Pizza Time

Living out in the country as we do one of the things we had to give up was Pizza delivery.  We can drive 20 minutes each way to pick one up but since we rarely want to do that we have started to make our own and truthfully it is so much better than what we can buy, as well as cheaper and healthier.

The secret is the crust.  Instead of making or buying a "pizza" crust we instead use Flat Bread, the best brand we have found for the pizza is Toufayan.  It bakes really well.  From there we just throw on the toppings, bake for about 14 minutes at 425 and munch away...SO GOOD!!!

InstaPot Ranch Pork Chops

We are trying to change things up a bit and add a few new recipes to the rotation as we have gotten very bored with everything we have had lately.Made this for dinner last evening and it is 100% a winner.From "Eating On A Dime" website

• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 4-6 boneless pork chops
• 1 stick of butter (or margarine)
• 1 package of ranch mix 
• 1 cup of water

How to Instant Pot Boneless Pork Chops recipe:

1. Place the pork chops in the Instant pot with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Turn on the saute setting and brown on both sides. Make sure all pork chops are browned. You can skip this step but they look prettier when you brown them first.
2. Place the butter on top and sprinkle the ranch mix packet on top.
3. Pour water (or chicken broth) over the pork.
4. Place the lid on and set to sealing.
5. Push the manual button and set to 5 minutes.
6. Allow it to naturally release pressure for 5 minutes and then do a quick release to remove the rest of the pressure.
7. Once cooked, serve.
8. You can even spoon the buttery sauce over the pork chops and over your veggies when serving.

• I did use the Coconut oil, changed from butter to I Can't Believe It Is Not Butter and used reduced salt ranch dressing.

We will definitely make this again!

Honey Teriyaki Chicken {Slow Cooker or Instant Pot}

From Fabulously FrugalRating: 5

Yield: 6-8 servings

 Ingredients

• 2 to 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed (minced for slow cooker)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• optional garnish: chopped green onions, sesame seeds

Instructions

Slow Cooker:

1. 1. Spray the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, or use a slow cooker liner. Place the raw chicken breasts into the slow cooker.
   2. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, onion, minced garlic, pepper, and ginger. Pour over the chicken.
   3. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 4-5 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily. Once chicken is cooked, remove it from the pot and shred.
   4. Whisk together the water and cornstarch. Slowly whisk it into the sauce and heat on high until the sauce begins to thicken, while continuing to stir or whisk. (You can thicken the sauce in a saucepan on the stove top at medium high heat, if that works better for you.)
   5. Place the shredded chicken back into the pot with the sauce and stir to coat. Serve over rice and garnish, if desired.

Instant Pot:

1. Spray the inside of the Instant Pot inner pot with nonstick cooking spray. Place the raw chicken breasts into the pot.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, onion, crushed garlic, pepper, and ginger. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily. Once chicken is cooked, remove it from the pot and shred.
4. Whisk together the water and cornstarch. Slowly whisk it into the sauce and use the Saute setting, continuing to whisk. Cook for a few minutes while the sauce begins to boil and thicken.
5. Turn off the pot. Place the shredded chicken back in with the sauce and stir to coat. Serve over rice and garnish, if desired.

Yvonne's Done-to-death Apple Bread

Yvonne's Done-to-death Apple Bread From the 2Peas Board

Set oven 325, bakes in about 1 hour and 10 minutes

3 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups chopped, pared, cored apples (about 3-4)

1 cup chopped pecans

Topping:
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to slow 325. Grease and flour two 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans (or I use those mini loaf pans)

2. Stir together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla in medium sized bowl until well mixed.

3. Combine the flour, soda and cinnamon on piece of waxed paper, and then then stir into liquid ingredients until just evenly mixed. Stir in the apples and pecans. The mixture will be very thick and gloppy.Divide between the loaf pans.

4: Prepare the topping: combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small cup, and sprinkle over the loaves.

5: Bake in preheated slow oven at 325 for 1 hour and 10 minutes, approximately. Check it carefully with a tester inserted in center comes out CLEAN. Make sure it's done. Sometimes in my oven they take longer than the time specified. Make sure they are done. Nothing worse than raw middle.

Let the breads cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edges of the pans. Remove the breads from the pans to wire racks to cool.The breads are better the second day. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or foil and store at room temperature.

Candied Peanuts

Candied Peanuts

 

From Southern Plate Blog

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 cups raw peanuts (skin on)

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Place over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Add peanuts to sugar water and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the peanuts are completely sugar coated and no sugar syrup remains, about thirty minutes.
3. Pour out onto ungreased cookie sheet and spread out a bit. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheet and then store in sealed container.

Chicken and Lentil Soup (Pressure Cooker)

Made this last night and it definitely going into the soup rotation.

Recipe was adapted from Skinny Taste website

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb dried lentils

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (whole)

7 cups water

2 tbsp chicken Better than Bouillon

1 small onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro or freeze-dried

3 cloves garlic fresh or  from pre-minced1 can diced tomatoes

1 can corn kernels drained

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp ground paprika

salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large pot combine all ingredients stir.

Set Instant Pot to Soup setting for 30 minutes.  When done natural release pressure, remove chicken breasts, shred and add back to soup

.Stir well and serve.

Makes 11 cups and will freeze