Chocolate Fondue

So... I find myself with a chocolate fountain and the need for a recipe.  I stole this one from here. Putting it here to get rid of the fluff and just have the fondue recipe. Also, I'm adding vanilla because it was in a bunch of other recipes and I thought it sounded like a great addition.

• 1 cup (8 oz.) heavy cream
• Pinch of salt
• 12 oz. milk or dark chocolate (chips or roughly chopped bar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat the cream with a pinch of salt over medium heat in a sauce pan until tiny bubbles show and begin to lightly simmer.

2. Remove from heat, add the chocolate, and whisk until smooth and fully incorporated.

3. Serve immediately in a fondue pot (or in my case, a fountain with a warmer).

Keto Instant Pot Jambalaya

We (and by we, I mean everyone currently in house except the baby) have been following a keto diet plan.  I probably have a few extra recipes to add since we've definitely formed some favorites, but for now... this Keto Jambalaya recipe is the very best adapted recipe I created since we started about 6 weeks and (for me) 13+ lbs ago.

First, you should know I adapted this recipe from Café Delites. If you like peppers, okra, celery and carbs, you should go there and try her version. But, if you're trying to eat keto and like jambalaya, mine is pretty darn good.

Ingredients

• Andouille Sausage - I used about 6 brats, sliced into rounds
• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast - I used two great big ones
• Shrimp - I bought a small-ish bag of deveined, tail-off frozen shrimp
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Cajun Seasoning - 2 TBS, divided
• Butter - 2 TBS
• Garlic - I used about 4 moderate squeezes of garlic paste.
• 14 oz Can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Dried Thyme
• 1 tsp Dried Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 tsp Hot Pepper Sauce
• 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 4 cups Riced Cauliflower

Directions

1. Cook all the meat. 
• Sausage | Cut up the sausage into rounds and throw the pieces into a large frying pan with the cut up onion.  Cook on medium heat for a while--until the edges of the sausage are all browned and the whole pan is sizzling.
• Chicken | I hate--and I do mean hate--dealing with raw chicken. So, you can cook it however you want, but I tend to take the giant breasts (bought frozen), throw them into a pot with water and boil for a while to get them "not slimy any more." Then, I cut the chicken into smaller pieces, add about a 1/2 TBS of the Cajun seasoning, and cook it until it's all browned and yummy looking.
• Shrimp | Throw your shrimp into a small pot. Add butter, garlic, and 1/2 TBS of Cajun seasoning, and cook it until it looks done.
2. Add the following to the Instant Pot (you can do this while the meat is cooking): tomatoes, 1 TBS Cajun seasoning, black pepper, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire, broth, and cauliflower. As the meats are done, dump those in, too.
3. Stir all the ingredients well, put the lid on the Instant Pot. Close the pressure valve, and if your Instant Pot has a Soup button (like mine does), press that.  It will pressurize and then cook for about 30 minutes.  I let mine depressurize on its own and then it sat on Keep Warm for about 45 minutes. 
4. Serve with low carb corn bread, a fried low-carb tortilla, or by itself.

I'm not sure how many this serves--maybe 8 or 10? It's a little spicy, has great flavor, and keeps well in the refrigerator. I'm also not totally sure of the carb count or macros or whatever, but I know it's low carb enough and delicious.

Belgian Liege Waffles

Long time, no post. Actually, it's been a while since I made anything worth writing about. But then I made these Belgian Liege Waffles, and I simply *have* to make sure I can always find this recipe.  This is a duplicate of the recipe from abountifulkitchen.com.  You should probably go there to use this recipe, and you should definitely give her credit for this amazingness (not me!).

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 12 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 8 oz Belgian Pearl Sugar

Toppings:

• Sliced strawberries
• Sliced bananas
• Nutella
• Whipped Cream
• Powdered sugar
• Whatever you want!

Instructions:

1. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm milk in bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast begins to foam.
2. Add 2 eggs, melted butter and whisk together with fork.
3. Add 3 cups flour, salt and vanilla to yeast and milk mixture. Mix on low with dough hook until mixture is smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour and mix on low for 2 minutes. Place in a warm place, covered for 30 minutes.
4. After dough has risen, fold 8 oz of Belgian Pearl Sugar into dough using a large spoon or by hand. Break dough into pieces about 3-4 oz each. You should have 9-10 balls of dough. 
5. Preheat waffle iron for 10 minutes before cooking dough. Generously grease waffle iron using cooking spray. Cook one piece of dough at a time, place dough in middle of waffle iron, close and cook until outside is crispy and center is cooked through. This will vary in time depending on heat level and waffle iron used. Watch carefully, sugar will burn if cooked at too high temperature. 
6. Lay on a wire rack while cooking remaining dough. May be kept in warm oven (225 degrees) until ready to serve, or serve immediately with toppings.

I like to be all decadent about this. I bought Belgian pearl sugar from Amazon, along with SAF Instant yeast (rather than just using the regular American stuff). I also make my own whipped cream. 

I have been told that they reheat well in a toaster, but I haven't tried that yet.  Best breakfast dessert ever. 

Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients

• About 1 lb lean ground beef
• Italian seasonings, to taste (I use black pepper, basil, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder)
• 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I tend to go with tomato basil or sweet basil from Barilla or Newman's Own)
• Cream cheese (I use anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 a block)
• Thin Spaghetti Noodles (I almost always use whole grain, and I typically use about 4 servings worth, though this is a guess... because really I just throw some in and hope for the best.)
• Shredded cheese (whatever kind you want... I almost always end up using a Mexican blend because it's what I have in the fridge)
• Parmesan cheese topping

Maybe you're noticing a trend? I don't actually measure any of this stuff. I invented this recipe as a way to use up some leftover spaghetti noodles and sauce, and the hubby liked it so much that I have been making this *instead of* spaghetti for quite a while now. So... bear with me on the measurements. 

I don't think you can really mess it up, so don't worry and just go with it.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Throw the ground beef in a pan, season it to your preferences, and cook it until it's good and brown.
3. Go ahead and start heating the water to cook the noodles. I follow the instructions on the box, but typically add a tiny bit of salt and olive oil to the water. Drain the noodles when they are done cooking and set them aside for later. (While this is listed as "step 2," I always just sort of make the noodles while working on the sauce, so really it's not a linear step.)
4. Once the meat is cooked, dump the jar of spaghetti sauce over it and heat it all up (I wouldn't turn the stove over medium heat once you add the spaghetti sauce unless you want to boil the sauce and end up with red stuff on your ceiling... ask me how I know.)
5. Add the cream cheese. (I started with about 2 TBS, and have increased it. Hubby likes it with more, so now we do more.) Stir it up and continue to cook until the cream cheese is completely blended into the sauce.
6. Dump your cooked-and-drained noodles into the sauce pot and mix it up until it seems pretty uniform.
7. Dump the mixture into a casserole dish and spread it out evening, smoothing the top a bit (I just use an 9x9 baking dish, but you can use whatever you want). 
8. Sprinkle shredded cheese, Parmesan cheese topping, and black pepper over the top.
9. Put the casserole in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown on top.

Creates anywhere from 4-6 servings, depending on how hungry you are. I like to serve it with garlic bread and eat a couple of nights in a row.

Fiesta Dip

Ingredients

• 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened (I pop that baby in the microwave for about 30 seconds.)
• 16 oz. container sour cream
• 1 can of shoepeg corn, drained
• 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained (I use regular Rotel)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning mix
• 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 packet Ranch dressing mix (optional)
• 1 cup shredded chicken (optional)

Instructions

1. Do all the pesky prep work (soften the cream cheese; drain the corn, beans, and Rotel; and shred the chicken if you're using chicken).
2. Dump everything into a big bowl and mix it up really good.
3. Put the dip into the serving dish you plan to use.
4. Decide if you would like to serve the dip hot or cold (it is absolutely amazing either way). If you go for cold, just refrigerate for a few hours before serving. If you decide to go for hot, bake it at about 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (or until it's bubbly and starting to brown) just before serving.
5. Serve with hearty chips. I like to use Fritos Scoops!
6. Get ready for compliments!

Originally found on Pinterest, then linked to site called Eat Cake for Dinner, then linked back to a recipe on Gooseberry Patch's Simple Shortcut Recipes... this aubieangel-adapted recipe is my "go to" party contribution, both because it is SO easy and always SUCH a big hit! Seriously, this is one of those "dump it all in a bowl and serve with chips" recipes, and nearly everyone raves about it, especially guys. I have a small cult following in my husband's Navy Reserve unit thanks to this stuff.