Easy Weeknight Chicken

Hello Everyone!

Printable Recipe Link

Here to share a recipe today. I have a confession to make. Try as I might to plan ahead for dinner, sometimes I just get busy and well...I forget. Next thing I know it's 4:00 in the afternoon and I'm scouring the freezer for something I can get out and defrost quickly. 

This was the scene yesterday afternoon, so I grabbed a package of thinly sliced chicken breasts from the freezer (it works best with thin sliced) and put it in a sink full of very hot water to defrost. I placed a heavy pot on top of the package to keep it submerged. I changed the water and kept it hot to defrost the chicken over the next hour.

Now, when it comes to chicken I know, as many of you do as well, that it's the one thing that is so easy to cook and yet is also the one thing so easy to overcook or dry out and pretty much just ruin. This is unfortunate especially considering the fact that meat is expensive.

I decided to cook the chicken in the gravy on the stove to help keep it moist and tender and to also try my best not to overcook it! This is always my downfall... I am so paranoid about under cooking chicken that I usually end up cooking it too long.

The result was deliciously moist and tender chicken ready in less than 30 minutes. I popped a steam bag of potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower into the microwave as a side dish to keep it simple and voilà: Dinner was served!

I hope you have a chance to try this recipe on a busy weeknight for your and your family!

Enjoy!

What's for Dinner Monday? Baked Breadcrumb Chicken Alfredo

Click here for the printable recipe

Hi Everyone!

After I decided what I was going to make for dinner Saturday night (Saturday night's dinner is always the meal posted Monday) I realized that it was another chicken and pasta dish! We do eat a lot of chicken and pasta. After all, it's diverse, relatively easy and cost effective. It is not, however, the only thing we eat! So, I promise next week to have something other than chicken and pasta!

This pasta dish is a wonderful combination of a creamy pasta with a crunchy breadcrumb topping. I use penne pasta because it just my go to pasta selection at the grocery store. You  can use any short pasta you want however. I've done this with farfalle (bowtie) pasta, and shells as well.

This meal also uses ingredients which should be already in your pantry or can be purchased easily at your local grocery store. 

As always, there is a link at the top of the post for you to print or view easily while preparing. I hope you enjoy this meal! Have a good day, and I'll see you again soon!

What's For Dinner Monday? Pierogies and Sour Cream Gravy with Chicken and Smoked Sausages

Hi Everyone!

Click here for printable recipe

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I'm here this morning to share the weekly "What's for Dinner Monday?" recipe with you! Today's recipe "Pierogies and sour cream gravy with Chicken and Smoked Sausage" has a lot of steps in it; but it really isn't that difficult. It uses simple ingredients you should either have on hand in your pantry or easily found at your local grocery store.

The addition of sour cream into the gravy adds a nice tangy flavor that completes the potatoes and cheese inside the pierogies. (Think sour cream and cheese on a baked potato) If sour cream is not your thing...by all means leave it out. Also, many people have preferred ways of making gravy. I gave instructions as to how I make mine; but if you make yours a different way, rock on!

You'll also notice that I've added a link for you to click which will allow you to print the recipe if you desire or just make it easier to follow while you are cooking, rather than reading through it all here with the pictures.

 
I hope you all enjoy this meal with your family! If you make it, I'd love to know what you think of it. Leave me a comment and a link to your website if you have one. Have a great day, and I'll see you again soon!

I'm linking this recipe up at the following linky parties: Be sure to stop by and visit some of the awesome links at each of these sites! Lots of stuff to discover and enjoy!

Marvelous Monday: Linky Party #18
Cook it! Craft it! Share it! 
Weekend Recipe Link up

What's for Dinner Monday: Buffalo Chicken Chili Mac

Hi Everyone! 

Happy Labor Day! Hope you are enjoying your holiday and spending time with your loved ones as we say goodbye to summer and prepare for the season of  "Pumpkin Spice" everything!! Personally, I cannot wait! Fall is my absolute favorite season. I love the food, the crisp, cool mornings, and yes...pumpkin spice lattes! The recipe I'm sharing today is a perfect fall family dinner. It's full of comforting pasta, chicken and veggies. Crushed tomatoes and hot sauce to warm your insides; and of course lots of  gooey melted cheese! This recipe is originally from Rachael Ray and her Big Orange Cookbook. (and other's I'm sure) I made a few changes to adapt it to my family's personal tastes. I used Feta cheese instead of blue cheese; and I used cheddar with smoky chipotle instead of pepper jack. This wasn't for any particular reason...it just looked good in the grocery store! I would also have added more cheese as I don't think you can ever have too much cheese on anything!!

Ok, enough chitter chatter. Here's the recipe! 

Ingredients:

• 1 package chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces. 
• 3 Stalks of Celery finely chopped
• 1 large carrot finely chopped
• 1 medium or 1/2 large onion finely chopped. 
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 15oz can Crushed Tomatoes
• 1/4-1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Sauce. (I only used the 1/4 cup and we thought it was perfect. This will be a matter of personal taste)
• 1lb elbow Macaroni 
• 1/2-1 cup grated pepper jack (or other spicy based cheese) I only used the 1/2 cup; but next time I'll definitely use closer to 1 cup
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta or blue cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded five cheese Italian blend. 
• *Like I said, the cheese types and amounts are really up to you. I LOVE cheese especially when it's melted all over warm pasta!
• Seasonings to taste and preference.

Directions:

Prepare the pasta according to package directions to al dente.

Preheat your oven to 450

• Heat a dutch oven or other deep large pot of medium high heat. Add the chicken and brown the pieces for 5-6 minutes.
• Add the chopped Veggies and cook, stirring often for 7-8 minutes until veggies start to soften.
• pour in the chicken stock and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom. 
• Add the hot sauce and tomatoes and bring to a boil. 
• Lower the heat and simmer on medium for 8-10 minutes for the stew to thicken. 
• Add in the al dente pasta and then transfer everything to a 13x9 pan and top with all that yummy cheese you grated earlier.
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 nminutes until it is golden and bubbly and delicious!!

Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!

I'm linking up this recipe over at the Marvelous Monday Linky party as well as the Monday Funday Link party on Night Owl Blog. Click on the links and head over and be inspired by the creative projects as well as delicious recipes and desserts!


Finally, I'd love to know what your favorite season of the year is? and also what's your favorite seasonal comfort "feel good" meal? Leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for visiting with me and I'll see you again soon!

What's For Dinner Monday: Chicken, Potato and Mushroom Hash

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was busy getting everyone ready for the first day of school. Last night for supper I made this dish originally found in this Food and Wine cookbook. You can go over to Amazon and buy the book, or you can just scroll on down here and get the recipe. Sure, my pictures aren't as pretty; but hey...it's free!
This is a very rustic comfort dish. The egg on top is optional; but I highly recommend it because adds another layer of creaminess to the dish and really rounds out the the flavors. It's also important to let the mushrooms and onion mixture really cook down and brown well. It's an easy dish to put together and requires very few ingredients.

 

Gather up your ingredients:

1. Chicken tenders or Chicken Breasts cut up. I never like to tell people how much to use. Use as much or as little as you want. I didn't use the whole package because I saved about 5 tenders to bake in the oven for the kids.

2. 2 large or 3 medium potatoes peeled and diced small (this is important. If you make them too large, they will take too long to cook)
3. 1 onion diced, 1/2 pound mushrooms chopped into 1/2 to 1" pieces
4. 1/4 cup heavy cream (I actually didn't have any, so I just used regular milk)
5. 1 egg (optional)

Instructions:

1.Put your peeled potatoes on to boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium/low and simmer for 5-6 minutes and drain well.

2. Chop your onions and mushrooms. Heat up 2 TBSP of oil over moderately high heat and add the mushroom and onions and cook until well browned about 6 minutes.

3. While that is cooking, chop up your chicken into bite size pieces and season to your preference. I use Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Paprika (because that's what I use on EVERYTHING!!)

4. After the mushrooms and onions have browned, add the chicken and continue cooking and stirring for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

5. Remove the mixture to drain on a paper towel lined bowl or plate. Wipe out the pan and return to the heat. Then add about 2-3 TBSPs of fresh oil and then add the drained cooked potatoes in one even layer. Cook over moderately high heat (7 if you're using a number dial on your stove) without stirring for 6 minutes. Season to your preference as you go along. Me personally, I season throughout cooking. I think people under season things or season all at the end and then can't figure out why they've under seasoned or over seasoned.

6. After the potatoes have cooked for the 6 minutes, stir them and continue cooking and stirring for another 4 minutes or so. Add the chicken, mushroom and onion mixture back to the pan. Stir in the heavy cream and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

7. Prepare your fried egg for the top if you are choosing that option and enjoy!

Thanks for visiting me today. Have a great day; and I'll see you again soon! If you have a chance, pop on over to the Marvelous Monday linky Party and check out some other great recipes and goodies!

Recipe: Cinnamon Sugar Baked Donuts

Hello Everyone!

*Update* I made the recipe again...twice! Once using almond milk in place of the regular milk and omitted the cinnamon and then made a maple icing to go with it as well. In the other batch, I used regular milk, omitted the cinnamon again and added 1 1/2 tsps of pumpkin spice.* I added a new picture!

Well, it certainly has been a LONG time since I've updated the blog. Almost an entire year...WOW! Obviously, a lot has happened in this year and I won't bore you with all the details, because you probably didn't really come here to read about me, right?! I'll just sum it up in a couple of quick sentences!

1) I moved...again. Goodbye South Carolina, hello Pennsylvania. Yes, I know "Winter is Coming"!

2) My son was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis. Yes, it's as difficult to say as it is to spell; but not nearly as awful as it sounds. In a nutshell, he has an allergy to the protein found in cow's milk, so we have now moved into a completely dairy free diet for him. This has been a lifestyle change and a constant learning lesson for me as well as him. Believe me when I tell you...there is dairy in EVERYTHING!

3) I've become completely obsessed with Podcasts on my phone and my tablet. Just a random fact I thought I'd throw out there for you!

4) The crafting bug has come and gone so many times for me over the past year, I can't even comment on it!
Ok, so let's just jump right in and see if we can get things rolling again. I'm going to try to update as regularly as I can. I will link this post to the recipe page (found up there at the top) so if you want to make these donuts; and trust me you do...but can't right now, you can come back to the blog here and find it easily up there.
Here's what we're going to make today: Cinnamon Sugar Baked Donuts. These are fluffy airy cake-like donuts. These are NOT yeast donuts, so don't think you're getting a Krispy Kreme here. They are, however, easy to make and quick as well!

I bought these very cute donut pans at Target a while ago; and tried three or four times to use them and every time I did, it was a complete and utter failure. Honestly, it was pathetic, and completely discouraging. So in a fit of defeat, I stashed them away and thought nothing about them again. Until this morning, through various circumstances and a desire by Tyler to bake something with me, I decided to dig them out and try again. I took the recipes I'd found and modified and tweaked them and this is what I came up with.



Step 1: Gather up some donut making ingredients and pre heat your oven to 450

1 cup of flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp canola or veg oil


Step 2: Secure the assistance of a cute helper. Optional step; but highly recommended!

Step 3: Measure all your dry ingredients together and then add the egg and the milk and whisk for one minute. One full minute...set the timer and get your whisk on, use those muscles!! Add the oil and continue to whisk until combined. (Sorry for the blurry picture)

Step 4: Fill up the donut pans (I used a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off for easier filling) Don't over fill them...try not to anyhow!

Step 5: Bake in the oven at 450 for 8 minutes. Set the timer for 10; but they will probably be done at 8. Cool slightly on a wire rack and then dip the warm donut in melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and then bask in the fluffy golden sugary goodness of these yummy yummy treats! Next time I make these, I intend to try them with a bit of almond milk so they will be dairy free for my son. I'll update and let you know how that turns out. 

So, that's all for now. Thanks for visiting. Come back again tomorrow for a crafty blog post. Enjoy the rest of your day! 

Recipe: Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Hi Everyone!

Well, if you have an addiction to chocolate, today's post is not going to help you in any way! Seriously, if you are dieting or on a health food kick, close your eyes and click away from the image. (Good luck actually doing that!)
This recipe is for Chocolate Oatmeal Bars. They are so warm, so moist and chocolatey and so delicious!
As you can see by the photos today I had a little helper making this recipe. He approved of the final product as well!
Ok, for those who have decided to stay with me, here is the recipe! I am not, however, responsible for any inability to only eat one!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter softened
2 cups Brown Sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3 cups Quick Cook rolled oats
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 tsps vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 and line a 15x10x1 pan with parchment paper.

1. Set aside 2 tbsps of butter. Put the remaining butter in large bowl of electric mixer on high speed 30 secs. Add the brown sugar and baking soda scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

2. Beat in the eggs and 2 tsps of vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can and then stir in the rest. Stir in the oats.

3. Spread about 2/3rds of the oat mixture into bottom of pan, spreading and working it to form an even layer on the bottom with a little ridge for side crusts as well.




Filling:

1. In medium saucepan combine the reserved butter along with the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk. Stir until the chocolate is melted and remove from heat. Stir in the nuts.

2. Spread chocolate filling evenly over oat mixture crust in pan

3. Use your fingers to work remaining oat mixture into flat pieces of various sizes and then put them along top of filling. (It will not cover all of it.)

4. Bake for 25 minutes or until oat mixture starts to look golden brown.
cool completely on wire rack before cutting.

That is all for me today. I'm taking the weekend off; but I'll be back on Monday! Have a great weekend. Thanks for visiting me and until next time....

Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Sugar Banana Bread

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my 989th attempt to recharge my little ol' blog! I'm hoping to really make a go of it this time, so thank you for stopping by to visit. There'll be some changes in design and content over the next couple of weeks or so as I am really hoping to make it more than just about crafting. I'd like to incorporate other things as well such as recipes, book reviews, entertainment discussions, parenting and life discussions. On the crafty side, I hope to share more than just cards and also to include tutorials for those of you who may be new to crafting.
Ok, to start off this time, I decided to share a recipe. I made this yesterday as an experiment and the entire loaf is GONE!! Obviously, I will be making it again and probably soon!

Step 1: gather your ingredients, you will need: 

2 Cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp all spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 beaten eggs

3-4 medium ripe bananas mashed

1 cup of sugar

dark chocolate ice cream topping...just a tablespoon or so for drizzling. (microwaved slightly if needed)

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1 recipe for streusal topping 

Step 2: Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare your loaf pan with a little non stick spray and flour

Step 3: Put it all together:

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in large bowl make a well in the center and set aside

In another bowl, mix eggs, bananas, sugar and oil. Then add it all at once to the flour mixture and mix gently just until it is combined. Pull and fold from the bottom to make sure you get all the flour incorporated. 

Pour about 1/2 the batter into the loaf pan and then drizzle some of the chocolate along the center and sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar. Now, at this point you could take a knife and swirl it a bit too. I didn't...but next time I will.

Pour in the rest of the batter and then drizzle a little more chocolate (don't swirl this one...) and then add your streusal topping if you want. This is optional; but makes it all so yummy! Finallly sprinkle the top liberally with cinammon sugar

Bake 55-60 minutes and then cool on wire wrack for at least 15-20 minutes before trying to remove from pan.

I will link this recipe on the recipes tab at the top of the page so you can find it again easily!

Enjoy!