Tag: Recipes

Happy Monday!

And a Happy Monday it is, folks! It’s a holiday!

Big Girl had a sleepover last night – so I imagine she is sleeping in this morning after playing late with her friend.  Little Bit and I are having a quiet morning – I am making some chocolate bread for her breakfast and I’m sipping a banana pudding protein shake for my breakfast.

Life is good.

I think today we are going to go to a paint-your-own-pottery place. That’s the plan, anyway.  I guess we will see what time Big Girl comes home and what time I finally get around to showering and getting presentable!

I spent most of the weekend on the sofa, feeling rotten. I’m not sure if it was a bug (I think it was) or just fatigue from the week last week (probably that, too) as it was a doozy of a week. Both girls sick, insanity at work, and rain to boot.  I’m glad that week is behind me.

I did manage to cook an awesome dinner for the family yesterday, though. I stayed home from church so as not to share my germs with anyone and while the family was gone I baked some chicken and tried a recipe for the Pioneer Woman’s potatoes au gratin. Oh.my.  SOOOOO good.  And easy. And yummy. I only had a tiny bit, but it was worth every bite. I cut her recipe in half – it was way too big for our family when I only eat a tiny bite or two of potatoes, but it was super good. You should try it sometime.

Have you watched the Pioneer Woman show on Food Network?  It’s cute. I love the food, so that is why I watch. It’s kinda like watching her blog in real life, although she is much funnier on her blog. I think she is not quite comfortable yet in front of a camera. I guess that will come with time and practice. Her kids are cute, though.  They don’t seem to have a problem with the camera!

On other food news, I also made a very good White Chicken Chili recipe on Saturday.  I had a basic recipe from my neighbor and then kind of ad-libbed along the way.  It turned out really good. I’ve included the recipe below in case you are interested in trying it out.

I haven’t come up with my menu plan for the week yet. I’m still figuring out what I want to do. Trying to challenge myself to try some new things and/or some things I haven’t done in a while. I’m getting stuck in a soup/stew rut these days… which I don’t mind but I think the kids are getting tired of them.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. Hope you have a great day! I’m off to check the oven and see how the chocolate bread is doing and give my little one some more one-on-one attention.

White Bean Chicken Chili

2 cans white cannellini beans
2 pounds of chicken (I used boneless breasts)
water
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp + 2 more tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cilantro
2 Tbsp minced onion (dried) – or you can dice one small fresh onion
1 can green chile peppers
1 can tomatillos
1/2 jar tomatillo salsa (or salsa verde)
Houston House Seasoning

  1. In a large stockpot, bring water to a boil.
  2. Add chicken, 2 tsp cumin, a healthy sprinkling of House Seasoning & the minced onion & garlic.
  3. Let it simmer until the chicken is cooked. (you just made your own broth!)
  4. Remove chicken from the broth & set aside.
  5. Using a large bowl as a catch basin, pour your stock through a strainer to remove any fat and other undesirables from your broth.
  6. Pour your broth back into the stock pot and bring back to a boil.
  7. Add the beans, cilantro, the remaining 2 tsp of cumin.
  8. Shred your chicken & add back to the soup.
  9. If you need to, dice your tomatillos and chiles. Add them to the soup. (I used my food chopper to mince them finely.)
  10. Also add the salsa.
  11. Let it simmer 30-45 minutes.

Serve with Fritos or tortilla chips, sour cream, and the rest of the salsa.

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Monday, Please be gentle with me…

Oh, my. Is it Monday again?

Sigh.

And a rainy, gloomy Monday at that. I just want to go back to bed and hibernate. All week long.

Had a great weekend. Spent most of Saturday being creative and working on scrapbook pages (more on that tomorrow) and then Sunday was all about family and friendship. Perfect way to spend the weekend.

Saturday night’s dinner was a delicious Low Country Boil, cooked by SuperMan in the pouring down rain.

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Poor man. He loves us (and his shrimp) to be cooking in the rain.

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Today we’re back to the grindstone and everyone was wishing for a little  more weekend as we geared up for the day.

At least I have some yummy meals planned:

(Check out more menu planning ideas over on orgjunkie.com. )img_1135

Now, I’m back to work – got my Pandora radio blasting, the kitty sleeping at my feet and a cup of tea ready for me.  It’s time to focus.

Have a great day!

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Best-Ever Banana Bread

We’re hanging out at Grandma’s this week, so I’m revisiting some of my favorite holiday recipes and sharing them with you.

Every one needs a good banana bread recipe.

Seriously.

Everyone should have one.

It’s not rocket science to bake and it tastes so good.

And, it’s a great, easy to make, gift at holiday time.

My mom and I used to bake thousands (or so it seemed) during the holidays when I was growing up. She’d use these cute little mini-loaf pans and mini-muffin pans and we’d bake banana bread for what seemed like days. And then we’d give it all away.

Because that’s what we Italian women do. We feed people to show them we love them.

It’s how we do things.

Anyway, I had my great-grandma’s recipe that Mom and I had used for years – my whole life, I think – and I never strayed from that.

Then, I found a recipe somewhere browsing on the web that claimed it was the “best banana bread ever” and I thought I should at least give it a shot and see how it compared to Grandma’s recipe.

Well, all I can say is I hope Grandma forgives me.

It really is the best banana bread I’ve eaten. And when I bake it I can’t seem to keep it around long enough to give it away. My family gobbles it up.

So, if you want a really good banana bread recipe to add to your recipe book, here you go.  I’ve altered it just a teeny bit from the original with the addition of some flaxseed meal to make it a little healthier. I like the nuttiness it gives the bread, even if you leave out the nuts the recipe calls for (Big Girl doesn’t like the nuts so this is my compromise)

You can leave that out (the flaxseed) if you want. It doesn’t affect the texture of the bread if you do.

BEST-EVER BANANA BREAD

Ingredients:

4 whole, overripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 whole egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
  2. Put the peeled bananas in a bowl and mash with a wooden spoon or potato masher.
  3. Add melted butter and mix together.
  4. Add sugar, egg, vanilla.
  5. Sprinkle baking soda, salt & cinnamon and mix together with banana mixture.
  6. Add flour and combine.
  7. Finally, add flaxseed and pecans.
  8. Pour into well greased loaf pan. (you can use one 4×8 loaf pan or 3 small loaf pans)
  9. Bake for one hour (the large loaf pan)
  10. Cool on a rack before serving.

(if it lives that long – mine always “mysteriously” has a slice cut out of it (or two or three) before it cools)

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 12 December

It’s a gloomy, rainy and cold Monday here in North Georgia.

I’m battling some type of bug, too. Earache and sore throat. I will be dosing it with some Vitamin C and Tylenol and staying on the sofa today, I think, (boo)

Planning some comfort food for dinner tonight. Chicken & Dumplings ought to do the trick… if I just feel up to COOKING it later today.

Here’s what is on the rest of the menu for the week.  This will be my last menu before Christmas as next week the girls and I will be visiting family right up to Christmas weekend.  I have no idea how things will go meal-wise there, so I’m not even going to worry about menus until after Christmas.

The “big meal” (Christmas eve) I already have (mostly) planned. Just need to coordinate with our friends who will be joining us.

As for this week, here’s the agenda:

  • Monday: Chicken & Dumplings
  • Tuesday: Country Fried Steaks, Mashed potatoes & gravy
  • Wednesday: Baked Chicken (my crock pot “baked” chicken)
  • Thursday: Beef Stew
  • Friday: Fajitas or Pizza
  • Saturday: big Christmas party with our church small group. Everyone is bringing appetizers – I’m planning to make desserts and SuperMan is making his famous Brunswick Stew.
  • Sunday: no big cooking planned as this is the start of our travel week.

What about you? Anything planned for this week?  Any new recipes to share?

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for more inspiration and recipe links.

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Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice

I mentioned on Facebook last night that I’d made an absolutely awesome teriyaki chicken and fried rice recipe.  I thought I’d share it with you today.  Unfortunately, there were not enough leftovers to get a picture to show you, and in the hustle of getting food on the table, I totally forgot last night. Sad smile

But it tastes awesome. I promise.

This is one of those easy weeknight dinners, too. I think I had it on the table in less than 30 minutes. Two recipes… make them separately if you wish, or serve them together like I did.  The girls preferred plain white rice to the fried rice, but they don’t know what they were missing. That was the best part of the dinner to me.

Teriyaki Chicken

For the Teriyaki chicken, the base was just as simple as can be – chicken thighs marinated in a teriyaki sauce.  I used Veri Veri Teriyaki.  It is an all natural teriyaki and I love the flavor it has.

I started out with frozen thighs, so I marinated the partially-defrosted thighs for about an hour in a Tupperware with about 1/2 cup of this sauce.  Then I cut the thighs into bite-sized pieces and put them back in the marinade to soak for another half hour or so. I find that chicken is easier to cut into small pieces when it’s partially frozen.  Less slippy-slidey that way.  This is something you could easily skip and just marinade/defrost the chicken in a Tupperware in your freezer while you’re working during the day.

Once I was ready to cook the chicken, I just put some olive oil and about 1 tsp of sesame oil in a hot skillet. I sautéed the chicken (marinade and all) until it was cooked (about 10 min) and let it simmer until the water cooked out of the marinade. I was left with a nice, shiny glaze on the chicken.

In a separate pot, I cooked about 1 cup of rice. 

For the girls, I served a small bowl of the rice with a serving of the chicken on the side.  Fruit rounded out their meal.

Fried Rice

2-3 cups (cooked) rice
1/2 bag frozen vegetables (I used Publix Japanese Blend)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp olive oil
Soy Sauce (about 2 Tbsp)
Emeril’s Asian Seasoning (you could also use Chinese Five Spice Powder)

In a large skillet, heat the oil. Once oil is shimmering in the pan, put your rice in and stir to heat through.

Add your soy sauce (to taste) and the frozen vegetables, heating through. I covered the pan while the veggies thawed and this helped to use the steam to moisten the rice a little more (I was using leftover rice)

Let this cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the garlic and sprinkle generously with Asian Seasoning.

Serve with the Teriyaki chicken. YUM.

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I just realized the Asian Essence I reference above (Emeril’s) is no longer available (mine is old, I guess!) but here is a recipe you might try – the source says it is from Food Network, but I could not find it there to link you directly to it. It looks pretty close, though, and like I said before, you could just use Chinese Five Spice Powder and be good to go.

Emeril’s Asian Spice Blend:

1 tablespoon 5-spice powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon cayenne

In a small bowl, blend all the ingredients. Keep in an airtight container until ready to use.

Five Decadent, Mouth-watering Fall Recipes to Try (soon!)

I’m on the hunt for some new recipes to try this fall – revisions of old favorites, new tastes and flavors to sample.

I thought I’d share with you some of the things I’ve recently ear-marked (or bookmarked, rather) as recipes I want to try this fall: (all images are from the website the recipe is linked to)

  1. Caramel Apple Bread Pudding: Just the name makes my mouth water. I mean, seriously – caramel, apples and bread? Oh.my.Caramel Apple Bread Pudding Recipe
  2. Apple and Brie melts: This is like the grilled cheese of the gods. I absolutely love, love, love brie and apples on toast. Why did I never think to make it a sandwich? MUST TRY THIS SOON.
  3. Caramel Apple Trifle:  Yes, yet another apple recipe. Hey, I’m getting a half-bushel a week! I’m on the hunt for new recipes to try! Of course, I’m quite content eating them just as God made them, too. Several a day, as a matter of fact!
    Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle Recipe
  4. and just to prove I’m not apple-obsessed ~ Snickerdoodle Bread:this one has me curious. I love snickerdoodles and I love sugar cookies – and who doesn’t love bread? Think this one will be on the list to try the next time we have company for dinner.
  5. And last but not least ~ White Chocolate Toffee Brownies. Seriously? I am sure these taste like what they’d serve in heaven. Got to be. Must bake soon.

Okay, there’s my five, mouth watering treats I must try sometime this fall.

What about you? Any recipes you’re dying to try?

Most of my new favorites are over on my Pinterest recipe boards. Hop on over to check more out!

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

I have a fantastic pasta salad recipe for you today –

But, before I get to that, I have a question for you – especially those of you that print out my recipes and use them at home.  I’ve been including the recipe directly on the blog and adding a print option to the post.  In the past, I’d used AllRecipes.com and posted the recipes there.

I’m considering going back to that method for a couple of reasons and I wanted to know if you had any strong opinions one way or the other… Here are the reasons I’m considering switching back to that method:

  • consistent format
  • easy access
  • super-easy printing
  • you can save the recipes into your own recipe book and have a compilation of your favorite recipes

So, today’s recipe is linked below to the recipe on AllRecipes.com. If you wouldn’t mind, click over and see what you think.  I think I’ll be slowly migrating my recipes over to this site and re-linking them on the Recipes page of this blog so that you can easily access & print them from one place.

I’d love to hear your input, though, so please let me know what you think!

Okay, enough of the business –

Here’s the recipe for you today – a really yummy pasta salad.  I think I’ve mentioned to you before that I absolutely LOVE sun-dried tomatoes.  I love the saltiness, the chew, the just general yumminess of them.  I could eat them like candy, I think.

So, when I was craving pasta salad the other day, I thought about trying to find a way to incorporate some sun-dried tomatoes into the mixture. I wanted something a little different than the usual chicken pasta salad I make, something a little more Mediterranean in flavor.

I have a basil plant on the back porch that my momma gave me and I’ve been searching all summer for some great recipes to make use of the basil. (By the way, anyone want to teach me to make pesto?)

So, I mixed and tasted, chopped and stirred.  And this was the result.  SuperMan absolutely loved it (as did I) and said it was even better the next day or two for lunch at work. I was really glad I was able to give him a tasty (and filling) yet cool salad to eat on the hot, dog-days of summer.

Give it a try – especially if you have some leftover grilled chicken like we did – adding the chicken makes it a hearty meal.

Click on the title to go to the link on AllRecipes.com.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Ingredients
  • 1/2 lb wagon wheel pasta (cooked)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (reserve oil)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (or use reserved oil from tomatoes)
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan (or use Parmesan/asiago blend)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Directions
  1. Boil pasta in salted water.
  2. Drain & set aside.
  3. Place basil & tomatoes in food processor. Pulse 4-5 times until blended.
  4. In a large bowl, toss the pasta, tomato/basil mixture, adding the cheese, salt, pepper, garlic & oil.
  5. Toss to coat.
  6. Serve warm or chilled. It tastes great both ways.
Footnotes
  • OPTIONAL: Add 1-2 grilled chicken breasts, chopped, to make this salad a meal. You can also rough-chop the basil & tomatoes if you’d rather have larger pieces in the salad.

Menu Plan Monday

It’s here.

Finally.

I can hardly believe it.

The last week of school.

The girls are out as of Wednesday – and we can hardly wait!!

These last three days are really toss-out days anyway. They aren’t doing anything of value – playing games, reading books, watching movies… I don’t know why they don’t just let them out a few days early rather than waste time like this. Most moms look at me like I’m nuts when I say that, but I’m happy to have the girls at home with me – and happy to have our schedule slow down dramatically!

Menu planning this week is based around the 90-degree days we’re going to be having. Lots of grilling and quick and easy suppers. I’m thinking crock pot, grill, and salads.

What about you? Do you change your cooking habits when the weather warms up?

I certainly do.

No more heavy casseroles and soups – we’re all about light, fresh and local foods this time of year.MPM_Button

Here’s what I’ve got planned:

  • Cool chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Have you tried my chicken salad recipe? It’s yummy.
  • Tonight: Taco Salads (with leftover taco meat from Friday's taco night)
  • Tuesday: Grilled chicken with roasted corn and veggies (cooked on the grill, too)
  • Wednesday: Stir Fry chicken & rice
  • Thursday: Fajitas or I’m thinking we might grill some pizza one night, too. I have a great dough recipe. Maybe I’ll share that later this week. 🙂

That’s probably it as I think we’re going to be taking it easy for the holiday weekend that’s coming up – maybe even taking a little road trip.

Check out orgjunkie.com for more delicious menu ideas for your family!

On another note, the Bachelorette premieres tonight.

A local boy is on the show – the son of the owner of one of our favorite restaurants. 

I will be watching, mostly because I can’t help myself, but also because I’m curious to see how he does – he has seemed like a nice boy as we’ve seen him in the restaurant through the years.

Constantine

If y’all are interested, I’ll share my thoughts (and witty sarcastic comments) after I watch the episodes each week.  I say that, but I will tell you, the last two seasons I haven’t finished. I just got too disgusted with the silliness and never watched past the second or third episode.

So, we’ll see.

Okay, enough random rambling.

Back to your locally scheduled programming. 🙂

Menu Plan Monday

Wow. What a whirlwind it’s been the past few weeks. Someone told me last night that I looked tired. Uh, yeah! I’m tired! BIG GIANT CAPITAL LETTERS TIRED!

I will be SO happy when school is out – one less thing to keep up with and get up early for! Our schedule will slow down drastically and I can’t wait.  I think the girls are in complete agreement, although I know they will be bored within a week or two of the summer break.

We’re all still sniffly-headed. I’m beginning to wonder if it is allergies and not a cold, because it has been going on for two weeks now.  And typical over-the-counter cold meds don’t seem to touch it. I didn’t think we’d still be dealing with allergies this late in the season, but we have a weird spring/summer thing going right now.

It’s cold and rainy/dreary here today.

image Eeyore weather.

Winnie the Pooh weather.

image And then, true to the schitzo weather we’re having, it will be in the upper 80’s by the weekend. Crazy. No wonder we’re sick.

I’ve sort of got a menu plan this week… trying to use some of the food in the freezer and utilize the crock pot to make it easier on me. I’m going to focus on comfort foods and flexibility, too. Cooking based on the crazy weather as well as our sniffly heads.

  • Tonight we’re doing chicken & dumplings. I’m using my crock-pot short cut recipe.
  • I cooked some ribs over the weekend, so we’ll have those probably Tuesday night for dinner.
  • Crock Pot Lasagne (using the leftover spaghetti sauce extras from SuperMan’s manly luncheon last week)
  • Chicken Pot Pie  (using the leftover broth/chicken from the dumplings)
  • I’m also hungry for some grilled shrimp. May try this recipe with some pasta with a garlic cream sauce. I could do some grilled chicken for the girls.
  • And we’ll most likely round out the week with pizza or tacos on Friday night.

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for some more Menu Plan Monday ideas!

Spring Garden Salad

This recipe comes from an amalgamation of a friend’s recipe for a broccoli salad and a Kraft recipe for a vegetable salad. I kind of mixed it all together to create this concoction, which is really quite good.

I hope you enjoy!

Spring Garden Salad

1-2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped (about 4-5 cups)
1 cup broccoli crowns, chopped
1/2 cup matchstick cut carrots (or shredded carrots)
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins or craisins (we like the craisins best)
3-4 slices cooked, crumbled bacon

Toss it all together. Chill & enjoy.

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