Sweet Cinnamon Royal Icing

I've been looking for an egg free royal icing recipe to use with baked goods. I finally found one that, while it isn't perfect, still pairs well with many different flavors.

What Do You Need?

• 1/4 cup of warm water
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp lemon extract
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• cinnamon

What Should You Do?

This is super easy. Mix the warm water, corn syrup, lemon extract and cinnamon (as much as you want for taste) until all are well blended. Then, add the confectioners sugar. If you don't want to make your arm tired whipping this together, use a mixer on a low speed setting to blend until smooth. I used a fork and just whipped it like I would if I was beating eggs.



Once it is blended smooth, it is ready to put on whatever you'd like. It will harden, so make sure to keep mixing it as you use it. I put it on top of banana cookies, pictured below. The recipe for those can be found here.

Banana Cookies

Like many people, I'm really picky about bananas. If they're not ripe enough, I can't stand them. If they're too ripe, they're disgusting. So I often have bananas left that I allow to ripen for baking. Normally I make banana bread. I found this recipe when I wanted something a little different, made a few changes, and here it is.

What Do You Need? 

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup of softened butter (11 tbsp)
• 2 eggs
• 2.25 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• pinch of salt

 

What Should You Do?

First, preheat the oven to 350F.


Start the cookies by mashing your bananas. I normally just use a fork, but a potato masher works really well too. Once the bananas are mashed, mix in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.


Fun tip: if you don't have a microwave to soften your butter, put it in a bowl near your oven vent, which is likely near the stove top surface. The heat will help soften the butter.






Once the liquids are mixed together, add the flour and baking soda, mixing thoroughly. Once mixed, add the butter and blend everything together.








Note: This not be the consistency of a normal cookie batter. If you want more of a cookie consistency, you could add oatmeal to make them chewy. These will turn out like mini cookie-cakes. They're soft, fluffy, and delicious.







Once the batter is mixed, drop teaspoons onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.  These are delicious right out of the oven, but can also be topped with icing, glaze, chocolate spread, or anything else that suits your taste. I topped mine with a delicious sweet cinnamon royal icing. The recipe for that can be found here.

Left: cookies without icing

Right: cookies with icing

Crock-Pot Cheese & Broccoli Chowder

In the winter months, I rely on my crock pot for so many things. Cheese and broccoli soup is a classic comfort food. To make it more filling, I turned a quick and easy recipe into a crock pot chowder by adding a few more ingredients.

What Do You Need?

• 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
• 1 big bag of frozen broccoli
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• potatoes
• canned corn
• onion
• salt and pepper

What Should You Do?

This is a very easy two step recipe.


First, chop the potatoes and onion, then add them to the crock pot.


Next, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well. Cover, set the crock pot on high, and let cook about four hours, or until the potatoes are tender.

 Once done, transfer to individual serving bowls and enjoy! 

 

Note: This is a dish that freezes and reheats very well. I put it into individual serving containers and store it in my freezer making it a convenient and easy warm lunch for work.

Crock-Pot Chicken Chili

Chili is one of my favorite crock pot dishes for cold weather. It is the perfect comfort food, and can be customized in so many different ways. This dish includes ground chicken and turkey bacon, which is a cheaper and healthier twist to a classic ground beef and pork bacon chili.

What Do You Need?

• 1 lb ground chicken
• turkey bacon
• poblano pepper
• bell pepper
• onion
• fresh garlic
• diced tomatoes
• tomato sauce
• kidney beans
• salt, pepper, chili powder
• desired toppings: cheddar cheese, sour cream (not pictured), and fresh lime juice (not pictured). 

 

What Should You Do?

First, cook the ground chicken on the stove. Once cooked, use the same pan to cook the bacon.



While the chicken is cooking, open, drain, and rinse the kidney beans, and then transfer them into the crock pot.



Next, chop all of the vegetables and add them to the crock pot, along with the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add the chicken once it is cooked. The bacon will need to be chopped prior to adding to the pot.



Once all ingredients have been chopped and added, add seasonings to the desired taste, cover, and cook on high until vegetables are soft and chili has reached the desired consistency, about four hours.







Once cooked, transfer to individual bowls and top with any desired ingredients. I prefer shredded cheese, sour cream, and some fresh squeezed lime juice.

Side note: Chili freezes and reheats incredibly well. I portion it out into single serving containers, add a quarter slice of real cheese (none of that cheese-product junk), and a small dollop of cream cheese. They stack well in the freezer, and are great for a quick and easy hot lunch at work.

Tomato Bacon Mac & Cheese

This dish is a delightful twist on a comfort food classic. It's quick and easy to prepare, and is guaranteed to be a delightful meal or side-dish.

 What Do You Need?

• 8 ounces dry elbow macaroni
• 1 can of condensed cheddar cheese soup
• 1 cup of milk
• 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can of petite diced tomatoes
• bacon (or prepared bacon bits)
• salt, pepper, etc.

 

 

What Should You Do? 

Start by cooking macaroni according to package directions, and then start cooking bacon so it will be crispy.

While macaroni is cooking, in a separate medium size saucepan, mix together cheddar soup and milk until blended. Then, add shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Add the desired seasonings (salt and pepper), mix and let simmer.


Next, open and thoroughly drain the tomatoes, then add them to the cheese sauce, mixing well.

Once bacon is well cooked, transfer it to a cutting board and chop into bacon pieces for topping.

Once macaroni is done cooking, add to the sauce and mix everything together.


The final step in creating this delightful dish is to place the macaroni and cheese mixture, top it with crumbled bacon, and enjoy!

Banana Pancakes

No boring breakfast here! Or dinner if that's your thing. Banana pancakes are awesome, versatile and allow for so much creativity, due to the variety of toppings, and add-ins available.

What do you need?

• 2 bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups of milk
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• mixing bowl
• mixing spoon (or fork)
• batter scoop of some sort
• frying pan
• spatula

 

 

What should you do?

First, put your pan on the stove over medium-ish heat, or slightly on the lower end of medium. If you have a non-stick pan, no butter or sprays are needed. However, if you don't have a non-stick pan, make sure you use a spray or some melted butter to avoid sticking. Next, mash those bananas, in whatever way works best for you. You could use a spoon, or a potato masher, or even your hands. Personally, I prefer a fork. Then, mix in all of the wet ingredients, followed by the dry ingredients, and then any additional items you prefer (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, other fruits, or whatever else you want). If you prefer a thicker batter, use a bit more flour. If you prefer it to be a bit thinner, add a touch more milk. You can add either ingredient in small amounts until you reach your desired consistency.

Once the batter is all mixed up (a bit of lumpiness is okay) start cooking the pancakes! Use whatever scooping device you prefer (I use a measuring spoon) and put however many pancakes fit in your pan and still cook evenly with room for a flip. Please, don't over flip them - one flip is all they need. Watch the batter. The edges should start to dry and bubbles will form on the surface. This is the perfect time to flip them. Then, let them cook on the other side for a few minutes. Remove from the pan, and repeat until they're all cooked.

Once they're cooked, let the fun begin! You can top these pancakes with so many different things. Sliced fruit, cream cheese, nutella, peanut butter, whipped cream, honey, classic syrup and butter, or whatever else you can imagine! If you really feel like being fancy, cook them up very thin, spread some toppings on them, then roll/fold them up like a crepe!

 Left: banana pancakes with cream cheese and sliced strawberries

Right: a half failed attempt at a strawberry rose for the strawberry and cream cheese pancakes.

Nachos

When I buy ingredients for something, I end up with enough for several meals, since I'm just feeding myself. This was the case with the quesadilla toppings. So, I decided to do something different with them, and make some nachos instead, along with a pretty mediocre makeshift guacamole.

What do you need?

The ingredients here are the same as those for the quesadillas, but with a few additions, like an oven.

What should you do?

The first step will be to make some chips. You probably don't want to use soft tortilla pieces as nacho chips. So, chop up a tortilla or two, into triangles, or something resembling whatever chip shape you want. Lay them out on a baking sheet, and season them however you'd like. I used a bit of olive oil and salt. Then, pop them in the oven (375F for 5-7 minutes) until they're perfectly crispy!





Sometimes when you attempt to make triangles, you get diamonds and butterflies, but that's okay!







While the chips are in the oven, chop up whatever nacho toppings you prefer, and make some guacamole too, if you'd like. You may be wondering what I meant when I said I made a mediocre makeshift guac. Well, it's time to find out.


Ingredients:
Avocado
Drained chunks from salsa
Red onion
Fresh lime juice
Salt
Garlic powder

Chop, mash and mix everything together, and voila! I've made much better guac before, but in an unplanned pinch, this worked well enough.


Once your chips are done, assemble your nachos with whatever toppings you'd like. To ensure melty gooey cheese, I warmed the veggies and chicken on the stove first, then put everything together, popped the plate (on a baking sheet) in the oven for a few minutes to finish melting, then added the guac and sour cream on top.

Quesadillas!

Quesadillas are delicious. Recently, I've been making a bunch of different combinations of them. So, here you go!

What do you need?

• tortilla shells
• shredded cheese of choice
• meat of choice
• desired veggies
• stuff for dipping!
• knife
• cutting board
• large frying pan

What should you do?

Quesadillas are super easy to make. Put the frying pan on the stove on a low-medium heat setting. One tortilla goes in the pan, with cheese on half of it. Chop up all of the desired contents, add that on top of the cheese half. Then, add more cheese on top of that, and fold over. If you want, you can use a lid of some sort to hold it down until everything gets warm and melty. Once it's melted, you can turn the heat up a bit to crisp the tortilla. Make sure to flip it (with a spatula) to get both sides crispy! Then, transfer to a cutting board, cut into thirds, and serve along with the dipping sauce of your choice!

What did I make?

Insides:

shredded cheddar cheese

chicken breast strips

red onion

green peppers

Dips:

salsa

sour cream

Insides:

shredded monterey & colby jack cheese 

chicken breast strips

avocado slices

red onion

green peppers

Dip:

sour cream, salsa, fresh lime juice, and salt all mixed together!

Insides:

shredded monterey & colby jack cheese

chicken breast strips

avocado slices

spinach

red onion

Dip:

sour cream, salsa, fresh lime juice, and salt all mixed together!

Insides:

shredded cheddar cheese

spinach

green bell pepper

red onion

Dip:

sour cream, salsa, fresh lime juice, and salt all mixed together!

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Are you looking for quick, easy, delicious cookies to make without using your oven? Look no further! These cookies take about ten minutes to make (not including set time), they taste great, need no special ingredients, and won't add extra heat to your house which is great during summer months.

While most recipes for these cookies found online are for full batches, I find that making a half batch improves the overall consistency of these tasty treats, so this recipe is the half batch that I use.

What do you need?                                                          

• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 generous cup of oatmeal
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter
• parchment paper
• 1 medium sauce pan
• 1 mixing spoon
• 1 metal spoon
• measuring spoons
• 1 mixing bowl 
• a timer 

What should you do?

Melt the butter in the sauce pan with the milk, on low-medium heat. While this is melting, you can prepare your other ingredients, and make sure the parchment paper is laid out and ready for the cookies.

I prefer to use the mixing bowl to hold the oats until you need them. They're already measured out that way, and ready to go. The metal spoon used to scoop out the peanut butter - make sure you hang on to that. You'll need it later.

Once the butter is thoroughly melted and mixed with the milk, add in the sugar, vanilla, and cocoa powder.




Mix well, then turn up the heat to medium-high to let the mix boil.

This is where the timer becomes important. Once it starts to boil, you need to start the timer, and only let the mix boil for one minute. If you don't boil it long enough, your cookies won't set up, and they will stay runny. If you over boil it, the cookies will get dry and crumbly.

While neither of these things are wrong for home eating, having runny or crumbly cookies at a gathering may not be very appealing.

Immediately after the one minute of boiling ends, remove the pan from the heat and add in the oatmeal and peanut butter, mixing thoroughly.

Once everything is mixed and the peanut butter melts smoothly, place spoonfuls of the mix onto the parchment paper to set up. If you boiled properly, the mixture should begin to thicken by the time you're done spooning it onto the parchment paper. Within 15-20 minutes, they should be firm enough to pick up (though they will still be warm). However if you want to wait to enjoy the cookies until they're cooled, you can always lick the spoon! Make sure it's cooled down first though.