BBQ Chicken, Veggies, and Apple Crisp!

Tonight, Whit, Kyle, Cameron, and I all cooked out at our house! Cameron and I went to Central Market and found this delicious sweet barbecue sauce... and the rest followed!

Menu:
BBQ Chicken
Grilled Veggies
Whit's Potato Casserole
Apple Crisp for dessert

For the BBQ chicken all you need is a good barbecue sauce and chicken. Marinate the chicken in the BBQ sauce (season with salt and pepper, or a grilling seasoning) for about 2-4 hours (and as long as overnight). Then grill! Have more BBQ sauce on hand for serving!

I love grilled veggies! Tonight we grilled red pepper, jalapenos, squash, and red onions. All you need is a little evoo and salt and pepper. Make sure you try to cut the veggies to the same thickness so they cook the same!

Whit's potato casserole I'll need to cook again for the recipe. Its delicious and super easy though, stay posted!

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 5 apples (about 5 cups), peels, cored, and sliced
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 11/2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After you peel, core, and slice the apples (use Granny or another cooking apple), layer them in a baking pan, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water. Mix well and evenly.

For the topping, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and butter, mix together and sprinkle evenly on top of the apple mixture, back for 45 minutes.

Serve with ice cream!

Tres Leches Cupcakes!

Ok I know I haven't posted in FOREVER!!! But I finally moved to Dallas! I'm all moved in and loving Dallas, living close to Cameron, and my roommates!

For a going away treat I made Tres Leches Cupcakes. They are really easy to make and delicious.

I have discovered my new favorite recipe website. Yes, I know I frequently change, but this one will be in my top three for a very long time. It's tastykitchen.com, I'm sure I will be entertained by this site for longer than is normal. (Deboard always makes fun of me for my obsession with recipes.)

The website was created by Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman. I'm slowly starting to come back to cooking unhealthy food, and this website might be my breaking point back into lots of sugar, salt, frying, carbs, and calories. I'll attempt to change the recipes to be healthier... because my lack of exercise sure isn't helping me get into shape!

TRES LECHES CUPCAKES

Ingredients:
CUPCAKES:

• 1 cup Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 5 whole Eggs (separated)
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ⅓ cups Milk

 TRES LECHES MIXTURE:

• 14-½ ounces, fluid Evaporated Milk (1 Can)
• 15 ounces, fluid Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 Can)
• ¼ cups Heavy Cream

WHIPPED CREAM ICING:

• 1 pint Heavy Cream
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 dash Vanilla
• 4 Tablespoons Liquid From Maraschino Cherries
• 30 whole Maraschino Cherries

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar until the mixture turns light yellow. Add milk and vanilla.

Combine egg yolk mixture with dry flour mixture, stirring gently just until combined.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add final ¼ cup of sugar and continue beating until egg whites are stiff (I did this all by hand, but I would recommend using an electric mixer).

Fold beaten egg whites gently into the batter mixture just until combined.

Thoroughly spray cupcake pans (or they will stick like crazy and leave a mess for you to clean up!). Fill each cup about half way with batter.

Bake 8-10 minutes.
Let them sit for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool them completely.

Then combine evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and ¼ cup heavy cream in a bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly.

Cut waxed paper or parchment paper into squares. Put the cupcakes back into the muffin pan upside down on top of the squares. This really does work better than muffin cups, and it looks better too.

Poke each cupcake with a fork 2 or 3 times.

Pour milk mixture over the upside down cupcakes, about 1 teaspoon at a time. Go through the whole batch and then start again, repeat several times. The milk will sit on top of the cupcakes at first, and then soak in. Repeat this until the cupcakes stop absorbing the liquid.

Let the cupcakes sit about 30 minutes and start making the icing. You can store this for later use if you have a lot left over.

Start whipping the heavy cream. When soft peaks form, add a splash of vanilla and the juice from maraschino cherries. Taste the whipping cream and add more vanilla or cherry juice to your liking.

Top each cupcake with whipped cream and a cherry. Store in the fridge. ENJOY!

Chicken Cauliflower Gratin

I've always really liked the idea of using cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes. I found this recipe today and thought I would try it out. It was originally made as a side dish. But I added chicken to make it into a main dish, you could also add pasta.

This is a really creamy sauce, but without the butter! I really liked substituting the cauliflower for potatoes and will do that more in the future. If you're not a vegetable person, or are cooking for someone who doesn't like vegetables, you can hardly tell the difference! Cauliflower, when cooked, has a consistency that is really similar to mashed potatoes, so its the perfect healthy replacement.

This recipe is delicious how it is originally, but would be great with these additions:

• Adding peas and carrots
• Pasta- another take on the main dish (if you make it without the chicken, it's a great vegetarian dish)
• Taking out the chicken- to make it a side (great with steak)
• Adding minced garlic
• Add broccoli

Chicken Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients:

• 4 cups 1-inch cauliflower florets (about 1/2 large head) (I used frozen)
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk, divided into 1 1/4 and 1/4 cups
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, I used crumbed crackers
• 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 tsp evoo
• 2 Tbl all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbl chopped fresh chives
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp black pepper (you can use white too, but I like the extra kick)
• Chicken, cooked and shredded (I had some left over from a rotisserie chicken)

Directions:

Position rack in upper rack of the oven and preheat your broiler.

In a large ovenproof skillet, over medium-high heat, bring cauliflower, 1 1/4 cups milk and salt to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup cheese and oil in a small bowl.

Whisk flour and the remaining 1/4 cup milk in another small bowl until smooth.

Stir the mixture into the pan and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Add chicken.

Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, chives, mustard and pepper.

(I didn't have an oven proof skillet, so I transferred the gratin to a casserole dish to put in the oven)
Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Broil until the top is crispy and beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
Serves 4

We served the chicken gratin with fruit, tomato basil salad, and rolls. Everyone loved the meal, and went back for seconds and thirds! It's really creamy and cheesy, but still good for you!

Pineapple Upside-down Muffins

Tonight I made Pineapple Upside-down Muffins. They are packed with fruits and vegetables, plus they make your entire house smell delicious. So once again, I am attempting to make something healthy, but still taste really good. They are super moist and if you want to just make carrot muffins, just omit the topping.

Tip: Unlike cooking, when you're baking you should stick the measurements exactly.

Pineapple Upside-down Muffins

 Ingredients:

Topping

• 2 Tbl packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbl chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)
• 1 10-ounce can pineapple slices

Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbl ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 Tbl pineapple juice, or orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, not drained
• 1 cup grated carrot (about 1 large)
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

Topping: Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar into each muffin cup. Sprinkle nuts, if using, over the sugar. Stack pineapple slices and cut into 6 wedges. Place 2 wedges in each muffin cup. (I didn't have pineapple slices, but I did have an extra can of crushed pineapples, so I took out the juice and placed a couple crushed pineapple in each muffin tin.)

Muffins: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in oil, juice and vanilla. Stir in crushed pineapple.

Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Stir in carrot, oats, raisins and nuts, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch, 15-20 minutes (or until golden). Immediately loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a baking sheet. Restore any stray pineapple pieces and nuts. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve upside-down, either warm or at room temperature.

Salmon Tostadas with Katie

Katie came over yesterday to cook some dinner with me and my family after work! We made Black Bean and Salmon Tostadas, they were really good, filling, and so easy to make. We're both in Oklahoma for a couple of weeks. Then Katie's on to Chicago and I'm on to Dallas! So we'll probably make a couple more dinners together before we head off to new cities.

Salmon Tostadas

Ingedients:

• 8 6-inch corn tortillas
• Canola oil cooking spray
• 1 7 ounce can boneless, skinless wild Alaskan salmon, drained (or use frozen or fresh salmon, cook and flake)
• 1 avocado, diced
• 2 Tbl minced pickled jalapeños, plus 2 tablespoons pickling juice from the jar, divided (or use fresh jalapenos with pickled jalapeno juice, or red wine vinegar)
• 2 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
• 2 Tbl chopped cilantro
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 3 tsp reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 Tbl prepared salsa
• 2 scallions, chopped
• Lime wedges, for garnish

Directions:

Position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375°F. Coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray. Place on 2 baking sheets. Bake, turning once, until light brown, for about 12 minutes. Don't over cook them or they'll get hard and tough.

Combine the salmon, avocado and jalapeños in a bowl.

I only added half the jalapenos and half the juice because my mom really doesn't like spicy food. But you couldn't taste it at all. I'd recommend using both tablespoons of jalapenos and all the juice, and if you like it spicy, add more! But you can barely taste the jalapenos if you half it, so don't be afraid to add them in!

Combine cabbage, cilantro and the pickling juice in another bowl.

Process black beans, sour cream, salsa and scallions in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on High until hot, about 2 minutes.

To assemble tostadas:

Spread each tortilla with some bean mixture

and some salmon mixture

 and top with the cabbage salad.

Serve with lime wedges and/or tomato wedges. Enjoy!

Katie and I cooking away!