Recipe #2 - Chicken with Lime Sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add 2 tsp. olive oil to a skillet and brown chicken on both sides (not cooked all the way through)

Remove from pan, keep warm.

In the pan add:

3/4 C chicken broth
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lime juice (FRESH - I don't know what bottled will do the the finished product)
2 tsp. mustard

scrape up the bits on the bottom and simmer for a few minutes.

mix in a small bowl, 2 tbsp water and 2 tsp. cornstarch. Add to skillet.

Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer (BTBRTS)

Finish with 1 tbsp butter and 1 more tbsp lime juice. add chicken back into the pan until cooked through.  The sauce would be great on rice. I served this with a green salad and garlic roasted red potatoes.

Verdict: The sauce is strong. The chicken was really good, but I wish I had served it on a bed of rice instead of with potatoes. My kids ate it dipped in ketchup.

Cooking Magazine Test Run

 
I have way too many cooking magazines. I am trying to cut down and eliminate the excess. SO, I am FINALLY trying all the recipes I wanted to in each magazine and keeping the good ones and tossing the magazine when i'm done.

Magazine #1 - Cooking Light April 2006
Recipe: Chipotle Orange Chicken Cutlets

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts. Pound them flat in between 2 pieces of saran wrap.

Mix in a plate:
1/3 cup flour
2 tsp. cumin

Pour in a bowl:
1/4 C orange juice concentrate.

Coat the bottom of a hot skillet with veggie oil. salt the chicken and then dip in the bowl of OJ, and dredge in the flour mixture, and throw in the pan until nice and brown. Since brown food tastes good.

After the chicken is cooked, take out of the pan and add to the pan 3/4 C OJ concentrate, 1/2 C water, and 2 chipotle chilies in adobo, diced. Boil and let simmer for a couple of minutes. (You can add some more water to thin it out if you want.)

Add the chicken back to the pan to warm through. Serve over brown rice mixed with 1/3 C. chopped cilantro.

Dave would not stop talking about the sauce. He mentioned it like 12 times or something. And insisted that it was the best thing in the house to take for lunch tomorrow. (over my red beans and rice, even!)

This one is a KEEPER.

FHE Treats - Peanut Butter Oat Bites

 
Since one of my new years goals is to do family home evening every week on sunday night, and ANOTHER one of the goals is to focus on healthier eating ( I know this must be a run on sentence, but bear with me), is that FHE treats need to be not so treaty. If you know what I mean. Healthy cookies, muffins, etc. Instead of ice cream or other super high in sugar items.

Today I found a recipe that I had ripped from a magazine two years a while ago. For Peanut Butter Oat Bites. Sounds good, right??

I like these because they are not overly sweet and make you feel sick after the fact, but still special enough that the kids LOVED them and thought they were as great as a bowl of ice cream.

Melt in a saucepan:
2 TBSP butter
2/3 C peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
1/4 C. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla

then pour over these items that happen to be in a medium sized bowl.
1 1/2 C rice krispies
1 C quick oats
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C chopped dry roasted peanuts (omit if using chunky PB)

mis them all together and let cool. DO THIS STEP.

When cool, add 1/4 C. mini chocolate chips and mix again. Roll into 1 inch balls and store in the fridge.

makes 24, 1 ball = 125 calories, 7g fat, 2g fiber, 14g carbs, 4g protein.

Hailey asked me if I could put these in her lunch box for school since she liked them so much.

Make sure you have a cup of milk, they make you thirsty!

a stitch in time saves nine

I know this isn't a recipe or anything but this IS a homemaking blog, and I think sewing is part of that. I hit up black friday at Joann's today where flannel was $1.29/yard instead of the normal $5.99.  Here are the match ups I bought to make receiving blankets for my peeps who are having babies soon.

And the piece de resistance...

I bought the rest of the bolt here.  almost 7 yards. Is that crazy? This fabric makes me crazy, I love it so much.

Now to get crackin'

 

Turkey Day Menu

This year we did the "Big Meal" all by our lonesome.  Here was my menu:

Brined Roasted Turkey - Courtesy of Alton Brown
Sweet Potato casserole - courtesy of Anne Burrell
Classic Green bean casserole - recipe below
Mrs. Baird Rolls (hey, sometimes you need a shortcut)
Cornbread Dressing - Sorry, no recipe  here unless you are related. This is family stuff here. (you know, the BEST stuff)
Pumpkin Mousse Parfait - Heck yeah!
Homemade cranberry sauce - SO easy. You'll never go back to those cans again!

Here are your recipes:

Green Bean casserole: 
2 cans green beans. Mix in 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 C. milk, and 1 tsp. Tony's seasoning. Pour into 2 quart casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Then top it with 1/2 C cheddar cheese and 1 1/2 cups french's fried onions. Back in the oven for 10 minutes and then EAT! I grew up on this although my husband is 31 and has never had it. Weird.

Homemade cranberry sauce:
1 12 oz. bag on fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

boil for 15-ish minutes until it looks kind of like jelly. It will thicken as it cools. I made this the day before and stuck it in the fridge. This is great just on bread.

Pumpkin mousse parfait

1/4 cup dark rum (or water)

1 packet (2 tsp.) unflavored gelatin powder

1 (15-ounce can) pumpkin (not pie filling)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

2 extra-large egg yolks

2 tsp. grated orange zest

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean)

Sweetened whipped cream

8 to 10 chopped ginger cookies

Crystallized ginger, for decoration, optional

Place the rum in a heat-proof bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside for 10 minutes for the gelatin to soften.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg yolks, 1 tsp. of orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set the bowl of gelatin over a pan of simmering water and cook until the gelatin is clear. Immediately whisk the hot gelatin mixture into the pumpkin mixture. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture.

To assemble, spoon some of the pumpkin mixture into parfait glasses, add a layer of whipped cream, then some chopped cookies. Repeat, ending with a third layer of pumpkin. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. To serve, top with whipped cream and extra ginger cookies and orange zest, or slivered crystallized ginger.

And can I just say, YUM! This would also be good just spread on pumpkin bread! (which I will do tomorrow)

What did you have for Thanksgiving??

 

Pie crust is scary??? Not anymore!!

  I'll admit, pie crust is not my favorite thing ever. I'd rather have a crumbly topping on a pie or a crisp. BUT, when I read about the best chicken pit pie ever with this crust, I had to try it (since I'm a sucker for chicken pot pie).

Kill. me. now.

I may now die a happy woman.

BEST. CRUST. EVER.

I've since made 2 chicken pot pies and 2 fruit pies using the following recipe and I'm never using another one again. Ever.

adapted from : Bon Appetit

Best Pie Crust ever (good for top and bottom of one pie)

2 1/2 C. flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 C. butter/margarine, cut into small chunks and frozen. (that would be 2 sticks)(do not use shortening, that batch did not work for me)
5 tbsp (or more) of ice water.

mix first 3 ingredients and then add all the frozen butter. Mix with pastry blender (your hands are too warm) it will be very crumbly.
then add 5 tbsp of ice water and mix with your hand. it should be a little sticky and not quite together yet.

separate into 2 halves and form a disc shape. wrap into saran wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

roll out with lots of flour and make your pie.

Oh. so. delicious.

Banana Bread

  I know there are a billion banana bread recipes out there, but of all the ones I've tried and eaten from others, this is the best one I've had.

Seriously.
It might have something to do with the flour to sugar ratio. Possibly the amount of bananas. I don't really know. What I DO know is that with this recipe in your arsenal, you will be able to woo and influence people of your choice.

Do I jest?

Never.

taken from: Remedies for the "I Don't Cook" Syndrome

1 C sugar
1/2 C butter

cream together (yes, like you are making cookies)

2 eggs

beat well.

add 2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

mix.

then add

3 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla (or more)
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional - but why would you opt not?)

mix until combined and put into one loaf pan or 4 mini's.

bake one hour at 350. The crust will be very dark. That is because of the amount of sugar.

Take this to people you don't know and they will become your friends.