Cooking for a Cause & Four Recipes!

Today I have some fantastic recipes to share with you. In addition to tasting delicious, they are part of a very special cookbook. Each recipe featured today is from the special edition Southern Living Christmas Cookbook, which is available at Dillard's at Stony Point and Short Pump malls in Richmond, VA for only $10. All of the proceeds from this cookbook go to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond, Virginia.

From their mission statement, "Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond, VA provides a home away from home for children receiving medical treatment and their families, and helps to fund programs in the local area that directly improve the well-being of children."  

When Ronald McDonald House contacted me to see if I would be interested in sharing their cookbook on my blog I jumped at the chance. Not only do I love Southern Living, and cooking and baking, but I am honored to be a part of something that can make a real difference in the lives of children and their families. 

Here is our local Ronald McDonald House:

Isn't it lovely? I was able to take a tour of the house with Director of Development, Allison Smith, and learn more about their programs and how they help families. On the tour I heard about the bond that develops among the families that stay in the house, and how meaningful it is for them to have a safe place during their child's treatment. Although each family and their child has a unique situation, they all know the feeling of being different, of having to fight a battle that not many other people understand. Wow, did that hit home. I wanted to say, you are speaking my language sister. I of course immediately thought of my sweet Emma, and how she never even had the chance to fight life's battles. As hard as this made the rest of the tour for me, it only furthered my desire to participate in this project. I want these families to have the opportunity to embrace and support each other in this beautiful place, as they fight alongside their child for health and life. 

Here are some of the sweet faces of Ronald McDonald House Richmond:

To help you get an idea of the types of delicious treats you can make after you purchase your cookbook, I will share with you a few recipes that I tested. 

The first was the Stove-top Chicken Pot Pie. This recipe was super easy, quick, and delicious. It was the perfect comfort food. 

Stove-top Chicken Pot Pie

8 frozen buttermilk biscuits

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms

4 cups chopped cooked chicken (they recommended a rotisserie chicken, which I used.)

1 (10 3/4-oz.) can reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup

1 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 (8-oz.) package 1/3-less fat cream cheese, cubed

1/2 (0.7-oz.) envelope Italian dressing mix (about 2 tsp.)

1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed

1. Bake biscuits according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, saute onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until golden. Add mushrooms, and sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients; cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until cheese melts and mixture is thoroughly heated. Stir in peas, and cook 2 minutes. Spoon chicken over hot split biscuits. 

Yum, now wasn't that easy?! They have a Southern-Style Chicken Pot Pie recipe that I am trying next. It has leeks in it, which are my ultimate fave! Please don't judge my large portion. I was really hungry, and it was just that good. {Also, sorry for the bad picture quality…the lighting at night in my house is terrible for photography!}

The next dinner that we enjoyed from the cookbook was Rosemary Grilled Chicken. The recipe pairs the chicken with Garlic Spinach and Cheese Grits, which don't get me wrong sounds amazing, but we were curious about the Asparagus-New Potato Hash, so that's what we made on the side instead.

Rosemary Grilled Chicken Thighs 

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. honey

1 tsp. table salt

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary*

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 lb. skinned and boned chicken, thighs**

1/2 lemon

1. Combine garlic and next 6 ingredients in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag, squeezing bag to combine ingredients. Add chicken, turning to coat, and seal bag. Chill 1 to 24 hours.

2. Preheat grill to 350 to 400 degrees (medium-high) heat. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a large piece of aluminum foil. Squeeze juice from lemon over chicken; fold foil around chicken, covering chicken completely. Let stand 10 minutes.

*Fresh thyme, cilantro, or oregano may be substituted

**1 1/2 lb. skinned and boned chicken breasts may be substituted. (This is what we used.)

Asparagus-New Potato Hash

1 lb. small red potatoes

1 lb. fresh asparagus

2 shallots, minced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp. table salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup crumbled farmer's cheese or queso fresco

Garnish: lemon slices

1. Bring potatoes and salted water to cover to a boil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook 15 minutes or until just tender; drain well. Cool 15 minutes; cut into quarters.

2. Snap off and discard tough ends of asparagus. Cut asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces. 

3. Saute shallots in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet 1 minute. Add asparagus, thyme, and next 3 ingredients; sauté 2 to 3 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Add potatoes, and sauté 3 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated. Remove from heat, and sprinkle with cheese. 

Both of these recipes were delicious and I will make them again. The chicken was especially good, as I can be funny about eating chicken. It was super tender and flavorful, and grilling it made it extra yummy. 

After trying out a few dinner recipes I was in the mood for something sweet. The last recipe I have to share with you this evening is:

Sticky Bun-Pumpkin Muffins

2 cups pecan halves and pieces

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. table salt

1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin

1 cup canola oil

4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

2. Stir together melted butter and next 2 ingredients. Spoon 1 rounded teaspoonful butter mixture into each cup of 2 lightly greased (12-cup) muffin pans, and top each with 1 rounded tablespoonful pecans.

3. Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Whisk together pumpkin, next 2 ingredients, and 2/3 cup water; add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling three-fourths full. Place an aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan on lower oven rack to catch any overflow.

5. Bake at 350 degrees on middle oven rack for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert pan immediately to remove muffins, and arrange muffins on a wire rack. Spoon any topping remaining in muffin cups over muffins. Cool 5 minutes. 

These were absolutely amazing! The cake part didn't taste overly sweet, so it was well balanced with the sticky, gooey, sweet topping. I will definitely make these again. I took one for each of the girls on my team at school and they all loved them as well. 

The recipes from the cookbook that are on my "to make soon" list include: Bacon-and-Cheddar Corn Muffins, Hominy Grill's Shrimp and Grits, Spiced Pomegranate Sipper, Bacon-Onion Dip, Cornbread Tartlets with Tomato-Lima Bean Relish, Ragout of Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta, Holiday Meatloaf, Home-Style Butter Beans, Southern-Style Collard Greens, Shrimp and Grits Dressing, Waldorf Spinach Salad, Pimento Cheese Rolls, Sour Cream Cornbread, Lemon-Poppy Seed Cakes, Individual Frozen Peppermint Cheesecakes, Caramel-Pecan-Pumpkin Bread Puddings, and Coconut Joys. Oh dear, that's a lot of recipes. And that is seriously only a fraction of the cookbook. Oh, yummy!!

I hope that you will enjoy these recipes, and even more, I hope that if you are located in the Richmond, Virginia area that you will purchase one of these cookbooks. It is a beautiful cookbook and is bursting with fantastic recipes. More importantly, it helps a wonderful organization continue their mission. 

Happy eating ya'll!

I was provided the cookbook for the purpose of this post, but all opinions are my own. 

Homemade Pecan Pancakes

I currently have a big bag of pecans in the pantry in preparation for a homemade pecan pie for Thanksgiving {yum, my favorite!}. This week I decided to use some of the pecans and give pecan pancakes a try. We had a breakfast for dinner night and enjoyed the pancakes with some extra crispy bacon, one of my all time favorite foods.

To keep the recipe a little more "clean" and natural, I chose to make the pancakes from scratch, rather than using a mix. Plus, we already had all of the ingredients in the pantry, so why not?

Pecan Pancakes

Adapted from Food Network

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Dash of salt

1 cup buttermilk*

Dash of vanilla extract

1 egg

3 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in the buttermilk and egg and whisk until smooth. Pour in the melted butter and pecans and stir to combine. 

Heat a griddle to medium heat and add a small pat of butter. Using a ladle pour the batter onto the griddle and cook the pancakes to golden brown on each side. Add more butter to the griddle as needed during cooking to keep the pancakes from sticking.

Serve with butter and maple syrup (we use the real stuff for both, it tastes better and it is all natural). 

*Buttermilk: Pour one tablespoon of white vinegar into a measuring cup. Add in 1 cup of milk (any kind is fine, I used 1%). Let sit for 5 minutes and you have buttermilk! 

Oh, and for full disclosure, after taking this picture my phone was covered in butter and syrup because the pat of butter kept sliding off the hot pancakes. I had to keep sliding it back on with my finger while trying to take a decent picture. Good thing my phone has a screen protector so the mess was easy to wipe off. ;)

Amherst Gray

A lovely reader asked for some more pictures of our Amherst Gray siding. It is a color she is considering for her home, and she wanted to get a better idea of how it may look from different angles and in different lights. She asked me a few weeks ago, so I hope I'm not too late, but here are a few more pictures of our home with its fabulous new{ish} color! You can read the makeover post here.

Well, Hello!

Hello there! Did you think I had disappeared? I will hopefully be giving this blog a little TLC in the next week or so. I need to give it a makeover since the free background I had been using was going to expire today. I've put something else up for now, but the whole thing needs to be revamped.

I've been spending most of my available blogging time lately over at my other blog, Butterfly Wings. You can come over and visit me there, or stop by our Facebook Page. See you there!

Quick, Easy, Healthy{ish} Weeknight Stew

Tonight I made some soup for dinner that was fast, easy, delicious, and healthy{ish}. I'm calling it a stew because it was thick and hearty, and there was not a ton of broth. If you want it soupier increase the amount of chicken broth, but I loved it just the way it was. I will definitely be making this again!

Sausage and Kale Stew

1/2 lb. ground mild Italian sausage--Use turkey for a healthier version, freeze the other half of the package to use another time

1 small bunch kale, rinsed, pulled off the stem, and chopped

1 can white beans (great northern/cannellini), drained and rinsed

1 32 oz container low sodium chicken broth

1 can stewed tomatoes with Italian seasoning, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Heat a pot (I like to use a cast iron dutch oven) to medium heat. Add a small amount of olive oil and brown the sausage, breaking into bite size crumbles as you cook. When the sausage is almost browned put in the minced garlic to sauté. Careful, it burns easily! 

Once the sausage is nicely browned pour in the chicken broth, scraping off the good brown bits from the bottom of the pan into the broth (deglazing if you want to be fancy about it).This makes the broth rich and delicious. Mmmmm 

Add in the diced tomatoes in their juice (do not drain). I can never find these pre-diced, so I pull the slices out with a fork and dice them myself and then throw them in the pot along with the leftover juice that's in the can.  

Add in the white beans and kale along with some salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes until the kale is tender. 

I'm never great at taking pictures of food, but this one is especially bad because the soup was so steamy it kept fogging up my camera. I was too hungry to wait! 

Enjoy!

Mexican Favorites

Mexican is one of my favorite types of food. We have tried two new Mexican recipes for dinner in the last few weeks, and both have been absolutely delicious! They are completely opposite, as one is a vegetarian taco recipe and one is a beef taco. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Roasted Vegetable Tacos (adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 red pepper, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chile powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

1 lime

1 avocado

Homemade tortillas (FYI--I have tried this recipe with whole wheat flour since my original post and it did not work...yuck! Also, I feel like the olive oil does give them a bit of a flavor. If you want them more plain in flavor use canola oil)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix your tortilla dough so it can begin resting. In a bowl toss veggies with the oil and seasonings. Place onto a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through. 

Once veggies are done roasting remove from oven and mix in black beans. Turn oven off and put tray back in to keep warm. Cook your tortillas and set aside. When tortillas are done pull veggies back out of the oven, mix in fresh cilantro, and squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Serve veggie mixture in your fresh warm tortillas, top with fresh avocado, and enjoy! 

Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas (adapted from Eat, Live, Run)

1 flank steak

1 yellow onion, chopped

1-2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

Spice Rub:

2 teaspoons chile powder 

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together spices for rub in a small bowl, then rub into both sides of the flank steak. Place steak in slow cooker and cover with chopped onion and chipotle peppers. Warning: canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce pack a lot of heat. I really like spicy things and I used 1 1/2 peppers in my recipe and it was plenty spicy for me.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. When finished cooking shred meat with two forks. Serve meat inside homemade tortillas and top with a squeeze of lime juice, fresh cilantro, and homemade Pico de Gallo (that's missing from my picture because we forgot to get tomatoes at the store :( )

Pico de Gallo:

Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

Red onion, diced

Juice of 1 lime

Handful of fresh cilantro

Add some fresh minced garlic if you're feeling zesty

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for a few hours before serving

 Enjoy!

Super Food Granola

One thing I have been really curious to try recently is chia seeds. I am not sure how I decided to jump on this bandwagon...probably Pinterest. They are the ultimate super food. Here is a good article about the top 10 health benefits of chia seeds.

For my first chia seed adventure hubby helped me make homemade granola. It turned out pretty well and was definitely waaaay better than my last homemade granola which tasted like burned grossness.

 

Super Food Granola

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup nuts of your choice (We had pecans on hand so thats what we used. I think walnuts would be delish too)

1/4 cup flax seeds

3 tablespoons chia seeds

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup honey (or sweetener of your choice--you could use pure maple syrup or agave nectar)

1 large egg white

1 cup dried fruit (we used a blend of golden raisins, cherries, cranberries, and blueberries)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl mix all ingredients except for the egg white and dried fruit, making sure that the liquid ingredients evenly coat the dry ingredients. 

In a small bowl whisk the egg white until it is frothy, pour into the large bowl of granola, and mix until evenly coated.

Spread the granola onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden. Half way through baking flip the granola over using a spatula. Mix the fruit into the granola as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let cool and store in an airtight container. 

*We got our chia seeds, flax seeds, and "golden fruit blend" all from Trader Joe's 

This granola was fabulous. It is not super sweet, but the honey and fruit adds just the right amount of sugar. I love that it has both chia seeds and flax seeds, and doesn't contain the questionable ingredients that store bought granolas have. Plus, its way cheaper to make your own! My next chia seed adventure is going to be chia seed pudding. Stay tuned, I'll let you know how it turns out!