Quinoa fried rice

What I had:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

What I did:

• Cook the eggs in 1 tbsp olive oil, scramble them and put aside
• Cook the quinoa according to directions on package and put aside
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring often, until onions become translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
• Add mushrooms, broccoli and zucchini. Cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender, about 6-8 minutes. 
• Add corn, carrots and quinoa. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
• Add eggs and soy sauce, and gently toss to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 minutes.
• Serve with Sriracha!

Slow cooker spinach chicken

What I used:

• 1 stick butter sliced
• 1 pack Costco chicken filets (about 1.5 lbs)
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped small
• 1 pack frozen spinach
• garam masala
• ground coriander
• ground cumin
• ground red chili pepper
• 1 cup yogurt (I used Greek)

What I did:

• Layer butter slices on the bottom of slow cooker
• Break up frozen spinach and sprinkle on butter
• Place frozen chicken on top
• Sprinkle garlic, onion and mushrooms over and around the chicken
• Sprinkle garam masala (I started with 2 tablespoons but I doubled it by the end)
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon each of the coriander, cumin, and pepper
• Cook on high for 4 hrs
• Pull chicken out and break into smaller pieces
• Add yogurt to the sauce in crock pot and mix well, taste and adjust spices if needed
• Add chicken back in and serve over rice or with naan

Slow cooker chicken and veggies

What I had:

• 1 lb chicken breast fillets
• 5 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 cup chicken broth made from 1 bouillon cube
• 1/2 cup dry cooking white wine
• 1 can Mexican style corn
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen zuchhini
• 2 tbs corn starch
• salt, pepper to taste

What I did:

• Place chicken on bottom of crock pot and season with salt and pepper on both sides
• Place the garlic cloves around them
• Pour the wine and broth over the chicken and cook on low for 7 hours
• After it has cooked, discard all but 2 of the garlic cloves. Take out chicken and put it aside
• I took the leftover sauce and added the corn starch (I had to add another 1/2 cup water) and pour it back into crock pot
• Mix it all up till the little chicken bits and leftover garlic is all mixed together with the sauce
• Put the chicken and sauce in a skillet, add in the frozen vegetables and the canned corn
• Cook it till the sauce is thickened
• Serve over pasta

Notes after eating: next time I'll just throw all the vegetables in the crock pot at the beginning. I'll make more sauce if needed at the end.

Sudden chicken pocket

I call this sudden because it was a last second decision. I had picked these marinated cutlets from Wegman's last weekend and I threw them in a pan to cook while doing our after work routine at home. They were also really thick so I cut them in half along their length. I figured we could make sandwiches. Well, that plan went out the window because I only had 3 slices of bread in the fridge. But, I did have many cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls. So, I shredded some cheese, made pockets out of 4 crescent rolls each and baked them at 375 for 13 minutes. They were perfect!

What I did was use 2 crescent triangles, pinch the middles together to make a rectangle, so you have 4 rectangles. On 2 rectangles, I layered some chopped up chicken breast and shredded cheese. Put the other triangles on top, pinch the 4 edges together. Bake. Eat with barbecue sauce.

Notes after eating it: it could have used more filling but even Jeff didn't take seconds, so maybe it was ok.

Slow cooker chicken chili

What I had:

• 2 pounds ground chicken, coarsely ground preferred
• 3 tablespoons chili powder, plus 2 teaspoons
• 1 (15-ounce) can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15-ounce) can small white beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (28-ounce) cans diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 medium sweet potato (about 10 ounces), peeled and shredded
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes in 16 ounces of water
• 1/4 cup instant tapioca (recommended: Minute tapioca)
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce with seeds, chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch ground cloves

What I did:

• Put chicken in crockpot and sprinkle the 3 tbsp chili powder on it. Add everything else, mix well.
• Cook on low for 7 hours.
•  Top with shredded cheese, raw onions and peppers.
• Enjoy on a cold evening!

It was delicious but I have a few notes after tasting: add a beer next time. Also up the number of adobos by a couple, and remove the salt completely.

Pumpkin Creamcheese Muffins

So, it's a recipe from Pillsbury but it was delicious so I wanted to save it.

What I had:

• For filling:
• Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• For muffins:
• 1 (14 oz.) package Pillsbury® Pumpkin Quick Bread & Muffin Mix
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• For topping:
•  3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

What I did:

• HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with no-stick cooking spray.
• For Filling: BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with electric mixer until soft. Add egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon peel. Beat until blended.
• For Muffins: PLACE quick bread mix into large bowl. Remove 3/4 cup dry mix. Place in small bowl for streusel topping. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla to remaining mix in large bowl. Stir 50 strokes or until blended. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups. Divide cream cheese mixture evenly into center of muffins.
• For Streusel Topping: ADD melted butter to reserved dry mix. Stir with fork until crumbly. Add pecans. Crumble a tablespoon of streusel over each muffin. Bake 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove muffins from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!