Chai Overnight Oats

Chai Overnight Oats

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We spent almost two weeks in Florida visiting my mom and family. It was so nice to be with my family since I don’t get to see them very often. Of course, traveling with little ones has some challenges and the girls had a couple of rough days due to the time difference, but we had fun and were also able to take them to Disney World for their first time! I also spent the entire holiday sick so that has not been fun! I’m happy to be back to our routine and to get back to posting new recipes!

I am going to start the year off with a simple and healthy breakfast recipe. You know I love overnight oats as evidenced here, here, and here to name just a few!

I also love chai tea. The warm and comforting flavors of cinnamon and cardamom make me feel so cozy. These Chai Overnight Oats are so simple to make and with the exception of maybe the cardamom, you probably already have all the ingredients in your kitchen!

Mix everything up in less than five minutes before you go to bed and wake up to a delicious breakfast ready to be enjoyed! I didn’t go crazy with the spices in this recipe, especially with the cardamom. Feel free to make adjustments to meet your tastes!

Christmas Coffee Cocktail

One more Christmas recipe! This may just look like a boring cup of coffee. Nothing special to see here, but wait! This is no ordinary cup of coffee! This is a special coffee…Christmas Coffee Cocktail to be exact! I know, it’s not the greatest name, but I’m tired so we are going to go with it.

I love a good hot toddy drink during this time of year when it’s cold outside. This is truly the perfect drink to make for parties to serve alongside a dessert spread!

To make the drink, you’ll start by making homemade spiced creamer! I took some half and half and poured it into a sauce pan along with some cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and vanilla. Note that the recipe will make you quite a bit for multiple drinks! You can use plain half and half if you prefer, but the spiced creamer is so easy to make, it’s worth the extra few minutes!

For the cocktail, you just need some of your favorite hot brewed coffee, coffee liqueur, butterscotch schnapps, and creme de cocoa! This coffee cocktail is so perfectly sweet and comforting! Perfect for enjoying with your favorite holiday desserts!

Peppermint Popcorn Balls

I cannot believe how fast December is just flying by! I’m trying to pack in these last Christmas recipes! These Peppermint Popcorn Balls were so fun and simple to make and are great for giving out as little gifts or party favors! Wrap them up in some cellophane and tie with fun ribbon!

These popcorn balls are very similar to rice krispie treats. First you need some plain popped popcorn which can be from a bag or you can pop it fresh. Some melted butter, marshmallows, peppermint extract, and some white chocolate get melted in a pan and tossed with the popcorn. And while I normally do not really like white chocolate, it works really well in this recipe. I like the flavor and added richness it adds and it also helps to keep the popcorn together a little better!

I bought some peppermint candies and crushed them myself. As you can see, I had some bigger chunks, but you may be able to find already crushed peppermint candy in the bulk section at the grocery store or candy store. You can also crush up some candy canes. After the popcorn balls are formed, I rolled them in some of the candy to finish them off.

These are seriously so simple to make, but also super yummy for adults and kiddos!

Cranberry Chipotle Chicken Wings

This post is sponsored by Perdue Farms.

Now that the holiday season is here, I’m always thinking about ingredients or products that I can keep stored in the freezer for holiday guests or impromptu parties. So, it was perfect timing when Perdue Farms reached out to me to see if I would be interested in receiving their new direct-to-consumer product boxes!

Whenever I have thought about Perdue in the past, I typically think chicken or turkey, so I was surprised to see the variety of products that I received from Perdue Farms! I appreciate that they value working with small family farmers to help raise healthy animals and deliver high quality products and now, direct to your door. Perdue Farms has been in the business for 100 years and is now the #1 supplier in the U.S. for organic chicken.

I received the Gatherings (medium) size box of products. My box contained a Sonoma Red Organic Chicken, Niman Ranch Pulled Pork, Perdue Herbed Olive Oil Chicken Wings, Niman Ranch Kielbasa, Niman Ranch Fat Tire Ribs, and Coleman Ranch Organic Chicken Tenders. Everything was packaged really well and I love the variety I received. I’d also like to add that all of the shipping materials are sustainable. The box is 100% recyclable. All of the insulation is also biodegradable, compostable, and dissolvable in water! They also donate a portion of each bundle ordered to the Arbor Day Foundation. Super cool!

I had a hard time picking which product to use for this post, but finally decided on the Perdue Herbed Olive Oil Chicken Wings. They are super simple to make as you don’t have to worry about thawing the wings, you can just bake them directly from the freezer! They also come in a resealable bag if you only want to make a smaller amount.

I decided to make this amazing cranberry chipotle wing sauce to go with them! It’s really very simple and I love the flavor of this sauce. You’ve got some sweetness from the cranberry sauce and some heat from the chipotle peppers. I added some fresh lime juice to balance out the flavors.

I made my own cranberry sauce for this recipe. It’s so easy to make, but if you are short on time or can’t find fresh cranberries, you can use canned whole cranberry sauce. The other thing I love about these wings is that the cranberry wing sauce makes them perfect for holiday gatherings or even for game days! My husband was happy to eat a plate of these wings last weekend.

Croque Monsieur Casserole

Today we are talking about the Croque Monsieur. If you have never had one, it is a french sandwich with ham, Gruyere cheese, mustard, and it’s topped with Béchamel sauce and is then broiled in the oven until perfectly bubbly and gooey. So in other words, it’s basically heaven!

Today I’m sharing this fun breakfast or brunch twist on the french classic – Croque Monsieur Casserole! This casserole is simple, but seems seriously impressive. And best of all, you can prep it the night before which means it’s perfect for Christmas morning!

To make it, you just need a day old baguette of french bread. Slice it up, spread a bit of butter on each slice, stick some ham in between each slice of the bread in a baking dish. Then I mix up the custard base with eggs, some half and half, a bit of dijon mustard, shredded gruyere and a bit of Parmesan cheese, some herbs like thyme. Pour that over the bread, cover and chill overnight! In the morning, it just needs to bake for about 50-60 minutes.

One thing to note is the baking dish size in the recipe, I find a typical 9×13 baking dish to be a bit too large for the standard size french baguette which is about 26 inches long. I had a smaller baking dish that is 7×11 and the bread fit perfectly in that size baking dish. I realize that’s kind of an odd size that many may not have. You can still make it in a 9×13, but the bread will be more spread out. You can also try an 8×8, but may need to leave some of the bread out.

You don’t have to prep this the night before, but I do recommend letting the egg mixture sit with the bread for at least an hour before baking so it soaks all that goodness up in the custard. If you don’t need it first thing in the morning (like if you plan to serve it for brunch), then you can prep it the morning of. If you do chill it over night, I also recommend letting it come to room temperature before baking.

Reindeer Brownies

I can’t go grocery shopping during the month of December without the girls finding all of the holiday baking supplies, sprinkles, and candy. Then they beg me repeatedly to get baking supplies. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a brownie and decided we needed to bake some brownies, but not just any plain brownie – Reindeer Brownies!

This one of those recipes where you can make it from scratch if preferred or you can you can whip out your favorite box mix (I’m looking at you, Ghirardelli!). Same goes for the frosting. If you have a chocolate frosting you love, make it! Or you can use your favorite canned frosting. There’s no right way just as long as you start off with an 8×8 prepared pan of frosted brownies!