Slow Cooker Asian Five Spice Meatballs

Slow Cooker Asian Five Spice Meatballs

It's the second week of school and I am already sick. I woke up this morning with a nasty cold, which only got worse as the day went on. My oldest had to miss school today as well. I love how I'm not sick all summer and then as soon as my oldest goes back to school, bam. I also am not a fan of the fact that I always getter sicker than anyone else in the house. My kids are sick for a couple of days, I get pneumonia, strep throat, you name it. Plus it's never a little bit of pneumonia, it's a hospital stay, or weeks of strep throat that doesn't want to go away. I seem not to be able to do anything part way, it's all or nothing. When I'm not feeling my best, I rely on my slow cooker. Slow cooker meals take little prep and are great when I don't have the time or energy to make a big involving meal. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Asian Five Spice Meatballs from Family Circle magazine.

Memorial Fountain Marshall University Huntington, WV

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 6 hours and 20 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free bread crumbs. I did not have low sodium soy sauce on hand, so I just used the regular that I already had. Veal is very hard to find near me, so I substituted ground Angus beef. I used 1/2 pound 93 percent lean beef, 1/2 pound ground Angus and a 1/2 ground pork. In total I ended up with 13 meatballs.

Memorial Fountain Front View Marshall University Huntington, WV

Changing recipes to gluten free can always be hit or miss. This recipe turned out perfectly. The meatballs stayed moist and the flavor was delicious. Since there wasn't enough sauce after the meatballs were done I made my own. I used 3/4 part grape jelly and 1/4 part sriracha. It had a nice spicy sweet flavor and was perfect to drizzle on top of the meatballs. Plus it pays tribute to West Virginia, since grape and hot pepper jelly with meatballs is an appetizer staple.

For the recipe go to Asian Five Spice Meatballs. (registration required)

Slow Cooker Asian Five Spice Meatballs

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A flavorful slow cooker recipe for Asian Style Meatballs made with 5 spice powder. Only 20 minutes of active time.

Preparation Time: 0h, 20m

Cooking Time: 6h, 0m

Total Time: 6h, 20m

Yield: Serves 6

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

Tuscan Chicken and Rice

West Virginia has taught me to slow down. Growing up in Seattle everything was always busy. I woke-up early, I worked long hours and I was always stressed. When I moved to West Virginia I stuck out. I didn't understand why it took a week for my paper work to be processed for my apartment or that when I went in to my work study assignment that the office had taken Friday off. After 10 years I have learned to love taking things a little slower. This afternoon my husband and I took my two boys and our dog around taking photos. In typical summer fashion there was a large summer downpour. Everyone at the park ran to their cars and waited. No one pulled away, we just all watched the storm and took a moment. It was perfect. There are many things that can be frustrating about life, but learning to sit on your porch and enjoy the summer warmth, say hello to your neighbor and just relax is something that we could all do with a little more of. So thank you West Virginia for teaching me that sometimes it's okay to just sit and wait, most things can sit at least a few minutes. With slowing down in mind, I made a slow cooker recipe today. I tried a new recipe for Tuscan Chicken and Beans from the September 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

Camden Park Wayne County, WV

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. The major change I made to the original recipe was to make my own Greek seasoning. I try to cut costs as much as I can and making seasoning blends is much cheaper. I already had all the ingredients so it was easy to put together. Instead of using an additional 1/2 teaspoon of thyme I increased the amount of seasoning to 2 teaspoons. The Greek seasoning that I prepared already had thyme so I found it unnecessary to add more. At dinner time I was unmotivated to go down to my garden to pick fresh oregano, so I left it out. The taste was delicious without it.

Camden Park Sign Wayne County, WV

My kids who have been horrible about eating dinner recently, loved this recipe. They ate their entire plates, which for them is a big thing. My husband was also very impressed, especially since he has been burned out on chicken thighs, but was very pleased with them in this recipe. The flavors work very well together and the chicken is fall off the bone tender. The recipe would also work well with lamb instead of the chicken.

For the recipe go to Tuscan Chicken and Beans. (registration required)

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A slow cooker chicken thigh recipe for Tuscan Chicken and Beans. Great flavor and easy to prep.

Preparation Time: 0h, 15m

Total Time: 8h, 15m

Yield: Serves 6

Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Mango Salsa

Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Mango Salsa

Everyone else in my city seemed to be at our local Hot dog Festival today. I was not. I have been twice, but since I can't eat gluten the thought of throwing away a ton of hot dog buns isn't appealing. In addition the last time we went I was pregnant with my youngest and they wanted to charge me 10 dollars for a lemonade. We live in one of the poorest areas of the US, 10 dollars seems like a lot of money given that minimum wage is under 8 dollars an hour. Instead I took my boys to the library to enter their raffle tickets for the summer reading program and then when second hand store shopping. I love going thrifting. I grew up with a super frugal mother that made everything from scratch and stretched money better than anyone that I know. I try to be the same way. Right now we need a new desk for our dining room/home office area. I refuse to buy a desk that comes in a box, that I will have to put together and then will commence to fall apart in two years. Instead I am going to look for a desk that needs a little TLC and then redo it. I love redoing old furniture. I stained our dining room table this summer and it looks so much better. Today was a bust, but I might try the flea market tomorrow. Last week was a laid back food week. I haven't been motivated to be in the kitchen for a long amount of time so I have been trying recipes that takes less than an hour start to finish. I tried a new recipe for Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Mango Salsa from Family Circle magazine.

Heirloom Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I made a number of changes to the original recipe. First I made two tenderloins since with three males in my house one just wouldn't be enough. I tried cooking the two tenderloins in the oven and they just didn't want to completely temp in the oven, so I pulled them out and finished in a pan on the stove. Honestly for tenderloin I prefer grilling or pan cooking. Over cooked pork can be tough and the oven method is hard to get to temp evenly. The recipes states to let the pork cook until 145 degrees. With a 10 minute rest this is over done. Meat does not stop cooking once it's pulled out of the oven. It will continue to cook when it is resting, normally 5-10 degrees. I pull my pork out at 135 and it always hits temp after the rest period. Obviously it is up to you with what you feel comfortable feeding your family, but I prefer my pork to still be tender.

Garden Strawberries

The pork in this recipe was delicious. The salsa was great also, but I was unimpressed with the mashed sweet potatoes suggested for a side. It was just too sweet and I didn't like the orange flavor. A regular baked potato would be a better side dish or a baked sweet potato if you prefer. As a side note I have decided to start including more photos in my post so there isn't 3 paragraphs with no visual break. I know that I can get bored with too many words, so I am going to make an attempt to show a little bit of my life outside of the kitchen. Today it's photos of my garden, but in the future it will be a variety of scenes from my city and life. Hopefully that will be a little easier to read and give my readers a glimpse into West Virginia life.

For the recipe go to Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Mango Salsa. (registration required)

Pulled Pork Cemita Sandwiches

Pulled Pork Cemita Sandwich

My heirloom tomatoes have finally started to ripen. I wasn't sure if they were going to actually product fruit since we had so much rain for most of May and June. Luckily after lots of attention and pruning my tomato plants are growing like crazy. My oldest son, who helped plant all our fruits and vegetables this year is very excited. He already ate two whole tomatoes like apples for dinner tonight. Even my husband who isn't a big fan of tomatoes had to admit that the heirlooms were delicious. There is something so quintessentially summer about heirloom tomatoes, I love them. Our weather has finally cooled down so even though my tomatoes are in their full summer glory, my house has been much cooler. Even with the cooler temps I have been still using my slow cooker like crazy. This week I tried a new recipe for Pulled Pork Cemita Sandwiches from the May 2013 issue of Family Circle.

This recipe 13 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 10 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I made my own hamburger rolls from scratch. They are much better than store bought and easy to make. Second, I was unable to find black bean spread so I bought black bean dip and boiled it down until it was thickened. For the tomatoes I used the heirlooms from my garden.

The pork in this recipe turned out very tender. I added a lot of the liquid back in the pork in order to keep it moist. My husband loved the recipe and ate three sandwiches for dinner the night I made the dish. I ate my serving over basmati rice since I can't eat gluten. If you like more heat in your recipes you increase the chili powder or decrease if you want it milder.

For the recipe go to Pulled Pork Cernita Sandwiches. (registration required)

Recipe for Sour Cherry Rice Pudding

Sour Cherry Rice Pudding

I love to read. Growing up my mother never watched TV, instead she spent all of her free time curled up on the side of the couch with a book. It was thanks to her that I read War and Peace in middle school. She always expected me to read for joy, not grade level and challenged me to read everything I could get my hands on. In college I already had a major when on a whim I decided to tack on a second major, English Literature. This love of reading has followed me to the current day when I have been known to stay up all night finishing a great book. Most of you also know that I love to cook. Cookbooks and food magazines are always all over my house. There is something great about finding a new recipe to try and scouring through pages to find the perfect fit for dinner. Slow cooker recipes are some of my favorites and last week I tried a new recipe for Sour Cherry Rice Pudding from the June 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 6 hours and 35 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make changes to the original recipe. First since I have a larger crock-pot I doubled the recipe. I used fat free evaporated milk and 100 percent cherry juice for the ingredients. For whatever reason my crock-pot never works with rice pudding on low. Instead I decreased the time and cooked the recipe on high for a little under 3 hours. After the pudding has sat to cool it will need to be fluffed back up and you can add more evaporated milk if necessary.

Using fat free evaporated milk worked well in this recipe and I like that there is 11 grams of protein per serving. My kids ate their servings with homemade whipped cream, which was a nice combination. If you want a richer pudding this would be delicious with shaved dark chocolate on top.

For the recipe go to Sour Cherry Rice Pudding.

Recipe for Spicy Chipotle Burgers with Chipotle Sour Cream

Spicy Chipotle Burgers with Chipotle Sour Cream

I am happy to report that my herb garden has taken off. This year I finally gave in and decided that I would grow my own herbs instead of relying on store bought. I tried a herb garden once before I had kids and it didn't go well. Our yard didn't have enough sun light during the day and I was horrible about remembering to water. Luckily now that I am older I love gardening and have had great success. This year my oldest son and I decided that we would grow tomatoes and four types of herbs. They are doing very well so far and I am excited to be able to use foods from my garden in my cooking. Until my tomatoes are ready to eat I have still been using store bought, especially since we eat a lot of burgers. Last week I tried a new recipe for Spicy Chipotle Burgers from the June 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I made my own hamburger buns. Homemade buns have much better flavor and they are easier to make than you would think. Here are two links to the hamburger buns that I make 40 Minute Hamburger Buns and Homemade Sesame Buns. I used an indoor electric grill to make the burgers so my total grilling time was slightly longer than the recipe suggested. Finally I chose not to grill the buns. Since I use homemade buns and they are always baked the same day I don't see the need to grill my buns.

My husband and I really enjoyed these burgers. They were one of the best burgers that I have eaten or made in a while. I really liked the chipotle sour cream, it was a great addition to the burger recipe and cooled down the spiciness of the burger. If you want to cut down on the amount of fat you could try using ground beef with a lower fat content. With 25 grams of protein this is a filling recipe that is also easy to prepare making it a perfect summer grilling option.

For the recipe go to Spicy Chipotle Burgers. (registration required)

Turkey Sloppy Joes Recipe

Crock-Pot Turkey Sloppy Joes

My youngest had the misfortune of getting his first bee sting this evening. I knew something was wrong when he told me he was playing with a bug. As soon as the word stop was out of my mouth he started screaming because he had been stung by the 'bug'. Luckily pain medication and a baking soda paste saved the day. He is now asleep and I'm pretty sure that he won't be playing with bees again soon. Luckily before the be incident my family enjoyed a family favorite, sloppy joes. For dinner I tried a new recipe for Turkey Sloppy Joes from the May 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 3 hours and 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I followed the recipe pretty closely to the original. I always have baby carrots for my husband's lunch so that is what I used in this recipe. Since I only had smoked paprika I substituted it for regular and Sunny Buns for the hamburger buns. Of course my youngest slightly smashed my photo bun before I got the picture, hence why it looks a little lopsided. I ate my serving over brown rice.

My kids loved this recipe. I did find that it only made about 5 servings, not the 12 suggested by the recipe. My husband thought that he would have liked fewer carrots, I thought that it was a little sweet. Overall though this was a very family friendly recipe and I like that it uses turkey instead of beef.

For the recipe go to Turkey Sloppy Joes. Registration required.

Easy Enchiladas Suizas with Ground Turkey and Zucchini Filing

Enchiladas Suizas with Ground Turkey and Zucchini Filling

Salt is always a battle in my household. My husband and two boys could literally eat it straight from the shaker while I would be fine never salting anything. I know your thinking how can a self proclaimed foodie and food blogger hate salt. I seem to be a little bit of the odd one out. Chefs and foodies love salt. It adds flavor and substance to dishes and many chefs claim that over salting if always better than under salting. I salt all my recipes. I just don't add more than is necessary. Salt is absolutely essential for dishes to taste correctly, but I also believe that most Americans overuse salt, sometimes to an extreme. There is a happy medium where the flavor of dishes come through while keeping my blood pressure nice and low. It's also all about moderation as it should be with all food. If I make a dish high in salt one day I try to compensate and make something low in sodium the next. That way everyone is happy and we will all still live until we're at least 90. This week I tried a new recipe for Enchiladas Suizas from the April 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 60 minutes of total time, 40 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First for the turkey I used 93 percent lean, I substituted non-fat half and half for regular and mild salsa instead of medium since my kids would be eating it. Instead of heating each tortilla individually on the stove, I heated them in two sets in the microwave in between a moist set of paper towels for 40 seconds. I also skipped the step of heating the salsa mixture before adding the cheese, I was in a rush and needed dinner of the table as quickly as possible. Finally make sure to squeeze out the water from the zucchini. The recipe doesn't state this step and it is essential. Place the grated zucchini between paper towels and squeeze. A large amount of water will come out. Without this step the turkey will never brown and your enchiladas will be soggy.

I really like how easy this recipe is to prepare. The spices used in the turkey mixture were delicious and my whole family really liked the filling. I do think that there wasn't enough sauce to fully coat all the enchiladas. I would recommend making a double batch of sauce (you won't need it all you can freeze the extra). If you are a big cheese lover I would also suggest adding slightly more cheese to the top. The magazine picture shows more cheese than would actually be there if you only used 3/4 of a cup like the recipe suggests.

For the recipe go to Enchiladas Suizas (registration required).

Sweet Chili Rolls with Homemade Hamburger Buns

Sweet Chili Rolls with Homemade Hamburger Buns

I am finally feeling back to normal after having strep throat. Luckily I got antibiotics this weekend and after being sick for almost two weeks, I am feeling somewhat back to normal. I don't think that winter and me get along, I never seem to get a little sick, I get very sick. Last winter it was pneumonia and this winter it was strep. I promise that my posting schedule will be back to normal this week, things have been a little crazy while I was sick. When I get sick I rely heavily on my crock-pot to cook, I love it. There is nothing easier than taking out the ingredients in the morning, putting them in the slow cooker and by dinner it smells and tastes delicious. Last week I tried a new recipe for Sweet Chili Rolls from the October 2012 issue of Family Circle magazine.

Sweet Chili Rolls with Homemade Gluten Free Hamburger Buns

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 8 hours 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 8 serving. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First instead of using store bought buns I made my own. For my family I made regular hamburger buns and for me a gluten free version. For the ketchup I used the kind that uses real sugar. I try to limit the amount of high fructose corn syrup that my family consumes and a lot of brands of ketchup are full of it. I am a big proponent of label reading. Instead of canned pinto beans I made them from scratch. It is much cheaper to buy beans dried and prepare them. I make big batches at a time and then freeze them in small containers that are equal to the amount in 15 ounce cans. Finally, since it isn't Vidalia season I used a regular sweet onion.

My two boys really loved these sandwiches. They left off the cheddar cheese for their servings and my husband used pepper jack on his. The recipe claims that it makes 8 servings, but it made more than enough for my family of 4 with a large number of leftovers. The sandwiches are a little sweet, which could be adjusted by adding a spicier chili powder.

For the recipe go to Sweet Chili Rolls. (registration required)

Mediterranean Rigatoni

My two boys have decided that they are chefs lately. They enjoy taking things from around the house and my fridge and making a dish. Most of the time they claim that they are experimenting. I think they might watch too many cooking shows with me since they are always creating something with food that they find. They have made some things that I have to admit were pretty good. Yogurt seems to be their specialty lately, they have discovered some combination that have actually turned out pretty well. I love that they like to cook and they don't see it as a pursuit that only girls should do, which I think is great. I try to reinforce with my two boys that they should learn how to do everything around the house since it's always a good idea to be self sufficient. Teaching my kids to cook is something that is very important to me and my oldest helps me with dinner at least three times a week. Tonight for dinner my son helped me make Mediterranean Rigatoni from the March 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 26 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. Since I eat gluten free I used gluten free ziti. I have never seen cubed feta in my area so I bought whole feta and crumbled it instead. After the pasta was done I added it to the sauce and allowed it to cook with the tomatoes until they started to break up. My husband isn't a fan of firm fresh tomatoes so I always allow them to cook slightly longer than recipes call for.

If you have a family that likes a lot of protein in their food I would suggest adding more chicken to this dish. Since their is only a pound of meat for six servings, there isn't a lot of chicken per bite. I would double the chicken and the amount of tomatoes. The flavors are nice and I liked the taste of the olives and fresh oregano. A balsamic vinegar reduction would also be delicious with this dish and the flavors would make the dish even better.

Currently this recipe isn't available online (Family Circle's decision not mine :). Here is the link to the photo on their site or you can find the recipe in the March 2013 issue of the magazine. 

Very Tender Slow Cooker Chicken and Hominy Chili Bowl

My oldest has been obsessed with chicken for a while now. He goes through picky stages every couple of weeks where he won't eat anything, except chicken (and bacon, the men in my house always love bacon). If I'm making dinner and he starts complaining and getting hungry, I can always make him happy by informing him that chicken is part of dinner. I agree with him that chicken thighs are delicious and they can create great flavor in a variety of dishes. They are one of my favorite dishes to prepare and I make them at least twice a month. Last week I tried a new recipe for Chicken and Hominy Chili Bowl from the March 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 10 hours 30 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I never have ten hours between when I get up and my husband comes home for dinner, so I let my chili cook for 8 hours on high. As I always do I made my own chicken stock which I don't salt until I make the recipe. My chicken was so tender that it fell off the bone when I tried to take it out. Therefore I shredded the chicken and put it back in the chili. Finally, my chili was more than thick enough after shredding the chicken so I left out the cornmeal. I served the chili with corn chips, which was a perfect combination.

I love using my slow cooker to make chili and stews. This recipe states that it only makes 6 servings, but since I shredded the chicken it made a large amount more. There was more than enough for dinner plus two more meals for my family of 4. Make sure to adequately salt, especially if you make your own stock. I do think that the amount of cumin could be increased slightly to a full teaspoon. It would create an even more pronounced flavor.

For the recipe go to Chicken and Hominy Chili Bowl. (registration required)

Easy Slow Cooker Smoky Navy Bean Soup

While some people will only eat beans if they are forced, I love them. When I was growing-up my dad was a meat and potatoes kind of guy so beans rarely made an appearance. Then when I turned 15 I decided to become  a vegetarian. I quickly had to learn to make beans. My first dozen attempts were less than stellar, the flavor wasn't great and beans weren't a favorite food of mine. Then I discovered that when made the right way, beans can be delicious. My kids have grown-up eating beans. To them they are just another food and they don't think twice about eating them. My oldest in particular loves pinto and chickpeas and will pick them out of dishes. This week I have made a number of bean dishes since my schedule has been hectic and they are hearty and create a ton of leftovers. Today I tried a new recipe for Smoky Navy Bean Soup from the March 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 10 hours of cooking on low, 15 minutes of prep and makes 8 servings. This was a recipe that I followed pretty closely with only a few modifications. Instead of adding 6 cups of water, I added 3 cups of homemade chicken stock and 3 cups of water. For the carrots I used pre-peeled baby carrots, approximately 15. I chose to skip the step of pureeing the soup. My kids were hungry and I like my bean soup to have more texture. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was surprised by how many leftovers I had of this soup. The recipe states that it makes 8 servings, but I had enough leftovers for at least two more meals. Make sure to adequately salt the soup before serving, it will need it. I did find that the ham steak that I used ended up a little tougher than I like, next time I would use a fatter cut of ham. Overall, an easy bean soup recipe that is great for fall and winter.

For the recipe go to Smoky Navy Bean Soup.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I have a major sweet tooth. Over the years I have tried numerous times to give up sugar without much success. Now in my mid thirties I have resigned myself to the fact that while I hate salt I love sugar. Potato chips and salted treats do nothing for me. I literally could sit with salty snacks in my cupboard for months. Sweet treats on the other hand call my name. I love them. Since I know that sweet treats are a serious temptation for me I have learned over the years that denying myself only makes matters worse. To stay thin I allow myself treats ever week in moderation. Denying myself completely just makes me want to eat the entire cake instead of a small piece. As I age closer to 40 I have also discovered that it takes a lot more work to stay thin so I have modified my diet to try to include as many natural foods as possible. In the last month I have tried to start swapping out granulated sugar for honey and molasses. The flavor is still there, but I can reduce the overall amount of sugar needed and it doesn't cause me the same amount of sugar highs. Yesterday I tried  a new recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 28 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 28 cookies. I did make a number of modifications to this recipe. First instead of using 1/2 cup of butter I substituted 1/2 cup of canola oil. I am trying to reduce the amount of butter that I am baking with and this was an easy substitution. Secondly, instead of the 1/2 cups of granulated sugar I used 1/2 cup of honey. For the 3/4 cup of brown sugar I used slightly less than a 1/2 cup of molasses, so between the honey and molasses I had approximately a cup of liquid. Since I increased the amount of liquid by using honey and molasses I added an additional 1/4 cups of brown rice flour. I eat gluten free so I omitted the all-purpose flour and used equal amounts brown rice flour instead. My baking time was slightly longer than the recipe since I made substitutions, approximately 5 minutes per batch.

For gluten free cookies these rose very well. Oftentimes gluten free desserts end up flat, but these did a great job of baking up. My husband actually thought they were a little too cakey, but my two boys and I liked the texture. I liked the peanut butter, but I wasn't a big fan of the chopped peanuts. I think if I made the recipe again I would leave them out as an ingredient.

For the recipe go to PB Chocolate Chunk Cookies.  (registration required)

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken

Today was organization day for my cupboards. I try to keep my kitchen as clean as I can and bleach multiples times a day. However, my pantry cupboards go through phases. I will be great about keeping them clean during the summer in order that I have room for fruits and veggies that I have canned. By winter they have turned into chaos. One of the reasons always seems to be that when I come home from the grocery store I am so tired of dealing with lines, coupons you name it that I just don't have the effort to organize everything before putting it away. So everything gets stuffed into the cupboard and I have to search to find what I need when I'm cooking. Today I spent three hours cleaning and organizing everything in my pantry. I discovered that I had a number of ingredients that I had forgotten that I purchased which will be great to go into next weeks menu plan. This week I have been making a number of dishes using items from the freezer which I cleaned out last week. Earlier in the week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken from the October 2012 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes of prep, 6 hours of cooking on high and makes 12 servings. Since I eat gluten free I did make a number of changes. First instead of serving the pulled chicken in buns as a sandwich I served it over brown rice. I have tried a number of gluten free bun brands and they have failed to impress me, I would rather just eat my meals over rice or quinoa. Instead of using brown sugar I used local grown honey. For sweetening I prefer using honey since it is natural and using local honey is supposed to help with allergies (whether it actually does I don't know, but it is worth a shot). Instead of using boneless skinless thighs, I used bone-in thighs which I took the skin off of and removed the bones before pulling the chicken. I prefer keeping the bone in thighs since it gives the finished meat a better flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two kids ate their servings on hamburger buns and loved it. I liked that it worked well over brown rice, which turned out to be a nice gluten free option. My husband thought that the meat became a little dry after sitting in the fridge, so it is best enjoyed the same night or make sure to add additional liquid when re-heating. The dryness could also be avoided by using all thighs instead of breasts and thighs since breast meat is much lower in fat and doesn't have as much moisture.

For the recipe go to BBQ Pulled Chicken. (registration required)

Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta

My youngest son has had a major developmental spurt. It happened to coincide with a massive growth spurt so he has been more than a little frustrated in the last week. What has surprised me so much are the differences between my oldest and youngest son. My oldest was 18 months before he even tried to walk, he didn't start really talking until he was almost 4 and he has yet to lose any of his baby teeth (he's almost 7). As much as I try not to compare my two kids the differences between the two are noticeable. My youngest has a very large vocabulary. He is already writing words and can built things with Lego's almost as well as his older brother. I know a lot of it has to do with my oldest teaching my youngest how to do everything. Birth order definitely has an effect on how my two kids do and approach things. Since my youngest has been eating so much I have been making foods that I know he will love. This week I tried a new recipe for Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. I takes 25 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 6 serving. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I eat gluten free I did make a few modifications. First I used gluten free penne. I bought chopped walnuts since they were on sale and cheaper than whole so I skipped the chopping step. My walnuts also toasted quicker, they only took approximately 3 minutes total. Since my local grocery store hasn't been great with having a large selection of meat, I used pre-cooked chicken sausage and diced it instead of chicken sausage in casings. I also added a whole package of sausage, 12 ounces instead of the 3 used in the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was happy that this recipe worked well when converted to being gluten free. The substitution of pre-cooked chicken sausage was great and was popular with my two boys. The prep and cook time is very short, which is nice for a weekday meal. I didn't notice the apple much, so if you are a fan of apples I would suggest increasing the amount used.

For the recipe go to Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta. (registration required)

Slow-Cooker Tomatillo Pork Stew

Pork is very popular in my house. As I have talked about before my two boys and husband love bacon. If they could eat it everyday, three times a day they would. However, I am not going to let that happen. As a compromise I make pork frequently. One of my favorite cuts of pork is pork shoulder. It is tender and delicious and can be made a variety of different ways. The crock-pot is a great way to cook pork, it is simple and always turns out well. Yesterday I tried a new recipe for Slow-Cooker Tomatillo Pork Stew from the February issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. Since all the pork shoulder at my store was 6 pounds or more I bought a larger shoulder and cut it down to size. I would recommend increasing the salt or adding additional at the end since it wasn't salty enough as written. I normally serve brown rice to my family, but for this recipe I used basmati and it worked very well. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was really pleased with how tender this stew turned out. It was flavorful enough for my husband and I without being too spicy for my two boys. If you want the dish to be more spicy use a less mild salsa. I chose to use mild salsa since I was serving it to my two boys. For my serving I used just cilantro, for my kids I served the stew with sour cream and cilantro.

For the recipe go to Tomatillo Pork Stew. (registration required)

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

The weather in my area is all over the place. It has been cold, warm, foggy, rainy, but not in any way snowy and winter-like. This weekend the temperature is supposed to hit 70, in January! Normally this is the time of the year when I am bundled up in blankets drinking hot drinks and making soups. This year I am still making lots of soups and crock-pot recipes, but the weather feels more like spring than winter. Regardless of the weather I love my slow cooker. As my boys get older and my time feels more and more crunched my slow cooker has saved me many times. I never understood before having kids how hard it can be to get dinner on the table with two boys running around causing chaos. Now I know better and try to make at least one meal a week that is quick and easy. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Pot Roast from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 8 and a half hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I would have normally used a chuck roast for this recipe, but in my effort to use things out of my freezer I used the beef cut that my mother-in-law had bought me this fall. The recipe uses 12 ounces of small potatoes, but I chose to use the full pound bag that I bought at the grocery store. Additionally, I chose to leave the potatoes whole instead of cutting them in half. Since I eat gluten free I used cornstarch for the pan sauce and gluten free Worcestershire. Even if you can eat wheat flour I prefer cornstarch since it does a better job at thickening. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Since I didn't use the best cut of beef in this recipe the sauce really made the recipe. The pan sauce was delicious and made up for any shortcomings with the beef being slightly tough. I did wish that there were more vegetables. There was only enough for exactly 4 servings, which was barely enough for my family. If I was to make this again I would double the amount of vegetables and buy a larger roast.

This recipe is not currently available on-line. It can be found in the January 2013 issue of Family Circle. Here is another Slow Cooker Pot Roast recipe from Family Circle.

Salmon Tacos with Guacamole and Cilantro-Lime Yogurt Sauce

A couple of weeks back we got a new puppy. We have always had two large dogs that are now about 9 years old and we thought a puppy would help them feel a little younger. What I didn't anticipate was the fact that my youngest son is very jealous of anyone or anything that takes away mommy's attention. He has been having a number of temper tantrums and thinks that the puppy doesn't love him enough if it pays attention to anyone besides him. It has gotten better slowly, but it is a work in progress. I do think that it is helping my youngest to have more responsibility and understand that there are things besides mommy in the world. I'm hoping that kindergarten will be an easier transition in a couple of years. In order to make my youngest son feel better I have been making some of my kids favorite foods this week. Both of my kids love salmon. There are a number of foods that they turn up their noses at, but salmon has never been one of them. Last week I made a new recipe for Salmon Tacos with Guacamole from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of cooking time, 15 minutes of prep and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredient at my local grocery store. I chose not to make the rice part of the recipe. Since it was pre-packaged and seemed unnecessary I omitted it. Normally I would have bought quality salmon. However, my husband had bought skin-on wild caught frozen salmon a few months back. I am trying to use foods that we already have in the pantry or freezer so that is the salmon I used in this recipe. My salmon took slightly less than the 15 minutes of cooking suggested by the recipe, closer to 12 minutes. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These tacos were very popular with my family. My two boys loved the salmon and ate it without the tortillas. The cilantro lime yogurt was a nice addition and it was my favorite part of the recipe. It made a nice sauce with or without making the salmon as a taco.

For the recipe go to Salmon Tacos with Guacamole.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Today was my oldest son's first day of winter break. My two boys spent the day fighting over who could play with which action figure, while watching the same episode of their favorite cartoon for the 50th time. They have watched the show so many times that my oldest can recite the words, honestly, I probably could too. I made pancakes for lunch since the weather has turned nasty today. I love snow, just not the biting cold wind that has gone along with it for the entire day. It just felt like a breakfast for lunch kind of afternoon. This seems to be a pattern that I have been in for the last couple of weeks. Whenever I am stressed or I am not feeling up to par, I bake/make breakfast foods. There is something very home-like and comforting about baking a coffee cake or pancakes. It instantly makes you feel better about whatever is bothering you. This week I made a new recipe for Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine, which looked perfect for a cold winter morning.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 65 minutes of baking, 20 minutes of prep and makes 16 servings. I made a number of changes to this recipe. First, I made it gluten free since I can't eat gluten. For the flour I used a brand of gluten free all-purpose flour which uses coconut flour as the base, it works great in baking. Instead of a 9 inch pan I used a cake pan to bake the coffee cake. I prefer the shape of coffee cake done in a cake pan, I think it looks prettier on the plate. In order to ensure that the coffee cake didn't stick I cut a piece of parchment paper and then sprayed it with cooking spray. This method is a no fail and I use it with any type of cake or torte. Finally, I found that I had to tent my cake with foil to prevent over browning and added an additional 5 minutes to the baking time. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys devoured this coffee cake. It was very light and airy and was perfect with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Since I used gluten free flour it was a little rich, I think in the future I would cut down on the butter to compensate. The streusel topping was the best part of this recipe and made for a delicious crunchy crust.

For the recipe go to Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake. (registration required)

Chipotle Pork and Sweet Potato Stew with Cornbread

Tomorrow is my oldest son's last day of school before winter break. Of course I completely forgot to buy a teachers gift or something for his bus driver until tonight. Thank you gift cards, you are so easy and convenient for last minute gifts. Normally I am ahead of schedule and have all my gifts bought ahead of time. This year however I seem to be behind; just today I finally got the last of Christmas cards addressed. Of course they will arrive to my family back in Washington probably after Christmas day, but it's the thought that counts. Now I have to actually think of what to make for Christmas eve and day. You would think that since I am a food blogger I would have everything figured out, but things had to change last minute thanks to car issues and now I am going to spend part of the next couple of days trying to figure out meal plans. That's okay though since that is something I enjoy along with the actual cooking. I'm still getting over a nasty cold so I have been making stews and soups all week. Earlier in the week I tried a new recipe for Chipotle Pork and Sweet Potato Stew with Cornbread from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 6 hours of cooking time, 15 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I did make a few modifications to the recipe. Since I don't eat gluten I made gluten-free cornbread. It worked just as well as it would have with wheat and the texture was perfect. For the flour I used gluten free all-purpose flour. I made my own chicken stock as I normally do, which I make un-salted so I had to add more salt than the recipe suggested. Instead of spraying the bowl with cooking spray I used a slow cooker liner. Finally, I added only one tablespoon of cilantro instead of two since my kids were eating this dish. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The pork in this recipe turned out very tender. My husband and two boys fell in love with this dish and ate their entire servings and most of the leftovers.  I like that per serving the recipe has 34 grams of protein and 472 calories. Plus it was a great, warm meal as the weather turned cooler.

For the recipe go to Chipotle Pork and Sweet Potato Stew. (registration required)