Chicken Noodle Soup

 Such a hearty, delicious soup! A classic, and perfect on those chilly, fall days!

This is one of those recipes that you don't realize how easy it is until you make it! Especially if you shortcut it and use a rotisserie chicken (every time 🙋)!! 

WHAT YOU NEED

• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (or one rotisserie chicken)
• 2 medium or 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp better than bouillon, chicken
• 12 ounces wide egg noodles
• salt and pepper to taste

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

1. Heat your olive oil and butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.

2. Add in your onion, celery and carrots. Sautee until tender, about 7-8 minutes. Add in the better than bouillon, thyme and your minced garlic. Stir and cook for about a minute.

3. Pour in your chicken broth, water and add bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add in your noodles and cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes or until noodles are cooked. 

4. Add in your shredded chicken and combine. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve hot.

5. Enjoy!

TIPS
-Make sure all your veggies are chopped/diced to roughly the same size so they all cook evenly.

-Sub out the better than bouillon for a chicken bouillon cube, or another cup of chicken broth. May need to alter salt to taste.

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

 Y'all didn't think we only ate heavy meals and high sugar, high calorie desserts, did you?!? 😂 We actually eat really well around here, and these low calorie muffins are based off of some protein waffles we have quite often!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to bake, and bake yummy high sugar, high calorie treats! 🤣 But I also love to come up with some great, low calorie options as well!

As I mentioned above, these are based off of some protein waffles I make! These are made with bananas, oats and egg whites. No flour or sugar in these babies!!

WHAT YOU NEED

• 2 bananas, mashed
• 4 Tbsp (32g) peanut butter powder
• 2 scoops (62g) vanilla protein
• 1 cup oats, ground up (or oat flour)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 egg whites (1/3 cup)
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup peanut butter, melted (optional for drizzle)

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY PEANUT BUTTER BANANA MUFFINS

1. Preheat oven to 350° and line your muffin pan with paper cups. (or spray with cooking spray)

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients (salt, baking powder, ground oats, protein and peanut butter powder). Set aside.

3. Mash bananas in a large bowl with a fork until there are no more large pieces left. Aim for a creamy puree.

3. Add in your vanilla and egg whites and whisk until combined.

4. Now add in your dry ingredients. Stir or whisk until fully combined. Mix in your milk, then fold in your chocolate chips.

5. Divide batter evenly among your 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into middle of center muffin comes out clean.

6. Drizzle with melted peanut butter.

7. Enjoy!

Makes 12 muffins. 

109 kcal per muffin

7.4g protein per muffin

TIPS

- You can easily grind up your oats in your blender, food processor, or my favorite - our ninja bullet!

-Don't have almond milk? Sub in regular, 2%, or try 3T coconut oil!

-For less sugar, omit the chocolate chips!

-Store on the counter in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Blistered Chiles and Onions

 This is my take on Chiles Toreados. The salty, spicy, delicious sautéed onions and hot peppers that should really go on all Mexican food. 😋 

My take definitely leans more towards the onion than the pepper. BUT!! You absolutely can alter this to your tastes. I also slice my peppers, instead of keeping whole. Purely for ease of serving! 

Use up your jalapenos, or maybe a serrano or two! A little spicy, or a lot. Your choice! This is a combination of flavors you never knew you needed!! 

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped

1-2 large jalapenos or serranoes, sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

juice of 1 lime

cooking spray

HOW TO MAKE BLISTERED CHILES AND ONIONS

1. Heat heavy bottom pan over medium heat, spray with cooking spray.

2. Add in your onions and peppers and let sear for a few minutes. Cover with lid and allow to steam cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Once onions and peppers are softened, removed lid and add in your soy sauce and lime juice. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat and recover. Serve hot or cold.

Serve over your tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas. Mix in your salsa(try with my super easy Restaurant Style Salsa!), or add to soup. Or, grab some chips and go at them! So many ways to enjoy these!!

Homemade Butter Biscuits

These are the *PERFECT* homemade biscuits! Cover them in gravy, add a slab of butter and jam, load them up with bacon, eggs and cheese.. whichever lane you are in, these are for you!!

 This recipe is from sugarspunrun.com - the ingredients are the same, a great basic biscuit! I did go the easier route with how I made them. I used a pastry cutter, not the preferred method, and I doubled the recipe. Which, I think should be a normal recipe! 😃 (Original recipe HERE)

WHAT YOU NEED - this is a double recipe, makes 14-16 biscuits using a 2 3/4" cutter.

• 4 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (very cold) (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups milk

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE BUTTER BISCUITS

1. Preheat oven to 425° and cover baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients (Flour, baking powder, sugar and salt). 

3. Cut your butter into flour mixture using a pastry cutter. Make sure your butter is good and cold (straight out of the refrigerator, or a 10 minute session in the freezer).

4. Cut the butter and combine until your mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

5. Add in your milk and combine with a wooden spoon. (Spatula works, too) Don't overwork the dough.

6. Drop your dough onto a floured work surface. Using your hands, work your dough into a ball. Add flour if its too sticky. 

7. Once your dough is manageable, fold it over onto itself and flatten together. Rotate and fold in half again. Repeat this 5-6 times, flattening out after each rotate and fold. Be gentle and not over work the dough.

8. Using your hands, not a rolling pin, flatten dough out to 1" thickness. Lightly flour your cutter and cut your biscuits. Make your cuts close and use as much dough as you can. Drop your biscuits onto your prepared baking sheet 1/2" apart.

9. Rework your dough and flatten out to 1" thickness again. Cut the rest of your biscuits and drop onto baking sheet.

10. Bake for 12 minutes or until tops are turning a light golden brown.

11. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter, if desired. Serve warm.

12. Enjoy!

TIPS
-Make sure your butter and milk is good and cold before starting! Leave it in the fridge until you are ready for it. I put my butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before I'm ready for it.

-When mixing your ingredients, you want to see your chunks of butter in the dough. You do not want it fulling combined like a cookie dough would be. (See my photo above of prebaked cut biscuits.)

- The fold over process when pressing out your dough is to make flakey layers in your biscuits! While it is a little tedious, it is absolutely worth it! Just make sure to not overwork your dough, or warm up your butter!

How would you eat these golden beauties?!? Let me know in the comments!! 👇

Halloween Sugar Cookies (cookie recipe)

The cutest Halloween cookies from the PERFECT cut out cookie recipe! Perfect for decorating! Sturdy, soft on the inside and so so good!! 

This is a very easy recipe, with just a small refrigeration time! You want your butter chilled before cutting and baking so your cookies have minimal spreading. I weigh my ingredients - that way I get the same cookie each time - BUT you can absolutely measure them out for quick and easy cookies!

I highly recommend using a rolling pin with thickness rings so you get even, consistent cookies every time. You can also get different ones with different thicknesses. It is all personal preference. I use a 1/4" ring, so that is what my baking time is based off of. I find it the perfect thickness. I know some like their cookies thicker, more professional looking, but I think its just too much cookie. Again, personal preference!

WHAT YOU NEED

• Flour - 400g (3 cups)
  
• Baking Powder - 1 tsp
• Butter - 2 sticks (1 cup) - room temp (min. 20 minutes out on counter)
• Sugar - 200g (1 cup)
• Egg - 1 large
• Vanilla - 1/2 Tbsp

HOW TO MAKE CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Sift your flour and baking powder together in large bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream together butter and sugar in stand mixer or with hand mixer in large bowl.

3. Add in your vanilla and egg and beat until combined. Add in your flour mixture in thirds until combined. It will form a ball around your paddle, that means its ready.

4. Pull out and wrap in saran plastic wrap and place in fridge for about 20-30 minutes.

5. Lightly flour surface and place cookie dough on top. Flour top of dough and rolling pin. Roll out to desired thickness (I do 1/4") and move cut outs to cookie sheet. Leave 2 inches space between the cookies.

6. Bake for 6-9 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through bake time. Let set on cookie sheet a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing.

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

I found this recipe and instructions from a YouTuber/YouTube channel. I think the easiest is to link you directly to her for her recipe and how to video. It is MASSIVELY helpful and a great one to watch to know how to make! You can find it HERE.

TIPS

- You can make your dough and icing early(days, weeks) and freeze it! 

-Bake your cookies in groups of similar sizes. Smaller cookies together, larger cookies together. That way you get a more consistently cooked cookie batch.

-The more you work with the dough, the softer the butter gets and more spread will happen while baking. So roll out and get as many cut outs as you can each time so your not working your dough too much.

-When icing, do your base layers one day, then your top/detail layers the next. that gives them plenty of time to dry and no bleeding.

-Add your white color gel to your icing! May not seem necessary, but it helps with color bleeding.

Oven Baked French Fries

Universally loved (at least in my home 😉) and honestly so easy to make!! Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside! Perfect side dish to so many meals, or make it the star and load them down with all kinds of toppings! 

WHAT YOU NEED

• 2-3 lbs potatoes, cut into fry strips
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

HOW TO MAKE OVEN BAKED FRENCH FRIES

1. Preheat oven to 450° F

2. Scrub potatoes, then cut into french fry strips

3. Put in large bowl or container of ice water for 30 minutes - 1 hour.

4. Remove from water and thoroughly dry potato strips

5. Pile on baking sheet, then drizzle with olive oil. Add seasonings, then toss with hands to coat fries. Spread out into a single layer. (use 2 baking sheets if needed)

6. Bake for 35 minutes.

TIPS

-Don't skip on soaking in water! It helps make the fries nice and crispy!!

-Cut the potatoes into shoestring, steak fries, wedges, or whatever your family prefers! (just be aware different thicknesses will alter the cook time)

-Alter the seasonings for a little less heat - or a little more 🤷

-Trade out for sweet potatoes! 😋 These would be amazing with this recipe, or with some cinnamon/sugar!

Cheeseburger Soup

It's soup season y'all!! I love soup year-round, but the family definitely jumps on board in the fall!

This is a classic soup recipe that - shocker - I hadn't tried until a friend brought us some after our last baby was born. I know, I know 🤦🤦🤦 BUT!! It was a massive hit with the family so I had to try and make it myself! It is creamy and hearty and all the things a fall season soup should be!

My version is very closely based off of the Award Winning Cheeseburger Soup from The Recipe Critic.

WHAT YOU NEED

• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 cups peeled and chopped potatoes
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3-4 celery stalks, diced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or 16 oz Velveeta)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 5 T butter, divided
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper to taste

HOW TO MAKE CHEESEBURGER SOUP

1. Brown your ground beef in a large dutch oven pan, or other heavy bottomed pan. Drain and set to the side.

2. Add in 2 T of your butter (to the same pan) and saute your onion, celery and carrots over medium heat until softened. About 5 minutes or so. Add in your basil and parsley. Cook down veggies until tender. 

3. Add in your potatoes, beef and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Let boil for a few minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer. Put lid on and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. (You can poke through with a fork or knife easily)

4. Make a roux (melt your remaining 3 T butter and add your flour. Stir continuously until bubbly, 3-5 minutes) in a small skillet. Add your roux mixture directly to your soup. Stir in and bring it to a boil. 

5. Reduce heat to low, then add in your cheese. Stir until combined. Stir in your milk, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Remove from heat and stir in your sour cream.

7. Enjoy!

TIPS

-Prep your veggies beforehand! Have all your potatoes peeled and chopped, onion and celery diced. Makes the process move more smoothly and less likely to burn or overcook anything.

-If using shredded cheese (my preferred method) shred your own cheese off a block! A little more time consuming (and definitely part of the prep from the previous tip!) but the flavor it adds is amazing! Pre-shredded, bagged cheese works great as well!

-Top with bacon crumbles 😋

-Eat alongside some homemade rolls (or store or bakery bought - who am I to judge🤷) It's perfect for soaking up all that creamy, cheesy broth! 

-Don't leave out the cream! You can sub in another type of cream (yogurt or heavy whipping cream), but it is necessary for the final consistency and texture of the soup.

Restaurant Style Salsa

 Who would have known making salsa at home would be so easy?! This recipe takes all of 5 minutes and a few ingredients!

It's fresh and delicious and perfect for so many meals! We make it almost weekly around here!

WHAT YOU NEED

• 2 - 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes 
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped (about 1/4 of an onion)
• jalapeno
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch of sugar
• juice of one lime
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• TOOLS - blender

HOW TO MAKE RESTAURANT STYLE SALSA

1. Add onion and jalapeno to blender and pulse a few seconds.

2. Add in rest of ingredents and blend until thoroughly mixed.

3. TASTE it then add more spices, if needed. 

LIKE IT HOT??

Add a couple jalapenos, or substitute in a serrano or 2. OR, go for a habanero! That's what my hubby likes! I usually make a regular batch, then add a habanero to half of it for him.

LIKE IT MILD?

Add less jalapeno or omit it all together! You can add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes instead. It will give a little flavor, but not as much heat!

TIPS

-Make it early in the day, or even the day before. The flavors really build as it sits! 

-It will be good for up to 4-5 days in the fridge.

-If you'd like it a little more chunky, simply pulse or blend it for less time.