Easy Chicken Enchilada

Chicken enchiladas are one of our favorite family meals. They are easy to make, really versatile, and always a crowd pleaser. The way I make this most of the time is actually more of a layered casserole, or what some people will call Mexican lasagna, but we just call it enchiladas.

You can make this with any kind of meat you like, shredded chicken cooked in enchilada sauce is our favorite so that’s what you’ll see below, but I’ve done it plenty of times with pork or beef as well. It’s nice to mix it up. Or you can leave out the meat altogether and use black beans instead. Or just layer the sauces and cheese for cheese enchiladas.

My favorite way to make enchiladas is with my homemade mild enchilada sauce. You can make this of course with any favorite enchilada sauce from the store, but if you really want to make them in a way that your whole family is sure to love, you’ll want to start with my super easy mild enchilada sauce recipe. I came up with this recipe because I love enchiladas but my little kids weren’t fond of anything spicy, so I needed to come up with a flavorful sauce that wasn’t spicy. I love the results so much that I make it all the time, and even make extra to keep in the freezer.

After you’ve got your sauce, the next step for these amazing homemade enchiladas is to cook chicken in the enchilada sauce. This method of cooking chicken is one of my favorites and I make it probably twice a month. You can again do this with a canned sauce, I do it all the time, or you can use my homemade sauce. All you need to do is pile a bunch of chicken pieces, fresh or frozen, in your favorite cooking vessel, and cover them with enchilada sauce, and cook until the chicken is falling apart. You can do this in a pot on the stove, in a dutch oven or casserole dish in the oven, in the instant pot or a slow cooker. And as I mentioned above, you can use the same method with any cut of pork or beef. It’s a great way to use less expensive cuts of meat, as they need to cook longer to get really tender.

Now lets make enchiladas!

I rarely make “real” enchiladas with the filling rolled inside tortillas- all that rolling is just too time consuming for my lifestyle.  You of course can do it that way, but I find this method much faster and easier and just as delicious.

What we make here is an enchilada casserole.

It's basically everything you would put in enchiladas, but layered in a casserole instead of rolled up. 

Easy Enchilada Casserole Recipe

Author: Lisa Marsh, WhatLisaCooks.comPrint Recipe

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Easy Enchilada Casserole

A simple layered enchilada casserole that the whole family will love. Kid pleasing, and great for a crowd.

ingredients:

• 2 cups enchilada sauce
• 3 cups grated cheese (a blend of cheddar and monterey jack)
• Cooked meat: browned ground beef, or shredded enchilada chicken
• 2 cans cream soup (cream of mushroom, cream of celery, etc.), or about 2 cups homemade white sauce (optional)
• 1 can diced green chilis
• about 2 dozen corn tortillas

instructions:

This is a simple layered dish, and the ingredients are very flexible. Use your choice of cheeses (we often just buy a bag of shredded "Mexican blend" cheese. 

Mix the green chilis in to the cream soup or white sauce if using, otherwise just spread them between the layers. Or leave them out.

We use a standard casserole dish.

Spread a bit of sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish to prevent sticking.

Cover sauce with a layer of corn tortillas. Break up tortillas to fill in any overlaps or gaps. 

Top with meat, if using. Then sprinkle with cheese. 

Repeat layers of tortilla, filling, sauce(s), cheese... until the dish is full. 

Top with shredded cheese and bake at 350 for about an hour, until the whole thing is bubbly and cheese on top is browned. 

This can also be done in a slow cooker. Follow directions the same as above, and cook for 4-6 hours on low until bubbly and melted. 

Serve with sour cream, extra cheese, salsa, shredded lettuce, diced avocado & tomato. 

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Instant Pot Whole Chicken and Chicken Broth

Food is so expensive these days, but a whole chicken continues to be one of the most economical proteins you can buy to feed your family.

Cooking a whole chicken in the instant pot (or pressure cooker) is one of the easiest and most foolproof ways to cook a whole chicken. It’s mostly hands off and you end up with moist and juicy chicken to use in a variety of meals, plus you get to make homemade chicken broth with the bones.

What you’ll need for Instant Pot Whole Chicken:

• A whole chicken. I get mine two at a time at Costco.

• Carrots

• Celery

• Onions

• Garlic

• Bay leaf

• Salt

• Peppercorns

• Water or other liquid (broth, wine, juice)

How to cook a whole chicken in the instant pot:

The quantities do not need to be specific.

I cut up a couple of carrots, a few stalks of celery, a couple small onions or one bigger one, toss in a few garlic cloves, a few bay leaves, a small handful of whole peppercorns. You can leave out any of these things if you don’t have them, or you can add other herbs, seasonings, or veggies that you like. You can add cumin and chili powder for a more latin flavor, or ginger and lemongrass for an asian flavor. You can add bunches of fresh herbs which gives amazing flavor if you are going to use this for something like chicken soup or chicken and dumplings. I usually keep it more basic so I can use the resulting meat and broth in a variety of ways, but you can do whatever sounds good to you.

The veggies add flavor to the chicken and the broth, but they also as a sort of a rack for the chicken, to keep it off the bottom of the pot. Pour about a half a cup of water or other liquid in the bottom of the pot. You need a bit of liquid to get the steaming process going (read your pot’s instructions to see what the minimum is), but I try to keep it minimal because the chicken and the veggies release a lot of liquid when they start cooking.

Clean out the chicken if it’s got the parts inside (some come with, some don’t), and season it well inside and out with salt. Place the chicken on top of the veggies. If your chicken came with all the parts, I usually toss everything but the liver in the pot as well, they will add flavor to the broth you are going to make later. I leave out the liver because it is a really strong flavor. You can freeze your chicken livers and save them until you have enough to make something with. Or I usually just toss them in a frying pan to cook and feed to the dogs.

Put the lid on your Instant Pot and set it for 30 minutes on high pressure, let it cook and then leave it to slow release, that usually takes a good 20 minutes more.

When you open your pot you will have a wonderfully juicy chicken. Take it out and let it cool enough to pick the meat off.

I use this chicken in soups, stews, chicken salad, and more. I love having cooked chicken in my fridge for quick high protein lunches.

Now you get to make homemade chicken broth!

If you’ve never made homemade chicken broth you are in for a treat. This is the easiest way to do it and you will be amazed at how much more flavor it has over canned broth.

Put all the bones, skin, and other scraps back in the pot, top it off with water, paying attention to your pot’s max fill line, and teaspoon or so of salt if you like salty broth. Close up the pot again and set it for an hour. After the hour you can quick release if you want or let it slow release, it really doesn’t matter.

Strain off the broth and go again! Yes! I usually get two batches of broth from one pot of chicken bones. For the second batch you’ll want to add a bit more salt, you can add more veggies if you like, and some folks recommend adding a little acid - lemon juice or vinegar - to help draw even more flavor out of the bones. Set it for an hour again. The second batch of broth might not be quite as rich as the first, but it will still taste amazing. I sometimes combine the two batches together, so all of my containers of broth have the same flavor.

You can freeze or store in the fridge. Mine rarely makes it to the freezer because I use it up so fast.

Caramelized Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Caramelized marshmallows and browned butter bring the old classic Rice Krispie treats to a whole new level.

I first made these by accident. I was just melting the butter and marshmallows for regular rice crispy treats, but I was also doing a little too much multitasking and I let the pot alone for a few minutes longer than intended. The result was that the butter got a bit browned and the marshmallows on the bottom got a little caramelized. But nothing was burned and I didn’t want to waste it, so I went with it. I mixed it all up well and it had a lovely just faint golden brown color and made the rice crispy treats as usual. The result? A wonderfully delicious extra layer of flavor - just a hint of caramel flavor layered on top of the usual marshmallow and butter flavor. I didn’t tell the family they were different, but everyone seems to have noticed that there is something just slightly more delicious going on and they can’t figure out what.

Here is the recipe:

I make them with a bit more butter than the classic recipe, and I add a pinch of salt)

2 bags of large marshmallows

1 stick of salted butter

12 cups rice crispies

a pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed pot, let it go until it’s just barely starting to brown. Add the marshmallows and stir occasionally until they are totally melted. Let the melted mixture simmer a few extra minutes until it starts to develop just a very light golden brown tint. Stir in the salt. Take the pot off the stove and add the rice crispies and mix until well combined, and press into a buttered casserole dish or other shape of your choice.

Mild Enchilada Sauce Recipe

Scroll down for the printable recipe card

This easy mild enchilada sauce recipe is one of my most favorite original recipes.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

I love Mexican and Latin style foods and I love making them for my family. But my kids, being typical American kids, didn’t like sauces with any kind of spice at all. And it’s not easy to find a pre-made enchilada sauce that isn’t at all spicy but is still really flavorful. It seems like you either get spicy, or you get bland.

So I came up with my own enchilada sauce recipe. This is a kid friendly, family friendly, easy enchilada sauce recipe that the whole family will love.

It’s basically a flavored and spiced gravy - so if you know how to make a gravy, this will be super easy for you. It makes a big batch, and I often even double this, because it keeps well and it freezes easily.

This one is a long post because I’ve combined a few recipes into one. Below the Enchilada Sauce Recipe I’ve also include my recipes for how I make enchilada shredded chicken, and how I use that chicken and the enchilada sauce in my easy enchilada casserole.

Once I gave up on buying enchilada sauce for a while, I needed to come up with my own. After looking at a bunch of different recipes online, I decided to come up with my own version of a simple sauce that suits us just perfectly.

It's really flavorful and gives a nice southwest style flavor to dishes, but it's not spicy at all. I love to use this for enchiladas, or more often just an enchilada casserole, but it's also great for simmering chicken or other meat in, to shred up and use for tacos, burritos, salads, etc.

I make no claims about this being any kind of authentic - 'real' enchiladas would definitely have a sauce made of chilis. But we're not in Mexico and I'm not Mexican, so this is just my American girl version of this style of dish.

I also love that this doesn't require any special or unique ingredients - I can whip up a pot of this sauce very quickly with just ingredients that I pretty much always have in my pantry. 

It seems like a lot of spices, and it is.  

But what we're doing here is making up for the lack of spice from peppers by adding a lot of other flavor. And, as with all of my recipes, this one is super flexible.  The quantities of spices are just a guideline, and honestly most of the time I don't even really measure. I recommend you start out with measuring, and then as you go along and make the sauce you taste it and you can add more spices as needed.

Not sure how to use this sauce? Try my favorite enchilada casserole recipe. This is a regular favorite on our family menu.

Recipe: Lisa's Homemade and NOT Spicy Enchilada Sauce

Author: Lisa Marsh, WhatLisaCooks.comPrint Recipe

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Mild Enchilada Sauce

An easy recipe for a very mild enchilada sauce that the whole family will love.

ingredients:

• 1 quart of chicken broth
• 1 15.5 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 4 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• salt, to taste

instructions:

If you know how to make gravy with a roux:

1. Basically, you’re making a simple gravy with a butter & flour roux, and chicken broth + tomato sauce for the liquid, and spices added for flavor. Add all the spices (except salt) at the beginning with the butter and flour, so they toast a bit and get more flavorful. Then whisk in the liquid as usual, and taste to adjust seasoning.

If you don’t know how to make gravy:

1. Put the butter, flour and all the spices except the salt in a medium stock pot over medium heat. Stir until the butter is all melted and you have a well blended paste.
2. Once the butter and flour are well combined, slowly add your broth, whisking the whole time to avoid lumps.
3. Then add the tomato sauce.
4. Let it all simmer for about 10-15 minutes, not boiling, stirring frequently.
5. Taste as you go and decide whether you think you like the flavor, or you want more garlic, or more chili powder, etc. I hold off on the salt until I have everything else combined, because the saltiness of any particular batch of chicken broth or tomato sauce can really vary.  So get it all mixed up and then add salt if you feel like it needs it. 

Notes:

1. This recipe is very flexible.  The spice quantities are just a guideline and you should totally play with the amounts.  If you actually want to make this spicy, add a little cayenne pepper, or a bunch more chili powder.
2. You can also make this without the tomato sauce, I’ve had it that way and it’s great too - like an enchilada spiced gravy.
3. This freezes great.  This recipe makes more than you’ll need for one recipe of enchiladas. Set aside half and freeze for next time. 
4. Use vegetable broth to make a vegetarian sauce.
5. Make it gluten free by using gluten free flour.

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Simple Fresh Roasted Tomato Sauce

Wondering what to do with all those tomatoes from your garden?

Make sauce!

Some folks will tell you that you have to use only certain types of tomatoes to make sauce and I’m here to bust that myth. I make sauce out of any and every kind of tomato I grow. I also don’t bother to peel or seed them! If you have a really good blender, then the seeding and peeling becomes unnecessary. I just throw it all in my Vitamix and I’m good to go. This saves so much time.

I often do this with just the fresh raw tomatoes, it makes the most amazing fresh tomato sauce you can imagine. A few garlic cloves, a little salt, some basil leaves if you like - blend it all until smooth and serve. This also freezes really well, and it’s wonderful to have that fresh taste of summer in the middle of a long, cold winter.

But today I’m going to tell you about roasted tomato sauce.

Roasting the tomatoes is an amazing way to bring out flavor, some of these garden tomatoes get so sweet and jammy with roasting that they are practically like candy. I actually have a hard time resisting just snacking on them right off the tray.

This isn’t so much a recipe as it is just some general guidelines. I don’t know what type and size and quantity of tomatoes you have - but it really doesn’t matter.

Here’s how to make simple roasted tomato sauce:

1) Cut your tomatoes into roughly similar size chunks. Cherry or grape tomatoes are usually left whole, smaller Romas I maybe cut in half, bigger tomatoes might need to be cut in several pieces.

2) Drizzle some oil over a sheet pan - I like to do this with a mixture of avocado oil for temperature tolerance and a nice olive oil for flavor.

3) Toss all the tomatoes on the sheet pan and stir them around a bit to get coated with oil, drizzle a bit more over the top if you like.

4) Add a few peeled garlic cloves.

5) Sprinkle salt generously over the top of the whole thing.

6) Stick the pan in the oven - I do mine on about 375 convection, but if you don’t have a convection oven you might want to try 400 degrees.

7) Check the tomatoes after about 15-20 minutes, maybe give them a stir, and keep cooking, checking again in 5-ish minute increments until you think they look ready. You can see the pic below of what mine look like. You want to start getting some browning and caramelization, maybe a few even darker edges but not too much, those cherry tomatoes should burst, some of the juices should start to reduce, the garlic should get a little browned and soft.

8) When you are satisfied with how the tomatoes look, take them out and let them cool for a bit.

9) Dump the whole thing into your high powered blender and puree until smooth. Taste and decide if you want to add more salt, or some fresh garlic, or a little basil or other herbs.

That’s it. Sounds like a lot of steps but it’s really quite easy. If you have a good blender then you shouldn’t have many whole seeds left, and a few little seeds don’t bother me. But if you’re going to be bothered by a few seeds you could put this through a food mill.

Moroccan Spiced Slow cooker Chicken

There is a printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Recipe: Moroccan Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken with Chickpeas and Potatoes

Now that we are back in school and our days are getting really busy, I’ve been looking for more slow cooker recipes. There are more and more days when I need to be able to put dinner together earlier in the day because we are running around and on the go right up until dinner time. I don’t want to get home after all the pick-ups and drop-offs and still have to start cooking, so slow cooker meals are perfect for this busy season of life with kids.

This meal I’m sharing with you today started out as an experiment, when I couldn’t find an existing recipe that was really grabbing my attention so I just came up with something on my own that sounded good. And it was a definite success! Every now and then I come up with something that is an instant winner on the first try.

This recipe has everything you want in a slow cooker meal - it’s literally just layering the ingredients in the cooker, with no pre-cooking or browning required, very minimal prep (really just slicing some onion and roughly cutting a few potatoes), hands off cooking time, and amazing flavor. It does require having a couple of specialty ingredients already pre-made if you want this to come together fast, but fortunately they are items that I keep ready in my kitchen almost all the time and I highly recommend that you do too.

So here’s what’s in it:

• canned garbanzo beans / chickpeas (with their liquid!)

• onions

• preserved lemons

• moroccan spice blend

• salt

• yellow potatoes

• frozen chicken thighs

When I first made this I debated about adding the potatoes but I’m so glad I did. They absorb so much wonderful flavor and get melt in your mouth soft and delicious.

The preserved lemons and moroccan spice blend are two items that require advance prep, but they are things I absolutely love for adding a huge punch of flavor to so many dishes. I always keep a jar of preserved lemons in my fridge, and when I mix up this moroccan spice blend I always make a lot so I have it ready for quick meals.

Preserved lemons are very easy to make. They are just lemons and salt, but the process that happens as the salt preserves the lemon creates a really one of a kind flavor that’s hard to substitute. It’s such an easy way to add a huge burst of flavor to your dishes that I highly recommend you make some to keep on hand. I have a short little post about them here, and you can find plenty more online. This is one that you don’t have to be super precise about it, you are basically just layering lemons and salt in a jar. When I make these I like to leave them out on the counter for the first few weeks to let them do their magic, and then I store in the refrigerator. Because you are eating the whole lemon rind when you use this, it is nice if you can find organic lemons, but if you can’t then I just recommend that you wash your lemons first. Most recipes tell you to scrape away the pulp of the lemon before using the preserved lemon peel, but I almost never bother doing that. I love the extra flavor that the pulp adds to my dishes.

My Moroccan inspired spice blend is a version I’ve developed after trying several different recipes I found. This version packs a big punch of flavor without making foods spicy hot, which my kids don’t like. I’m always trying new ways of adapting spices for recipes to capture flavor without heat and this one really fits that requirement perfectly. It’s become one of my favorite go-to seasonings. It’s amazing on all kinds of meats as well as roasted vegetables.

How to make this Moroccan Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken with Chickpeas and Potatoes.

First you’ll want to slice your onions and cut your potatoes into big chunks. It’s good to leave the potatoes relatively large so they hold up to the long cooking time that the frozen chicken needs. If the potatoes are on the smaller side you might even leave them whole. I used yellow potatoes here because I like the hint of sweetness they add and I think they hold their shape better with longer cooking, but feel free to use your favorite kind. You could also decide to add the potatoes in a bit later, but I love all the flavor they absorb and how soft they get in the longer cooking time, and I wanted this to be a dump and walk away kind of recipe, not one you have to come back to and add things.

In your slow cooker you are just going to layer all the ingredients. Start with the canned chickpeas and their liquid. This part is important. You need some liquid to get that slow cooking process going, and the liquid from the can of garbanzo beans is full of flavor you don’t want to waste. So don’t drain - just pour the whole can in there. If you accidentally drain that liquid then you will need to add a little water or broth. On top of that place sliced onions, chunks of potato, then several pieces of preserved lemon, and then the spice mix. Then I put the frozen chicken thighs on top of all that and more spices. Cover and cook.

Quantities and cooking time are in the detailed recipe card below. As with all of my recipes though, the quantities don’t have to be exact. Feel free to use more or less of any ingredient and customize to your liking. If your chicken isn’t frozen you’ll want to cook this for less time. You could certainly also do this with bone-in thighs, or with breasts, and I’m sure it would be equally delicious. I also think this would be amazing as a vegetarian dish leaving out the chicken altogether and just using more beans and potatoes and maybe even adding other veggies like cauliflower. The frozen chicken adds a lot of moisture, so if you aren’t using that then you’ll probably want to add a half cup or so of broth or water.

I served this over couscous with a dollop of plain yogurt, but we also ate it leftover both just by itself and over some leftover pasta. It was amazing no matter how it was served, and only got better after it sat in the fridge overnight.

I hope you enjoy and let me know if you try it.

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Moroccan Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs with Garbanzo Beans and Potatoes

Author: Lisa Marsh - WhatLisaCooks.com

This easy recipe comes together in no time, cooks hands off in the slow cooker, and packs incredible flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 cans garbanzo beans, with their liquid
• 2 large white onions, sliced
• 3-4 medium yellow potatoes, cut in large chunks
• 3-4 pieces of preserved lemon
• 3-4 tablespoons Moroccan spice blend
• about 3 pounds frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs

Instructions

1. Slice onions and cut potatoes into large chunks
2. Layer in slow cooker: garbanzo beans with their liquid, then onions, then potatoes and preserved lemons
3. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of spice mix evenly over the top
4. Add frozen chicken pieces
5. Sprinkle anther 1-2 tablespoons of spice mix over the top of all the chicken
6. Cover and cook for about 5 hours on high
7. Serve with rice, couscous, or noodles

Notes

Feel free to adapt any of the ingredients to your preference - more or less of any ingredient will work out just fine. If you choose to use fresh instead of frozen chicken you will want to cook this for shorter time, I suggest about 3 hours. See the original post on whatlisacooks.com for more suggestions and notes.

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Banana Bread No. 03

This is a healthier than average banana bread recipe that is very loosely based on Martha’s recipe, which still is one of the best ever. But this version has been tinkered with enough that I think it can be called its own recipe at this point.

There is a printable recipe card at the end of this post.

I have two other quick bread / banana bread recipes posted on this old food blog, this one is a really flexible blender recipe that uses very little sugar, tells you how to adapt it to just about any fruit or vegetable, and comes together without having to soften butter first; and this one here is also similar but specific to banana chocolate chip; so this new one gets the very original name of No. 03.

Those earlier recipes were adapted when my kids were smaller and I was more concerned about refined sugars in their diet. I don’t worry about that quite as much now because they all are mature enough to make relatively smart food choices for themselves, and we believe that a little sweet treat here and there is a fine part of a balanced diet. But I still try to pack in extra nutrients whenever I can, and sometimes the best way to get kids to eat the extra healthy stuff is to hide it in something a little sweet. It’s all about balance.

So let’s talk about this recipe specifically. As I said above, I started many years (decades?) ago making Martha Stewart’s original banana bread recipe. It’s about as perfect as a banana bread recipe can get, and I highly encourage you to try it as originally written. But let’s be honest, part of what makes it so delicious is because it’s practically cake, with the white flour and white sugar. I wanted to try making something that preserved what made that recipe special (it’s so moist!) but see if we could pack enough extra nutrition in that it feels ok to eat as a stand alone quick morning meal, with enough protein and fiber to get them through a school morning.

I also can never get away with making just a single loaf of banana bread, or just a dozen muffins. So when I develop recipes I like to make them bigger than most. If you’ve followed me for any length of time you’ll know that one of my rules to live by is that I always, always, always make extra, so we have enough for leftovers or for the freezer. But if you’re not cooking for 6 people, including four hungry teenagers, feel free to cut this in half.

I like to bake this as muffins for school morning grab and go, I can pack these full of extra goodness by using whole wheat flour, yogurt, eggs, flax and wheat germ, but as long as I also add a few chocolate chips my kids with gobble them up. You can even get away with a little less sugar than this recipe calls for, I’ve cut the sugar by up to half occasionally and they still taste great, especially if you are using really ripe, sweet bananas.

They freeze great, and we love having a stock of muffins in the freezer for easy weekday breakfasts. If I make a couple dozen muffins I will usually leave out enough for a couple of days meals and then put the rest in the freezer.

Here’s what you need to make this banana bread recipe.

But keep reading because I’ll also let you in on a few secrets that most people won’t tell you about baking.

• butter (regular salted butter)

• sugar (white, brown, or a combination)

• eggs

• flour (white, wheat, or a combination)

• ground flax, wheat germ, oat bran

• baking soda

• salt

• mashed ripe banana

• sour cream or plain yogurt

• vanilla extract

• chocolate chips or nuts

• butter or cooking spray for your pans

• muffin or loaf pans

Here’s the thing most people won’t tell you about baking - the recipes don’t really need to be quite as precise as many will have you believe. Of course if you are making a very delicate fine cake or a souffle then you probably should follow a recipe exactly, at least the first time you make it.

But this kind of quick bread recipe really is way more flexible than you might think. You can use a variety of types of flour and sugar, you can try it with less sugar, you can add in more or less of the flax or wheat germ, or try oat bran or even a bit of whole oats instead. We like to add chocolate chips, but you could leave those out, or add nuts. In our house we don’t love nuts in this kind of thing, but it is a great way to add extra protein if you like them.

How to make this:

I make this using a one bowl method. A lot of recipes want you to sift all the dry ingredients together separately, but I feel like that’s mostly outdated advice. I mix all the wet ingredients together first, creaming the butter and sugar and then mixing in the rest, and then sprinkle the dry ingredients somewhat evenly over the top, and then combine. It all comes together just fine and you only end up with one bowl to wash.

You can spray your pans with cooking or baking spray, or it’s extra nice if you take the time to smear them with butter. After you fill the pans it’s quite nice if you sprinkle a little extra sugar over the tip, this give the top of nice extra bit of crust, but this is totally optional.

This is a double recipe, so if you make it in loaves it will make two. For muffins it makes about 2 dozen, depending on size of your muffin cups and how much you fill them. Sometimes I make one loaf and some muffins.

I bake this at 350, or 325 convection, for about 1 hour for average sized loaves or about 30 minutes for muffins. You also need to remember that not every oven is the same and not every muffin or loaf pan is the same, so you can’t take the time listed in any recipe as absolute. You need to know your equipment, and if not then you need to be vigilant and check things. When I’m baking a new recipe I tend to set my timer for about 3/4 of the recommend time (so, 45 minutes if the recipe says 1 hour) and check and see how it’s doing. Use a toothpick or a skewer and see if it’s still really wet in the center, check and see how it’s browning or if it’s getting too brown, and decide how much longer you need to go. I’d rather find that something is a little undercooked and needs more time than not check and realize too late that it’s overcooked.

Here’s the full recipe. I hope you enjoy!

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Banana Bread No. 03

Author: Lisa Marsh - WhatLisaCooks.com

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups of white baking sugar (or try half white and half brown if you like)
• 4 eggs (I have also substituted the eggs with flax + water with good success)
• 3 cups flour - all purpose, or whole wheat, or a combination
• 1 cup ground flax
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2-3 cups mashed ripe banana (5-6 medium bananas)
• 1 cup sour cream, or plain yogurt, or a mix of both
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You can use an electric mixer or do it by hand.
2. Stir in the mashed bananas, sour cream (or yogurt), and vanilla
3. Sprinkle the dry ingredients somewhat evenly over the top of all the wet, then fold and stir gently until just combined.
4. Mix in chocolate chips, or nuts, if using.
5. Grease baking pans with butter or cooking spray
6. Sprinkle the top with extra sugar if you like.
7. Bake at 350, or 325 convection, for about 1 hour for loaves or 30 minutes for muffins. See the notes in the blog post for more detail.

Notes

See the notes in the blog post about this recipe on www.whatlisacooks.com for more instructions and comments.

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Seared Ahi Tuna

Here is a quick recipe for my seared ahi tuna that will make you feel like you are having a special meal without having to spend a fortune at a restaurant.

We are big fans of sushi at our house, but sushi is so expensive that it has really become maybe a once a year treat. I love to find ways to replicate restaurant meal favorites at home, and this seared ahi tuna has become one of my family’s most requested meals. It’s like a great sashimi or poke bowl type of meal, we serve it with a variety of bowl fillings to make your own combination, and everyone loves it.

I’m lucky that one of my favorite local stores almost always has these nice packages of ahi in the freezer section for a reasonable price, so I grab a couple packs whenever I see them. This takes literally 1 minute to cook.

I didn’t do a recipe card with specific quantities for this one because I really don’t think you need it it. This is so simple to make but feels so fancy.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Fresh / frozen ahi tuna steaks or pieces

• soy sauce

• sesame oil

• white pepper

• neutral high temp oil for frying

How to make it:

If you’re tuna is frozen you will obviously want to thaw it first. Then I just drizzle a little soy sauce and sesame oil over the pieces of fish and sprinkle a little white pepper. The quantity doesn’t need to be very specific, just enough to get each piece of fish lightly seasoned. I turn the pieces over once or twice to make sure they are well coated.

This cooks so fast that I don’t even start cooking until all the other parts of meal are totally ready to go.

When you are ready, pour a couple of tablespoons of oil into a very hot pan. I like to use mostly a neutral oil, with a few dashes of toasted sesame oil added for extra flavor. You’ll want to be sure to have your exhaust fan on, as this is going to get smokey.

When the oil is just starting to smoke place the pieces of tuna in and watch your timer. After 30 seconds turn them over and cook another 30 seconds on the other side. Remove from the pan and get the next ones in. The goal is to get them nicely browned on either side but still very rare in the middle. Remember that fish continues to cook a little after it’s removed from heat, so you definitely want plenty of pink still visible in order to make sure you get that finished rare middle. I cook these just a few at a time and set them on a plate to rest.

When all the pieces are finished cooking, I like to slice them thin for serving. But you could serve them whole as well.

Serve it with:

• steamed rice

• spring mix / salad greens

• sliced cucumbers, or a marinated cucumber salad

• diced tomatoes

• edamame

• cubes of tofu, or my crispy salt and pepper tofu.

• furikake (Japanese rice seasoning)

• a simple ginger-soy dressing (whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar and/or lemon juice, freshly grated ginger, soy sauce)

Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu

My version of a restaurant favorite - crispy salt and pepper tofu.

Scroll to the end for a recipe card.

Crispy salt and pepper tofu is one of my favorite Asian restaurant dishes to order when I can find it. I’m sure someone will jump on and correct me about calling it Asian, but I’m not sure which cuisine it really originated from. I’ve had it at Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese restaurants.

We don’t eat out much these days, so when I’m craving a favorite restaurant dish I have to figure out how to make it myself. I’ve been working on this one for years and have finally gotten it to how my family and I absolutely love - it’s crispy and salty on the outside, and still soft and moist on the inside. It’s messy to fry but otherwise very easy to make.

Read on to find out how I make this restaurant favorite dish at home, and scroll to the end of you want a printable recipe card.

What you need to make Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu:

The recipe below has approximate quantities for making 1 package of tofu, but I usually double or even triple this because we devour it.

• Extra firm tofu

• Corn starch

• Kosher salt (or a somewhat coarse salt of your choice)

• Pepper - we like either white pepper or szechuan pepper

• Alternatively you can replace the separate salt and pepper with this blend which is my favorite.

• Oil for frying - I use a coconut-safflower-avocado blend, with a few dashes of toasted sesame oil for extra flavor.

• Fresh garlic (optional)

• Green onions (optional)

• Extra salt & pepper for garnish

• Oyster sauce (optional)

How to make it:

The first thing you need to do is get a bit of the water out of your tofu. I like to slice the block of tofu in half lengthwise and layer it between a few dishtowels with some kind of weight on top, ideally for at least an hour.

While the tofu is pressing you can mix your corn starch, salt, and pepper. The quantities I have given you in the recipe card below are approximate. I recommend you season the corn starch and then dip a finger in and taste it. You should taste the salt and pepper. Remember that tofu doesn’t have much flavor on it’s own, so your seasoning needs to do all the flavor heavy lifting here.

Next you want to cut your tofu into bite sized cubes. These can be any size you like.

Then toss the cubes of tofu in the seasoned corn starch mixture.

Now you are ready for frying. Heat your oil in a deep frying pan, about an inch deep. Test it with a drop of water to make sure it’s hot enough - the water should sizzle instantly when you drop it in. When the oil is hot enough start adding the tofu cubes and fry them. Do this in batches so they stay spread out and don’t crowed each other. You want them to get nice and crispy on all sides.

Remove the fried tofu cubes from the pan and sprinkle a little extra salt and pepper over the top.

When all the tofu is fried I like to make the little extra garnish of fried garlic and onion. A tablespoon or two of diced or sliced fresh garlic and green onion in the hot oil and stir them around and fry until they get golden, and immediately strain them out and sprinkle over the tofu.

We like to serve ours with a little Chinese style oyster sauce for dipping. One of my favorite ways the have this is with a seared ahi tuna bowl - I make this easy seared ahi tuna, and serve it with steamed rice, salad greens, edamame, cucumber salad, tomatoes, and the crispy tofu. Delicious.

Author: Lisa Marsh - WhatLisaCooks.com

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Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu

Wonderfully crispy seasoned tofu as good as a restaurant but easy to make at home.

Ingredients

• 1 package (usually about 1 pound) extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• oil for frying
• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic (optional)
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped (optional)
• extra kosher or flake salt for garnish

Instructions

1. Drain and slice the block of tofu in half lengthwise. Layer the slices of tofu between some towels and put a weight on top (I usually put a cutting board or plate with a couple of cans). Let sit for at least an hour to squeeze much of the water out.
2. Combine corn starch, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
3. Cut tofu in bite sized cubes (about an inch) and toss in seasoned corn starch, coating well.
4. Pour oil in a hot pan. Quantity will depend on your pan size - I like to make it deep enough to come a bit up the sides of the tofu, but we're not full on deep frying here.
5. Fry tofu in batches so they have enough room to not be touching, turning occasionally until nicely golden brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a serving dish.
6. Optional topping: when all the tofu is browned put the chopped garlic and green onion in the hot oil and fry until lightly browned, remove from pan with a slotted spoon at sprinkle over the top of the fried tofu.
7. Top with a little extra salt and pepper or a sezchuan pepper salt blend.

Notes

I almost always at least double this because we love it so much.

As with all of my recipes - I've given you quantities but they are approximate and really flexible. I don't usually measure when I make this. You can, and should, adjust ingredients to suit your tastes.

I usually use a neutral vegetable oil for frying, but sometimes it's nice to add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil to this for extra flavor.

We love these crispy tofu bites plain, but the garlic and onion topping puts them over the top if you have the extra time. We also like to serve some oyster sauce on the side for dipping.

The tofu tastes great left over. It won't retain the crispness, but the flavor is still delicious.

Recommended Products

Penzy's Szechuan Pepper Salt

Oyster Sauce

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Egg Bites Recipe

Here is my version of the popular copycat egg bites recipe that everyone loves.

My kids and I love those Starbucks egg bites as much as anyone, but they get expensive fast. There are other brands of egg bites too that you can buy at the store and are great for easy school day breakfasts, but those also get expensive when you are feeding a family of six. Once you figure out how to make them from scratch at home you will never have to be without a quick grab and go school day or work day breakfast again.

The secret to the texture is the cottage cheese all blended in with the eggs. That’s how you get that light, fluffy, creamy texture. I know you think you don’t like cottage cheese, but I can guarantee that you would never know it’s in these if I hadn’t told you.

I make up big batches of these for my teens for school mornings. They are a great protein packed easy breakfast. I usually put half in the fridge and then package up the other half two at at time in little snack bags and freeze, then they can just grab a single serving out the freezer and pop in the microwave for about 45 seconds for a quick weekday breakfast.

My version here is adapted from several different recipes and adjusted to suit our tastes and needs. This one probably makes more than a lot of other recipes you’ll find, because I always like to make lots of things that can be frozen for easy meal. You can use any combination of cheese, meat, and veggies you like. I’ve tried lots of combinations but our favorite is gruyere cheese (like the Starbucks ones), with a little bacon and spinach. So that’s how I’ve written the recipe, but you can easily customize with any combinations you like.

To make this egg bites recipe you will need:

Scroll down for the recipe card with the exact quantities.

• eggs

• cottage cheese

• cheese (gruyere or sharp cheddar or other cheese you like)

• bacon

• salt & pepper

• cooked chopped bacon (optional)

• spinach or other veggies (optional)

• spray oil

• muffin pans, ideally silicone

• deep sheet pan

If you haven’t already cooked the bacon you will want to do that first. Chop it up and cook until crispy. I like to buy big packs of bacon and dice and cook it all at once, then I have bacon to use for this recipe and lots extra for salads and topping in other recipes.

How to make these easy meal prep egg bites:

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees convection (or 325 regular bake). Place your silicone muffin pan in a deep sheet pan, and spray the muffin pan with cooking oil.

Put all of the ingredients except the bacon & spinach in the blender and blend until well combined.

Fill each muffin cup with a little spinach and bacon, or whatever other meat or veggies you are using. Then label the egg mixture into each one, to about 3/4 full.

Put the pan in the oven and fill the sheet pan with hot water to about half way up the muffin pan.

Cook for 25 minutes, and then I dare you to try not to eat several before you can get them put away for breakfast.

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Egg Bites

Author: Lisa Marsh

Easy copycat egg bites recipe for school day morning meal prep.

Ingredients

• 18 large eggs
• 1 16 oz container of cottage cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or use 1 teaspoon garlic salt instead of separate salt)
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 - 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese, any flavor but we think a strong flavored cheese like gruyere, Swiss, sharp cheddar works best
• 1 cup of cooked chopped bacon (optional)
• about a cup of cooked spinach, with the water squeezed out (optional)
• spray oil for the pan

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 convection (or 325 if you don't have convection)
2. Silicone muffin pans work best for this, sprayed with cooking oil for extra non sticking. Put the silicone pans on a high sided baking sheet pan.
3. Put all ingredients except bacon and spinach in a blender and blend until well mixed
4. Put a teaspoon or so of bacon and spinach if using in each muffin cup, or any other diced and cooked veggies you like.
5. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with the egg mixture
6. Pour hot / boiling water into each sheet pan to come about halfway up the side of the muffin pans.
7. Bake at 300 convection for about 25 minutes

Notes

You can do this without the water bath in the pans if you prefer, I just think it gets you a slightly nicer, creamier texture that more closely mimics the Starbucks sous-vide egg bites texture that we all love. And this is especially useful if you don't have a convection oven, for more even cooking.

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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

(recipe card is below, just scroll down)

This a super simple and fast base recipe for an easy homemade teriyaki sauce that you can use on all kinds of easy weeknight dinners.

I lived in Seattle for 25 years, and my kids were born and grew up there. And it turns out that Seattle is the birthplace of American style teriyaki! Who knew?!? We think of teriyaki as Japanese food, but the version we know of it is actually an American invention, created by Japanese immigrants in Seattle and evolved over the years to suit American tastes.

In Seattle we were surrounded by teriyaki restaurants, it was actually the type of fast food restaurant that there were the most of. We got accustomed to eating a lot of teriyaki, it was the easiest default weeknight thing to pick up after busy days when we didn’t feel like cooking. But when we left Seattle we were a little surprised to realize that not every town had a teriyaki restaurant on every corner! So now it’s become one of my go-to easy weeknight dinners to cook for the family. It’s really just as simple as slapping some teriyaki sauce on pieces of chicken or slices of tofu, and sticking it in a hot oven for 15 - 30 minutes, just long enough to cook some rice and maybe microwave a bag of frozen broccoli.

It really had never occurred to me to make my own teriyaki sauce until one day I had promised teriyaki chicken to a kid for dinner, and realized I didn’t have any teriyaki sauce in my pantry. So I looked up some recipes for how to make it and it turns out that it’s very simple and fast. Seriously this can come together in like five minutes. If you do any amount of Asian cooking you likely already have all the ingredients you need. I do still buy bottled sauce occasionally because it is very nice to have around (this brand is my all time favorite), but more often these days I just whip up my own because it’s so fast and easy.

What you need for this easy homemade teriyaki sauce recipe:

The recipe card is below.

• pineapple juice

• soy sauce

• brown sugar

• honey

• ginger (ground or fresh)

• garlic (ground or fresh)

• sesame oil (optional)

• corn starch

• sesame seeds (optional)

• hoisin sauce (optional)

The recipe card is below with the specific measurements, but really they are all approximate and very flexible. My favorite combination of flavors is meant to imitate a combination of two of the flavors of that bottled sauce brand that I love (the island version with pineapple juice and sesame, and the hoisin garlic version)

Once you have everything together, you basically just chuck it all in a saucepan and whisk a bit as it heats up. Once the mixture gets up to a simmering temperature the corn starch will thicken up and then you’re done. It takes really like five minutes. Unlike flour, when you thicken a sauce with corn starch it’s done as soon as it starts to thicken, so it’s a very fast method.

Once you realize how easy it is to make your own teriyaki sauce you might never buy it from a store again.

This is not a traditional Japanese recipe. More traditional Japanese teriyaki sauces are not thickened or flavored as much as this, they really are much more of a simple light marinade. This version is adapted to our American tastes and is meant to be closer to what you’ll find in a neighborhood street corner teriyaki joint in Seattle. We like a more sweet and thick sauce to coat our teriyaki chicken.

A lot of the ingredients are listed as optional, because the great thing about this recipe is that it's really flexible. I’ve given you the basic way that I do it most of the time, and you can customize yours from there. So you can add more or less sweetness with the honey and sugar, more or less garlic or ginger, swap out the juice, leave out the sesame, etc. There’s no wrong way as long as you like how it tastes.

A few other notes about this recipe:

• Most recipes have water instead of juice, and more sugar added. But I like the extra splash of flavor from the pineapple juice, and that it adds sweetness without as much processed sugar. But if you don't like pineapple you can just swap that out for water, and then you'll probably want to add a bit more sugar or honey. You could also use all brown sugar or all honey instead of a mix of both. I like the depth of flavor that the two different sweeteners add, but it’s not mandatory.

• The corn start is for thickening, so feel free to adjust that amount if you like your sauce more or less thick. If you’ve not cooked with corn starch much, you need to know that it does need to be dissolved in cold liquid before adding to a hot sauce, otherwise you will get lumps. So if you decide you want your sauce thicker after it's simmering you will need to make a slurry with a couple tablespoons of liquid (water, juice, soy sauce, etc.) and then pour that into the simmering sauce while whisking to avoid lumps.

• The optional hoisin adds a bit of extra depth of flavor and is intended to imitate the flavor in my personal favorite bottled sauce, but again, optional. You could try adding a little Chinese oyster sauce instead, I love that flavor too, and it’s especially great if you want to make a teriyaki salmon or other fish.

• The sesame seeds don't add much flavor but they give a nice bit of texture. Feel free to leave them out if you don’t have them.

• If you use fresh ginger you will need to let this simmer long enough to cook and break that down a bit, otherwise the enzymes in the fresh ginger will affect the texture of your meat.

Author: Lisa Marsh

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Easy Pineapple Teriyaki Sauce

Once you know how easy it is to make homemade teriyaki sauce, you may never buy it bottled again. This is my basic recipe for a quick and simple weeknight teriyaki sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, or more/less to taste
• 1 teaspoon honey, or more/less to taste
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger (or a teaspoon or more fresh minced ginger - see note)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (or a couple cloves fresh minced garlic)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (optional)

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and whisk to combine. Heat until simmering and sauce starts to thicken. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Notes

The great thing about this recipe is that it's really flexible, so you can add more or less sweetness with the honey and sugar, more or less garlic or ginger, swap out the juice, etc.

• The corn start is for thickening, so feel free to adjust that amount if you like your sauce more or less thick. It does need to be dissolved in cold liquid before adding to a hot sauce though, so if you decide you want your sauce thicker after it's simmering you will need to make a slurry with some water (or juice, soy sauce, etc.) and then pour that into the simmering sauce while whisking to avoid lumps
• The optional hoisin adds a bit of extra depth of flavor and is intended to imitate the flavor in my personal favorite bottled sauce.
• If you don't like pineapple you can just swap that out for water, and then you'll probably want to add a bit more sugar or honey.
• The sesame seeds don't add much flavor but they give a nice bit of texture. Feel free to leave them out.
• If you use fresh ginger you will need to let this simmer long enough to cook and break that down a bit, otherwise the enzymes in the fresh ginger will affect the texture of your meat.

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Moroccan Spiced Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

A big pork shoulder (or pork butt) is one of my favorite things for feeding a crowd. It’s a great way to cook up a large pile of food for a reasonable price, and even though they are very easy to cook it always seems impressive and gets rave reviews. I usually get them at Costco, although occasionally my local store has them on sale for a great price.

One of my favorite ways to cook a pork shoulder for a crowd is with a Moroccan inspired spice rub. It takes just a few minutes of work to season the pork and then it’s entirely hands off for many hours. Throw in some roughly diced veggies for the last hour or two of cooking, I think it’s great with more firm veggies that hold up to roasting like potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, califlower. Throwing some onions and garlic cloves in there can also add an extra flavor boost. Serve the roasted meat and veggies with couscous, flat bread, and maybe some sauces like tzatziki.

It’s a great complete meal to feed a crowd, with amazing flavors, that doesn’t have you in the kitchen for hours.

One of these days I will actually take a picture of this meal before we devour it. But this is real family cooking I’m sharing here, I’m not cooking food just to stage photos of it. Having a house full of hungry people isn’t always conducive to photography, so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

What you need to make Moroccan Spiced Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder:

• One large pork shoulder roast, or sometimes called pork butt, usually 6-8 pounds

• Moroccan seasoning mix

• Several cups of chopped veggies (sweet potatoes, squash, cauliflower, onions, garlic, etc.)

How to make it:

Put the pork roast in a large and deep oven safe baking dish and season on all sides with the Moroccan seasoning mix. You want to get it really well coated. It’s best if you do this the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Cover with foil and put in a 300 degree oven for at least 6 hours. The cooking time is going to vary depending on the size of your roast, but I’ve found that at least 6 hours is needed for that really falling apart melt-in-your-mouth to your meat. If your roast is on the bigger side you might want closer to 7 or 8 hours. Plan to put it in the oven by 11:00 in the morning to have it ready by dinner time.

Meanwhile, chop up all your veggies and toss with a little olive oil, more of the Moroccan seasoning, and a little salt.

If you are roasting veggies with the meat you can do this two ways: The first way is to put all your chopped veggies in the pan around the meat for the last hour or more of cooking. The time is going to depend on what veggies you are cooking and what size pieces you like. Firmer vegetables like sweet potatoes or winter squashes will take a little longer than an hour at 300 degrees. The second option is to take the meat out of the pan when it is cooked to your liking, put it in a separate dish covered with foil to keep warm, and then put your veggies in dish the meat was cooked in, with all the meat juices and spices, and turn your oven up to 375 or 400 to roast the veggies a little faster. Then when the veggies are mostly cooked you can add the meat back in to heat back up and brown a bit. You can of course also roast the vegetables separately, but there’s nothing like cooking veggies in a pan full of pork fat for amazing flavor.

Yield: 10

Author: Lisa Marsh

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Moroccan Spiced Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

Richly flavored and falling apart, this pork shoulder is a crowd pleasing recipe for any occasion where you want to serve a meal that feels special but is really easy to make.

Ingredients

• One large pork shoulder roast, or sometimes called pork butt, usually 6-8 pounds
• Moroccan seasoning mix - several tablespoons
• Several cups of chopped veggies (sweet potatoes, squash, cauliflower, etc.)
• Olive oil
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Put the pork roast in a large and deep oven safe baking dish and season on all sides with the Moroccan seasoning mix. You want to get it really well coated. It’s best if you do this the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
2. Cover with foil and put in a 300 degree oven for at least 6 hours. The cooking time is going to vary depending on the size of your roast, but I’ve found that at least 6 hours is needed for that really falling apart melt-in-your-mouth to your meat.
3. Meanwhile, chop up all your veggies and toss with a little olive oil, more of the Moroccan seasoning, and a little salt.
4. Two options for how to cook the veggies: The first way is to put all your chopped veggies in the pan around the meat for the last hour or more of cooking. The time is going to depend on what veggies you are cooking and what size pieces you like. Firmer vegetables like sweet potatoes or winter squashes will take a little longer than an hour at 300 degrees. The second option is to take the meat out of the pan when it is cooked to your liking, put it in a separate dish covered with foil to keep warm, and then put your veggies in dish the meat was cooked in, with all the meat juices and spices, and turn your oven up to 375 or 400 to roast the veggies a little faster. Then when the veggies are mostly cooked you can add the meat back in to heat back up and brown a bit.
5. Serve with couscous, flatbreads, a cucumber yogurt sauce like tzatziki.

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Moroccan Spice Blend

Here is my recipe for an easy Moroccan inspired spice mix that you can use in so many ways. I love to use this on all kinds of meat and roasted veggies, but one of my favorites is this Slow Roasted Moroccan Spiced Pork Shoulder. It adds an amazing amount of flavor to any dish.

Moroccan Seasoning Recipe

A printable recipe card is below.

I’ve written out a recipe for my Moroccan spice rub that makes a lot. I love this spice mix to generously season a large piece of meat, plus veggies for roasting, and still have extra for another time. It’s so good on pork, beef, and chicken, and on roasted veggies. These are all ground spices, and the quantities don’t have to be exact. If you like more or less of any of these, feel free to adjust.

This recipe is made of a mix of ground spices, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen. Here are the ground spices you will need. A recipe card is below with the exact quantities.

• black pepper

• ginger

• cinnamon

• turmeric

• cumin

• paprika

• cloves

• nutmeg

• kosher salt

Measure out all the spices into a jar and combine. I like to do it in a pint jar with a shaker lid.

Use this spice rub to season just about any kind of meat. If you have a jar of it already mixed up it can be a really quick and simple way to make a delicious weeknight meal with some chicken thighs or pork chops. Or use it on larger pieces of meat for smoking or slow roasting.

Author: Lisa Marsh

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Moroccan Inspired Seasoning Rub

A richly flavored spice rub inspired by the flavors of Moroccan cooking that you can use on all kinds of meat and veggies.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 8 teaspoons ginger
• 8 teaspoons cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons turmeric
• 4 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons kosher salt

Instructions

1. Measure out all of the ground spices and combine in a jar.
2. Use to season a wide variety of meats and vegetables.
3. The individual spice amounts are very customizable, feel free to increase or decrease any spice to suit your taste. If you want it to be spicy/hot, add cayenne pepper.

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Favorite Whole Chicken Recipes

As I talked about in my last post about the cost of meat - and I shared a great list of budget friendly ground beef recipes - it’s just getting more and more expensive to feed a family. So we have to come up with ways to get more for our money. I think that the whole chicken is one of the absolute best budget friendly cooking tips there is. Chicken is by far the least expensive meat right now, and buying whole chickens are the lest expensive way to buy chicken.

I love the whole Costco roast chicken as much as the next person, but sometimes it’s nice to skip the store bought convenience and cook your own from scratch.

So once again I reached out to my followers to ask for new ideas. I asked everyone for their favorite ways to cook a whole chicken. And once again my friends did not disappoint with all of their amazing ideas and suggestions for healthy and easy whole chicken recipes.

This isn’t a food editor’s list, this is real people commenting on the recipes they actually make and use to feed their families. I definitely got some new ideas to try from these suggestions, and you can expect to see some these in my meal plans in the future. I hope you find this list helpful too.

Reader favorite whole chicken recipes:

Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken With Lemons - if you’ve ever cooked any of Marcella Hazan’s recipes, you’ll know that they are always sure winners.

Whole Soy Sauce Chicken from Tiffy Cooks - an Instant Pot recipe for a delicious Asian flavor spin on the whole chicken.

Buttermilk Marinated Roast Chicken - from Samran Nosrat (of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat). This is probably the simplest recipe you will ever make. It has literally 3 ingredients - chicken, buttermilk, and salt - and yet makes for some of the most delicious chicken you will ever eat.

Chicken in Coconut Milk with Lemongrass - from the kitchn - this is my personal favorite on this list. Moist and juicy chicken with a unique blend of flavors that you might not initially think would be good but they make the chicken and resulting broth taste amazing.

Jaime Oliver’s Chicken in Milk This one is the original inspiration for the coconut milk recipe above. And again from a well loved cook whose recipes never disappoint.

Zuni Cafe’s Roasted Chicken + Bread Salad - recipe from Smitten Kitchen - Deb at Smitten Kitchen is known for her adaptations of other famous recipes, and this is her version of a well loved restaurant dish.

Do you have other favorites?

I would love to know if you have tried any of these, or if you have any other favorite whole chicken recipes that you love. Let me know in the comments here, or jump on over to that Threads post and add to the conversation.

Favorite Ground Beef Recipes

Stressed about the price of meat these days?

You’re not alone.

Meat has gotten so expensive, I hardly ever buy big pieces of beef any more. When I buy beef these days it’s usually ground beef, so I needed more ideas for budget friendly meals using ground beef.

I got a little tired of my usual ground beef dinner recipes, and I suspect you probably do too.

So I did my new favorite thing - I reached out to my followers on Threads and asked for their favorite ground beef recipes. My friends did not disappoint with suggestions for ways to use ground beef, I got so many suggestions for budget friendly ground beef dinner recipes.

Are you following me on social media? Click on over to follow me and join the conversations.

What follows below is the list of all the ground beef ideas my crowdsourcing came up with. This list includes so many favorites, quick and simple ground beef recipes, comfort food ground beef recipes, one pot ground beef recipes, and so many more family friend ground beef dinner ideas.

I’m linking recipes where I have them, and keep checking back to see if there’s more.

Ground beef dinner ideas:

• Chili: chili with ground beef is actually my favorite kind. It’s somehow just more comforting. I have a recipe here on the blog that we love. I’ve made this for years so this one isn’t new to me, but it’s at the top of my list to recommend to you. This is a family friendly chili that my kids, and anyone else I have ever made it for, absolutely love. It’s full of flavor but not spicy. Try serving it in bread bowls, or with hot dogs. I’m on team no beans in chili, but feel free to add beans if you like them.

• Stuffed eggplant: This recipe with spiced beef and pine nuts sounds amazing. Based on Yotam Ottolenghi’s lamb-stuffed eggplants.

• Meatloaf: so many amazing recipes out there! Here is a great recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen. You can also take any favorite meatballs recipe and cook it as a loaf as well. I’ve done that many times when I wanted the flavor of my favorite meatball recipe but didn’t feel like taking the time to make the balls.

• Meatballs: another one with practically limitless options. Our family favorite meatball recipe is from an old Moroccan cookbook that I’ve had for years. It’s no longer in print but you can find used copies of it. I highly recommend this book anyway, it’s got so many amazing recipes. I also have another favorite meatball recipe here on the blog, it’s a very basic recipe that’s super easy to adapt. You can also generally take any favorite meatloaf recipe and make it into meatballs instead.

• Meat sauce / Bolognese / Ragu: these sauces are another favorite of ours and they are so versatile. I usually make a huge batch of it and we will have it one night on pasta and then later in the week I will make lasagna with it. A lot of recipes call for a variety of ground meats, but you can use just ground beef and it will still be delicious. My favorite bolognese recipe is in another of my favorite cookbooks - How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman

• Hamburgers - need no explanation! There are so many options, I don’t think my kids could ever get tired of them. You can get creative with toppings to keep it interesting.

• Picadillo - this is a new one to me, so I am looking forward to trying it. It’s a Latin dish with ground beef and spices and olives, some versions have potato too. In my brief searching, it seems like Cuban versions don’t have potatoes, while the Mexican style includes potatoes. Here’s one that looks delicious without potatoes, and here’s another that has potatoes. We’re going to have to try it both ways I think.

• Shepherds pie: always a favorite. I think a lot of families have their own recipes for this, I’ve made it a lot and don’t usually follow a recipe. But if you’ve never had it, or never made it - you must give it a try. It’s basically a savory mixture of ground beef, veggies, and gravy - like a thick stew - topped with seasoned mashed potatoes and baked. Classic comfort food. Some will say that with beef it’s technically cottage pie, and shepherds pie is lamb. I say call it whatever you like. Here’s a great recipe from The Wholesome Dish.

• Stuffed peppers: ground beef, rice, spices, cheese - what’s not to love? You can find a million recipes if you do a quick search, here’s one that looks great to me, from WellPlated.com.

• Homemade crunch wrap supremes: Ok this was a new one to me. It’s a Taco Bell thing and I don’t eat at Taco Bell, but a homemade version sounds amazing. A loaded ground beef taco in a crispy taco shell, then wrapped in a flour tortilla and fried. Sounds too good to be true! Here’s a recipe that sounds amazing, from Spend With Pennies.

• Tacos: obviously, the possibilities are endless. You can season up your ground beef really well, or you can keep it super simple. I do it all ways - sometimes with lots of chili powder and cumin and garlic, but sometimes with just a little salt and pepper and I let the toppings and salsa add the extra flavor. You can of course use packaged taco seasoning, but I stopped buying that years ago when I realized it was just as easy to season it myself.

• Nachos with seasoned ground beef topping: anything you can put in a taco, you can put on top of nachos instead. It’s a fun way to mix it up.

• Tamale pie: believe or not, I’ve actually never made this! But I’ve had it and it’s delish. Kinda like a tex-mix Shepards pie - a spiced ground beef and veggie mixture, with corn bread on top. Here’s a recipe that sounds fun.

• Goulash (the American kind): I had to specify this because Hungarian goulash is a whole other kind of thing. But American goulash is a more eastern US regional thing, so I’ve actually never had it but it sounds amazing. It’s like a spiced tomatoey ground beef sauce with elbow macaroni pasta and it sounds like the kind of thing my family would love. Here’s a one pot version from Rachel Cooks, where the pasta cooks in the sauce, and you know that’s right up my alley.

• Lasagna: the ground beef lasagna I grew up with was very American, which I didn’t realize until well into adulthood. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious. I mentioned above that I make a lasagna sometimes with bolognese, and it is amazing. But you can also do the more classic American style with browned ground beef layered in between the layers of pasta, sauce and cheese. Or you can make a simple ground beef tomato sauce. Here’s a great simple recipe for a ground beef lasagna from Jo Cooks.

• Unstuffed peppers: all the goodness of the stuffed versions, but maybe a bit easier cooked together in one pot. Here’s a recipe that sounds simple and easy.

• Stuffed cabbage rolls: I love these but I haven’t made them in years, I really need to do it again. Here’s a recipe that sounds very easy and budget friendly from Spend with Pennies. There are also “unstuffed” versions of recipes like this, a quick google search will bring you several options.

• Lettuce wraps: lettuce wraps of all kinds are among my favorite things. I love all the flavors in these, and how versatile they can be. You can search and find dozens of recipes, but here’s one that sounds particularly delicious.

• Japanese curry: My kids love the flavors of Japanese curry. You can buy the sauce in cubes that you melt into a sauce. It’s so versatile, you can use the sauce with any combination of protein and veggies that you like. We buy the mild version, my grocery store usually carries it, but you can order it online if you can’t find it. This is a staple that I always keep in my kitchen because it’s such an easy weeknight dinner. The recipe is on the box - you just brown your meat and veggies, and add the sauce and liquid. I love to also add coconut milk to give it an extra creamy flavor.

• Bibimbap / Korean beef bowl: oh another favorite. Spiced ground beef served with a variety of sides and toppings, on a bowl of rice. Another that is really flexible and great for weeknights, you can cook it up very fast or make ahead. Here’s just one recipe, but there are so many more if you search.

• Stroganoff: a family classic. Typically this is made with strips of beef but I think it’s just as good with ground beef. I used to make this all the time while camping, it’s an easy one pot camping meal that everyone loves.

• Salisbury steak: I have fond memories of having this in TV dinners as a kid (I’ve just dated myself), but I’ve never tried making it, and why not? A seasoned beef patty, browned and served with mushroom gravy and probably some mashed potatoes. This is going on my list for a winter comfort food meal. Here’s a great recipe from Recipe Tin Eats.

• Sloppy joes: an old school school cafeteria classic that can be made so much better at home. Ground beef in a hearty tomato sauce served on a toasted hamburger bun. Natasha’s Kitchen is one of my favorite food blogs and I’m sure her version is amazing.

• Loco moco: I may have accidentally saved the best for last. If you’ve never had loco moco, you’re in for a treat. This is a Hawaiian classic comfort food - a ground beef patty, served over a scoop of rice, with a mushroom gravy and a fried egg. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Here’s a simple classic version that you need to try.

  I hope this has given you lots of great ideas for your weeknight budget meal planning.

  Happy cooking!

Pizza Rolls

Easy homemade pizza rolls are a family favorite.

This post was updated Sept 2024.

Pizza rolls are easy to make, kids love them, adults love them, and the possibilities for customizing are practically endless. I shared a picture on my Instagram and Facebook pages of my kids lunches with these pizza rolls and I got so many requests for the recipe!  

Pizza rolls are one of my favorite things to pack for lunch - really anything in the pizza for lunch category is always a hit with the kids.

The full pizza rolls recipe is at the end of this post, so keep reading because I’ve got lots of handy tips for you about how to make these. But if you really want to just skip to this easy recipe, you can click the button below.

You can make these with as little 3 items from your fridge, only a few minutes to put together.

You could totally go make some of these now and be eating them in 20 minutes - that's how fast!  And as with most of my favorite recipes - the ingredients here are very flexible.

I think these might be one of the perfect kid foods.

They're small enough for little hands, they are not messy, they seem to travel and keep well, and - best of all - they taste like pizza!

A few tips about how I make these pizza rolls. 

Because my goal with this recipe is to have something that comes together super fast and easy, I go with a packaged dough most of the time.  Usually I use a can of crescent roll dough from Trader Joe's. But use any quick and easy dough you like.You could also use biscuit dough, or certainly if you have homemade dough, go for it!  

If I'm buying pre-made dough I try to look for one that's not got too much nasty stuff in it.  The TJ's brand is not too bad.  It's not as easy to handle as some others (maybe because it's missing some of the chemical dough conditioners and junk), but for this recipe that's ok. You're not actually making crescent rolls with it.  

For the sauce I used a canned pizza sauce or sometimes just plain tomato sauce. Any kind you like will do.  I use traditional mozzarella for ours most of the time, but any flavor if cheese you like would be great too. 

The amounts of the sauce and cheese are also flexible - it's really about your personal taste. Just don't add too much - you don't want to squish it all out when you cut.

These are such great kid food, my kids scarf them up.  

But the husband and I eat our fair share too.  I think they are a perfect make-ahead item for kids lunches.

Everybody loves homemade pizza rolls!

Let's be honest - a big green salad with a few of these on the side, doesn't that sound like a perfect weeknight dinner?  These freeze great.  Whenever I make them I always at least double the recipe and I put a bunch in the freezer.  

It doesn't get any easier for packing a school lunch - to pull out a few of these, throw in a few carrots and a little fruit, and lunch is done. 

Pizza Rolls Recipe

Author: Lisa Marsh, WhatLisaCooks.comPrint Recipe

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Easy Homemade Pizza Rolls

A crowd pleasing favorite!

ingredients:

• Dough - 1 can of prepared crescent roll dough. Or any other dough of your choice. 
• A little flour (any kind will do - it's just for rolling the dough)
• A few tablespoons of pizza sauce (or just plain tomato sauce)
• About 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or whatever cheese you like.
• Other fillings of your choice - cut into small pieces (pepperoni, ham, veggies, etc.)

instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   

Prepare dough

1. Take the dough out of the can, sprinkle both sides with a little flour
2. Fold it over on itself once or twice (otherwise it's trying to come apart at the seams)
3. Roll out into a rectangle until it's about 1/4 inch thick

Add toppings

1. Spread pizza sauce or tomato sauce thinly and evenly across the whole piece of dough
2. Sprinkle cheese evenly 
3. Add other toppings as desired
   

Roll and slice

1. Start rolling from the long edge, you want your final roll to be long and narrow.  Try to get it as tight as you can without feeling like you're squishing it.

2. At this point if you've handled it a lot and you feel like your dough is getting too soft to slice, stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to firm up. 
3. Slice into 3/4 inch pieces with a very sharp knife.
   

Bake

1. Lay your cut rolls out evenly on a baking sheet - either spray with a bit of cooking spray or line with parchment
2. Bake at 350 for about 12-14 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and dough is golden brown.

NOTES:

Double or triple or quadruple this recipe and make lots extra. These freeze great and are perfect for the lunch box.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Easy lemon vinaigrette

This lemon vinaigrette is a must have staple in my kitchen. I make a jar of this easy lemon salad dressing almost every week and I use it for many meals. As with everything I do, it’s a very versatile recipe that can be customized to your own tastes. I love the lemony tartness of it on all kinds of salads.

I’ve written out this recipe in a reasonable size quantity for you as I think most people probably won’t use quite as much as I do. But if we’re being honest I usually triple or quadruple this amount in a quart sized jar because I use so much of it.

I use this on a wide variety of salads, but it also makes a great marinade. I also love to marinade chicken in it or use it to baste on chicken or fish as it cooks. It’s also really great on grilled or roasted veggies.

Lemon Vinaigrette Ingredients:

Oil

Olive oil is my usual pick for this but of course even olive oil has a large variation in flavor. Pick one that you like the flavor of. I really don’t think there’s a wrong answer here. You can also experiment with other oils, avocado oil is a nice neutral oil if what you really want to taste is lemon, or a combination of oils is nice too.

Lemon juice

Fresh squeezed is where it’s at. I wouldn’t recommend making salad dressing with bottle lemon juice. This dressing is all about that fresh lemon flavor and you won’t get that out of a bottle. You can freeze fresh lemon juice though, and that will always give you better flavor than bottled. I’ve also made this with Meyer lemons which is really nice, and I’ve mixed in just a little bit of other citrus juice like tangerine a couple of times too. This kind of recipe is all about customizing to your personal tastes.

Garlic & Shallots

Fresh is best! I wouldn’t recommend using jarred garlic for this, but if you can find the little frozen cubes those are great, or my store recently has had a tube of crushed garlic that really seems like the next best thing to fresh. Shallots are lovely finely chopped, if you don’t have them I would just skip this rather than substitute with onion.

Worchestershire sauce

This gives a nice bit of extra depth of flavor that you really don’t obviously notice is there but I do notice that something is lacking when I leave it out. I sometimes substitute with Bragg’s Aminos instead for just a slightly different flavor.

Dijon mustard

Really needs no introduction, a little mustard adds such a nice flavor. Usually it’s just enough that you don’t obviously taste it, but every now and then I add extra, especially if I’m using this as a marinade instead of on a salad.

Salt and pepper

To taste, of course. There’s no right or wrong here. I like mine salty but you might not. My usual go-to is kosher salt, but any kind you like will do. I’m partial to white pepper lately, I think it’s a richer and yet somehow also milder flavor.

How to make it:

The simplest way is to just dump everything in a jar and whisk or stir with a fork. This is how I do it most of the time. But if you prefer a more emulsified dressing, you can add the oil last so it sits on top and then use an immersion blender to mix. If you start with the blender at the bottom and move very slowly up the jar it will emulsify without having to add the oil a little at a time.

I think the dressing is fine out on the counter for a day or two, but since I make a large quantity at once I usually store this in the fridge. If you’ve used an extra virgin olive oil your dressing will probably solidify in the refrigerator, so I just try to remember to set it out on the counter about an hour before I intend to use it.

Author: Lisa Marsh

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Every Day Simple Lemon Vinaigrette

A bright and tangy versatile lemon dressing perfect for all kinds of salads.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 small shallot, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a jar and either whisk to combine or use an immersion blender to emulsify.
2. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Notes

As with all of my recipes, this one is very versatile and you can adjust any of the ingredients to your liking. More or less garlic, substitute vinegar of your choice for some of the lemon juice, use avocado oil instead of olive oil, or a combination of oils, etc. Sometimes I swap out the worchestershire sauce and use Bragg's Aminos instead. It gives a nicely different little umami flavor.

I especially love this on a salad of spring mix greens with strawberries, crispy prosciutto, and pistachios.

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Family Favorite scone recipe

I love a recipe that is versatile and flexible and works in a lot of different versions. I have made many versions of this scone recipe for many years now and they turn out great every time. It’s a flexible recipe that can be cut in half or doubled, and made in a variety of flavors and sizes.

One of our favorite family christmas breakfast treats are these scones make with a cranberry orange flavor. Something about that combination of flavors just feels festive to me.

My husband loves blueberry scones and I feel like the kind you buy are too often dry and crumbly, but I think the buttermilk in these keeps them flakey and moist and they make the best blueberry scones I’ve ever had.

And most recently I have been using this recipe to make a copycat version of the Starbucks Petite Vanilla Scones - my kids absolutely love those but it’s too expensive to buy very often. Trader Joe’s also sells a bag of little vanilla scones which are pretty good too. But neither of those are as good as these.

Scroll on down for the basic recipe, and be sure to read the notes where I tell you how to make some of our favorite variations. But even the plain version is amazing fresh out of the oven with a little butter or jam.

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Scones

Author: Lisa Marsh

Light and flakey scones with just the right amount of sweetness. This is an easy recipe to make ahead and to adapt for different flavors. Use this recipe to make copycat Starbucks Petit Vanilla Scones.

Ingredients

Dough Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold butter (cut in small cubes)
• ­ 4 cups all purpose flour
• ­ 1⁄2 cup granulated or bakers sugar
• ­ 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ­ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ­ 1 teaspoon salt (or 1/2 tsp if using salted butter)
• ­ 1 egg
• ­ 1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk
• ­ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Optional icing and add-ins

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons whole milk
• Optional: extra buttermilk & sugar
• Optional: lemon juice, vanilla beans, lemon zest
• Optional: blueberries, dried cranberries, chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. ­ In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. ­ Add cubed butter and cut in and combine until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
4. ­ If using dried fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, vanilla beans: add to crumb mixture before adding wet ingredients.
5. ­ Combine buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
6. ­ Add wet mixture to dry mixture and combine until it comes together into dough. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead several times until well mixed.
7. ­ Divide dough into quarters and press each quarter into a 1⁄2 inch thick circle.
8. ­ Cut each circle into 6 wedges.
9. ­ Alternatively, you can roll the entire dough out to 1⁄2 inch thick and cut in squares, or use a round biscuit cutter to cut circles.
10. ­ Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Skip this step if you plan to add icing.
11. ­ Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
12. ­ Allow to cool and then drizzle with icing if desired.
13. ­ You can make this dough ahead and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake.

Notes

Starbucks copycat petit vanilla scones:

• divide the dough into 8 rounds instead of four.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.
• Top with vanilla bean icing after cooling

Vanilla Bean Icing:

• Combine powdered sugar and milk until smooth.
• Scrape vanilla beans in and mix well

Blueberry scones:

• It works best if you use frozen blueberries and mix them right at the end and then work fast to get your scones rolled out before the blueberries thaw.

Lemon scones:

• Add the zest of one lemon to the dough
• Replace a tablespoon of buttermilk with lemon juice

Lemon icing:

• replace one tablespoon of milk in icing recipe with lemon juice.
• add the zest of one lemon to the icing.

Orange Cranberry Scones (our holiday breakfast favorite)

• Add orange zest and about a cup of dried cranberries to the dough

https://www.whatlisacooks.com/blog/scones

scones, baking, holiday breakfast

breakfast

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Preserved lemons

I’ve just made a batch of my preserved lemons, so I thought I’d show you how I do it.

I’m a bit obsessed with the flavor. I love to use them in salad dressings, in a cucumber yogurt sauce, with pork or chicken.

My method is simple - cut off the ends and quarter the lemons, and layer them in a jar with kosher salt. I use about a tablespoon of salt per lemon.

Squish the lemons down to get the juices going, put on a tight lid, and then agitate or rotate the jar regularly for several days until the salt is all dissolved.

My kids call it my snow globe.

If your lemons aren’t super juicy then you might need to juice a few extra to add more juice to the jar, you want to end up with liquid pretty much covering all the lemons.

Sometimes I open it up after a day or two and squish the lemons down once they’ve gotten a bit soft, and add more lemons if there is room. Sometimes people add a bit of boiling water to top it off to make sure all the lemons are submerged.

And then that’s it.

Leave them alone for a few weeks, roll the jar around once a week or so.

And then dice them up in any dish that needs a savory kick. They keep for a long time and just get better.

Some recipes tell you to remove and discard the pulp and just use the skin, but I actually love the flavor of the pulp too so I usually add that in as well.

Enjoy!

~ Lisa

Extra Creamy Scrambled Eggs

One of my favorite quick and easy tips for making amazing scrambled eggs every time: mayonnaise.

I said what I said. Add mayo. You know what mayo is made of right? It’s eggs and oil, with some seasoning, mixed into a creamy emulsion. So adding that to eggs makes them extra creamy and adds seasoning and flavor.

I usually do at least 6 - 12 eggs at a time because I’m always cooking for a crowd so I add a couple tablespoons of mayo. Experiment for yourself and decided how much you like.