Vegetable Fried Rice

I made this recipe a few weeks ago and posted a photo of it on Instagram. Wow. The response was overwhelming! Which is a good thing, because I post a lot of photos of my son and dogs. 

Food clearly gets your attention. :) 

Mine too. 

I'll be honest and tell you that I am a Pei Wei fiend. Hardcore. I love me some Pan-Asian fare. BUT we do have to drive 20 minutes for the closest one. Making this on a Wednesday night is SO MUCH easier and faster. 

This is vegetarian friendly, and if you leave out the egg, its vegan friendly. Get creative and throw in whatever veggies you have on hand. Squash, zucchini, green onions, clean out your freezer drawer packed full of half opened veggies. (Oh wait, is that just me?)

Sweet and Spicy Pork in the Crockpot

Let's learn about Allison. 

I'm not a big pork fan. Bacon, meh. I'll take it, but after about 2 pieces I'm done. Yes, my mother is crying right now. Its ok, she can have my share of bacon in the world. 

We did, however have a pig growing up. A pet pig. Not a pig for butchering and eating. A pet. Gus. 

He was pretty rad. 

I wasn't much of a pork fan until I played around and made these...in the crock pot. Roll your eyes, but my crock pot is my life saver. 

These chops are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. As you can see, they come out juicy and tender. Serve over Wild Rice with Sauteed Carrots. 

Wild Rice with Sautéed Carrots

Ready to jazz up your boring wild rice? Jackpot. 

Here's the deal, we eat some sort of brown or wild rice or quinoa every night. I know how boring whole grains can be. I also know how sodium packed the flavored boxed versions are. Gross. 

If you can cook rice, you have half of this recipe down. The other half is-you guessed it-sauteeing carrots. Its a great way to get an extra veggie into your meals and spice up that bland rice! This recipe can be made with any whole grain! 

Cherry Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Mmmmm. Pie. 

Not just any pie, tiny cherry pies. Small the pie, smaller the calorie count. This means you can eat as many as you want. 

No, not really. I practice and promote portion control. You would never know it, huh? 

These pies are extremely quick to whip up. If you don't want to make your own cherry pie filling, use store bought. I promise, no one will judge. Especially when I you eat it from the can.

Cowboy Beef and BBQ Bean Sandwiches

Are you sick of crock pot recipes yet? Yeah, I didn't think so. 

If you are, and you discredit my blog because I use it so much...that's ok. I probably would too. But hey, I never claimed to want, need, or attempt to slave in my kitchen for 10 hours while preparing a recipe that you would probably never make. 

Just being real, folks. 

These, on the other hand (you know that one that isn't changing a diaper/running after a child/pulling weeds/trying to find something to wear/feed the dogs/and  never make it to work on time), can be thrown into the beloved crock pot in minutes. Win. 

These made me feel like I was eating a sophisticated Sloppy Joe. I topped mine with some cole slaw mix (you know, the one I made from the vegetables I have time to grow in the back yard, right next to all my dying flowers) from a pre-made bag.

These were quite flavorful and my husband even went back for a second sandwich. That, my friends is the unspoken good job I find worth more than gold, a Louis Vuitton bag, my car tag...

Enjoy. 

Lemonade Cake

I can't tell you the last time I bought a drink mix at the grocery store. Concentrated, powder, or bottled drinks haven't been on my grocery list for YEARS. Not kidding, my son won't drink juice because I just don't buy it and I gave up soda 6 years ago.

 Well....guess what was in my buggy last weekend? Frozen lemonade.

This cake is very light and has a nice thin layer of frosting. I'm not a 5 mile thick icing kinda gal. My teeth hurt just thinking about it. (Ahem, Wal-Mart cake.)

This is a perfect cake for a backyard barbecue or pool party. Fresh and lemony with just the right amount of tartness and sweetness. Enjoy!

Savory Pancake with Sausage

Hi! I'm Allison. I am a blogger who hasn't blogged all week. Awesome. Don't worry, I will make it up to you with this post. 

Let's take a thinner crepe like pancake, stuff it with sausage, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese! I'm in! You could totally drizzle this with some warm maple syrup, but I served this up with fruit which was enough sweetness for me. I also used turkey sausage links versus pork-either will work great!

Cream cheese will be the death of me. A delicious death.

Mac & Cheese Bites

My husband has 5 food groups: Mexican, pizza, chicken finger baskets, cereal, and mac and cheese. Non of which are too hard to make or mess up...nor will they let the average 34 7 year old down. Love you husband! :)

Mac and cheese in a bite size portion sounded great to me! It didn't come out of a blue box, but it was served on a blue plate. Take that Kraft. 

Homemade Soft Pretzels

There really isn't a whole lot that's better than a soft, doughy, fresh pretzel.

Fun fact: I FINALLY conquered my fear of working with yeast.   ::: applause :::

This is great for my recipe book, bad for my waist line. I am now addicted...I can't decide if its the carbs or working with yeast. I'll let you know after I finish this pretzel.

These are SO easy to make and taste amazing. You can also play around with different toppings just like your favorite unnamed pretzel shop in the mall. Cinnamon and sugar, cheddar jalapeno, stuff them with a hot dog...you could even whip up a quick cheese dip for these salted ones! 

Ravioli with Browned Butter Balsamic Sauce

I have created a monster. A delicious, creamy, rich and addicting monster.

Next to breakfast, Italian food is one of my all time favorite things to make eat. Top it with browned butter and I'm in!

This recipe calls for balsamic vinegar and PLEASE use a good one. Quality balsamic vinegar will make or break this dish. I personally used a balsamic vinegar with raspberry and fig. See, I told you it was a monster.

I also chose a four cheese stuffed ravioli. I would stick with a vegetarian type ravioli for this recipe. I think anything with meat wouldn't mesh well with the sauce. Squash, spinach, and mushroom would all be great choices!

Blueberry Coconut Cake

It's a sad day. This my last lemon blueberry recipe...for a while. My favorite thing about this cake is the large amount of berries. It makes for a dense cake that was great chilled. I'm not a huge frosting fan, so this tart lemon glaze was PERFECT atop the toasted coconut. Yum. 

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Just call me the grill master. I have used the grill more times in the past 3 months that I have in my entire life. Mainly because my dad is a killer grill king and I didn't want to mess that up. 

I will throw just about anything on the hot grates. I honestly whipped these up quickly because I was low on squash for the grill. What a wonderful discovery I made. Enjoy!

Quick Cheese Danish

Ever since these, I have been on a lemon blueberry rampage. Just hold tight. I promise by the end of the week, you will be on board.

First up, this quick cheese danish.

Here's the deal. If you absolutely refuse to jump into the blueberry lemon wagon, you don't have to use them in this recipe. Leave out the lemon juice in the glaze and up the milk until your desired consistency is achieved. Slice into squares and enjoy! You can always add the fruit topping of your choice, cinnamon would also be a great addition, apples, whipped cream, you name it. Just about anything goes good with cream cheese and croissant dough. 

Chunky Avocado and Black Bean Salsa

So my good friend, Melissa and her wonderful family came to visit us! I act like they live states away, but really they are just about 20 minutes away. BUT they have 3 wonderful children and I truly give them props for getting out and about with them. I can hardly do it with one.

I whipped up this salsa before they arrived. I may or may not have shoveled it into my mouth so quickly that we ran out of chips.

Attractive, I know.

Anyway, Melissa is quite talented and made more tortilla chips from scratch!! You can find the recipe here for  them! You can find the recipe for the salsa below!

Chicken Tamale Bake

Fun fact about Allison.

I hate the word "bake" when used to describe what we all know as a casserole. Can't we just call it a casserole? Why not?

Guess what? Dishes known as "bakes" are just as delicious as casseroles.

I probably could have eaten the entire pan of this myself. Um, hello? Cornbread? Yep.

Good thing I preach portion control.

Santa Fe Chicken Bowls

Mmmmmm. Mexican food.

Sorry. I'll stop being weird.

Things I love about this recipe:
1. It is extremely versatile. You can add or take away whatever ingredients your tummy wants.
2. It is made in the crock pot.
3. It is low calorie.
4.It is made in the crock pot.
5. I can pretend that we eat white rice. We don't. You will only find brown in our house.
6. It is made in the crock pot.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

If you read my breakfast review of Flint, then you will know I was obsessed with the pancakes they have on the menu. They inspired me to make my own version.

I love the combination of lemon and berry, so this was the perfect combo for me. These pancakes we SO SO SO SO good. The ricotta cheese made them deliciously light and airy. And the blueberry sauce was just the right sweetness. I can't stop thinking about them. They were that good.

Inside Out Chicken Pot Pies

MMMM. Let's talk about pot pies. When I think of pot pies, I think of red box Banquet turkey, chicken, and possibly even beef with strangely cubed meat and that distinct sauce that screams freezer section. They were delicious. I could kill a pot pie in my day. 

Homemade pot pies have always intimidated me, mostly due to the thought of laboring over or using puff pastry dough. No thanks. 

These little pies came together quite nicely and were unbelievably tasty. I will share a little tip that will make whipping these up a breeze. I put the chicken breasts needed for this recipe into the crock pot, covered them in chicken broth, and threw in a bouillon cube or two in. Cooked on HIGH for 4-6 hours, they were perfect for shredding! It was no fuss chicken at its finest. Thank you crock pot. 

Inside Out Chicken Pot Pies

Ingredients

1 can refrigerated biscuits

1/4 cup butter

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup corn starch

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup fat free half and half

1 teaspoon dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Flatten each with hand or rolling pin. Drape each biscuit over and upside down ungreased muffin cup to create a bowl. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Remove biscuit bowls from muffin cups; set aside.


Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, vegetables, and garlic, cooking until vegetables are cooked through, 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle corn starch over chicken mixture and stir for an additional minute or two, until corn starch is no longer visible. Add broth and bring to a boil. When broth begins to bubble and thicken, stir in half and half, salt, pepper, and parsley. Add frozen peas and parsley; mix well. Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes. To serve, spoon chicken mixture into biscuit bowls.