Hey ya'll it's a little late but here is my weekly post. Instead of writing about my dinner I will write about my marathon baking day(s).
I am one who loves to bake, loves to give out baked goods, and of course LOVES to eat baked goods. At Christmas my favorite gift to give is my homemade cookies and candies, it is so easy and can be much cheaper.
This year I decided to do all of my baking in one day, mainly because of lack of any other time to accomplish my baking, unless I tried sleep baking, but that sounds like a terribly dangerous idea.
In years past I have made dozens a d dozens of cookies in all sorts of variety. This year, however, I decided to make the 6 things I am particularly good at and know people will enjoy. I will maybe make a 7th item for Christmas day( peppermint fudge), if time permits of course.
I started my mixing my sweetheart dough( my personal favorite and a family recipe) , I put that in the fridge to chill while I moved on to my cracker candy. What a simple and delicious treat, cracker candy. I made 2 batches this year, one with semi sweet chips and the other with milk chocolate. Both batches of cracker candy are delicious( Walt will attest to that, as he will be making a new batch for tray making if he continues to eat it at the pace he is). I got both trays of cracker candy also in the fridge to chill when I decided to make my chocolate chips
next.
My chocolate chip recipe comes from a wonderful woman who knows how much I love her choco chip cookies(and bars and dough), Cindy! It is the only recipe I use and they turn out great every time, now included. They are a yummy cookie to sit down with a glass of milk and enjoy a couple or 10.
Next up were peanut butter, which is the only I messed up and by messed up I do mean forgot to put red and green sugar on 3 cookies :( but that's ok more for me, less for trays, haha.
I made spritz with a spritz my mom gave me from all the years we made spritz together. :) This year I decided to mix it up a bit though, I dyed my dough green and as I did that thought to myself mint would be awesome, and what to my wondering eyes would appear but some peppermint extract. They are so awesome, perfect green, perfect mint, FANTASTIC! The only issue I had was the the press to work properly( as per usual).
I ran out of time that day so I finished the next afternoon the sweethearts and made my fudge. The fudge I'd say is interesting, I used the no fail fudge recipe and yet, failed in some way. My fudge is almost mousse like, and may be used for something other than cutting up and putting in cookie gifts. Still trying to decide what to do with it, we shall see.
Enjoy the season and enjoy some baking!
Ask for any recipes you may want :)
Jamie
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Freedom
I started this journey to reach culinary freedom in the kitchen. I do believe that after making an entire thanksgiving meal I have reached the freedom I was looking for. This, however, does not mean I will stop blogging. I have enjoyed my experience and all the input/recipes I have received too much to give that up.
Tonight's meal was very easy. I made Alfredo sauce pasta and chicken with a side of garlic bread. There is a movie I watch usually at this time of year and it always ankles me want Alfredo. I saw a commercial for the movie, The Holiday, yesterday and since then have been craving Alfredo.
I made it all by myself, doing what felt like a million things at once, consistently setting off our overly sensitive smoke detector. But I made it and enjoyed it so much, I am looking forward to my lunch tomorrow.
Now, it is time to relax and enjoy a movie with my man on the couch. See you all next week. I plan on making kielbasa for next Mondays dinner.
:) Jamie
Tonight's meal was very easy. I made Alfredo sauce pasta and chicken with a side of garlic bread. There is a movie I watch usually at this time of year and it always ankles me want Alfredo. I saw a commercial for the movie, The Holiday, yesterday and since then have been craving Alfredo.
I made it all by myself, doing what felt like a million things at once, consistently setting off our overly sensitive smoke detector. But I made it and enjoyed it so much, I am looking forward to my lunch tomorrow.
Now, it is time to relax and enjoy a movie with my man on the couch. See you all next week. I plan on making kielbasa for next Mondays dinner.
:) Jamie
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! It has been a wonderful week here in sunny, warm, Cola, SC. Last night's Souper Dinner was a huge success and we got a lot of meals prepared to pack and deliver around Lexington County this am. At 8 this morning we were at church packing 1200 plates to deliver this glorious Thanksgiving Day! What a way to start a holiday that is all about thankfulness, it really makes you grateful for all you have. It was large community event, attended by church members; young and old, community members; young and old, and even our local deputy contact with the church. At last nights service Pastor Tim stated that packing those meals should and will make your meal later in the day look different, and he was right. It felt so good to know that
1200 people were able to eat today that may not have otherwise. Thankful for a wonderful (new) church family and all that they do. That is not to say I am not thankful for my (old) church family and all that they do because I am equally grateful for both. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for crossroads. Enough about that, lets talk FOOD!
(Because I have a lot to say I am not going to write every recipe out, so feel free to ask for any you would like)
After we returned home I started my first ever attempt at making Thanksgiving dinner(98% by yours truly). First I started dessert( my favorite pumpkin cheesecake recipe). Something I am well aware of how to make, dessert is my strong suit. I am a baker through and through. I felt very in my element starting with the cheesecake which made moving on to the turkey and fixin's feel even better.
The cheesecake was placed in the oven for 1 hour, while I prepared our stuffing.
As I was making the stuffing for the day, Walt was prepping the turkey(cleaning it, and placing it in the pan, THAT'S IT! we were just trying to save some time). After both were ready, I stuffed the bird, added some butter, celery salt, and pepper to the top of the turkey, and placed it in the oven. The cheesecake came out and was placed in the oven for the rest of the afternoon(yay dessert was done).
I moved on to prepping the rest of the side dishes as I could so that when I pulled the turkey out later they could go right on in. First thing I made was green bean casserole(recipe, definitely not inlcuded, because honestly who doesn't make green bean casserole), up next was party potatoes. Party potatoes were a staple in the Baltzer family house during any holiday celebration. I feel like I made my grandmother proud today making her famed party potatoes. Really, her party potatoes are just mashed potatoes with cream cheese, sour cream, and some seasoning in them. I think they are fabulous though and look forward to eating the leftovers for days.
When all the prepping was done it was FINALLY time to sit for a few moments.
After a quick 4(ish) hours the turkey was done and I pulled it out of the oven to rest while our sides were placed in the oven, toaster oven, and microwave. In went to the stuffing(yes more stuffing), potatoes, and green bean casserole, all for 30 minutes, how perfect is that. Also, I made Pillsbury crescent rolls(for the first time ever in SC, our oven can be finicky) perfectly browned on top and bottom. Corn went in the microwave to heated up, afterwards I added some butter and that was that. Also, we had applesauce(frozen from when we made it in September) and canned, yes, canned Cranberry Sauce(whatever, it is the way I like it).
The only thing I didn't make was the gravy, the compliments for that have to go to Walt. Gravy is not something I eat almost ever so I didn't really know how to make it or what it should look like, so I was not embarrassed to ask for some help.
Time to eat, the turkey was wonderfully juicy and full of flavor. All the sides were absolutely perfect, it was just like Thanksgiving as a kid :). I tried everything I made today, even the green bean casserole and the in the bird stuffing, both of which I did not finish but didn't turn my nose up at either. Cooking took a lot out of me so I didn't eat as much as I normally would have, but I got compliments from both Mom and Walt, which mean a great deal to me.
Again it was time to sit and digest all the wonderful food. After a short nap and some James Bond/Football dessert time it was. The long awaited pumpkin cheesecake(I'm not a big pumpkin pie person so this is my compromise) came out and warmed for about 5 minutes. It was perfectly baked and chilled, barely any cracks, fabulous texture. But one big problem arose, while eating the cheesecake(the thing I am supposed to be really good at making) we discovered the lack of SUGAR. It was a good thing we had ice cream in the freezer because all 3 of us left almost all our cheesecake on our plates. Unbelievable that the one thing I was least worried about is the one thing that I made a mistake on. I believe what I did was put 1/2 c sugar in and forgot to go back and get the other full cup that also needed to go in. It tasted like a side dish more than dessert.
Again, Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the rest of your night and weekend :)
1200 people were able to eat today that may not have otherwise. Thankful for a wonderful (new) church family and all that they do. That is not to say I am not thankful for my (old) church family and all that they do because I am equally grateful for both. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for crossroads. Enough about that, lets talk FOOD!
(Because I have a lot to say I am not going to write every recipe out, so feel free to ask for any you would like)
After we returned home I started my first ever attempt at making Thanksgiving dinner(98% by yours truly). First I started dessert( my favorite pumpkin cheesecake recipe). Something I am well aware of how to make, dessert is my strong suit. I am a baker through and through. I felt very in my element starting with the cheesecake which made moving on to the turkey and fixin's feel even better.
The cheesecake was placed in the oven for 1 hour, while I prepared our stuffing.
As I was making the stuffing for the day, Walt was prepping the turkey(cleaning it, and placing it in the pan, THAT'S IT! we were just trying to save some time). After both were ready, I stuffed the bird, added some butter, celery salt, and pepper to the top of the turkey, and placed it in the oven. The cheesecake came out and was placed in the oven for the rest of the afternoon(yay dessert was done).
I moved on to prepping the rest of the side dishes as I could so that when I pulled the turkey out later they could go right on in. First thing I made was green bean casserole(recipe, definitely not inlcuded, because honestly who doesn't make green bean casserole), up next was party potatoes. Party potatoes were a staple in the Baltzer family house during any holiday celebration. I feel like I made my grandmother proud today making her famed party potatoes. Really, her party potatoes are just mashed potatoes with cream cheese, sour cream, and some seasoning in them. I think they are fabulous though and look forward to eating the leftovers for days.
When all the prepping was done it was FINALLY time to sit for a few moments.
After a quick 4(ish) hours the turkey was done and I pulled it out of the oven to rest while our sides were placed in the oven, toaster oven, and microwave. In went to the stuffing(yes more stuffing), potatoes, and green bean casserole, all for 30 minutes, how perfect is that. Also, I made Pillsbury crescent rolls(for the first time ever in SC, our oven can be finicky) perfectly browned on top and bottom. Corn went in the microwave to heated up, afterwards I added some butter and that was that. Also, we had applesauce(frozen from when we made it in September) and canned, yes, canned Cranberry Sauce(whatever, it is the way I like it).
The only thing I didn't make was the gravy, the compliments for that have to go to Walt. Gravy is not something I eat almost ever so I didn't really know how to make it or what it should look like, so I was not embarrassed to ask for some help.
Time to eat, the turkey was wonderfully juicy and full of flavor. All the sides were absolutely perfect, it was just like Thanksgiving as a kid :). I tried everything I made today, even the green bean casserole and the in the bird stuffing, both of which I did not finish but didn't turn my nose up at either. Cooking took a lot out of me so I didn't eat as much as I normally would have, but I got compliments from both Mom and Walt, which mean a great deal to me.
Again it was time to sit and digest all the wonderful food. After a short nap and some James Bond/Football dessert time it was. The long awaited pumpkin cheesecake(I'm not a big pumpkin pie person so this is my compromise) came out and warmed for about 5 minutes. It was perfectly baked and chilled, barely any cracks, fabulous texture. But one big problem arose, while eating the cheesecake(the thing I am supposed to be really good at making) we discovered the lack of SUGAR. It was a good thing we had ice cream in the freezer because all 3 of us left almost all our cheesecake on our plates. Unbelievable that the one thing I was least worried about is the one thing that I made a mistake on. I believe what I did was put 1/2 c sugar in and forgot to go back and get the other full cup that also needed to go in. It tasted like a side dish more than dessert.
Again, Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the rest of your night and weekend :)
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mmmm...Chinese
Monday Monday! Here we are again a whole week later. I have a busy week ahead with a couple days of work, Thanksgiving, Mom coming to visit :), Souper dinner at Church,etc. It will be a great week, just busy. I didn't let that stop me though, I made dinner, a wonderful dinner in fact.
Tonights dinner was Chinese inspired. We have had Rice a Roni Fried Rice in the pantry for a long time now and every so often I think, "we should use that", and then we don't. Well tonight I finally used the rice. I made a chicken and veggie stir fry to go along with our fried rice.
Real simple cooking tonight:
Make the fried rice according to the box. (brown rice a bit then add water and spice packet until boiling, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes covered)
Brown the chicken in a large enough pan, then add your veggies(I used corn and green beans, it's what we had) and enough stir fry( I used Kikkoman Brand, I really like it and so does Walt) to lightly cover your chicken and veggies.
I served my stir fry overtop the rice but you could mix them all together. It took less than 25 minutes total and was so great. I enjoyed every last bite, as did Walt.
I also made this weekend for coffee and fellowship at church(youth sponsored this week) chocolate chip mini muffins and cinnamon streusal muffin tops. They were delicious and we had barely any left. In fact, they were so good, I made some more chocolate mini muffins(dessert) for Harmony's Annual Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow. I also, made some corn for the feast, nothing fancy but a neccessary side, indeed.
Also, this week we will be making corn muffins and soup for Wednesday night. Walt and my Mom will probably take charge on that given that I still have work and other such things to do.
Come back either Thursday Night or Friday sometime for my first ever Thanksgiving Feast cooked 98% by yours truly! Walt and my mom will be around to help if needed, probably, lifting of the turkey, and cutting it. But I am determined to do as much as I can. As of right now, our menu will consist of turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes(maybe, probably party potatoes, haven't decided yet),corn, rolls, and of course stuffing.
Have a great Turkey Day! and enoy this time of year, remember what you are thankful for, not just Thursday but all year round :)
Jamie
Tonights dinner was Chinese inspired. We have had Rice a Roni Fried Rice in the pantry for a long time now and every so often I think, "we should use that", and then we don't. Well tonight I finally used the rice. I made a chicken and veggie stir fry to go along with our fried rice.
Real simple cooking tonight:
Make the fried rice according to the box. (brown rice a bit then add water and spice packet until boiling, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes covered)
Brown the chicken in a large enough pan, then add your veggies(I used corn and green beans, it's what we had) and enough stir fry( I used Kikkoman Brand, I really like it and so does Walt) to lightly cover your chicken and veggies.
I served my stir fry overtop the rice but you could mix them all together. It took less than 25 minutes total and was so great. I enjoyed every last bite, as did Walt.
I also made this weekend for coffee and fellowship at church(youth sponsored this week) chocolate chip mini muffins and cinnamon streusal muffin tops. They were delicious and we had barely any left. In fact, they were so good, I made some more chocolate mini muffins(dessert) for Harmony's Annual Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow. I also, made some corn for the feast, nothing fancy but a neccessary side, indeed.
Also, this week we will be making corn muffins and soup for Wednesday night. Walt and my Mom will probably take charge on that given that I still have work and other such things to do.
Come back either Thursday Night or Friday sometime for my first ever Thanksgiving Feast cooked 98% by yours truly! Walt and my mom will be around to help if needed, probably, lifting of the turkey, and cutting it. But I am determined to do as much as I can. As of right now, our menu will consist of turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes(maybe, probably party potatoes, haven't decided yet),corn, rolls, and of course stuffing.
Have a great Turkey Day! and enoy this time of year, remember what you are thankful for, not just Thursday but all year round :)
Jamie
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Winner winner Italian dinner!
Sorry all, for my lack of post last week. I was so unwell I went to sleep as soon as I got home last Monday and the rest of the week was a whirlwind of events for work(mine and Walt's).
One exciting thing from last week though is that I got a coupon from earthfare( a local healthy grocery store) for 5 items for $5.00. The 5 items were 1 lb mild Italian ground sausage(fresh), a 1lb bag organic pasta, salad dressing(we got ranch), lettuce(sprig mix), and tomatoes. What a great deal, right?
So I made, you guessed it, pasta with spaghetti sauce and sausage, with a side salad.
I used hunts canned garlic and herb sauce and it was great. I browned the sausage and then poured the sauce over it to finish cooking while the sauce heated through.
A small bowl of salad and a big bowl of pasta and sausage later my tummy was very happy and so was Walt's. so simple yet so delicious. I must have been hungry and enjoyed it though because I didn't even stop to take pictures this time!
Look for my thanksgiving post next week :)
Have a great week!
Jamie
One exciting thing from last week though is that I got a coupon from earthfare( a local healthy grocery store) for 5 items for $5.00. The 5 items were 1 lb mild Italian ground sausage(fresh), a 1lb bag organic pasta, salad dressing(we got ranch), lettuce(sprig mix), and tomatoes. What a great deal, right?
So I made, you guessed it, pasta with spaghetti sauce and sausage, with a side salad.
I used hunts canned garlic and herb sauce and it was great. I browned the sausage and then poured the sauce over it to finish cooking while the sauce heated through.
A small bowl of salad and a big bowl of pasta and sausage later my tummy was very happy and so was Walt's. so simple yet so delicious. I must have been hungry and enjoyed it though because I didn't even stop to take pictures this time!
Look for my thanksgiving post next week :)
Have a great week!
Jamie
Monday, October 29, 2012
Sunkist Chicken
I was so hungry tonight when we got home that my dinner taught me patience. I chose to cook a whole chicken, knowing it would take at least an hour. Most Monday's I get home and I am hungry but not so hungry dinner needs to be ready super speedy, well tonight was the most hungry I've been and it was terrible(and wonderful) to just sit and smell the chicken in the oven. Although dinner took a while, it was super simple. My main food was a whole organic roaster chicken(2 1bs) that we picked on Saturday for a great price at Food Lion. The chicken we bought was not much more per lb than the non organic chicken, awesome deal :). The rest of dinner was couscous, StoveTop Stuffing(because I love my hubby dearly) and corn. Our plates looked quite dull, but it all tasted yummy.
Chicken:
2 1b whole roaster chicken
enough garlic powder to coat outer chicken
enough onion powder to coat chicken
1/2 can sunkist(or any orange carbonated drink)
1/4 c butter
Preheat oven to 350. While oven is preheating sprinkle garlic and onion on chicken(I also sprinkled it inside the chicken), place in a baking dish big enough to hold your chicken( I used an 8x8). Place 1/8 c butter in pieces on top of chicken. Put chicken in the oven for 30 mins. Take chicken out up your oven temp to 375 and place the remaining 1/8 c butter on chicken. Bake another 45 mins. Take out pour 1/2 can orange soda on chicken and return to oven for 5 mins.
I didn't taste much of the orange and neither did Walt, so I'm assuming if you add more it might taste more like it. You could taste the garlic and onion and that was a perfect combo. It all tasted great and will make for wonderful leftovers for both of this week.
Also, on Saturday, I made a cupcake cake in the shape of a pumpkin. I am a huge baker and love to ice things. I ran out of icing bags last time I baked and iced cupcakes so this weekend I bought more and it felt so good to have real icing bags back in my hands and not some silly ziploc bag that doesn't work well. I enjoyed my afternoon of baking and icing and hope you enjoy my pumpkin picture. :)
Happy Halloween! Enjoy, Be Safe, and Stay Warm :)
Jamie
Chicken:
2 1b whole roaster chicken
enough garlic powder to coat outer chicken
enough onion powder to coat chicken
1/2 can sunkist(or any orange carbonated drink)
1/4 c butter
Preheat oven to 350. While oven is preheating sprinkle garlic and onion on chicken(I also sprinkled it inside the chicken), place in a baking dish big enough to hold your chicken( I used an 8x8). Place 1/8 c butter in pieces on top of chicken. Put chicken in the oven for 30 mins. Take chicken out up your oven temp to 375 and place the remaining 1/8 c butter on chicken. Bake another 45 mins. Take out pour 1/2 can orange soda on chicken and return to oven for 5 mins.
I didn't taste much of the orange and neither did Walt, so I'm assuming if you add more it might taste more like it. You could taste the garlic and onion and that was a perfect combo. It all tasted great and will make for wonderful leftovers for both of this week.
Also, on Saturday, I made a cupcake cake in the shape of a pumpkin. I am a huge baker and love to ice things. I ran out of icing bags last time I baked and iced cupcakes so this weekend I bought more and it felt so good to have real icing bags back in my hands and not some silly ziploc bag that doesn't work well. I enjoyed my afternoon of baking and icing and hope you enjoy my pumpkin picture. :)
Happy Halloween! Enjoy, Be Safe, and Stay Warm :)
Monday, October 22, 2012
"Gnocchi" "Who's There?"
Catchy title right? Well when Walt asked what was for dinner tonight I said "Gnocchi" and Walt's response was "Who's There?", I about died laughing.
Tonights dinner was a very simple one. I bought Gnocchi yesterday because I have wanted to make homemade Gnocchi and know that it is time consuming and hard so I have yet to do because of my lack time when getting home from work. I decided to just cave and make the store bought stuff and make homemade on a Saturday in the near future.
To make dinner tonight even better then just simple old store bought, cooks in 1-2 mins, gnocchi I used store bought tomato sauce and made it taste like homemade. As many of you know pasta sauce is something I CAN most definitely make and make it well. So, I have tried to only use homemade but I always have a can or jar in the pantry for the night I go to pull out my sauce and there isn't any left. I enjoy greatly making homemade sauce and I will say that I could not get my temp right on the stovetop tonight and my stove now looks like it usually does when I spend hours making my homemade stuff, however, all it was a can being heated up.
I did say I dressed it up some, well my simplest way of doing this is to add garlic powder, onion powder and italian seasoning. All to taste and obviously it depends on how much sauce you have in your pan. But I always add more garlic than onion. My other super top secret(so I'm going to have kill you if I tell you, HAHA just kidding) ingredient is parmesan cheese about 1-2 Tbs depending on your amount of sauce. If I have the good stuff I will certainly add fresh parmesan before Kraft grated but I did not so I used the grated stuff tonight.
My sauce was amazing by the time it was heated up, and now I have sauce to add to some previously cooked noodles this week for lunch :)
Great dinner, super simple, and super cheap.
Hope you all have a great week and have learned how to make your sauce go from boring to DELICIOUS!
Tonights dinner was a very simple one. I bought Gnocchi yesterday because I have wanted to make homemade Gnocchi and know that it is time consuming and hard so I have yet to do because of my lack time when getting home from work. I decided to just cave and make the store bought stuff and make homemade on a Saturday in the near future.
To make dinner tonight even better then just simple old store bought, cooks in 1-2 mins, gnocchi I used store bought tomato sauce and made it taste like homemade. As many of you know pasta sauce is something I CAN most definitely make and make it well. So, I have tried to only use homemade but I always have a can or jar in the pantry for the night I go to pull out my sauce and there isn't any left. I enjoy greatly making homemade sauce and I will say that I could not get my temp right on the stovetop tonight and my stove now looks like it usually does when I spend hours making my homemade stuff, however, all it was a can being heated up.
I did say I dressed it up some, well my simplest way of doing this is to add garlic powder, onion powder and italian seasoning. All to taste and obviously it depends on how much sauce you have in your pan. But I always add more garlic than onion. My other super top secret(so I'm going to have kill you if I tell you, HAHA just kidding) ingredient is parmesan cheese about 1-2 Tbs depending on your amount of sauce. If I have the good stuff I will certainly add fresh parmesan before Kraft grated but I did not so I used the grated stuff tonight.
My sauce was amazing by the time it was heated up, and now I have sauce to add to some previously cooked noodles this week for lunch :)
Great dinner, super simple, and super cheap.
Hope you all have a great week and have learned how to make your sauce go from boring to DELICIOUS!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Chicken it's what for Dinner!
It was a long day and I had a headache, knee ache(silly weather), and a stiff neck(silly bed/sleeping funny last night) but I made dinner anyway. We got home later than ususal and I easily could have said eh, lets just have leftovers or either of the frozen pizza that we had in the freezer, but I DIDN'T.
I have made a bunch of things that are similar to recipes I've gotten from other people, recipes family and friends have sent me, and recipes from books I've recieved! So tonight I made Lemon Chicken(but not quite the Hamptons version).
I did what I always do if I do not know what I am going to make for dinner, I scoured the internet and my food apps. I came across a recipe for "easy lemon chicken", and thought EASY, PERFECT! It got even better the recipe called for simply dredging your chicken breasts in lemon juice and then coating in breadcrumbs, which was perfect given I normally use milk and/or an egg to coat my chicken and I didn't have ANY eggs, and very little milk(enough to drink with dinner though).
Lemon Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
breadcrumbs( I added celery salt)
lemon juice
Preheat oven to 375 use a little lemon juice to wet your baking dish. Pour more lemon juice in a bowl or plate with a lip and breadcrumbs as well. Dredge your chicken in lemon juice, coat with breadcrumbs, and place in baking dish. Bake until chicken is done. I always have to switch our oven to broil for a few minutes at the end of the bake time to finish browning my breadcrumb topping.
I also made French whole wheat couscous. Simple Simple Simple.
Couscous:
1 1/2 c chicken stock
1 c couscous
bring stock to boil stir in couscous bring back to a boil for 2 minutes or until stock is absorbed. remove from heat let stand 5 minutes fluff with fork
(I added a little salt to mine and Walt added a little pepper to his)
I as usual made some corn and green beans in the microwave.
Everything was DELICIOUS! The lemon chicken tasted just lemony enough and was so easy it will definitely be added to my rotation of dredges. The couscous was fantastic, I added my corn into my couscous and enjoyed that very much(in fact it is what I am taking for lunch tomorrow).
I hope you all enjoyed your dinner and have a great week :)
I have made a bunch of things that are similar to recipes I've gotten from other people, recipes family and friends have sent me, and recipes from books I've recieved! So tonight I made Lemon Chicken(but not quite the Hamptons version).
I did what I always do if I do not know what I am going to make for dinner, I scoured the internet and my food apps. I came across a recipe for "easy lemon chicken", and thought EASY, PERFECT! It got even better the recipe called for simply dredging your chicken breasts in lemon juice and then coating in breadcrumbs, which was perfect given I normally use milk and/or an egg to coat my chicken and I didn't have ANY eggs, and very little milk(enough to drink with dinner though).
Lemon Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
breadcrumbs( I added celery salt)
lemon juice
Preheat oven to 375 use a little lemon juice to wet your baking dish. Pour more lemon juice in a bowl or plate with a lip and breadcrumbs as well. Dredge your chicken in lemon juice, coat with breadcrumbs, and place in baking dish. Bake until chicken is done. I always have to switch our oven to broil for a few minutes at the end of the bake time to finish browning my breadcrumb topping.
I also made French whole wheat couscous. Simple Simple Simple.
Couscous:
1 1/2 c chicken stock
1 c couscous
bring stock to boil stir in couscous bring back to a boil for 2 minutes or until stock is absorbed. remove from heat let stand 5 minutes fluff with fork
(I added a little salt to mine and Walt added a little pepper to his)
I as usual made some corn and green beans in the microwave.
Everything was DELICIOUS! The lemon chicken tasted just lemony enough and was so easy it will definitely be added to my rotation of dredges. The couscous was fantastic, I added my corn into my couscous and enjoyed that very much(in fact it is what I am taking for lunch tomorrow).
I hope you all enjoyed your dinner and have a great week :)
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Pep Pep Pepper!!!
Thanks to a wonderful Harmony Mom(and family), we have peppers (green bell and banana) :) fresh from their garden. So as soon as I left Harmony today I whipped out my phone to try and find a stuffed pepper recipe. However, what I came up with was my own stuffed pepper recipe. And instead of making stuffed peppers, I made a casserole with peppers cut up in it. I like to call it Stuffed Pepper Casserole. Many Thanks Melanie for thinking of me today with all your peppers :)
Stuffed Pepper Casserole:
Cut up bell peppers( I did 3 small peppers, meant to do 5 though)
Cut up banana peppers (2)
8 oz cream cheese softened
half a bag of mexican blend cheese
2 c chicken broth
chicken cut up(and cooked)
2 c rice(cooked)
corn(which I FORGOT)
1 1/2 TBS garlic powder
1 1/2 TBS onion powder
bread crumbs for topping
more of the bag of cheese for topping
After cooking the chicken and rice and prepping my peppers, I preheated my oven to 350. I mixed up my cream cheese sauce next. I added the broth and the cream cheese together in a bowl following up with the mexican cheese. I then added my garlic and onion. I added some breadcrumbs too. After mixing this I mixed the chicken, peppers, and rice together in a casserole dish. I then sprinkled the top with cheese and bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until breadcrumbs lightly brown and casserole hot through.
This dish was delicious. I yet again got over my fear of hot oil and cooked my chicken this way to give it a little crisp before adding it to the casserole. Also, I set the smoke detector off by setting the burner my rice was on on fire. Once, Walt got the fire out and I had the smoke detector under control I restarted my rice on another burner and the rest went off without a hitch. The casserole could really only be made better by adding the extra two peppers I had planned on and the corn, (whoops) but it was fantastic!
Now it is time for me to enjoy my favorite Thursday night TV with my wonderful man! Enjoy your Friday and your weekend!
:) Jamie
Stuffed Pepper Casserole:
Cut up bell peppers( I did 3 small peppers, meant to do 5 though)
Cut up banana peppers (2)
8 oz cream cheese softened
half a bag of mexican blend cheese
2 c chicken broth
chicken cut up(and cooked)
2 c rice(cooked)
corn(which I FORGOT)
1 1/2 TBS garlic powder
1 1/2 TBS onion powder
bread crumbs for topping
more of the bag of cheese for topping
After cooking the chicken and rice and prepping my peppers, I preheated my oven to 350. I mixed up my cream cheese sauce next. I added the broth and the cream cheese together in a bowl following up with the mexican cheese. I then added my garlic and onion. I added some breadcrumbs too. After mixing this I mixed the chicken, peppers, and rice together in a casserole dish. I then sprinkled the top with cheese and bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until breadcrumbs lightly brown and casserole hot through.
This dish was delicious. I yet again got over my fear of hot oil and cooked my chicken this way to give it a little crisp before adding it to the casserole. Also, I set the smoke detector off by setting the burner my rice was on on fire. Once, Walt got the fire out and I had the smoke detector under control I restarted my rice on another burner and the rest went off without a hitch. The casserole could really only be made better by adding the extra two peppers I had planned on and the corn, (whoops) but it was fantastic!
Now it is time for me to enjoy my favorite Thursday night TV with my wonderful man! Enjoy your Friday and your weekend!
:) Jamie
Monday, October 8, 2012
Comfort Food, under 60 degrees today, WHAT?
Today was rainy and under 60 degrees. That is just absurd, mainly because by Wednesday it could go back up to 80 something, and today was only a 30% chance of rain. Talk about crazy weather.
So, after being cold almost all day! I decided to make some comfort food. Panini's and tomato soup(yes, Aunt Robin, I said couscous but it was just so darn chilly in our apartment that soup sounded GREAT, so I will make couscous later this week :) )
Although both were very simple things they were delicious.
My panini was made on the fabulous griddler that we use often and love(thanks momma). I have heard on lots of blogs, tv shows, and in books, that mayonaise makes a great way to make sure your sandwich doesn't stick as well as browns well. So I decided to try that out tonight. I also mixed mustard powder into my mayo to give it a great flavor. My panini was made of sourdough bread slathered in mayo on the sides touching the griddler plates. On the inside of my sandwich was mustard, swiss cheese and honey ham. I made my sandwich on medium heat for about 4 minutes once the plates were preheated.
I also made tomato soup, good ole campbells tomato soup. I made the creamier version of the soup by adding a can full of milk instead of can full of water to the condensed soup. After I had it heated (on the stovetop, not the microwave, although both seem to taste the same) I added some fresh mozzerella to the top of my soup.
It all warmed me and tasted great! Walt was out for the night at Church for a meeting. So he didn't get to try any of the great food, but he did take half a regular sandwich with him. I'm sure he would have enjoyed a panini better though.
To finish my night of food, I also made some pumpkin spice bars to take to work with me tomorrow(because I am going to miss Kat and wanted to bring her one last snack,at Harmony that is because I will be coming to get food from her at her new job!) I used a mix but added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and a little bit of cloves to the mix. They smell great, they are still cooling so I do not know how they taste. I literally, just pulled them out of the oven before starting this.
Enjoy your week! Hope the weather is more steady for ya'll than it is down here!
Jamie
So, after being cold almost all day! I decided to make some comfort food. Panini's and tomato soup(yes, Aunt Robin, I said couscous but it was just so darn chilly in our apartment that soup sounded GREAT, so I will make couscous later this week :) )
Although both were very simple things they were delicious.
My panini was made on the fabulous griddler that we use often and love(thanks momma). I have heard on lots of blogs, tv shows, and in books, that mayonaise makes a great way to make sure your sandwich doesn't stick as well as browns well. So I decided to try that out tonight. I also mixed mustard powder into my mayo to give it a great flavor. My panini was made of sourdough bread slathered in mayo on the sides touching the griddler plates. On the inside of my sandwich was mustard, swiss cheese and honey ham. I made my sandwich on medium heat for about 4 minutes once the plates were preheated.
I also made tomato soup, good ole campbells tomato soup. I made the creamier version of the soup by adding a can full of milk instead of can full of water to the condensed soup. After I had it heated (on the stovetop, not the microwave, although both seem to taste the same) I added some fresh mozzerella to the top of my soup.
It all warmed me and tasted great! Walt was out for the night at Church for a meeting. So he didn't get to try any of the great food, but he did take half a regular sandwich with him. I'm sure he would have enjoyed a panini better though.
To finish my night of food, I also made some pumpkin spice bars to take to work with me tomorrow(because I am going to miss Kat and wanted to bring her one last snack,at Harmony that is because I will be coming to get food from her at her new job!) I used a mix but added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and a little bit of cloves to the mix. They smell great, they are still cooling so I do not know how they taste. I literally, just pulled them out of the oven before starting this.
Enjoy your week! Hope the weather is more steady for ya'll than it is down here!
Jamie
Monday, October 1, 2012
Did that really just happen?
The answer is YES!
After a week of headaches and being exhausted from them I finally feel like myself and have cooked.
Saturday night Walt and I spent the evening babysitting two of the greatest boys with two of the greatest parents we know. Stephanie set out a bunch of cookbooks for me to look through and I most certainly did, they entire time the boys were sleeping I was reading recipes. Not only did she do this, she brought home a cookbook from the store for me :)
So, after not being sure what I was going to make this week, I spent most of Sunday evening looking through my brand new cookbook. :) Thank you Stephanie
I decided on Chicken with noodles! Which was a fantastic and so easy. Also, I made eggplant(thanks Debbie for the eggplant) and green beans and corn.
The recipe for the Chicken with noodles was so simple:
Chicken breast cut into pieces
oil (for the skillet)
cream of Chicken soup(We didn't have that so I used cream of Onion)
onion(we didn't have any, so the soup worked out great)
1/3 c milk
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
black pepper to taste
noodles(cooked)
I cooked my noodles first. Then cooked the chicken in the oil until well browned. mix the soup, milk, cheese, and pepper together. After the chicken is cooked add the noodles and the soup mixture to the already hot pan with the chicken in it. Allow the whole thing to cook while stirring until hot and bubbly.
Eggplant(YES IT DID JUST HAPPEN):
Eggplant(cut into the little pieces)
garlic powder
onion powder
oil(for skillet)
wine(I used moscato)
Cook the eggplant on medium in a medium sized skillet in the oil for about 5 mins after that add the powders and the wine still on medium for another 5-8 minutes. Until just soft enough.
The other veggies were nothing special. Just microwaved and ready to go.
The chicken with noodles was so great. It was almost like Alfredo but with onion flavoring and less cheesiness. I am so excited to eat it for lunch tomorrow and the rest of the week(I made ALOT).
The eggplant(yes I ALSO ATE IT) was ok. It wasn't bad but it definitely is not something I will go out of my way for.
this is my I'm terrified face
but hey that eggplant wasn't bad at all
After a week of headaches and being exhausted from them I finally feel like myself and have cooked.
Saturday night Walt and I spent the evening babysitting two of the greatest boys with two of the greatest parents we know. Stephanie set out a bunch of cookbooks for me to look through and I most certainly did, they entire time the boys were sleeping I was reading recipes. Not only did she do this, she brought home a cookbook from the store for me :)
So, after not being sure what I was going to make this week, I spent most of Sunday evening looking through my brand new cookbook. :) Thank you Stephanie
I decided on Chicken with noodles! Which was a fantastic and so easy. Also, I made eggplant(thanks Debbie for the eggplant) and green beans and corn.
The recipe for the Chicken with noodles was so simple:
Chicken breast cut into pieces
oil (for the skillet)
cream of Chicken soup(We didn't have that so I used cream of Onion)
onion(we didn't have any, so the soup worked out great)
1/3 c milk
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
black pepper to taste
noodles(cooked)
I cooked my noodles first. Then cooked the chicken in the oil until well browned. mix the soup, milk, cheese, and pepper together. After the chicken is cooked add the noodles and the soup mixture to the already hot pan with the chicken in it. Allow the whole thing to cook while stirring until hot and bubbly.
Eggplant(YES IT DID JUST HAPPEN):
Eggplant(cut into the little pieces)
garlic powder
onion powder
oil(for skillet)
wine(I used moscato)
Cook the eggplant on medium in a medium sized skillet in the oil for about 5 mins after that add the powders and the wine still on medium for another 5-8 minutes. Until just soft enough.
The other veggies were nothing special. Just microwaved and ready to go.
The chicken with noodles was so great. It was almost like Alfredo but with onion flavoring and less cheesiness. I am so excited to eat it for lunch tomorrow and the rest of the week(I made ALOT).
The eggplant(yes I ALSO ATE IT) was ok. It wasn't bad but it definitely is not something I will go out of my way for.
this is my I'm terrified face
but hey that eggplant wasn't bad at allMonday, September 24, 2012
Migraine Monday
I will not lie, I have a migraine and decided to not cool tonight. We stopped at chick fil a for dinner and I am so glad I did not need to cook tonight. I am going to go curl up on the couch for the rest of the evening. I'll make dinner another night this week! Have a great week :)
Monday, September 17, 2012
Apples to Applesauce
This weekend we had plans for Saturday but they changed so we spontaneously decided to go to Flat Rock, NC(Skytop Orchard) to pick apples, and then to Greenville, SC to enjoy the scenery.
All that to say this meal really started on Saturday, with some delicious apples. Walt and I made applesauce on Saturday after we got home from our long journey. We used granny smith, red delicious, cortland, ida red, and reds. We also picked some Jonagold apples. All of our apples have been fabulous so far.
I got to use an old family food mill that my momma gave me. Which made the applesauce even better :)
Applesauce:
Apples(listed above), enough to cover the bottom of our large pot about 3 1/2-4 inches deep
apple juice
sugar
cinnamon(to taste after cooking, per serving)
We boiled the apples in the apple juice and about a half cup of sugar(ours was sweet enough but you can add more sugar if necessary) until soft enough to purree.
Fantastic!
Tonight, I actually made Butter Chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes. It started raining right as we got home tonight so I was worried that after last weeks rain(no power) fiasco that it might happen again but we made it through. The rain fortunately, cooled it off in here some, because it was super hot with the oven going.
Butter Chicken:
enough butter to surround chicken in baking dish
chicken breast(recipe called for halved, I did a whole and cut it up afterwards)
garlic powder
salt
mustard powder
breadcrumbs
eggs, beaten
Mix the dry ingredients together.
Dredge the chicken in the egg and then coat with the breadcrumb mix.
I baked the chicken at 375 for 45 minutes but it was taking too long so I upped the temp to 400 for the last 20 minutes
After I got the chicken in I started on my potatoes, knowing they would take a little less time than the chicken.
Potatoes:
Red Potatoes, quartered
melted butter(enough to coat the amount of potatoes you are using, I used about 3 tablespoons)
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
lemon juice( just a splash, it didn't take much)
mix all of the ingredients together and place in baking dish. put in the oven covered for the first 30 minutes. uncovered for the last 10 minutes. The recipe called for 350 but I was baking the chicken at 375 then 400 so that was what the potatoes cooked at. and it worked just fine.
I pulled the chicken and the potatoes out and cut the chicken in half for Walt and I to split. Added some potatoes to our plates, put the chicken on, and gave us each some applesauce with cinnamon as a topping.
Everything was fantastic! It will make for some great leftovers tomorrow for lunch!(it was a HUGE chicken breast, plus it was late so we didn't eat as much as usual)
Enjoy and have a great week!
All that to say this meal really started on Saturday, with some delicious apples. Walt and I made applesauce on Saturday after we got home from our long journey. We used granny smith, red delicious, cortland, ida red, and reds. We also picked some Jonagold apples. All of our apples have been fabulous so far.
I got to use an old family food mill that my momma gave me. Which made the applesauce even better :)
Applesauce:
Apples(listed above), enough to cover the bottom of our large pot about 3 1/2-4 inches deep
apple juice
sugar
cinnamon(to taste after cooking, per serving)
We boiled the apples in the apple juice and about a half cup of sugar(ours was sweet enough but you can add more sugar if necessary) until soft enough to purree.
Fantastic!
Tonight, I actually made Butter Chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes. It started raining right as we got home tonight so I was worried that after last weeks rain(no power) fiasco that it might happen again but we made it through. The rain fortunately, cooled it off in here some, because it was super hot with the oven going.
Butter Chicken:
enough butter to surround chicken in baking dish
chicken breast(recipe called for halved, I did a whole and cut it up afterwards)
garlic powder
salt
mustard powder
breadcrumbs
eggs, beaten
Mix the dry ingredients together.
Dredge the chicken in the egg and then coat with the breadcrumb mix.
I baked the chicken at 375 for 45 minutes but it was taking too long so I upped the temp to 400 for the last 20 minutes
After I got the chicken in I started on my potatoes, knowing they would take a little less time than the chicken.
Potatoes:
Red Potatoes, quartered
melted butter(enough to coat the amount of potatoes you are using, I used about 3 tablespoons)
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
lemon juice( just a splash, it didn't take much)
mix all of the ingredients together and place in baking dish. put in the oven covered for the first 30 minutes. uncovered for the last 10 minutes. The recipe called for 350 but I was baking the chicken at 375 then 400 so that was what the potatoes cooked at. and it worked just fine.
I pulled the chicken and the potatoes out and cut the chicken in half for Walt and I to split. Added some potatoes to our plates, put the chicken on, and gave us each some applesauce with cinnamon as a topping.
Everything was fantastic! It will make for some great leftovers tomorrow for lunch!(it was a HUGE chicken breast, plus it was late so we didn't eat as much as usual)
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