Chick-fil-a Sauce

1/2 cup mayo

2 tbsp. mustard

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. vinegar

2 tbsp. honey

Salt and pepper, to taste

Stir all ingredients together.  Simple as that.

This makes a lot, so I try to to fourth the recipe sometimes because it's just my husband and I eating.

*Yum!  Goes perfectly with some homemade nuggets.

(Recipe found through tablefortwoblog.com)

Baked Oatmeal Muffins

Baked Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups applesauce

1 banana (mashed)

5 cups Old Fashioned Oats

½ cup honey

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 ¾ cup milk

Cupcake liners

*Mix-in’s of your choosing: chocolate chips, raisins, craisins, blueberries, etc…

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.     Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana, and honey in a bowl.

3.     Add in oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well.

4.     Pour in Milk.  Stir.

5.     You can mix in your choosing of items now if you want them all the same or you can wait until you fill your cupcake tins and sprinkle on top.  (I just added chocolate chips to the whole batch and sprinkled a few craisins on top of some)

6.     Pour mixture into muffin pan.  Use cupcake liners!  You may even want to spray the cupcake liners with cooking spray.  They stick really bad, so either way, with our without cooking spray, use cupcake liners.   **Mixture will look very runny.  Don’t worry.  It will not be runny after cooking time.  These also do not rise much, if at all, so you can fill the muffin tin pretty close to the top.  I believe I was able to make around 20 muffins with this recipe depending on how high you fill each cup.

7.     Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and enjoy or freeze in a gallon freezer baggie.

If frozen- pop a single muffin into the microwave about 30 seconds.  If heating up more than one at a time, more time will need to be added.

*This is a favorite of Madelyn's for breakfast!

(Recipe adapted from sugarfreemom.com)

Sweet and Spicy Steak

1 Lean Steak (first time making this we used a large Rib-eye, bone in and just cut around it into strips and it was delish!)

1/3 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Honey

1 1/2 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce

Canola Oil

Brown Rice

Combine Soy Sauce, Honey, Chili Garlic Sauce, and 2 tsp of Canola Oil in a bowl.  Set aside.

Cut your steak into thin strips, cutting off any excess fat.  Heat 1/2 Tbsp of Canola in a large pan.  Add the strips of steak and cook about 30 seconds on each side.  Add the Soy Sauce mixture to the pan and stir.  

Serve over Brown Rice.

**This will most likely be a weekly staple meal for us much like pasta!  We ate this with a side salad as well and we walked away from the table feeling very pleased.

(Recipe from www.thefitcook.net)

Havij Polo (Carrot Rice)

1 pound ground beef
1 pound chopped carrots
2 cups white rice
1 medium onion (grated)
3 Tbp Lemon or Lime juice
Oil
Salt
Black pepper
Turmeric
Saffron

Sautee onions in a greased saute pan, then add ground beef to it.  Season it with salt, black pepper, and turmeric.  Let the mixture cook thoroughly.

Saute chopped carrots in another greased saute pan.  Then mix carrots with ground beef mixture, heat on medium for 3-4 minutes.  Add lime/lemon juice and keep the heat on for 2 more minutes.

Cook your rice as directed on the package.  Mix your beef and carrot mixes into the rice. Add some oil.  Add saffron.  Put a lid on and after about 4-5 minutes lower the head and let it steam for 15-20 minutes. 

**We could not find saffron at our local grocery store, we may need to check somewhere else- the recipe still turned out great- but I have a feeling that this would have made it even better
**This is a great meal to make extra and keep in the fridge as left overs- it is just as good heated up!

(Recipe from husband's coworker)

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper Pasta)

3/4 pound spaghetti
3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
Salt

Cook pasta as directed.  When draining keep 1/2 cup of the cooking water from the pasta.  In a bowl, combine the cheeses.  Quickly add a little bit of the water and cheese to the pasta and stir, repeat.  Sprinkle the black pepper and season with salt.  Toss again.  Serve.

**We prefer a little less pepper, but then again we didn't cook as much spaghetti because it was just my husband and I.

(Recipe taken from Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2011)

Black Eyed Pea Salsa

1 can black eyed peas (drained)
2 tomatoes diced
3 Tbp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
Cilantro chopped
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp jalepeno pepper diced

Throw in a bowl.  Mix it all together.  Sit in the fridge for a day.  Serve with Tostitos.

**This makes a delicious, fresh tasting salsa.  Nothing what like you'd buy from a jar!

(Recipe from a dear friend of mine)

Apple Cider Bean Dip

This recipe is quite simple and simply delicious!

1 avocado diced
1 tomato diced
1 can of corn (drained
1 can of black beans (drained)
Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix all ingredients together and serve with Tostitos.  I mix the apple cider vinegar last and taste it to determine how much I want. 

**You can't go wrong with this recipe and it is great for parties.

(Recipe from a dear friend of mine)