The Mothership

These are so easy to make, especially if you have small amounts of time to gather steps throughout the day. Also - this is great for a range of palates because it’s easy to keep items separate instead of it all cooking together.  This makes enough for leftovers for the week.  Ingredients: 3 lbs chicken breasts 1/2cup olive oil 4 limes 5 cloves of garlic, minced 4 tsp. Honey 1 1/2 Tbsp. Ground Cumin 2 tsp. Coriander  Salt & Pepper 1 pineapple, trimmed and diced into bite size  1/2 cup cilantro, tightly packed then chopped 1 tablespoon diced jalapeño  1/2 red onion 1 lime 1/4 tsp ground cumin  Sliced avocado 2 cups vegetable broth - or a bit more 2 cups rice Dash olive oil & salt Cilantro lime salad dressing Recipe: Cut chicken breasts in half to make smaller pieces. Place in large plastic bag for marinade. Set aside. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, zest of 2 limes, 1/2 cup lime juice, minced garlic, honey, cumin, coriander, and 1 tsp each ...

This recipe feeds the five of us and gives enough for maybe two servings of leftovers. Before you begin, PRESS THE TOFU for at least a few hours. To press tofu: Take tofu out of packing and drain the liquid.  Place paper towels around the tofu (I usually two-ply it).  Then place wrapped tofu on a plate or in a bowl and place a cutting board and something else heavy on top to apply pressure. You are trying to extract all the water. The more extracted the crispier. You might repeat that process one more time. Sometime I press it in the fridge overnight and change it again in the morning. Then it’s ready for baking in the afternoon. Ingredients : 2 - 14oz blocks of extra-firm tofu Olive oil 2 Tbspns Cornstarch 2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. Garlic powder 1/2 tsp black pepper Recipe :  Heat oven to 400 Slice pressed tofu in two or three even slabs. Pat dry. Slice tofu into desire rectangles or cubes for eating. The smaller the cube the crispier but it takes more time to turn them. So I u...

  These are easy enough to double for a large crowd. Keep it refrigerated and if making ahead, I would make the crust and custard and make the whipped cream fresh the day of so it doesn’t separate. Ingredients: 2.5 sleeves of graham crackers crushed 1 stick of melted butter (1/2 cup) 3 cans of sweetened  condensed  milk 1 cup of Key lime juice 1 cup of vanilla Greek Yogurt Zest from limes (will need 2, but used at different parts of the recipe) 2 egg yolks 2 cups of heavy whipping cream 1/2 cup powdered sugar RECIPE: Crust Preheat oven to 350 Crush graham crackers in a blender or food processor. Pour into a bowl and add 1 stick of melted butter. Combine until in sticks together and fully incorporates.  Press crust into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake crust for 8-10 minutes. Filling : Pour into large bowl cans of condensed milk, and key lime juice. Using a whisk combine until fully combined and no longer liquidy.  Add the Greek yogurt and zest of 1 lime to the bowl and ...

Every once in awhile I want to focus on nothing else and make something a little more fancy. This coconut cream pie is worth the extra care and time. My mother and I share the same love for this pie and it's her birthday! I made this for Thanksgiving and there was NONE left. You can make this crust OR go a little easier and buy a frozen crust from the grocery, just make sure you bake the shell before you use it! Makes one pie, but you'll wish you had made two!    Ingredients For the crust: 2 3/4c. all purpose flour 2 tsp. granulated sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 1/2c. unsalted butter (3 sticks) 6-9 tbsp. ice cold water. For the Filling: 1c. heavy cream 1c. whole milk 1 (14.5oz) can full fat unsweetened coconut milk 3/4c. granulated sugar 1c. unsweetened toasted coconut flakes 1/4 tsp. salt 1 egg + 4 egg yolks 1/3c. cornstarch 1 tsp. vanilla extract 4 tbsp. butter, unsalted, room temp.  For the Topping: 1 1/2 cup. heavy whipping cream. 1/4c. powdered sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1...

This dish is so easy. It took a total of less than 1 hour to put together, bake, and cool off so you can eat it. If you use regular pasta - I would bake it for an extra 5 minutes. My mom passed this recipe on to me and I doctored it a bit.  Ingredients: 1 - 16oz box of pasta (I used Chickpea pasta) 3 cups of water 16 oz. Of frozen meatballs (I used meatless) Sprinkle of salt 1 - 24 oz jar of pasta sauce 5 oz. Spinach Parmesan cheese 2 cups of mozzarella  Fresh Basil or parsley for the top of the dish Recipe : Turn oven to 450.  Spray a 13x9 dish.  Place noodles, water, meatballs, salt, pasta sauce, spinach and just a sprinkle of Parmesan into the dish. Give it a good toss to make sure everything is incorporated.  Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to give a good stir about every 10 minutes.  Take out and sprinkle on the two cups of mozzarella cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes, uncovered.  Take out and let sit for at least 5 minut...

Whether you want to make this in your crockpot or in your instapot - it’s another easy crowd pleaser! Serve over rice and your favorite toppings for bowls or make for tacos!  Ingredients 2-3lb chuck roast, cut into large chunks 1/2 cup beef broth 5 garlic cloves, peeled 2Tbsp apple cider vinegar 2Tbsp lime juice  1 tablespoon dried oregano  2 tsp cumin 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp ground cloves 2 whole bay leaves Serve with Rice, chopped tomatoes & onions, spinach, avocado, shredded cheese, and whatever sauce if you think you need it.  Recipe: Place roast chunks into crockpot or instapot. If using an instapot, place a bit of oil on the bottom first. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place all over ingredients in a blender EXCEPT the bay leaves. Blend till combined.   Pour over the beef chunks. Add the bay leaves If crockpot: 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 on low. If instapot: set to pressure cook on high pressure for 70 minutes and instant release at ...

I love making large pots of any kind of meal.  The ones you can just keep adding to till they grow to the size you need.  My grandma had a POT.  You know, THE pot.  The only pot large enough to make food for our "family" get-togethers.  This pot is so large that you may have only seen them in large industrial kitchens...I'm not even sure how it fit under her 4-burner range?!?!?!  But she always made plenty.  I have a pot, but it is the nesting pot compared to my Grandma's pot.  I had a large amount of friends coming over and I wanted leftovers too. (their kiddos too, but what kiddo, at a play date with 22 other children wants to sit and eat soup?).  Hopefully, once distractions are gone, my children will eat this soup.  It was tasty.  This is a one pot, and grow as big as you like recipe.  I think I could have made it spicier but with a big crowd you never know.  You could also use this for your leftover turkey meat f...

This might seem like a lot of work but it really wasn’t. It’s mostly just dumping.  To make even easier:  You could make the chicken the night before and add all the ingredients to the pan just before baking.  You could make the whole dish the night before including baking it and the leftovers are delicious! You could purchase the tzatziki sauce I truly didn’t measure the spices, I just sprinkled everything on top and then let it sit.  **I’m always looking to make things more colorful so next time I will be adding chopped red and orange peppers and topping with fresh tomatoes.  Tzatziki sauce: 1 cup plain Greek yogurt Juice from one lemon 1/2 of a peeled, Grated cucumber Salt 1 clove garlic, minced 1tsp chopped fresh dill Black pepper   Casserole: 1-2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces Drizzle of olive oil Juice from 1 lemon   2Tbsp chopped fresh parsley   1 tsp, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika Sprinkle of salt SprinkleCumin Sp...

A lot of people ask for this recipe so I thought I would add it here... *remember, everything is approximate *you really need to have ripe avocados, slightly firm and slightly smushy *if you don't have enough after you have mixed everything, you can always add sour cream to make it go farther. Ingredients: 4 avocados 1/4 medium red onion, chopped 1 Tablespoon or more of diced jalapenos 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced  1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon or more of salt chips Cut and open the avocados.  Add everything to a bowl, except chips, and mush together with your hands.  EVERYTHING should be added to your liking.

  Ingredients: 1 &1/4 lbs. brussel sprouts, halved and then thinly sliced 1/2 yellow onion, diced Olive oil (or any cooking oil/fat) Salt Pepper 1/2 cup pistachios, shelled and rough chopped Seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate  1 lemon, zested and then juice squeezed Red pepper flakes Crumbled Feta *optional ingredients: dried cranberries instead of pomegranates and shaved Parmesan in addition to the feta RECIPE:  Slice the Brussel sprouts in half and then thinly slice each half. Place in a bowl.  Heat a large sauté pan on medium low heat. Add cooking oil to the pan and sauté the onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Chop the pistachios When the onions become translucent, add in the Brussel sprouts.  Sauté for just a bit, enough to be warmed. You want the Brussel sprouts to stay bright green. Stir frequently so all the leaves become warm (5 minutes tops) Add in the pistachios. Cook for 1 more minute.  Remove from heat and add in the rest of the ingredien...

Very tasty and makes a lot so you can freeze for later or give to others.  I usually use a 13x9 and two foil 8x8 pans for freezing when I make this and there is still filling left over which is good for putting on top of salads or giving to little ones:) You can also use a 7x11 and 3 foil containers.  When cooking the chicken, I usually cook it in a crockpot on low that morning with a little salt and a minced clove of garlic and just a little water so that it's easy to shred and prepared for when I come home to make the rest. Or you can bake the chicken at 350 for 30 minutes seasoned with garlic powder and salt. Then shred with two forks after its baked This is not super spicy but you can make it hotter if you like. Just add things like diced jalepenos or Tabasco sauce to the chicken filling.  The tortillas: I use white or yellow corn tortillas. They are smaller than the normal taco tortillas. I have tried wheat tortillas and they just don't hold up as well. They ...

My sister and I used to hit up the China Buffet quite frequently as children with our grandparents on a Friday night. Now that my kids are so much older and mature (ha!) I thought maybe they would try it! This recipe makes a lot - perfect for a crowd. If you only want enough for 2 adults to have dinner and leftovers I would definitely halve this. I felt like this recipe was a little less salty and not so heavy in sauce, which I prefer. You CAN saute in broth instead of oil if you feel like you want it even healthier. Also - if you wanted to make it vegetarian, some pan seared tofu would be super tasty! ***TIP! Be sure and have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go BEFORE you begin sauteing. This food cooks quickly and can easily burn if you are trying to chop as you go. Enjoy! Ingredients: 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced 2 egg white 4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of cornstarch divided use 1  - 32oz chicken broth 3 teaspoons of sugar 2 Tablespoons of ...

My nephew joined me one afternoon and I thought, “I bet he’d like muffins.” I wanted to use pumpkin because Tia the season, but I wanted to see if I could lessen the amount of granulated sugar and pack with some protein. So I experimented! Below is the reaping of the experiment. Ingredients:  makes more than 24 regular sized muffins (half the amounts if you’d rather less) 1/2 cup white flour 1/2 cup protein powder (I used chocolate) 2 cups whole wheat flour 2 tsp. Baking soda 3 tsp. Ground cinnamon 3 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice  1/2 tsp. Ground ginger 1/2 tsp salt 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed 1/2 cup brown sugar  1 cup oil (whatever cooking oil you like) 1 can pumpkin purée  1/2 cup milk (any milk and possibly might need more) 1&1/2 cups pecans, chopped (or walnuts) 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips Recipe: Preheat oven to 425 degrees ferenhiet and either spray your muffin tin or Place muffin liners.  In a large bowl, whisk: flour, protein powder, spices, ...

This was not hard to prepare. And honestly, I’m always looking for a new appetizer or fun was to eat a side. These were tasty and didn’t take too much time to prepare. I RECOMMEND making these before the rest of your meal because the potatoes have to boil and then bake. These were so good we couldn’t stop eating them! You figure about one potato per person (8 wedges) Ingredients: 7-8 potatoes (red or golden), sliced into wedges Water Salt 1/4 cup avocado oil 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp dried oregano  1 Tbsp of fresh chopped parsley  Salt, & Pepper 1/2 cup Mayo (we used veganaise) 1 Tbsp mustard 1/2 Tbsp honey 1/2 oz lemon juice  1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp parsley, chopped 1/4 tsp oregano Pepper Recipe: ***pots/utensils to gather: cutting board& chopping knife, large pot for potatoes 1 large cookie sheet covered in tin foil, strainer, large bowl for tossing potatoes, small prep bowl for potato seasoning mixture, small bowl for mixing dipp...

These are not your average nachos. I love trying new dishes and wanted something easy that transferred well to a crowd. It stayed fairly well hot and still tasted great even after it cooled down. Chopping was also a minimum. Add more mayo if you want the spread to go further. You of course add or subtract whatever! Don't forget the forks so you can grab the bits that fall between the cracks. Ingredients 1 bag of tortilla chips (I used white corn chips) 2 & 1/2 cups of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese saute oil 1 large bag of frozen corn (about 3 cups) or 3 fresh ears of corn cut off the cob.   salt pepper 2 garlic cloves minced paprika 1 jalapeno, diced with seeds removed (or 1 tsp from a jar of diced jalapeño) 3 or 4 limes 1/3 cup sour cream 1/4 cup. mayonnaise crumbled Cotija Cheese (mine came in a 2 cup bag) 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro Recipe: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet heat saute oil over high heat. Add corn to the skillet and stir. Season with s...

  If you love Lemon here is your soup. It was very filling, easy to make, and made plenty for my family. I am not a huge fan of chickpeas and I barely noticed them in the soup. ***I served this with corn bread Ingredients: Olive oil (or whatever your cooking oil is) 1 onion, diced 4 large carrots, peeled, halved and sliced 5 celery stalks 6 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp. dried thyme pepper 1 tsp rosemary 12 cups of vegetable broth, + 2 cups of water 2 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (some can are labeled garbanzo beans) 2 bay leaves 1 cup of orzo pasta or more juice from 2 lemons lemon zest from 1 lemon 1/3 cup tahini  A handful of kale or spinach fresh parsley or dill (Optional and as a garnish - but I really think it takes it the extra step in goodness). Recipe: Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and saute for about 1 minute more until the veggies are soft. Add the thyme, a bit of ...

This reciepe was a base taken from a blog, Cookin Canuck.  Thank you for the inspiration! I have been very intimidated by my insta pot. And Ironically I have felt rushed! Rushed into an appliance I didn't have time to work or figure out. Well, this quarantine has given me the space to be more "instant" - another irony I know. This recipe I made with homemade chicken broth. If you decide to do this, omit all the other salt besides the first salting of veggies because the broth will probably be salty enough. Of course always taste to see if it needs more salt. Omit the kale or mushrooms if you're not a fan, but they are some good for you foods. The leeks are similar to onions, but a step up in doing more for your body. You can omit these too. *****IF YOU DECIDE TO PUT LEEKs in the recipe...you need to cut into cross-section slices and then soak in water. Separate each layer of the leek by just pushing through them with your fingers. Then drain and lay out on a paper...

This dish was inspired from the blog: 40aprons.  This is fairly quick, not a lot of chopping and loads of flavor. The variety of natural occurring color gives notion of the many nutrients in this dish. I enjoy fresh, natural, organic food. And it’s even better if I can cut a corner or two without everything being made from scratch. If you want to make things easier on yourself, purchase some premade items (the bbq chicken, slaw, pickles). I LOVE tangy foods and my local grocer used to have a beet kraut that I loved. But they no offer that item so I came up with an easy slaw recipe. I added ingredients and recipe for slaw below.  Ingredients: 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubes Avocado oil (or your preferred cooking oil) - just enough to coat the cubes of sweet potato maybe a tablespoon or two.  A dash of cinnamon 2tsp chili powder or less if you like less spicy.  Sprinkle of salt.  2-3 chicken breasts 1 cup your choice barbecue sauce 2-3 tablespoons of Italian dr...

I looooove me some lemon. Nothing really screams spring to me than lemons and blueberries together in a gooey cake. So here is a simple recipe using a cake box! I am a fan of cake boxes. I love going all the way scratch when I can - but if I am limited on time and want a little flair then sometimes I use a box instead. If you want to do it from scratch - the recipe for my yellow cake is listed below the main recipe. Enjoy! Ingredients: 1 yellow cake mix 1 vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4oz) 4 eggs 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice Zest from one lemon plus more for garnish (I would buy two lemons and use 1.5)  1/4 cup of warm water 1/3 cup of cooking oil 1tsp vanilla 1&1/4 cup sour cream (or Greek style yogurt) 1 cup of white chocolate chips 1 cup of blueberries For icing/garnish 1 container of cream cheese icing 1/2 a lemon zested A few more white chocolate chips for sprinkling on top.  Recipe: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan Mix all ingredi...

After an emotional week - both ups and downs comfort food on a crisp spring day sounded like it was needed. I used a plant based “cream cheese” this time because of my daughter’s dietary needs. But I have made this with regular cream cheese and it is also great. You can make your pie crust or buy Pillsbury - I will die on the hill that there is no ready made crust that is any better. We prefer chunkier veggies and more of them so there is less “cream” in the pot pie. This only took 20 minutes to prepare - including the chopping. It was on the dinner table within the hour. We served this with biscuits. My next challenge is to create this in a vegetarian version.  INGREDIENTS: Sauté oil (olive oil, avocado oil, or veggie broth).  3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks or bite size.  Salt Pepper Garlic powder Onion powder 4 celery stalks, chopped into bite size 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced bite size 1 brick of cream cheese 2 heaping tablespoons of flour 1/2 cup of vegetabl...