Thursday, March 22, 2012

Apricot Honey Chicken

I had some apricot preserves left over from my so-called "Sweet and Sour Brownies" from last week, ha ha. So this was a perfect recipe to add in this week because I didn't have to buy any ingredients. I always make at least one new thing each week, but if there is a recipe in my Simple & Delicious that I don't have to buy anything for, and that looks good (of course) I will throw that into the meal plan too. This one looked like it would come together really easy, which is why I made it yesterday, because we had wrestling practice, then I was home for what seemed like 10 minutes (but is really like an hour and a half) before going to work. This is from the April/May 2012 Simple & Delicious.

Apricot Honey Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/3 cup honey mustard
3 tbsp apricot preserves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Dash each salt and pepper

Flatten chicken to 1/4" thickness. Combine the mustard, preserves, ginger, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Place the chicken on a greased foil-lined baking sheet. Spoon half of the mustard mixture over the chicken. Broil 4-6 inches from the heat for 4 minutes. Turn over; brush with remaining mustard mixture. Broil 3-4 minutes longer or until juices run clear.

I made the "mustard mixture" before I went to wrestling, so when I came home I just had to preheat the oven, throw the chicken on the pan, and proceed from there. Although easy, it was unfortunately not that big of a hit. I love honey mustard, but I don't think the apricot was a good pairing. It seems so obvious now. But those cooking magazine pictures make almost everything look good! So hard to know...everyone ate it but nobody loved it. There is one piece left that I guess I will put into a salad for myself next week.

Parmesan Butter Pan Biscuits

These are the biscuits we had with the chowder I just posted. I love biscuits a lot. Every year for my birthday I ask my mom to make them. I occasionally dabble in biscuit making but am nowhere near as good as she is. Part of the problem is I HATE rolling out dough, so if I make biscuits, I make drop biscuits, which are not really amenable to being split and then liberally bathed in butter and jam, like I do when mom makes them. But this biscuit recipe is a good cross between the two. Not quite as easy as drop biscuits, but you don't have to roll them and cut them out either. You'll see what I mean. This is another recipe from the cookbook from my mother in law, LOL Treasury of Country Recipes.

Parmesan Butter Pan Biscuits
1/3 cup butter
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp basil leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I didn't have any fresh, so just did a sprinkle of dried)
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 400. In 9" square baking dish, melt butter in the oven (3-5 minutes). Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine all ingredients except milk. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead 10 times or until smooth. Roll dough into 12" x 4" rectangle (I didn't roll it out, I patted it out to the right size). Cut into 12 1" strips. Dip each strip in melted butter. Place in same pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

I'm sure you can guess how good these are. Emma is my bread lover, but surprisingly, she didn't like these. Just as surprising is that Nathan did. They tasted good dipped in the broth. I think Emma would have liked them better if they could have had more butter put on them, but I think that would be tricky with this set up. I'm going to keep this one, but next time I make it I'm going to leave out the herbs and see if they taste more like my mom's.....

Hearty Bacon Potato Chowder

When my mother in law (an avid New Recipe Night reader) was here this past summer she gave me this cookbook, Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes. It is a nice thick cookbook with lots of recipes, and I have marked a few yummy ones to try. Last night I made two out of it, this soup and also some biscuits which I will post separately. Yes, I realize yesterday it was like 82 degrees and definitely not soup weather, but I do my meal planning 1 or 2 weeks in advance, and this is what was on the menu, which has very little wiggle room. Ha ha.

Hearty Bacon Potato Chowder
8 slices bacon, cut into 1" pieces
2 cups cubed red potatoes
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cup milk (I just couldn't put sour cream in my soup. I subbed half and half for the milk and left out the sour cream. I think it was fine.)
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
8 oz can corn, drained (I used 1 cup frozen)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme

In 3 qt saucepan cook bacon over medium heat for 5 minutes; add potatoes and onions (it doesn't say to drain the bacon fat first, but of course I did...I left some of it in there but not a lot). Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender (15-20 minutes). Add remaining ingredients. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until heated through (10-12 minutes).

This came out really good, even if it was a summer-ish day. Nathan had something else, because he doesn't like bacon or potatoes (crazy kid) and I didn't want to waste a bowl of it on him for the sake of the corn, which is all he would eat out of it. The rest of us really liked it. It was quite creamy, making me wonder if I should have just used milk, leaving out the sour cream anyway. But no complaints on that, just something I noticed. Like, the broth wasn't really chowder-y like you would expect, it was thicker than that. But overall a very yummy soup.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Salisbury Meatballs

There are some things I post on here that I am embarrassed to admit that I made, ate, and loved. This is going to be one of those recipes. But I don't keep anything back from you guys. The second I saw this one in the new April/May Simple & Delicious, my mouth started watering. It is so so bad for you. The sodium content alone. The meatballs. But I was right, it was oh. so. tasty. Also, we had some green beans with it. So that helps a little bit. And it's not like we eat this type of food every night. Did you notice how my meatless category is growing??

Salisbury Meatballs
1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
2 jars (12 oz each) beef gravy (I used 2 packets and made them by the pkg directions...way cheaper, and just as salty, so no worries there)
1 pkg (12 oz) frozen fully cooked homestyle meatballs, thawed (in my defense, I already had these in the freezer left over from another recipe...another reason I jumped to try this one, because I already had the most expensive ingredient)
Hot cooked egg noodles

Saute onion and brown sugar in butter in a large skillet until onion is tender. Add gravy and meatballs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-6 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve with noodles.

Oh my. The kids always keep track of who "wins" dinner. Not the best eating habit, I realize, but it seems harmless enough, no one is stuffing their face trying to be first or anything. Usually it goes Steve, Sam, me, and then Emma or Nathan. When Emma or Nathan finishes first, it is noteworthy, because it is rare and usually only happens with things they LOVE like chicken parm or pancakes. For this meal, I finished first. I threw up my hands in victory. Emma said, totally deadpan, "Wow. That has never happened before." It's not like I stuffed myself either, in case you are picturing me in an unflattering light right now. I had a reasonably sized portion, and ate it without really talking (what?) in between bites. I thought it was totally fabulous. I realize this is on the same level, healthwise, as like Hamburger Helper. But I don't care. Once in a while, I am going to make this.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Black Bean Sliders

I made some black bean burgers a while back, and thought they were rather bland. This recipe is from my sister-in-law, the same girl who gave me the Best Banana Bread recipe I posted last month. They have been vegetarians for years and years so she knows how to make yummy food like this. Black beans are so cheap, like $0.88, compared to like $4 for a pound of hamburger, so that is a good reason right there to sub them in for things, not to mention the health benefits and all that. Don't get me wrong, I still love meat and chicken. But I am loving other things too. Especially saving money.

Black Bean Sliders
1 14 oz can black beans, drained (reserve the liquid)
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp taco seasoning
1 egg
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup corn
1/4 cup cilantro (even though I love cilantro I left that out...I just didn't have any)
2 tbsp olive oil

In a large bowl combine everything except corn and black beans. Add the black beans and corn and mash with a fork until still chunky. If it is too dry, and the reserved black bean liquid a little at a time until it is like a thick paste. Let the mixture rest in the fridge for a few minutes. Shape into patties and let side in the fridge for 15 minutes. Heat a large pan over medium high heat and add the oil. Cook the burgers for 5 minutes on each side. Serve on buns with toppings like salsa, sour cream, or guacamole (we used just the salsa).

These were really good. Sam was at a birthday party so missed out. Nathan refused to even try, even though he watched me make them. Emma was convinced she wouldn't like them. She even tried tears, but I would not relent, because she has eaten so many things with corn and black beans and liked them. I told her she had to take 6 bites, and she took 8, and admitted that it was good. Steve and I both liked them. There are varying opinions of meatless "burgers." Here's mine: if you are looking for a meatless burger to substitute for a meat one, you will probably be disappointed with every one that you try. But if you try it as something new that happens to be in burger form, you will like them. Because they are yummy. And don't forget cheap.

Rocky Road Freezer Pie

I made this for home fellowship too. It was very easy to throw together, and I thought it would be better to have more dessert rather than less. I left the nuts out, even though Rocky Road stuff usually has it, so that all the kids would like it. This is the last recipe I have marked from the Feb/March 2012 Simple & Deliciousl

Rocky Road Freezer Pie
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 pkg (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding
1 carton (8 oz) cool whip
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini choc chips)
1/3 cup miniature marshmallows (didn't seem like enough so I added a bit more)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 graham cracker crust (9 in)

Whisk cream and pudding mix for 2 minutes in a large bowl. Fold in cool whip. Stir in the chocolate chips, marshmallows, and pecans. Transfer to pie crust. (At this point I sprinkled more mini marshmallows and chocolate chips on top. It doesn't say to in the recipe, but in the picture in the magazine it looks like they did that.) Freeze until firm, about 6 hours. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.

This was a huge hit. Thank goodness, since my other one tanked. Everyone liked it, it was light and fluffy and yummy. And so easy to make. So definitely keeping this one.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Sacher Bars

I made these for home fellowship. I didn't know who Sacher was or why his bars would be so special, but they sounded good and looked yummy in the picture. I have since learned, through Google, that Sacher Torte is a Viennese dessert traditionally made with two layers of chocolate sponge cake with a layer of apricot jam in the middle, frosted with dark chocolate and served with unsweetened whipped cream. So these bars are apparently a take on that. I love chocolate and fruit together. I know not everyone does. My favorite is chocolate and raspberry. Maybe I could call those Rasper Bars or something. This one is from the Feb/March 2012 Simple & Delicious.

Sacher Bars
3/4 cup butter
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup apricot preserves
2 oz semisweet chocolate

Line a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan with waxed paper. Grease and flour paper (I just sprayed liberally with cooking spray); set aside. Place butter and unsweetened chocolate in microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cool slightly. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and mix well. Add flour. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

Microwave apricot preserves until melted (took mine about 1 minute on high). Cut cake into four 7 1/2 x 5 in rectangles (how precise. I just cut mine into 4 approximately-same sized rectangles). Spread half of the preserves over two rectangles. Top each rectangle with another one. Spread with remaining preserves. Cut into bars.

Melt semisweet chocolate; stir until smooth. Drizzle over bars. Let stand until set. Store in airtight container (Tupperware) in the refrigerator.

Okay if you make these you should warn people that it is apricot. Apparently people expected it to be caramel, and it did look like that a little bit, in retrospect. Lisa took a bite, and with it still in her mouth (I think she wanted to spit it out) said "did you make sweet and sour brownies???" Ha. So these were not a hit at home fellowship. I took them to work the next night, gave a warning to all that it was apricot, and they were much better received. I cut them very small, like 2 bites' worth for each one, and I had 3 of them through the night. Each time I ate one I liked it better. So at first I wasn't going to save this one but now I don't know.

Hearty Ground Turkey and Vegetable Soup

A soup like this you cannot have all the time, because the amount of sodium would likely be lethal. However, this soup was SO easy. Looking at the recipe, I knew I could throw it together quickly, even on a so-called zombie night (after I've slept something like 10 hours out of 56...). So yesterday I made this one. Besides the sodium content I don't think it's too bad. It reminds me of a childhood staple of mine which we call goulash, but other people call chop suey. Macaroni, hamburger, and a can of tomato soup. Yum. Now that I'm a grown up I add chopped onion and worcestershire sauce. And I use whole wheat pasta. It's so yummy. We have it every couple of months, and the kids love it too. This soup is the last recipe I have marked from the Everything Soup cookbook. Now that I'm done with it, I'm putting it in the Goodwill bag. I can't even remember where it came from, so hopefully nobody's feelings will be hurt. I put all the good recipes in my keeper book, so it's kind of like it's going to live forever. Or something.

Hearty Ground Turkey and Vegetable Soup
1 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 16 oz can green beans, drained
1 16 oz can diced potatoes, drained
1 16 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
Salt (are you kidding me??) and pepper to taste

Brown the turkey in Dutch oven until cooked through (it doesn't tell you to drain the fat here, but I did). Add the onion and green pepper (I added these when the turkey was about half way done, because I like the onions to get a little bit brown). Mix in the green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and tomato soup. Heat until warmed through, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This was so yummy, and so easy. Definitely keeping this one. I even think my sister is going to make it (with modifications--hamburger instead of turkey, and leave out the tomatoes). I won't make it often, but I will make it sometimes. Comfort food.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Hearty Smoked Sausage Stew

We love smoked sausage. So of course I wanted to try this stew...from the Everything Soup cookbook.

Hearty Smoked Sausage Stew
1 pound dried red kidney beans
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced (this comes in 14.5 oz pkg now so I used 2...also I had a coupon for 2)
1 cup barley
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
Salt & pepper

Rinse the beans and soak them overnight in a bowl with enough cold water to cover. Drain and rinse again. In crockpot, combine all ingredients except salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Discard bay leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Okay so this wasn't that good. Pretty disappointing after you smell it all day. It just tasted bland. The sausage lost a lot of the flavor, and despite that, the broth wasn't very flavorful either. The barley made the broth kind of glue-y, I thought. Steve ate his but he is easy to please. Melissa said it was "good." The kids didn't really like it either. So definitely not keeping this recipe. On to my next one...

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Mom's Pancakes

This is most definitely not a new recipe. In fact, it's probably the first recipe I ever learned. These are the best pancakes ever. They are from an ancient cookbook of my mom's. She has been making pancakes this way our whole lives. Except like twice when she tried to be sneaky and use Bisquick when we were out of an ingredient or when she was trying to be faster. But you cannot pass off Bisquick pancakes as these pancakes. They even looked different on the plate and we instantly knew, and were very accusatory, i.e. "are these from a MIX??" in a mortified tone. My kids love these and Emma makes them with my mom sometimes. I am putting them on the blog today because my sister texted me and asked me to email her the recipe again. I told her "I already gave you the recipe once. You should write it down if you like it so much." To which she replied, "why don't you just put it on your blog so I can get it when I need it?" She has cookbooks, I don't know why she can't write this on a paper and stick it in the front of one. But oh well, since I aim to be a service-oriented blog, here is the recipe. It's mostly for Jessica but any of you can feel free to make it if you want to.

Mom's Pancakes
2 cups flour (these days I use half white and half whole wheat pastry flour...the WWPF is so light you can't even tell...back when I was using all purpose wheat flour you could tell)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sour milk (just in case you don't know, you make sour milk by putting 2 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar into a 2 cup measure, then filling to the 2 cup line with milk)

Mix all ingredients together using a wire whisk to get all the lumps out. Fry on a hot griddle.

Growing up we sometimes had these with blueberries. My kids don't like them like that but sometimes I will make 3 or 4 with blueberries for me. For the rest of the pancakes I add about 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips. If I give them pancakes without chocolate chips they are very sad children.

If any pancakes get flipped onto the floor inadvertently, those can be Dad's. It's possible that is what we did if our flipping went awry. The first time mom let me flip pancakes, I flipped one onto the (clean) floor. We scooped it up real quick but I was so upset. Mom said it was fine, that one could be Daddy's, because he doesn't care if it fell on the floor. It is now a long-standing joke when we drop anything off the plate, or frying pan, or whatever. We call out "That one's Dad's!" I estimate this practice has been going on for 20+ years and he is still fine.

So there you go, Jess (and whoever else). Best pancakes ever.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Slow Cooker Hula Chicken

I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to make food from a crock pot look good on a plate. Even though it usually tastes great, it looks like glop. It's a good thing that the meat falls apart, etc, but it just looks terrible. Everything becomes the same color, and just looks unappetizing. I bet if it weren't for the great smell you'd been smelling all day while it cooked, you wouldn't even want to eat it. We had this the other day and I just haven't had a chance to post it yet. It's from the latest Simple & Delicious.

Slow Cooker Hula Chicken
6 bacon strips, divided
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3/4 cup barbecue sauce

Cut three of the bacon strips in half; cook until partially cooked but not crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Season chicken with salt and pepper; place in 5-qt slow cooker. Top each thigh with a half piece of bacon. Top with onion, pineapple, and barbecue sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until thermometer reads 180 (I had mine on high for the first 2 hours, because it didn't seem likely that having it on low for only 4 hours would cook it enough, but my crock pot is over 10 years old, and I've heard that newer ones cook faster). Cook remaining bacon until crisp; drain and crumble. Sprinkle over each serving.

They probably want you to sprinkle more bacon to make it look better. I didn't do that. Sam and I are the only ones that really like bacon, and it seemed like there was enough there to make us happy. The kids all liked the chicken, and we had this with mashed potatoes and carrot sticks. So overall a good, easy meal. It just looked awful.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Southwest Chicken Pockets

We had this last night. It was great. We love stuff like this. Favorite genre lately. The chicken bacon tart that I made last week used puff pastry, and it comes in a package of 2, so I had one left to make this recipe. This recipe is from the latest Simple & Delicious.

Southwest Chicken Pockets
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 pkg (9 oz) ready to serve roasted chicken breast strips (once again you can just cook and chop a chicken breast)
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped (on Take Home Chef I saw a great way to seed a tomato so that was no problem for me)
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, divided
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
salsa for serving

Saute onion in oil in large skillet until tender. Remove from the heat; stir in the chicken, beans, tomato, and 1/4 cup chilies.

Roll puff pastry into 14 inch square on a lightly floured surface (this was tricky and I couldn't get it all the way out to 14 inches, I think mine was maybe 11). Cut into 4 squares. Spoon chicken mixture into the center of each square; sprinkle with cheese (I forgot to do that!). Brush egg over edges of squares. Fold dough over filling, forming a triangle. Pinch seams to seal. Transfer to a greased baking sheet and brush with remaining egg. Bake at 400 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Combine sour cream and remaining green chilies in a small bowl. Serve the sour cream and salsa with the pockets.

We did not have this with sour cream. And since I forgot to put the cheese inside the pockets, I sprinkled it on top once they were done. These came out so good. Yum. I made peanut butter sandwiches for the little ones, because such yumminess is wasted on them. Also I only used about half of the filling (probably because I couldn't get my squares rolled out to the right size) so now I have enough left to make chicken nachos with. Yum again.

Lentil Soup

I've never had, or made, lentil soup. I had some lentils left from another recipe a while back, and didn't have to buy anything to make this soup, so I decided to try it. It's from the Everything Soup cookbook.

Lentil Soup
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed very thoroughly
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp butter or oil
1 tbsp tarragon (it doesn't say dried or fresh, I had dry and used 1 tbsp, I think it was too much)
1 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

In a large saucepan or soup pot, melt the butter (or warm the oil). Saute the onion for 5 minutes on low heat. Stir in the tarragon, paprika, and bay leaf. Add the lentils. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaf. Using a blender or food processor, puree the mixture (I used our new blender and it worked great). Reheat for 5 minutes.

Well. Nathan and Emma did NOT like this. To be fair, it did look like baby poop. They didn't even want to try it. Sam & Steve LOVED it. They shoveled it in with their bread pieces and it was gone in no time. Me...I liked it at first. The more I ate of it the less I liked it. I had to add salt at first because it was so bland. Then by the time my bread was gone I tried to eat some bites of it, but all I could taste was the tarragon. Maybe I feel about tarragon the way Jill & Melissa feel about cilantro, I don't know. I just couldn't eat any more of it. Not a keeper, but at least I'm not out anything.