Chicken Couscous

1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4" pieces
1 small onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 carrot shredded
3 garlic cloves, minced
Dash of ground cinnamon (the original recipe called for 1 Tbsp)
1 can of chicken broth
1/2 -3/4 cup green peas
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup salted pistachios or slivered almonds
1/2 cup sliced green onions (greens only)

Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Heat the oil. Add the chicken and onion, sprinkle with the salt and pepper and cook for 5 min, or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add the carrot, garlic, and cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic.

Stir in the broth and peas. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med-low, and simmer for 1-2 min, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Stir in the couscous. Cover and remove from the heat. Let site for 5 min or until the liquid is absorbed. Stir in nuts and green onions. Serve immediately.

*This recipe is adapted from a recipe I got out of the book Chicken and Egg. In her recipe she has raisins, but because my hubby has a serious dislike for fruit and meat together I opted to put the peas in.

Brownie Bliss

1- 18.4 oz brownie mix
1 cup chopped peanut butter cups*
1 container whipped vanilla frosting
4-6 graham crackers, crumbled

1. Heat oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over pan edges.
2. Prepare brownie mix according to package instructions. Stir in 1/2 cup of peanut butter cups. Spread batter into pan. Bake according to package instructions. Cool completely.
3. Spread frosting, top with graham crackers and remaining peanut butter cups. Use foil to lift brownies from pan.

*Make it nut free by substituting malted milk balls for peanut butter cups.

I actually made mine in an 8x8 so they were just really thick but oh so delicious! They were even great without the frosting and extra toppings.

Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

3 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 package frozen chopped broccoli
1/4 -1/2 white onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream, plus more for garnish if desired
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
shredded cheddar cheese

1. Combine potatoes, pepper flakes, broccoli, and white onion in crockpot. Pour broth over top; cover and cook 6 hours on low or until potatoes are tender.
2. In a small bowl, stir together milk, 1/3 cup sour cream, cornstarch, and salt. Remove cover and mash potatoes (if you want a chunkier soup pull some potatoes out before mashing). Stir in milk mixture and green onions. Put potatoes chunks back in. Spoon soup into bowls.
3. Divide bacon between bowls, add sour cream to each bowl if desired. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Chicken and Dumplings

Stew:
2 1/4 pounds bone-in chicken breasts (I just used boneless skinless breasts)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, trimmed and diced
1 leek, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced - (I used dried chives and dehydrated onions)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill ( I used 1 tsp dried)
Dumplings:

2 cups biscuit mix -such as Heart Healthy Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (dried again)

Directions:

1. Heat a large, lidded nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 4 cups water, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Poach 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove chicken from liquid (save liquid) and let cool. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin and bones and cut chicken into bite-size pieces.

2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and leek. Cook 5 minutes or until softened. Sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper. Cook 3 minutes, stirring. Add broth and 2 cups of the poaching liquid. Bring to a simmer; cook 5 minutes. Stir in chicken.Meanwhile, make Dumplings

3. In medium bowl, combine biscuit mix, milk and dill. Drop by tablespoonfuls into simmering liquid. Cover pot tightly; cook 10 minutes. Uncover and gently stir in peas and chopped dill.

I got from Family Circle and we all enjoyed it. Although I thought it could have used more liquid so maybe add more chicken broth or poaching liquid. Also I think when you drop the dumplings in it needs to be a roaring boil, by the time I was at the end of adding them I felt like they had mushed together a little too much, but they still turned out alright.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Yummy Buttercream Frosting

Vanilla Cupcakes:
1‑1/4	cup all purpose flour
3/4	cup butter, room temperature
3/4	cup sugar
1‑1/2	teaspoon baking powder
1/4	teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4	cup milk, room temperature
1/4	cup buttermilk, room temperature
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
1	large egg plus 1 white, room temperature
Vanilla Buttercream:
1	cup butter, softened cool room temperature
2‑1/2	cups powdered sugar
2	teaspoons milk
Innards scraped from one vanilla bean
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch fine sea salt

PREPARATION:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°, center rack. Line a 12 portion standard muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In other bowl, whisk together the milk, buttermilk and extract. In a stand mixer with whisk attachment: combine the butter and sugar, beat medium, 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides. On low, add the whole egg, increase to medium and beat until incorporated. Scrape down sides, repeat with egg white.
2. On med-low, add the dry mixture, alternating with the wet in three additions of dry, i.e., dry, wet, dry , wet, dry, scarping between additions. Mix just combine on last addition. Mixture will not look completely smooth.
3. Fill liners 3/4 full with batter -- do not overfill or cake will bake slightly concave.
4. Bake 20, 25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean from center. This cake has a flat top -- will not dome.
5. Allow to cool before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream:

1. Beat the butter until fluffy on medium, stand mixer fitted with whip. Turn to low, add 10x sugar by 1/4 cup until incorporated. Add milk, vanilla bean bits, extract and salt. Increase to med-high, beat a minute or two until light and fluffy.

Black Bean Soup

4 cans black beans (3 to blend for base, 1 for hearty filling)
1 can corn, drained
2 C chicken broth
1 lb ground beef
1 C salsa

Cook your meat, set aside. Prepare your optional toppings, set aside. Blend 3 cans of black beans with 2 C of chicken broth in the blender. You may have to do a couple sessions if it does not all fit in the blender. Pour it into a large pot. Add sals.  I do one cup, but depending on your preferecnes you can add more or less.  Add drained corn, cooked meat and last can of black beans.  Heat all together.  Serve with toppings...i.e. avocado, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, chips.

Looks really gross, but YUMMY!

Freezer meal night!

Chicken Puffs

Pork burritos

Cheese/bean enchiladas -- 2 cans of refried beans, 4 cans of enchilada sauce (divided), 2 cups cheese.  Put mixture in tortillas, rolled them up and put them in a 9x13 pan, covered with enchilada sauce.

Breakfast pockets  -- we used Rhodes rolls and let them thaw for an hour or so, pressed them out and then put the filling in and pressed them like a hot pocket!  YUM!!!

Pizza -- we got the crust from Papa Murphy's and added our own toppings

Cross Rib Roast
Taco soup
Dressed Up Sloppy Joes

Creamy Baked Taquitoes
Cornflake Chicken Tenders
Chicken Puff

Another successful day of freezer meal cooking!  LOVE IT!!!  We spent about 4 hours on Saturday morning assembling all of these recipes and now we are stocked up for quite a few weeks!  So excited!!