Food for Thought

I did no cooking this week.  Well, almost no cooking.  I used my new InstantPot (on sale at Kohl's, plus 30% off, plus $10 off Home purchase - so I kinda had to buy it.)  Anyway, after cooking on Monday, the rest of the week was reinvented leftovers.

Some weeks are just like that.  But if you're looking to infuse one or two recipes into your leftover nights, there's a few goodies below.

I have my grandmother's chocolate chip recipe and it's awesome.  So why mess with a sure thing?  Because I like chocolate chip cookies and you have to be sure the one you use all the time really is as good as you think.  So I made these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They were soft and chippy and good.  They actually had a similar flavor to my grandmother's, but they were more cakey, less chewy; a highly dunkable cookie - if that's your thing.  I liked them and would make them again.  The family did too, but wondered why I didn't bake the standard.

We have a serious love of mexican foods.  These Crock Pot Tex Mex Chicken Tacos are just another in a long string of recipes.  This was among the easiest of dump-and-go recipes ever, and the flavor was great, even if I did forget the mexi-corn.  I opted to serve them in crunchy taco shells, rather than the boats, but it would be a great filling for burritos, or bowls.

Yep.  Mexican flavors in these Healthy Chili and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers.  They had great spice and flavor.  This could be a totally meatless meal, just up the beans and/or quinoa.  This would also be a good stuffing in zucchini boats.

Catching a theme yet?  Skillet Chili Taco Pie with Polenta was another delish, warm, comforting meal.  Another one you could also do meat free, by upping the beans, or adding a grain like quinoa or farro.  My family isn't quite sold on the whole polenta thing (I've tried a couple recipes with it.)  I think if I sliced it even thinner than called for, and maybe fried it first to get it a bit crispy they may go for it.  Maybe.

Hmmm . . . yeah, we may need to branch out.  Quinoa White Chicken Chili was a great light, but filling meal.  Lots of good flavor, in part to using homemade broth.  This would freeze great.

Girlie made these Homemade Peanut Butter Treats for her friends' dogs (I think they all have dogs) and for the neighborhood pooches.  They made it to the friends but not the neighbors, which our dog loved because she got the remainders.  Don't store in air-tight bags - brown bags or open containers.

No big plans for the weekend, except to see if I can make broth in my Instant Pot.  Oh, and at some point hitting the Home and Garden show.

Happy Friday,

Lori