Category Archives: Cooking

Ham & Cheese Bake

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 4 May, 2014 None comments

I enjoy making a quick “fancy” breakfast to send with my husband to work to make it seem like he’s eating a decadent meal while he drinks his coffee and sits at his desk. :) This quick meal is easy and great to send throughout the week with one preparation. This meal is also great for breakfast for dinner!

Ingredients:

10 eggs
1 cup milk
¼ cup green onions, chopped
¾ cup sliced mushrooms
½ ham, diced
½ cup grated cheese
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp cumin

In a mixing bowl combine eggs and milk. Whisk well!

In a greased pie plate, sprinkle mushrooms.

In whisked egg mixture, add onions, ham, cheese and seasonings. Mix well.

Pour on top of mushrooms. And bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until fully set. Jiggle the plate to make sure the middle doesn’t wiggle.

Serve warm!

Pecan Maple Scones

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 3 May, 2014 None comments

I made these as my carbohydrate radar keeps going off asking for more and more carbs. Succumbing to this evil desire I went for Pecan Maple Scones and was happy I followed my heart!

They are good with the maple drizzle, but honestly I love them without the glaze and warmed up!

Ingredients:

Scones: adapted from the Pioneer Woman

3 cups Flour
½ cup Regular Oats, Ground In A Food Processor Or Blender
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
1 Cup Cold Butter, Cut Into Cubes
½ cup pecans, chopped
¾ cup milk (more If Needed)
1 Egg
3 tsp Pure Maple Syrup

Glaze:

5 cups Powdered Sugar
¼ cup Milk
2 tbsp Butter, melted
2 tsp Pure Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine, flour, oats, honey, baking powder, and salt.

Add butter and mix in standing Kitchen Aid Mixer to work the butter and dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in the chopped pecans.

Whisk together the milk, egg, and syrup.

Pour into flour mixture, stirring gently, until it all comes together. (Mixture should be crumby) If it is overly crumbly and will not come together at all, add a couple of extra tablespoons of milk.

Divide dough in 2 balls and place dough onto a floured surface and use your hands to press into a circle about 3/4 inch thick.

Cut into 8 equal wedges.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown, puffy and set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

For the glaze. combine all ingredients. Make sure it’s thick but still pourable. Drizzle a very generous amount on each one. (I only glazed half of them to enjoy both ways) Allow the glaze to set completely.

They store well in a large zip lock bag and freeze well without the glaze.

Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 2 May, 2014 None comments

Today while I had all three kids, I wasn’t sure how to prepare a meal that was worthwhile while the kids scampered around playing. I resorted to the crockpot as that produces tasty meals while doing the majority of the work. I laid all three kids to sleep and began chopping my veggies and placing them into the pot.

As the kids awoke the smell filled the home and brought smiles to many faces.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 green onions, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
¼ cup buffalo wing sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp Backyard BBQ (optional)
Blue Cheese dressing (for topping)
Grated Cheese (for topping)
Lettuce (for topping)
Olives (for topping)
Tomatoes (for topping)

In the crockpot, place chicken breasts and mushrooms.

Chop onions and celery. Place on top of chicken.

In a small bowl mix together: wing sauce, soy sauce, garlic, cumin, paprika and Backyard BBQ seasoning.

Drizzle on top of chicken and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.

Once cooked, shred chicken and mix well with veggies and sauce. Scoop into flour tortilla with spinach, tomatoes, olives and blue cheese dressing. Enjoy!

Garlic Infused Pot Roast

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 30 April, 2014 None comments

When we have pot roast in our family, we infuse the roast with garlic and season it well with a nice rub and let it sit over night. Than we continue to keep this precious roast flavorful and slow cook it all day in the crockpot with some parsnips and other vegetables. Topping off the meal with homemade gravy and potatoes to make this a great Sunday dinner.

We had Marlin (Cathy’s husband) over for dinner as we want to try and keep this relationship growing even though my mother-in-law has passed. Not sure how to refer to him as he is technically Michael’s stepdad, but since we’ve only known him for three months it’s not necessarily the term we grab on to! We call him a good friend! :) He’s a very nice man who has our best interests in mind and has a great bond with Cooper. We want to continue this growth and keep the family connections growing.

Although we enjoy spending time with him, Cooper really enjoys spending time with him and has a special bond that is so cute. It was good conversation and good food to be had.

Now for the pot roast… :)

Ingredients:

In the Crockpot:

1 large roast
2 parsnips
6 medium potatoes
2 medium carrots
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Thyme
Garlic salt
Beef Better than Boullion

For the Rub:

1 Garlic bulb
Sea salt
Black pepper
Montreal Seasoning
Celery salt
Sugar
Italian seasoning
Onion powder
Dill weed

For the Gravy:

Beef Better than Bouillon
Milk
Flour
Cornstarch (optional)
Drippings from Roast

The night before (if time permitted) cut slits into the roast and stuff garlic cloves all throughout.

For the rub: top roast with rosemary, thyme, and EVOO and place in crockpot.

Meanwhile begin cutting potatoes in cubes.

Sprinkle potatoes on roast and shove down between the sides of the crockpot and roast to help fill space.

Chop carrots in large chunks

Sprinkle throughout the potatoes.

A little trick to cutting onions without crying: Chop in half, slices ends off and then peel. For some reason this always works. I don’t know why, but it does! :)

Quarter the onion and leave chunks large

Sprinkle on top of roast

And lastly, chop parsnips and celery.

Chop celery in large chunks as well. This helps keep them from shrinking too much and getting mushy.

Add to crockpot

Sprinkle with rosemary, thyme, and garlic salt. Prepare the beef bouillon in hot water to lay upon the roast and veggies.

Heat 2 cups hot water with two bouillon cubes. This will help add additional flavor while the veggies cook all day long.

Mix bouillon until there are no longer chunks and cover the veggies with broth.

Allow to cook on low all day for 8 hours.

For the gravy:

Take a ladle and scoop out as much broth as you wish. Sift out the seasonings and place in a saucepan.

In a small bowl add 1/2 cup flour and water, keeping the mixture thick. Whish well until there are no lumps. (Keep mix thick but soft enough to pour.

Pour into saucepan with juice and bring to a boil. Whisk continuously until the gravy begins to form and thicken up. Boil for 1-2 minutes on a low boil.

Turn down heat. At this point if your gravy is too thick add more juice or water to bring your batch to the proper amount. If gravy is too running at this point, mix a 1-2 tbsp. of cornstarch together with a little water creating a paste. Slowly pour into NON boiling gravy and whisk well. (This can be tricky. Adding cornstarch at this point can create lumps. If this happens simply sift out the lumps yet again.

Once you’ve reached the desired amount of gravy and proper thickness, add 1 tbsp. of Beef Better than Bouillon. Mix well. Add about 3/4-1 cup milk and salt and pepper and bring to med-high heat, keeping the boil at bay. Whisk well. Taste test to make sure you have proper flavor! :)

Enjoy! It’s tasty! Great for guests! And…you can relax all day!

Spaghetti Pizza Bagels

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 27 April, 2014 None comments

Yes, this is incredible and yes it is mind blowing. Spaghetti and pizza all in one meal served on top of amazing bagels with pepper jack cheese. I made spaghetti a couple nights ago and decided to use the leftovers for something meant for a Friday Night meal while watching the NBA Playoffs! Pizza and sports always go well together, but what about spaghetti pizza bagels and sports? I think so!

We always enjoy watching sports in our household but now that the Blazers have won 2 out of 2 in the beginning of the playoffs we can’t peel our eyes from the screen.

Ingredients:

3 bagels
6 slices of pepper jack cheese
Spaghetti Sauce (recipe here: http://bit.ly/1gASUMw)
8 oz pepperoni slices

On a foil lined broiler pan open bagels

Top with Spaghetti sauce

Layer with pepper jack cheese

And top with pepperoni slices

bake at 400 for 4 minutes and broil another 1-2 (baking helps crisp the who bagel rather than only the top)

Serve with a fresh green salad to provide healthy roughage in the midst of the unhealthy. :)

Bacon, Sausage and Beans

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 25 April, 2014 None comments

Deliciously seasoned bacon with Kielbasa sausage and beans. What more can you ask for? Protein, protein and more tasty protein!

I made the bacon from an incredible breakfast place my husband and I attended while on vacation. We thrive off of new breakfast places as this has been our favorite meal of the day. This place in particular had bacon called Millionaires Bacon and have been on the Food Network for this alone. It was cooked with brown sugar, paprika and chili flakes. I wanted something with those flavors and ended up with this meal. Their bacon is so thick that you only got 5 slices from 1 pound of bacon. It was also $6.50 for two slices. But let me say, it was actually the best bacon ever and definitely deserved the title of Millionaires Bacon.

So taking this idea from them, I decided to prep our bacon a somewhat similar to the millionaires bacon but not taking the full amount of time since I have had three little munchkins running around the hours since I’ve returned home…. (more on that later)

Ingredients:

½ lb bacon
1 lb kielbasa sausage
4 tbsp brown sugar, divided
¼ tsp red pepper chili flakes
½ tsp paprika, divided
1 can kidney beans

On a foil lined pan, lay bacon and top with 2 tbsp. brown sugar and 1/4 tsp paprika and chili flakes. Broil bacon until desired crispness. (I did 5 minutes) Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cut kielbasa sausage into small chunks and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar (2 tbsp.) and paprika (1/4 tsp) and add kidney beans.

Cook on med-low heat until brown sugar is melted and sausage is heated through.

Chop bacon and add to skillet.

I served this with sautéed kale and quinoa. It was a well flavored and my son absolutely loved every bite. :)

Shrimp and Chicken Fajitas

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 24 April, 2014 None comments

I made these for dinner in a pinch not really wanting to make dinner as I have been thoroughly exhausted lately. So much so, that I honestly hate to even mention it. It’s pretty ridiculous how tired I’ve been and how long it’s lasted. I know emotionally and physically I am worn out, but when pushes comes to shove and I have to have coffee all day long and that still doesn’t accomplish my tired soul, I’m not sure what to do. We went on vacation for three days to San Francisco and returning home was a quick reality check on how quickly vacation is over. Once you return home, vacation has left 100%.

Paying for the fact that I left my son at home without us for three days brought him to be cranky with me for the entire day. Thinking he would be so excited to see us, he was thankful we were home and than instantly gave me an attitude that would make me never want to leave him behind again if this is what happens. It was a rude awakening to wake up yesterday morning with no downtime before he woke up. My husband rushed to retrieve him from his crib as he wanted to see him before work. Not thinking this through and the reality that I would be left with this earlier riser was clearly not a priority to my husband.

My gracious parents were here tending to his every need while we were gone. Thankful for them and their amazing help, they took off pretty quickly to return home. In the meantime I had volunteered to help out a gal with her two kids three days a week and today was the official start day; the day I got home from vacation. Oh how quickly my vacation was taken from me. My cranky child along with two more little rug rats kept me from accomplishing ANYTHING all day long. Children are exhausting and if anyone tells you otherwise, than they don’t have any.

In the midst of the chaos dinner quickly approached but with nothing to serve… I literally wracked my brain for anything and everything. After traveling I did not want something unhealthy as eating out three meals a day becomes tiring very quickly so I resorted to Fajitas.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked
½ lb shrimp, tail off
1 large red pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
2 tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbsp. evoo
blue cheese dressing, for topping (optional)
Sriracha sauce, for topping (optional)
4 flour tortillas

Cook chicken to desired taste. In a large sauce pan add EVOO, peppers, onions and garlic. Begin to sauté for 3-4 minutes on medium heat.

Add cumin, salt, paprika, and lime juice. Mix well and add raw shrimp. Cook until shrimp is fully pink.

Add cooked chicken and cilantro. Heat through!

Scoop into a flour tortilla and eat as is, or add dressing, sour cream and/or hot sauce. :)

Enjoy!

Mini Corndogs

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 18 April, 2014 None comments

I made these in a mad rush to get my son to eat something since forcing fluids was not only getting old and time consuming, but I knew my little man needed some nutrients to fill his little tummy. I had the idea to use corn bread mix plus hot dogs that were previously thawed in the refrigerator and see if I could get him to eat this muffin.

It worked, he had a couple bites which was huge for the little man. :) Yay! He made mommy so proud.

Ingredients:

Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese
3 kosher hot dogs

Mix together the mix, egg and milk.

Line a muffin tin with paper and fill 1/3 full.

Cut hotdogs into threes and lay sideways. Batter does not need to cover the hotdog, this will take place automatically when baking.

Top with shredded cheese for added flavor.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Beware, these are beyond delicious and better for you than corndogs and you would fry a corndog and these are simply baked. :)

30 Minute Chicken

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 16 April, 2014 None comments

In the midst of the chaos life still goes on. I knew my family needed to be fed tonight even though I simply don’t want to. Making dinner is the last thing on my exciting “to do” list. So, since we have been eating very little lately and not the greatest food, I decided I would make a 30 minute meal of delicious chicken and lots of veggies.

Our fridge has been packed full of food but since we haven’t been home and haven’t felt like eating, it will go to waste if it isn’t used. We have my parents coming in to town as well and they need to have some meal options and even though I don’t want to prepare anything, I know I need to. Life goes on.

Tonight’s easy meal is Gorgonzola breaded chicken.

Ingredients: