Andes Mint Grinch Cookies

Ingredients

2 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp mint extract
15-20 drops green food coloring
1 bag of Andes mints (chopped or broken apart)

Directions
Preheat oven 375 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside. Unwrap the Andes Mints

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and mint extract. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and add the green food coloring. Mix until even colored. Last fold in the chopped Andes mints. (I also added some milk chocolate chips… just because I LOVE milk chocolate!)

Put in the refrigerator until the dough is cool.

Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls.  To make them more rounded when they come out, flatten the balls as you place them onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool.

Beef Stew

I can't post it properly so use this link to see the recipe 

Also, Dave used higher quality meat than it recommends 

Peach Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1½ (8 ounce) cans crescent rolls
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• ¾ cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1-2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup orange soda
• 2-3 fresh peaches

Instructions

1. Butter 8x8 inch baking dish.
2. Preheat the oven at 350 F.
3. Peel peaches and cut each into 4-6 slices (smaller peaches you can cut in 4 slices and larger in 6)
4. Roll each peach slice in a crescent roll and place in a buttered dish.
5. Melt butter, stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and vanilla, when it’s thickened, remove from heat and pour over the dumplings.
6. Pour the soda in the middle and along the edges of a pan (not over the rolls)
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until they become golden brown.
8. You can sprinkle more cinnamon-sugar on top of the baked dumplings if you like.
9. Serve warm.

Zucchini Crust

For the crust:

•     1 large egg or 2 small ones
•     About 3 small-medium zucchinis (mine were about 8″)
•     1.5 cups grated parmesan or mozzarella. I liked parmesan best for this one.
•     salt

See note above about how you can vary these proportions according to your taste, your desired crispiness, etc.
 

For the toppings:

Use anything you like on a pizza. General formula:

•     Mild tomato sauce OR pesto
•     Grated firm mozzarella cheese OR sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
•     Ricotta cheese or goat cheese, for small dollops on top (optional
•     Assorted vegetables. Pre-sauté for extra flavor, especially if you’re using onion, garlic and mushrooms. A little italian parsley or basil is nice too; the basil can be added fresh after the pizza is cooked, and the parsley is nice in the sauté. Finely chopped greens are nice. Fresh tomatoes can be added after the pizza is cooked too.
•     Meat if you like/eat meat on pizza: Crumbled sausage would work well. Pre-sauté. Ground lamb or chicken would be tasty, cooked with lots of garlic.
•     Olive oil, black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Grate the zucchini.

3. Sprinkle salt on the zucchini and stir. Let it sit a few minutes.

4. Squeeze the water out. I found the easiest way to do this was to wrap it in cheese cloth or butter muslin and squeeze. You can also put the zucchini on one plate and press another plate on top of it, or put it in a colander and press a bowl into it.

5. Mix with egg and grated cheese.

6. Spread parchment paper on a pizza stone or baking sheet. Spread out your dough batter about 1/2 inch thick into a circle.

7. Put it in the oven and cook until it has browned, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, as it is cooking, sauté any toppings you want cooked. I sautéed garlic, onions, mushrooms and Italian parsley.

8. Take the browned bottom crust out of the oven and admire it.

9. Cover it with your toppings.

10. Bake again until crust edges brown further and cheese on top melts into toppings. Take out of oven and add drizzled olive oil, grated black pepper, and optional fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. Serve hot.

Parmesan Zucchini and Corn

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 zucchinis, diced
• 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, or more, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add zucchini, corn, basil, oregano and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is tender and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in lime juice and cilantro.
• Serve immediately, sprinkled with Parmesan.

Citrus Chicken with Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cloves roasted garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large oranges, peeled and segmented
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cubed

DRESSING

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (packed)*
• 1 Tablespoon fresh orange juice*
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon honey

Directions:

Cook quinoa according to package directions or use my directions - my recipe will make 2-3 cups, more than what you will use. But leftovers are great! Transfer cooked quinoa to a large bowl and let cool.

Pour olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and roasted garlic, stirring it all around to coat with oil. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and salt. Stir and cook until chicken is done, about 8 minutes. Add cooked chicken, oranges, and avocado to the quinoa. Stir to combine. Set aside.

For the dressing: whisk all of the dressing ingredients together. Pour over salad and toss to coat everything evenly. Serve immediately. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Additional Notes:

*If you love cilantro as much as I do feel free to increase to 1/2 cup.

*I simply squeezed the juice out of a couple pieces of the oranges I threw into the salad for the 1 Tablespoon needed in the dressing.

Black Forest Super Shake

INGREDIENTS - 

• 1 scoops chocolate Primal Body protein powder (I just use whatever choc protein powder I have at home)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 handful of frozen cherries (I only had fresh and it probably came out a little more liquid but still tasted fine)
• 1/2 a banana
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1 handful crushed ice

Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients
{For the sauce}  **Jess: I used a can of sauce b/c I try to make recipes as easy as possible!)
3 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup all purpose flour (or gluten-free flour)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Salt/pepper

{For the enchiladas} 
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed)
6 oz. fresh baby spinach
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tsp. cumin
3 cups shredded 3 cheese blend (or pepper jack, etc.)
8 large flour tortillas
Jess: I also added shredded chicken

Directions
Make the sauce: in a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato paste, flour, 2 tsp. cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. Cook 1 minute, whisking. Whisk in broth, bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, and cook until slightly thickened about 8 minutes. Salt/pepper to taste, and set aside.

Saute the spinach in olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until slightly wilted.
In a large bowl, combine beans, 2 cups cheese, spinach, corn, green onions, 2 tsp. cumin, and cilantro.
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking dish, and pour a small amount of the sauce to coat the bottom.
Generously fill tortillas with mixture, roll up tightly with ends tucked in, and place seam side down in dish.
Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas, coating evenly. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top.
Bake about 20 minutes, and garnish with cilantro and/or green onions (optional).

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Freezer Instructions
A sweet reader of mine, Kara, tested out this recipe as a freezer meal and found it worked great. Here are her instructions:

"I made the enchiladas as you outlined above, stopping before adding the sauce and cheese to the top. I froze the enchiladas and the sauce separately. Thawed the sauce in the fridge overnight, then when I was ready to bake, I heated the sauce slowly in a saucepan - whisking helped keep it smooth. Then poured the sauce over the frozen enchiladas, added some cheese, and baked @ 400, covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes."

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 4 boneless pork chops
• ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
• 2-3 TB Italian breadcrumbs (dried)
• ⅛ tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• 2 TB olive oil
• ¼ tsp. pepper

Instructions

1. Mix Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, paprika, parsley and garlic powder and place on a plate.
2. Dip pork chops in the mixture (making sure mixture sticks) and sear in a pan of olive oil on medium-high heat. Sautee for 5 minutes on each side.
3. Place pork chops in a glass baking dish and cook according to thickness. Ours were an inch thick and we cooked for an hour at 300. If yours are regular thickness, cook at 350 for half hour.

Twice Baked Butternut with Quinoa and Gorgonzola

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium shallots
• ½ cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup gorgonzola cheese, plus extra for topping
• pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 400˚. Slice butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place each half cut side down in a 9x13 pan and pour ½" of water in the bottom. Place in oven and bake until tender, about 45-60 minutes. Once done, remove and set aside.
2. Rinse quinoa and set aside. In a medium pan heat olive oil over medium low heat. Dice shallots, add to oil, and saute until shallots are fragrant. Stir in quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer at let cook until water is absorbed, 12-15 minutes.
3. While quinoa cooks, scoop out butternut squash, leaving a ¼"-1/2" on the sides and bottom. Drain water from pan and return butternut squash to the pan, cut side up.
4. Mash butternut squash and stir in gorgonzola cheese. Once quinoa is done, add it to the butternut squash. Taste and add salt if need be.
5. Scoop filling evenly into butternut squash halves. Sprinkle with gorgonzola cheese and return to oven. Let bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted and the tops begin to brown. Remove from oven, cut eat half in half, and serve.
6. Evenly spread filling back into butternut squash

Notes

The butternut squash can be roasted the day before cutting out a good majority of the time it takes to make this!

I also added about 1/4 cup of Craisins   

Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

• ¼ cup Dijon mustard $0.45
• 2 Tbsp real maple syrup $0.65
• 1 Tbsp olive oil $0.16
• 2 tsp soy sauce $0.04
• 1 clove garlic $0.08
• ½ Tbsp dried rosemary (or 1 Tbsp fresh) $0.15
• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs $4.00

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the dijon mustard, maple syrup, olive oil, and soy sauce. Mince the garlic and chop the rosemary. Stir both into the marinade.
2. Coat the inside of an 8x8 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray. Arrange the chicken thighs in the dish so that they are close, but not overlapping. Pour the marinade on top and then spread it around until the thighs are completely covered.
3. Bake the chicken thighs in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.

Notes

Use a spoon to drizzle the cooking juices over top of the chicken after baking. Avoid using a brush as this will wipe off the baked on marinade.

Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lbs extra-lean ground turkey
• 1 tsp clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup onions, diced
• ½ cup yellow pepper, diced
• 1 ½ cup sweet potato, diced
• Salt and pepper
• A pinch of chili pepper
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Green onions for garnishing

Instructions

1. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
2. Add ground turkey and garlic. Stir occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Add onions and yellow peppers and cook until onions are gold brown.
4. Add the sweet potato, cover the skillet and cook until they are tender. Don’t forget to stir occasionally. If necessary, add more olive oil or a little bit of water to cook the sweet potato.
5. While the sweet potato is cooking pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
6. When the sweet potato is tender, add shredded mozzarella cheese and bring the skillet to the oven to melt the cheese.
7. When the cheese melts, remove from the oven and garnish with green onions.