Half-hour chicken gumbo

I got your attention with that half-hour comment, didn't I? This gumbo recipe is from Everyday Food, and it's fast, easy and delicious! I halved the recipe and it made 3 servings. I served it with cornbread as suggested, and dinner was served in 30 minutes!

Dark-chocolate espresso cookies

I've had several recipes bookmarked that call for espresso powder, which I finally found at Whole Foods. These dark-chocolate espresso cookies are rich and delicious! I halved the recipe and made 17 medium cookies (I used a 1 Tbsp scoop vs the 2 that the recipe calls for). YUM!

Chicken sliders

We made Rachael Ray's chicken biscuit sliders and oven fries with spicy gravy this week. The oven fries were very crisp, and Lucy even helped herself to a few! We skipped the swiss chard slaw on the sliders, but they were still delicious! I loved it on the biscuit, and a splash of hot sauce and honey was the perfect topper.

Doughnut muffins

I made doughnut muffins from My Baking Adventures for our Bachelor watch party this week. These were little bites of yummy goodness! They taste like doughnuts, but are baked instead of fried - everyone wins! I made two versions - I rolled half in confectioners sugar, and the other half rolled in butter, then cinnamon sugar. Both ways are delicious, but the cinnamon sugar seemed to be the crowd favorite!

Peanut butter oatmeal chipsters

I made peanut butter oatmeal chipsters from Baked Perfection for our Bachelor watch party last night. They are delicious, and best served warm, in my humble opinion. I halved the recipe and it made approx 40 small cookies. I kept them small so we wouldn't feel guilty about eating a handful at a time!

Pork chops with white beans

Dinner last night was pork chops with white beans from Everyday Food. The only substitution I made was using boneless butterfly chops instead of bone-in rib chops. Also, after 10 minutes on the heat I was skeptical my sauce would ever thicken, so we mashed half of the beans to help it along. This was an easy and yummy dish - it's not your grandma's pork and beans!

Redeye mole chili

Dinner last night (after a disappointing Hogs hoops loss) was Rachael Ray's redeye mole chili. Robert says this may be his new favorite recipe, so that's saying a lot! We love chili around here, especially with all this wintery weather we've been having, so it's nice to have a variety of recipes. This one is kind of non-traditional because it isn't tomato-based and it has very interesting spices (cocoa, coffee, etc). Try it!!

3 cups beef stock
2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 slices lean smoked bacon, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
2 tbsp instant coffee (I used instant espresso powder)
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
* Shredded cheddar cheese and diced red onion for topping

1. In a large saucepan, bring the beef stock and ancho chiles to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and puree.
2. Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven or soup pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, 2-3 minutes. Add the beef, increase the heat to high and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. (I would drain some of the liquid at this point). Lower the heat to medium, add the yellow onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; season with pepper.
3. Stir the tomato paste into the chili for 1 minute. Stir in the pureed ancho liquid, black beans, tomatoes, coffee, paprika, coriander, cocoa and cinnamon and simmer for 5 minutes; season with salt.
4. Serve the chili in shallow bowls. Top with the cheese and red onion.

Crispy Chinese lemon chicken

We tried Rachael Ray's crispy Chinese lemon chicken this week, and loved it! The lemon adds a ton of flavor, and the breading on the chicken gets perfectly crispy. The dipping sauce made way more than we needed, so you could easily half that (we made the full recipe of the chicken and rice, and had leftovers for lunch today).

Pulled pork sandwiches (slow-cooker!)

Dinner last night was pulled pork sandwiches cooked in the crock pot. My grocery store was out of pork shoulder roast, so I substituted a 4-lb pork loin. The meat was juicy and tender - leftovers were fantastic, too!

Pizza dip

My contribution to the Super Bowl party this year was cheesy pepperoni dip, a recipe I saw on another food blog called Noble Pig. I omitted the black olives (personal preference) and followed the rest of the recipe as is. Hot, cheesy, and yum!

Burger with caramelized onion & bacon jam

We tried a new burger recipe last week from Every Day with Rachael Ray - the Lure burger with caramelized onion & bacon jam. A lot of classic burger flavors with the ketchup, mayo and mustard, but the deliciously sweet caramelized onions mixed with bacon made it extra-special!

Asian chicken noodle soup

We made Asian chicken noodle soup last week, a recipe from Cooking Light. This was my first time cooking with lemongrass, which gives the soup it's unique Asian flavor (I found it in the produce section at Whole Foods). This was a simple yet flavorful soup.

Cinnamon bread

Yum, another recipe to use those delicious cinnamon chips that were so hard to find! Cinnamon bread from Christy's Kitchen Creations blog. Perfect for breakfast - or dessert!

Cinnamon-chocolate fudge

I've never had much luck making fudge, particularly the kind that requires a candy thermometer and a precise melting temperature. I saw this recipe for cinnamon chocolate fudge and immediately wanted to try it - no thermometer and everything mixes in one bowl! This fudge was simple to make, and everyone loved it at our Bachelor watch party last night. You can't beat a good sweet-and-salty combo, so the kosher salt sprinkled on top really makes a difference! Yum!

Grits

Dinner tonight was breakfast, and the star of the show was grits from Food & Wine magazine. Our friend Matthew introduced us to the recipe, and we'll be forever grateful. They are so creamy and rich, you'll swear they're full of cheese... but they're not. No more grits cooked in plain old water - chicken stock and cream are the way to go!

Toasted marshmallow milkshakes

We had some friends over last night to watch the Pro Bowl, so after our chili dinner my sweet tooth needed some attention, too. I made toasted marshmallow milkshakes, which have been at the top of my "to-make" list for a few weeks. The toasted marshmallow flavor is fantastic, and these are super-easy to whip up!