Cranberry Almond Scones

The Recipe: From a friend who I met when I studied abroad. She handwrote her recipe for me, and it's still the one I use. It's for plain scones, but she has some suggestions listed for variations. This variation is actually not one she suggested, but I was inspired by some cranberry almond scones I saw on Pinterest, so I made the adaptation myself. I made a few other changes to her recipe: I halved everything, and I baked it in wedges. Her original is double of this, but instructs you to bake them in individual balls. That works too, but I loved doing it this way!

What You Need:
2 C flour
6 T sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 C butter
3/4 C milk or buttermilk
1 tsp almond extract
about 1/2 C dried cranberries
about 1/2 C sliced almonds

Your Turn:
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

Heat the butter and milk in a saucepan until the butter melts.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Mix in almond extract, almonds, and cranberries. I eyeballed the amounts for the nuts and berries. Exact amounts are not crucial.

Using your hands, form the dough into a round, about 9 - 10 inches across. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into eight wedges.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Using metal spatula, or something similar, separate the wedges from one another and put a little space between them.

Bake another 4 - 5 minutes until edges are golden.

Enjoy with coffee! 

Chicken Fried Rice II

The Recipe: Modified slightly from the recipe on this website. I posted a Chicken Fried Rice recipe years ago, but this one tops it. We loved this meal.

What You Need:
1 lb chicken breasts (I like the thin sliced kind)
about 3 C cooked rice
1 onion,
1 carrot, chopped into pea-sized pieces
1 stalk celery, sliced
about 1 C fresh snap peas, ends removed, halved
1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
(optional) 1 (4 oz) can mushroom pieces
3 eggs, lightly beaten
sesame oil
teriyaki sauce (I used this)
soy sauce

Your Turn:
Place the chicken in a large ziploc bag with a sufficient amount of teriyaki sauce to coat, and refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.

Cook the rice. (I bring 2.5 C water and 1.25 C rice to a boil, along with a little pat of butter and a shake of kosher salt. Once boiling, cover and simmer until done, about 20 minutes.)

Using a large skillet or wok, cook chicken until no longer pink. When cooked, remove from skillet and slice into thin strips.

Swirl about 2 T sesame oil into the skillet. Dump in all your veggies (onion, carrot, celery, snap peas, water chestnuts, peas) into the skillet. Cook until tender.

Push veggies to one side of the skillet and gently pour beaten eggs onto the other side. Carefully scramble the eggs until cooked through. Then stir together with vegetables.

Add cooked rice and cooked chicken to skillet. Sprinkle with soy sauce, about 1-2 T. Turn heat to medium-high and fry. The rice should lose most of its moisture and get slightly crispy. Stir frequently for about 10 minutes, letting all the rice have a turn on the bottom of the skillet.

Serve with extra soy sauce and eat with chopsticks!

Homestyle Potato Soup

The Recipe:
Originally from southernfood.com.

What You Need:
2 T butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
8 oz deli ham (such as this), chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 qt (32 oz) vegetable broth
4-5 C diced potatoes (about 4 large ones)
1 C heavy cream
3 T flour
1 additional C cream (or whole milk or half&half)
2-3 C cooked broccoli (optional)

Your Turn:
Melt 2 T butter in large saucepan. I used my largest stockpot.

Add onion, celery, carrots, and ham.

Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender (about 5 minutes).

Add garlic and cook another minute.

Add broth, and some additional water if it seems needed, and the potatoes. Cook about 25 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Whisk the flour into the heavy cream until smooth. Stir into hot soup.

Stir in the additional cup of cream or milk.

Taste and then add salt/pepper as desired.

Using a potato masher, mash slightly to thicken.

If desired, add cooked broccoli and cook until heated through. 

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese or sliced green onion.

Salsa Chicken Skillet

The Recipe:
I have a recipe card labeled "Spicy Ricey" in my recipe box. I know I first made it shortly after we were married and I was experimenting with things and must have given it this weird name. The recipe has ground turkey instead of the chicken breasts, so you could try it that way instead, but I thought it was great like this. It's super-duper easy.

What You Need:
about 1 lb chicken breasts (I used 4 frozen breasts), cooked with taco seasoning
about 4 C cooked white rice (I cooked together 3 C water and 1.5 C dry rice)
1 16 oz jar salsa
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans

Your Turn:
I cooked my chicken in the crockpot with my go-to taco/chili seasoning (found here) mixed in. You could bake it, if that's easier for you, or cook it in your skillet before following the instructions below. The key is to give it some flavor while it cooks.

In a large skillet combine cooked chicken, can of corn, can of beans, jar of salsa, and cooked rice. Mix well. Cover and let simmer on low 20 minutes or until warm throughout.

Serve with shredded cheese, tortilla chips, or chopped black olives.

Zuppa Toscana: CrockPot Recipe

The Recipe:
Found online somewhere... it's supposed to be an Olive Garden knockoff, but Pete says it's better than Olive Garden. 

What You Need:
1 lb italian sausage, browned
4-6 russet potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 T minced garlic (optional)
32 oz chicken broth
1 C kale, chopped
1 C heavy cream
2 T flour

Your Turn:
Put sausage, potatoes, onion, garlic, and broth in crock pot. Add a bit of water if needed to cover everything. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

Shorty before serving, whisk flour into cream in small bowl. Add to crock pot. Add kale to crock pot. Mix well. Turn to high and cook 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

Saus-ellini Alfredo

The Recipe: Inspired by an ad in Real Simple magazine for Hillshire Farms sausage in which the recipe for Chicken Alfredo is modified to show how much easier it is to cook with sausage. I fell for it. And it turned out to be totally completely true.

The Food: Sausage, tortellini, and alfredo sauce. That's pretty much all there is to it.

What You Need:
2 T butter
1 package of beef smoked sausage (this is a good choice)
1 jar alfredo sauce (I like Classico brand, specifically the Roasted Red Pepper variety)
1 family size package of dried quick-cooking tortellini (I used Barilla)

Your Turn:
Cook the tortellini in a large pot of water, according to directions on the package. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

Chop the sausage into 1/4 inch thick medallions. Add to skillet and saute about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.

Pour jar of alfredo sauce over sausage and stir to combine. Turn heat to low and let simmer until tortellini is done.

Add tortellini to the skillet and stir gently to combine. Let cook another 5 minutes to blend flavors.

Optional: You can dump everything into a casserole dish and pop it in the oven at about 300. This worked for me because the meal was done before we were ready to eat it. The oven kept it ready-to-eat until we were ready.

Serve with chilled caesar salads.

Lemon-Dill Chicken with Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower

The Recipe: Lemon-Dill Chicken is a recipe from this cookbook. The Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower is my own improvisation.

The Food: Serve this with two boxes of 5-minute Parmesan Couscous for a complete meal. Also makes wonderful leftovers.

What You Need:
about 1-2 C each of chopped broccoli and cauliflower
olive oil
Season-All (or any seasoned salt)
1/4 C butter
1 package (about 1 lb) chicken tenderloins
1/2 C chicken broth or white wine
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

Your Turn:
Chop some broccoli and cauliflower into small florets totaling about 3 cups.

Spread evenly on a cookie sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle with Season-All.

Place on top rack in oven at 375.

Melt 1/4 C butter in a large skillet.

Add 1 lb raw chicken tenderloins and cook until lightly browned.

Mix 1/2 C chicken broth with 1/2 tsp dried dill, 1 T lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp salt. Pour over chicken. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice so that both sides get golden brown. I like mine to be almost crispy on the outsides.

Check on your vegetables in the oven. Stir them gently with a wooden spoon. Push on a piece or two with the spoon. They should be softening.

Turn the heat down on your chicken. It's probably almost done.

Prepare your couscous according to the package instructions.

When the vegetables are done, remove them from the oven and serve with chicken and couscous.