Breakfast Sausage Crescent Casserole

I've made several different breakfast casseroles before but never with crescent/croissant pastry to make a crust. I slightly burnt my crust so I've adjusted the temperature and baking time below to hopefully perfect this dish in the future. This recipe is perfect for breakfast or brunch and you can modify the meat/veggie ingredients to your liking. I went with maple breakfast sausage and orange bell peppers this time around and we loved the end result. Other ingredients I recommend are mushrooms, green peppers, chopped ham and shredded Swiss cheese.

Ingredients:

1 can refrigerated crescent/croissant dinner rolls

1 cup cooked breakfast sausage, chopped

1 medium orange bell pepper, chopped

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6 eggs

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent dough and press onto the bottom of an ungreased glass baking dish. Use your fingers to press dough together and prick all over with a fork.
2. Bake for 7 minutes or crust is cooked but not brown.
3. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and then stir in chopped pepper, breakfast sausage and shredded cheese.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the eggs are set in the center of the dish and the crust is browned.

Enjoy!

Jalapeno & Swiss Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup Lite Balsamic salad dressing

4 slices swiss cheese

2 jalapeno peppers, deseeded and sliced

plastic wrap

toothpicks

What To Do:

1. Cover individual chicken breasts in plastic wrap and pound to 1/4 inch thickness. Place chicken in a shallow bowl with Balsamic dressing and marinate in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes.

2.  Place marinated chicken on a clean piece of plastic wrap and top with swiss cheese and jalapeno slices. Tightly roll the chicken using plastic wrap to secure. Remove plastic wrap and use 4-6 toothpicks to hold the chicken in place.

3. Preheat the grill and lower to medium heat. Place chicken on grill and cook for 20 minutes rotating with tongs every 3-4 minutes.

4. Remove toothpicks and serve with your favorite side.

Enjoy!

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Spicy Jalapeno Coleslaw

This is a great side dish for Summer BBQ's and coleslaw is ridiculously easy to make when you buy the already prepared dried coleslaw because seriously why would I torture myself any other way. 

Ingredients:

8 oz. dry coleslaw

1 cup light mayonnaise

1-2 jalapeños, minced and deseeded

1 tsp white vinegar

Black pepper to taste

What To Do:

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. (I only ended up using 1 jalapeño because I found it to be spicy enough)

2. Ready to serve immediately or can be refrigerated for a couple hours before serving. 

I paired this side item with Kristen's Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches to create a delicious weekend meals for the husband and I.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Turkey Shepherd's Pie

I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest while searching for ground turkey recipes and decided it was a must try. Shepherd's Pie is typically a nice warm comfort food but lean ground turkey and sweet potatoes make it just a tad bit healthier and it tasted amazing!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour
2.5 lbs lean ground turkey
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
12 oz. frozen peas
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2.5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp butter
1 egg, beaten
4 oz. cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste

The recipe requires a lot of ingredients but it's really fairly simple to whip together. 

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Boil cubed sweet potatoes in large pot until tender. 

3. While the sweet potatoes are boiling, heat large pan over medium-high heat with olive oil. 

4. Add celery, carrots and onion to the pan and cook until soft.

5. Add ground turkey to the cooked vegetables along with garlic powder, paprika, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients will and let turkey cook until golden and crumbly. 

6. Add the tomato, flour and chicken broth. Stir well and let simmer. 

7. Add the frozen peas while it simmers. 

8. Drain the sweet potatoes and return to the pot to cool.

9. Use a potato masher to smash powder until sooth. Add in butter, cream cheese and black pepper (to taste).

10. Beat the egg and add to the sweet potato mixture. Mix all ingredients well with a sturdy spoon or hand mixer. 

11. Grease a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and pour turkey mix into the dish. 

12. Cover turkey with sweet potato and evenly layer it out with a spatula. 

13. Bake for 35 minutes. 

I've never used cream cheese in mashed sweet potatoes but it makes it taste really good!

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7-Layer Mexican Dip

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Kate and I have discontinued our recipe swap on a weekly basis (it will now be every other week) but I had a recipe ready for today's Mexican holiday.

The ladies over at The Sequin Notebook made a similar recipe a while back and I decided to try it out for a party I recently went to. 

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese

1 jar of mild salsa

1 small can mild Rotel diced tomatoes

1.5 lb. lean ground beef

1 tbsp. olive oil

8 oz. Mexican blend cheese

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 package taco seasoning

1 can refried beans

2 cups of light sour cream

Hot sauce, to taste

What To Do:

1. Mix cream cheese with 1/2 of the package of taco seasoning and layer onto the bottom of a greased baking dish.

2. Sautee onions in olive oil and add ground beef and the remaining of the taco seasoning. Add a dash of hot sauce and then cook well until the meat is no longer pink. Layer the beef mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. 

3. Heat up refried beans in microwave for 2 minutes and then layer beans on top of the beef layer. 

4. Top refried beans with salsa and then layer salsa with sour cream. The final step is to layer sour cream with shredded cheese and then sprinkle diced tomatoes on top of the cheese.

5. Bake on 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted. 

Enjoy!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Rollups

** Before I get started, Kate and I both agree that hosting the Recipe Swap bi-weekly will be more manageable for both of our schedules so starting this week we will host the linkup every other Tuesday. We hope you will continue to join us in sharing your delicious recipes! **

This is a copycat recipe from Food.com that I stumbled upon on Pinterest and had to try for myself. It's also an easy finger food to whip together for parties or large groups of people.

Serving size: 40 pinwheels

Ingredients:

1 container low-fat cream cheese

1 (142 g) package dried cranberries

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped green onion

4 large sundried tomato flour tortillas

What To Do:

1. Combine the cream cheese, cranberries, feta cheese and green onion in small bowl and mix together well. 

2. Spread mixture evenly over each tortillas.

3. Fold the tortilla tightly and wrap in the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour. 

4. Use a sharp knife to cut in 10 slices.

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Cajun Grilled Shrimp & Veggie Medley

Ingredients:

1 lb. large uncooked white shrimp

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp butter, melted

Creole seasoning (to taste)

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 zucchinis

1 can chick peas

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

Spiral Vegetable Slicer

There's a few parts to this recipe but overall it's an easy and fairly quick meal to piece together. A second hand would be useful to take care of the grilling while the veggies are being prepped and cooked. 

I purchased this Spiralizer thanks to Steph's recommendation and it's very effortless to use. It took only a couple minutes to spiralize the zucchinis, which was easier than I expected. 

What To Do:

1. Toss uncooked shrimp in creole seasoning and set aside. Melt the butter in the microwave and mix together with garlic powder (for basting the shrimp). Heat up the grill and then set to low to cook the shrimp. 

2. Spiralize the zucchinis. 

3. Melt coconut oil in a deep pan on medium heat and then add chopped red peppers and green peppers. Cook for 5 minutes. Add zucchini spirals and cook for an additional 3 minutes. 

4. Add chick peas to the pot and cook on low for 5 minutes. 

5. While the veggies are cooking on low. Place cajun seasoned shrimp on the grill (temperature set to low), baste with garlic butter and cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip the shrimp, baste with remainder of garlic butter and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. 

6. Serve the cooked veggie medley topped with shrimp. 

Enjoy!

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Brussels Sprouts with Pecans & Cranberries

Photo via Rachel Shultz

This is one of the recipes that I made for the first time and served over the weekend for our Easter dinner potluck. I failed at taking many useful pictures between multi-tasking in the kitchen and opening the door as guests arrive so I had to use the photo from the original recipe. I made a few tweaks like using coconut oil instead of olive oil and eliminating the barley and there was no lack in taste. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb. brussels sprouts

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2/3 cup cranberries

1/3 cup pecans

1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese 

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 

1 tablespoon maple syrup

What To Do:

1. Cook brussels sprouts and cranberries in coconut oil over medium heat for 8 minutes.

2. Add balsamic vinegar and maple syrup and cook for an additional 2 minutes before removing from heat. 

3. Add the walnuts and stir well in pan or toss in a mixing bowl.
4. Top with crumbled gorgonzola. 

That's my blurry picture of the final product but I can attest that it was a delicious side to serve for any holiday dinner. Kerri loved it too! ;-)

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Snow Pea Stir-Fry in Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has so many health benefits for your immune system, digestion, weight loss and even your skin. It's an excellent replacement for oil and butter and doesn't disappoint in taste.

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped, 

1 80 oz. pack sliced white mushrooms

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 lb. fresh snow peas

Cooking time: 12 minutes

Serving size: 4

What To Do: 

1. Wash all veggies and prepare (dice/chop according to ingredients list). 

2. Cut the ends off the snow peas. 

3. Heat wok or pan on medium heat and add coconut oil.

4. Add the green and red peppers and cook for approximately 4 minutes.

5. Add the onion and snow peas and cook for 6 minutes.

6. Finally add mushrooms and cook for additional 2 minutes. 

Enjoy!

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Curry Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/4 yellow onion, diced

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp Paprika

What To Do:

1. Boil chicken breasts in salted water for 20 minutes until fully cooked. Let chicken cool for 10 minutes and then chop or shred. You can also use cooked rotisserie chicken.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 1-2 hours to let the flavors blend.

3. Serve chilled or room temperature in a sandwich, wrap or lettuce wrap. 

Enjoy!

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Irish Broccoli & Cheddar Soup

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

To be festive, I decided to try my hand at this Irish soup recipe. With just a few changes, it came out really good and was a delicious dinner for Sunday night.

Ingredients:
1 (12 oz.) bag Steam-In-Big Broccoli Florets
1 (32 oz) container reduced sodium chicken broth
3 cups mashed potatoes
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 yellow onion, diced
1 cup fat-free half & half
1 tsp fresh thyme
 4 cups Irish Dubliner cheddar cheese, shredded
Ground pepper, to taste

What To Do:
1. Add chicken stock, broccoli, onion and celery in a large pot. Bring to boil and then simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
2. Blend broccoli/chicken stock mixture in food processor or blender and then return to pot.
3. Stir in half & half, mashed potatoes and thyme. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in the Irish shredded cheese. 

Enjoy!

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