Snickerdoodle Muffins

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients
1 cup Butter, Softened
1 cup Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2-¼ cups Flour
¾ teaspoons Baking Powder
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
¾ teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
½ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Greek Yogurt (I used Fage Greek Yogurt)
¼ cups Milk
_____
FOR THE TOPPING:
⅔ cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon


Preparation Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a muffin tin with liners. Using cupcake liners is a must due to the fragile nature of these muffins.

In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the greek yogurt and milk and mix to combine. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

Use scooper and plop a scoop of batter into the bowl with the sugar and cinnamon. Gently roll the batter in the sugar and cinnamon. Place the ball into the muffin liner.

When you have completed all of the muffins, sprinkle the leftover cinnamon sugar onto the tops of all of the muffins.

Bake the muffins at 350ºF for about 15-18 minutes or until they are golden on top and just baked through.

Enjoy!

***Adapted from Heather Christo***

General Tso's Chicken

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of all visible fat, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons safflower or peanut oil
1 2/3 cups water
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup apricot jam
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons safflower or peanut oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Stir-fry chicken pieces, in batches, until light golden brown. Transfer to plate and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, whisk water, soy sauce, apricot jam, hoisin, cornstarch, and vinegar together in bowl. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in soy sauce mixture, bring to simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.

3. Add cooked chicken to sauce and return to simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with fresh green veggies and rice/quinoa. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Chile Relleno Dip

Hubby and I had been talking about chile rellenos and how good they are, but that they're a lot of work. So, I was thinking about making it a dip.

Here's the first rendition of Chile Relleno Dip:

1 dozen charbroiled jalapeno peppers or whatever pepper you'd like
1 1/2 cups shredded queso or asiago cheese
1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the jalapeno peppers into the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Spread pepper mixture evenly onto the bottom of a small, oven-proof baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese, then crushed tortilla chips. Drizzle the butter over the chips. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

I hope you enjoy our little experiment. I'm sure that we'll be tweaking with the recipe and I will share our tweaks.

Chicken-Andouille Gumbo

I love Southern Living Magazine!  It has been an unlimited source of all things Southern for this AzN8tive since moving to North Alabama in 1990.  Their recipes are 9 times out of 10 delicious.  The only recipe of theirs that I made that wasn't a success was their Butternut Squash soup.  It's the only recipe that I threw out before it made it to the table and then called out for pizza, but I digress.  Last month's issue was full of interesting recipes and I decided to put a few on our 'Let's try this' list.  Here is the first one...

Chicken-Andouille Gumbo
(recipe courtesy Southern Living, October 2011)

1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 cup peanut oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 cup thinly sliced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
1 (48-oz.) container chicken broth
2 pounds skinned and boned chicken breasts

1. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring often, 7 minutes or until browned. Remove sausage; drain and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Heat oil in a stainless-steel Dutch oven over medium heat; gradually whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 18 to 20 minutes or until flour is caramel-colored. (Do not burn mixture.) Reduce heat to low, and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is milk chocolate-colored and texture is smooth (about 2 minutes).
3. Increase heat to medium. Stir in onion, next 4 ingredients, and, if desired, ground red pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Gradually stir in chicken broth; add chicken and sausage. Increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes or until chicken is done. Shred chicken into large pieces using 2 forks.

TRY THIS TWIST!
Chicken-and-Shrimp Gumbo: Prepare recipe as directed through Step 3. Stir in 1/2 to 3/4 lb. peeled and deveined, medium-size raw shrimp (3 1/40 count). Cook 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

I didn't try the twist, but will in the future because I love shrimp.  We served it with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Dressing

This meal is so easy and delicious! It's another of our Fall staple meals.

Chicken and Dressing

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I use frozen chicken breasts)

4-6 slices swiss cheese or any cheese that you like

1 can Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup

1/4 cup water

Seasoned stuffing mix, crumbs (I use Pepperidge Farms Herb Flavored stuffing)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

In a measuring cup, mix the soup and water together, set aside. Arrange chicken breasts in single layer in a 9x13 baking dish. Top each piece with one slice of cheese. Evenly distribute the soup mixture over chicken. Sprinkle evenly with stuffing mix. Drizzle melted butter over crumbs Bake for 45-55 minutes.

Makes 8 servings

Serve with a green veggie and favorite beverages.

Enjoy!

Skillet-Roasted Okra and Shrimp

Southern Living Magazine is my favorite magazine. I've been a subscriber for the better part of 20 years, essentially since we moved to North Alabama in 1990. It always has at least one recipe that I want to try and I'm almost never disappointed...we won't mention the Squash Soup I tried many years ago.

This month's issue doesn't disappoint.

I love shrimp, okra and tomatoes. So when I read the article, "Lowcountry Style," I knew I had to try at least one of the recipes using shrimp/okra/tomatoes. The only changes I'm going to make to this recipe the next time is to cut the okra into disks and use canned tomatoes.

Without further ado...

Skillet-Roasted Okra and Shrimp
recipe courtesy of Southern Living, September 2011

1 lb. unpeeled, large raw shrimp (31/35 count)
3 cups (about 8 oz.) fresh okra, cut in half lengthwise
3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 pt. heirloom cherry tomatoes
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

1. Peel shrimp; devein, if desired.
2. Saute okra in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Cook tomatoes in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes or until skins are charred. Place in bowl with okra.
4. Saute shrimp, garlic and dried crushed red pepper in remaining 1 Tbsp. hot oil in skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in okra and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Makes: 6 servings

I served this with rice as a main dish.

It was a big hit with my husband, so I'll be making it again.

Enjoy!

Home-made Taquitos

What can I say...my kids love taquitos, but I don't always have them on hand in the freezer. So, being the ever resourceful mom, I went to the Internet in search of a taquito recipe.

They were yummy! I used the canned chicken though I'm sure that the refried beans would be just as good. My son loved them!!!


Homemade Taquitos
Edited from Family Kitchens

1 (15 oz.) can refried beans or (12.5 oz) can of cooked chicken
breast
1 small can of mild green chili’s
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. onion powder or 1/2 finely diced onion
1/2 tsp garlic salt or 1 finely minced clove of garlic
1 package of small flour tortillas (warmed slightly in the
microwave to prevent cracking)
non-stick baking spray (olive oil or butter flavored preferred)

In a large bowl, combine refried beans (or chicken), cheese, lime
juice, cumin, onion powder and garlic salt. Stir together until well
combined. Spoon 2-4 Tablespoons of mixture into the center of a
tortilla. Wrap tortilla tightly around mixture, then set taquito in a
cookie sheet or large baking dish which has been generously
sprayed with cooking spray. Continue wrapping remaining
taquitos. Once finished, spray a fairly heavy layer of cooking
spray over each tortilla, making sure to spray all areas of each
tortilla. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 15-20
minutes, or until the edges of the tortillas are crisp and
browned. Serve with sour cream, tomatoes, chopped cilantro
and salsa.

Enjoy!