Cranberry Apple Crisp

Ingredients

  • 5 cups sliced, peeled apples (we used Granny Smith) (we sliced our apples ¼ inch thick)
  • 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen chopped cranberries (we used fresh cranberries) (we just sliced the cranberries in half)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
  • ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • ¼ cup margarine or butter (we used margarine)
  • ½ cup chopped nuts (we used walnuts)
  • Whipped cream (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take a 12 x 8-inch (2 quart) baking dish out and grease the inside of it (we used nonstick cooking spray). In a large mixing bowl, add the apples, cranberries, sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and the cinnamon to it, stirring to combine. Spoon the mixture into the greased baking dish.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the rolled oars, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup of flour. Toss the margarine into the small mixing and using either a pastry blender or a fork (we used a fork), cut the margarine into the flour mixture until it looks like it’s turned into small crumbles. Mix the nuts in with the butter mixture and you’ve got your crumble mixture ! Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the fruit in the baking dish and stick the baking dish in the oven.
  3. Let the crisp cook in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the crumble mixture looks golden brown and the apples are tender. Serve the crisp with the whipped cream if you’d like (we didn’t).
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This is a scrumptious dessert ! The crumble on top provides such a nice crunchy contrast against the soft cranberries and apple slices. There’s sweetness in the dish with some tartness. The tartness from the cranberries helps keep the sweetness from becoming overwhelming. The toasted walnuts bring a savoriness and you taste the cinnamon without it being overpowering. We’ve also found that this dish is delicious warm but is also great cold !

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Easy Heathier Crockpot Butter Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (we used tenderloin pieces), cut into bite-size chunks
  • ½ onion, finely minced (we used a yellow onion)
  • 2 Tbsp. butter (we used unsalted butter)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated (we minced)
  • 1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
  • 2 tsp. curry powder
  • 1-2 tsp. curry paste (we used Thai Red Curry paste)
  • 2 Tbsp. garam masala
  • ½ -1 tsp. turmeric
  • 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • ¼ tsp. salt (we used kosher salt)
  • 1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
  • 1 (14-oz.) can coconut milk, regular or lite, plus more if needed to thin the sauce (we didn’t need any extra milk) (we used Thai Kitchen regular)
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt (we used 0% Chobani plain Greek yogurt)
  • ¼ cup half-and-half or heavy cream (we used heavy cream)
  • Cooked white rice, for serving (we used brown rice)
  • Fresh homemade Naan, for scooping (we used store-bought Garlic Naan bread)

Directions

  1. Using a large glass measuring cup or bowl (we used a bowl), combine the coconut milk, Greek yogurt and cream together first before mixing in the tomato paste, garlic, ginger and the other spices.
  2. Take a crockpot (we used our 4-qt. round slow cooker) and spray the inside of it with cooking spray or grease the inside of it with olive oil (we greased the inside with extra-virgin olive oil). Spread the onion out over the bottom before adding in the chicken. Pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken, making sure that all of the chicken gets completely covered with the mixture. Slice the butter into 6 pieces and lay it out over the coconut milk mixture, putting the lid on the slow cooker afterwards. You can either cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (we cooked ours on LOW). After the cook time is up, stir the mixture around, take a taste and season with salt and pepper if you want to. Serve the butter chicken over the rice along with a big piece of Naan bread.
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This packs a lot of flavor, the heat creeps up on you (it might not hurt to make sure you’ve got something to drink nearby). This is a very saucy dish so it’s nice having the Naan bread there to scoop up the sauce with.

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Crock-pot, Thai Kitchen or Chobani.

Take care everybody !

Colossal Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. boneless beef chuck roast or stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes (we used beef stew meat)
  • ¼ cup olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 2 lbs. lean ground beef or 1 lb. ground beef with 1 lb. ground pork (we used 2 lbs. ground  beef)
  • ½ lb. bulk hot Italian sausage (used 1 lb.)
  • 2 large yellow onions, chopped
  • 3 large green, red or yellow sweet peppers, chopped (we used 3 red bell peppers)
  • ½ cup Burgundy wine or dry red wine (we used a cabernet sauvignon wine)
  • 2 (14 ½ oz.) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and cut up
  • 1 (29 oz.) can tomato sauce
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. ground cumin
  • 2 Tbsp. hot chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp. crushed Aleppo pepper or hot chili powder (we used Ancho Chile powder)
  • 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 tsp. kosher flake salt or kosher salt (we used kosher salt)
  • 1 tsp. ground black Tellicherry pepper or ground black pepper (we used ground black Tellicherry pepper)
  • 2 whole bay leaves
  • 1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, rinsed & drained
  • Shredded cheddar cheese (we used smoked cheddar cheese)
  • Thinly sliced green onions

Directions

  1. Get a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven out and pour the olive oil in. Get the oil hot and add in the cubed beef, browning it on all sides. Take the beef cubes out and place in a large bowl. Do not drain the pan drippings from the Dutch oven. Add the ground beef and Italian sausage to the Dutch oven, cooking until the meat’s been browned and fully cooked, stirring occasionally. Take both meats out of the Dutch oven, putting them both in the same bowl as the cubed beef. Keeping 2 tablespoons of the pan drippings in the Dutch oven, pour the rest out.
  2. Toss the onions and sweet peppers into the Dutch oven. Stir the onions and peppers continuously over medium heat for roughly 10 minutes or until the onion is tender. Take the Dutch oven off the heat and pour the wine in. Put the Dutch oven back on the heat and wait for a boil to occur. Turn the heat down once it’s boiling so that it’s at a simmer. Let it simmer uncovered for 5 minutes or however long it takes for the wine to reduce by half. Now stir in the stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, aleppo pepper, tomato paste, salt, black Tellicherry pepper, and bay leaves, bringing the dish up to a boil.
  3. Add the meats back to the Dutch oven, and wait for the chili to come back up to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and put a lid on the Dutch oven. Let it cook for 3 hours, stirring now and then (we stirred every 30 minutes). Add the beans into the Dutch oven and let the chili cook for another 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and throw them away.
  4. Serve the chili and for your individual portions, add on the cheddar cheese and green onions if you want.
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My dad loves this dish ! It’s meaty and hearty. It’s a little sweet and there’s some heat but it doesn’t overwhelm the dish. The chili is great by itself but adding on the smoked cheddar and green onions, it takes it to the next level for flavor !

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Two-Cheese and Ham French Loaf

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf (1 lb.) French bread
  • ¼ cup honey mustard
  • 8 slices (¾ to 1 oz. each) Swiss cheese
  • 8 slices (¾ to 1 oz. each) Cheddar cheese
  • ¼ lb. thinly sliced cooked ham
  • ¾ cup strawberry or raspberry preserves (we used strawberry)

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut out a 30 x 18-inch sheet of heavy-duty foil. Take the French bread and slice it in half horizontally. Take the honey mustard and spread it equally over the two cut sides of the bread halves. Take the bottom half and lay it down on the foil.
  2. Take the two cheeses as well as the ham and layer them evenly on the bottom half of the bread. Place the top half of the bread over the meat and cheese and wrap the whole loaf up tightly using the double-fold seals method*.
  3. Place the wrapped loaf in the oven for somewhere between 30 to 30 minutes or however long it takes for the cheese to melt and the loaf sandwich to get heated throughout.
  4. Pull the loaf out of the oven and carefully unwrap the foil so steam can escape before cutting the loaf up into 6 pieces. Serve the sandwich with the preserves acting as a dip for it.

*We don’t know what they might have meant by “double-fold seals” but this is how we did a double-fold seals:

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Serves 6

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This is a tasty sandwich ! You will need to eat it right away to fully enjoy the ooey gooey cheese and the crispiness of the bread but the flavors all together are tasty. The sweetness of the honey mustard is a nice contrast against the salty, savory flavor of the ham and cheese. It can be a messy sandwich to enjoy though so we’d recommend having some napkins or paper towels with you while eating this. We tried using the preserves but the flavor overpowered any honey mustard you could taste. For us, the idea of maybe something tangy would be more appealing of a dip to use.

We don’t know where we got this recipe from.

Take care everybody !

Black Cherry Swirl Fudge

Ingredients

  • 1-½ teaspoons plus ¾ cup butter, divided (we used salted butter)
  • 3 cups sugar
  • ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 package (10 to 12 ounces) vanilla or white chips (we used Ghirardelli classic white baking chips)
  • 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme (we used Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme)
  • 2 envelopes unsweetened black cherry soft drink mix

Directions

  1. Take a 13-in. x 9-in. pan out and line the inside with foil, greasing the foil afterwards with the 1-½ teaspoons of butter. Leave the pan off to the side for now. Take a heavy saucepan out and add the sugar, cream and remaining butter in it, stirring to combine. Set the heat to medium and wait for the mixture to come to a boil, stirring constantly the whole time. Once at a boil, continue to stir for an additional 4 minutes.
  2. Take the saucepan off the heat, stirring the chips and marshmallow creme in afterwards. Scoop 1 cup of the saucepan mixture out and place in a bowl for the time being. Add the black cherry mix to the saucepan, stirring to combine, pouring the mixture into the pan you prepped earlier. Take that 1 cup of the saucepan mixture and spoon it over the top of the mix in the pan, cutting through the mixture with a knife to create a swirl pattern.
  3. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour until the fudge has become firm. Once firm, use the foil to lift the fudge out of the pan, throwing the foil away afterwards. Cut the fudge into 1-inch squares, putting them in an airtight container and back in the fridge if you’re not going to eat the fudge right away.
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Overall, this was a really easy dish to make ! It’s sweet and a little tart tasting. Great as a dessert or a sweet snack. We thought that maybe we over swirled. The white aspect of the fudge didn’t look as bold as it did in the original picture that accompanied this recipe in the magazine.

We got this recipe from “Taste of Home”.

We weren’t paid in any form to mention Ghirardelli, Taste of Home, or the jet-puffed marshmallow creme.

Take care everybody !