The simplest shredded chicken recipe you will ever make! Two ingredients, and all you need is a slow cooker or an instant pot! Garlic Expressions is the holy-grail of salad dressings, you hear me talk about it all the time here. We use it daily in this house, and love it so much! It its zesty and packed with flavor, I put it on everything (salads, sandwiches, marinades etc). Having a batch of this shredded chicken on hand throughout the week makes for the easiest meals!

Garlic Expressions Shredded Chicken

• 4lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 bottle Garlic Expressions Dressing
• Optional: Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper AND If you’d like you can slice a lemon in half and add it too! Tastes delicious!

Simply combine the chicken and garlic expressions into a slow cooker or instant pot.

• SLOW COOKER: on high for 4 hours on low for 6
• INSTANT POT: on high for 10-11 minutes – pressure release

REMOVE chicken breasts once done cooking, shred with two forks and place chicken back into the pot with its juices. You can use tongs to remove chicken and place into an airtight storage container, or pour all of it’s juices into the container with the shredded chicken.

• You do any amount of chicken, it doesn’t have to be 4lbs. If you do 2lbs just do 1/2 of the garlic expressions dressing.

Use it for…

• Salads
• Wraps
• Sandwiches
• BBQ Pizza Night
• Nachos
• Burritos

Tis’ the season to not have an oven, am I right?! HA! I’ll have to play catch up in the new year and crank out some of our favorite holiday cookies to make. Until then, do me a solid and whip some of these up and tag me on IG. Not only are these my tried and true cookies, they are SO freaking good you will not be disappointed!

Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies – I cannot make this recipe without shedding a tear. These were my grandfathers favorite, I would drop them off to him as a surprise, and after one bite you’ll see why these were in high demand.

Raspberry Pecan Thumbprint Cookies – Festive colors and a POP of raspberry jam amogsnt the buttery pecan base. What could be better?

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Chunk Bars – this recipe is INSANELY good! I love that you can use this exact recipe, and make bars OR traditional cookies, it’s up to you! If you are making cookies, simply roll golf-ball size rounds of cookie dough onto your baking sheet, and bake at 350* for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are barely golden and cookies are just set.

Rocky Road Fudge – I have vivid memories of my grandmothers Rocky Road Fudge being on the coffee table every holiday. There is something about the combination of chocolate with fluffy marshmallows and the crunch of nuts that is so perfect!

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies – the cookie that needs to be made year round. I think they are exceptionally delicious in colder months, with the hint of warm cinnamon throughout!

I hope you give these a try! Make sure to tag me on Instagram when you do so I can see all of your yummy creations @abby_thome

Happy Holidays!

Deck the halls with my Jalapeño Sauerkraut Balls!

Tis’ the season to indulge a little and create the most drool-worthy appetizers you will ever have. My Jalapeño Sauerkraut Balls are packed with a kick of heat, zing of sauerkraut and fried to perfection. The best appetizer for this holiday season! You can even air fry these if you have one!

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you all, you can FREEZE these! I would highly recommend making a double batch, letting them cool and storing in a freezer gallon bag. When you are ready to chow down, simply warm in the oven at 325* for 25-30 minutes until warmed through.

Ready to make these amaze-balls?!

1. First and foremost, make sure you cook your tater tots! Once those are cooked, smash them up in a large bowl
2. Stir in the Cleveland Gnar Gnar Sauerkraut, flour, breadcrumbs, sat, pepper, and garlic powder
3. Lastly, mix in the cream cheese, eggs and parsley
4. It’ll take a few minutes to mix everything thoroughly, you want all of the ingredients to be fully incorporated
5. Using you hands, roll golf-ball size portions
6. Now, it’s time to dredge the balls!
7. First bowl, flour
8. Second bowl, whisk together the eggs + beer
9. Third bowl, seasoned bread crumbs
10. Roll the balls into the flour, then dunk in the egg/beer mixture, and lastly roll the balls in the bread crumbs.
11. Place the sauerkraut balls into the freezer to firm up for about 30-45 minutes, they should be firm to the touch

Now, it’s time to fry!

In a dutch oven, or large pot, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat until it is at frying temperature ( 350-375* ) If you don’t have a thermometer, don’t fret! Drop a small piece of bread into the oil, and see if it browns within a minute and you’ll know you are good to start!

Carefully drop a few sauerkraut balls at a time into the hot oil, and make sure to turn them over a few times while frying. It takes only 4-5 minutes max to get them nice and golden brown.

Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel, sprinkle with kosher salt while hot!

I prefer to serve these with a dijon mustard and a thousand island dressing!

This post is in collaboration with Heinen’s – As a Heinen’s Contributor, I am honored to bring you all fun, family friendly recipes!

Listen friends, I know the turkey is the entire fixation for your Thanksgiving table. But, what about your vegetarian friends? Should they just have to suck it up and eat the sides and not feel like they get a centerpiece on their plate just because they have a different way of eating? Nope! Not on my watch!

Forget the To-furky, and make my mushroom Wellington that is so simple to make yet looks like it took you days to pull together. Your vegetarian friends will thank you and even your meat-eaters may be reaching across the table to get a bite of this mushroom masterpiece!

Flaky pastry crust filled to the brim with mushrooms and caramelized red onion, it’s savory beyond comprehension and in my personal opinion pairs perfectly with cranberry sauce or gravy.

Mushroom Wellington

• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/8 tsp black pepper 
• 2 cup carrot, diced
• 2 cup celery, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 24oz baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp Worcestershire 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper 
• 1 package of frozen puffed pastry, thawed according to package 
• 1 egg yolk

Instructions:

Remove frozen puffed pastry sheets from freezer, and let come to room temperature (approximately 40 minutes) 

Caramelized Red Onions

1. The first step is to caramelize the red onions. In a large pot, or dutch oven, over medium-low heat, add the sliced red onion and butter.  Let the onions slowly cook down for up to 25 minutes, until they have reduced in size dramatically.  
2. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper once the onions are caramelized, stir everything together and let the vinegar evaporate and remove the onions from the pot and set to the side to cool.

Next, it’s time to make the filling! 

1. In the same pot the onions were cooked, add the celery, carrot and garlic over medium-high heat.  Drizzle in olive oil and let the vegetables cook until softened (15-20 minutes).  
2. Add the sliced baby Bella mushrooms, red wine, thyme and Worcestershire.  Let the mushrooms cook down completely, until all of their juices are released and evaporated. You’ll be left with a beautiful, thick filling.

3. Finally, season the mushroom filling with the salt and pepper to taste, add the caramelized red onions and stir together.  Let the filling cool before assembling.

Assembly

Pre heat the oven to 400*

1. Lay piece of parchment paper down onto a large baking sheet.
2. Take the two sheets of pastry dough, and create a long vertical rectangle by overlapping the two ends in the middle by 2 inches.  Press the seam down the center together gently with your finger.
3. In the center of the puffed pastry, in a “log” like shape, vertically, place the mushroom filling in a nice tight log in the center.  Ensure you have enough pastry on either side to wrap over the mushroom filling.
4. Take the bottom of the puffed pastry, and fold upward over the bottom quarter of the mushroom filling horizontally.
5. Take the top of the puffed pastry and fold downward over the mushroom filling horizontally 
6. Next, do each side, folding one side at a time over the filling to completely cover the mushrooms.
7. Carefully flip over the Wellington, so it is seam-side down on the baking sheet.
8. Do not fret about the middle seam not sticking completely – we will seal it with the egg wash!
9. EGG WASH: whisk together one egg yolk
10. Brush the top and sides of the puffed pastry with the egg wash.  At the center seam, you can gently lift the puffed pastry and brush egg wash on the puffed pastry under the seam, and use your fingers to gently push the seam together.
11. Next, score the puffed pastry with a sharp knife as you wish, in any pattern desired.
12. Bake at 400* for 35-40 minutes, until the puffed pastry is golden.  Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.