Per serving: $1.50 or less.
• As long as you use a gluten-free soy sauce, this is a gluten-free recipe.
• Vegetarian, even. Skip the eggs for vegan.
• If you’re a carnivore try this: While the noodles are soaking, cut up 1 small chicken breast (or half of one of the colossal ones) into bite sized pieces. Marinate the chicken in a little bit of soy sauce and garlic (or make a little extra of the sauce for the noodles and marinate the chicken in that). OR: use shrimp (marinate same as chicken)… heck, use both. Cook them before you add the noodles to the pan.
• Leftovers: heat in the microwave or toss in a hot skillet for a minute to warm the noodles. Not asgood as the first day but with a little extra lime juice, it makes a nice leftover-lunch.

Crock Pot no Boil Manicotti

Crock pot no Boil Manicotti

Ingredients

• Filling Ingredients (Place inside a gallon size freezer bag):
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
• Add: 1 ½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• Remaining Ingredients:
• 1-8oz. package manicotti
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• Jar or can of favorite marinara sauce (I use the $1 can Hunts marinara when I don't have homemade on hand)
• cooking spray

Instructions

1. Combine filling ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag and gently knead until thoroughly mixed.
2. Clip a small corner, about 1/2", of the bag.Spray crock pot.
3. Spread about 1/2 cup sauce in crock pot . Pipe all cheese and place in crock pot.
4. Pour remaining sauce on top. covering completely.
5. Top with the remaining shredded cheese.
6. Crock on high for about 2 hours until shells are fork tender. Times vary so check to make sure it's not dry.
7. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese the last thirty minutes of cooking time

Love me some easy Crock Pot recipes for sundays. Easy Peasy!

15 min sweet and sour chicken

This is my go to recipe when I need dinner in 15 min or less. It's perfect for the end of the payday week. It seems that when the cupboards are empty there's always the ingredients available for this meal. 

 Mel's original recipe bakes hers for an hour to create this thick amazing sticky chicken. I cut that out and just pour the whole thing in the skillet and add a slurry to make it thick. We've discovered a new technique to make it even faster. Mix the corn starch and egg together to make a frying batter. Totally skips an extra step. Love it. 

Recipe is from melskitchencafe.com 

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup canola, vegetable or coconut oil
Sauce:
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 
  

1. Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Put the chicken into the bag with the cornstarch and seal, tossing to coat the chicken.
2. Whisk the eggs together in a shallow pie plate. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until very hot and rippling. Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg and place them carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet.
3. Cook for 20-30 seconds on each side until the crust is golden but the chicken is not all the way cooked through (this is where it's really important to have a hot skillet. 
4. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken. Simmer in the frying pan until the chicken in cooked through. If you like a thicker sauce add a cornstarch water slurry. 

Tex-mex casserole

This recipe is from melskitchencafe.com

My changes are: 

-Used only 1 tsp chili powder (it's not my favorite flavor and I felt like 2T was tons. It was perfect. 

-used flour tortillas and just left them whole. 

-halfed the entire recipe and only used 4 tortillas. Fit perfectly in an 8x8. 

-used the juice of an entire lime (we love lime)

-left out the oil and butter a non stick skillet worked great and after draining the ground beef there was a little bit of grease residue to be nonstick. 

Tex mex casserole 

• 14 corn tortillas cut into thirds
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 large poblano chile, diced
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chile powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• 8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• Chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9X13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Arrange the cut tortillas in a single layer on two large, rimmed baking sheets. Bake the tortillas until slightly crisp, about 15 minutes.
3. In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef or turkey with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper breaking the meat up into bite-sized pieces. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, 5-7 minutes. Scrape the meat onto a plate and wipe the skillet clean (you may need to drain off excess grease from the meat depending on the fat content).
4. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the butter and olive oil and stir in the onion, bell pepper, poblano, corn and garlic. Cook until the veggies are softened, 3-4 minutes. Stir the flour, chile powder, cumin and coriander into the vegetable mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, whisking constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thick, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in the beans, lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
5. Line the bottom of the greased baking pan with 1/3 of the baked tortillas. Layer with 1/3 of the meat and then 1/3 of the veggie/sauce mixture and then sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheeses. Repeat that process again twice more ending with the cheeses.
6. Bake the casserole until hot and bubbly, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

S'more Bars

I got assigned to make these for our New Beginnings for Young Womens. (We had a camping/hunting theme) They turned out so much better than I thought. I kinda like s'mores depending on my mood, but I loved these. They mix all the flavors so much better than a regular s'more. 

Easy No-Bake Milk Chocolate S’More Bars

Prep:

10 mins

Cooking:

5 mins

Cooling:

120 mins

Yields:

16 bars

With only five ingredients, these no-bake s’more bars will quickly become a family favorite. Kids will love the ooey-gooey goodness of the marshmallows, graham crackers and melted milk chocolate morsels. Moms will love how quick and easy these are to make.

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 8 cups miniature marshmallows, divided
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 (about 2 cups) whole graham crackers, broken into 1/2-inch pieces

Directions

LINE 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan with foil leaving an overhang on two sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

HEAT 6 cups marshmallows, butter and salt in large, heavy-duty saucepan over medium- low heat, stirring frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until smooth. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup morsels; stir until melted.

WORKING QUICKLY, stir in graham cracker pieces, remaining 2 cups marshmallows and 3/4 cup morsels. Spread mixture into prepared baking pan with greased spatula, pressing down lightly. Cool for 2 hours or until set. Lift from pan; peel off foil. Cut into squares with serrated knife.

Wingers sauce copycat

I make this on a weekly basic. We inhale it with everything. This is only enough for the 2 of us. 1/2 c brown sugar 2-3 T Franks Hot Sauce: has to be franks 1 t apple cider vinegar 1 T corn syrup Bring to a boil and only boil for 1 min. If it cools it sort of sets up in a thick gel mess. Which is fine but we usually eat it fresh and soft. Doesn't make good leftovers. I've made it without corn syrup before and it's fine. Slightly runnier texture.