Cherry-Nutella Brownies

Heaven... I'm in heaven... Every time I look at these pictures I just want to dive right in; go back in time and relish in this gooey deliciousness. 

But I have a small confession to make. I lied. Just a little. The title here is Cherry-Nutella Brownies... but there isn't any Nutella. I actually used Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond Spread. Basically the same thing as Nutella, but made with almonds instead of hazelnuts. Both are super fantastic and taste almost the same. You can use either!

Also, this is more assembly instructions than a recipe... but so good! My husband is a lover of all things cherry/chocolate, so I threw this together for him and he loved it. It was gone by midday the following day. 

1 recipe Second Best Brownies

1 can cherry pie filling

1 jar Nutella (or Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond Spread)

Directions:

Follow directions for Second Best Brownies:

Immediately after removing brownies from oven, gently spread with Nutella:

 Then spread with cherry pie filling. Let cool, cut, and serve.

Thai Chicken Enchiladas

These enchiladas are soooooo sooooo soooooooooo good. If I could reach through your computer screen to shake your shoulders while telling you this, I would. You must understand how amazing they are! 

I was really nervous about making them because my husband spent two years serving a mission in Thailand and came home with amazing Thai-food-cooking-skills. He doesn't really follow recipes (hence why there are no Thai food recipes on here), because he just remembers how the food is supposed to taste, and then adds a little of this, a little of that... I was so worried he'd take one bite and say something like, "This is NOT Thai food."

Well, it would be true if he did say that. Enchiladas are Mexican, not Thai. But he didn't say that. He didn't care that Thai enchiladas aren't really Thai food. He didn't care that these didn't resemble anything he's ever eaten in Thailand. He just wanted to eat them. And eat more. And then eat more. I'm not kidding. He even scraped the kids plates. 

I used whole wheat tortillas from Costco, which were delicious. Honestly, this dish wouldn't have been so amazing if it weren't for the delicious tortillas, so make sure you get some good quality yummy ones. 

Ingredients

10-12 tortillas
2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chopped/shredded carrots
1 cup chopped/shredded cabbage
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 green onions, sliced, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chopped peanuts, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

2 (12 oz) cans coconut milk
1 cup sweet chili sauce (divided in half)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Throw in onions, cabbage, carrots, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring to mix. Let cook until vegetables are soft, about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in chicken, green onions, peanuts, cilantro, remaining salt and pepper, tossing to coat, and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in 1 1/4 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce, mixing thoroughly to combine. Turn off heat.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Whisk together remaining coconut milk and sweet chili sauce. Pour about 1/2 a cup or so on the bottom of the dish. Slightly warm tortillas if desired to make them more pliable, then place a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture in each, rolling up tightly and placing in the dish. Cover with remaining coconut milk and chili sauce mix. I usually take a spoon and cover every inch of the tortilla with the sauce, just to make sure it’s coated.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and top with additional peanuts and cilantro. Since sauce is not as thick as traditional enchilada sauce, when you remove them from the oven, spoon sauce from the bottom of the dish all over the tortillas. Additionally this can be done halfway through cooking too.

recipe adapted from howsweeteats.com

Second Best Brownies

I know my title is probably not the best lead-in to get you to want to make these brownies. But think about how great second place can be in other areas... American Idol? Guaranteed record deal. Second place in a hot dog eating contest? Who really wants to be first in something like that? Third grade playground games? ("First the worst, second the best, third the nerd!") So, second best can be a good thing!  

Also, the only reason I say second best is because the Best Brownies have frosting. These don't have frosting, but are great because they're super chocolate-y, slightly fudgey without being soggy, and are very easy to whip up quickly. 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 cup), melted

4 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (first 5 ingredients). Add melted butter and eggs and mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips; stir to combine. 

Bake brownies for 25-30 minutes, or until done to your desired liking. The toothpick test doesn't work so well for these brownies because the chocolate chips will stick to the toothpick, making it look like moist, under-cooked batter. I usually bake them until they don't jiggle anymore when I lightly jostle the pan. 

30 Minute Cheesy Ham Casserole (freezer meal!)

Years ago our church had a huge Christmas dinner party. Apparently we were the "poor starving students" of the bunch, because we were sent home with at least 30 huge baked potatoes and a few whole hams. At the time, I also was the Compassionate Service Leader for our church, which meant I was blessed with the responsibilities of making sure the needs of the members were being taken care of (meals/cleaning/etc for a family with a new baby or a death in the family, families moving in/out, illnesses, childcare, arranging food for funerals, etc.) I knew I could figure out a way to use all of that food to help fulfill those needs. 

I pulled out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook, whipped up some cheese sauce, and voila! I had plenty of freezer meals ready to heat at a moment's notice! I even had to borrow friend's freezer space to help with the storage. 

Since then, we've used this recipe many times as a quick but yummy meal that the kids always love. 

Shown here with my Apple Spinach Salad. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups (about 8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese - separated 

4 cups milk

4-5 medium peeled, cooked potatoes (steamed, boiled al dente, baked, microwaved...)
2 cups ham, cut into bite size pieces

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.

Pour milk into pot, mixing quickly with a whisk. Return pot to stove and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Quickly add 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, stirring until melted. 

Grease 9x13" baking pan. Place ham, potatoes, and cheese sauce in baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. At this point you can cover and freeze, cover and refrigerate to eat later, or bake in 375 degree oven about 15 minutes - until casserole is bubbly and cheese is very lightly browned. 

*some tips - if you bake your potatoes in the oven earlier in the day, they'll be cool to the touch and easy to hand-peel the skins off by the time you're ready to cook dinner. Also, ham lunch meat makes an easy substitution if you don't have a leftover holiday ham.

Apple Spinach Salad

This salad is one of my all time favorites. We eat it pretty regularly, especially as the weather begins to warm up and I want my kitchen to cool down. It's super versatile - we've substituted mandarin oranges and pears for the apples and added chicken to make it a meal. You can use candied nuts, raw nuts, roasted nuts, sliced almonds, or any other crunch (croutons, chow mein noodles). The main parts of it are: greens, fresh fruit, dried fruit, crunch, and my amazing Poppy Seed dressing. 

Ingredients:

4 cups washed, dried baby spinach leaves

4 cups washed, dried, sliced romaine lettuce

2 Gala apples, cored and very thinly sliced

1 cup Craisins

1 cup candied walnuts (click here for recipe)

Poppy Seed dressing (click here for recipe)

Directions:

Combine greens in a large bowl and mix. Add apples, Craisins, and nuts. Pour Poppy Seed dressing on everything, or leave it next to the bowl so each person can add their desired amount. Yum-O! 

Candied Walnuts

This is so super simple and is a fun way to add some crunch to your salads or just eat as a yummy snack.

1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup raw walnut halves (or pecans)

In a cool medium-large skillet, evenly pour sugar, coating the entire bottom of the pan. Place walnuts gently on top of sugar. Turn stove to medium-high heat. Now, leave the skillet alone, but watch carefully. In about 5-10 minutes the sugar will start to melt. As soon as most of the sugar has melted, but before it begins to burn, remove skillet from heat and quickly stir nuts to coat in melted sugar. Remove walnuts from skillet, and spread them out on a sheet of aluminum foil to cool.

Poppy Seed Dressing

1 tablespoon poppy seeds
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar or Splenda
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh grated onion
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients in blender. Pour over your favorite salad.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

The summer after I turned 16 I got a phone call at 7am on a Saturday morning. It went like this:
Me: (super groggy tired) Hello?
Caller: Megan? It's Shannon (my 19 year old sister). My boss wants to talk to you.
Me: What? Your boss? Why?
Shannon's boss: Hi, Megan? This is Janeen, the Aquatics Director at the YMCA. We are way understaffed today and need you to come in. Can you be here in an hour? (The pool was 45 minutes away.)
Me: (still super groggy tired) Umm ok?

I threw on a bathing suit, drove down to the pool, and jumped in the water with 10 kids I'd never seen before. I began my first job as a swim instructor at the YMCA.

The only reason I tell you this is because the snack bar at the YMCA had the most amazing fruit and oatmeal bars. Some local bakery would drop off the oatmeal bars and huge chocolate chip cookies, all individually wrapped and all amazingly delicious. For $1.25 you could get a huge oatmeal bar that I would swear I was only going to eat half of on my break, but would always end up eating the whole thing. For three years I ate those amazing treats and the whole three years I never got sick of them. I probably had one at least once a week.

But now... I can make them myself! And these are equally delicious. But better because I don't have to pay $1.25 every time I want one!

2 cups flour

2 cups uncooked quick oats

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups raspberry jam (or any other kind - apricot is the bomb-diggity)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13" pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. 

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; mix well. Add butter and stir with a fork until mixture is crumbly. 

Set aside 1 1/2 cups of crumb mixture for topping. Press the rest evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 7-8 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Spread jam onto crust and sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting and serving. 

Hawaiian Haystacks

This dish is a serious oxymoron. It's sweet and savory. Hot and cold. Creamy and crunchy. And super yuuuummy.

The first time I ever ate it was after our first baby was born and a sweet friend, Ruth, brought us dinner. She was so surprised I had never heard of it before. I looked it up and according to Wikipedia - it's not a Hawaiian cultural dish, but a Mormon one. Who'da thunk?

Regardless of where it came from, it's a fun dish to serve. It starts with a base of rice and chicken in gravy. After that, you can add whatever toppings you want! I think it traditionally has pineapples and coconut (hence the name - Hawaiian Haystacks), but really "there's no limit to the excitement you can explore." Uh... what?! I asked my husband what I should say there and that is what he came up with. Maybe I won't let him be a guest blogger anymore. I think it's going to his head.

So, moving on.... What I was planning on saying was more along the lines of  "you can use any combination of ingredients that your family will like." And the kids love making their own. It's also great for feeding a crowd!

Most recipes use cream of chicken soup, but since I would rather eat soggy cereal than cream of chicken soup, I made my own chicken gravy.

Chicken Gravy
1/4 cup butter

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

In 1 1/2-quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in onions, flour, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.

Pour milk and broth into pot, mixing quickly with a whisk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute. Add chicken and remove from heat, stirring to combine chicken and gravy.

Hawaiian Haystack ingredients (in the order we stacked them):
Rice (we like brown)
Chicken gravy
Pineapples or Mandarin Oranges
Diced Tomatoes
Diced Bell Peppers
Sliced Olives
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chow Mein Noodles
Toasted Coconut (I forgot to toast it when I took the pictures, but the next night we had it again and it was SO much better toasted.)
Sliced Green Onions
Anything else your family likes!

Whole Grain Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Cinnamon Cream (Guest Post!)

 

I'm so excited to have a guest post today! The best part is, I didn't even request it! My sweet husband made us breakfast yesterday morning and by midday, he'd emailed me this post! Sure makes my job super easy!

So, here you go: Whole Grain Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Cinnamon Cream, by my husband, Ian.
____________


I woke up craving pancakes. I can’t stand the lack of substance in pancakes made from mixes, and I don’t like plain white pancakes, even if they’re made with buttermilk.


In my opinion, there should be a bigger difference between pancakes and white bread toast. We consequently have a bunch of different recipes for pancakes, but I didn’t feel in the mood for any of them. Besides, cooking is always so much more fun when you try a new recipe.


I decided I wanted to make pumpkin pancakes but our regular recipes for those use white flour and I wanted something heartier. My internet search didn’t return anything exciting enough, so I decided to come up with my own: Whole Grain Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Cinnamon Cream.

Whole Grain Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup flax seed meal
3/4 cup dry milk powder
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups water
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar


Preheat griddle to medium (approx. 375 degrees).


Grind oats by using a blender or food processor. Combine the ground oats with whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, dry milk powder, allspice, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.


In a separate bowl, beat eggs and stir in water, pumpkin, oil, vinegar, and sugar. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes.


Use a 1/4 or 1/3 measuring cup to pour batter onto the griddle. These pancakes take some time to cook. Be patient and wait to flip until the batter is set around the edges. I knew it was time to flip mine when there was a ¼”-½” ring around the outside of each pancake.


Cook the second side about half as long as the first. There’s a fine line between gooey and too dry, so it might take you a few rounds to get the timing just right.



Maple Cinnamon Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Whip heavy cream for about one minute. Then beat in syrup and cinnamon, adding more or less according to your taste.