Crockpot Glazed Ham

Alex loves it when we make a ham in the crockpot so I occasionally make one for him. Typically I do some sort of sweet glaze since that is what traditionally goes with ham. However, I let Alex make this particular glaze and since he’s not huge on sweet ham he opted for a more savory flavor.The finished flavor is actually quite interesting. While it certainly wasn’t something I would have thought to put together it really actually works. Alex absolutely loved the flavor and I thought it wasn’t bad. I still prefer a sweet glazed ham, but this is a great option if you’re in the mood for something a little more savory.By cooking this in the crockpot it really is a set it and forget it type of meal. Just let it cook and marinade in its own glaze for several hours and voila, a fantastic dinner. I love to pair it with my Mac Cheese recipe. They really go perfectly together.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:240]

Classic Acorn Squash

With the advent of squash season I wanted to try something new this year. The last few years we’ve been making butternut squash in various recipes but we’ve yet to make acorn squash. I found an acorn squash on sale at the grocery store the last time I was there and decided it was high time to try it out. I went with a classic recipe for this particular trial of acorn squash. The mix of brown sugar and maple syrup is absolutely incredible. However, I realized that I personally don’t care for the texture of squash since its very slippery. Alex doesn’t prefer sweet versions of squash so this wasn’t really to his tastes either. However, if you’re looking for a very classic squash recipe this one is perfect for you. The sweet taste compliments the sweetness of the squash perfectly and is perfect for those cold fall nights.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:239]

Bridal Shower Mini-Cupcakes

My brother in law is getting married to a wonderful woman in a few weeks and we had the privilege of throwing her a bridal shower a couple weeks ago. I was asked to make a dessert for the shower so of course I settled on cupcakes. I didn’t want to make full sized cupcakes though since they are so heavy for an afternoon shower. I settled on mini-cupcakes as the perfect compromise. Not only are they delicious, they are absolutely adorable!This particular recipe will make approximately 2 ½ dozen mini-cupcakes. I would suggest using a 24 cavity mini-muffin pan to make these since it will go much faster than a 12 cavity pan. For decorating these I used purple icing and edible glitter on each. I also found the most adorable diamond ring party picks on Amazon. These really made the final results pop and completed the bridal shower theme. You can of course switch the color theme easily by using a different colored gel food coloring. [amd-yrecipe-recipe:238]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt - Chrysta Wilson

Hazelnut Mocha Blended Coffee

9Today is National Coffee Day! I thought I’d post another blended coffee recipe in honor of such an exciting day. Also, if you are like me and prefer Almond Milk in your coffee then today is your lucky day! Starbucks now has almond milk permanently at all their stores!Again, this is a very easy recipe. I’ve posted several recipes before like Turtle and Mocha. This one is my current favorite since all I have in the house right now is Hazelnut syrup. It is absolutely delicious though. If you need an afternoon pick me up this is definitely the drink you’ve been looking for.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:237]

Grilled Buffalo Chicken

I’ve been testing out different chicken marinades for the last few months and here is another one! Alex really loves spicy anything so I thought I’d try out a buffalo chicken. I made something like this in the crockpot a while ago but wanted to make a grilled version for summer nights when even a crockpot is too hot to have going inside. You will want to let this dish marinade for at least 12 hours. The longer the better though. By the time we ended up grilling ours they had been sitting in the marinade for about 24 hours. If you begin with frozen chicken breasts you’ll want to marinade/defrost for about 36 hours. [amd-yrecipe-recipe:236]

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago I posted an amazing Spice Cupcake recipe that I took to a party with Alex’s coworkers. I also made a batch of these and took them too! I wanted to cover my bases with a wide variety of cupcake flavors and this certainly complemented the spice cupcakes. I love pumpkin anything and these cupcakes are no different. They have a wonderful spicy pumpkin flavor in a delectable chocolate cupcake base. They are super easy to make and would be a fantastic addition to your fall cupcake lineup.I made these with my last bag of frozen pumpkin puree from last fall’s pumpkin. The batter when you use fresh pumpkin is a little wetter than if you use canned so make sure you take that into account when making these. If the batter seems a bit wet to you make sure to add more flour. The consistency should be that of regular cupcake batter. If you use canned pumpkin you may want to add slightly less flour than called for, just to be sure your cupcakes aren’t overly dry.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:235]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss My Bundt – Chrysta Wilson

Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

Over Labor Day weekend we met my family at a beautiful lake cabin in the Ozarks. Each of us grown kids were responsible for a breakfast and there was a special request by certain family members for Alex and I to make our cinnamon rolls. We make them a few years ago and they were such a big hit I knew they had to return. I wanted to do something a little fancier with one of the pans of cinnamon rolls so I landed on cinnamon rolls with caramel. I thought this would be a fantastic way to combine two amazing flavors into one fabulous breakfast dish. And boy was I right! These were absolutely amazing and something you really need to try.This specific recipe uses a breadmaker for the cinnamon roll dough. I find that it’s incredibly easy to set it and forget it. If you don’t have a breadmaker though you can follow the steps for cinnamon roll in my previous recipe. I personally suggest investing in a breadmaker though, it is one kitchen tool that I don’t like to be without since it really is so versatile. [amd-yrecipe-recipe:234]Source: Dough adapted from Cuisinart Recipe Booklet

Crockpot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

One of our absolute favorite soups is my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. A few weeks ago I had the rice and chicken prepped for this soup but I didn’t actually have time to sit down and make it. So I decided that I needed to figure out how to make this in the crockpot. This saved me time when it came to the cooking since I could just set it and forget it.If you were to cook this longer you could totally cook the chicken and the rice in the the pot with everything else. I already had the rice and chicken cooked so I chose to add them about an hour before serving this. Just long enough to let the flavors simmer together but not long enough to actually cook anything. I wasn’t sure how this would actually turn out so I left out the creamy portions from my original recipe. I’m planning to try this crockpot version again in the future but this time cooking the rice and chicken in the crockpot. I’ll probably also include the creamy portions of this recipe back in too. I’ll update you once I have a chance to perfect the recipe![amd-yrecipe-recipe:233]

Cheese Manicotti

After my last delicious Italian Manicotti recipe I decided I wanted to try my hand at a cheese version. I often don’t put meat in various recipes so I wanted a meatless version of this great recipe. It is pretty easy to put together, you just need to makes sure you have enough time to bake it. Alex and I really enjoyed this recipe. It was really quite tasty. If you’re looking for another easy iManicotti recipe this one is for you! If you just can’t bear to give up the meat in a recipe you can always sprinkle browned hamburger over the top to get that meat taste.The easiest way I’ve found to stuff these is to transfer the ricotta stuffing into a large ziplock baggie and snip off the end. I find it very hard to stuff manicotti any other way. The ziplock baggie keeps it relatively clean and easy to stuff the prepared noodles.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:232]

Stromboli

We decided that we wanted to try something new for pizza night and I immediately thought of trying Stromboli. It had been on my list for ages and I’d just never gotten around to making it. Stromboli is a rolled pizza that is often served at pizza restaurants. It differs from Calzone in that it is rolled into a pizza log rather than just folded. Most recipes I saw online included the sauce inside the roll. However, Alex and I decided that we didn’t really care for that. Expect an updated recipe to this one in the future!The base for this recipe is a premade pizza dough. You can use whatever you prefer, our preferred recipe is in the bread maker. You could even make this gluten free by substituting for gluten free dough. You can use any pizza toppings you prefer, we just used our standard go-to pepperoni and sausage.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:230]

Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken

If you’ve been looking for one last recipe to grill this summer look no further. We’ve been grilling a lot all summer long and I wanted to get a new recipe on the menu since I felt that most of the ones we’d been making were getting tired. I wanted to base it on a lemon and pepper chicken since we’d been loving that this summer. I had some white wine left over in our fridge so I paired that with lemon juice, black and white pepper along with some rosemary to really make the flavors pop.Alex said this recipe was amazing! I actually wasn’t home the night he grilled it but he said that he very much enjoyed it and he thinks you will too. You can also easily double or even triple the recipe to feed a large crowd or a party. This recipe would also be wonderful over a bed of spinach with a light dressing for a really fun lunch.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:229]

DIY Turtle Blended Coffee

Last week I posted my new favorite blended coffee recipe  and I thought I would follow it up with another fantastic recipe for a blended coffee. This time it’s a turtle blend though! So actually even more amazing that the first one I posted.This recipe tastes just like one you’d get at your local coffee shop. It is also super easy to make and you’ll be able to impress all of your coffee drinking friends while saving a few dollars on your daily drink. I’ve used brewed coffee that I cooled in the fridge overnight for this recipe since I’m not much of a coffee drinker. If you like your coffee a bit stronger you can amp it up by making this with either a homemade cold brew or one you pick up at the store. Like with the other recipe I’ve used almond milk in this one. I prefer the taste and the texture to any other type of milk when making blended coffees. If you prefer you can use whipped cream on top drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauces. This will really make it feel like a drink from a coffee shop and you’ve just saved yourself a few dollars![amd-yrecipe-recipe:228]

Spicy Hummus

We love hummus here at our house so when I found a jar of organic Tahini at Trader Joe’s a few weeks back I figured it was high time I tried making my own hummus from scratch. Alex prefers a spicy variety so I thought that would be a good place to start. I’ve made hummus before, but never with tahini, it didn’t quite taste right though I was excited to see how it turned out.This recipe turned out fantastic! The addition of tahini was what the hummus needed to really taste perfect. This was such a hit that by the time I got around to taking a photo it was mostly gone! This is a perfect recipe for a party, especially when served with a variety of crackers.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:227]

Vegan - Gluten Free Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cupcakes

Yesterday I posted a recipe for vegan caramel sauce and I thought I would follow that up with an amazing recipe for vegan and gluten free chocolate and salted caramel cupcakes! I had the challenge this summer of making treats for two friends, one who is vegan and the other who is gluten free. I also had the added hurdle of making things taste good. I really wasn’t sure how it would turn out but it surprisingly turned out amazing.Everyone who ate these were very surprised at how good they were. I even had someone remark that he “didn’t actually expect these to be edible, but they were and they were great!” The people I actually made them for really enjoyed them too. They said it was definitely one of the better recipes they’d had made for them.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:226]Source: Cake adapted from Sarah Baked G-Free

Vegan Caramel Sauce

Over this summer I had a great challenge and it was to make some vegan and gluten free treats to bring to a potluck. I decided that you really can never go wrong with caramel so that was going to be the base for my recipe. I’d never made a vegan caramel sauce before so this was quite an adventure.This recipe wasn’t especially difficult but it wasn’t especially easy. It was pretty typical of a caramel recipe. I’ve made a couple in the past and it wasn’t much harder than any of those. You will need to have a candy thermometer on hand to get to the right temperature. If you don’t have one, you could definitely make this, it would just be much more difficult. You’ll find that this recipe calls for coconut cream. I was able to find a can of pure coconut cream at Trader Joe’s. However, if you’re not near one you can simply take a can of regular coconut milk and refrigerate it for about 2 hours. The cream will solidify to the top and you can simply skim it off. Either will work for this recipe. Do not use coconut milk from a carton though, this will not produce the results you need![amd-yrecipe-recipe:225]Source: Vegan Baking

Tomato Rigatoni with Pepperoni and Parmesan

I found this recipe while perusing my copy of March’s Food Network Magazine. I thought it looked amazing in the magazine and with a few tweaks it would be perfect for dinner! This would be great for a large crowd since it is easily doubled or even tripled. It also would make a fantastic potluck dish since it could easily be made ahead of time and kept warm in a crockpot.Alex and I were so surprised at how delicious this dish turned out. With the red pepper flakes you might think its would be spicy, but it really isn’t. The pepper flakes simply give the dish the right amount of love when paired with the other spices. We also decided this dish would be wonderful if we added sausage both with and instead of the pepperoni. It’s really up to you which you would prefer, although one of the best things about this recipe was munching on the crispy pepperoni![amd-yrecipe-recipe:224]Source: Adapted from Food Network Magazine: March 2016

DIY Mocha Blended Coffee

I always thought I didn’t like coffee. I didn’t like the taste, it was FAR too bitter for me. I didn’t like how it was so warm. And I didn’t like how it wasn’t hot chocolate on a cold day. However, my lovely younger sister decided to introduce me to the joy that is blended coffee drinks. And since then I haven’t been able to get enough! Often this summer, in the mornings I would blend up one of these puppies and take it with me to Camp, or if I was really dragging in the evening I would blend one and take it to rehearsal. It got me through many a day and it is SOOOO super easy!You will need a blender that can crush ice for this recipe. Alex and I have a small one serving smoothie blender that works perfectly for this. I haven’t tried it in my food processor but I would imagine it could work if you wanted to make a large batch of these.Typically you would make this recipe with cold pressed coffee. However, since I’m new to this whole coffee experience I just make a cup of coffee with my Keurig then put it in the fridge till cold. It’s not as strong as it would be if you used cold pressed coffee but for me it does the trick. If you really want to take a shortcut you should try getting a large bottle of cold press from Trader Joes and then you eliminate the step of cooling the coffee!Personally I like to use Almond milk when making this. It is just like making skim milk but I find that it doesn’t add any taste at all to the drink like regular milk does. It also is great if you have a lactose intolerance. If you don’t like almond milk, or don’t have it you can simply use regular milk or even soy or coconut milk. Just adjust the amount to make sure things keep moving around in the blender.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:223]

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

I had a friend request what he thought was completely outrageous bacon cupcakes. He certainly didn’t think that I’d come up with something so delicious. They were such a huge hit because people really didn’t think they would work when they heard the request. Everyone absolutely loved these cupcakes.  If you really want to impress a crowd of bacon lovers these are definitely the cupcakes to make!I used pepper bacon that I had on hand already made. I really liked the extra kick from the pepper that it gave the cupcakes. It paired very nicely with the sweet maple flavoring. If you’re not a fan of pepper bacon I wouldn’t suggest using it since it has such a strong and distinct flavor. Really any bacon will do for this recipe though. You will want to make sure that you cook the bacon to a crispy doneness. This will really make sure that you’re not getting soft bacon pieces in the actual cupcake.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:222]Source: cake adapted from: Kiss my Bundt - Chrysta Wilson

Kale, Quinoa & Asparagus

 I had some extra asparagus laying around a few weeks ago, so I decided to make a kale and quinoa dish and add some! I settled on a spicy version of this dish so to give it a little extra kick. It got great reviews from those who tried it. One thing that was said was that the spicyness really doesn’t kick you in the face. It is more the perfect amount of spicyness to make things interesting. If you’re looking for a great side dish for dinner tonight look no further![amd-yrecipe-recipe:221]

“Box Mix" Gluten Free Brownie Mix

I love making homemade “box mixes”, they just make everything so quick and easy when you’re baking. I’ve been trying several different types of Brownie mixes over the past few months and here is another gluten free variety!These are crazy easy to make! I personally like to make 2 or 3 batches of this at a time and store them till I’m ready for brownies. This is actually one of the easiest recipes I’ve made to date. I love adding chocolate chips for a little bit of an extra chocolaty kick to any brownies. These work well with whatever your favorite brand of chocolate chips may be.If you’re familiar with gluten free recipes you will notice this one doesn’t contain any. I prefer to use blends with it already in it so there isn’t any need to add some. If your blend doesn’t contain any you will need to add some in order to keep the brownies together. I would suggest ½ - 1 teaspoon depending on what brand of flour you’re using.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:220]Source: Adapted from Gluten Free on a Shoestring: Quick and Easy - Nicole Hunn