Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken (102 of 150)

Photo from Cafe Delites

I can't believe it's been a week since I actually cooked something. I had a stomach thing last week and book club so the days where I wasn't with the book club ladies and feel ok, I ate turkey sandwiches. 

Blueberry came over tonight to watch Dungeons & Dragons so I figured I'd marinade some chicken. 

This recipe was so amazing. I was not really sure about the marinade, but the flavor was out of this world. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I'll keep some of the marinade aside to brush on the chicken. 

I didn't use bone in chicken breast because MY GAWD they are expensive. So I went boneless, cubed it and skewered it. I marinaded the chicken for 4 hours. It could have gone more because more time equals more flavor. And this recipe has very little acid in it so you can go longer. 

The original recipe has an oven option. I, personally, wouldn't bake this, but if you must, then there's the instructions below.

I also made corn on the cob, but did it the old fashion way - big pot of water.

Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken

Recipe from Cafe Delites

Serves 6

For The Marinade:

• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1/3 c BBQ sauce
• 3 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1 T onion powder
• 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (optional)
• 2-4 tsp sriracha*
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 2 tsp salt
• Cracked black pepper , to taste (optional)

Chicken:

• 3-4 pounds (or 1 1/2kg to 2kg) whole chicken (Butterflied is preferred)
• Salt and pepper to season
• Corn (OPTIONAL):
• 6 corn cobs
• 3 tsp butter (optional)

Mix all of the marinade ingredients (except for the Sriracha) together until well combined. Mix in 2-4 teaspoons of Sriracha, taste test, and work up from there until reaching your desired level of heat (or leave it out all together if you don't want any spice at all).

Using 3/4 of the marinade, coat the chicken evenly on the outside, as well as under the skin where possible (the breast especially), until fully coated in sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night if time allows. (I recommend a minimum marinade time of two hours for this chicken. The longer you leave it, the better the flavors.)

FOR THE BBQ:

Place chicken on well-greased grill over medium heat, skin-side down, for 10-12 minutes, until the skin begins to have a nice char on it. Add 2 more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the remaining marinade. 

Flip and baste with a small amount of sauce (not too much or it will burn on your grill plates). Close barbecue lid and cook for 40-45 minutes, flipping once or twice while cooking, until chicken is completely cooked through and juices run clear.

Follow corn foil instructions above. Place corn foil packets on the grill halfway through chicken cook time (after 30 minutes), turning the corn every 5 minutes or so to ensure an even char.

FOR THE OVEN:

When ready to cook, arrange oven shelf to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 470°F.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit on a bench top for 20 minutes, or just enough time to take the chill out of the chicken. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in an oven proof pan or well seasoned skillet over medium heat. When pan is hot, place the chicken, breast-side down into the pan, and sear for a good 5-6 minutes, until the skin becomes golden browned. Flip and sear on the other side for a further 5 minutes.

Add 2 more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the remaining marinade, and pour half of it over the chicken. Use a basting brush to coat evenly.

Place the chicken in the preheated oven, and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce heat down to 400°F (200°C) and roast for a further 35-40 minutes, or until cooked right through to the center and juices run clear.

(If serving with the corn: completely wrap each cob in foil large enough to cover them, and add the corn foil packets to the same pan as the chicken, half way through cooking time (after 30 minutes). If your pan is too small, arrange them on another pan. They only need 30-35 minutes of cooking time.) Once corn is done, dollop with 1/2 teaspoon of butter per cob (optional).

Once the chicken is done, baste with the pan drippings and serve with any remaining UNTOUCHED marinade to use as a dipping sauce.

Serve with the corn!

Yankee Pot Roast (101 of 150)

Pot roast day at Chez Jenn's. Sherrie came over for scrapbooking and it's easier to have something in the crock pot than to stop and "cook" dinner. I realize the recipe is for on the stove cooking, but a chuck roast needs more than an hour to get it tender, so I popped it in a slow cooker. 

EVERY time I make pot roast I am reminded of Dad. Pot roast was his favorite meal. He would have loved tonight's meal. This roast was tender, moist and oh so flavorful. 

I was curious why this was called "Yankee Pot Roast" and how it differs from the regular old pot roast. According to the interwebs: 

Many people have asked us what differentiates a Yankee Pot Roast from just a “pot roast.” Basically a pot roast is beef that is braised in liquid – but a Yankee-style pot roast is cooked and served with root vegetables (our recipe includes carrots, potatoes, parsnip and turnip).

So basically, the pot roast I've been making for years, is really Yankee pot roast? Ok. I can get on board with that. 

Yankee Pot Roast

Recipe from "Unknown"

Serves 8

• 1 tsp canola oil
• 2 lbs boneless chuck roast
• 1 c chopped yellow onion
• 4 c beef broth
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp sage
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 1/2 c cubed potatoes, peeled
• 1 1/2 c sliced carrots

Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef to pan, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. 

Add onions to pan, saute for 5 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in broth, deglazing the pan. 

Reduce heat; add mustard, thyme, salt and pepper, sage, bay leaves. Return roast to the pan and bring to a simmer. 

Cover and bake at 300F for 1.5 hours. Stir in potatoes and carrots and bake for 30 more minutes.

Discard bay leaves

Bang Bang Chicken Skewers (100 of 150)

Happy Friday! It's been a couple of days / weeks since I've actually made myself a new recipe. I had to take a little break you see. I just wasn't feeling it. 

Tonight though, I had chicken out and figured I'd do myself this recipe. Bang Bang sauce was all the rage a year or so ago. The first time I had Bang Bang Sauce was at  Bonefish Grill's and they have an appetizer called Bang Bang Shrimp and OH...MY...God...is it good. 

But what is Bang Bang sauce? It's a cream sauce that is a little sweet and a little spicy. It's usually made with mayo and sweet chili sauce - then you add as much spicy as you want. 

The key for this recipe is getting that sauce on the chicken the moment it comes out of the air fryer. You want the heat of the chicken "melt" the mayo and sweet chili sauce. 

Bang Bang Chicken Skewers

Found on Instagram

Serves 2

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Bang Bang Sauce

• 1/2 c mayo
• 1/4 c sweet chili sauce

Cut your chicken into bit size pieces. 

Mix together the spices and spread on chicken. Add about 1 T olive oil to the chicken and mix together. 

Cook in your air fryer for 12 minutes at 400 (preheat the airfryer for about 4 minutes before you put the chicken in).  Cook until done. 

Brush on the bang bang sauce and enjoy.

Crock Pot BBQ Pork Chops (99 of 150)

This is likely the EASIEST and most DELICIOUS recipe I've made in a long time. The combination of BBQ sauce, onion soup mix and apricot preserves makes a nice, tangy saucy sauce. These are not only super easy, but man the pork turned out amazingly tender.

The recipe calls for bone-in pork chops. Normally I would do just that. The bone adds a ton of flavor. But this recipe is part of my "clean out the freezer" plan. I had a pork loin in the freezer. I cut it into chunks and cooked it for 7 hours.

I then shredded the pork into smaller chunks. It was amazing. 

Crock Pot BBQ Pork Chops

Recipe from The Country Cook

Serves 4

• 1 (18 oz) bottle BBQ sauce
• 1 (18 oz) jar apricot preserves
• 1 packet onion soup mix or make your own
• 4 bone-in pork chops
• 2 tsp garlic powder

In the bottom of a 5-quart (or larger) oval slow cooker, pour in barbecue sauce, apricot preserves and onion soup mix.

Give the mixture a good stir.

Season both sides of each of the pork chops with garlic powder and gently rub it in. Place pork chops into the sauce in the slow cooker and, using a spoon, cover the chops with some of the sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours (until internal temperature reaches 145f degrees.)

Delicious served with a side salad and some veggies!

Smothered Chicken with Green Chili Sour Cream Sauce (98 of 150)

I guess its green chili week. A second recipe using green chilis. They're yummy so I don't mind. 

This recipe was delicious. A little salty for me and I'm not sure where I went wrong there but you may want to hold off salting until the end. 

The big tip here is when ever you have to add cheese to be melted into a sauce ALWAY use freshly grated cheese. Never use pre-grated cheese. That cheese comes with products to help it not stick together and that also causes it to not melt smoothly. I mean honestly, how hard is it grate 1/2c of cheese. 

Side note, I think this would also be delicious with Monterey Jack cheese or pepper jack.

Second pro tip, this is one of those recipes that moves along at a nice pace. You should have all your ingredients out and measured so you can focus on cooking and not tracking down ingredients.

As I was cooking this recipe I kept thinking of other things I could add to this recipe. 

1. Adding some veggies. I think zucchini or diced tomatoes would be delicious with this recipe.
2. Add some beans. Pinto beans would be nice. As would black beans.
3. Black olives sliced would be good.

I served this with Mexican rice, but there was enough sauce that as I was eating I thought this over pasta would be AMAZING.

Smothered Chicken with Green Chili Sour Cream Sauce

Recipe from Carlsbad Cravings

Serves 4

CHICKEN

• 2 large chicken breasts (about 24 ounces)
• 2 T flour
• 1 tsp EACH chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, pepper
• 2 T Danish Creamery Premium Butter
• 2 T olive oil

GREEN CHILI SOUR CREAM SAUCE

• 1 T Danish Creamery Premium Butter
• 3 T flour
• 2 c low sodium chicken broth
• 1 4 oz. can mild chopped green chilies
• 1 tsp EACH ground cumin, garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp EACH onion powder, salt
• ADD LATER
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 3 T chopped cilantro
• 1 T lime juice
• 1/2 c freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Toppings:

cilantro lime rice

chopped tomatoes

chopped avocados

crushed tortilla chips

minced cilantro

Cotija

Slice the chicken breasts in the half through the equator to create 4 fillets. Cover with plastic wrap and pound to an even thickness (use a meat mallet or side of a can). Pat dry.

Whisk 2 tablespoons flour and all of the chicken seasoning together in a shallow dish. Dredge each cutlet in the mixture, shake off any excess, then transfer to a dry surface.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add chicken and cook each side for 3-4 minutes (depending on thickness) until golden and cooked to 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Transfer chicken to a plate, don't wipe out the skillet.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the chicken drippings over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and gradually whisk in the chicken broth followed by the green chilies and all seasonings.

Bring the sauce to a simmer while scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan; simmer until sauce thickens almost to desired consistency (it will continue to thicken once you add the sour cream and cheese), stirring often.

Reduce heat to low and stir in the cheddar cheese until melted, followed by the sour cream. Stir in lime juice and cilantro.

Add chicken back to the pan and spoon some sauce over top. Serve with desired toppings such as Cotija, tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro, avocados, crushed tortilla chips etc.

One Skillet Green Chile Cheese Dip (97 of 150)

Last night was a dinner party with some British friends who were making us a traditional British Sunday Roast meal. So much food and it was so delicious. I'll write more about that on the other blog. 

My contribution was an appetizer. I rarely get to make appetizers so I spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out the right thing to bring. I was going to stay "in theme" but then I found this appetizer and it just sounded so delicious. And, boys and girls, it was yummy-licious. 

I almost didn't bake it because it was toasty yesterday, but then decided it would probably be better baked. Honestly, it would have been better cold (IMHO because I'm not always a fan of baked cream cheese). At any rate, it was a hit and it was delicious. 

One Skillet Green Chile Cheese Dip

Recipe from The Salty Marshmallow

Serves 12 easily

Cheese Dip:

• 1 8 ounce Package Cream Cheese Softened
• 1 4 ounce Can Hatch Green Chiles
• 1 c Monterrey Jack Cheese Shredded
• ½ c Cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 c Salsa Verde
• 1 Clove garlic minced (can use garlic powder if preferred)
• Tortilla chips for serving

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Blend all ingredients together in a large bowl with a hand mixer.

Pour mixture into a large oven-proof skillet or baking dish.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Mom's Pasta, Grape and Olive Salad (96 of 150)

Photo from California Grape comission

This recipe filtered to the top when I was looking for a pasta dish to take to Sunday dinner last weekend. Mom made this a handful of times and I remember absolutely loving it. So I figured I'd give it a try. 

First problem, I couldn't find (anywhere) packaged dry blue cheese dressing. I now have several packets (thanks Amazon) but those arrived a little too late. So I subbed in ranch dressing. Not sure you get the same impact as you would with blue cheese, but it was still delicious. 

Everything else I kept the same. It's a delicious pasta salad and I highly recommend making it

Mom's Pasta, Grape and Olive Salad

Recipe from Mom

Serves 12 easily

• 2 c pasta, uncooked
• 1 can black olives, halved
• 2 c red grapes, halved
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 package Dry Blue Cheese Dressing
• 1/2 bottle Cheesy-Garlic Italian Dressing (I used Bernstein's)
• 1/2 c mayo
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix mayo, Cheesy-Garlic Italian dressing, blue cheese dressing mix, salt and pepper. 

Cook pasta. Drain, rinse, cool and dry. 

Add grapes, onions, pasta to a bowl. Add dressing and mix well. 

Air Fryer Cauliflower (95 of 150)

I have a love hate relationship with cauliflower. As a flavor profile, it's fine with me. The texture is OK
if it doesn't get mushy. If it gets mushy, then all bets are off. 

I have gotten pretty good at air frying cauliflower and NOT making it mushy. I just know to cook it less than the recipe usually calls for. 

Tonight I made a rookie mistake and over cooked the cauliflower. I used smaller florets than I should have and that resulted in mushy cauliflower. I ate it, well most of it. 

I've made a bunch of recipes like this one. It's a solid recipe. Just don't overcook your cauliflower. 

Air Fryer Cauliflower

Recipe from Wholesome Yum

Serves 4

1 head Cauliflower (cut into florets)

3 T Olive oil

2 tsp Lemon juice

3/4 tsp Smoked paprika

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

1/2 tsp Sea salt

1/4 tsp Black pepper

Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.

Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees F.

Place the cauliflower florets in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper. Toss to coat.

Add cauliflower to the air fryer basket in a single layer (cook in batches if needed – don’t crowd the basket). Cook cauliflower in the air fryer for 7-10 minutes (depending on the size of your florets), shaking the basket halfway through, until browned on the edges.

Korean Style Grilled Flank Steak (94 of 150)

It's another beautiful day in Seattle. Great day for grilling. And I'm on an mission to eat through my
freezer again. So this week's meals are all because I have that meat in my freezer. Sadly, it won't clean it out, but close. My goal is to eat all the stuff in the freezer by end of July WITHOUT buying new meat. Totally doable. 

I made one small mistake with this recipe. I misread that it was supposed to be chunk pineapple. I had pineapple juice already and wanted to use that up. I think it made almost no difference. 

I marinaded this for about 4 hours. It was a tasty marinade. Not too spicy and not too salty. 

Korean Style Grilled Flank Steak

Recipe from Closet Cooking

Serves 6

• 1 c pineapple, coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced/grated
• 1 inch ginger, minced/grated
• 2 green onions, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 1/4 c gochujang (optional)
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 T sesame oil
• 2 pounds flank steak

Puree the pineapple, onion. garlic, ginger, green onion, soy sauce, gochujang, brown sugar, sesame oil in a blender or food processor until smooth, and marinate the steak in the puree, in a fridge, for 2-8 hours.

Shake off the excess marinade and grill over medium-high heat until cooked to the desired level of doneness, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain and enjoy!

Southern-Style Green Beans (93 of150)

Photo from Spicy
Southern Kitchen

This house smells amazing. All day I've had Dad on my mind because the smell of these bad boys cooking reminded me of him. 

Dad would frequently get a box of green beans and then cook them for hours with a ham bone. Sometimes he'd toss in potatoes. But the smell of cooking green beans is a smell that I associate with dad. 

I've never made Southern Style Green beans - which is basically cooking them for hours, like dad. So I made them for book club. Janet was making pulled pork and I thought this would be a nice side. 

These were scrumptious (can green beans be scrumptious?). I had to make the bacon part twice because the first round of bacon got eaten - weird. I will be making these again. Super easy, just requires a little planning for them to cook for 2 hours. 

Southern-Style Green Beans

Recipe from Spicey Southern Kitchen

Serves 6

• 4 slices bacon,, diced
• 2 pounds green beans ends snapped off and longer beans snapped in half
• 2 c chicken broth
• 2 c water
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 T butter, optional

Brown and crisp bacon in a large pot. Remove bacon from pot and reserve.

Add green beans to pot along with all remaining ingredients, except butter.

Bring to a boil and then turn heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Drain beans and add butter if using. Check beans for seasoning and add extra salt and pepper to taste. I like lots of black pepper. Sprinkle with bacon and toss to distribute the bacon and butter.

No-Bake Nutella Oatmeal Cookies (92 of 150)

The Pantry Goat was over for dinner last week and she brought me this HUGE tub of Nutella. So, since I had so much Nutella I figured I'd make myself some cookies. 

Now, if you've been following along you know I'm trying to eat healthier and, well, cookies don't really fall into the healthy category - especially no bake cookies. So, to make this lower in carb, I swapped the 2 c sugar with 2 cups Swerve sugar.

I also didn't put spoonfuls on parchment paper. I put the whole kit and kaboodle in a lined 9x9 pan. Its quicker and easier.

No-Bake Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

All Recipes

Makes 24 cookies

• 2 c white sugar
• ½ c butter
• ½ c milk
• 4 T cocoa powder
• ½ c chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella®)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 c quick-cooking oats

Combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until they are a smooth liquid. Bring to a rolling boil; continue to boil for at least 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in chocolate-hazelnut spread and vanilla extract until dissolved. Return the pot to the still-warm burner, or the lowest setting on gas stove, and add oats. Mix well.

Leave the pot on the warm burner while you drop cookies by heaping spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let set and serve.

Slow Cooker Carne Picada Tacos (91 of 150)

It's a day off for me today. The 4th of July is tomorrow and I figured there was no reason to work today. So I took the day off. 

Since I wasn't working, I put this Carne Picada into the slow cooker this morning and let it go. 

This is quite honestly one of the easiest recipes ever. You just toss everything in the slow cooker. Though, admittedly, I didn't follow instructions for the jalapenos. I thought they'd be better cooking with the meat all day. 

And, as you can tell by the photo, I didn't eat this with tortillas. I chose to make rice instead. Either way, this is a great recipe for quick meals and good leftovers.

Slow Cooker Carne Picada Tacos

Eating Well

Serves 8

• 2 pounds beef brisket (flat end), trimmed
• 2 tsp ancho chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 c water
• 2 T tomato paste
• 8 small jalapeño peppers
• 16 corn tortillas, warmed
• 2 c thinly sliced romaine lettuce
• ½ c crumbled cotija (see Tip) or feta cheese

Place brisket in a 4- to 7-quart slow cooker and sprinkle with chile powder, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt and oregano. Whisk water and tomato paste in a small bowl and add to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours.

About 20 minutes before serving, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add whole jalapeños and cover. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally and turning the jalapeños with tongs as needed, until charred and blistered on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes to soften.

Meanwhile, prepare avocado salsa: Combine avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, sweet peppers, minced jalapeño, lime juice and salt in a medium bowl.

Transfer the brisket to a clean cutting board. Shred it, then finely chop. Slice the blistered jalapeños.

Serve the brisket in tortillas, with lettuce, the jalapeños, cheese and the salsa.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce (90 of 150)

Photo from
Love Bakes Good Cakes

You know I love a good Bolognese. I mean what's not to like? Meat, tomato, cream. Yum. A good Bolognese cooks all day in my opinion. My go to Bolognese is from Tyler Florence and it's what I make when I want Bolognese. 

But on occasion I don't want to deal with the Bolognese recipe. But I still want a hearty meat sauce. I've made another crock pot spaghetti sauce that was amazing. It's my go to when I don't want to watch a pot all day. 

This recipe was delicious too. It was so simple to throw together and let it sit all day. By 1pm this house smelled amazing. Pantry Goat was over for dinner and I figured this is a great recipe to send her home with leftovers. She does love my leftovers. 

This is also a great recipe to clean out your pantry with. I think most of us have diced tomatoes and other canned tomatoes in our pantry. I only had to buy spaghetti to make this meal. 

It's a simple recipe that requires no fuss. Make it. You'll be glad you did. 

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Recipe from Love Bakes Good Cakes

Serves 6 (really I think it could serve 8 easily)

• 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes or Italian tomatoes
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 T dried basil
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb of spaghetti or any other pasta

Cook ground beef in skillet until almost done. Add onions and cook completely until beef is done and onions are soft.

Add the beef mixture to the slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients to slow cooker. Mix well.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Serve immediately with cooked pasta of your choice.

Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

(Bacon) Cheeseburger Chopped Salad (89 of 150)

My mom loved cheeseburgers. The sloppier the better. She passed that love on to me. That's part of how I keep my girlish figure. 

In the spirit of containing the girlish figure, I need to cut back a little. I still wanted the cheeseburger flavor but didn't want the carbs. I've made a Big Mac Salad a couple of times.  They're solid recipes and a good meal for a summer day. 

I made a slight modification to this recipe. I made the vinaigrette and didn't really care for it. So I made a "big mac" dressing instead. 1/4 c mayo, a big squirt of ketchup, shallot, dill pickle, some dill pickle juice, salt and pepper. It's a good dressing and much better than the vinaigrette IMHO. Though I liked the mustard slant, I just wanted something different. 

I also added bacon to this recipe. I mean every good salad has bacon bits in it. Plus I had some left over from breakfast, so I chopped it up and added it. 

Now, as a chop salad, the idea is to "chop" everything together and mix the salad so all the items are about the same size. But before I did that, I had to make sure I took the quintessential "chopped salad" pic. 

 

Then I mixed it all together. 

I have a feeling tomorrow's salad at lunch time will be just as good as this one was. I'd make this again for sure. It's super easy and can be thrown together quickly.

Cheeseburger Chopped Salad

Recipe from How Sweet Eats

Serves 4

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 6 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
• 8 c butter lettuce
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1/3 c chopped dill pickles
• 1/4 c diced red onion
• salt and pepper for seasoning

Dill Pickled Vinaigrette

• 1/4 c diced dill pickles
• 3 T dill pickle juice (from a jar of dill pickles)
• 2 T diced shallot
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once it’s hot, add the ground beef, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Break the mixture apart with a spoon and cook until browned, stirring over and breaking the pieces into crumbles, for about 6 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and sprinkle about 2 ounces of the cheddar over the beef so it slightly melts. You can serve this salad with the beef hot or room temp – so if necessary, you can make this a bit ahead of time!

Place the butter lettuce on a cutting board and run your knife through it to chop it into pieces. Ideally we want everything in uniform pieces so each bite is perfect. Chop up the lettuce, then throw it in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss it well. Add the tomatoes next, the dill pickles and the diced onion. Add the remaining shredded cheese. Toss the salad well, drizzle on the dressing and serve!

Dill Pickled Vinaigrette

In a bowl, whisk together the pickles, pickle juice, shallot, garlic, mustard and honey. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk until the mixture comes together. While whisking, stream in the olive oil until the dressing emulsifies. This stays great in the fridge for a few days!

Asian Steak Bites (88 or 150)

Photo from Jo Cooks

It's a nice day in Seattle. A great day to grill. This recipe came up in the shuffle and it's supposed to be done in a skillet. I decided that wasn't what was going to happen on a sunny day in Seattle.

So I skewered them and grilled them. 

I was confused by the marinade. The recipe doesn't say to marinade it for any length of time. I guess you were supposed to just let it sit for the 5 minutes it takes to put the sauce together. Well, that's not long enough for me. So I marinaded it for 2 hours. 

I also couldn't find sweet soy sauce. In fact, I had never heard of it. Google helped by letting me know that sugar or brown sugar can be used, so that's what I did. I did just a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Asian Steak Bites

Recipe from Jo Cooks

Serves 4

Marinade

• 1 pound ribeye steak (cut into 1-inch bite-size pieces)
• 1 T soy sauce (low sodium)
• 1 T hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp sweet soy sauce
• ½ tsp black pepper (coarsely ground)
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking soda

Sauce

• 2 T hoisin sauce
• 1 T soy sauce (low sodium)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp chili garlic sauce (such as sambal oelek)
• 2 T water

Marinate the beef. In a medium size bowl, combine the beef with all the marinade ingredients together. Set aside while preparing the sauce and heating up the wok or skillet.

Prepare the sauce. In a small bowl whisk all the sauce ingredients together and set aside until ready to add to steak bites.

Cook the steak bites. Heat a wok or non-stick skillet over high heat until hot. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil or sesame oil to it. Add the marinated beef to the wok and arrange in a single layer. Sear for a minute before tossing then continue cooking for another 2 minutes, tossing a couple times, until the steak bites look almost charred. This is for medium-rare, if you prefer it medium, just cook it a minute or so longer.

Add the sauce. Pour the sauce over the steak bites and cook for another minute while tossing then remove the wok from heat.

Garnish and serve. Serve immediately garnished with green onions and sesame seeds.

Cashew Chicken (87 of 150)

I'm a fan of making Chinese food instead of ordering it out. I haven't found a great Chinese food restaurant here in Lynnwood, so when I have a craving I just make it. 

I'm quickly discovering that there's some special ingredient in Chinese food from a restaurant that I can't quite figure out. Maybe it's the fact you don't have to do the dishes that makes it taste so great. 

This recipe sounded like a winner. And it very well could be. I'm not really sure what it was about it that I didn't like, but there was something. I think maybe it's because it was too sweet. The honey and the hoisin really set this to the sweeter side, where as I prefer a more savory cashew chicken.

I also didn't have green onions. I swear I did, but apparently I did not. So I tossed in some water chestnuts instead. They have a nice crunch to it. 

Cashew Chicken

Recipe from Closet Cooking

Serves 4

• 3 T honey
• 3 T (low sodium) soy sauce
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 1 T hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp chill sauce (such as sambal oelek or sriracha)
• 1/4 c (low sodium) chicken broth (JW note: I used regular old water)
• 1 T cornstarch
• 1 T oil
• 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced and divided between white and green
• 1 T garlic, grated
• 1 T ginger, grated
• 1 c cashews, lightly toasted
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1 T toasted sesame seeds

Mix the honey, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, broth and cornstarch and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet/wok over medium-high heat, add the chicken and sauté, about 6 minutes.

Add the whites of the onions, garlic and ginger to the pan and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the sauce mixture and sauté, until the sauce thickens a bit, about 1-2 minutes.

Mix in the cashews, sesame oil, sesame seeds and the greens of the onions and enjoy!

Option: Add vegetables such as bell pepper, snap peas, broccoli, edamame, etc. In general add them to the pan after the chicken is cooked and sauté, until just tender before moving on to adding the onions, garlic and ginger.

Smashed Big Mac Tacos (86 of 150)

Come on. Admit it. You've seen the viral "smashed burger tacos" all over TikTok and Instagram. And if you haven't, what rock have you been under?

It's a unique take on smashed burgers and tacos. It's big in the low carb world for obvious reasons. I used a carb balance tortilla to keep the carbs low.

The concept is you make a smash burger on a flour tortilla. Making the beef as thin as possible. THIS is key. It has to cook fast, and get a crust on it. 

Once it's done, you top it with the same things you'd top a burger with. My sauce was mayo, sugar free ketchup, mustard, dill pickle juice, chopped dill pickles, a little garlic powder, a little onion powder, some salt and pepper. 

After I put the cheese on it and let it sit for a bit to melt the cheese, I added the tomatoes, onion and sauce. 

Then you fold and eat it like a taco. It was drippy. Very drippy. Which is what really makes a good burger if you ask me. 

Overall the was "ok". It wasn't great, but it was interesting enough to try and it filled the empty stomach. I won't make this again. I'd rather not have a bun and eat a thicker burger than deal with this. That said, it was fun to give it a try. I don't fall for the viral food trends too often, so this was fun to do. 

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (85 of 150)

Since it feels like fall outside I figured it's a good day to make what I consider a fall treat, pumpkin cookies. I was going to make these a couple of weeks ago for the girls weekend, but it was pointed out we'd have plenty of food, so I passed on making them. 

It's a standard cookie recipe. I was surprised there was only 1 egg yolk to the recipe, but the recipe writer knew what they were doing because these cookies are chewy and yummy.

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from Butter Your Biscuit

Makes 18 cookies

• 1/2 c unsalted butter, 1 stick (softened)
• 3/4 c white granulated sugar
• 1/2 c light brown sugar
• 1/3 c pumpkin puree
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/4 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a hand mixer, or fork, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar on low.

Add pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.

Slowly stir in flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

Fold in 1 cup mini chocolate chips, save the remaining 1/4 cup to sprinkle a few on top of each dough ball.

Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, create heaping 2 tablespoon cookie dough balls and place them 2” apart on the prepared pan.

Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Immediately after removing it from the oven spread chocolate chips with a toothpick is desired.

Spanish Garlic Shrimp (84 of 150)

Yesterday was Sunday dinner and our theme was Spanish. It was also a wroaming Sunday dinner so that meant I had to only bring an appetizer. 

When I was in Spain I loved their shrimp tapas. This one was just as good. It was easy and delicious. 

Spanish Garlic Shrimp

Recipe from Goya

Serves 4

• 1.5 lbs Whole Shrimp peeled & de-veined
• 3 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp Sherry Cooking Wine
• 1.5 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1.5 tsp Red Chili Flakes
• 1 medium Lemon juiced
• Kosher Salt to taste
• Chopped Parsley for garnish
• Toasted Bread for serving

First, add your olive oil to melt in the skillet. Next, add the minced garlic and red chili flakes and let it brown for 90 seconds. 

Once browned, add all of your shrimp to the skillet (make sure to not overcrowd the pan), season with paprika, salt & pepper then cook for about 90 seconds on the first side. 

Flip the shrimp over and then deglaze the skillet with the sherry wine and the lemon juice. 

Stir and little and continue to cook the shrimp for another 1-2 minutes until fully done. When the shrimp are done, pull the whole skillet off the fire to cool.

Garnish the skillet with chopped parsley and crusted bread. Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Lo Mein (83 of 150)

Yay. I have a recipe to add to my 2023 favorites! This recipe was delicious. Well, the way I made it was. I did make a couple modifications. 

Making Chinese food at home is so much better than ordering out. It's less expensive, and you know what it's going into it. It's also often just faster. 

The original recipe has this being made in an Instant Pot. I don't have one of those, so I followed the stove top instructions. 

Now for the modifications. I wanted to use what I had on hand. I didn't have mushrooms or spinach. I swapped those out with water chestnuts and snow peas. I dropped those in at the last minute to just warm through. 

Other than that, I followed the rest of the recipe. Don't skimp out and NOT buy Lo Mein noodles. That makes all the difference. Oh, yah. I had to add about 2 tsp of cornstarch at the end. It was still too liquidy. I don't think you need as much chicken stock as it calls for. 

Chicken Lo Mein

Recipe from My Kitchen Escapades

Serves 4

• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 pound chicken breasts, diced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 c chopped portabella mushrooms
• 3 c fresh spinach
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 c chicken broth
• 3 T soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp sriracha
• 8 ounces lo mein noodles

Sauté and add vegetable oil. 

Add carrot, onion, mushrooms, spinach, and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until brown. Add remaining ingredients, simmer for 10 minutes. 

Stir the noodles together, and serve immediately.