Recipes

I love to cook. I just wish someone would go to the grocery store for me! Seriously—I share recipes on this page from my personal collection but absolutely love for others to post or share recipes with me so I can share with the Aha! Connection.

Meal Types Key Ingredients

chicken | shrimp

Layered Greek Dip

I originally saw this recipe on Instagram   This loaded hummus dip is a play on 7 layer dip, but with a Mediterranean twist!   I made it on a recent girls trip and modified it a little from the original and my girlfriend’s gobbled it up!  

Ingredients:

  • 10 oz Hummus
  • Tztatziki & Feta Spread (I buy at Kroger)
  • 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
  • kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
  • sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • crumbled feta cheese
  • toasted pine nuts
  • zaatar spice
  • pomegranate seeds

Choose a platter/dish and layer the ingredients in the order listed above.  … Read More »

Blueberry Crisp

Served to Audra and Hubby by Christine Taylor…you would NEVER know it was Gluten free.

Ingredients for filling:

  • 2 containers of fresh blueberries (24 ounces)
  • Juice of one half of a lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of one to one gluten free flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

Combine above ingredients in baking dish, make sure all are well combined.… Read More »

Mary Helen and Lori’s Cheesecake Brownies

Cheesecake Mixture
  • 1 (8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened)
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
Brownie Mixture
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup of white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup all purpose gluten free flour (we use King Arthur)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg and beat until smooth.
Read More »

Homemade Tomato Basil Soup

I found this recipe from Love and Lemons and will never buy bottled or canned Tomato Basil Soup again.   It is so so so good.  Click here for the full recipe including instructions and lots of photos.

Tomato Basil Soup Recipe Ingredients

You only need a handful of ingredients to make this roasted tomato basil soup:

  • Roma tomatoes – The tomato variety you use here matters.
Read More »

Banana Walnut Muffins Recipe (Gluten Free but you would NEVER know!)

I over purchased bananas last week and couldn’t eat them all before they turned very ripe.   I came across this recipe, modified it (see below), and made the best gluten free baked good I’ve ever put in my mouth.   You can NOT tell they are gluten free at all!  ~Audra

Ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose gluten free flour
  • 1 cup organic sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  •  3 ripe bananas
  •  8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted(1 stick)
  •  1 large egg
  •  ½ cup whole milk
  •  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  •  1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chocolate chips or 1/2 cup chocolate and 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees.… Read More »

Baked Feta Shrimp and Tomatoes

My BFF’s hubby gave me more cherry tomatoes than I could shake a stick at!   So I searched and found this amazing recipe.

Source:  Family Style Food

Ingredients

  • 1 pound jumbo raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (We defrosted frozen shrimp from Kroger)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 pints cherry tomatoes, or 2 14-ounce cans, drained of excess liquid (We used fresh from Bill Brown’s garden)
  • 8 ounce block feta cheese, cut into large cubes (We used Athenos tomato and basil feta, crumbled)
  • ¼ cup  chopped Italian parsley

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 425  degrees.
Read More »

Basil Pesto Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Bake (gluten free)

I found this recipe when searching recipes to use all of the tomatoes and basil that are growing so plentifully in my garden!

So easy.  One pan.  Gluten Free!

Source:  Julia’s Album

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts , boneless, skinless (I used chicken tenders and halved the recipe)
  • salt
  • 4 garlic cloves , minced
  • ½ cup basil pesto (I used fresh basil from my backyard and walnuts instead of pine nuts)
  • 2 tomatoes , sliced (I used fresh tomatoes from my backyard)
  • 8 oz fresh Mozzarella cheese , sliced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F.
Read More »

Sour Cream and Berry Pie

Submitted by Audra Anders

This is one of my mom’s faves to make and our family’s faves to eat!  It is perfect for July 4th because it is cold and also red white and blue!  Today (7/4/23) I substituted finely crushed almonds and walnuts for the graham cracker crumbs and it turned out beautiful and delicious and gluten free!… Read More »

Balsamic Basil Chicken

Source:  Delish

I have so much fresh basil in my backyard and I don’t want it to go to waste so I’ve been searching for recipes that call for fresh basil! I found this one on Delish and made it this week for hubby, youngest son, and my mom. We ate every last morsel…not a leftover to be found.… Read More »

Tomatillo Chicken Tacos

Source:  I still have my newspaper clipping cut out from years ago.   Most likely from the AJC.   I can’t believe I’ve never shared this recipe before.  It is one of my family’s faves…particularly my husband.  Whenever I find fresh good looking tomatillos I buy them and make this!

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces (5-6 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed (see note)
  • 2 fresh Serrano chiles, or to taste, stemmed
  • 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, depending on saltiness of broth
  • 2 cups firmly packed Swiss chard or spinach (all pieces should be about 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long)
  • 1 1/3 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken
  • 12 warm tortillas (plus a few extra, in case some break)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled Mexican quest fresco

Preparation:

  • Roast tomatillos and chiles on baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until blackened and soft on one side, 5 to 6 minutes, then turn over and roast on other side 3 to 4 minutes.  
Read More »

Zucchini Noodle Summer Salad

Submitted by Peggy Smith for The Aha! Connection

I started “spiralizing” zucchini last summer when I was trying to eat healthier at my kids baseball and softball games (no more concessions!) …. I have this small handheld spiralizer but I have to guess there are much better options as this one is fine but fairly small. … Read More »

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Submitted by Peggy Smith for The Aha! Connection

This is a regular in my family dinner rotation.  It’s super easy, cooks all day and can be used on its own with some sides, in a taco or my personal favorite on a hamburger bun with coleslaw on top.  I’ve been making it so long that I don’t measure anything and I have no idea where I first found this recipe! … Read More »

Creamy Shrimp and Celery Salad

Ingredients
  • ▢ 16 ounces large cooked peeled and deveined shrimp
  • ▢ 2 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced
  • ▢ 1 large celery stalk, sliced thin
  • ▢ 1/4 cup low fat sour cream, regular for Keto
  • ▢ 2 tbsp lite mayonnaise, regular for Keto
  • ▢ 2 tbsp lime juice
  • ▢ 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
  • ▢ salt to taste
  • ▢ chopped dill, optional for garnish
Instructions
  • In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, Old Bay and salt.
Read More »

Four Bean Salad

Submitted by Peggy Smith for The Aha! Connection

My grandfather used to make a variation of this recipe and I loved it so I’ve continued to make it but it’s definitely been changed over time with the addition of the edamame and dill. 

Ingredients

1 can white beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 package frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 cup chopped scallions (green onion works great too)
1 stalk chopped celery (I often omit this but if you like celery keep it in)
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp.… Read More »

The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup

Recipe Courtesy of Sugar Spun Run

My AHA edits are below in italics ~Audra

Ingredients

▢ 6 strips (uncooked) bacon cut into small pieces

▢ 3 Tablespoons butter unsalted or salted will work

▢ 1 medium yellow onion chopped (about 1.5 cup/200g)

▢ 3 large garlic cloves minced

▢ ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (42g). (I used Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)

▢ 2 ½ lbs gold potatoes peeled and diced into pieces no larger than 1” (I used three large russet/baking potatoes)

▢ 4 cups chicken broth (945ml)

▢ 2 cups milk (475ml)

▢ ⅔ cup heavy cream (155ml)

▢ 1 ½ teaspoon* salt

▢ 1 teaspoon ground pepper

▢ ¼ – ½ teaspoon ancho chili powder**

▢ ⅔ cup sour cream (160g) (I used a full cup in the recipe but didn’t add any for toppings.)Read More »