Among Other Things... Recipes!

Dan and I may or may not have downloaded free dog whistle apps on our phones. It went something like this:

A: That dog is driving me crazy!
D: Don't they have something to make them be quiet?
A: Yes! Dog whistles! You're brilliant. I'll google to see if Wal-Greens has them

-Googled and found mixed review about the product-

We were legit going to take a trip to Wal-Greens TONIGHT to get it. BUT as I was typing it in on Google I see dog whistle app- best idea ever! Dan and I both promptly down loaded a free one. Then I did some more researching and realized that dog whistles only make them go crazier... but I think it'll work when it's barking to train it that it's not okay. We are officially training our neighbor's dog from down stairs. Poor thing, I think it get left alone all day and just barks and goes crazy inside. I think the noise we hear is the dog going crazy in it's kennel or something. Anyways, let the dog training begin.

Work is still going great! I'm learning a lot and I'm still doing pretty good I think! I never thought I'd love going to work everyday. Plus work even got us Sonic on Friday. YUM.

Monday night for our fhe activity we did yoga. Friday night we got some starbucks and cuddled up. Oh remember those boots I bought? I finally took a picture.

We planned to go to the Zoo on Saturday but we got there and there was absolutely NO parking. There was a benefit walk going on and we realize we should have walked to the Zoo. So we didn't get to go :( but we'll go some other weekend.

I have some recipes to share! I recently reorganized my cookbooks/recipes/pinterest and have some good things to try this month. So far they're super easy too because I need to either be able to make dinner quickly or have it cook all day.

Chicken Crockpot Tacos

Okay this really doesn't meed a recipe but I have some suggestions to make it easier!

Use chicken thighs. We recently bought a big bag to frozen chicken thighs from Costco and I was really surprised. They have a slightly higher fat content than chicken breasts but I've heard some say dark meat contains good fats like avocados do. They have more flavor, are more moist and they're CHEAPER. I usually try to put them in something because they look funny by themselves (if we're just having chicken as the main component I'll use breasts).

So the night before I put 

- four frozen chicken thighs (they were kind of small)

- half a chopped onion

- half of a minced serrano pepper ( if I had a jalapeno I would have done a whole one of those)

- cumin to your hearts desire (don't know how much to add? Add less, taste it later and you can add more)

- salt and pepper

I put the lid on and shoved it in the fridge overnight. Come morning, I put put the crock pot in the cooker and turned it on low. What's awesome about this is that I did this at 8am and did not come home until 7pm. That's 11 hours in a crockpot guys! I didn't put any liquid in there (honestly it was kind of an experiment). but was it dry? Not at all. The chicken thighs produced a lot of liquid so they are bomb for this kind of stuff. I drained it, shredded the chicken, squeezed some lime on it and put it in my tortilla with what ever else I wanted. Awesome and delicious.

Buttermilk Syrup

I love buttermilk syrup ever since Dan's aunt made it for us. But lets be honest, why would I ever buy buttermilk? So I don't buy it, I make it.

Buttermilk = 1 tsp of vinegar + enough milk to make what you need & let sit for 5 minutes

- 1/2 buttermilk (I put 1 tsp of vinegar in a 1/2 measuring cup and fill the rest with milk then let it sit)

- 1/2 butter

- 1 cup sugar

Put these three things in a pot, melt the butter, dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil. Take it off the heat and add

- 1 tsp of vanilla

- 1 tsp of baking soda

Then it will become all foamy! Some recipes  I've heard make it foam a ton so you have to make it in a big pot, but this one doesn't seem to but still has the frothy foamy outcome. It's delicious. You can also save the rest for later. I keep it in the fridge because of the milk in it. The butter in it will harden and kinda seperate, just nuke it and you're good.

Spicy Sausage Pasta 

I have been eyeing this recipe for a while on pinterest and I finally made it. It first intrigued me because it was a one pan wonder and it look easy. Most of the ingredients I usually had so I thought I'd give it a try!

- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb smoked sausage
- 1.5 cups diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

Chicken Salad
I found this recipe in a cook book I made when I was a laurel and it did not disappoint  Chicken salad is super easy because you just put however much of what ever you want in it. I even threw it together the night before to is could meld together all night and day. Here's what I put in it.

- Chicken, chopped up. I used thighs again, any chicken will work!
- Green Onions, chopped. Because they're so mild and I like them I used like 8.
- Celery, 2 stalks chopped.
- Grapes, chopped probably a 1/2 cup.
- Lime (or lemon) just a squeeze.
- Mayo, just enough to make it all stick together with out being runny
- Salt and pepper

DONE. How easy and tasty? We ate it wrapped in tortillas.

White Chicken Turkey Chili
This is a recipe I stole from Dan's mom! We just used turkey instead of chicken because we had lots of turkey!

Ingredients

- 1 Tbsp olive oil

- 1 Medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)

- 1 Can diced green chilies, undrained (4 ounce)

- 2 Cans great Northern beans, drained and rinsed (16 ounces each)

- 1 Can chicken broth (14 1/2 ounces)

- 1 Can Condensed cream of chicken soup (10-3/4 oz.)

- 2 Cups chopped, cooked chicken breast

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 1/2 tsp Dried oregano

- Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, optional

- Sour cream, optional

- Salsa, optional

Directions

In a 4 quart saucepan heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender.
Stir in soup and broth (can substitute 2 cups water and 2 bouillon cubes for can of chicken broth). Cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until smooth and well blended. Stir in chicken and beans, chiles, oregano and cumin. Heat to boiling; Reduce heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly thickened. Garnish with cheese, sour cream and salsa, if desired.

Easy and delicious! We also used dried beans on this one as well. We soaked them all night. Then Dan put them on the stove when he got up and they were done before I had to leave for work. Then after work I just put it all together. EASY!

Pumpkin Waffles

Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. Ground cloves
- 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tsp. Ground ginger
- 1 3/4 tsp. Ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup Brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups All purpose flour

- 2, Large eggs separated
- 1 cup Milk (whole is best!)
- 1 15 oz. can Pumpkin
- 4 Tbsp Melted butter

Directions

Combine dry ingredients, and whisk to blend. Separate eggs: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl. Add pumpkin and milk to the egg yolks. Pour melted butter into the yolk/milk/pumpkin mixture. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix them together until just combined. A little lumpiness is fine. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in and once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter! Top with Maple syrup and eat!

(I loved these! Dan wasn't a big fan.)

Oh hey, I even took a picture!

yum :)