Month: December 2022

Easy Slow Cooker Artichoke and Mushroom Chicken

Easy Slow Cooker Artichoke and Mushroom Chicken

by Engineered Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I love artichoke anything. This recipe is no exception. I found this recipe from The Magical Slow Cooker and it is amazing paired with a vegetable, over noodles, pasta, or rice. Set it and forget meals are my go to on a busy weekday and this one definitely delivers!

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 Tbsp dried basil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can artichoke quarters, drained
  • 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup sweet yellow onion, diced
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 16 oz. cream cheese
  • noodles or rice, for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
  1. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper, basil and garlic.
  1. Add the artichokes, mushrooms, and onions over the chicken.
  2. Pour over the chicken broth.
  1. Add the 2 blocks of cream cheese on top of everything.
  2. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
  3. Shred the chicken breasts with two forks, and then stir the cream cheese and chicken together.
  4. Serve over cooked noodles or steamed rice.
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Grinch Cookies

Grinch Cookies

by Engineered Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’ve made these cookies for several years now after finding them from In Katrina’s Kitchen (see her original recipe here!). They were so cute I couldn’t resist trying them myself. These are made from boxed cake mix, so if you love cake cookies, these are for you! I’ve had trouble finding the heart shaped sprinkle candies in the past, but Michael’s or Hobby Lobby seem to always have something in stock that will work for these cookies. I’ll include the link to the ones I used in the ingredient list. Be sure to leave yourself enough time for prep for these as they must be rolled then refrigerated for 20 minutes prior to baking. Keep a close eye on them because they have a very short window to cook to perfectly cakey without burning or being raw in the middle. Most importantly, HAVE FUN making them! This recipe says that it makes 2 dozen cookies, but if you truly use only 1 tablespoon you will have many more than 2 dozen.

Ingredients

  • 1 box french vanilla cake mix, dry mix only
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • green gel food coloring (regular will work as well-if using regular use only one drop and add from there)
  • 1/2 cup Powdered sugar, or more for dusting
  • heart-shaped sprinkles or candies

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  1. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together cake mix, food coloring, oil, and eggs.
  1. Drop by tablespoon into confectioners sugar and roll the dough covering the entire dough ball.
  2. Chill dough balls for 20 minutes before transferring to a baking sheet to bake.
  1. Place on baking sheet and press 1 large heart candy/sprinkle. Some people love them in the center and others love them off to the right like the Grinch’s heart. Be creative!
  2. Bake for 8-10 minutes until just set.
  3. Cool 3-4 minutes on pan before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar if desired.
Easy and Healthy Turkey Avocado Burgers

Easy and Healthy Turkey Avocado Burgers

by Engineered Mama ♥ 1 Comment

This recipe has been adapted from a Chicken Avocado Burger recipe from the Laughing Spatula.  It’s a pretty simple recipe and great for a quick weeknight meal.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 large ripe avocado (cut into chunks)
  • 1 clove chopped garlic
  • 1/3 cup Panko crumbs
  • 1 minced poblano or jalapeno pepper (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss gently.
  1. Shape into desired size patties and grill.

I normally don’t include the peppers, but this recipe is great with our without!  I also keep a jar of chopped garlic in the fridge to make recipes like this even easier on a busy weeknight.  Enjoy!

Easy Slow Cooker Jambalaya

Easy Slow Cooker Jambalaya

by Engineered Mama ♥ 1 Comment

Jambalaya is definitely one of my favorite foods-full of flavor, full of protein, and goes well with rice. I’ve always been a Zataran’s boxed jambalaya girl, but I was tired of adding bland smoked turkey sausage to a packet of seasoned rice (yes, it’s great in a pinch and the kids love it, but I wanted a more grown up jambalaya). I found what seemed like a great recipe from The Recipe Critic and made it my own. I love this recipe because it’s so customizable. Not a fan of spicy? No problem! Use smoked turkey sausage and less cayenne pepper. Don’t like shrimp? Don’t add it! Want chicken and no sausage? Just use chicken as the protein. The possibilities are endless!

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
  • 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced (or any other link sausage)
  • 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 lb shrimp, frozen (fresh or thawed may be used as well, but add much closer to the end of cooking time as shrimp can overcook very quickly)
  • rice, cooked per package instructions (optional for serving)

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients, except shrimp and rice and stir to combine all ingredients well.
  1. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Add frozen shrimp the last hour of cooking on low or last 30 minutes on high. Add shrimp the last 15 minutes if thawed.
  2. Serve over rice if desired.
Easy Orange Slice Garland DIY

Easy Orange Slice Garland DIY

by Engineered Mama ♥ 2 Comments

I had to jump on the orange garland trend this year and I’m so glad I did! This DIY is so easy that you only need one ingredient: oranges. That’s it! The kids and I had so much fun making these and the house smelled amazing while the oranges were drying in the oven. Merry Christmas and enjoy your new orange scented decor!

Materials

  • 4-5 oranges
  • parchment paper (for easy cleanup and moisture absorption)
  • baking pans
  • string, twine, or wire to hang orange slice garland

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  1. Slice oranges very thin (the thinner and more even the better!) and place oranges in a single layer on the parchment paper.
  2. Bake approximately 2 hours. If some slices are thicker they may need more time and if some are thinner, they may need less time, so keep an eye on them while they’re baking.
  3. Remove from oven and allow to fully cool and dry.
  1. Add twine, fishing wire, or any other decorative item to string or hang your new garland.
Cast Iron Skillet Savory Southern Cornbread

Cast Iron Skillet Savory Southern Cornbread

by Engineered Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Two words: bacon grease. Any southerner knows that these two words are the heart of any good recipe, right? Anyone ever had Southern Wilted Lettuce salad? Ok… you can stop drooling now. If you’ve never had Southern cornbread, you’ve been missing out! I’m here to show you the ways of bacon grease for this savory (and easy!) cornbread recipe. Aunt Jemima does all of the work here, but bacon grease lends a hand to provide flavor in a crumbly cornbread fit for black eyed peas or soup beans. So, after cooking bacon, save the grease in a glass jar and refrigerate until you’re ready for some savory cornbread. This cornbread recipe is also great to customize with soups like white chicken chili by adding chopped jalapeno to the recipe for some extra heat and flavor.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Add bacon grease to a 10-inch cast iron skillet and place in the oven to soften. Remove skillet often as bacon grease melts to evenly coat the skillet.
  2. Combine dry ingredients with egg and milk in a mixing bowl until well combined.
  3. Remove the cast iron skillet from the preheating oven and tilt the skillet until the grease evenly coats the skillet. Pour the liquified bacon grease into the mixing bowl with the rest of the combined ingredients and mix until well combined.
  4. When the oven is finished preheating, pour the cornbread batter into the greased and preheated cast iron skillet.
  5. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.
  6. Allow cornbread to fully cool before removing from skillet.