Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:
1 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Powder sugar
Shredded Coconut

Directions:
Mix peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and powder sugar. Spread coconut on wax paper, drop peanut butter mixture onto coconut and roll. Chill for 1 hour or longer.

Notes:
Your fingers will get really messy creating the balls. To help, you can chill the peanut butter mixture before rolling into coconut.

Black Bean Chicken Salsa

Black Bean Chicken Salsa

So good, and so easy.

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breasts 4 small or 2 large (frozen)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can corn (drained and rinsed)
1 Cup salsa
1 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. (Put chicken in frozen, if thawed it will have a shorter cooking time.)


Serve over rice top with Cheese. I prefer to eat mine by scooping it with tortilla chips, my husband puts his on a tortilla and eats like a taco. For the rice recipe  I used click here.

Notes: I also like to make a little extra and freeze for a easy meal down the road.

Cafe Rio Chicken

Cafe Rio Chicken

(The recipe for the rice I used on this can be found here.)

As you can tell I made tacos with this. It is so good. We have had it multiple times. It is a nice change from beef tacos.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 a small bottle of zesty Italian dressing
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours.
Shred with fork and serve as desired.

Notes: You can also double or triple this to make extras for freezing. Then simply thaw and reheat for a fast and delicious meal. To make Gluten Free, make sure to check the lables. All brands are made different. And if making it a taco, be sure to use corn tortillas. NOT flour.

Recipe: make ahead meals for busy moms

Sweet and Sour Chicken

What we need:
2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 beaten egg
4 to six tablespoons cornstarch or flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 cup chicken Broth
7 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon soy sauce
7 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt & pepper. Let stand for 5-10 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Dip chicken in beaten egg, then in cornstarch or flour. (cornstarch makes chicken crispier). Place in baking dish.
Sauce: Mix sugar, vinegar, chicken stock, katchup, 3 TBSP corn starch, and soy sauce in medium bowl.
Layer raw chicken breasts in glass dish (9×13). Mix all sauce ingredients in bowl, with wire whisk. Pour directly over chicken breasts.

Bake uncovered at 325 for about 1 1/2 hours, or until sauce is thick and dark in color.

Notes: I did mine in the crock-pot on low for 5-6 hours. I also served it over white rice. YUMMY!
If you use cornstarch it becomes gluten-free.
Remember when cooking gluten-free, to always check the lables, each brand makes their product differently.

Recipe & Picture: Get off your butt and bake

Italian Tilapia

What we need:
Tilapia
1/2 Cup Italian Dressing
2 Large tomatos chopped
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 450*.
Place fish in 9x13 pan. Drizzle fish with dressing & bake 25min. Top with cheese and tomatoes. Bake 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parsley

This was quite yummy, I will be eating this again soon.

Note: cooking time varies on the size/amount of fish, be careful not to over cook it.
*Remember when cooking gluten-free, to always check the lables, each brand makes their product differently.

Recipe: Nichole Munz

CrockPot Rotisserie-Style Chicken Recipe

CrockPot Rotisserie-Style Chicken Recipe

What we need: 1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds), 2 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 4 whole garlic cloves (optional), and 1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

Directions: Skin the chicken and get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity. In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Plop the bird breast-side down into the crockpot.
If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and a quartered onion inside the bird.
Do not add water.
Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

Notes: Remember when cooking gluten-free, to always check the lables, each brand makes their product differently.

Recipe: A Year of Slow Cooking

Picture: A Year of Slow Cooking

DEVILED EGGS

DEVILED EGGS

Because of dying eggs for Easter, I had some hard boiled eggs I needed to do something with. So, you all get to be wittiness to my first ever attempt at deviled eggs! woot woot!

What we need: hard boiled eggs, mayo, mustard, paprika

Directions: remove the shell from the eggs and cut lengthwise, remove the yoke and place in bowl. Set the Egg whites aside for now. Mix the yoke, mayo, mustard. ( I did this part by taste, so I don't know how much I used, but use more mayo then mustard). Once all are creamed together, put in the holes of the eggs whites and top with paprika.

I think they turned out pretty okay. They weren't the best I've ever eaten. But, they are the best that I've ever made! 3 Star with hope for improvement next time. ;)

TACO NIGHT

TACO NIGHT

What we need: 1 lb ground beef, 1 taco seasoning packet, diced tomato, sliced olives, shredded lettuce, re-fried beans, sour cream, shredded cheese, tortillas

Directions: brown ground beef and drain of fat. Stir in 1/4 - 1/2 cup  water (amount of water depends on how moist you want the beef. warm re-fried beans, spread on tortillas, add ground beef, top with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sliced olives, and a dollop of sour cream.

Here's Keely's taco, can you tell she made it herself?

Here's my taco,

I LOVE TACOS! I think if I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be tacos.


Notes: If your use corn tortilla's and check the lable on your taco seasoning, this is gluten-free!