Quick and Easy No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bites

I'm always looking for healthier snacks to take to work.  These were so quick and easy to make, and really delicious.  Plus, I found another way to use my Chia seeds and a way to sneak in some flax. I will be making these again, they are the perfect filling snack for work.

Quick and Easy No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bites
From: How Sweet It Is
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: NONE
Makes: 12-15 balls

Ingredients:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp Honey
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup ground peanuts or ground almonds, to roll the balls in.

Directions:
1. Combine oats, almonds, flaxseed, chia seeds, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and stir.

2.  Melt peanut butter and allow it to cool slightly (I melted mine in the microwave for about 30 - 45 seconds, then stirred).  Then stir in honey and vanilla extract until it's combined.

3. Once peanut butter has cooled a bit, pour over the oat mixture and mix well with a spoon then bring together with your hands.  Once mixture is sticking together, fold in chocolate chips.

4. Roll dough into golf-ball sized (or slightly smaller) balls, then roll in ground peanuts or ground almonds.  These can be eaten at room temp but we like them stored in the fridge!

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

If you are on Pinterest then I'm sure you've seen this recipe.  It is so easy it is hard to pass up.  I decided to make them this week because I thought they would be nice to have for Thanksgiving morning. They turned out pretty good and will be a nice breakfast treat.  The recipe said you could dust with powdered sugar or spread on a cream cheese frosting, but I'm going for plain since it is breakfast after all.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins
From: Sweet Verbena
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can libby's pumpkin

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.Spray muffin cups with Pam.

2. Mix cake mix and pumpkin until smooth. spoon into muffin cups and bake 20 - 25 min.

Darren's BBQ Chicken Nachos

We make these nachos quite a bit and I was surprised to realize I hadn't posted the recipe yet!  Our friend Darren made these for us years ago and we have been making them ever since.  It is a super easy and over the top delicious nacho snack - perfect for watching football.  But to be honest, sometimes we will eat this as our meal! :)

Darren's BBQ Chicken Nachos
From: Darren Buursma
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Sweet Baby Rays Original BBQ Sauce
1/2 Red onion, thinly sliced
1 large can Chicken chunks in water, drained (can use regular cooked and shredded chicken)
Banana Peppers (I usually half them)
Black olives, sliced
1 pkg Mexican Cheese Blend
Tortilla Chips

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a small bowl mix chicken with about 1/2 cup (or more) of BBQ sauce.

3  Line cookie sheet with tin foil. Spread tortilla chips over tin foil creating an entire layer of tortilla chips.

4. On top of tortilla chips layer, chicken, onions, banana peppers, black olives.  Then sprinkle with cheese and drizzle BBQ sauce generously over everything.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve (we usually just eat it right off the pan!)

300

For my 300th post (yes! 300!!! I can hardly believe I've made that many different recipes!) I decided to re-share some of my favorite fall recipes (links to the recipes are below each picture)

Football Watching Food
Can't have fall without Football!  I always find watching football as a good excuse to make some good snacky food. 

Buffalo Chicken Bites

Not Your Average Rotel Dip

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

Layered Taco Dip

Soup
As the weather turns colder, soup is on my mind.  We usually end up having soup once a week in the fall/winter and I love it!

Butternut Squash Soup

Easy Black Bean Soup

Cheese Broccoli Soup

 

Mimi's Chili

Crock Pot
Since summer is over, those easy grill recipes have come and gone.  Instead I try to use my crock pot more so we aren't spending too much time making dinner.  I am expecting a new fancy crock pot in the mail soon so I'm sure this recipe will grow a bit more in the next few months.

Korean Beef Tacos

Rotisserie Style Chicken

Santa Fe Chicken Tacos

Desserts
Can't have the fall holidays without some delicious fall desserts.

Pumpkin Bars

Easy Apple Crisp

Fried Apples

Pasta with Toasted Garlic, Dried Cranberries, Kale, Kalamata Olives, & Feta

When I saw this recipe it was said that this is the "best pasta dish ever." So I had to try it.  Plus I have been trying to find recipes to use Kale in besides just making Kale Chips.

I liked it a LOT, maybe not the best pasta ever but it was very good and pretty darn easy.  I knew this recipe might not be Bill's favorite though, because he isn't big on sweet stuff like cranberries in his main dish and because it didn't have meat.  So I bought a rotisserie chicken to have on the side (I didn't have any because the pasta was all I needed, but he cut it up and mixed it in with the pasta) and hoped for the best.

As predicted, Bill didn't love it like I did. He said if I changed the kale to spinach and got rid of the cranberries, it would be a home-run,  without the changes he said it was still a delicious meal.  I liked the Kale, but could live without the cranberries so I may try leaving out the cranberries next time and see how it tastes.

Pasta with Toasted Garlic, Dried Cranberries, Kale, Kalamata Olives, and Feta
From: Iowa Girl Eats
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 - 20 min

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, minced
salt & pepper
1/4 cup dried cranberries
4 cups torn kale (I removed the stem-vein almost all the way up)
1/4 cup water
4 -6 oz spaghetti
1/4 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives
2 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese.

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti according to directions until al dente.

2. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add garlic slices then cook, stirring almost constantly, until slices are pale golden brown.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

2.  Turn heat down to medium, then add red onion.  Season with salt and pepper then cook until golden-brown and tender, about 3 minutes.

3. Add cranberries and kale, season with more salt and pepper, then add water, place lid on top of the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until kale is tender.

4. Add kalamata olives to cooked kale and cranberry mixture. Transfer cooked spaghetti to skillet, then toss to combine all ingredients.  Add up to 1/4 cup pasta cooking water if needed.  Divide between planes and top with feta cheese and cooked garlic slices.

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

I made this for Bill's family a couple days after I made the Cheesy Zucchini Quinoa and was afraid we would be burnt out of Quinoa.  This turned out to be way better than that recipe and everyone loved it.  There weren't even any leftovers!

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole
From: Eating Well... Living Thin
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 (10oz) can Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup
1/3 cup reduced fat mayonaise
2 Tbsp milk
1 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese (cheddar, colby-jack, etc)
1/2 tsp sugar or splenda
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash ground nutmeg
2 cups cooked broccoli
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. To cook quinoa: rinse 3/4 cup quinoa until water runs clear.  In a small saucepan combine quinoa 1 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until fluffy and the white ring/tail is visible.  Fluff with a fork - this will make around 1 1/2 cups Quinoa

2. While quinoa is cooking, cook broccoli until tender (I steamed mine).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a shallow casserole dish with cooking spray.

4.  In a large bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, milk, shredded cheese, sugar/spelnda, pepper, and nutmeg until well mixed.  Stir in the quinoa and broccoli.

5. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole.  Sprinkle Parmesan over the top and bake fro 35 - 40 minutes or until bubbly on the edges and golden.

Taco Cupcakes

I saw these all over Pinterest a while back and wanted to make them.  These are really supposed to be appetizers, but we had them for dinner one night.  I was skeptical since wonton wrappers do not seem like logical Mexican ingredients, but my need for new Mexican recipes prevailed and I powered through.  I'm so glad I did.  They were outstanding.  Bill said he loved them and that we definitely needed to make them next time we have people over.  I served them with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.  I liked it best with all three on them (I used packaged guacamole because I wanted to try it - won't do it again - homemade is definitely the way to go for guac).  Who wants to come over so I can make these again as appetizers! :)

Taco Cupcakes
From: Plain Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
24 - 36 wonton wrappers
Taco Toppings of your choice: salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, etc.
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.  Brown meat in a skillet and drain off fat.  Return meat to skillet and add taco seasoning, water and black beans.  Mix and simmer for 5-10 minutes until water is absorbed.

2. Spray 12 - 18 regular muffin pan cups with cooking spray.  Place one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup.  Divide half of the taco meat between muffin cups.  sprinkle half of the cheese over the cupcakes.  Repeat layers - wonton, taco meat, and cheese.

3. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.  Top with your favorite taco toppings.

Cauliflower Soup

I wanted to try this Cauliflower Soup when I saw it posted on the Pioneer woman.  It looked like a cozy creamy soup - similar to cream of broccoli or something.  It was good, and made A LOT, but it probably would have been a bit thicker if I had used whole milk as directed instead of skim.  It was time consuming and definitely NOT a weeknight type of soup but the actual work of doing it was not difficult.  It is definitely good for a cold fall/winter weekend.

Cauliflower Soup
From: Pioneer Woman
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 Stick Butter, divided
1/2 Onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced (I did a bunch of small carrots instead of one large)
1 - 1/2 Cauliflower Heads (roughly chopped)
2 Tbsp Parsley chopped (fresh or dried)
2 quarts chicken broth
6 Tbsp flour
2 cups Whole Milk (I used Skim because that's what we had)
1 cup half & half
2 - 4 tsp salt, to taste
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Directions:
1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 Tbsp butter.  Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown.

2. Add carrots and celery and cook an additional couple minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine.

3. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, pour in chicken broth.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer

4. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 Tbsp butter.  Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine.  Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly.

5. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half and half.  Add mixture to the simmering soup.  allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

5.  Just before serving place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen.  Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream.  Pour in remaining soup and stir.  Serve immediately.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Freezer Pie

Sometimes I just want something chocolatey and peanut buttery, but don't want to do too much work.  This dessert is perfect for that.  I whipped it up in about 5 minutes or so and it was very good and not too heavy. 

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Freezer Pie
From: Coupon Cousins
Prep time:  5-10 min
Freeze Time: 1 hr.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (recipe said chocolate cookie, but I used graham)
1 large box of instant chocolate pudding (can use sugar free)
1 1/2 cup milk
1 8oz tub of cool whip (can use light or sugar free)
Reese's Peanut butter cups (about 10 large ones or 20 minis)

Directions:
1.  In a large bowl, mix the pudding with the milk.  Whisk in the cool whip.

2. Unwrap the Reese's peanut butter cups and roughly chop. Fold in chopped candy into pudding mix.  Pour all into the chocolate pie crust.

3. Top with a few more chopped peanut butter cups.  Store int eh freezer until about 15 min before serving.

Okra and Tomato Quinoa

I recently traveled to New Orleans for work.  It was my first time there and I had a lot of good food!  One thing I had was an okra, tomato, rice dish that was fantastic.  So I decided to try and make something similar with quinoa.  I have never cooked with okra before and was surprised that my grocery store even had fresh okra.  I thought this recipe turned out delicious plus it had very little prep time (which I love).  I cut this recipe in half because I wasn't sure if we would like it and I didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of leftovers, but next time I will make the full recipe because it was so good I was wishing there was extra to have it the next day for lunch.

PS - The beer in the background is Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale... this is our new favorite pumpkin beer.  If you like pumpkin beer you should definitely give it a try!

 Okra and Tomato Quinoa
From: Food52
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 30-40 min

Ingredients:
16 oz Fresh Okra
1 can (14.5 oz) Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano
1 cup raw quinoa (rinse if desired)
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
additional basil & Oregano to taste (if desired)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix vegetable broth, quinoa, okra and tomatoes (with juice) into baking dish.

2. Mix Parmesan with additional spices if you wish and then sprinkle mixture on top

3. Bake fore 30-40 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked.