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[makingitwithmeagan]

Pizza Sauce

“What do you want for breakfast?” “Bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a biscuit.” “I’m out of biscuits.” (And after this week’s bread fiascos, I’m not even offering to attempt to make them...) “Pizza sounds really good, too.”

I think he thought that I had a frozen pizza stored away somewhere but I don’t and honestly we are fresh out of freezer room after this week.

Here is a story that has nothing to do with the pizza sauce but everything to do with why I currently have no freezer room. I was comparing prices for my grocery list with Walmart and Aldi this week. I used the Walmart app (please feel free to use my referral link if you haven’t tried it yet http://r.wmt.co/v/meagan_504 ) for Walmart prices and I used Instacart for Aldi prices (https://inst.cr/t/MlAwME1IWTdk is my referral code for there). Instacart offered me free delivery and this week, Aldi had the cheaper prices so I went with them, placed my order and waited for it to be delivered. I ran over to drop Austin off some ice and drinks on his job (the heat index this week has been ridiculous- around 110 every day) and when I got home, I brought my groceries in since they’d been delivered about 5 minutes before I got home. I start to pull things out and realize they are not my order so I call and try to get the driver back. Unfortunately, she had already delivered my order to someone else so they reordered all of my items and had them redelivered. Here’s the kicker- they let me keep all of the groceries they originally delivered. It was a ton of meat and all of the fixings for fajitas- my kind of family! Anyway, long story short, all of that meat went into my freezer and now there is NO extra room. Not even for a frozen pizza.

Back to the pizza story- I crawl out of bed and see if we have the stuff to make a homemade-ish pizza. I had refrigerated crust, pepperoni, cheese, but was missing the sauce. Luckily, my Italian (but not really) Mom stockpiles tomato products like they’re TP in a quarantine. I looked up a recipe and whipped up a pizza sauce to make the breakfast pizza.

I really liked the sauce. Austin said it was good but it tasted different (from the jar) but he couldn’t explain to me what he was thinking. It did have a little bit more of a tomato kick to it (slightly acidic taste) so maybe that was it. Chances are, I’ll make it again, though. It wasn’t hard at all and it was all things that I always have at home.

Here is the recipe: https://joyfoodsunshine.com/easy-homemade-pizza-sauce-recipe/

**Disclaimer: If you use my referral codes for either site, I do get a reward on my next purchase BUT so do you! Give it a shot, I haven’t been disappointed with either service!

[makingitwithmeagan]

Mongolian Beef

I’ve said it before, I miss Chinese food. It is the hardest for me to replicate at home. Last week’s Sweet and Sour Chicken was a bust but I kept seeing recipes for Mongolian Beef showing up on my Pinterest feed so I figured I’d give it one more shot. I am so glad that I did!

At first, it felt like ai was making steak fajitas, and really, most of the ingredients are the same. It was the sauce that made the meal, though. All of the ingredients are initially cooked separately and then mixed at the end but the recipe was overall much easier than I initially thought it would be!

I served it up over white rice (made in the rice cooker- my kitchen saving grace because I HATE cooking rice) and here was the final product.

Hayden normally doesn’t eat much beef but he tore this meal up! He kept having me put more and more beef on his fork. Austin liked the Mongolian beef but he would like me to try it over lo mein noodles the next time I make it. I don’t normally like rice but I really enjoyed this over rice. I wish there was more sauce and I’d like to use some red or orange peppers because they’re just a bit sweeter. My mom liked the meal overall and thought the rice was good.

Next time, I will probably double the sauce. I also think this would be a great meal to freeze and thaw out and cook later on. This definitely will be a recipe that I make again (but I’ll give the noodles a try next time)!

Here is the recipe that I used: https://letthebakingbegin.com/mongolian-beef/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=828898162_34875294_109845

[makingitwithmeagan]

Lemon Cake

Fathers’ Day was on Sunday. I went all out and made a big steak dinner with a bunch of sides. I even tried my hand at Texas Roadhouse Rolls (no blog about those because it was an epic failure and I am still trying to figure out what I did wrong). The hit of the day was definitely the cake (and the cinnamon butter that I was successful at making). But this cake may be my new favorite- and there isn’t even any frosting!

Austin doesn’t like frosting and a long time ago told me that lemon cake was his favorite. Cue terrible girlfriend moment- I have NEVER made him a lemon cake. 

I dug through recipes and found one that promised to be moist. I had Mom pick me up some fresh lemons from the store and got to work. It’s a three step process to create this masterpiece and I wanted to make sure I followed the directions to a T so I wouldn’t mess up what looked to be a masterpiece. The cake, the syrup, and the glaze all came together to create the most lemon-tasting treat I could imagine. 

Don’t skip the syrup because I think that it added extra lemon. Austin thought there may have been a bit too much lemon (after I finished adding lemon to parts of the cake, he decided he could get more juice out of the squeezed lemons and added the extra juice to the syrup) but even after 4 days, the cake is still moist!

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes lemons or lemonade or lemon meringue pie....give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Here is the recipe that I followed: https://livingsweetmoments.com/moist-lemon-cake-recipe/?utm_term=lemon+cake&utm_campaign=1953885394

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Agate Candy Slices

Andrew’s birthday was last week and he decided that he wanted a mint chocolate chip cake. I’m not sure where the idea came from but, in the end, he realized that was not what he wanted...although, my frosting was on point and it definitely tasted like chocolate mint. But it tasted weird with the cake. However, I found these agate candy slices to decorate cakes and added those. They were a huge hit! Andrew has even asked for me to make them again with him!

When Andrew was out in the afternoon for his birthday, Hayden and I went to town trying to recreate these candy slices. I thought it would be much more difficult than it was. The hardest part was creating the mold out of aluminum foil. But since they’re rock slices, they don’t have to be perfect! (In all fairness, my picture shows two that have already been munched on a bit.)

I bought Lifesavers and Jolly Ranchers to try. Both bags had similar colors in the bag and both broke into pieces pretty easily (I used a Ziplock bag and a small wooden hammer that we have in the kitchen). I made a few more slices than the picture shows but I really didn’t have any luck when I used purple candy. It mixed with everything else and made a gross-looking brown. In my experience, the Lifesavers definitely worked better than the Jolly Ranchers. They melted down better and they were far less sticky to work with before going into the oven.

The final product was great! They were tasty and they looked good!

Here is the link to the recipe/process that I used: https://www.sugarhero.com/agate-cake/

[makingitwithmeagan]

Chicken Gyros

I grew up down the road from Tarpon Springs. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon wandering around and eating delicious Greek food. There are authentic Greek bakeries and a slew of delicious restaurants and around here, everyone has their favorites when it comes to restaurants and food choices. I, for one, love tzatziki sauce and pita bread, and could eat them in bulk.

Austin loves dishes that are full of spices- the more pepper in a dish, the better. I can’t over-spice a dish for him. The spices on a chicken gyro are such a great blend. They don’t overwhelm my palate when mixed with the tzatziki sauce and they satisfy his. There have been times that I just use the marinade and make the chicken to serve for dinner and it works just fine, but the whole product is so delicious that it’s a treat to get it all made!

This is not a quick and easy dish to put together. The chicken needs to marinade for a few hours, the tzatziki sauce takes a bit of work and then needs to sit, too. But in the end, the result is so amazing that it is worth it! Splurge on some good bread (I used Sam’s Choice White Greek Style Pita) because it truly makes all the difference! (Also, I could use that pita bread for every sandwich that I ever make...)

This isn’t a new recipe but it is one that I rarely put the whole thing together. It’s a great summer meal- light and full of flavor, plus it can be grilled, too!

Here is the recipe that I follow: https://www.recipetineats.com/greek-chicken-gyros-with-tzatziki/

[makingitwithmeagan]

Garlic Parmesan Knots

I love garlic bread. Who am I kidding, I love garlic in general. Luckily, Austin loves it as much, if not more, than I do. Dinner always has some sort of garlic aroma while I’m cooking. I’d say it’s because of the Italian in my blood, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have a drop of Italian in my blood.

Usually when I’m making pasta, I’ll throw some melted butter and garlic together, brush it onto some bread, toast it and BAM! I have some garlic bread. The idea of making some garlic knots, though, was intriguing.

Initially, I used a recipe for Parmesan knots but I knew I wanted to change it up a little. I melted 2 Tbsp of butter and added 2 cloves of garlic (minced). I brushed it on after creating the knots (which, once I got the perfect length down pat, was a breeze!) but before I put them in the oven.

After the initial baking, I made another batch of garlic butter, brushed the knots again, added a sprinkle of Parmesan, baked them again for just a couple of minutes.

I didn’t hate the way that they turned out but they needed more of a garlic flavor. Next time, I think that for the first coating of garlic butter, I would use butter with garlic powder and then the fresh garlic on the second go around. 

It was a nice change from traditional garlic bread, though, and made the plate look a little more fancy. Maybe one day I won’t be scared to make my own dough (in the past week I’ve had more than one bad experiences making dough....) but in the meantime, I’ll continue to use this with my little adjustments. 

Here is the link to the recipe that I used: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/easy-parmesan-knots-recipe/

[makingitwithmeagan]

Sweet and Sour Chicken

My last meal for my weekly challenge (Crockpot style!) was Sweet and Sour chicken. I have been craving Chinese so I was excited for this. Austin was excited for this. I was a little weary of cooking it in the crockpot and still have it turn out somewhat crispy but it was worth a shot.

I actually had to pre-fry the chicken a little before I threw it in the crockpot so my hope was that since it was already crispy that it would stay that way.

I was wrong. It was soft and crockpot-ty. The sauce tasted amazing before I put it into the crockpot but after cooking it down, it just didn’t have the same zing to it. 

Needless to say we were disappointed. I still don’t feel like I have gotten my Chinese food fix. In the future, I wouldn’t do this as a crockpot recipe but I’d make little fry chunks of chicken on the stove (with the breading) and then I’d make the sauce (thicken it with the cornstarch on the stove) and serve it up that way. It’s just not feasible to expect crispy sweet and sour chicken from the crockpot. My bad!

The saving grace to the meal was actually the lo mein noodles! I found a simple recipe online that afternoon and decided to give it a shot. I didn’t have actual lo mein noodles but I remembered reading somewhere that I could use the noodles for Ramen soup (just not the seasoning). So I gave it a shot and it worked! I also doubled the recipe for the sauce because you can never have too much sauce when cooking. It turned out great, though!!!

Here is the recipe to the Sweet and Sour Chicken: https://simplegreenmoms.com/crockpot-sweet-sour-chicken/

I have searched my history and cannot for the life of me find the lo mein recipe! I will keep searching, though, and if nothing else, I’ll post what I did on the blog!

[makingitwithmeagan]

Jambalaya

“Jambalaya and crawfish pie and filé gumbo For tonight, I'ma gonna see my ma cher a mio Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.”                   -Hank Williams

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Austin played this song quite a few times this morning after having jambalaya last night.

This recipe had, by far, the most ingredients out of this week’s recipes, but in the end, it was so very worth it. The smells that filled the house were amazing! I don’t even like spicy food and I was ready to eat this a good hour and a half before it was finished cooking.

After four hours of cooking, I was supposed to add in uncooked rice and cook for another half-hour. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case...the rice was nowhere near done. It took about another hour for the rice to cook thoroughly, so I would take that into account. My recommendation: cook the entire dish for 5 hours but at 4 hours, add the rice in.

I’ve never known a kid to really enjoy spicy food but Hayden loves it! He devoured his/my serving! Austin worked all day so he was kind of quiet at dinner- he didn’t really give me an opinion, so in a “speak now or forever hold your peace,” kind of situation, he’ll be subjected to the meal again in the future! I liked it, I grew up with cheesy jambalaya because it wasn’t nearly as spicy but this was delicious. I’m not completely sold on the celery pieces in it and I wish there were some shrimp (but I’m not trying that in the crockpot) but overall, I’d say this is a solid dish. Plus, it’s a great meal for entertaining because I had a TON left over!

Here is the recipe that I used: https://wonkywonderful.com/chicken-and-sausage-slow-cooker-jambalaya-recipe/

[makingitwithmeagan]

Crack Chicken

We are not a leftover family. And when I say “we,” I mean I’m the only one who will look at a meal twice once it has been put away. Since I’m the only one who ever eats the leftovers, I sometimes dread having to eat a meal multiple times in order not to waste it.

This was not that meal. Hayden and I just finished eating it for lunch for the second day in a row...after having it for dinner on Thursday. 

Here’s the skinny- the only ingredient that I didn’t have readily on hand was bacon. We don’t eat a whole lot of it for breakfast so unless a meal calls for it or Austin has some sort of weird hankering, we just don’t typically fry up some bacon. 

The recipe was two-fold. One set of ingredients went in at the very beginning and then the second half of the ingredients went in about 4 hours later. The two step process was completely worth it!

Looking at the picture, just know that there is really no good angle to take a picture of this because, similar to the peanut chicken, it just doesn’t photograph well. This recipe, on the other hand, packed the punch that the peanut chicken did not.

Austin loved this meal! We initially started by eating it on tortillas, then we used it as a dip for tortilla chips, and then I’ve eaten it with pita chips the last two days. My personal favorite is the pita chips (but I’m also incredibly partial to pita chips) but I also love the tortilla sandwich/taco. 

As for recommended adjustments to the recipe- more green onions and jalapeño wouldn’t hurt. Austin also added a little hot sauce for some extra flavor. Also, make sure that when you add in the onions, jalapeño, and bacon at the end that you really mix it up- otherwise you end up with one serving having none of the goodies and one serving having too much.

This one is definitely going to be in my recipe rotation!

Here is the recipe that I followed: https://www.callmepmc.com/crock-pot-crack-chicken-recipe/

[makingitwithmeagan]

BBQ Ribs

I realize I’m technically a day behind on my recipes for the week, and I’ll update on last night’s dinner- I really will. But guys....I made crockpot ribs tonight AND THEY WERE GOOD.

Let me give some back story to this recipe because it’s important. When I first started dating Austin, I made him ribs in a crockpot. To this day, he will still talk about it because it was legit the worst meal he’d ever eaten.

Well, take that! I redeemed myself.

I don’t care how you make ribs, the process is a bit more complex in the beginning, very hands off for hours in the middle, and then finishing touches at the end.

I started by making my rub. I was out of onion powder so I just left it out of the recipe. This made more than enough to saturate the ribs. 

I also cut the rack of ribs into thirds. One third easily fit standing up in my crockpot and that’s honestly all I put in for my experiment. I was scared to mess them up again so I had a backup and put the rest of the ribs in the oven....just in case. 

After a Hayden nap, some reading, and even a little gardening, it was time to check on the progress. I pulled them out, poured on the BBQ sauce (Austin said I put on too much) and put them in the oven for about 10 minutes.

I don’t even like BBQ and these looked so good! (I did try some without the sauce and they were amazing...the cinnamon was a little unexpected but so good! I may have gone a little overboard on the sides but it’s not everyday that I attempt ribs and....it’s Friday? (I think- this teacher is in summer mode...)

I worried all day about this recipe. I checked on it more often than I should have. But Austin gave his seal of approval saying “These are honestly better than Cheddar’s.” (I really have to stop doing this or I will NEVER get to have their amazing strawberry lemonade ever again.) Hayden loved it, too, which is shocking because he is definitely a chicken-eater and it takes some motivation to get him to try other meats. And like I said, even I ate some of the meat itself.

I have officially redeemed myself (although, Austin pointed out that means I’m still only batting .500)! That is huge! I will now not be forever known for rock ribs!

Here is the recipe that I followed: https://www.acorkforkandpassport.com/melt-in-your-mouth-crockpot-ribs/

[makingitwithmeagan]

BONUS RECIPE- Apple Crisp

This recipe does not qualify for the weekly challenge- it’s strictly an extra treat. We had a surplus of apples in the house so I needed to use some up. I am a huge apple pie fan but I knew that making a crisp topping would be so much easier than a pie crust.

So, I googled and found a highly-rated recipe that had a good number of reviews. I got to work slicing up my apples (who am I kidding? I peeled and chunked them). A simple set of ingredients followed...

45 minutes in the oven and voila!

The house smelled like fall in the middle of June and I had a 9x13 pan of apple heaven.

I’ll probably add a little more cinnamon next time, and maybe a little nutmeg, but aside from that- rave reviews from the whole family!

Here is the recipe that I followed:  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12409/apple-crisp-ii/

[makingitwithmeagan]

Thai Peanut Chicken

In our house, peanut butter is king. It can cure a midnight snack craving, make the best cookies, or provide a sensory treat for the baby...and that is all in addition to being the main ingredient of our staple “out of the house all day” lunch. So what could go wrong with a peanut butter chicken recipe? It turns out- a lot.

The recipe itself seemed easy enough but admittedly, it was not a “dump” recipe where I could drop everything in and leave. There were a few steps at the end that required a little extra attention.

The ingredients- this was another recipe where I had all of the ingredients already. Plus, I got to utilize some of the peppers that were sent home from my MIL’s garden. (Side note, if anyone has any killer okra recipes, drop it in the comments for me!) 

I let everything simmer and cook for 6 hours and then I had about 15 minutes of additional steps before the meal was done. Let me tell you that before I added the peanut butter, the chicken smell was to die for!

Plating the meal for the “after” picture was rough because no matter what, the meal looked like dog food. Not to fear! The ugliest foods can have the best personalities!

Unfortunately, this meal did not. Okay, in all reality, the reviews were very mixed from the family. Austin didn’t finish it- he loved the chicken but hated the sauce. I had platonic feelings toward it- I finished it but it wasn’t a meal that made me want seconds or look forward to leftovers for lunch the next day. My mom loved it and immediately told me how good it was. Hayden also enjoyed it but he also ate it with a fair amount of dirt and grass (we at outside next to the fire pit). 

Overall because of Austin’s strong anti-peanut chicken feelings, this recipe will likely never be replicated in our household. If you want to take a chance, I’d recommend decreasing the amount of peanut butter called for and adding some spice- more pepper flakes, salt, and pepper (at the least).

Here is the link for the recipe that I used: https://therecipecritic.com/slow-cooker-thai-peanut-chicken/?fbclid=IwAR1MCP_FYBK3m0aSLl5vLSx8UzrXAJRfNMea1OVpAHnN9muMVCXwzOE5yF8#wprm-recipe-container-43543

[makingitwithmeagan]

Mango Salsa Chicken

As a family, we really love Mexican food. Seriously. We could eat different variations every night of the week- fajitas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas...we do it all. I’ve take the opportunity this week to infuse that Mexican desire with new recipes, hence the Korean tacos and now Mango Salsa Chicken. I’m excited to try to find new recipes to fit into our routines.

Today was a test. I needed to run around for errands and so I was thankful that tonight was a crockpot recipe night. The ingredients were easy to grab and throw into the crockpot- there really wasn’t much prep to it. The onion, tomatoes, and mango needed cut up, and the limes needed juiced but once I finished, I just threw it all in! Plus, BONUS, I got to use the lime juicer I got Austin for Valentine’s Day (there was no real need to buy it but it went along with one of the Valentine’s Day puns I gave him)!

So after how easy the prep work for this meal was, I was genuinely excited to taste it tonight!

When I opened the crockpot, it smelled delicious but I noticed that the liquid was incredibly thin. Easy enough to fix, I spooned out a good deal of liquid into a sauce pan, added 2 teaspoons of corn starch, brought it all to a boil (while stirring), and then removed from the heat to allow to thicken. It ended up making a nice looking sauce, if I do say so myself. 

Serving it up, I made sure that I got a little bit of everything from the crockpot. I was expecting something a little sweet but instead, I found the meal a bit bland. Austin and I were trying to figure out exactly what was missing but we couldn’t put our fingers on it. Instead of a stand-alone meal, we did realize that it tasted really good with some tortilla chips (remember, we do Mexican a lot and this is something we keep at the table). Austin thinks that it would make a really good nacho alternative.

We couldn’t really taste the mango in it all. 

I’m not sure that this meal itself will make it into rotation but I’d be willing to try this as a nacho dish. I also now really want to find an authentic mango salsa recipe to try.

Here is a link to the recipe that I followed: https://cutefetti.com/mango-salsa-slow-cooker-chicken/

[makingitwithmeagan]

Korean Beef Tacos

Tonight's creation was Korean Beef Tacos!

Here's the recipe that I followed: https://www.laurengreutman.com/slow-cooker-korean-beef-tacos/?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social My collection of ingredients looked like this:

And the final product:

My observations: This recipe was incredibly easy- I literally threw everything into the crockpot and let it cook. The biggest change to the recipe that I made was that I only cooked it for 6 hours instead of the recommended 8 hours. 

Austin’s thoughts: Since he has never had Korean tacos, he said they were “the best “Korean” tacos he’s ever had.” In all seriousness, he said that I can add it to the recipe rotation. He did have a complaint that the first tacos that I made were too dry but when we added some of the juice from the crockpot, it was much better. 

Kid opinions: H didn’t like the meat too much (he’s not a huge beef kid) but he loved dipping tortilla chips into the juice from the taco meat!