Cookie Cheesecake Bars

 

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito

 Do yourself a favor and pop these black beans into your crockpot in the morning (no soaking needed). They are super simple and worlds better than canned beans. They will make a big difference in the flavor of the burritos (not to mention anything else you use them in).

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito

Ingredients

For the sweet potato filling:

• 1½ cups finely chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 to 5 cups grated peeled sweet potato
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• generous pinch of cayenne
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• a cup or more of finely minced cilantro (I used way less, or none at all)
• fresh lime juice to taste

For assembly:

• 6 burrito-sized tortillas, homemade are fun
• sweet potato filling
• 1.5 cups cooked black beans, see notes above
• Boston lettuce or other
• grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack to taste
• sour cream to taste
• guacamole
• fresh lime to taste

Instructions

1. Make the sweet potato filling: In a large sauté pan set over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in 3 tablespoons of the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the grated sweet potatoes, chili powder, cumin and cayenne, turn the heat to low, and cook, covered — covering is important to prevent sticking — for about 8-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure it’s not sticking or burning. When the sweet potato is tender, add salt and pepper to taste and remove the filling from the heat. Stir in the cilantro. Squeeze 1/2 a lime over the sweet potatoes, mix, taste, and adjust with more lime and salt to taste until it tastes nicely seasoned.
2. Assemble the burritos. Gather all of your ingredients. I like to warm up my beans in a small skillet, and if my sweet potato filling has been refrigerated, I like to warm that up, too. I also like to quickly warm up my tortillas (30 seconds) in a large, dry skillet.
3. Place a tortilla on a plate. Top with lettuce. Top with beans, then cheese, sweet potato filling, sour cream, and a big squeeze of lime. Roll into a burrito. Halve and serve. (Obviously: layer the fillings as you wish.) Repeat with remaining tortillas and ingredients.

If you'd rather, you can serve these as bowls with rice instead of burritos.

https://alexandracooks.com/2020/01/17/sweet-potato-and-black-bean-burrito/

Almond Flour Pancakes

 I used regular milk for these and they were great

Almond Flour Pancakes

Prep Time: 10minutes mins

Cook Time: 10minutes mins

Serves 2

These fluffy almond flour pancakes are a hearty, delicious breakfast or brunch! This recipe makes 6 small pancakes. If you're serving more than two people, you may want to double it.

Ingredients

• 1⅓ cups blanched almond flour*, spooned and leveled (see note)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup almond milk, plus more if needed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for the pan

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the spooned and leveled almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the almond milk, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir. If your batter is very thick, stir in more almond milk until it resembles the photos above. If it's too thin, sprinkle in a touch more almond flour. (See photo in the blog post for batter consistency).
• Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Brush the pan with a little olive oil and use a ¼-cup measuring cup to pour the batter onto the pan. (Note: these are more delicate than regular flour pancakes so it's important to make them small). Cook the pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes per side, turning the heat to low as needed so that the middles cook without burning the outsides. I usually turn my heat lower after each batch as my pan starts to hold residual heat. Almond flour pancakes darken a little quicker than pancakes that use regular flour.
• Serve with maple syrup.

Notes

*Super-fine blanched almond flour or homemade almond flour (that uses slivered blanched almonds) is best for this recipe.

Use the spoon and level method when measuring flour so that the flour in your measuring cups doesn’t get too packed down. Too much flour will result in a thicker batter and denser pancakes.

Recipe from https://www.loveandlemons.com/almond-flour-pancakes/

Sticky Garlic Gochujang Chicken

You can use tomato paste mixed with sriracha sauce in place of the Gochujang if you want, or just tomato paste if you don't want any spice.  

Sticky Garlic Gochujang Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Additional Time 10 minutes Total Time 30 minutes

Yield: 4-5 servings

Ingredients

•  1 ¼ pound boneless, skinless chicken (breasts, thighs, tenders, etc.)

•  ¼ teaspoon baking soda

•  1 teaspoon granulated sugar

•  ½ teaspoon white pepper

•  2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

•  3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, divided

•  3 tablespoons cornstarch

•  3 tablespoons avocado oil

•  ¼ cup honey

•  2 tablespoon gochujang paste (or more to taste)

•  1 tablespoon rice vinegar

•  5 cloves garlic, minced

•  Green onions + toasted sesame seeds, for topping

Instructions

• VELVET THE CHICKEN: cut the chicken into small, ¾ inch pieces. To a bowl, add 1 tablespoon water, baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, sugar, white pepper, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Stir well with a spoon until the baking soda dissolves. Add the chicken, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.

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• TOSS: Then add cornstarch to the same bowl and stir to coat all of the chicken evenly.

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• SAUCE: In a measuring cup or bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, honey, gochujang paste, and rice vinegar. Whisk.

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• FRY: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add ½ of the chicken and cook on one side undisturbed for 2-3 minutes before flipping and cooking the other side for another 2-4 minutes. When the chicken is golden and cooked, remove to a plate. Add more oil as needed, and cook the rest of the chicken.

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• SAUTE: Drop the skillet temperature down to medium-low and allow the pan to cool for 2 minutes. Add a small drizzle of oil and sauté the garlic in the oil. Kick the heat up to high. Pour the sauce into the skillet and let it sizzle in the pan. When it starts to bubble, add the chicken and toss to combine until all the chicken is coated. Remove from heat. Top with green onions and sesame seeds.

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• SERVE: Serve over fluffy rice with your favorite steamed veggies.

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Recipe from

https://www.littlespicejar.com/gochujang-chicken/#mv-creation-919-jtr

Wassail

Wassail

1 gal. apple cider
1 1/2 qt. cranberry juice 
1/2 C. sugar

in basket: 
3 cinnamon sticks
2 Tbsp whole cloves
1 Tbsp whole allspice
Mix everything together in a crockpot set on low to heat through. Enjoy!

Makes 30 cups

Recipe from Karen Hanlin

One Pot French Onion Pasta

 

One Pot French Onion Pasta

Prep Time10minutes mins

Cook Time40minutes mins

Ingredients

• 2 Yellow Onions  (thinly sliced)
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 Garlic Cloves (minced)
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 4 cups Beef Broth
• 12 ounces Pasta (of choice)
• 3/4 cup Heavy Cream (or half-n-half)
• 6 ounces Gruyere Cheese (shredded)
• 2 ounces Parmesan Cheese (shredded)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions

• Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt. Stir to coat in the butter/oil. Cook slowly for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are deeply golden and caramelized and soft. Tip: If onions start to burn, add a splash of water or broth and lower the heat. Patience is key...this step develops the deep, sweet-savory flavor.
• Add the garlic, thyme, and black pepper, cooking until fragrant (1 minute). Pour in the white wine (if using) and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine has mostly evaporated. If you aren't using white wine, add the beef broth at this step.
• Stir in the beef broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add pasta and cook until perfectly al dente, according to package instructions. Taste the pasta to make sure it is done cooking. Lower heat, add the cream, and stir until the sauce is silky. Add Worcestershire sauce, if using. Taste and add a pinch of salt or more pepper if needed. The cheeses will add a more salty flavor as well.
• Off the heat, stir in the shredded Gruyère and parmesan cheese until melted and creamy. Garnish with extra parmesan and serve immediately.

Ginger Peanut Chicken with Coconut Rice

 

Ginger Peanut Chicken with Coconut Rice

• Total Time: 25 minutes
 

Ingredients

Ginger Peanut Chicken

• 1 pounds chicken tenders, fat trimmed, cut into small bite-sized pieces
• 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced (white parts and green parts separated)
• zest and juice of 1-2 limes
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup spinach, bok choy, etc.

Coconut Rice

• 2 cups white or jasmine rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 can coconut milk
• a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Marinate Chicken: In a stainless steel bowl, mix the chicken with the ginger, green onions (white parts), lime zest, brown sugar, salt, and oil. Marinate for 20 minutes-2 hours.
2. Rice: Add the rice ingredients to an Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, followed by a natural pressure release for 10-15 minutes (it won’t be quite done yet after 3 minutes – it needs the rest time to finish cooking). Release the steam, fluff with a fork, and attempt not to eat the whole thing! (Don’t have an Instant Pot? Alternative methods are in the notes section!)
3. Cook Chicken: Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast iron work well) to medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken to the pan, working in 1-2 batches depending on the size of your pan. Leave the chicken sitting undisturbed for several minutes to get a nice caramelization on the chicken.
4. Adding Extras: When all the chicken is cooked, turn the heat down slightly and add the peanuts and garlic to the pan. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to get the peanuts roasty and the garlic nice and fragrant.
5. Finish by adding in the cilantro, green onion, and spinach. Squeeze lime juice into the pan and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
6. Serve over coconut rice! SO simple but so good.

Find it online: https://pinchofyum.com/ginger-peanut-chicken-with-coconut-rice