Winter cocktails

Have a lot of different liquors right now, so to use some bottles up, I made some cocktails last weekend for UFC.  Everything was put in shaker with ice and divided between me, Eric, Jasmine, and Ian.

*UPDATED - did a few more for New Year's Eve 2021 with Eric, Jasmine, and Thomas.

Screwball Whiskey Peanut Butter Cup Shots (by homebodyeats.com)

-1 part peanbut butter whiskey (Screwball)

-1 part coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

-1 part milk of choice (almond milk)

-Reddi whip (coconut milk) to top off

Notes: very tasty

White Russian

-2 parts vodka

-1 part Kahlua

-1 part heavy cream/milk (used lite coconut milk) - other recipes vary amount of this

Notes: not as good as 1st one, tasted too strong, maybe 1 parts of each next time

Peppermint White Russian (another website, but also on The Marvelous Misadventures)

-1 part vodka

-1 part Kahlua

-1 part peppermint schnapps

-1 part milk (used almond milk)

-ground up candy cane around rim of glass

Notes: maybe less peppermint? I think I liked the Peppermint cocktail below with the white chocolate liqueur better than Kahlua.

Mistletoe Martini Cranberry Christmas cocktail (by mixthatdrink.com)

-1.5 oz vodka

-0.5 oz elderflower liquer

-1.5 oz cranberry juice

-0.5 oz simple syrup (didn't make, so used grenadine syrup)

-mint leaves

Notes: Eric liked this one the best

Peppermint cocktail (couldn't find original, but similar one found on thecocktailbird.com)

-1 part vanilla vodka (only had regular vodka)

-1 part white chocolate liqueur

-1 part peppermint schnapps

-ground up candy cane around rim of glass

Notes: Very tasty, some other recipes with milk in it that I would try next time

Cranberry Mule Holiday cocktail (from Aberdeen's Kitchen)

-2 oz bourbon

-1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

-1 oz orange juice

-1 oz cranberry juice

-ginger beer to top off

-add some mint sprigs in shaker

Notes: I'm not sure I liked this as much as Eric.  Maybe try with different liquor like rum

Screwball whiskey peanut butter cup

*Drinks

Green Beans Amandine

Recipe from cookieandkate.com

Ingredients:

-2 Tbsp unsalted butter, sliced (would use olive oil)

-1/2 cup sliced almonds

-1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 1 small)

-1 pound slender green beans, trimmed

-2 tsp lemon juice, to taste

-1 Tbsp + 1/2 cup water, divided

-1/2 tsp fine salt, to taste

-freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions.

1. Melt butter over med-low heat.  Once completly melted, add almonds.  Cook stirring constantly until butter browned and almonds are beginning to brown, about 7-8 min

2. Add shallots and cook for 1 min. 

3. Stir in lemon juice + 1 Tbsp water.  While stirring, cook until liquid thickens enough that spatula leaves an open trail on pan behind it, about 1 more min

4. Scoop out and set aside

5. Cook green beans with 1/2 cup water + 1/2 tsp salt.  Cover and cook over med heat, stirring occ ntil beans are nearly tender about 9-10 min (I used pre-cooked green beans)

6. Remove th elid and cook over med-high heat until liquid evaporates, about 2-4 min

7. Off heat, add almond mixture and toss to combine, season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Notes.

I had doubled recipe and used pre-cooked french green beans.

used in friendsgiving and tasted pretty good

*Sides

*American - sort of

"Fried" rice

Recipe modified from elizabethrider.com sans eggs and peas for Eric.

Ingredients:

-Cooked brown rice (2 cups uncooked for 6 servings)

-avocado oil

-1 jalapeno, diced (or serrano, sliced)

-3 cloves of garlic, cuisinarted

-1 bunch of scallions, chopped

-1 inch of fresh ginger, cuisinarted (probably less, make it equal to amount of garlic)

-3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

-1 tsp rice vinegar

-1 tsp toasted sesame oil

-salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat avocado oil, garlic, jalapeno in pot

2. Add scallions until softened

3. Add rice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, salt, and pepper

4. Stir to combine

Notes:

Writing this over a week after I cooked it, so maybe a little foggy.  I may have added the ginger and scallions at the same time.

Served with the encrusted sesame tenders and oven-roasted broccoli

*Asian

*Sides

One-pan Herb Chicken and Veggies

 Got this recipe off of Instagram - @cleaneatguide, and they got it from Alix Traeger and Tasty

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

-Olive oil

~3 cloves garlic (I used more)

~2 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

~2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

~2 Tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

-1 package of chicken tenders (1.75 lbs)

-1/2 lemon (I added)

-1 bag of mini-potatoes (1 lb)

-1 bag brussel sprouts (1 lb)

-1 red onion, chopped

-1 green bell pepper

-1 red bell pepper

-1 package of turkey bacon, nitrite free - didn't use

-avocado, cubed

-salt

-pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 400 F

2. Chop thyme, rosemary, sage; cuisinart garlic.

3. Add 1/2 herbs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil to chicken and marinate in fridge

4. Chop veggies - brussel sprouts, onion, bell pepper, potatoes

5. Mix veggies and potatoes with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, 1/2 herbs

6. Spread veggies and potatoes on pan lined with parchment paper

7.  Add chicken on top

8.  Sprinkle bacon on top

9. Cook in oven 25-30 min

10.  Add avocado

Notes: I didn't add bell pepper when I cooked, but Eric said it needed it.  I just estimated the herbs when I cut from the garden - was a bit too herb-y.  Should estimate less next time.  Also, I added lemon on my own, not sure if it did need or did not need it.  Easy enough recipe, though.

UPDATE: Cooked again and not as good.  I didn't use bacon this time.  Mainly because the potatoes and brussel sprouts were raw.  Maybe cook the veggies first for 15 min, then add chicken on top and cook for another 15-20?

*American

Spicy Watermelon Jalapeno Margaritas

Recipe from Skinnytaste.  
Eric didn't really like it - well, he doesn't like spicy drinks, so will likely not make again, but I thought it was pretty good.  

Notes - Eric liked it better when I strained the watermelon through strainer, too.  A lot of waste of pulp though.

Ingredients:

-4 cups of cubed seedless watermelon

-1 TBSP sugar (optional)

-4 jalapenos, with seeds and membranes, roughly chopped

-2 limes, juiced

-8 oz clear tequila (2 oz per drink)

Directions:

1. Place watermelon (and sugar) in a blender and process until smooth.  Keep chilled in pitcher in fridge.

2. Place jalapenos in blender with 2/3 cup of water and puree until smooth.  Strain through a mesh sieve.  Add lime juice and keep chilled

3. When ready to serve, fill a tall glass to top with ice, pour 2 oz tequila in each tall glass, then add water melon juice filling 3/4 of the way, about 1/2 cup, then top with jalapeno juice.

*drinks

Gordon Ramsay's Malaysian Chicken Curry

Recipe taken from food.com

--For red chiles, I used 3 garden salsa chilis from the garden and 1 serrano.  I got scared and took out seeds from a few, but because I'm cooking them, it wasn't hot enough! So next time, keep the seeds.

--First time using the lemongrass from the garden, but I wasn't sure on how to harvest and likely didn't take enough. To harvest, I had to slice them lengthwise to find the soft part and discard the tough parts and any tough outer layers.

--could try using diced chicken breast instead of chicken thighs next time

--I suggested using cubed bell peppers and onions instead of green beans, but Eric and Jasmine said they liked it the way it was cooked

--Didn't see where I used the turmeric again in the recipe

--I had to buy the shallots and kaffir lime leaves from Tim's Oriental Market

Ingredients for curry paste:

-5 garlic cloves

-4 to 5 long red chilies (don't take out the seeds)

-2 lemongrass

-5 cm piece fresh ginger root

-4 shallots

-1 tsp ground turmeric

-2 Tbsp oil (used avocado)

Ingredients for curry dish:

-Chicken thighs (1.5-2 lbs) cubed--> try chicken breasts next time

-1 Tbsp oil

-1 tsp ground turmeric

-2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

-4 kaffir lime leaves

-1 cinnamon stick

-3 star anise

-1 can of light coconut milk

-100 mL chicken stock

-1 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar) - I actually used dark brown sugar all I had

-2 Tbsp light soy sauce

-2 Tbsp fish sauce

-green beans (800 g in recipe - I used about 1.5 lbs

-salt and pepper

-cilantro for garnish

-avocado for garnish

Directions:

1. Cut chicken, and salt/pepper - set aside

2. Cut onions and green beans - set aside

3. Combine chicken stock (to 100 ml), coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce - set liquid aside

4. Set aside dries: lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise

5. Make curry paste - Combine garlic, chillies, lemongrass, ginger, shallots in Cuisinart

6. Heat oil in large pan with med heat --> add curry past + 1 tsp ground turmeric

7. Add onions and stir for 5 min

8. Add chicken in pan and stir to coat

9.  Add liquids and dries and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook gently for half and hour to an hour until chicken tender (about 30 min fine - cooked rice and washed dishes during this time)

10.  Skim off any excess oil on the surface (wasn't much)

11.  Add beans and cover for another few min until beans tender (Eric likes his beans crunchy)

12. Serve with cilantro, avocado, and jasmine rice.

*Asian, Malaysian, Thai

Party salsa

 I've been using this salsa recipe for 15 years (yikes), so don't remember where I got it from.

Ingredients
-1 can of Ro-tel original, 10 oz

-1 can of diced tomatoes, 14 oz

-1/2 small onion (white)

-1 jalapeno with seeds (have been using serranos lately to make it spicier)

-1 lime

-1 clove of garlic

-handful of cilantro

-1 tsp honey

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp cumin

Directions:

Blend everything together.  Add more salt or honey to taste.

*snacks

*Mexican

Homemade dog food

I need to do more research and joined a facebook group on this, but trying out homemade dog food.  Still using half kibble and half homemade for now = 1 scoop (half cup) of kibble + homemade food twice a day.  Will adjust as needed.

Using large muffin silicon pan - two 12 cup and works great.

Dog food notes:

Luna weights ~47 lbs

Total dog food per day: 2% of weight = 0.94 lbs of food per day = 15 oz

Total meat per day: 62.5% of food = 9.375 oz

Rest of food per day: 5.625 oz

Liver: 10% of diet ~1.44 oz per day --> 5% of diet!

Brown rice (?cooked): 1/4 cup per day ~1.4 oz per day

Frozen veggies: 3 oz per day

Ground egg shell: 1/4 tsp per 1 lb meat

Supplement - 3 tsp per day

Ingredients for 1 week of food:

1 lb ground meat (90% lean or higher)

8 oz liver (half of a container)

1 lb bag of frozen peas and carrots (microwaved and pureed)

1/4 tsp ground egg shell

9.8 oz cooked brown rice

Directions:

1. Pre-make rice

2. Microwave peas/carrots and puree

3. Cook liver - divide in half - freeze other half

4. Cook ground meat

5. Add eggshells and mix together

6. Divide into bowls for the week

Other foods to use:

-scrambled eggs

-pumpkin puree

-sweet potato

Brown Butter Sage Chicken

Made this last week, and it didn't taste sage-y enough :( I probably did it wrong. Maybe I didn't "brown" the butter long enough with the sage, so maybe turn the heat down lower next time because I thought it would burn. The sage leaves were crispy here, so take them out before adding the broth as the broth makes them soggy.  Add the crispy sage leaves back in next time?

Recipe taken from Nourish and Fete

Ingredients:

-4 boneless, skinless thin chicken breasts - used 3 instead and pounded with roller - was half inch thick, but should be thinner I think.

-salt and ground black pepper

-1/3 cup all purpose flour (estimated)

-6 Tbsp unsalted butter - divided

-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

-1/3 cup fresh sage leaves

-1/2 lemon juice

-1/2 cup white wine or low sodium chicken broth (used broth)

Directions:

1. Season both side of chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  P

2. Flour chicken on both sides and shake off excess flour. 

3. Add 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet set over medium-high heat.  When butter melts, add chicken and saute for 2- 3min per side, until cooked through and lightly golden.  Remove chicken to a plate, cover with foil, and set aside.

4. Add remaining 4 Tbsp butter to skillet.  When butter melted, add sage leaves.  Allow butter to brown and bubble, about 2-3 min, until it begins to give off a warm, nutty aroma  Remove sage to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving butter in skillet. (I DIDN'T TAKE OUT THE SAGE AT THIS STEP, BUT NEXT TIME DO IT)

5. Add lemon juice and wine/broth to skillet  Simmer mixture for 2-3 min, scraping any browned bits from bottom of pan.  Taste sauce and adjust with more salt/pepper.  (I TOOK OUT THE SAGE HERE AND SAGE SOGGY)

6. When sauce is slightly thickened, return chicken to skillet to warm through.

I served with 2 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, and 1 bunch of asparagus.  I forgot a yellow onion.  I poured the leftover sauce in with the veggies, and this was pretty good. Just the chicken wasn't flavored enough.  Also served with mini potatoes.

*American

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Recipe modified from Skinnytaste.  It was pretty good, but the chicken breasts I bought were huge and almost 2 lbs of meat, so it was a lot for 6 servings.  I seasoned the chicken breasts with salt, but the canned sauces had salt, sooo too much salt.  It was also cool because I used the slow cooker bags and because I was at my parents and couldn't cook right away, I had Eric put the bag in the slow cooker as it was being held by the big red bowl in the fridge.  He just added the chicken broth and bay leaves.  Also, wasn't so much of a soup, more "soupy" which Eric liked better.  Eric said it was a 5 and he would eat again :)

Ingredients:

-16 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I had closer to 32 oz, oh well)

-kosher salt (didn't need)

-fresh black pepper

-1 tsp olive oil

-1 chopped onion (I used 1/2 onion to cook and 1/2 fresh diced onion on top)

-3 cloves garlic (used like 6)

-1 jalapeno, sliced

-4 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth (the whole box)

-8 oz can tomato sauce (could look for reduced sodium, but didn't see)

-1/2 Tbsp chipotle chile in adobo, chopped (used the whole 3.5 oz can)

-1 tsp dried oregano

-1/4 tsp cumin

-2 bay leaves

-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

-2 zucchini, chopped instead of spiralized

-1 red bell pepper, chopped

-consider adding garbanzo beans next time - YES, ADD GARBANZO BEANS YUM

-queso fresco - didn't use because it expired

-avocado

Directions:

1. Chop veggies - zucchini, red bell pepper, onion (divided), jalapeno - and set aside

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker - a LITTLE bit of salt.

2. Sauté garlic, half the onion, and jalapeno 3 min

3. Transfer to slow cooker with chicken broth, tomato sauce, chipotle, cumin, oregano, half cilantro, and bay leaves

4. Cover and cook on LOW 4-6 hrs

5. Shred chicken with 2 forks

6. Add in rest of veggies

7. Cook on high until zucchini is tender crisp, about 5 min

Served with some rice, avocado, and fresh cilantro. Eric made homemade tostadas.  A lot of food given 2 lbs of chicken.

*Mexican

Sweet Potato Waffles

Wanted to christen my new mini waffle maker that I got for my birthday. So made a recipe from Feel Good Foodie the 1st night and A Mind Full Mom the 2nd night.  I think I liked the latter better, but they are both very similar except 1st one used all purpose flour.  Modified a little to make it simpler for me. 

Ingredients:

-1 cup (almond) milk

-2 cups sweet potato puree (1 large sweet potato)

-2 eggs

-2 cups (rolled) oats

-2 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp salt

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1/2 tsp nutmeg

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-zest of an orange (optional)

Directions:

1. Microwave sweet potato for 5 min total, turning halfway through

2. In large Cuisinart, add all dry ingredients and blend a little

3. Add sweet potato and blend

4. Add egg and milk and blend

5. Preheat waffle iron and spray waffle iron with cooking spray (didn't seem to need it, at least later)

6. Put about 3 Tbsp batter each time

7. Cook for 7 min

8. Let waffles cool on baking rack - forgot to do this and just put on plate

9. Reheat in toaster when ready

Note:

-Made 6 total waffles.  2 for the sausage sandwich + 1 for just maple syrup and pecans for each of us

-I only used 1 sweet potato for recipe, but seemed too dry, so likely needs more milk or less oats.  When I looked up how many sweet potatoes 1 cup mashed is, it turned out to be 2 sweet potatoes, so 4 sweet potatoes???

-They were too soft to use as buns for my sausage sandwiches, so had to reheat in toaster.

-Served with maple syrup and sriracha sauce made by Eric

-Sausage sandwich tasted SOOO much better with avocado slices. Should add red onion and tomato next time.

-Took a long time to make the waffles, but just washed dishes while I was waiting

-sprayed with olive oil spray each time, but then forgot and didn't seem to need me to spray, so maybe just spray the first time?

-Original recipe called for ingredients to be added to blender in order listed, but I didn't want whole oat pieces for Eric, so did the way I wanted in directions.

*Breakfast

Breakfast sausage

Modified from Damndelicious.net - used 93% ground turkey instead of pork.  Didn't used sliced bacon. Made for 2 nights (4 servings) as was making with sweet potato waffles as like a sandwich.

Ingredients:

-1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves

-2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

-1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

-1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

-1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

-1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

-1 pound ground turkey

-3 slices (uncooked) bacon, diced (didn't use)

-2 Tbsp maple syrup (forgot)

Directions

1. SAGE MIXTURE: Combine sage, thyme, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, salt, pepper

2. Combine sage mixture with ground turkey (+maple syrup, +bacon)

3. Form patties and cook until browned.

*Breakfast

Mint Juleps

Recipe taken from Martha Stewart and the Chunky Chef, but Eric wasn't a fan, so likely won't make these again. Maybe tasted a bit too strong.

Ingredients for 2:
-4 oz Bourbon
-Spearmint
-4 oz simple syrup
-Water and ice

Directions
1. Put spearmint leaves in with Bourbon overnight, up to 24 hrs
2. Shake/mix Bourbon and Simple Syrup with ice
3. Pour over crushed ice
4. Add water as needed



*Drinks

Thyme cocktails

Made 3 different thyme cocktails last weekend using Thyme simple syrup.  Made for a pretty bad hangover the next morning, so need to try using monkfruit simple syrup next time.  Made 1:1 cup ratio in the morning and had plenty of leftover, so next time can use like 3/4 cup. Garnish with sprigs of thyme and lemon or lime peel.

Thyme gives it a nice smokey taste.

Double recipe for 2 people.

JIGGER RULES:

Small side = 0.75 oz / filling to the brim = 1 oz

Large side = 1.5 oz

1 OZ = 2 TBSP

THYME SIMPLE SYRUP

-1 cup of sugar

-1 cup of water

-Handful of thyme

Directions:

1. Boil water and sugar

2. Pour into mason jar

3. Add in thyme

4. Let cool in fridge

#1. Meyer Lemon and Thyme Whiskey Sour - from footnetwork.com (Eric's favorite!)

-1.5 oz bourbon

-1 oz Meyer lemon juice = 1 lemon + 1 mandarin orange

-1.5 oz thyme simple syrup

FOR 4 DRINKS:

Barely fits in the shaker - don't add a lot of ice because you add ice to the drinks anyways

I added too much ice in shaker and it overflowed

#2. The French Gimlet - from freutcake.com (maybe too sour and needed more simple syrup?)

-2 oz gin

-1.5 oz St. Germain

-1.5 oz lime juice

-1/2 oz thyme simple syrup (maybe do 0.75 oz?)

#3. Lemon Thyme Cocktail - from bettycrocker.com (it was ok, but #1 better)

-2.5 oz vodka

-3 oz cranberry juice

-1 oz thyme simple syrup

-1/2 oz orange-flavored liqueur

-1/2 lemon juice- orig recipe called for lemon-thyme simple syrup with 2 T grated lemon peel added to the simple syrup when making, but I had already made

*drinks

Key Lime Pie

Taken from Once Upon a Chef.

It's funny how when I bake things like desserts, I usually don't modify.  Anyways, this was a hit.  Eric really liked it. I thought the filling wasn't lime-y enough, but on subsequent days, it tasted pretty good.  Also, I definitely need to take a lactaid beforehand.

Ingredients for the crust:

-12 graham crackers

-1/3 cup packed light brown sugar (I only had dark, so used dark)

-4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients for the filling:

-two 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk

-1 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or whole, but I only had fat free on hand)

-1 Tbsp grated lime zest (used heaping)

-3/4 cup fresh lime juice (could use slightly more) - almost a whole 2 lb bag

Ingredients for the topping:

-1 cup cold heavy cream

-2 Tbsp powdered sugar

-1 tsp grated lime zest (used a LOT more to cover whole pie)

-Thin lime slices (only did 1 in the middle for a good picture)

Directions for crust:

1. Zest and juice limes until you get about 3/4 cup of lime juice

2. Cuisinart graham crackers into fine crumbs

3. Preheat oven to 375 and set oven rack in middle position

4. In medium bowl, combined graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter.  Stir with fork first, and then hands if needed.

5. Use fingers, press crumbs firmly into bottom and sides of a pie pan.  Crust should be about 1/4 inch thick.  (Tip: do sides first)

6. Bake for 10 min, until just slightly browned (do 8-9 min as it was a little burnt).  Let cool.

Directions for filling:

7. Lower oven temperature to 350

8. In large bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, yogurt, lime zest, and lime juice. 

9.  Pour the thick mixture into the warm graham cracker crust

10.  Bake for 15 min, until filling is almost set; it should wobble a bit.

11.  Let cool at room temperature for 30 min

12.  Chill in fridge for about 3 hrs

Directions for topping:

13. Using mixer, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form

14. Add sugar and beat until medium peaks form

15.  Top the pie with the whipped cream

16.  Decorate with lime zest and lime slices

Notes:

As mentioned before, can do with more lime juice.

Divided the pie into 8 slices and had for 4 nights - lasted until then.

Times in oven need to be a little less to not burn it.

*Dessert

Mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot

Recipe taken from Dinner at the Zoo and maybe some others.
Original recipe called for 2 lbs of Russet potatoes, but I could only buy a 5 pound bag and didn't want it to go to waste.  I used it for 3 nights of dinner + 5 lunches - I was mashed potato-ed out by the end of the week.

Ingredients:
-5 lbs of Russet potatoes

-2 cups of water

-2 tsp salt

-1/2 cup of milk/heavy cream/half n half - I used heavy cream and probably used less

-1 stick of butter

-black pepper

-garlic powder

Directions

1. Peel potatoes and cut into similar sized cubes

2. Place potatoes, water, salt in Instant Pot

3. Set on on manual for 10 min

4. When timer goes off, release valve to vent

5. Drain potatoes into colander

6. Add milk, butter, pepper, and garlic powder to Instant Pot

7. Use mixer to mix in the Instant Pot

Notes:

Don't forget to add water when reheating in the microwave.

Could try adding roasted garlic to the mix, but that would be more work.

*American

*Sides

 

Lemon and Thyme Chicken Tenders

 Modified from NY Times, although it wasn't grilled as in the original recipe.  Wanted to use the thyme from the garden.

Ingredients:
-Chicken tenders (about 1.5-2 lbs)
-2 Tbsp chopped thyme leaves (it's more than you think!)
-4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled (use more!)
-1 lemon + zest
-salt
-pepper
-olive oil

Directions:
1. Marinate chicken, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil for 2 hrs+

2. Bake in oven - 375 for 20 min or less

Notes: again, would use more crushed garlic as it tasted nice when having a baked garlic to eat with your chicken.

Served with asparagus (bought 2 bunches for 3 nights) and mashed potatoes

*American

Double Baked Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potatoes

Recipe modified from cleanfoodcrush.com

Ingredients for 6 servings (3 nights):

-3 large sweet potatoes or 4 medium ones

-1 lb ground turkey

-1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (7 oz can) - 1/3 for turkey, 1/3 for potatoes, 1/3 for veggies

-1/4 cup cheese (used queso fresco, but parmesan, mozzarella, colby jack mentioned)

-1 tsp dried oregano

-garlic powder

-pinch of sea salt and pepper

-red pepper flakes

-Veggie medley as side: zucchini, onions, bell pepper

-avocados

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Poke holes in sweet potato with fork and roast for 40 min - was more like 1 hour - depends on size

3. Meanwhile, cuisinart can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

4. Cook ground turkey with garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

5. Then stir in 1/3 of the adobo sauce (3 TBSP)

6. Cool sweet potatoes. Slice lengthways, and spoon out flesh into bowl

7. Add and mix into that bowl: cheese, oregano, 1/3 adobo sauce (3 TBSP), pinch sea salt and pepper 

8. Put into those oven bowls, put turkey on top, then cheese on top, and put under broiler until cheese melted

Served with veggie medley - zucchini, onions, bell pepper.  Had leftover corn, but too sweet since sweet potatoes sweet.  Cook chopped garlic and jalapeños in oil.  Then add veggies.  Also added the 1/3 leftover adobo sauce.  Avocados on top.

Notes: just microwaved and didn't put back in oven for 2nd and 3rd nights.  Still tasted good.

Thinking cooking sweet potatoes in air fryer might be better since I am not re-using the skins.

*Mexican

Turkey Burger (plain)

Took recipes from a couple of places - tastesbetterfromscratch.com, allrecipes.com, cookingclassy.com, and allrecipies comment section

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground turkey

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

-1/2 tsp onion powder

-1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

-1 tsp soy sauce

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

-1 tsp dried parsley

-1/4 cup bread crumbs

-1 egg

-flour

Directions:

1. Form into patties

2. Light sprinkle of flour over patties

3. Cook

Served with:

-mashed avocado

-red onion

-tomato

-jalapenos

-butter lettuce

-SIDES: corn on the cob and frozen sweet potato fries

*American

*Burger

Lettuce Wraps

Tried recipe from DamnDelicious

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground chicken (turkey)

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 onion, diced

-1/4 cup hoisin sauce

-2 Tbsp soy sauce

-1Tbsp rice wine vinegar

-1Tbsp freshly grated ginger

-1 Tbsp Sriracha

-1 (8 oz) can of whole water chestnuts, drained and diced

-2 green onions, thinly sliced

-pepper and salt

-1 head of butter lettuce

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in saucepan and add ground meat.  Cook until browned about 3-5 min.  Drain excess fat (wasn't any because 99%)

2. Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, and Sriracha until onions translucent, about 1-2 min

3. Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 min.

4. Season with salt and pepper (forgot)

So, I also made Chinese green beans (1 lb) + rice + the microwaved Chinese buns.  It ended up being too much food the first night and didn't eat rice the 2nd night.  So all in all, I think this could be 3 meals with green beans, rice, and Chinese buns.

*Asian

General Tso's Chicken

I can't believe I haven't tried this recipe yet, but got it from Skinnytaste.com

I doubled the amounts.

Ingredients:

-2 lbs chicken breast - says to cut into bite-sized pieces, but I felt that it was difficult to flip, so recommend cutting chicken tenders in half for bigger pieces to flip

-1/2 cup soy sauce, divided

-1/2 cup cornstarch, divided (consider arrowroot)

-2 large egg whites

-2 inch piece of ginger

-4 cloves of garlic

-scallions, separate whites and greens

-2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

-2 tsp sriracha sauce

-6 Tbsp hoisin

-sesame oil

-sesame seeds for garnish

-orange zest

-honey

-1 jalapeno, thinly sliced 

-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (julienned)

-1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Chop veggies - bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, scallions (set aside greens for garnish)

2. Cuisinart garlic and ginger.  

3. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) soy sauce, 6 Tbsp cornstarch, and egg whites.  Toss to combine.

4. Heat small sauce pot over medium heat.  Add 2 tsp sesame oil, ginger, garlic, scallion whites, jalapenos.  Sauté for 1 minute.

5. Mix 2 Tbsp corn starch with the chicken broth and whisk until clumps gone. Add to pot.

6. Add 1/4 cup soy sauce, sriracha (1 squirt), honey (1 squirt), and hoisin, orange zest. Whisk to combine.

7. Once thickened, turn heat low and keep warm. Add the bell peppers and onions to sauce.  

8. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add some sesame oil and chicken (don't crowd).  Cook chicken for 3-4 min or until browned on the edges.  Flip chicken and cook an additional 2-3 min or until cooked through.  Can do in batches if needed

9. Add sauce to the skillet and toss to coat

10.  Sprinkle with scallion greens and sesame seeds.

Notes:

Served with baked broccoli (with sesame oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, white pepper) and brown rice.

I didn't mix the corn starch with broth ahead of time and had clumps in the sauce to deal with.

Seemed like a lot of work, but tasted pretty good.  

I estimated honey - like 1-2 Tbsp - seemed to sweet, so cut out or add less next time.

*Asian

Harissa Chicken

Made bulk Harissa paste from TheMediterraneandish.com
I tried doubling the servings because the jar of roasted red peppers was 12 oz, but I didn't get to double the bag of chiles because I only bought 1 bag. I made the paste a day ahead of cooking (Saturday), let it rest in the fridge for 24 hrs.  I reserved about 4 Tbsp for cooking the next day, and then put the rest in the ice tray and froze.  Knocked out and stored in ziploc freezer bag.

Ingredients:
-7 dried New Mexico Chiles or Guajillo Chiles (1 bag)
-6 oz jarred roasted red peppers drained, rinsed, and dried
-2 Tbsp tomato paste
-4 large garlic cloves
-1 tsp caraway seeds toasted and ground (toasted in skilled, then used cuisinart, then mortar and pestle)
-2 tsp ground coriander
-2tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp smoked paprika
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-kosher salt
-juice of 1 large lemon (2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice)
-2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Soak and prepare the dried chiles.  Place dried chiles in a heat-safe bowl and cover with hot water.  Set aside for 30 min until chiles are tender and re-hydrated.  Drain chiles and remove the stems and seeds.

2. Combine chiles with remaining ingredients.  Transfer chiles to food processor.  Add tomato paste, roasted red peppers, garlic, ground caraway seeds, coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, and pinch of kosher salt.   Add fresh lemon juice

3. 

Run the food processor, and while it's running, drizzle the extra virgin olive oil from the top opening.  Stop processor to scrape down the sides and run again until you reach desired paste-like texture.  

4. Store.  Transfer harissa paste to clean mason jar.  Cover with a very thin layer of  extra virgin olive oil, then cover jar with its lid tightly and refrigerate - good for 6 weeks, but I just froze.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harissa Chicken Recipe

Modified from feelgoodfoodie.net 

There are several recipes out there.  I actually didn't measure out the spices because I marinated the chicken with the Harissa paste.

Ingredients:

-Extra virgin olive oil

-2 Tbsp Harissa paste (used like 4)

-4 garlic cloves, cuisinart-ed

-1 tsp paprika

-1 tsp cumin

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp pepper

-2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks

-Veggies - green bell pepper, zucchini, yellow onion, can of chickpeas (would probably cut the green bell pepper next time and use more zucchini or cauliflower

-Avocado

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken with 2 Tbsp Harissa paste + a little more of the spices above for 2 or more hours

2. Cook chicken and remove

3. Add veggies to skillet and add more Harissa paste (like a Trader Joe Jar).  

4. Add chickpeas last

5. I did add a little bit of water to veggies.

*UPDATE

Marinated chicken with 1 Tbsp Harissa paste

Veggies I used: zucchini, yellow onion, can of chickpeas, bag of cauliflower (steamed in microwave), avocado.  Topped with cilantro helped. Eric said he would cut out zucchini and add more cauliflower.  Would cook the cauliflower in the oven next, too.

*Mediterranean

Burma Chicken Dal Curry

Recipe taken from Skinnytaste.

Modified a little. Subbed garbanzo beans for the split peas.  Chicken breast instead of bone-in thighs.

-I used the Instant Pot version, but seemed overcooked because didn't use the right chicken. Will rec less time next time.

-Needed more veggies - maybe an extra bell pepper, but likely bc got a too small onion

-Too much liquid, so add less water next time.  Maybe try chicken broth instead and less salt?

-Added a dash of fish sauce (as per the comments in the website)

-Doubled curry and garam masala 

-Added extra garlic bc I couldn't gauge how many to peel - probably peeled 2 whole garlics

-Also didn't cook chicken separately, browning.

-Overall, tasted good and tasted healthy.  Would make again with some more changes.

Ingredients

-Thing of chicken

-1 Tbsp paprika

-1/2 tsp turmeric

-1 tsp Kosher salt (instead of 1 3/4)

-1 Tbsp olive oil

-1 oz piece of ginger (used 2 because had a big piece)

-2.5 cups minced onion (1 large yellow onion)

-1/3 cup minced garlic

-1 Serrano pepper (instead of Thai chilis)

-2 bay leaves

-2 1/4 cups of water (see above, too much)

-2 tsp curry 

-1 tsp Garam masala

-1 tsp fish sauce

-1 can garbanzo beans

-VEGGIES - 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, maybe another one if onion too small?

-cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Season chicken with paprike, turmeric, and salt

2. In Instant Pot, press saute, and heat oil

3. Add ginger and cook until browned, 2 minutes

4. Add onions, and cook until softened, 3-4 min

5. Stir in garlic, chiles, bay leaves, and cook 2 min

6. DIDN'T DO - remove onion mixture and cook chicken separately, browning, about 3-4 min on each side

7. Add water to onion mixture.

8. Add chicken, garbanzo beans, veggies (bell peppers), curry powder, garam masala.

9. Stir, cover, and cook high pressure 20 min --> too high, try 15 min

10. Serve with cilantro, rice, avocados

*Indian