You can never have too many party appetizers in your cooking arsenal. I wanted to try something a little different than the apps I’ve been posting recently. This dish is a layered dip with black beans, chorizo, tomatoes, and cheese and would be perfect for watching the game or any other party!
I’ve been in a bit of a cooking rut lately (which is why I haven’t posted many recipes recently). Work has been busy which means that by the time I get home, I just want to eat something quickly with little effort. So I started researching 20 minute meals that are really simple to make, as long as I can get to the supermarket!
These Bourbon Truffles are another recipe I made for New Year’s Eve. I have actually made this a few times and have altered it slightly from the original Williams-Sonoma recipe to suit my tastes.
I lowered the amount of bourbon so that there is a hint to enhance the flavor of the chocolate without overpowering. (The first round of making these it was like taking a shot with every bite, whew!) I also kept having trouble with the coating (my chocolate kept seizing) so I’ve altered that a bit to make a smoother coating that’s easier to work with.
Working late really messes with my dinner making plans. When I get home later than expected, I can’t justify making a big meal, mainly because I’m already hungry and just want to eat as soon as possible. This recipe for Chicken and Guacamole Tostadas is perfect for nights like that, it uses shredded rotisserie chicken so that the recipe comes together in no time!
You’ll still notice that the photos are, well, crummy. I was super hungry and had to eat ASAP; the tostadas looked so good!
Ingredients:
1 ripe peeled avocado
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped tomato, divided
3 tablespoons minced fresh onion, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
the juice of 2 limes, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
I am seriously starting to think that Cooking Light has a way to read my thoughts. It’s like they know exactly what ingredient I want to work with next, or a particular product I might be craving, like this recipe for Stuffed Chicken and Herb Gravy. And I don’t mind that one bit.
The latest issue has a recipe for Stuffed Chicken and Herb Gravy with Creamy Polenta that upon seeing in the magazine, I immediately put on my boots, coat, hat, scarf, gloves, etc. etc. and headed for the supermarket, despite the slippery and freezing walk I had ahead of me (it’s a whopping 5 blocks away, but I still managed to almost fall a good 3 times). And I have to tell you, it was worth it.
(I posted this photo to Instagram before I left for the supermarket. hehe)
Chicken breasts stuffed with prosciutto and provolone, over creamy polenta, topped with an herb gravy… What’s not to like? The recipe suggested making it with bacon green beans, but we had some Brussels sprouts in the freezer that I wanted to use so I substituted them in instead.
Ingredients:
CHICKEN AND GRAVY:
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 very thin prosciutto slices (about 1/2 ounce), halved
4 (2/3-ounce) slices reduced-fat provolone cheese
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
POLENTA
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1/3 cup unsalted chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked polenta (I just used yellow corn meal)
You may have noticed in November that some of the photos in my posts were taken with the Samsung Galaxy Camera. I was given the opportunity through Verizon Wireless’ Philadelphia Tri-State Region team to try out this nifty little guy.
Here’s another delicious dessert I made for New Years Eve – Brownie Petit Fours. (You can read about my New Years Eve party and get a recipe for Honey Citrus Champange Cupcakes here) The original BHG recipe included bourbon, but I already had Bourbon Truffles on the menu so I decided to go without it in this recipe.
I was a little wary of making these little guys, petit fours seem pretty difficult to make. But I was surprised with how simple it was to make these!
Ingredients:
BROWNIES
1/2 cup butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons coffee grounds (I measured them out from a k cup)
As most of the U.S. has been dealing with seriously cold weather and snow, I thought it was time to share another French Toast recipe. Without fail, people always go out before a storm and stock up on bread, milk, and eggs so French Toast is the perfect meal on a snow day. This recipe for Slow Cooker Nutella French Toast Casserole with Caramelized Bananas is sure to become a favorite snow day meal for you!
This recipe is based off my Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole, but incorporates Nutella and tops it off with caramelized bananas for good measure. I love using my slow cooker for French Toast because it makes a bunch of servings to either share with a group or pack up and enjoy all week!
Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! My boyfriend and I had a New Years Eve party this year, complete with a champagne bar, dessert bar, and a DIY photo booth!
Minted sent me the banner and signs as well as paper cups, plates, and napkins to really snazz up our party. Aren’t those signs so cute? The theme shown in the photos is “Sparkle Everywhere”
Their party decor is really great; Minted has decor for any party you can imagine! You can build your own package or choose from three suites: unique party, perfect party, or dream party. Minted has you covered from the napkins to the table confetti to even adorable paper straws and cake plates. You can also order invitations that match your theme!
The Champagne Bar was a huge hit. I included suggested champagne cocktails but creativity was encouraged. My favorite combination was St. Germaine filled with sparkling wine and topped with some cranberry juice.
We had a blast in the photo booth and people had fun with all of the props!
The dessert bar turned out great too! I will be sharing recipes that I made for it over the coming days but I wanted to start with a particularly appropriate New Years Eve cupcake, although these are so good you will want to make them all year round 🙂
This recipe for Champagne Cupcakes was sent to me by Golden Blossom Honey. Golden Blossom’s honey is composed of honey from three flowers — extra-white clover, sage buckwheat, and orange blossom so the flavor profile is unique and really tasty!
These cupcakes highlight the taste of the honey with the addition of orange and dry champagne, making for a really moist and flavorful cupcake.
I’m a bit late posting this cookie recipe after Christmas and all but who really gets upset about a cookie recipe?
For as long as I can remember, Peanut Butter Cookies have been a part of my Christmas celebrations. They are just the best. And luckily, they are really easy to make too!
This recipe is from Food Network and can be made in under 30 minutes; you don’t even have to refrigerate the dough before baking!
Ingredients (makes approximately 2 dozen cookies):
Boy did I start my cookie baking late this year! I can’t believe Christmas is just days away. I was recently sent a beautiful carved cinnamon bark box with 3 oz of Vietnam cinnamon by World Vision so I wanted to make a cookie recipe that would feature cinnamon, so I had to make snickerdoodles! This recipe for Star Anise Snickerdoodles from Cooking Light adds ground star anise to traditional sugar cookies for a subtle different take on the classic.
World Vision is a Gift Catalog that allows you to give a truly meaningful gift this holiday season. The catalog is filled with items for every budget ($16 to $39,000) that help children and families in need worldwide. The World Vision Gift Catalog offers an alternative (or addition to) traditional holiday gift giving. You can choose a gift for these families that fits your financial abilities and personal tastes. For example, a gardener may enjoy giving hybrid or drought-resistant seeds to a farmer with a donation of just $17 to help one family.
With a financial contribution, the gift giver can select one of 36 items that you will get while helping a person in need. The cinnamon used in this recipe comes with a donation of $85. The wonderful people at World Vision Gift Catalog have offered to give another Prosperity Cinnamon Box away to a lucky reader!
More after the recipe …
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground star anise (about 2 pods)
This post brought to you by Campbell’s Dinner Sauces. Weekend-worthy dinners with only weekday-level effort needed! Learn more at https://www.campbellsauces.com/
This year, my boyfriend and I are hosting a New Year’s Eve party. With a quite a few friends coming from out of town, I need a recipe that is simple to make but can feed a crowd. I also need something that doesn’t dirty up every pot and pan I own right before the party starts, which means I’m whipping out my trusty slow cooker!
Campbell’s has made this process even easier for me with their new Slow Cooker Sauces. I actually mentioned in a previous post how I wanted to try the Sweet Korean BBQ sauce, so here’s my opportunity! I made a test batch this week to see how it tastes.
As a member of the DailyBuzz Brand Ambassador Program, I once again get to work with Campbell’s to try out another one of their delicious sounding sauces. The sauces are currently available in supermarkets, typically in the Gravy or Boxed Dinner Kit aisles. (To learn more about the sauces, check out their interactive Facebook app that gives more information about both the Skillet and the Slow Cooker Sauces.)
Because the sauce is already prepared, getting everything into the slow cooker is a cinch. To stretch the beef a little further, I made these into tacos served with red cabbage, sriracha sour cream, and red bell peppers.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 bunch green onions (scallions), divided
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3-4 lbs boneless chunk roast
1 package of Campbell’s Sweet Korean BBQ Slow Cooker Sauce
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sriracha (depending on your spice tolerance)
It’s that time of year again! I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year and got some great ideas for what to bake for Christmas!
In its third year, the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. The swap raised $13,778.40 this year, raised through blogger participants donations and matching donations from OXO, Dixie Crystals, Gold Medal, and Grandma’s Molasses. The goal was $10,000, so to get nearly $4,000 more in donations is amazing!
So here’s how the actual swapping part of this works: I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers.
Last year, I received a batch of hot cocoa cookies that were SO good I was craving them again this year. So I decided to make some myself! The chocolate cookies are topped with mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a touch of grated chocolate. I based my recipe off of Rachel Ray’s Hot Cocoa Cookies recipe.
I wanted to make an appetizer that travels easily so that I could bring it up to an engagement party I was attending on Long Island. Closet Cooking has a fantastic recipe for Maple Bourbon Bacon Jam that sounded perfect. I altered it to make it into a slow cooker recipe because I didn’t have time to keep something on the stove for 1-2 hours (I actually ended up making this overnight) and made it a bit less spicy.
The jam can be made well ahead of time which made it perfect for traveling!
Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) package uncured center cut bacon
1 large white onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup brewed coffee
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup bourbon
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped, plus a teaspoon of the adobo sauce
You can never have too many pie recipes during the holidays! This one for Caramel Apple Pie is a great spin on a traditional apple pie that adds caramel to really amp up the flavor. The recipe comes from Organic Valley and uses their Salted Butter, Whole Milk, and Eggs. Note: I was sent a coupon to receive one Organic Valley product for free.
Organic Valley is a co-op of organic farmers based in La Farge, Wisconsin. The cooperative was founded in 1988 and markets its products in all 50 states as well as Canada and Japan. Organic Valley promotes organic agricultural methods, with each participating farm certified as organic by the National Organic Program.
A problem I still run into when cooking/baking is I rarely read the directions all the way though before starting (a huge no no). So I made a completely different pie crust by accident because I got confused as to where the sugar and egg was supposed to go in the original recipe. Luckily it turned out fine (whew!) but for the original recipe, be sure to head over to the Organic Valley website.
2 pounds organic Granny Smith apples (10-11 medium-sized apples or 4 large), peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch thick slices (coat slices with juice of 1 lemon to prevent browning)
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