Month: January 2019

Ham & Cheese TriColor Pasta

Ham & Cheese TriColor Pasta

This creation was the result of cleaning out the frig. Leftover cheese from hosting a dinner party, leftover evaporated milk from making Teriyaki Burgers, an almost-empty jar of TJ’s Bruschetta, and fresh spinach and ham that needed to be used. Bonus: a box of fun,…

Happy. Healthy. Heart-y♥️.

Happy. Healthy. Heart-y♥️.

Hey! Look at us with a food blog. Should be interesting. And fun. Bill has always loved food, but it’s fairly recently that he starting expressing his interest in also getting in the kitchen and preparing good eats. Maybe that yearning grew out of his…

Easy Gumbo Recipe (Instant Pot)

Easy Gumbo Recipe (Instant Pot)

I bought Laurie an InstaPot for Christmas last year. She uses it quite a bit (unlike a lot of the gadgets I’ve bought for her over the years!). We also like Cajun food and I am especially fond of good gumbo. So when she showed me this recipe, I said “let’s do it!”

It was worth the time and effort. This is a great rendition of Gumbo. It comes from the “Little Family Adventure” blog. The original recipe can be found right here. This is a good one for diabetics, as there’s no added sugar and the rice can be brown rice, which is what Laurie made – and it’s great.

Easy Gumbo Recipe (Instant Pot)
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Easy Gumbo Recipe (Instant Pot)
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: servings
Instructions
  1. Set pressure cooker to sauté and heat 1 tablespoon of oil.
  2. Once oil is hot, add the sausage and brown (without the lid) on both sides, about 5 minutes.
  3. Remove the sausage to a plate being sure to leave oil/drippings in the pan.
  4. Add the cut chicken thighs to the pot and brown on both sides, about 6 minutes.
  5. Remove chicken and add to the plate with the sausage.
  6. Add remaining 1/4 cup of oil, flour, Cajun seasoning, thyme, and smoked paprika to the pot.
  7. Stir constantly and cook until the roux is the color of peanut butter, about 5 minutes.
  8. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the darkened roux.
  9. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
  10. Return the cooked Andouille sausage and chicken to the pressure cooker.
  11. Add chicken broth and diced tomatoes to the pressure cooker.
  12. Stir well to combine being sure to remove anything sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add the pressure cooker lid and bring to pressure.
  13. Cook for 15 minute on manual setting and then allow to naturally release for 15 minutes.
  14. Release any remaining pressure and remove the lid from the pressure cooker
  15. Taste the gumbo and add, as needed, sea salt and black pepper.
  16. To serve: place a 1/2 cup of white rice in a bowl and top with gumbo.
Recipe Notes

Check out the original recipe blog post for some variations and additional links to other Cajun recipes...

Lara’s Tender Gingersnaps

Lara’s Tender Gingersnaps

This recipe came from Taste of Home. I made a few changes in an attempt to make it higher in fiber and protein, (whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour) and lower in carbs and sugar, (used Truvia Brown Sugar Blend instead of regular…

Happy. Healthy. Heart-y ♥️.

Happy. Healthy. Heart-y ♥️.

Hey! Look at us with a food blog. Should be interesting. And fun. Bill has always loved food, but it’s fairly recently that he starting expressing his interest in also getting in the kitchen and preparing good eats. Maybe that yearning grew out of his…

John’s Crispy Roasted Potatoes – Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings”

John’s Crispy Roasted Potatoes – Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings”

Why yes, it IS yet another recipe from Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings” cookbook! I told you it was a fantastic cookbook!

So for Thanksgiving this year we decided to make roasted potatoes instead of mashed. That wasn’t a popular decision for our son Lucas (a huge Thanksgiving mashed potato fan) at least until he tried them. I am partial to very, very crunchy potatoes. And IF YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS, these ARE very, very crunchy (“crispy”). I repeat – FOLLOW the instructions.

By cooking them slightly longer than the original recipe says to, they were very crispy and very, very good. And they even tasted excellent re-heated in the ‘wave afterwards.

John’s Crispy Roasted Potatoes – Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings”
Print Recipe
Chrissy's comments: Roasted potatoes usually don't stand a chance. I mean, if you had to choose between a French fry, a tater tot, a potato chip, and a sad little mushy roasted potato, what would you do? (Don’t worry, me too.). But John really loves them, so I was determined to make them good enough that I don’t pick up a magazine in the supermarket one day and read that he's left me for a nanny with a culinary degree and a specialty in spuds. The secret is to preheat the oil in the baking sheet (get one with rims, people, or your oven will become one giant grease fire) so when the potatoes touch it they get a crispy contact high. DFWT!!! Don’t. F*ck. With. Them. Every time you stir them (which you will be tempted to do) you sacrifice some of those edges and crunchy bits. SO put the potatoes in the oven and then paint your nails or handcuff yourself or do something, anything, that will prevent you from messing up these salty, crunchy, golden-brown spuds.
Servings Prep Time
4 to 6 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 to 6 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
John’s Crispy Roasted Potatoes – Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings”
Print Recipe
Chrissy's comments: Roasted potatoes usually don't stand a chance. I mean, if you had to choose between a French fry, a tater tot, a potato chip, and a sad little mushy roasted potato, what would you do? (Don’t worry, me too.). But John really loves them, so I was determined to make them good enough that I don’t pick up a magazine in the supermarket one day and read that he's left me for a nanny with a culinary degree and a specialty in spuds. The secret is to preheat the oil in the baking sheet (get one with rims, people, or your oven will become one giant grease fire) so when the potatoes touch it they get a crispy contact high. DFWT!!! Don’t. F*ck. With. Them. Every time you stir them (which you will be tempted to do) you sacrifice some of those edges and crunchy bits. SO put the potatoes in the oven and then paint your nails or handcuff yourself or do something, anything, that will prevent you from messing up these salty, crunchy, golden-brown spuds.
Servings Prep Time
4 to 6 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 to 6 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Pour 4 tablespoons of the oil onto a rimmed baking sheet and heat in the oven until very hot but not smoking, about 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the remaining 1 tablespoon oil with the potatoes, onion, garlic, rosemary, and 1/l2 teaspoons each salt and pepper. Remove the baking sheet with the heated oil and immediately but carefully pour the potato mixture onto the sheet, spread out in a single layer, and return to the oven. Roast the potatoes until the undersides are crisped and the garlic begins to soften, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the baking sheet From the oven and flip the potatoes using a metal spatula (or, if you’re John, one by one with tongs). Return the potatoes to the oven and roast until the garlic is golden and softened and the potatoes are crisped but tender when poked with a Fork, 15 to 20 minutes longer.* Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
Recipe Notes

NOTE - see the asterisk in the instructions. I baked them an 20 mins, flipped them over, then I cooked them an extra 25 mins. I suppose this depends on how accurate the temps are in your oven. Our oven is horrible - if you set it to 350F, you might get 325, you might get 375, and in some rare occasions, it might wind up being what you set it to.  So it takes a little monitoring...

Better Baked Ziti ++

Better Baked Ziti ++

We used to watch Mr. Food on the noon news. “Oh, it’s sooo good” was his catch phrase. And this recipe is. Laurie tells me we used to make this all the time, but my feeble memory doesn’t remember. But she just made it last…

Teriyaki Burgers

Teriyaki Burgers

This one is a family favorite. We inherited it from our friend and pastor Scott, via some other friends. It gets requested on a regular basis by our sons, friends, other family, etc. It’s a great spin on burgers and the leftovers save well Teriyaki…

Oriental Cole Slaw Salad

Oriental Cole Slaw Salad

I’m not quite sure what the origin is for this one. We got it from some friends of ours. The recipe is hand-written by our friend Dana. We’ve tried other recipes for Oriental Cole Slaw and this one is consistently better than the rest.

Oriental Cole Slaw Salad
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
10 servings 15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
10 servings 15 minutes
Oriental Cole Slaw Salad
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
10 servings 15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
10 servings 15 minutes
Ingredients
Slaw
Servings: servings
Instructions
  1. Combine the solid ingredients for the slaw EXCEPT for the ramen noodles. Combine the ingredients for the dressing into a separate container. Let the dressing set for 2-3 hours. Pour dressing over salad just before serving. Add dry ramen noodles to the salad. If you plan to have leftovers, hold back enough ramen noodles for the leftovers but don't add them right away unless you want them to be soft - they'll soak up the dressing and won't give the crunch if they're in the salad when refrigerated.
Secretly Spicy Deviled Eggs – Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings”

Secretly Spicy Deviled Eggs – Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings”

As I mentioned in a previous recipe, I really REALLY like Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings” cookbook. Several of the recipes I’ll be posting here come from that source. This one is, hands-down, the best deviled egg recipe I’ve ever had. There are 3 things that make…