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 :)

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!

Back to the Grind!

Well, it is Monday. So I made dinner. Walt just got a  new job as a Youth Director at church in Lexington SC, tonight he had to go to a meeting there. I wasn't sure if I would be motivated to cook for just myself(ALL by myself), however, I did it!


Sorry I will apologize in advance, there are no pictures this time. I was too hungry to focus on anything but getting the food made and in my belly :)

Like I said in my last post I was going to make Pork and Couscous. Well, I made couscous with garlic and olive oil. From a box but it is so delicious. And it was the healthier option. I thought about just making some Kraft mac n cheese but was determined to make something different. The couscous was a great choice, it was wheat couscous(a first for me, FANTASTIC)

I heated some frozen corn up in the microwave and toasted some leftover cheddar beer bread while I let the couscous sit for 5 minutes to fluff and I made my pork.

The pork was simple. I made 2 bone-in pork chops with a little salt and pepper. Cooked simply in a little olive oil on medium. They took no time at all, when they were done the rest of my food was also ready.

SO I ate, all by myself. Walt will eat his dinner when he returns from his meeting. I think my food was worth making dinner for one. We have to wait and see what Walt says when he eats the leftovers.

I have no idea what I am going to make next week, we'll just have to wait and see! Come back to find out what I decided on. Maybe something fall like. It is finally starting to feel a little cooler and I am excited about that.

See you in a week

Jamie

Lights Out, No Good!

Well, I made my Monday night dinner last night, Saturday. We enjoyed our time in Florida. We got home too late on Monday to make anything in the crockpot.  And either I worked too late or Walt worked too late for it to be made any other day this past week. I was determined to do it though so I made it yesterday.

I made crockpot Mac n Cheese and Cheddar Beer Bread. I started both in time to be done when Walt got home from his long day at work.

They were both simple recipes that could have been AMAZING! The bread I have made before(a note was written in on the page by me about the bread being too doughy before, so I wanted to try and make it even better this time).

Bread Recipe:
8 oz beer(I used Sam Adam's Summer Ale)
3/4 c shredded cheese(I used 1/2 c organic raw milk mild cheddar and 1/4 c monteray jack,also orgaanic)
3 1/2 c Bread Flour (if you don't have bread flour you can use AP Flour with 1 tbs of vital wheat gluten)
1/4 sugar
1 tbs salt
1 packet of yeast

I have a bread machine so I set it to white bread, medium darkness, and let it go. It went for 3 hours and turned out PERFECTLY!(not too doughy this time) more to come on the bread at the end.

Mac n Cheese Recipe:
1/2 lb noodles( I used organic fusilli)
2 c shredded cheese(I used part cheddar part monteray jack)
2 c milk
1 egg
s&p to taste
and 1 tsp mustard powder
Pam to spray pot

Spray the crockpot with Pam to keep from sticking
Whip egg and millk together then add to crockpot, add noodles and cheese(STIR WELL), then add spices.
Our crockpot is a super crockpot and I have to adjust the timeframe of any recipe I have ever use. So yours may not follow this timeline. I cooked it on LOW for 1-3 hours. And yes I say 1-3 hours. Yours may need to be set at high for 1-3 hours to work. Just watch your dish closely. I checked mine ever 1/2-1 hour. This is not a simple put in the crockpot in the am before work and come home to a delicious meal. You should be home to keep your eyes on it.

I will say this is the first week that I have not truly LOVED my meal. The bread was incredible. I do not know how it turned out as great as did it though. Most of you know that I love rain and thunderstorms, even if the power goes out I think they are great. However, last night, the power went out while both things were cooking. This was not good. It turned my what could have been amazing mac n cheese to mush. It was almost perfect and then the power went out. To reheat and remelt some of the cheese I turned the crockpot back on after the power came back and it ruined it. The bread for some reason worked out great. It didn't burn, it didn't sink. It rose and baked perfectly. Fortunately the bread turned out or I would have been super sad last night.
We will be having bread this week as leftovers but definitely not the mac n cheese. It was not inedible but it was not what was before the power outage.

I guess from now on I will stick with my mommas wonderful mac n cheese baked in the oven recipe. All the reviews said that the crockpot would make it taste like it was baked in the oven but man it was nothing like what I LOVE!

 bread ingredients

 mac n cheese ingredients

 mushy mac n cheese

 delicious bread

 

Up next, I don't know exactly. Pork is the meat and coucous will be the side. You'll just have to come back to see what I did with them :)