Spaghetti Squash in the Instant Pot

I love hard squash, but cooking them always required some planning since they take a good 45 minutes baking in the oven. The Instant Pot makes this job so quick and easy!

Spaghetti Squash cooked in the Instant Pot

1. Place rack in instant pot and add a cup of water.

2. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. I have heard of people skipping this step and just cooking it whole, but I would rather deal with the "squash guts" raw than cooked and even more slimy, so I remove them first. My chickens love them. :D

3. Place the halves in the Instant Pot. I am able to fit two small squash in my 6-quart pot! Close the lid and close the seal.

4. Press the "manual" button and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, then release the pressure.

5. Scrape out the squash with a fork. If you prefer your squash to be softer, you can cook another minute but I like it to be more firm and not mushy.

I love to eat this with marinara sauce, or sauteed with butter and garlic. I also make the Loaded Spaghetti Squash Casserole from the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook and it is amazing.

Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

I recently did a month-long "pantry challenge" where I challenged myself to try to use as much as I could from the freezer and pantry, minimizing trips to the grocery store and then only for fresh produce as needed.

Following that rule, I made vegetable soup! It was so easy and we made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it. By cooking in the Instant Pot, it tastes like it cooked all day but really it only took 45 minutes from start to finish.

If you don't already have an Instant Pot, you can use a regular slow cooker or just make it on the stove and let it simmer a while. But really, you should get an Instant Pot. ;)

Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 stalks Celery, diced
3 Carrots, sliced
2-3 cups of Vegetables (I used green beans and corn since I had them on hand, plus some shredded zucchini I found in the fridge. I add peas if I have them, and sometimes diced potatoes if I'm not worried about carbs)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes
2 cups Stock (I used chicken stock from the freezer, but would use water if I needed to make it vegetarian)
2 cans V-8 Juice
Herbs and Spices such as Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, Parsley, Thyme, Bay Leaf  (I added all of these, probably a tablespoon of the first 4 and a teaspoon of thyme, plus 1 bay leaf)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Push the Saute button on the Instant Pot, and saute the onion, garlic, celery and carrots in olive oil for a few minutes until the onions are tender.

Turn the IP off and add the rest of the ingredients. Give it a stir, place the lid, turn the valve to "sealed" and push the Soup button. Mine automatically set for 30 minutes and I thought that sounded good. Dinner is done!

Spinach Ricotta Bites

I found this recipe on Weelicious YEARS ago and I still make it regularly. It's one of my favorite breakfasts and snacks. My daughter will eat them too, which is a huge win. I get 24 minis but you can also make it in a regular muffin tin and have larger servings, just adjust cooking time accordingly.

Spinach Ricotta Bites

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained, or you can cook fresh spinach in with the butter and onions and then drain it
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. Serve.

Easy Shredded Chicken

How many times do you want to make a recipe and realize one of the ingredients is cooked chicken? I used to sigh and toss those recipes aside, as I knew I didn't have time to do double cooking - who wants to cook chicken and then cook a whole meal? I also hated dicing or shredding the hot chicken. I always burned my fingers doing that, or if I waited until it was cool I could dice it but shredding it was a total pain.

Enter my kitchenaid mixer. I'll never forget the day I realized I could use the paddle attachment to shred my chicken for me. What a life saver! I can throw the hot cooked chicken breasts right in and the mixer shreds them up easily. The key is to do quick bursts of the mixer, don't just turn it on full blast or it'll throw the chicken right out of the bowl. Put a few breasts in, pulse it until you like the level of shredding, then dump it into a large bowl to the side and do the next few breasts. Repeat until it's all shredded.

SO for a while after this realization, I would boil boneless skinless chicken and then shred it in my mixer. Then I would do large batches in my crock pot, which was great, but it took all day to cook them. Still better than boiling, but not fast.

THEN I got my Instant Pot. Hello! Now I don't even have to deal with boiling chicken anymore! I can cook 5 lbs of chicken at once - I just throw it in the instant pot with some water, set it to pressure cook, and walk away.

I actually keep cooked, shredded chicken in my freezer now so I can use it in recipes as needed. I even keep some seasoned with taco seasoning. So convenient!

Whichever method you use to cook your chicken is fine. I highly recommend the Instant Pot for cooking chicken because it's so fast and easy but if you don't have one, go ahead and use the crock pot if you have time, or boil it on the stove if you are in a hurry.

Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef and Quinoa

This recipe makes a big batch of stuffed peppers. I threw it together when I accidentally bought more bell peppers, not realizing I already had some, so I wanted to use them up. You can halve the recipe if you want to make less, or freeze half of the filling for a quick dinner another day. My daughter likes the filling by itself so I regularly keep filling in the freezer for her.

Stuffed Peppers

6-8 Bell Peppers, prepped for stuffing. Remove the tops, rinse out the seeds, and remove the white bits from the inside. Arrange them in a baking dish so they will stand up.

1 1/4 cups Quinoa

2 cups Water

1/2 tsp Salt

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Onion, diced

3-4 Carrots, shredded or diced

2 14oz cans Tomato Sauce (or 1 28oz can)

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 tsp Oregano

2 tsp Basil

1 cup Cheese, shredded - you can use Cheddar, Colby Jack, Mexican Blend, whatever

Rinse quinoa, then add to water and 1/2 tsp salt in a pot with a lid. Bring to a boil uncovered, then turn the heat down to low and cover with lid. Let it simmer for 12-15 minutes until you don't see much liquid left. Turn off the heat and let it sit with the lid still on for another few minutes. 

While the quinoa is cooking, brown the ground beef. Add the onions and carrots, and saute until softened. 

When quinoa is done, add tomato sauce and seasoning, as well as the meat and veggie mixture. Mix well. 

For each pepper, put a pinch of cheese in first. Then layer in some of the meat/quinoa mixture. Then cheese, then meat. Pack it in so the pepper is totally stuffed. End with meat mixture on top.

Bake at 350* for about 20 minutes, until the pepper is tender. Top each pepper with additional cheese and serve.

Lasagna Roll-ups

Lasagna is such a crowd pleaser. It's a lot easier to make a huge pan of lasagna with the Oven-Ready noodles, or fixing a Crock-Pot full of lasagna, so if you are feeding a big family, I recommend going one of those routes.

But if you want to have smaller portions available, for just 1 or 2 dinners or even lunches, these are fantastic. They are a little more work on the front end, but the convenience of the portions is worth it. Plus you are guaranteed to get the right proportion of noodles and cheese, which is really important to me. I don't like noodle hogs leaving me with too much ricotta. ;)

This is also a fantastic dish to make ahead and freeze. See directions below!  The pictures below show a double batch of roll-ups.

Lasagna Roll-ups

Ingredient List for a single batch:

1 box regular Lasagna Noodles

24 oz (1.5 lbs) Ricotta Cheese 

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

3/4 cup Mozarella Cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp Basil

1 Tbsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

Marinara Sauce - you can use jars of sauce, or make it from scratch. Here is my "super easy" recipe that starts with a pizza sauce base. I have been adding lots of veggies to it lately though (diced onion, bell pepper, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, etc.)

Step 1. Boil Lasagna Noodles according to package directions. I use my giant stock pot for this job, so the noodles have plenty of room to move around in the boiling water. If you are using a regular pot, you may need to cook the noodles in smaller batches. I was able to cook 20 noodles (the whole box) in my big 12 qt stock pot.

While the noodles are cooking, lay out aluminum foil and give it a quick spray with oil to keep the noodles from sticking to it. When the noodles are done, lay them out on the foil. Be careful, they will be hot!

Step 2: Combine all filling ingredients. I use my Kitchenaid Mixer for this. Spread filling over each noodle. 

Step 3: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll up the noodles and place them seam-side down on the tray. It's ok if they are close but you don't want them to be touching. Freeze.

Step 4: Once frozen, package the rollups into freezer bags. I just put them all in one gallon-size ziploc and pull out however many I want to cook at a time. Freeze.

To cook, just put them in your baking dish, top with marinara sauce, and bake at 350° until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Top with mozarella cheese and bake for an extra 5 minutes until melted. You can make 1 or 2 in a small dish, or cook a larger batch for the whole family.

Optional: Put in your family's serving size in a ziploc, add 2 cups of marinara sauce to each bag and freeze. For my family I would put in 6 rollups, since we make 2 for each adult and one for each child. When ready to cook, cut away the bag, put the contents into a baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 350° until bubbly. It will take close to an hour this way. Top with mozzarella and bake an extra 5 minutes, then serve.

Easy Homemade Garlic Knots

I don't know what took me so long to try this. We are in trouble now.

I stole some pizza dough and made garlic knots out of it, before rolling out the rest into pizza crusts. They were amazing and I'll have to triple my recipe forever now so I have enough extra dough to make garlic knots.

Garlic Knots

Make pizza dough as usual. I'll include the recipe below, and here is the link for the full directions in case you haven't read them before. The preheated pizza stone is the key to the pizza crust.

Preheat oven (I used a toaster oven) to 350*. 

When the dough has risen, pull off bits and roll into a snake between your hands until it's about 6 inches long. Then tie into a knot and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with Garlic Herb Butter and bake for about 20 minutes or until light brown on the bottoms. The tops of mine did not brown much at all. Brush with additional butter, if desired, and serve.

Garlic Herb Butter

1/4 cup Butter
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Parsley
2 cloves Garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients well. I recommend making extra for dipping your garlic knots, and your pizza crust, and really you can just put it on top of your pizza....


Pizza Dough

1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2/3 cup Warm Water (not hot)
2 cups Flour (white, whole wheat, or combo - if 100% WW I recommend whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

If you like a thicker crust, just double the recipe.  My pictures show a double batch.

Combine ingredients in mixer with dough hook, lock it down if your mixer has a locking mechanism, and let it go at low speed for 15 minutes.   Spray with olive oil and cover with a towel.  

Let rise for 1 hour in a warm area.  If your house is cold, go ahead and heat your oven, and set the bowl on the stovetop.  If you have laundry drying in the dryer, that's another place you could let it rise. I usually just leave mine in the kitchen but I'm in Florida and it's rarely cold in there.

Chicken Casserole

This is based on the classic recipe my mom always made for people when they were recovering from surgery or just had a new baby. It's my go-to comfort food, especially when the weather gets cold.

I have altered it to remove the cream of chicken soup, and instead use sour cream. I also use brown rice but white rice is in the original, and usually use chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken because I keep those on hand. This recipe is gluten-free as long as you leave off the breadcrumb topping.

Chicken Casserole

2-3 Chicken breasts, cooked and chopped*
2-3 boiled Eggs, chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
1 cup Chicken Broth (if you boil the chicken breasts, just cook the leftover water down and use this)
2/3 cup Sour Cream
3 cups Rice, cooked (any kind is fine, and mixing types is great too)
1/2 tbsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2/3 cup Mayo

Topping (optional)
4 tbsp Butter
1 cup Breadcrumbs 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and pour into 13x9 pan. Bake at 400* for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

* The easiest way to cook chicken breasts is in an electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot. I'll never boil chicken again! I put frozen chicken breasts in with about half a cup of water, pushed the "Poultry" button and in 15 minutes they were cooked perfectly.

Shredding hot cooked chicken is easier than chopping it, using an electric mixer. I describe how to do that here.

Hardboiled eggs get the Instant Pot treatment now, too! Set your eggs on the IP rack, add a cup of water. Seal and cook under pressure for 5 minutes, NPR 5 minutes, then release. Your eggs will be perfectly cooked and easy to peel.

Beef Stew (gluten free)

This is one of our favorite meals and everyone in the family loves it! It's easily adaptable for different diets. Feel free to drop or sub different veggies if you are trying to reduce carbs. Some recipes coat the beef in flour before browning, but I skip that part and don't miss it, so this recipe is even gluten-free.

I love to make this in my Instant Pot. It cooks so fast yet tastes like it simmered all day.

Beef Stew

1 lb Beef Stew Meat (any roast cut into chunks is fine)
2 Tbsp Oil of your choice (I use refined coconut oil or olive oil, veg or canola is fine if you use those)
1 Onion, diced
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 cups Beef Broth (or water)
1-2 cans Diced Tomatoes
1 quart V8 Vegetable Juice
3 cups Veggies, fresh or frozen. Classic options would be Carrots, Celery, Potatoes, Green Beans, Peas, and Corn. Alternative options could be Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes, or Rutabagas.
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Marjoram
1 Bay Leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instant Pot directions: 

Push the "Saute" button and brown all sides of the beef in the oil. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and close the pot. Make sure the valve is closed for pressure. Push the "Meat/Stew" button and let the Instant Pot do all the work for you!

For Stovetop Cooking:

Heat oil on medium and brown meat on all sides. Add onions and saute until they soften. Add beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze it, and let simmer while you prepare the veggies.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. The meat will get more tender as it simmers so it's nice if you can let it cook for at least half an hour or longer. Taste it for any needed salt. Depending on your V8 and Beef Broth, you may need to add some. Enjoy!

This can be made in the crock pot, but I recommend not skipping the first section where you brown the beef and cook the onions with it. After that point, when you add the veggies and herbs, you can throw it all into the crock pot on low for several hours. It also freezes really well. Sometimes I will get a bulk amount of stew beef and make a large batch of Beef Stew to freeze.

Review: Zoku Quick Pop Maker

Verdict: We love it!

We are huge fans of popsicles. They are often a daily treat in our house, especially in the summer. I love to make them for my kids, since I can sneak in hidden veggies, and of course I know there is no food coloring or artificial sweeteners in my homemade pops.

This summer I have slacked on my smoothie/pop making and bought popsicles from the grocery store that were just fruit and sugar, but decided to get back to the homemade kind when they ran out for the last time.

I decided to splurge on this new little toy to get everyone excited about homemade pops again (and ease the pain of Mom saying no more from the store!)

I washed it and stuck it in the freezer the day it came, so we could get started on our pops first thing in the morning. The kids weren't even out of their pajamas before we were starting our popsicle project.

The most important step is preparing all of the ingredients you want. Once you take the Zoku out of the freezer, the clock is ticking and you must get your ingredients in there quickly if you want any chance of making multiple batches before it's defrosted too much.

The booklet says you can use the pop maker 3 times before refreezing, but I think the only way that would be possible is if you were just pouring a single juice in and letting it go. Adding fruit or making layers significantly increases the time it takes and you are lucky to get two batches done - no way three is happening for fancy pops.

For our first round, we decided to make three different pops, since we don't start out easy with anything around here. I would recommend starting out simple and then adding more complicated plans once you get the hang of it.

Here are all of our ingredients ready to go:

And our Zoku full and freezing:

1. Watermelon Pops with Blueberries

I blended the watermelon and then strained it so it would be just liquid, no pulp. After the stick was seated in the Zoku, I dropped a few blueberries on either side and poured the watermelon juice in to the fill line. Super easy and it came out perfect! My kids devoured it in no time. We didn't feel it needed any sugar or anything as the watermelon was very sweet by itself.

2. Strawberry with sliced Strawberry and Banana

In the Vitamix, I blended frozen strawberries with honey and a little water. I recommend not using frozen strawberries, because I ended up having to blend for a long time to get it liquidy enough to pour easily. The Zoku requires very thin liquid so you can't make a thick smoothie and expect to be able to pour it around the stick and the fruit. So thaw your fruit first - it'll be easier to blend anyway.

Insert just a couple of pieces of thinly sliced fruit into the Zoku and insert the stick all the way so it's seated properly. We put a sliced strawberry on one side and a couple of slices of banana on the other side. Then pour the strawberry puree in to the fill line.

This one came out great as well! 

3. Strawberry Swirled with Yogurt

I used a homemade yogurt that is very thin, so it poured well. If your yogurt is thick, I recommend thinning it with some milk or cream so that it will pour easily. It should be sweet - I used honey to sweeten it since it was plain.

For this one, I poured some of the strawberry puree into the Zoku and waited about 2 minutes for it to harden up a little but not all the way. The I poured in some yogurt in and left it for about 3 minutes. Then I filled it the rest of the way with strawberry. I tipped the Zoku back and forth a little so the layers would swirl but not mix completely.

The yogurt took longer to freeze than the fruit only, but it was pretty easy to tell since the stick was wiggly long after we had removed the other two. Once the stick was firm in the pop the whole thing came out easily.

The possibilities are endless! What else should we try in our Zoku?

Smiley Face courtesy of Alexa :)

Chili

We make chili pretty often, even when it isn't cold out, but it's one of our favorites when the weather is chilly. So warm and satisfying and hit heats up well for lunch the next day.

I don't make it spicy at all, instead letting each person add spices and sauces to increase the heat level. This way it's always safe for my kids to eat (and me, since I am not a big fan of super spicy!)

Chili

1 lb Ground Beef
1 Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
2-4 cloves Garlic, minced
4 cups V8
2 cups Beef Broth
2 cans Diced Tomatoes
2-3 cups Beans, cooked (or 2 cans, rinsed and drained)
2-4 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Cumin
2 tsp Basil
2 tsp Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown ground beef with chopped onions and peppers. Add garlic toward the end of cooking. Drain fat if desired.  Add remaining ingredients and heat to boiling, then cover and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Serve. We love it with sour cream and shredded cheese.

You can also make this in the crock pot - begin the same, just put the meat mixture and remaining ingredients into the crock pot to heat through and cook for several hours. It'll be ready when you are. :)

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

We added chocolate chips to the pumpkin muffins and they were so good! Love that combo.

Pumpkin Muffins

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg beaten  
1/2 cup Sugar or Honey, or just a few drops of Liquid Stevia
1.5 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or any combo of white/wheat)  
3/4 cup Flax Meal  
1 tsp Baking Powder   
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt 
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice or Cinnamon
1 can Pumpkin
2 Apples, peeled and diced
Raw Pumpkin Seeds, if desired
1/2 cup or so of Chocolate Chips
Milk, optional

Preheat oven to 350*.  Prepare muffin tin with paper cups or spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix butter, egg and sweetener with electric mixer until combined.  Add pumpkin and apples, mix well. Add dry ingredients; blend well. Add chocolate chips and raw pumpkin seeds, if desired. Add milk a tablespoon at a time to moisten if needed.  Spoon into prepared muffin tin. Bake 20-25 minutes until they just start to brown and spring back when you touch them.

Barbacoa-Style Shredded Beef

We recently had a couple of Chipotle restaurants open and we went a few times. I always got the burrito bowl with chicken. My husband always got this mysterious thing called "barbacoa". He kept encouraging me to try it but I declined, enjoying my safe chicken. Finally I tried it and I haven't ordered chicken since. Love it. Totally addicted. Had to figure out how to make it myself or go broke eating at Chipotle. This is DELICIOUS and tastes just as good. :) Hooray!

Barbacoa-style Shredded Beef

Start with a chuck roast. Anywhere between 2-4 lbs is fine. I usually go for bigger because I like leftovers to make more meals. Cut it in half and trim most of the visible fat. Place in slow cooker or instant pot.

In food processor or vitamix, puree the following:

1/2 Onion
1/4 cup Lime Juice

1/4 cup Tomato Paste
4 cloves Garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Cloves or Allspice

Pour the puree over the roast in the slow cooker. Pour about a cup of Beef Broth on top, and drop a few Bay Leaves.

Cook on low for 7 hours. When it's done, shred it with two forks and put it back into the amazing sauce in the slow cooker that was created during cooking. Keep on low for another couple of hours to really soak up the flavor of the sauce. 

Serve! I've had it plain, in a burrito bowl like Chipotle, on a salad, in soup, the list goes on and I will be blogging some of my ideas here in the future. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is like my regular healthy muffin recipe, only subbing a can of pumpkin for the banana and adding a little pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.

Pumpkin Muffins

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg beaten   
1/2 cup Sugar or Honey, or just a few drops of Liquid Stevia
1.5 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or any combo of white/wheat)  
3/4 cup Flax Meal  
1 tsp Baking Powder   
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt 
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice or Cinnamon
1 can Pumpkin
2 Apples, peeled and diced
Raw Pumpkin Seeds, if desired
Milk, optional

Preheat oven to 350*.  Prepare muffin tin with paper cups or spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix butter, egg and sweetener with electric mixer until combined.  Add dry ingredients; blend well.  Add milk a tablespoon at a time to moisten if needed.  Spoon into prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle a few pumpkin seeds on the tops, if desired. Bake 20-25 minutes until they just start to brown and spring back when you touch them.

Paleo Granola Bars

I made a Paleo version of my kids' yummy granola bars and they turned out great! I was surprised that my kids liked them as well, even though they are all nuts/seeds. Usually they are leery of that, especially those green pepitas, but they scarfed them up.

Paleo Granola Bars

2 1/2 cup Raw Seeds / Dried Fruit (I used Ground Almonds, Ground Walnuts, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds, a Dried Berry Mix and Dried Cranberries)
1/2 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
3 Tbsp Almond Butter
2/3 cup Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray a small jelly roll pan with cooking spray. (The medium bar pan from Pampered Chef is the perfect size for this recipe)

Mix nuts/seeds/fruit and coconut in bowl, set aside. Combine almond butter, honey, vanilla and salt in large sauce pan and heat until melted and well mixed. Add nut/fruit mixture, stir to combine, and pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, then cool completely. Cut into bars and keep in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Homemade Granola Bars

My kids devoured these homemade granola bars in no time! Happy Mama over here!

Homemade Granola Bars

2 cups Granola
1/2 cup Raw Seeds / Dried Fruit (I used Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds, and Dried Cranberries)
1/2 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
3 Tbsp Almond Butter or Peanut Butter
2/3 cup Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray a small jelly roll pan with cooking spray. (The medium bar pan from Pampered Chef is the perfect size for this recipe)

Mix granola, seeds/fruit and coconut in bowl, set aside. Combine almond or peanut butter, honey, vanilla and salt in large sauce pan and heat until melted and well mixed. Add granola mixture, stir to combine, and pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle some chocolate chips if you like. 

Bake for 15 minutes, then cool completely. Cut into bars and keep in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade

My husband compiled some jerk chicken recipes and came up with this. Delicious!We love to serve it with Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade

1 medium Onion, peeled
1 small Red Onion, peeled
1 Jalepeno Pepper, seeded if you don't want it too spicy
2 cloves Garlic, peeled
3/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Tamari or Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Vinegar
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Red Pepper
1 tsp ground Cloves
1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 Tbsp fresh Cilantro

*optional*1/2 tsp Frontier Caribbean Citrus Seasoning

Blend all ingredients well. Marinate chicken pieces at least an hour. This amount of marinade will cover 2 breasts and 4 drumsticks easily.

Grill chicken until done. :)

Manicotti

You can use any pasta for this - manicotti, jumbo shells, or lasagna noodles. If you use lasagna, cook them and lay them out, spread the cheese mixture down the noodle and roll them up.
 

Manicotti

1 pkg Manicotti, cooked according to package directions (maybe one minute less)
1 15 oz container Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, grated (plus 1 more cup for serving)
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Oregano
1 quart Marinara Sauce (I make it up ahead and freeze it; a jar of sauce also works but it probably costs more!)

Preheat oven to 350*. Cook pasta according to package directions, only take them off about a minute early and drain.  Spray a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Mix ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses with the egg and herbs. Spoon into cooked pasta, and set into prepared pan. Pour sauce over all and bake for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly.

If serving immediately, top with additional mozzarella cheese. Put it back in the oven for a few minutes to melt if desired.

If freezing, portion the manicotti (and make sure you get sauce for each one, too) into freezer-safe containers and freeze. To serve, thaw and bake until warm, and top with mozzarella cheese.

For a super easy and quick marinara sauce, take some pizza sauce and add diced tomatoes and sauteed veggies, and cooked ground beef if you like.

Homemade Chicken Broth

After I cook a whole chicken, I throw all the stuff we didn't eat into a pot (or back into the crock pot!) to cook into broth. Just fill the pot (or crock pot) with water and all the bones, skin, and other bits that were left from the chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn it down to let it simmer for a few hours. You can add herbs or just leave it as is. If you use the crock pot, you can leave it on low overnight.

When it's done, pour it through a sieve into a large bowl. Add ice to cool it before transferring it to your storage containers. I usually use freezer zip bags which are easy to label, and easy to thaw out when I want to use it.

Not only do you get to feed your family homemade broth instead of processed, but you can tell it's full of good gelatin when you refrigerate it, unlike the cartons and cans of processed broth that are always thin liquid.

Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

I used to think it was a really big deal to cook a whole chicken, but it's really pretty simple and very frugal when you consider that you can get a couple of meals out of the chicken meat, plus several quarts of homemade broth.

It couldn't be any easier - just put the chicken in the slow cooker, seasoned however you like (I just use a little salt and pepper since I do different things with the meat and don't want it to have one particular flavor). Add a small amount of water (like 1/2 cup) and let it cook all day on low. It'll be ready when you are, falling off the bone.

I take all of the meat off and either serve it with veggies for dinner, or save it all for other recipes. You can also freeze it if you like.

Tomorrow I'll talk about making broth with the leftover bits you don't want to eat. Don't throw those away!