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Chicken Pot Pie

My parents are taking off for the airport and I thought this was the perfect goodbye meal. This chicken pot pie is amazingly easy and you probably have all the ingredients in your freezer! Start with Evoo, chopped garlic, and diced onions in a large sauté pan. I added a mirapeux mixture and fresh mushrooms I had as well. Sauté until soft then add around 3 spoonfuls of flour until the flour dissolves and is mixed in with other ingredients (Wondra works great as well). Add any frozen veggies you like. I used a green bean, carrot, and pea mixture and added frozen corn as well. Stir and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper or any seasonings you like until cooked through. Add around 1/2-3/4 of a carton of chicken broth and let simmer until it starts to thicken. A rotisserie chicken works great in this or any type of shredded chicken breast you like. Add chicken and continue simmering. (This mixture is great on rice or as a low carb lunch so make extra!) My favorite pie crusts are…

Butter Beer and Diet Coke

I promised myself I would never Instagram about Diet Coke but this is too good! Ice cold DC with just a dash of Butterscotch Beer (non alcoholic). Because we all need an updated dirty.

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

We went for the healthy option on this National Doughnut Day. We baked these delicious apple cider doughnuts and even used apple sauce instead of oil. I have to admit they taste more like a muffin but everyone loved them. 2 cups apple cider 2 cups all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoon baking powder 1½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon Dash of fresh nutmeg ¼ teaspoon salt 1 egg 2 tablespoons butter, melted ⅔ cup light brown sugar ½ cup milk (add a little vinegar to make buttermilk) 2 tablespoons apple sauce (we used baby apple oatmeal) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Simmer apple cider until reduced to 1/2 C. Add all dry ingredients together and mix Add all wet ingredients and mix. Add wet ingredients to dry mix until combined. This was originally for doughnut holes but you can use mini muffin tins, doughnut trays, I used some fall molds I had. Anything works! For the icing I used 1/2 C maple syrup, 1/4 C butter (melt together). Then add 1 cup sifted powdered sugar. I added some cream cheese too….

Keepin it real

Leftovers and tiny fingers

Citrus Butter Scallops

8 tablespoons salted butter, melted 1 clove garlic, finely minced Zest from 1/2 small orange Juice from 1/2 small orange 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or tarragon 1-1/2 to 2 pounds large dry-packed scallops Freshly ground black pepper Salt to taste Put a cooling rack or wire grid on a rimmed baking sheet. Season the scallops with salt and pepper and arrange them on the rack on baking sheet. Put the baking sheet with the scallops on the grill grate and smoke for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet and set aside. In the meantime, increase the temperature of the Traeger to 400 degrees F. Preheat for 15 minutes. Return the baking sheet with the scallops to the grill grate and roast the scallops until just opaque and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. The time will depend on how thick the scallops are. Do not overcook. In the meantime, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, orange zest, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, and parsley. Simmer for 5 minutes. Keep warm….

Pulled Pork and Tri Tip

PREPARATION Pork shoulder Roast: Generously season all sides of the pork roast. Put the roast on the grill grate, fat-side up, and smoke for 3 hours, spraying with apple juice every hour after the first hour. Transfer to a disposable aluminum foil pan large enough to hold the roast. Increase the temperature to 250 degrees F, and roast for 6 to 8 additional hours, or until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part, but not touching bone, registers 190 degrees F. If the pork starts to brown too much, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Carefully transfer the pork roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 20 minutes. Pour the juices from the bottom of the pan into a gravy separator. With your hands pull the pork into pieces. Season with additional rub and moisten with the reserved pork juice. (Discard any fat that has floated to the top of liquid. Add barbecue sauce, if desired, and mix well. PREPARATION for Tri Tip: Season with Spade L Ranch seasoning and let it sit out…

Mocktail Photo Shoot

It was an exciting morning making mocktails for a fabulous photo shoot! Look out for recipes in some upcoming collaborations!

Life Imitates Art

Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.’ -Oscar Wilde

Apple Maple Yogurt Parfaits

Pick your favorite- (Amounts will vary depending on number of serving and desired sweetness) Greek Yogurt Apples Granola Cinnamon Fresh nutmeg Brown Sugar Maple Syrup Trader Joes Pumpkin Spiced pumpkin seeds Mix cinnamon and fresh nutmeg in with your favorite kind of plain or vanilla greek yogurt. Set aside Chop apples into bite size pieces and sauté with brown sugar and Maple syrup. Let cool Layer cinnamon yogurt, apples, and granola until glass is full. Top with Trader Joes Pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of maple syrup. Enjoy!

Hash Brown with Egg and Sriracha Cups

These are great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and are great leftovers. Spray muffin tins very well with non stick spray. I used store bought pre-shredded hash browns and filled muffin tins 2/3 full making room in middle for filling and pushing potatoes up the sides of tin to make cup. Bake or Traeger at 400-425 for about 30 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. I filled my cups with leftover pulled pork and an egg. When I baked the egg on top it got pretty messy but still tasted great. If you’re making these for guests I would suggest cooking the egg separately and putting on top. Garnish with green onion and Sriracha. *You can use anything you want in these cups..ham, turkey, cheese, scrambled eggs. Whatever you have in your fridge!