Chicken Vegetable Bake

Hello girls. We had this last night. It was quite good, and it smelled so yummy while it was cooking. It's from the Better Homes & Gardens book.

Chicken Vegetable Bake
2 1/2 lbs meaty chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, & drumsticks)
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I left these out. Hate those slimy things)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
dash salt
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot
1 cup frozen small whole onions (I forgot to buy these, even though they were on my list...I just cut up a regular onion into little chunks)

Skin the chicken (so gross); rinse chicken and pat dry w/ paper towels. Place the flour, paprika, salt, and pepper in a ziploc bag. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat. Set aside 2 tbsp of flour mixture. In a 12" skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove chicken from skillet to 3 quart baking dish. Set aside. In same skillet, add mushrooms to drippings (if you are using them). Cook and stir, scraping up browned bits, until shrooms are tender. Stir in reserved flour mixture, brown sugar, ginger, and dash of salt. Add water and orange juice concentrate all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in carrot and onions. Pour sauce over chicken in baking dish. Cover and bake @ 350 for one hour, or until chicken is no longer pink and vegetables are tender. Makes 6 servings.

So everyone ate this except poor little Nathan. The kids didn't make much comment, but Steve said it was really good and definitely a make again. So maybe try it if you want. Talk to you soon!!

Jiffy Orange Pancakes

As you may or may not be able to tell, I am in the breakfast section of this cookbook. This is the third and final recipe from this section. These were good, and if you are in need of a pancake recipe I would recommend it. However, I already have a great from-scratch pancake recipe that costs way less than this one, so I am not going to replace it. But it was good.

Jiffy Orange Pancakes
1 beaten egg
1 cup half and half or light cream (they said don't try to substitute milk because they did and they came out tough)(the pancakes, not the kitchen testers)
6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup packaged regular pancake mix (not complete mix)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter, cut up (I put mine in whole and nothing bad happened)

Combine egg, half and half, and 1/4 cup of the orange juice concentrate. Add pancake mix. Stir until just combined but still slightly lumpy. Cook pancakes like you know you're supposed to (they have a long explanation but I'm assuming everyone knows how to do this. If not, see me after class). For sauce, in small saucepan combine sugar, butter, and other 1/2 cup of orange juice concentrate. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Serve the warm sauce over the pancakes (on each person's plate, not over the whole stack that you just made). Makes about 16 pancakes.

I doubled the recipe for the pancake part because I always burn a few and even if I hadn't, I knew 16 wouldn't be enough. But I only 1 1/2'd the sauce because I only had so much orange juice concentrate, but I had a lot of sauce left, so I think even if you double the pancakes you shouldn't double the sauce. Everyone loved the pancakes (except hapless Nathan. I didn't dare give him one). Emma wouldn't try the sauce though. Sam tried it but for his second helping had maple syrup. Steve had maple syrup on his 3rd serving =) So like I said, good but not good enough to replace my old standard. Talk to you guys soon!!

Sugar-Crusted French Toast

And that was the only crusted part. This was soggy soggy soggy. I almost doubled it, because the original recipe was only for 6 slices of bread, and that would only feed like me and Steve, not all of us (plus we had my sister's little girl that night, too). But I couldn't fit 12 pieces of bread in the 9x13 pan, so I did 10, but still doubled the eggs and milk....so that may have contributed to the sog factor. Well, here it is anyway, in it's not-doubled format

Sugar-Crusted French Toast
6 1-inch slices french bread
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I just used the cinnamon/sugar I already had instead of mixing this new)

In small bowl, beat together eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Place bread in 2 quart baking dish. Pour egg mixture over bread, turn to coat. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes or until egg mixture is absorbed. In a large skillet or on a griddle melt the 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Cook bread on both sides for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet. Brush tops of bread with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Broil 4 inches from heat for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or just until sugar is carmelized.

So there you have it. I am most likely not making this again, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. Maybe if you just try it like it is and don't double it or something.

Farmer's Breakfast

Hi girls! Wednesday night we had this. But we almost never have breakfast for breakfast. At least not this involved. We usually have it for supper. This is the first one from the Better Homes & Gardens 75 Years of All-Time Favorites. You may or may not have noticed that I am not really a Better Homes & Gardens kind of girl. This cookbook was a gift. From the O'Prays, whom some of you may remember from New York. Anyway it was pretty good.

Farmer's Breakfast
2 tbsp cooking oil (as opposed to...motor oil?)
2 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes with onions and peppers (I couldn't find these, so I just got the diced potatoes and added onion separately)
1 cup diced cooked ham
6 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I didn't think this was enough and used about 1/2 cup)

Coat large skillet with the oil. Add potatoes in a single layer. Cook, covered, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring once. Stir in ham. Combine eggs and water and pour over ham-potato mixture. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until eggs are just set, turning mixture occasionally with a wide spatula. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.

This stuck to the pan really bad. I bet a whole egg was burnt onto the bottom of the pan. So maybe medium is too high on my stove, I don't know. I didn't "Pam" the pan, but I did use oil, so I'm not sure why this happened. Anyway Emma didn't like how the eggs and ham were touching. Sam liked it. So did Steve & I. I wasn't so crazy about it just because it was frustrating how bad it stuck. And, is it supposed to be like a huge omelet when it's done, or is it supposed to be like a big scramble? Ours ended up like a big scramble because if I had left it until it was like a big omelet it would've burned even worse. So I wasn't going to keep this one, but Steve wanted to. So now it's in the permanent file. Maybe some of you will have better luck. Anyway have a good day and I'll talk to you soon!!

Sesame-Ginger Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Hi girls! Here was a good one, but requires lots of ingredients...it's from the Gooseberry Patch, in a section called "Quick as a Wink." I think they were exaggerating. This one took me awhile, but it may have had more to do with the child hanging from my leg than the details of the recipe.

Sesame-Ginger Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
1/2 cup toasted sesame seed
2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced (I just used dried ground ginger)
1 tbsp oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp garlic salt

Season chicken breasts lightly with garlic salt. Combine sesame seed, ginger, and oil together; coat chicken breasts with mixture. Place on lightly greased broiler pan; bake @ 400 for 20-25 minutes, turning once. Spread w/ pineapple salsa (hold on, I didn't write that part yet) and serve immediately.

The salsa....
15 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (again, I didn't buy fresh)
1 tbsp lime juice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (one time I found this at Wal-mart, but not this time, so I omitted it)
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

Stir ingredients together in bowl, cover and refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes before serving. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

So this was pretty good, if a bit too spicy for my taste. Emma ate the chicken but didn't even try the salsa. Sam started eating the salsa plain, without chicken, and said "I don't really like this." Then when we told him to eat it with the chicken, he was like, oh, and then he did better. Steve of course liked it, and I did, too, but I think we won't have it again just because it does have a lot of ingredients to buy, and it wasn't fabulous. But I do really like sesame seeds. That's the last recipe from this cookbook, except for an appetizer, and Mom keeps saying we'll have an appetizer night but we haven't yet. But when we do I will make that one. My next cookbook is Better Homes and Gardens 75 Years of All-Time Favorites. Talk to you soon!!