#2,725: Instant Pot Pulled Chicken

We don't eat a ton of chicken in our house because I'm so picky about the flavor of it and what I like.  But when I came across this recipe for my instant pot (and the minimal ingredients I would need to get), I figured we'd give this a try.  I didn't make too many changes to this recipe except to use mild green chiles and to add an extra chicken breast.  I also preferred to serve this on a crustier bread, so we used toasted ciabatta rolls instead.  I think that was a really good idea.  I think this would have been too soft on a hamburger bun.

I surprised myself a little with how much I enjoyed this.  Because I didn't use the fire roasted chiles it wasn't spicy at all, which was perfect for my crew.  But if you like heat, definitely add the original ingredient.  Most of us really enjoyed this, only one didn't enjoy it (I'm sure you can guess which picky eater wasn't a fan!  Ps..it was Matthew, age 6).  

This was super easy to make/throw together.  You could easily make the sauce the night before and then just throw it all in the instant pot when you get home from work/school/kids activities.  This also made enough for 2 meals plus leftovers for Brian for my crew!  

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 4-ounce can fire-roasted diced green chiles (I used mild green chiles)

1 corn tortilla, torn

1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems), plus 2 tablespoons chopped leaves

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, about 8 ounces each (I used 4 chicken breasts)

1 lime, cut into wedges

4 hamburger buns, for serving (We used ciabatta rolls)

Combine the tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water, the chiles, tortilla and 1/4 cup cilantro in a blender. Add the chili powder, cumin, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper; blend until smooth.

Rub the bottom of an Instant Pot insert with the vegetable oil. Add the chicken breasts to the Instant Pot along with the pureed sauce. Stir to combine. Put on the lid, making sure the steam valve is in the sealing position, and set to cook on high pressure for 9 minutes. When the time is up, press the cancel button and let the steam release naturally, for 15 minutes. (You can also cook frozen chicken breasts in an Instant Pot: Rinse the chicken briefly under cool water and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.) 

Remove the lid and transfer the chicken to a bowl.

(Since I used an extra chicken breast, I only had to sautee for about 2 minutes) Set the pot to sauté at high heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Break the chicken into large chunks with two forks and return to the sauce; stir to coat. Simmer, stirring to prevent sticking, until the sauce thickens, about 8 minutes. Turn off the Instant Pot. 

When the sauce stops bubbling, stir in the chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice (I used half of a lime); season with salt and pepper. Serve the chicken on buns with lime wedges.

#2,724: Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies (Eggless)

I'm pretty sure I found this recipe somewhere floating around facebook.  Since we always have an abundance of over-ripe bananas, this looked super easy and quite yummy.  I ran out of regular chocolate chips so I just threw in mini chocolate chips.  Then I realized I didn't buy just peanut butter chips, I bought a milk chocolate/peanut butter combo.  I could have just used the whole bag of those!  Whatever...instead we have some mini chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips.

These are delicious!  They are super moist and soft and my kids loved them.  It made over 4 dozen cookies so I have a bunch in our freezer now to ration them out.  :)  I will definitely be making these again! 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter chips

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, corn starch, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Cream butter, bananas, and sugars together until combined.  Add vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Stir in the flour mixture just until combined.  Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips.  Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Use a cookie scoop to scoop out cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or just until they start to turn light, golden brown on top.

Let cookies cool completely on cookie sheets (I let it cool for about 5-10 minutes then moved them to a cooling rack).  Store in airtight containers for up to a week.

#2,723: Pepperoni Pizza Pierogies

Some days it's a clean out your fridge/freezer kind of meal!  I was looking through my freezer and decided to make some mini cheese pierogies when I remembered seeing an ad/recipe in a magazine that made little "pizzas" out of them.  Wouldn't you know, I had some provolone, pepperoni, and an open jar of spaghetti sauce needing to be used up too, so I threw these babies together.  I think these were done in about 10 minutes, so they would make a great snack or appetizer too! 

1 box mini pierogies (I used 4 cheese medley)
sliced pepperoni
sliced provolone cheese (you could use mozzarella or Italian blend too)
spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce
3 basil leaves, chiffonade 

Cook pierogies as desired (boil, bake, or pan fry).  I pan fried mine in a little bit of olive oil. 

When done, transfer to a cookie sheet and top each pierogie with one piece of sliced pepperoni and a piece of cheese.  I had slices of provolone so I just cut each one into about 8 pieces and used one little triangle per pierogie.  Place under the broiler for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Meanwhile warm up the sauce to use as a dipping sauce for the pierogies. 

When the pierogies are done, transfer to a plate and top with pieces of basil.   

#2,722: Peach Cottage Cheese Smoothies

See that smile...it has a look of uncertainty on it doesn't it?!  HA!  She was a bit nervous to try this smoothie when she realized that it was made with cottage cheese.  Sadly none of my kids would drink more than a sip of this.  Personally I didn't think it was that bad, but didn't enjoy it enough to want to keep drinking the entire glass of it.  Most of the time we find recipes we love, but this wasn't one of them.  Surprisingly, this recipe was from Food Network....I think they have a miss with this one. 

2 pitted peaches (I used canned peaches)
1 c cottage cheese

1/2 c milk

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  

#2,721: Instant Pot Gluten Free Meatballs

I found this recipe for gluten free meatballs which uses one of my favorite ingredients (corn tortillas!) in it's recipe.  I decided to give these meatballs a try with very low expectations from my family (I really should have more faith in them!).  I also didn't want to bake these and figured there had to be a way to cook them in my Instant Pot so I set out to Google to try and find some ideas on how to make these.  Below you will find the original recipe which gives instructions on how to bake these in the oven.  I'll also add what I did in the instant pot.  We've enjoyed these so much I've actually made these twice already.  Once we ate these as meatball subs and once with spaghetti (ok, I even ate it over ramen  (as you can see in the photo) when we ran out of spaghetti noodles!)...totally negates the gluten free aspect of it, but that's just how we ate them.  I still have some meatballs leftover so I'm going to chop them up and make a skillet lasagna with it tomorrow!   

2 (6-in.) corn tortillas, torn into pieces (I actually used 3 tortillas)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 small shallot, chopped (about 1½ Tbsp.) (I used a yellow onion and used about ¼ of one) 
1 pound 80/20 ground beef
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used 2% milk)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Jar of spaghetti sauce (only if using the Instant Pot method)

Place tortillas, shallot, and parsley in a food processor; process until fine crumbs form and shallot and parsley are finely chopped, about 1 minute.  Gently stir together tortilla mixture, ground beef, cream, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well blended. Shape mixture into 16 (2-inch) meatballs.  See oven or instant pot instructions for next steps:

Original instructions for the oven:
Preheat broiler to HIGH with oven rack 6 inches from heat. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; spray foil with nonstick cooking spray. Place meatballs on prepared baking sheet and broil until cooked through and browned, about 7 minutes.

Instant Pot Instructions:
Pour a little bit of olive oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot.  Layer the meatballs (uncooked) into the bottom of the Instant Pot, stacking them on top of one another if needed.  Pour the entire jar of sauce over the meatballs.  Add another 1 cup of water to the instant pot as well.  Cover and cook on manual high pressure for 7 minutes.  When the Instant Pot is done, let it sit for another 10 minutes, and then release the rest of the pressure. 

The first time I made this, the sauce was perfect.  The second time it was a little watery still, so I just put the Instant Pot on sautee for about 10 minutes (with the lid partially on so it would stop splattering all over the place!) and it thickened up to my liking. 

#2,720: Lemon-Poppy Seed Zucchini Muffins

Mmm...lemon and zucchini...that makes quite the summery pair for these muffins.  These were the muffins for the month of July from Food Network's year of muffins segment they published in January.  I wasn't sure my kids would like these and actually shoved a piece into M's mouth before he could look at it because if he saw specs of poppy seeds or zucchini I knew he'd never eat it.  Instead he loved it and said, "I can't wait to eat this for breakfast!"  The lemon-sugar-poppy seed topping is probably my favorite part of the muffin.  It gives the muffin top a great crunch.  In fact, if you happen to have one of those muffin top tins I think this would be wonderful made in those!    

1 lemon (I used 10 drops of young living lemon vitality essential oil)

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt 

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup packed grated zucchini (about 1 zucchini)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemon in wide strips, being careful not to remove the white pith. Combine the lemon zest and sugar in a food processor and process until the zest is finely chopped, scraping the bowl halfway through, about 1 minute. Stir in the poppy seeds. Scoop out 3 tablespoons of the lemon-poppy seed sugar and set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the remaining lemon-poppy seed sugar, the vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl; stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the zucchini.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters of the way. Tap the bottom of the pan lightly on the counter to smooth out the batter. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the reserved lemon-poppy seed sugar. Bake until the muffins are golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Travel Tip: Packing Cubes

Image photo from Amazon

Recently we went on a whirlwind trip to Niagara Falls.  We did the drive with our 3 kids (6, 9, 11), and were gone for 5 days.  5 days, 2 countries (US and Canada), and 6 states.  We crammed as much in as we could stopping at least every 4 hours or so to let the kids get out and explore and play in some area that we were near.  About a year and a half ago my sister convinced me to get these packing cubes and said they were great for packing your stuff in your luggage.  I resisted for a while...who needs separate bags for our stuff?!, but I am SO glad I finally gave in and got these.  I love these bags so much in fact, I have 2 sets of them, plus a 3rd set which is a different brand (and which I hate by the way!). 

Anyway, the packing cubes themselves are a great travel tip alone because you can keep everyone's stuff separated.  When I go someplace alone (almost never!), I use 1 or 2 of the bags for my clothes, 1 bag is for all my bathroom stuff, and 1 bag (the little one) is for phone chargers and accessories. 

But this trip we got really smart and used the bags to put everyone clothes in for one day (i.e. Monday's clothes, Tuesdays clothes, etc.).  We also had one bag with just swimsuits.  We packed a small carry-on size suitcase with everyone's pajamas, our bathroom stuff, make-up, and the small stuffed animals the kids would want to sleep with each night.  Then when we got to our hotel (or Airbnb), we just had to bring in the small suitcase and ONE of our cubes with our clothes/stuff for the next day.  When we unpacked at the hotel, we used that packing cube to put all of our dirty clothes in. So we had a big suitcase full of packing cubes which started out as clothes for each day, but at the end was full of our dirty clothes, and that suitcase never had to get pulled out of the car.

It's hard enough to go into a hotel each night with 1 or more suitcases, everyone bag of toys, pillows, the cooler, refillable water bottles, etc.  This time it was so easy to get in and out of the hotels and much less opportunities to forget something or leave something behind!  We are seriously packing this way EVERY time we road trip!  

#2,719: Chocolate Mint Zucchini Bread

After making the Zucchini pico de gallo salsa, I had some zucchini leftover.  Plus I have a ton of chocolate mint growing in my garden, so I knew I had to find a recipe that combined the two ingredients.  Enter this Chocolate Mint Zucchini Bread.  Although this was a little bit dense, my kids still enjoyed it and the girls were made when they realized their little brother had eaten the last piece.  So I'd say that's a good sign for the recipe.  The original recipe called for 1 egg white whipped and this batter was SO dry, so I added another whole egg.  I am not a baker, so that could have been why our batter was dense, but I didn't know what else to add to make it moist.  Maybe I should have added some coconut or vegetable oil???  Any suggestions from you good bakers out there?!

1 1/2 c unbleached flour

1/3 c granulated sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp granulated sugar

4 tbsp fresh chocolate mint leaves, chopped

1 tsp water

1 c zucchini -- unpeeled and grated

1/4 c fat-free sour cream

1 egg white -- whipped 

Preheat oven at 350.  Prepare pan a 8 x 4 x 2" loaf pan with cooking spray and flour; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, 1/3 c granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa. 

Place the 2 tsp granulated sugar, the chocolate mint and water into a food processor.  Process until very finely minced, almost a paste.  Combine mint paste, zucchini, sour cream, and egg white in a large bowl.

Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients just until moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 60 minutes.

#2,718: Zucchini Pico de Gallo Salsa

This pico/salsa recipe is such a great summer time recipe that uses summer fresh vegetables!  I can't wait to make this again once I have zucchini and tomatoes picked right from my garden.  I was afraid it would be a little too hot for my liking so I cut out the poblano pepper.  Next time I'm going to add in some bell pepper...cucumber might be good too!  I think this would be great on top of grilled chicken (or probably fish if I ate that) too!  

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 medium zucchini, finely chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped (I omitted although next time I'll probably throw a bell pepper into this instead)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 seeded and diced jalapeno pepper, optional

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons lime juice

Combine first nine ingredients. Add lime juice; toss to coat.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

#2,717: Homemade Guacamole

When I went to visit my sister this past weekend, I stopped at Mariano's (grocery store) to get some groceries, and they had these beautiful (and huge!) avocados for 88 cents each!  So I grabbed a couple and was able to make two different fresh guacamole recipes.  This was the second one I made, which I added some diced jalapeno to.  And the cilantro was fresh out of my garden!  I taught my 11 year old how to make this guacamole as I coached her through each step while I cooked up a few other recipes.  :)  I think this is pretty good....BUT I love most guacamole so that probably shouldn't be a surprise. 

This recipe also calls for some mayo in it, which is optional.  I happened to have some avocado mayo in my fridge so I did add a little bit to it.  I didn't really notice a difference with it in there so you could omit if you wanted. 

3 medium ripe avocados, peeled and cubed

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped, optional

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup mayonnaise, optional

1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice (I used 10 drops of Young Living Lime Vitality Essential Oil)

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

I also added 1 jalapeno, finely diced

Mash avocados with garlic and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients. 

#2,716: Easy Cinnamon Rolls

For several weeks now, Chloe has been talking about making cinnamon rolls at home.  I am a huge avoider or any recipe that calls with yeast.  I'm so bad at strictly following a recipe (I made substituteions, additions, changes all the time), taht it makes me a bad baker.  I've NEVER had luck with getting dough to rise (I'm still not convinced this dough rose at all either).  I made these with very low expectations.  I told my family they could try them after they cooled a little bit....these never even made it to breakfast!  It ended up being a dessert instead!  I'm not saying they are the world's best cinnamon rolls, but for this crew, it got 2 thumbs up from everyone!  A few may have been fighting to lick the bottom of the empty pan too! 

By the way, did you know the trick about cutting the cinnamon rolls with a piece of unscented dental floss instead of a knife?!?!  I had no idea, but this worked amazingly well!  I will never cut any sort of dough with a knife again!  The video below is one I found on Youtube (I take no credit for this great video, I'm just sharing their wonderful tip/trick).  

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 package instant yeast (1 packet or 2 and ¼ teaspoons)

½ cup water

¼ cup milk

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large egg

Filling:

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

¼ cup brown sugar (I used about 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the 2 tbsp of cinnamon)

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 Tablespoons milk 

To Make dough: In a large bowl, mix the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast together until evenly dispersed. Set aside. 

In a small microwavable bowl, heat the water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Add the egg and knead with hand or with stand mixer for 3-4 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticky. Place in a lightly greased bowl and let rest for about 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and turn off after 10 minutes or just before placing rolls in oven.

To Make Filling: After the dough has rested for 5 minutes, roll it out in a 15x9 inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it all over the dough. Roll up the dough tightly and cut into 9 (large) even pieces. 

Place in a lightly greased 9-inch or square pan and lightly cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

TURN OFF the oven and place the cinnamon rolls in the oven to rise for 20 minutes. Keep the cinnamon rolls in the oven (REMOVE THE FOIL OR PLASTIC) and turn on the oven to 375F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and top with glaze.

To make glaze: Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 Tablespoons milk together until smooth and lump free. Drizzle over warm rolls.

#2,715: Low Carb Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

There are a bunch of recipes/videos floating around Facebook to make Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers.  We made a few too many seasoned sandwich steaks for Father's Day, so I had a bunch of meat left over.  Plus I had ONE lone pepper in my fridge so I knew this was the recipe I just had to make/try.  

It was super simple.  I cut a pepper in half and took out the seeds.  Then I put it in a bowl with about 1/8 c of water and covered it with plastic wrap.  I poked a few holes in the plastic wrap and I cooked it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.  The peppers were plenty soft to my liking so I took them out and put them on a baking sheet.  I chopped up the leftover steak and placed it inside the pepper.  Then I topped it with a piece of provolone cheese.  I threw that baby in the broiler for about 2 minutes and it was done.  My lunch was ready in less than 10 minutes and most of that time was waiting for the pepper to cook and the oven to heat up.

Yep, I'd definitely make this again!! 

#2,713: Loaded Blondies

It is not a secret in our house that I will do almost anything to get Matthew to snuggle with me.  So when he's avoiding bedtime, he will ask to lay in bed and watch food videos with me.  I know he's stalling, but I'll take that snuggle time even if it is as he's trying to pull one over on me!  When we were watching videos recently, we came across this recipe and he quickly declared that we HAD to make it for dad for Father's Day.  I had everything on hand except the M and M's so I figured adding one more ingredient to my grocery list wasn't a big deal.  Sadly, they were out of stock on the holiday ones so we just used regular plain ones instead.

As I took this picture Matthew kept asking "Am I a cook?"  Yes buddy, you sure are!  He was so proud to make these for his dad for Father's Day.  And his dad doesn't like pretzels in his cookies/bars, so his dad was a great sport for eating them anyways!  These look nothing like what the original post/video/recipe showed, but Matthew didn't care one bit!  These were made with love and are perfect just the way they are! 

1 ½ cup brown sugar

1 ½ sticks butter

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup M and Ms Red, White and Blue Milk Chocolate Candy (or regular plain ones if you can't find 4th of July themed ones)

⅓ cup pretzels, crushed

⅓ cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350℉/175℃.  

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan, allow to cool.

In another large mixing bowl, fold together cooled butter and brown sugar.

Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and stir until fully incorporated.  Fold in the reserved flour mixture.  Fold in M and M's , chocolate chips, and pretzels, reserving ¼ of each for topping.

Pour batter into a lined 8x8 inch bake dish and sprinkle with reserved toppings.  Bake at 350℉ for 30-35 minutes until skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool before cutting into 36 pieces.  (If you cut these into 36 pieces they will be TINY!  I got about 16 pieces!!) 

#2,712: Instant Pot Baked Potatoes

This "recipe" took me three tries to get right!  I was about to give up on trying to make baked potatoes in the Instant Pot, but figured I'd give it one more try!  I don't know if it's the fact that I added more water, or that I didn't stack any on top of one another, or I just got lucky, but this time it finally worked!  The first two times the potatoes were under cooked and I had to finish them in the microwave or sauteed on the stove.  Tonight though they were fluffy and cooked all the way through (thank goodness!) 

6 medium potatoes scrubbed clean, and pierced with a fork several times

1 1/2 cups cold water

Pour the cold water into the bottom of the Instant Pot.  Place a trivet inside the pot and arrange the potatoes on top of the trivet (I suggest NOT stacking them).  Place lid on instant pot and seal the valve.

Set to high pressure for 15 minutes for medium potatoes. After the 15 minutes are up, do a natural release for another 15 minutes, then let out any remaining pressure.  
Carefully remove from the Instant Pot, being careful to take them out because the skin will sometimes start to tear off if you aren't careful.  Serve with whatever toppings you desire.  

#2,711: Cheeseburger in a Bowl

I had leftover burgers from dinner with my inlaws last night, so I decided to grab some lettuce from my garden to make these cheeseburgers in a bowl.  I had some leftover grilled onions and chopped tomatoes, so besides whipping together the dressing (easy), and cutting up some cucumbers (also easy), I had this meal thrown together in about 5 minutes.  The recipe below is for four servings, so I just used a little bit of everything to make one serving for myself for lunch.  It was really good!  I even crushed up a few potato chips (towards the end) to add on top like the recipe suggests, and that was just as good because it gives it a nice crunch (like croutons would in a traditional salad).  I would definitely eat and make this "burger" meal again.

I add a lot more to my burgers though and throw in yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, diced onion, minced garlic, seasoned salt, and pepper.  But my mom literally only uses salt and pepper, so to each his own!  

1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup reduced-fat ranch salad dressing

2 tablespoons ketchup

4 cups shredded lettuce

4 cups torn romaine

1 medium cucumber, finely chopped

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped dill pickles (I used dill pickle relish)

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Crushed potato chips, optional

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, combine beef, salt and pepper, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Shape into four 1/2-in.-thick patties.  Grill burgers, covered, over medium heat 4-5 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 160°.

Meanwhile, whisk salad dressing and ketchup. In a large bowl, toss lettuces with half the dressing mixture; divide among four plates. 

Top with grilled burger, cucumber, tomato, pickles, onion, and cheese. Serve with remaining dressing. Top with potato chips if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

#2,710: Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad

Mmmm....look at the freshness of that salad!  I found this recipe in a recent issue of Better Homes and Gardens and it just yelled summer, so I was excited to try it.  I didn't happen to have any chickpeas on hand, so I just used canellini beans instead.  Still good!  The basil is fresh from my garden...I have mint growing too, but it's chocolate mint so I figured I better just omit that ingredient.  

PS...this is also really good with some bacon as part of a BLT sandwich.  LOL.  I am obsessed with BLT's since I have lettuce growing in my garden.  So I figured I'd add some of this to my sandwich too.  Delish!  However, it does tend to fall off the bread, so some sort of roll would probably be better than the toasted wheat bread I'm currently eating it on.  

4 ears fresh corn
2 pints grape and/or cherry tomatoes
15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I used canellini beans)
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c torn fresh mint leaves (I omitted)
1/3 c torn fresh basil leaves

For salad:
Remove husks and silk from corn.  Cut kernels from cobs; place in a serving bowl.  Add tomatoes, chickpeas, edamame, and red onion. 

For dressing:
In a screw-top jar, combine olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.  Cover and shake well.  

Pour dressing over salad and toss.  Top with mint and basil.  

#2,709: S'mores Muffins

These muffins have graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chips in the batter, and you top it with marshmallow creme....all the makings of a good s'more!  These were really easy to make and I probably shouldn't admit it, but the batter was SOOO good.  I didn't even let the kids lick the beaters because I didn't want to share.  LOL  I think the next time I make these I'm going to try adding some mini marshmallows right into the batter.  Because without the marshmallow topping (which doesn't last more than a day so don't add it until you want to eat it!) it's pretty much a yummy chocolate chip muffin.  Either way, it was still good!  

By the way, here's a kitchen cooking tip for you...did you know that butter can explode in the microwave?!  I knew it would "pop" and splatter so I covered it with a paper towel, but 2 minutes is way too long to melt butter (I just hit a number and walked away...I know better!).  That butter didn't just splatter, it literally burst through the paper towel (the paper towel was cut in half) and almost the entire bowl of butter was splattered ALL OVER the inside of my microwave.  Well that's one way to get me to clean the microwave I guess.  Lesson learned...lower heat, lower time, don't leave unattended!    

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 15 whole crackers)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2%)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3/4 cup marshmallow cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Toss the chocolate chips with 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl; set aside. (PS...I got 16 muffins out of this recipe)

Whisk the remaining flour, the graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the sugar, melted butter, milk, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl until smooth; stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chip mixture.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters of the way. Tap the bottom of the pan lightly on the counter to smooth out the batter. Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Top each muffin with 1 tablespoon marshmallow cream. Let set 10 minutes.

#2,708: Ginger Green Beans

I'm still puzzled about this recipe and these green beans.  This is meant to be a cold side dish, but I'm not sure I liked it cold (and this is coming from someone who often doesn't reheat leftovers!!).  But the flavors were better cold!  When I ate this hot, it was WAY too salty from the soy sauce, but when it chilled that saltiness definitely was cut back and the flavors were better.  

So I decided to jazz this one up a little bit and added some crumbled bacon and some toasted slivered almonds...there you go!  I enjoyed this WAY more with those additions.  :)

So...if you are going to eat this hot, cut back on the soy sauce.  If you are going to eat this cold, add some bacon.

And every once in a while you get a little bite of the ginger in this recipe....yes!

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed

1 tangerine, peeled, segmented, seeds removed (I used about 8 drops of tangerine vitality essential oil)

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 garlic clove, peeled and halved

1 teaspoon packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon white vinegar

(I actually made mine in my instant pot.  Add 1 cup of water to the green beans.  Set the timer to high and ZERO minutes.  As soon as it pressurizes release the pressure and put the green beans into an ice water bath.) In a 6-qt. stockpot, bring 12 cups water to a boil. Add green beans; cook, uncovered, 2-3 minutes or just until crisp-tender and bright green. Quickly remove and immediately drop into ice water. Drain and pat dry.

In a blender or food processor, combine the next eleven ingredients; process until well blended. Pour dressing mixture over beans; toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 8 servings