Teriyaki Stir Fry...yummy!

The thing I LOVE about stir-frys is you can change them up in so many ways. You can use ANY ingredients you want. So this is how I did MY stir-fry tonight. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 bag of mixed stir-fry veggies
1 box of pre sliced mushrooms
4 small chicken breasts, cubed
fresh ginger, grated
1 bottle of Teriyaki Sauce (Any type will do)
1 small bag of fresh snap peas
2 Tbs. Peanut Oil
1 Tbs. fresh garlic
Restaurant style sweet and sour sauce
Brown rice

Directions:

Get your Brown rice started first, since it will take about 30 minutes for it to cook up.

Next, get your Wok really hot. Put your Peanut Oil and garlic in the pan. You wan't to infuse your Oil with that garlic taste. Let the garlic heat up for about a minute. Put your chopped chicken in and cook until no longer pink. Grate up some fresh ginger over the chicken, any amount will do, all depends on how much ginger you like. Now you will want to get a new clean spoon, so you don't cross contaminate. Put your mushrooms in first, so they can cook up for a bit before you put the other veggies in. Now put your cleaned veggies in with the chicken. Put the lid on and turn the heat down to Medium and let the veggies steam for a bit. After all the veggies have steamed for about 5-10 minutes, pour your choice of stir-fry sauce over everything. Mix all the veggies and chicken up in the sauce. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and coats all the veggies and chicken.

Your rice should be done about now. Spoon some rice up in a bowl, pour your stir fry over the rice and finish off with some sweet and sour sauce...YUMMY!!! You can change this up however you want. I did not go by a recipe, this is just how I decided to do my stir-fry tonight. Have fun! =)

Spinach Frittata

This is one of my Hubby's FAVORITE snacks =) I received this recipe from my mother in law. It is quite tasty and super easy to make! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 10 ounces boxes of chopped frozen spinach, thawed
10 eggs
8 ounces of Cottage Cheese
3 Tbs of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
2 unsalted Matzo Crackers, crushed
salt to taste

Directions:
Thaw your spinach and squeeze the liquid out. In a big bowl, beat the 10 eggs with a fork. Crush your Matzo crackers in a big ziplock bag, then pour into the bowl. Add in your cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, spinach and salt. Mix up with a spatula and pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375 and bake on the bottom rack for 30 minutes. Then bake on the top rack for 25 minutes. Let cool, slice them up and ENJOY! I've even seen them eaten with Ketchup....to each their own ;)

Pumpkin Pie Mousse

Who ever said that Pumpkin Pie has to be fattening is a liar! I stumbled upon this recipe about 4 years ago, in an attempt to prove those people wrong. If you LOVE Pumpkin Pie as much as I do, then you will LOVE this recipe! Granted, it doesn't have the "fattening" crust, but it has all the pumpkin flavor that you could ever want. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 small packages of instant sugar-free vanilla pudding
• 2 cups of no-fat (skim) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 15 ounce can of pumpkin
• 8 ounces of fat-free Cool Whip

Directions:

1. Make pudding first with the 2 cups of skim milk.
2. Fold in the rest of the ingredients - spice, pureed pumpkin and Cool Whip.
3. Serve!

I added a "Dollop" of Fat Free Cool Whip on top of mine...just felt like be rebellious today. ;)

Super Easy Crock-Pot Turkey Chili and Corn bread

It's getting to be that time of year. The leaves are changing colors, there is a crispness in the air and the smell of chili cooking in crock-pots are leaking through our windows and into the streets for everyone to enjoy =)

I threw this simple and SUPER easy Turkey Chili together in the crockpot for dinner tonight and it turned out so good!

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 can of chili beans
1 can of kidney beans, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 onion chopped
1 10.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 10.5 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
1 Tbs. Worchestire Sauce
2 Tbs. Chili Powder
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Brown your ground Turkey on the stove first. After your Turkey is cooked through, put into the crockpot along with all the other ingredients. Cook it on slow for 6-10 hours or on high for 4-8 hours. Enjoy! See- super easy and VERY delicious!

Corn Bread was bought at Safeway, didn't have time to make the cornbread this evening. It was till super yummy!

"poop Muffins" AKA Refrigerator Bran Muffins

Before I even begin to explain the recipe..NO, I did not use Window Wipes as an ingredient in the recipe, they just happened to make an appearance in the picture. =)

"Poop Muffins" are what my daughter calls these. Because....well, you figure it out. These are Bran muffins and SUPER good! If your looking to get more Fiber in your diet, this is a GREAT way to do that. I got this recipe from my mother in law, who happened to make up some for Mother's day. They were delicious. We couldn't keep our hands off of them. The recipe makes a HUGE batch because you can store the remaining batter in the fridge for 5-7 weeks.

Ingredients:
2 C. boiling water
2 C. 100% Nabisco bran Cereal
1/2 C. Corn Oil
3 C. Sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 qt. buttermilk
5 C. White Whole Wheat Flour
5 tsp. baking Soda
1 tsp. salt
4 C. Kellogg's All Bran Cereal
2 C. Chopped Walnuts (optional if you like a crunch in your muffins)
1 C. raisins
1 C. chopped dates(you can get creative with the chopped/dried fruit you like in your muffins)

Directions:

Pour boiling water over 100% nabisco bran cereal. set aside to cool

In a LARGE bowl, cream together corn oil and sugar. Add eggs and buttermilk.

In a seperate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and add to the buttermilk mixture. Now add the cooked bran mixture into that bowl. Next, mix in the All Bran Cereal, walnuts, raisins and dates only until moistened. Store in a glass or plastic covered bowl in the refrigerator. Will keep 5-7 weeks.

When ready to bake, spoon into greased tiny muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy!!

Zaya

Zaya is a Croatian recipe that I grew up watching my mom's side of the family enjoying. I can remember being just a little girl in my great great grandma Kathryn's basement, listening to her speak in her strong Croatian accent as she prepared Zaya for everyone to enjoy. Throughout my childhood, I was told "Katie, you wouldn't like it...lots of veggies". So I believed them. I thought it was just an "Adult" meal. Boy was I wrong! I later learned, that my mom and grandma were only telling us kids that, because it meant more Zaya for them. HA! This is one of my FAVORITE comfort foods. A TRUE family recipe. Before you knock it, you must try it. Very healthy but also very tasty! This is a very "un-professional" recipe, since everything about this recipe has just been done by memory, there is no actual recipe card written down. This has just been passed down from the family. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
* 1-2 big bags of spinach, or 4-5 bundles of spinach (depending on where you purchase your spinach)
* 3/4 pound of fresh green beans trimmed and halved
* 10 medium sized red potatoes
* 2 zucchini chopped
* 2 bundles of swiss chard. Stalks cut off
* 7 ounce bag of frozen peas
* Good Olive Oil
* Salt

Directions:
Get a BIG pot of water boiling. You want to start with the ingredients that take the longest time to cook. So start with the potatoes. Boil until poked with a fork and they fall off. Take the potatoes out and put to the side. Now add in the Green Beans and cook for about 10 mins, add in the zucchini and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. Add in the Swiss Chard and let cook down for about 5 minutes, then add in the spinach. Let the spinach cook down and wilt, then go ahead and pour the frozen peas in. Let the peas cook up and get warm. Take the pot over to your sink and drain all the liquid out by putting the lid partially on the pot and tipping over the sink. Make sure you get ALL the liquid out. Bring the pot back to the stove and put the potatoes back in. This is where I break some of the potatoes open, so they can absorb some of the good olive oil your going to drizzle them with. Pour the Olive Oil ALL over the veggies in the pot. You'll probably end up using 1/4 of the bottle. You don't want them "drowning" in Olive Oil, you just want enough for the veggies to just "bathe" it =) Some like to salt while everything is in the pot, other like to make themselves a bowl and THEN salt their bowl. Everyone's preference to saltiness is different, so I'd suggest salting after you make yourself a bowl. Then dont forget a big slice of GOOD bread with butter and ENJOY!!

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Who doesn't LOVE a good Chicken Pot Pie?! Especially when it is your own individual Chicken Pot Pie? Well, this happens to be one of my favorite recipes. I got it from Food Network's "Down Home with the Neely's" Individual Chicken Pot Pies Recipe. It does have quite a bit of prep work, but the end result is SO worth it!

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 bouillon cube
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 large carrots cut in 1/2-inch rounds
• 1 rib celery, sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 store-bought 2-pound rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1 (7-ounce) bag frozen pearl onions
• 1 (9-ounce) box frozen peas
• 2 (9-ounce) packages store-bought rolled out pie

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large saucepan heat chicken broth and bouillon cube over medium heat until hot.

In a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, chives and garlic, and saute until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the flour and stir together until it becomes pasty and lump-free, about 2 minutes. Stir in the hot broth, heavy cream, sherry, chicken and frozen onions and peas. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

With a ladle, fill 6ovenproof ramekins or bowls with the filling. Place on baking sheet.

Sprinkle flour on countertop. Roll out dough an extra inch. Using a biscuit round or mold, cut out dough to cover the tops of your oven-proof bowls, with about 1/2-inch hangover, depending on their size. Crimp the dough over the edge of the ramekin. Brush with the egg wash and make 4 small slits on the top. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.