Jalapeno Muffin Cups

Here's an oldie but goodie.  I used to make these for Mark a lot when we were just married.  The original recipe comes from Pillsbury and uses they Pillsbury Grands Jr Golden Layers.  

These tasty bites are quick, easy and hard to resist.  On this particular day - I was able to throw them together and get in the oven in 10 minutes!  Felt like a win.  :D    

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 375

1 can refrigerated biscuits in the can (Sorry Pillsbury!  These were on sale.)  I didn't have the Junior version on hand so I split each of them in half and put 1/2 in each of the Pam sprayed muffin tins.  There were a couple leftover that I baked by themselves for the kids because I knew this would be too hot for them.

Now for the filling - Mix together:
1/3 cup green chiles, diced
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/3 cup light mayo
2 tablespoons bacon crumbles

Put equal amounts on top of each biscuit half

(I usually start out thinking I'm doing it equally and then

do some shifting around when I get to the last couple.)

Now for the "cherry" on top.

Add a sliced pickled jalapeno to each muffin

Bake for 12-15 minutes.  I did them for 15 this time and will check them a couple minutes sooner next time I make them.

Hope you have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

The snow is falling this morning.  That means... BOOM!  We get another soup day.  It feels like a bonus day because I was afraid soup season had ended.  

Chicken tortilla soup is probably one of my favorites because it has the mexican flavors that I love and you can so easily spice up individual bowls to make each person eating it a happy camper.  I'm also all about toppings and the possibilities are pretty much endless.  We didn't get too fancy on this day but I also really like to add slices of avocado and twists of lime.  The lime adds a level of brightness to the soup and gives it the little extra something that makes me not miss the extra salt. 

Let's Get Crafty!

2 chicken breasts, thawed

1 can mild rotel

3 cans low sodium chicken broth

1 onion, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 teaspoons cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

4 ounces no salt tomato sauce

Toss everything into the instant pot and cook on the soup setting for 20 minutes.  Do a quick release and stir in:

2 cups frozen corn

I didn't cook it any longer because the corn thawed and warmed up in the time it took for me to pull the chicken out, shred it and toss it back in.

Here's what my bowl looked like with my toppings. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope everyone has a great day!

Brussel Sprouts, Potatoes and Bacon

My Mom made this side dish for Easter.  I love brussel sprouts and my family loves potatoes - so having it together in one pot was winner winner chicken dinner (or I guess winner winner ham dinner on this particular day.)  The bacon is what makes this side heavenly.

The picture above is having it all ready to pop in the oven.  Aren't the brussel sprouts pretty?  The bacon helps give a pop of color.  That's right my friends... "pop of color" isn't just for fashion.  Doesn't everyone like pretty food?  :D

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 400

Get the stars of show show together:
2 lbs red potatoes, diced into 1 inch chunks
1 lb brussel sprouts, cut in half
1 lb bacon, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

Whisk together the sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rosemary (Whoohoo! It's almost time for my herb garden!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix the sauce with the potatoes and brussel sprouts then sprinkle the bacon on top.  
(You might need to taste a couple pieces just to make sure it's okay to serve your family.)

Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes.  The potatoes should be cooked through and the brussel sprouts should be starting to get charred around the edges with the bacon nice and crispy.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Eggroll in a Bowl

Wow!  I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks!  Don't worry!  We've still been eating! :D   Right out of the gate - I want to share a recipe I've been wanting to try for a while.  I honestly kept postponing it because I knew it wouldn't be a household favorite.  I took the plunge and made this while warming up frozen pizzas for my husband and kids.  They were excited for pizza and I was excited for this.  Win. Win.

It was really good and I'm happy I made it.  However... if I was completely honest then I would have to admit that I missed the fried eggroll wrapper all this goodness is served in.  If I was honest again... I think I may have set my expectations too high because I had wanted to try this for a while.

There are different recipes going around using the Instant Pot.  I didn't want to do that for my first try at this recipe because I wanted to make sure the cabbage still held some texture and I didn't want the carrots to get over cooked too.  This recipe is generally from TipHero.com.

Let's Get Crafty!
Get the meat going:
1 lb ground beef (next time I will try it with ground pork to mix it up)

While the meat is browning whisk together the sauce and set aside:
1 tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Get the veggies ready:
1 head of cabbage, chopped into slices
1 1/2 cup carrots
1 can water chestnuts, chopped

Once the meat is browned - add in the veggies and stir together for a couple minutes.  Then give the sauce a good whisk and add to the meat ad veggies.  Cook these together for 5 minutes or so until the cabbage has softened.  If you use the bagged coleslaw from the store - you might want to reduce the cooking time some since the cabbage will be cut smaller.  I added in some low sodium chicken broth (maybe 1/2 cup to give it all a little more room to groove.)

                                   

About 1/2 way through

Ready to Serve!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Instant Pot Egg Bites

Good Morning!  For all my Instant Pot friends... we are in love with Egg Bites.  My husband got me the mold for Christmas and we've been making them once or twice each week.  They are great because they take just a couple minutes to get in the Egg Bite Pods and then they need no more hands on time.  The recipe here basically comes from the little pamphlet that came with the mold... with just a few of my twists for what I have on hand a piece where I'm like "Ain't no one got time for that..." 

Let's Get Crafty!

4 large eggs

4 bacon strips (I used a generous spoonful of the Kirkland Bacon Crumples from Costco)

1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese (I use about half this amount and they still feel super cheesy to me)

1/2 cup 1% milk cottage cheese

1/4 fat free half and half

I use a whisk to mix all this together and then divide among the pods.  (The recipe calls for separately blending the eggs, cheese, cottage cheese and 1/2 and 1/2 together until blended.  This is the part that I don't do.  I was nervous there would be weird clumps of cottage cheese... I used the small curd cottage cheese and there weren't any.)

Let's get them in the pot.  Put the trivet that came with the IP at the bottom along with 1 cup of water.  Gently set the filled pods into the IP on top of the trivet and water.  Put the lid on and make sure the knob at the top is set to Sealing.  Then select the Steam option for 8 minutes.  Once that 8 minutes are up you are going to let it Natural Pressure Release for 10 minutes.  

Aren't they cute when you flip them over?!  

No non-stick spray is needed... they slid right out!
(UPDATE: After the first couple times we did start needing to
use spray each time so they wouldn't stick.)

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great day. 

Do you plan to buy an extra ham while they are on sale? I do! Maybe two!

Ham is about to be on sale as Easter gets closer and closer.  I came across this trick on Pinterest and just had to give it a try.  It's too easy not to share!

All you do is dice up the ham and spread it out on a baking sheet.  Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.  This will flash freeze them in individual pieces.  Then separate the diced ham into freezer bags (we used quart bags and did 2 cups each.)  When you need some - you can use the whole bag or break off just what you need rather that having one clump of of diced ham that you have to use all of at once.  

The best part is that you will then still be able to freeze the ham bone separate for ham and bean soup that is an absolute must!

Whoop!  Whoop! We ended up with 3 freezer quart size bags
with about 2 cups each.

Happy Sunday Friends!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cold Crab Salad

Full disclosure… this is imitation crab.  My son loves imitation crab and that’s why there are a few pieces sitting to the side of the bowl that haven’t been cut and incorporated with the rest. 

I remember watching Bronco games as a little girl at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house when we lived in Denver and she serve some flake imitation crab with melted butter.  Oh my goodness.  That was heavenly. 

Let’s Get Crafty!

1 package imitation crab, diced (I like the brand Crab Classic)

2 stalks of celery, diced (I really love to use the hearts of the celery with all the leaves for cold salads)

1 tablespoon chives, snipped into small pieces with scissors

1/3 cup mayo

1/3 cup fat free greek yogurt

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Combine all together and pop in the fridge for a few hours to help the flavors come together.

Serve on hard rolls (well… because a fun roll makes things even more fun) or with crackers.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you're having a wonderful day.