Herbed Turkey Breast

Another quick crock pot meal.  I spent the day shopping with my BFF (tough life, I know), so I wanted dinner to be ready when Jason got home from work.  I marinated the turkey and prepped some of the veggies last night before bed, so this morning I just had to cut the potatoes and throw everything in the crock pot.  Easy peasy!

Herbed Turkey Breast
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
2 tbsp herb olive oil (I love Wegmans Basting oil) or regular olive oil
1/2 cup veggie, beef, turkey or chicken stock, divided
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried sage
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
1 3lb boneless turkey breast, thawed
1 lb baby potatoes, quartered
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
8 oz baby carrots

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl combine the olive oil, 1/4 cup stock, rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic, salt and pepper.  Place the turkey breast in a large ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the turkey.  Place the bag in a large bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

2.  Remove the turkey breast from the bag and place in a 4-6 quart crock pot skin side down.  Add the potatoes, onion, celery, carrots and additional salt and pepper.  Pour in 1/4 cup of stock.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Remove netting from turkey breast and serve.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are special to me (weird? yes, but I have a good reason!), when Jason and I first started dating, he wanted to make me dinner.  Being clueless about vegetarian meals, he went straight to the internet.  He ended up making me stuffed peppers and they were really good!  I've since taken over 99% of the cooking, including the stuffed peppers.  My recipe isn't quite the same, but it's still yummy ☺

Stuffed Peppers
Makes 4 peppers

Ingredients:
4 large bell peppers, any color
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 tsp cumin
2 cans (8oz each) no salt added tomato sauce, divided
2 cups reduced fat shredded cheese (I used colby jack, but any flavor will work), divided

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Slice the tops off of the peppers, discard the stem and dice.  Scoop all the remaining seeds and ribs out of the peppers.  Place the peppers on a baking sheet.

2.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onions, diced peppers, garlic and cumin.  Sauté until onions and peppers begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, black beans and rice.  Mix well and cook until heated through.

3.  Turn off the heat and fill peppers about halfway up with the filling.  Top filling with 2 tablespoons tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of cheese.  Repeat with remainder of filling, 2 more tablespoons of sauce and another 1/4 cup of cheese.

4.  Bake until cheese is melted and peppers are beginning to soften, about 25 minutes.  Serve with additional tomato sauce.  Enjoy!

Asian Barbecue Glazed Salmon

I finally put my Valentine's Day gift to use tonight and made a recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  It turned out great, the glaze was really good.  I served it with my Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa.

Asian Barbecue Glazed Salmon
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Salmon:
1 8oz filet of salmon (I prefer skinless, but with skin is fine too)
Black pepper
1/2 tsp light brown sugar
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp vegetable or canola oil

Glaze:
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Hoisin
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp soy sauce (I prefer low sodium)
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Sriracha
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 300°.  In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for the glaze with a whisk over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and allow to bubble for about 3 minutes, until thickened and glaze will coat a spoon.  Cover, remove from heat and set aside.


2.  Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with black pepper.  Combine the brown sugar, salt and cornstarch and sprinkle on top of the salmon.  Heat oil in a 10 or 12 inch oven safe pan over high heat.  Once oil is near smoking, place the salmon in the pan seasoned side down.  Cook until browned, 1-2 minutes.  Flip and cook the underside for another 1-2 minutes.


3.  Spoon as much or as little of the glaze over the salmon (I used about 3/4 of it) - I cut my filet in half at this point, but you can keep it in tact too.  Place the salmon in the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes, until salmon is cooked thoroughly.  Carefully remove from the oven and enjoy!

Creamy Potato Soup

Another great Pinterest find!  I admit, I was a little skeptical about this recipe when I came across it.  But, it came out great (after a couple minor tweaks, of course :)!  And who doesn't love a great Crock Pot recipe!? It was super creamy and ended up having great flavor (I did have to add quite a bit of salt and pepper).  Next time I'm going to add carrots and maybe another veggie or two.
Creamy Potato Soup
6 Servings

Ingredients:
30-32oz frozen shredded hash browns
5-6 cups Vegetable broth
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
10 oz Cream of Potato soup (I made my own using this recipe)
1 pkg 1/3 less fat cream cheese (you could use full fat, but do not use fat free)
salt and pepper to taste
shredded Cheddar, bacon, chopped scallions, etc for garnish

Directions:
1.  Combine hash browns, broth, onion, red bell pepper, black pepper and potato soup into a crock pot.  Mix well, cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

2.  Add in the cream cheese and stir until it is all melted.  Taste soup and season with salt and pepper.  Cover and continue cooking for another 1-2 hours on low.  Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with whatever your heart desires.  Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

While scrolling through Pinterest over the weekend I came across this recipe.  I mentioned it to my husband and he almost started drooling instantly.  Turns out that the Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies were both of our favorites when we were younger.  I decided to surprise him for Valentine's Day with a batch - with pink filling of course.  These are sooooo good.  I didn't put in quite as much butter as the recipe called for, and the cookies still turned out great.  The filling is really good but really sweet.  I think I'll alter that if when I make them again.

Oatmeal Cream Pies
Makes 3 dozen cookies/18 cream pies

Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups quick oats
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 drops food coloring, optional

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 375°.  Combine 1 cup of butter, brown and granulated sugars in a large bowl.  Cream with a mixer until well combined.  Add in vanilla and egg and mix to combine.


2.  In a smaller bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.  Stir in oats until combined. 


3.  In batches, add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar.  Once combined, drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet. 


4.  Bake 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack.


5.  While cookies cool, combine all ingredients for the frosting in a small bowl.  Mix on low until combined, then increase the speed until light and fluffy.  Add in food coloring and mix until desired shade.


6.  Once cookies are completely cooled, spread 1 tablespoon of frosting on the inside of one cookie and top
with another. 


7.  Try not to eat all of these in one sitting.  Enjoy!!
 

Move over Little Debbie!!!

Cheesy Italian Drop Biscuits

I didn't make my usual batch of Artisan Bread this weekend and I really wanted some type of bread for dinner (crock pot beef roast for Jason, spaghetti and (veggie) meatballs for me).  I figured biscuits would be the easiest, but I didn't want just plain 'ol biscuits so I let my spaghetti dinner inspire me!

Cheesy Italian Drop Biscuits
Makes 12 Biscuits
                                           
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp Kosher salt
4 tbsp cold butter, cubed
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, basil and oregano in a large bowl.  Using a pastry cutter, begin mixing the butter into the flour.  Work the dough until crumbly with pea-sized balls.
2.  Add the milk to the dough and mix with a spatula.  Once the dough is thouroughly wet stir in the Mozzarella cheese.  Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.  Top biscuits with Parmesan.
3.  Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, cool and enjoy!