Ranch Oyster Crackers

It's that time of year, the time when we gather with friends and family and enjoy delicious meals together after hours of slaving away in the kitchen. And in between delicious meals we nosh endlessly on sweets and snacks. That's where I come in.  

A few of my favorites include Chex mix (both the traditional kind and the almondy sweet kind!), caramel corn, and now these. Crunchy, salty.. yum!

Ranch Oyster Crackers

1 envelope of Ranch Dip Mix

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried dill weed (optional)

2 packages of Oyster Cracker

Mix first four ingredients together, toss with crackers and bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.

Share with the whole crew!

Peas

were a hit!

Potato Leek Soup with Homemade Croutons

This fall, through our church, we went in on a share of fresh farm produce. Every Sunday, we would pick up a mystery box full of freshly picked veggies and herbs. Every Monday, we would struggle with what we were going to do with 6 beets, 3 radishes, 2 shallots, 1 zucchini, a few springs of parsley, and typically several other veggies that I did not even recognize. One of the rare weeks when I knew exactly what to make was the week we opened the mystery box to discover 2 large leeks...  

 

Potato leek soup. Done and done. And delicious.

Potato Leek Soup-
1/4 cup butter
2 leeks, sliced
1 small onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 quart chicken stock
1 Tbs corn starch
4 cups of peeled and cubed yukon gold potatoes
2 cups cream (I used a combo of cream and milk for a slightly lighter version)
*Optional toppers- crumbled bacon, cheese, sour cream, chives, croutons

- In a large stock pot, melt butter. Saute leeks, onion, salt and pepper until tender (about 10-15 minutes).
- Add chicken stock, corn starch, and potatoes to pot. Bring to a boil.
- Add cream and reduce heat. Simmer for 30 minutes until potatoes are tender.
- Top with your favorite soup fixings and enjoy!

On to my favorite soup and salad companion- CROUTONS! No lie, I will make a salad just for the excuse to make some homemade croutons. And seriously, it's super easy. I will never buy a boxed crouton again.

Savory Homemade Croutons
-Cube a loaf of french bread. Drizzle bread in olive oil. I like to add a dash of garlic salt, a few red pepper flakes, some black pepper, a little grated parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
-Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. I like my croutons a little chewy and tend to take them out a few minutes early. Don't they look pretty?

Mmm... the perfect fall dinner.

I still like to feel fancy every now and then and drink from a wine glass like a big girl.. even if it is milk. Don't judge me.

Carnitas Carnitas!

Chipotle. The only reason I go is for a giant burrito bowl filled with delicious shredded pork (ie: "carnitas") and all of the best fixings. It seems only fit to attempt the same thing at home. I have made homemade carnitas about half a dozen times now, each time tweaking the recipe just a bit. This time, I threw in basically any and everything I could find in my cupboard. The results- delicious!! Dare I say almost as good as Chipotle.

The Goods-

2 Tbs olive oil

1 can of chicken broth

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 small diced onion

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1 Tbs molasses

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp red pepper (more or less depending on your heat preference)

2-4 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt ( I have used both with equally successful results)

Toss everything in a crock-pot. Place crock-pot on low and simmer for 6-8 hours. Remove bay leaves. Shred the meat- it should pretty much pull apart for you. Drain most of the excess juices and return meat to pot.

Serve with your favorite Mexican fixings.

Drool. Enjoy.

On this particular night, we enjoyed the tasty carnitas with the Ondrey crew in honor of Hauna's last week in Chicago before leaving for Scotland. Starting this fall, she will be studying at the prestigious Saint Andrews- such an exciting adventure. Good luck Hauna! We will miss you!!

Mango Salsa

Mango salsa deliciousness. The perfect combination of spicy and sweet. I can't believe we made it to August without making this summer favorite. A mistake I assure you will never happen again!

The team-

2 medium sized diced mangos

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbs fresh lime juice

1 finely chopped jalapeno

1 Tbs honey

Chop and mix all of your fresh ingredients.Drizzle with honey and stir.

Serve with your favorite chips,

enjoy with your favorite peeps!

Pizza on the Grill

Delicious.

But let's rewind a bit.

Homemade pizza on the grill sounds simple enough but for some reason has always intimidated me. I envisioned the end result would be some burned, cheesy mess. Turns out, pizza on the grill isn't as complicated as it seems. And the end result? Totally worth it!

For starters, gather all of your ingredients.

~pre-made pizza dough (we used Trader Joe's dough but you can always be fancy and make homemade dough from scratch)

~olive oil (I added a little chopped garlic to the olive oil for flavor)

~your favorite pizza seasonings

~pizza sauce

~toppings galore- whatever floats your pizza boat

Directions-

1. Preheat grill, brush grill with olive oil

2. Knead dough and stretch into an awkwardly shaped crust. Sidenote- smaller pizzas seem easier to flip and deal with on the grill

3. Toss dough on grill and brush with olive oil. Season dough 'til your heart's content

4. Grill for 5-7 minutes until bottom of crust is slightly browned, flip crust

5. Cover crust with pizza sauce

6. Garnish with your favorite toppings

7. Grill until cheese melts and looks bubbly delicious

Slice and enjoy!! (and never again be intimidated by grilling homemade pizza)

This Girl Can Grill Yo

Hi. I'm Jessica and I am a 26 year old grilling virgin.

Sure, I may have flipped a burger or two in my day but I have certainly never headed up a grilled meal all by myself. That was until a few days ago. With Jakob running a little late I figured it was the perfect opportunity to go ahead and learn how to man the grill solo. Ahem... WOman the grill. I honestly did not even know where to begin. As pathetic as it sounds the whole process scares me a bit. Large gas tank, flames, stainless steel... intimidating. I must confess, I had to call my Dad to find out how to even turn the bad boy on. From there it was smooth sailing.

Don't I look like I mean business?! Ha!

Sidenote- these pictures were taken AFTER Jakob got home and dinner was already set to go. Don't think my first grilling experience was supervised by someone hiding behind the camera lens. I'm a brave girl and did the whole thing by myself dangit!

And what did I grill you ask? I whipped up some delicious pork chops with a homemade marinade. I don't mean to toot my own horn but they really were delicious!!

I'm happy to say that my first solo grilling experience was a total success! Another thing to check off the ole bucket list.

Jessica's Pork Chop Marinade-

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs honey

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients and toss in a bag with your chops. Marinade for at least 2 hours. Grill. Grub.

BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad

We have been doing "Taco Tuesday" as frequently as possible over the past few years. Tuesday night has become a Mexican fiesta, Glee watching, margarita drinkin' kind of tradition that I just love!

This impressive winter we have been having has really got me thinking of summer. There's something quite summery about a big fresh salad. This week, a BBQ chicken chopped salad was calling my name.. yum!

Ingredients:

Finely chopped romaine lettuce

rinsed black beans

corn

chopped tomatoes

chipotle ranch dressing (I like to use this kind but any favorite ranch/BBQ dressing combo will do)

BBQ sauce

cooked chicken (I use a shredded rotisserie chicken)

tortilla strips, chips or croutons

Directions-

Coat chicken in BBQ sauce. Toss all ingredients together and enjoy!

*Actual amts will vary depending on how big you want to make the salad(s)

In true Jessica form, every delicious dinner needs an even more delicious drink to go with it!

In honor of "Taco Tuesday" we paired the salad with a margarita.

Not that you need an appropriate accommodating meal for a good margarita ;)

Here's to summer!! Just a few short months away!

Pad See Ew

My new found love for Thai food began with Pad See Ew.

To be totally honest, I haven't ventured far in my Thai food journey. I have found a dish that I absolutely love and have trouble ordering anything else.

Everyone should (attempt to) learn to make their favorite takeout food. Our attempts at this in the past have been well... less than successful. Homemade pizza is just not as good as Papa John's and homemade sesame chicken just doesn't have that special touch (special touch = deep fryer). I assumed that homemade Thai food would not be up to par with the real deal.. I was wrong! Our homemade Pad See Ew turned out absolutely delicious!

After searching through several different recipes I was able to mix and match and come up with a simple, yet perfect recipe!

The Ingredients-

1 lb rice noodles (my store didn't have wide rice noodles so I used thin ones)

3 cups chopped collard greens

2 Tbs vegetable oil

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 cup thinly diced chicken

2 tsp sugar

1 Tbs light soy sauce

3 Tbs dark soy sauce/thick soy sauce (stir fry sauce)

1/2 tsp pepper

2 eggs

*this will make 4 LARGE servings or 6 smaller ones, you can easily half the recipe to make a smaller batch.. but seriously, you will want the leftovers!!

Directions-

After removing the stalks, roughly chop the collard greens. Place greens into boiling water for 5 mins just to take the bitter edge off. Drain and set aside.

Place uncooked rice noodles into hot water to soften for 20-30 mins. We cheated and sped this process up by bringing the water to a boil and boiling the noodles for 5 mins. Set aside.

In a large wok, brown garlic in vegetable oil.

Add chicken to garlic and cook until no longer pink.

Stir in collard greens.

Toss in rice noodles.

Add in sugar, soy sauce, thick soy sauce and pepper.

Move noodles to one side of the wok. Add eggs and scramble.

Enjoy!

Congrats! You can now make your very own takeout!!