The Perfect Brownies (super easy too!) aka "Hershey's Best Brownies"

We LOVE these brownies at our house and it's kind of dangerous how easy they are to whip up.  Takes only 1 bowl and a few minutes and you're on your way to fudgey, chocolatey brownie heaven...

Ingredients:
-1 cup (2 cubes) of  Butter (Olive Oil & Coconut Oil both work too!)
-2 cups of Sugar
-2 tsp Vanilla
-4 Eggs
-3/4 cup Cocoa
-1 cup Flour
-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
-1/4 tsp Salt

Directions:
1-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2- Grease a 9x13" pan and set aside.
3-Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl.
4- Stir in each of the rest of the ingredients by hand until everything is well mixed.
5-Pour into the greased pan and spread it out evenly.  The batter will be thick.

6-Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.)

7-Let them cool for about 10 minutes (if you can wait that long and enjoy!)

**There are a lot of awesome things you can do with these brownies.  One of our favorites is to sprinkle chocolate chips over the top right after the come out of the oven and leave them for 5 minutes or so and then when they are melted spread them over the brownies like a lovely ganache or frosting.  Super easy and delicious.

Bacon cooked in the oven

My favorite way to cook bacon is to bake it in the oven.  So much easier, turns out perfect and easy to clean up. (from http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/breakfastcookery/ht/bacon.htm)

1-Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.

2-Arrange the bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. (Try not to stretch the slices out. Just gently drape the bacon across the pan.) Close the oven door. Turn the oven on to 400°F. Walk away.

3- Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.

4- Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb any excess fat.

Perfect to use on BLT's!

BLT (or BLTA) Sandwiches

10 strips of Bacon (2 per person)

10 slices of bread per person (2 per person)

1 head of Lettuce (I like Romaine)

2 Tomatoes, sliced

1 Avocado (optional)

Mayo, mustard and anything else you like on your sandwich

My favorite way to cook bacon is to bake it in the oven.  So much easier, turns out perfect and easy to clean up. (from http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/breakfastcookery/ht/bacon.htm)

1-Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.

2-Arrange the bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. (Try not to stretch the slices out. Just gently drape the bacon across the pan.) Close the oven door. Turn the oven on to 400°F. Walk away.

3- Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.

4- Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb any excess fat.

Have everyone build their sandwich however they like it.  I serve this with salad.

BBQ Chicken and Potatoes

This one is so easy and basic it doesn't really require a recipe but I've been requested to put it on the blog so readers can keep track of the groceries needed for this meal for their monthly meal plan.

5 chicken thighs, boneless skinless (can be frozen or not, can use any chicken)

½ cup Bottled BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray’s)

5 potatoes

1-Wash the potatoes, poke them with a fork and set them on the middle rack in the oven.  Turn the oven to 350 degrees.

2-Place the chicken in a 9x13” pan and pour the BBQ sauce over the top.  Place the pan next to the potatoes in the oven.

3-Bake for 30 minutes if chicken is not frozen and potatoes are smaller, or up to 60 minutes if chicken is frozen and potatoes are larger. (If you’re doing larger potatoes with non frozen chicken you can microwave the potatoes for 3-6 minutes and then put them in the oven to finish baking.)

Sweet and Sour Apricot Chicken-SO easy!

1 cup Apricot or Apricot-Pineapple Jam (Peach works too)

1 cup Catalina Salad Dressing (or Russian or  French)

1 envelope dry onion soup mix (like Lipton)

3-5 lbs chicken (breasts, bone-in/boneless, thighs, tenders etc. frozen or not)

*The amount of chicken you use is very flexible.  If you use less, you’ll just have lots of sauce, and if you use more- you’ll have less sauce to spoon over rice, but there’s plenty to cook that much chicken.

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

2-Place the chicken in a 9x13”  pan.

3-Put the jam, Catalina dressing, cider vinegar, and  the onion soup packet in a bowl and stir to combine and pour over the chicken.

4-Bake for 45 minutes (if not frozen and 60 minutes if frozen.) Eat over rice.

This is a great, super easy, yummy recipe. I'm working on a "real food"/unprocessed version that I'll be posting on the website soon.

3 minute oatmeal

1 cup of oats (Old Fashioned or quick)

2 cups of water (I do a little less)

1-Put in a microwave safe mixing bowl and stir a little.

2-Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.  

3-Enjoy with milk, fruit, a little honey-whatever you like!

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or other meat cut into strips

2 Tbsp oil

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 sm can green chilies

1 medium onion, sliced

1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use half a green and half a red)

12 flour tortillas

Toppings such as cheese, sour cream, and guacamole - if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.

2. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt

3. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.

4. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.

5. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve on tortillas with desired toppings.

(Recipe adapted from Real Mom Kitchen at http://realmomkitchen.com/9318/oven-baked-chicken-fajitas/)

Pork or Beef Soft Tacos

Ingredients

1 (2.5 lb) pork roast (can use beef roast too)

1 3/4 cups beef broth

Juice of 1 lime

1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 Tbsp cumin

1/2 Tbsp onion powder or dried onions

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Place roast in a slow cooker along with beef broth.

2. Squeeze lime juice over roast.

3. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.

4. Sprinkle spices over roast.

5. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

6. In the crock pot use two forks or kitchen shears to shred removing any fat.

7. Return meat to crock pot and cook for 30 minutes more.

8. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove beef from slow cooker and serve in your favorite Mexican dish.

Recipe by Real Mom Kitchen at http://realmomkitchen.com/10379/mexican-shredded-beef/

Spaghetti (sauce can be made in the crock pot)

-2 15 oz can diced tomatoes

-1 15oz can of tomato sauce

-1 chopped onion (or 2 T dried onions)

-2 T chopped garlic or (1 T garlic powder)

-1 T Oregano

-1 T honey (or sugar)

-1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey or ground sausage

-salt & pepper to taste

The Directions for crock pot

1-Add the thawed (or frozen) ground beef or turkey to the crock pot. Dump in all the cans of tomatoes, and break the ground meat up with a large spoon. Stir in the spices.

2-Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

3-When done cooking, break up the ground meat a bit more and salt to taste.

4-Serve right away with some prepared pasta, or package for freezing.

Ridiculously Easy and Yummy Granola

I love this stuff for breakfast, snacks, whatever.  So easy, so yummy, so healthy, so inexpensive and so versatile!  Does it get any better than that?

1/2 cup Coconut Oil, Butter or Olive Oil
1/2 cup Honey or real Maple Syrup (can use less if you don't want it quite so sweet)
6 cups Oats
2 teaspoons Cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon Vanilla (optional)
1/2 cup Dried, Unsweetened Coconut (I love this stuff)
Nuts and dried fruit (whatever kinds you like)

1-Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2-Put coconut oil (or butter) in big microwavable bowl and melt (skip this step if using Olive Oil.)
3-Add everything else and stir it all up until well combined.
4-Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicon baking mat (everyone should have at least one of these!)
5-Spread granola out evenly on the baking sheet.
6-Bake for 15 minutes, take the pan out and stir the granola and then bake it for 15 more minutes.
7-Let it cool and then enjoy as is or add: chocolate chips or any dried fruit or nuts you like.  It's great as a snack or as cereal in a bowl with milk.

Asian Lettuce Wraps (crock pot and quick stove top versions)

1 lb ground turkey  or 4 chicken breast halves

5 chopped cloves of garlic

1/2 chopped onion

1 8oz can roughly chopped water chestnuts

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 t fresh ginger

dash of allspice (or a dash each of cloves, cinnamon and black pepper)

3 T balsamic vinegar

1/2 bunch chopped green onions to add at the last few minutes of crockpotting

The Directions:

1- Chop up the water chestnuts, onions and garlic, put into crock pot on top of the meat.

2- In a mixing bowl, mix the liquid and spices

3- Pour sauce on top of meat.

4- Cover and cook for 4-6 hours on high, 6-8 on low. Stir a few times while it’s cooking.

5- Serve over lettuce leaves with rice. I like Romaine

--If you like, top with a bottled plum sauce.

Quick Stove Top Version

Just brown the ground turkey, drain the fat and stir in the rest of the stuff and you’re good to go.

Chicken Taco Soup in the crock pot (or stove top)

2 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs (can be frozen or not)

1 can diced tomatoes (don’t drain)

1 can tomato sauce

1 small can diced green chilis

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 cup black beans cooked from scratch)

1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (or any other can of beans, even another can of black beans)

1 c frozen corn

1 onion, chopped

2 c chicken broth (2 c water + 2 tsp “Better than Boullion” chicken)

1-2 cups of water

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp dried cilantro

tortilla chips

sour cream

avocado

shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

1-Put chicken, onions, beans, corn, broth, water and spices in the crock pot .

2-Cook on high 6-7 hours or low 8-9 hours.

3-If chicken isn’t already falling apart, shred it with kitchen shears or 2 forks.

*For a 30 minute stove top option, put all the ingredients together in a stock pot.  Bring to a boil and boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and turning the temperature on the burner down a bit if needed.

Serve soup with tortilla chips, shredded cheddar cheese, and a dollop of sour cream and sliced avocados.

Chef’s Salad

Just mix up a salad of anything you like.  We put everything out on the table & let everyone build their own and my girls love that!

Here are some ideas:

Organic Spring Mix from Costco (or Romaine lettuce & spinach)

tomatoes (I like the “grape” tomatoes from costco. You don’t have to cut them!)

Any kind of cheese (We love the Feta from Costco)

Carrots

Cucumbers

Olives

Canned, drained beets

Avocados

Boiled eggs

sliced almonds

Ham, turkey, chicken or bacon

Homemade Ranch or any good dressing you like

Curry Honey Chicken

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, frozen or fresh

2 tablespoons melted butter (olive oil works great too)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup prepared mustard (you can use Dijon or regular yellow)

1 tsp salt

1 to 3 tsp curry powder (depending on how spicy you like things)

1/2 cup of baby carrots (optional)

Hot, cooked rice

1-Melt butter and mix all ingredients in a bowl.

2-Pour over chicken in a casserole dish or 9x13 pan.

Pour everything in the pan and bake it!

3-Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (or 60 minutes if frozen) or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and no longer pink when you cut into it.

Serve over rice. (I like brown rice the best with this.)

Curry Honey Chicken, easy, yummy, healthy & different than the usual dinner

Rosemary Baked Chicken and Potatoes

Ingredients

¼ C olive oil (I like Extra Virgin Cold Pressed)

3 T Rosemary (fresh is best but dried works too)

1 T Salt (I like Coarse Ground, Real Salt)

1/2 T Black Pepper (I like Coarse Ground)

about 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, (1 pouch if using the organic one’s from Costco)

8 red potatoes, sliced

2 sweet potatoes, sliced thinner than the red potatoes(optional)

Handful baby carrots or peeled & sliced carrots (optional)

1-Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2-Mix oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper in large bowl. 
3-Add chicken and potatoes and (sweet potatoes & carrots if using those.); toss to coat well. 
4-Arrange everything in single layer in 9x13 glass baking dish (I use 2 of these) or foil-lined 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

5-Put pans in the oven at Bake for about 60 minutes. Stirring after 30 minutes or so.
*If you're in a hurry you can turn the oven up to 400°F and bake it for 30-40 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.