One of the things you may have noticed by now is how much we LOVE comfort food here at Fat Boy Heaven. There is nothing that epitomizes comfort food for most of us more than a nice rich Mac and Cheese, but it would get boring if it was always the same. I decided that the saltiness of the feta might tie in nicely with the smokey saltiness of the bacon very nicely, and since feta doesn't melt, provolone was a nice neutral base cheese to develop the sauce. I added the dates as the milk was first coming to a boil so that some of the sugar would help sweeten the sauce to offset the salt.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Ham and Cheese Scones with Bacon Gravy
Like any Fat Boy, I love biscuits and gravy. I sometimes get tired of the same old thing though, so I decided to try taking biscuits and gravy up a level. In place of biscuits I went with a savory scone filled with ham and cheddar cheese, and I smothered it in a classic bacon gravy.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Fat Boy's Chicken Cacciatore
I was trying to decide how to use some chicken that had been sitting in the fridge all weekend, and decided a nice rustic cacciatore would be perfect on this cold winter night.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Fat Boy Heaven's Gluten Free Mexican Mac and Cheese with Chorizo and Green Chiles
A Classic Mac and Cheese recipe updated to be Gluten Free and kicked up with Mexican Chorizo and New Mexico Green Chiles.
I had some chorizo in the fridge and was trying to come up with a way to use it when I started thinking that it has been a long time since I had made Mac and Cheese. I picked up some gluten-free pasta made from quinoa flour and threw this together. It got rave reviews from the family, and I loved it as well.
Read moreDinner Tonight: BBQ Pork Sandwiches on pretzel buns
Last nights leftover Kahlua Pork becomes BBQ Pork very easily with just a little BBQ sauce
One of the great things about doing the Kahlua Pork last night is that there is always plenty left, especially when it is just the kids and I eating. Since it is just slow roasted pork butt, adding some BBQ sauce made it a simple transition to sandwiches on night two. I love that our local grocer has started selling my favorite kind of sandwich buns - pretzel buns.
Cooking more than you need for a meal means dinner prep the following night can be a lot easier if you are careful not to over season your meat for the first meal in the chain. In this case the pork was seasoned just with salt and liquid smoke, so adding BBQ sauce didn't conflict with any flavors.
Dinner Tonight: Crock Pot Kahlua Pork
Kahlua Pork with Steamed Rice....so basic yet SOOOOOO amazingly full of flavor and goodness
When I was working full time at my last job, I had a few co-workers who were Hawaiian, and one of them shortly after I started introduced me to what he called "Kahlua Pig". When we found a Hawaiian restaurant down the street from work that several of us began to frequent, this was the dish I ordered most often from the menu. There is something just so basic about pork that is slow roasted without really any additions for more than 16 hours that is an amazing delight to any pallet.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Gluten Free Burrito Bowls with Beer Braised Carnitas and Cilantro Lime Quinoa
A Gluten-Free take on the Burrito Bowl that I like better than those served at the popular chains
I was trying to decide what to do for dinner tonight, and Wednesday are always hard with church, school activities and work schedules for everyone to eat together. I decided I needed to find something that would be easy for everyone to eat or re-heat as they got home this evening, and started thinking about the burrito bowls at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. One of the things I decided right away was that I would do carnitas in the crock-pot so I wouldn't need to keep an eye on it all afternoon, and the next thought was "maybe quinoa would work instead of rice to make this more nutritious and gluten free".
Read moreDinner Tonight: Italian Quinoa
We love Italian food in our home, and a frequent quick meal our kids yell for is a quick dinner of pasta with a sausage sauce. I decided to try and take it to another place tonight by using quinoa to make it gluten-free and Paleo friendly. Roasting the tomatoes take a lot of extra time, but cooking the quinoa will take most of the 50 minutes or so you will need to roast off the tomatoes, and trust me, there is no way to substitute the depth of flavors you will get unless it is summer time and you can throw whole tomatoes on the grill to slow roast them there. The spinach will add some great contrasting flavor in addition to the contrasting color it brings, and you can add more than I did if you want more greens, but my kids were rebelling even with this.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Saucy Hungarian Red Potato Goulash with Smoked Sausage and Savory Caramelized Onions
Few things warm you up on a cold winters night like a nice spicy ghoulash
I was looking for something different tonight for dinner and ran across this great recipe for a spicy potato ghoulash. The smoky spice of paprika dominates, but also works well with the kielbasa sausage and the wonderful sauce created by the combination of broth and the starch from potatoes cooking down. A wonderful meal when served with a nice crusty bread.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Chicken Bacon Crockpot Chowder
Chicken Bacon Chowder from the Crock Pot, amazing and low carb dinner your family will love
The wife came across this recipe online the other day and it looked good enough that I had to give it a try. Pre cooking the vegetables and the chicken help the flavors develop much stronger than they normally would in the crock pot, and the chicken also holds together instead of falling apart. The combination of leaks, onions, shallots, and cream make this rich and smooth without over powering and the cream cheese helps to thicken it without needing to add flour or starches. If you are looking for a delicious creamy soup without increasing your carb intake, give this one a try, it is sure to please your family.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Bacon Garlic Pasta
I asked Carrie what she wanted for dinner and she said "I don't care, just something lighter than you've been doing lately, ok?". I started thinking of what I had in the fridge and how I could do something easy and light, and decided this was as easy and light as it gets.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Corn Chowder
The wife has been after me for a few day to make Corn Chowder for her, so tonight she got her wish.
Carrie has been wanting Corn Chowder for days, and I finally didn't have anything else planned for dinner tonight, so she got her wish. There are lots of ways people make corn chowder. Some thicken it with a traditional rue. Some Use canned corn (and that nastiest of all canned vegetables, creamed corn). I take a few shortcuts with mine, but the important thing is using good corn. Mine was cut fresh from the cob this summer and frozen for just such an occasion. Good sweet corn has a taste and texture that makes all the difference here.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Creamy Pumpkin Soup
A nice warm pumpkin soup is perfect to warm you up on a cold winter night
I found this recipe on Pinterest the other night, and it sounded like just the thing for a quick and warm dinner. The seasoning adds flavor without making it taste like a pumpkin pie, although the spices are all the same. They help bring out the sweetness of the pumpkin, and to help it blend with the garnish of the nutty parmesan and the rick goodness of the bacon. It is fairly low-calorie and low fat, but still an important little piece of Fat Boy Heaven. Give it a try, your family will love it.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
A very simple to make take on basic oriental cooking
We felt like something Asian tonight, and I ran across this idea on Pinterest so decided to give it a try. It can be made with any boneless chicken, but I prefer the thighs to the breasts for a couple of reasons: breast meat tends to fall apart more easily when cooked for this length of time, and thigh meat because of it's higher fat content seems to take flavors more consistently.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Ginger Beef Stew
Hearty ginger-beef stew
I love a good beef stew, but was wanting to make it a little lighter (and the kids are tired of me cooking with beer), so I went with a well crafted Ginger Beer from Reed's as the flavor base. The ginger zip is an amazing addition that cuts through all of the heaviness of the beef and marries quite well with the flavors. Give this a try, you'll love it.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Crockpot Chicken with Apple and Sweet Potato
Chicken slow cooked with Yams, Apple Sauce, and curry make a hearty fall dinner that will warm anyone up.
I've been feeling under the weather this week, and wanted something that was warming and satisfying without being too heavy. I decided on yams and chicken because the yams are a lighter and more complex carb than white potatoes, and I thought that apple would go well with them and the chicken. Ginger and curry along with these flavors and garlic made the perfect blend without being over seasoned. Give this one a try on a cold winters night, you won't be sorry.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Pork Harvest Stew
I love this time of year. Blustery and rainy days, temperatures cooling, and great squash and apples coming into season at grocers all over the North West. There is something timeless about the combination of apple and pork, and this stew pulls those flavors together with the help of a bit of rosemary, sage, and a whole lot of butternut squash.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Gluten-Free Beef and Quinoa Soup
Growing up one of my favorite fall dinners was my Father's Beef and Barley soup, but in this day and age I thought updating it for those of you avoiding gluten would be a good idea. Quinoa is a very hearty and nutritious grain, and can be easily substituted for any whole grain when cooking. It holds up to long cooking much better than rice,and carries flavors very well too.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Fat Boy Bacon Risotto
Creamy Risotto kicked up a few notches with Bacon
You know how I like Bacon (just like every sane human on the planet). So I was thinking, what if I put a pound of perfectly fried bacon into a nice creamy risotto? I'll tell you what, this is some good eatin' right here. The wonderful salty goodness of the bacon really helps bring out the flavor and creaminess of the risotto and the nutty flavor of a good parmesan cheese. This could easily be done with quinoa as well for those of you that have problems with rice. This one is going into regular rotation at our house.
Read moreDinner tonight: Beef and Pumpkin Stew
Nothing like a nice thick stew on a crisp Fall evening!
Fall is here in force, and while we are enjoying crisp weather I also like to enjoy nice warming soups and stews. October is the time when great squash starts coming available, and I love using pumpkin and other squashes in savory stews in place of potatoes. Enjoy this little piece of Fat Boy Heaven with a nice dinner roll to soak up the broth.
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