Blonde Brownies

I made these blonde brownies for a game night recently and they were a big hit. Frankly, I would love to make these all of the time (by that I mean eat them all of the time), but then my husband and I would have them all to ourselves and who are we kidding… that would be dangerous!

I served them hot with vanilla ice cream on top. Changes I made included adding 3 handfuls of chocolate chips and baking it in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish instead of an 8 x 8. I baked them for 18 minutes. If you want them to be thicker then use an 8 x 8 and cook for a little longer.

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 18 – 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ sticks butter
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional: chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 or 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Melt the butter in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat; add both sugars and whisk until combined and sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly drizzle in the butter and sugar while whisking constantly. Then add the flour and whisk until just incorporated.  Pour batter into dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes (less time if you use a 9 x 13 inch pan) or until the top cracks slightly and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Happy Eating 🙂

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Heidi’s Slow Cooker Carne Asada

My girlfriend Heidi gave me this recipe and I love it! It is super easy to throw together and extremely flavorful. I served it on tortillas with guacamole and romaine. Heidi suggested adding red onions and cilantro to the top too!

Prep: 12 minutes

Cook: about 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low

Ingredients:

• 2lbs carne asada meat
• 2 T cumin
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 t salt
• 2 t pepper
• 3 tomatoes
• 2 jalapeño
• 1 sweet onion
• 10.5 ounces of beef broth

Directions: Rinse meet, pat dry, and put in slow cooker. Combine spices and run over the meat. Chop tomatoes, jalapeno, and sweet onion and pour on top of the meat. Lastly, pour 10.5 ounces of beef broth over the top. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

Serves: about 4 people

Happy Eating 🙂

Creamy Chicken Pockets

My husband loves bread, or any carbs for that matter, so I knew these would be a hit. I got the original recipe from the site below, and as usual I made a few of my own adaptations. My husband and I thought they were pretty biscuity, (which he loved) but if you want a little less breading then squeeze in as much filling as you can before baking. These are great for dinner or as an appetizer.

Creamy Chicken Pockets

Prep: about 20 minutes with cooked and shredded chicken (about 30 minutes if using raw diced chicken)

Cook: 11-18 minutes depending on brand of Grands, Crescent Rolls, etc.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 small chicken breasts, diced (I used cooked shredded chicken for a faster recipe)
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent rolls (I used Grands biscuits)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs, optional
• 2 handfuls shredded Parmesan
• *any vegetables you would like in your pocket, I used broccoli

Directions: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the chicken with the onions and garlic. (To save time I used cooked and shredded chicken I had on hand). Steam broccoli and/or any other vegetables you would like in your pocket.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and 1 tablespoon softened butter until smooth.  Stir in the cooked chicken, onions, garlic, Parmesan, and any steamed vegetables.  Add the salts, pepper and milk.  Mix well.

Separate the biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet. Use your thumbs to spread the biscuit really thin like a pizza. Dollop as much of the filling into the center of each biscuit and fold the corners up to seal. Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs.

Bake for 11 – 13 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serves: 8 pockets. About 3-4 people.

Original recipe: http://penniesonaplatter.com/2011/02/16/creamy-chicken-pockets-2/

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

This is quite the recipe. It is so incredibly easy and not to mention pretty darn healthy. For those of you that do not like quinoa, or are not sure if you like it, I promise you will like this recipe. My husband was so impressed that he couldn’t even taste the quinoa and loved the recipe!

Prep: under 10 minutes

Cook: on low for 6-8 hours (add more time if your chicken is frozen)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of quinoa, rinsed
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)- medium or hot
• 2 16 oz cans of black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 15 oz can of corn, drained
• 3 Cups chicken stock (I added 4 cups but it just depends how thick you like your chili)
• 2 large chicken breasts, frozen or thawed
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 tsp chili powder

Directions: Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Right before serving scoop chicken onto a plate and shred with two forks. Return chicken to slow cooker and serve with cheese, tortilla chips, etc. Whatever you like on your chili!

Serves: 6-7 bowls

This is the website where I got the original recipe:

http://queenbeecoupons.com/crock-pot-slow-cooker-quinoa-chicken-chili-recipe/

Happy Eating!

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken

FINALLY! Another post! I have missed this blog for so long and am so glad to be back 🙂 I had a test I was studying for the last couple of months and promised myself I would put all of my extra time and energy into studying. However, I am glad the test is over and oh so glad to be sharing my recent recipes again. While I was studying the last couple of months I was still cooking…a girls gotta eat right?! So here are several of the amazing recipes I have thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you like them too! Oh, one more quick note, I promise I will start taking more pictures of the food I make…I am not the best food photographer so you will have to forgive me on that one.

Breaded Honey Garlic Chicken before the sauce was added. Sorry I do not have one of the finished product…we were quite hungry 🙂

So this is a lot of pressure, the first recipe after being gone a couple of months. It’s called Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken. I found the recipe on Pinterest and it is originally from this site: http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2013/02/double-crunch-honey-garlic-chicken.html

My husband and I loved this chicken! When I was originally looking at the ingredients I kept wondering where the crunch came in. There are so many recipes on Pinterest right now made with chicken breaded in corn flakes that I kept expecting to see some cereal in the ingredients. After biting into this however, I quickly learned how it got its name. This is a MUST MAKE recipe. It is truly delectable. My husband was going crazy over it. Seriously… I heard Mmmm mmmm the whole time he was doing the dishes haha.

*I made a couple of adaptations from the original recipe. I thought the sauce was a little too salty so I will lessen the soy sauce next time (this is already modified in the recipe below along with the salt in the mixture the chicken is dipped in). Also, I eliminated the step of dunking the chicken in the sauce before serving. I drizzled a little on each piece and thought that was plenty. It was extremely flavorful and the soy sauce added a delicious Asian flare.

Prep: 20-25 minutes

Cook: 10- 15 minutes

Ingredients:

For the chicken:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 eggs
4 tablespoons water
1/4 cup canola oil, for cooking chicken

For the honey garlic sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions: Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper and pound with a meat mallet to an even 1/2 inch thickness.  In a medium shallow dish, combine the flour, salt, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, thyme, sage and cayenne pepper.  In another shallow dish, whisk together the eggs and water.   In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce and mix well.  Set aside.

Preheat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Dip the chicken into the flour mixture, then the egg wash.  Return the chicken to the flour mixture and coat again, pressing on the flour to coat well.  Place the chicken in the hot oil and fry for 4-5 minutes per side, until golden brown (I cooked mine a little longer each side just because I am really cautious with meat…when in doubt, use a meat thermometer).  Drain on paper towels (if needed, I did not use this step). Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Serves: 4 chicken breasts

Happy Eating!