Slow Cooker Piggies aka Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Gluten-Free)

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When Chris was out of town for work, Bradley and I decided to stay at my parents' house for a night. Not only was a snow storm looming, but Bradley was under the weather and I didn't want to be trapped in my house all alone with a sick baby. So we went to my parents' house and I got to spend some quality time with my mom. During one of Bradley's naps, I asked to make these Piggies that my mom has been making for years. It was her mom's recipe and I just needed to know how to make them.

Piggies are very simple to make; they're just a little time consuming. But with two people working on the cabbage rolls, we got the meal prepared in no time! A simple combination of pork and beef is tucked and rolled into cabbage leaves and then you slow cook them with a simple tomato sauce. These are the ultimate comfort food to me since they remind me of my childhood. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (14.5 oz.) can sauerkraut
• 1 head cabbage, outer damaged layers removed
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 cup long grain rice (NOT cooked)
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

Line the bottom of a crockpot with sauerkraut and set aside.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add cabbage and boil for 5 minutes. Remove cabbage from pot and allow to cool slightly. Reserve water.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pan. Add onions and saute until soft, about 5-7 minutes. 

Combine cooked onions, beef, pork, rice and garlic powder in a large bowl. 

Take cabbage and separate leaves. Use a small knife to remove the tough rib from the center of each leaf.

Take about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture and place in the center of each leaf. Fold like an envelope and roll up tightly. If the leaf is very large, cut it in half before filling. Continue with the remaining cabbage leaves. If you have extra cabbage leaves, you can shred them and throw into the bottom of the crockpot with the sauerkraut.

Place stuffed cabbage rolls very close together in the bottom of the prepared crockpot (you can lay them on top of one another). Cover with tomato sauce and 2 cups of the reserved cabbage water.

Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on HIGH for 1 hour or until rice is tender (alternatively, you can cook the piggies in a large pot or dutch oven at 350 degrees F for 1 hour).

Source: My Mom

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

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Chris, Bradley and I often go to a Great American Restaurant for dinner when I don't feel like cooking, and one of their new "healthy" dinner options includes a couscous side dish. I don't think I've ever had couscous before, but this particular side dish made me obsessed with the stuff. The rest of the meal is just okay, but I specifically order it now JUST for the couscous. It has onions, tomatoes, cheese and raisins in it. Raisins! It seemed so weird to me, but it was a very welcome sweet contrast to the rest of the ingredients.

Since couscous is now one of my favorite things (and I also researched it and found out how easy--and QUICK--it is to make) I was eager to create a recipe using it. I went with flavors I already know and love just to play it safe: tomatoes, Kalamata olives, garbanzo beans and feta round out this Mediterranean-style dish. I opted to throw some raisins in there as well to add a little sweetness, and I absolutely loved the contrast (feel free to leave them out if you're iffy about them). This is a dish that can be prepared in under 10 minutes and can be served hot or cold. I don't know about you, but versatile dishes are some of my favorite dishes. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 extra large chicken bouillon cube
• 1 1/2 cups dry couscous
• 1 cup tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/2 Kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup scallions, diced
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Dash of salt
• Dash of cayenne pepper

In a medium saucepan, add the water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil and stir until bouillon cube is dissolved. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the tomato, olives, scallions, raisins, garbanzo beans, feta, olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, a dash of salt (use a small amount since the olives are already salty) and cayenne pepper.

Once couscous is done, remove cover and fluff with a fork. Add couscous to tomato mixture and lightly stir to combine. Serve immediately, at room temperature or chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Source: SK Original

Creamy Cheesy Pasta with Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mushrooms

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Yes, we're trying to eat healthy. But it's also important to have indulgences once in a while! And to us, those indulgences are usually in the form of pasta. With cheese. And half-and-half. But there were vegetables, so that counts for something, right?

This was a very rich and creamy pasta dish. Plus it was very easy to make. You can really put any type of vegetable in this dish and it will turn out amazing, but I love the taste of sun-dried tomatoes so I opted for those. I also had some mushrooms on hand, so in they went. The chicken makes this meal very filling, so you don't have to eat too much of it...making it a little healthier. I think. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 oz. penne pasta
• 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
• 1 (7 oz.) jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil
• 1 (8 oz.) package sliced mushrooms
• 3 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1 cup fat-free half and half
• 1/2 tbsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup Parmesan-Romano blend cheese, shredded

Cook penne according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup water and then drain pasta. Set aside.

Drain sun-dried tomatoes over a bowl to reserve liquid. Cut tomatoes into thin strips.

Add 1.5 tbsp. reserved sun-dried tomato oil to a pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Remove mixture from pan and reserve in a bowl.

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with seasoned salt. Add 2 more tablespoons reserved sun-dried tomato oil to pan. Add seasoned chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes or until done. Remove chicken from pan and place on a plate. Drain fat/oil from the pan.

Add cooked sun-dried tomato/mushroom mixture and half and half to pan. Add basil and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add cheeses. Continuously stir and immediately add 1/2 cup reserved pasta water. Stir until cheese is melted and mixture is combined.

Add chicken and pasta to the pan and stir to coat. Serve immediately.

Source: SK Original

Bananas Foster Coffee Cake

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Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday! And also my AMAZING husband's 30th birthday!! So happy birthday to the best husband, father, friend and partner a girl could ask for. I couldn't imagine going through this crazy life with anyone but you :)

In honor of Mardi Gras, I whipped up this delicious bananas foster cake. Since there is "coffee" in the title, it's a cake that's more than suitable to eat for breakfast, too. I can highly bet you'll want to eat this for breakfast...and lunch...and dinner. It's the glorious combination of bananas foster and your favorite breakfast cake topped with a sweet, crumby topping. It's super moist and full of amazing flavors; I personally couldn't stop eating it. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 6 tbsp. dark rum
• 3 ripe bananas, sliced into 1 1/2-inch chunks (about 2 cups)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour*
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt

For the streusel:

• 7 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the dark brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the rum and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring often, until slightly thickened. Add the banana chunks and cook for 3 minutes more, gently stirring and coating the bananas with the caramel as they cook. When the bananas are very tender, mash a few times with a potato masher just to break down the banana into bits–don’t overmash them into a paste. Scrape the caramelized banana mixture into a medium heatproof bowl. Stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter until melted. Stir in the vanilla. Let the mixture cool until its just warm to the touch. Quickly whisk in the eggs.

Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together into a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold just until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

To make the streusel, combine the flour, sugar and butter in a small bowl. Use your fingertips or a fork to blend the ingredients into a pebbly mixture (be careful not to overwork the butter if you’re using your fingers, as to not melt the butter with the heat of your hands). Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting and serving.

*If you don't have cake flour on hand, measure two cups of all-purpose flour into a bowl. Remove two tablespoons of the flour and add two tablespoons cornstarch. Sift through a sifter and you have cake flour.

Source: Shauna Server

Fresh Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cookies

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Happy Valentine's Day Eve! Boy, have I got an awesome recipe for you to make your loved ones for tomorrow. And even better news? The base of the recipe comes from a box, so it doesn't even make too much of a mess! I love the texture of cake-like cookies because they're deliciously soft and melt in your mouth. They really are so, so good.

I used fresh strawberries in this recipe, and I really think that extra step added a lot of flavor. Sure, you can use strawberry cake mix if you really want to, but why exclude fresh, sweet strawberries if you don't have to? Strawberries mixed with chocolate are a no-brainer, so obviously these cookies are over-the-top good. They're a pale shade of pink (so feel free to add a little red food coloring if you really want the pink to pop) and a sweet treat to give the one you love. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup very ripe strawberries, sliced
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 box (18.25 oz) vanilla cake mix
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Red food coloring
• 1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Extra chocolate chips, for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Put strawberries in a bowl and top with sugar. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Use a fork to mash the strawberries into large chunks (if your strawberries aren't that ripe, you might need to add them to a blender or food processor and blend slightly, leaving chunks). Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. Add the reserved strawberries, eggs, oil and vanilla and stir to combine. Add a few drops of red food coloring to make a light pink color, if desired, and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop 2 tbsp. of dough shaped into a ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving about 2 inches in between cookies.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Source: SK Original