Cranberry Orange Mini Scones with a Creamy Ginger Glaze

Busy Mama Recipes



Every Sunday I have brunch with my family, and tomorrow it's my turn to host. I made a practice run with a recipe today and loved it. Knox has deemed them "the most yummy cookie", so I think they'll be acceptable at tomorrow's get together.  Plus, the combination of cranberry, nutmeg, orange, and ginger are perfect for this time of year. 

Scones

2 cups ap flour, unsifted
1/4 cup sugar

2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt (omit if you use salted butter)
1 tsp baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
1 pinch nutmeg
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
Zest of one orange * Learn how to zest an orange without making the recipe bitter
1 cup Craisins (or dried, lightly sweetened cranberries)

Preheat Oven to 425.

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugars, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder and pulse a couple of times. Add the orange zest and butter and pulse until it looks like small crumbs. Then add the cream and mix until it is well incorporated.

Next, on a lightly floured surface, dump out the crumbly dough. Add the berries and knead with your hands until its very well mixed ( about one minute). Divide the dough in half, and form each half into a one inch thick circle, then cut into eight pieces (like a tiny pie).

Arrange them on the baking sheet and paint with the remaining heavy cream.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until they're golden brown on top. After they cool, spoon the glaze (recipe below) evenly over each one. Make sure to refrigerate the leftovers (if there are any;-))

Creamy Ginger Glaze

1 tbs orange juice (fresh squeezed from the orange you zested earlier)

1 tbs heavy cream

1/2 tbs ground ginger

2 cups confectioners sugar

Whisk together in a small bowl until smooth.  This glaze should be very thick.  Since it contains milk it should be refrigerated if not eaten.

Creamy Chicken Artichoke White Lasagna

Sometimes I feel like I need to learn to cook worse so I won't eat so much. Then I change my mind because I love food almost as much as I love making it.

Busy Mama Recipes

I roasted a chicken earlier this week and needed to use the leftover meat for something. I am really red-sauced out right now, so I was trying to think of something without the Bolognese type sauce. Oh, and it needed to have artichoke in it.

Ta-da. I'm a genius:-) Chicken lasagna with artichokes; something my kids would hopefully eat if I told them it was chicken and cheese. And it sounded easy enough.

Ingredients

Shredded chicken, approx 2-3 cups (I just pulled the meat off the carcass and chopped it. I used closer to 2 cups since my three year old son ate a bunch of this chicken during the prep:-) But any amount would work, really).
2 cups full fat Greek Yogurt (none of that nonfat crap- that isn't yogurt)
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 cup spinach, chard, or kale, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced in circles
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 box of lasagna noodles (prepared like the box says) *** You can also use zucchini noodles and make a grain free/ gluten free lasagna
Bechemel Sauce: Melt 2 tbs of butter in a saucepan.  Add 2 tbs of flour and whick together, cooking on medium for about five minutes.  Add 2 cups of milk and whisk together.  Add 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Add 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer, whisking often, until hot.  Be careful not to burn. It should thicken as it cools. 

Directions

Preheat oven to 365.

In a large mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid mixer) I combined the yogurt, chicken, artichokes, 1 garlic clove, onion, and 1/2 cup of mozz cheese.

In my food processor, I combined two cloves of garlic, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and cottage cheese. I pulsed it until it was smooth and looked like green cream cheese. I added some black pepper for flavor. 

*** The cottage cheese is a great alternative to ricotta because of the protein and the lower calorie and fat content. You could use ricotta instead and it would still taste great. 

This is what the cottage cheese mixture looks like when it's done.  Slightly green with no lumps.

In a large casserole dish (mine is 9x13), I layered like this:

Noodles
Chicken mixture
Spinach
Noodles
Cottage cheese mixture
Layer of tomato slices
1/2 cup mozz cheese
Noodles
Bechemel Sauce
The rest of the mozz cheese
Layer of tomato slices
Parmesan cheese (I garnished with ground pepper and oregano flakes)

Bake, covered for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for another thirty minutes.

And I was right, my kids scarfed this down!

Cranberry Vinaigrette

Holy yum.

If you're a regular reader, you know how much I love salad dressing. Obviously- I have like 15 recipes on here for different dressings. You'd think I'd be super thin since I eat so much salad, but no. These drwssing are for real... no the stupid, "diet" kind. Sick.

We had our first snow here today, so with that mood I decided to make something holiday-ish. Perfect timing since its the beginning of November, marking the time when people prepare for Thanksgiving.

This was an interesting creation for me, and I'm probably still going to improve on it as time goes by and the voices give me more ideas. Keep in mind this is just a prelim, but its still pretty delicious. I would drink it if it was socially accepatable. I promise I'm dipping bread in it as I type. :-)

1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup + 3 tbs brown sugar
3 tbs balsamic vinegar (or mix with rice vinegar)
3 tbs molasses (you could also use honey or real maple syrup)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground pepper (I subbed three pink peppercorns)
1 1/2 cups canola, vegetable, or grapeseed oil (I used a combo of gso and canola)

Blend all of the ingredients, except oil, in a food processor until smooth. Once combined, add oil very slowly with the food processor on high (immulsify). Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to ten days (mine never lasts that long ;-) ). I usually use a glass mason jar with a lid.

If the cranberries are hard, microwave for one minute in a bowl. You will hear them "pop", and that's normal.

This is great on any salad, but I prefer it with baby spinach, craisins, slivered almonds, onions, and either pears or apples topped with crumbled goat cheese.

Enjoy:-)

Classic Crockpot Chili

It's almost that time of year:-) I freaking love Fall- Its the best. I love cockpot meals, and I love that my kids eat them. Chili is one if the easiest to prepare and easiest to make healthy. My kiddos eat it plain, on hot dogs (gross), or (duh) with Fritos. One if them loves ketchup on chili (seriously... so gross), and one loves it on baked potato (even though he doesn't like potatoes)... hmm... boys are wierd. But whatever, cook it like this, and your family can wreck it however they'd like;-)

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained (turkey can be used too)
5 cans of beans (I mix light and dark kidney beans with black beans)
1 quart diced tomatoes in juice
1-2 quart stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 large onion
2 cans diced green chilis
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only, chopped (or 2 tbs dried)
Juice and zest of one lime
2 tbs cumin*
1 tbs chili powder*
Hot sauce (optional)
Salt and pepper

After browning and draining the hamburger, place all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Garnish with chopped green onions, sour cream, and shredded cheese. Or, if you are like my children, garnish with a bag of Fritos and some ketchup:-)

Leftover idea: drain all the juice and roll the filling in tortillas. Cover in enchilada sauce and bake for 35 mins on 350 for some quick, home made enchiladas.

Omit the meat and use veggie stock for a vegan option. Conveniently, this dish is also gluten, dairy, egg, and nut free:-)

*You can sub taco seasoning for these spices

Crockpot Potato Soup

This is the perfect soup for Fall. The kids love it because its "yummy" and I love it because its easy and inexpensive. Plus, crockpots are great because you only have one dish to clean when you're done:-)

You'll need:
7-10 potatoes, washed and diced (I like Yukon Golds and reds mixed, but any kind will do). In the end it will be about 8 cups.
2 onions, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
2 leeks, sliced very thin (or use 2 bunches green onions)
1 quart stalk (chicken or vegetable- homemade is best)
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Put all ingredients except the cream in the crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Add cream for the last 30 minutes.

We serve our with bacon pieces on top and steamed broccoli or green beans on the side.

Crockpot Mediterranean Chicken

This recipe is a classic. You really can't mess it up. Inliterally make it different every single time I prepare it, and its always turned out great. It's the perfect lighter dish for fall.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 quart diced tomatoes in juice
3 zucchini, sliced very thick (or sub eggplant)
1 onion, diced
1 fennel bulb, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, sliced
8-12 Brussels sprouts, cut in half
8-12 green olives, cut in half
1 cup chopped fresh spinach or swiss chard without the stem
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs parsley
1 tbs dill
Lemon juice
3 tbs caper berries
Salt and pepper to taste
Spaghetti noodles (spghetti squash can be used for a lighter version)

Place all ingredients except noodles in crockpot and cook on low for 5-7 hours. Serve over noodles or spaghetti squash and garnish with feta cheese and a lemon wedge. I like ours with a cucumber salad.

Jamaican Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Rice & Shrimp

I made this for the first time a few months ago, and it quickly became a favorite of my kids.  Even though my three year old insists that it is "hot dog soup"- gross- it gets him to eat it.  So... sausage, hotdogs, whatever:)

It is easy to make and can be pretty healthy and "clean". The crockpot version is easier, but it can also be made in a stockpot. Both versions are below.

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I have also used chicken breasts but dark meat is better in this recipe)
18 ounces smoked link sausage (I use a mix of pork, beef, and chicken)
1/2 to 1 pound shrimp, de-veined and peeled
1 quart diced tomatoes in the juice
2 bell peppers, diced
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 package sliced mushrooms
4 tbs Wildtree Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (You can order the mix from my personal website)
OR use 2 tbs cinnamon, 1 tbs nutmeg, 1/2 tbs cayenne pepper, 1/4 tbs thyme, 1/4 tbs oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
Rice (optional)
Cilantro and parsley- as garnish (optional)

Place all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. During the last thirty minutes, add the shrimp.

Serve over rice with some fresh cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges. If you left the chicken whole, shred with a fork once cooked.

If you use a stockpot, cube the chicken. Saute the chicken in some olive oil. Add the veggies and saute until tender. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Turn to simmer and add the shrimp. Serve like you would the crockpot version.

Jambalaya without the shrimp