Really Truly Awesome Chicken

Photo by Taste of Home

This is the recipe you've waited all your life for, if you like chicken. And bacon. And cheese. Jerry's comment after I made this was "maybe we should open a restaurant". Its that kind of good, yet its not hard to make or too eccentric.

Really Truly Awesome Chicken

adapted from Taste of Home

• 4 bacon strips, halved
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (or Dijon)
• 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

• Cook bacon in oven @ 375° for 10 min or so. Meanwhile, flatten chicken to 1/2-in. thickness or cut in half if you have really thick breasts. Sprinkle chicken with seasoned salt and brown in a frying pan. Transfer to a 9x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, mayonnaise, corn syrup and onion; spread 1/2 cup over chicken. Top with bacon and mushrooms. Sprinkle with cheese.
• Cover and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Serve with remaining honey sauce. Yield: 4 servings.

going down green

I saw a recipe for Green Smoothies during my first trimester and just about gagged. That's great for them, I thought. Then I saw it again last week under a much calmer stomach situation. Since "deceptively delicious" is my middle name, I thought I should try it out.
Not bad at all! I am a big lover of milkshakes and smoothies, so this is a much better-for-me alternative, and one I can share with Calista. We've been enjoying it for snack time lately.
Here's my version:

1/2 frozen banana
1/2 c plain yogurt
small handful of blueberries
large handful of fresh spinach
some milk
some Orange juice
some ice
vrrrrooom in the blender
and voila!

It washes down peanut butter very well. And you get a signature green mustache that's priceless. Try it!

DIY Healthy Tortillas

We were out of tortillas on a Sunday recently and this girl just needed some tortilla. So I decided it was time to try to make my own. They turned out so nicely I had to share! Whole wheat tortillas can be pretty expensive, or have sweeteners you don't really want in them. I found it only took about 1/2 hour to make & cook a batch of 10 tortillas, and you could double the recipe and freeze them if you were inclined.

The original recipe I used from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking, but I'm not quite as passionate as she is, so here's a slightly revised version of her recipe.

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used hard red wheat)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup warm water

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup oil

1. Measure liquid ingredients into a mixing bowl.
2. Add baking powder and salt, kneading in the flour until the dough is workable but not too stiff. It helps if you have a little helper. ;) I found the amount of flour to be just right. Let stand 10 minutes.
4. Shape into 8 - 10 balls and let stand 10 more minutes. Roll to form a 10 inch circle or use a tortilla press. I try to get them as thin as I could by hand, since I don't have a tortilla press.
4. Bake on a lightly greased griddle till done (not browned). Toast for about 20-30 sec. per side.

Enjoy!

Mine were certainly not perfect circles like store-bought ones, but they tasted great and made excellent burrito wrappers. I kept the extras in a ziploc in the fridge.

Open House casserole recipe

Many of my friends came by our open house last weekend; we are so blessed to have such good friends! Thanks all. A few of you were keen on the breakfast casserole I made, so I thought I'd just post the recipe here. It was inspired by Jenni Key, refined by All Recipes.com, but I couldn't find a recipe online that matched what I wanted. So here's my version.
4 1/2 English muffins, cut in half
8 precooked sausage patties (mine were frozen)
1 cup diced green peppers (mine were frozen)
1 1/2 c milk (I used 1 c 2% and 1/2 c skim)
6 eggs
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Lay down first 3 ingredients in a 9x 13" pan. Mix eggs and milk together (add a little salt and pepper if you like) and pour over casserole. Refrigerate overnight. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Yum yum!

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 14-20

Sunday: Tostadas
Monday: Slow-Cooked Corn Chowder (Last week's menu went to pot when I got the norovirus, so here we go again with this)
Tuesday: Chicken Ritz casserole
Wednesday: Baked Potatoes with the works
Thursday: Bean Burgers
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: we'll be eating all day long at parties, including our open house (so forget dinner)! Please come by for brunchy food from 9:30am-noon.

Menu Plan Monday: Nov. 23-29

This week I give thanks for food; boy do we have a lot of it right now. Thanks to the Shopper's Triple Coupon sale, we've augmented our food storage for the next year. Actually, I think this topic deserves its own post. Jerry did get a picture....

Sunday: Chicken Cordon Bleu
Monday: Navajo Tacos
Tuesday: Salads
Wednesday: Leftovers, clean out the fridge
Thursday: Thanksgiving Dinner with family- we'll contribute Swiss Medley and appetizers
Friday: out of town still
Saturday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Butternut Squash soup
Sunday: Manicotti

Menu Plan Monday - Nov. 16-22

Sunday: Chicken Stroganoff (one of Jerry's specialties)
Monday: Taco Salad
Tuesday: White Bean and Spinach Pizza
Wednesday: Soup from a can (lazy day!)
Thursday: Stir-Fried Broccoli and Mushrooms with Tofu

Friday: Pierogies (never had them last week)
Saturday: Sloppy Lentils
Sunday: (since I usually post after the fact) Chicken Cordon Bleu

Love those lentils!

Just wanted to report that the Lentil soup from Sunday was well received- even Calista ate it up! Simple, filling and delicious!

Menu Plan Monday- Nov. 9-15th

Sunday: Lentil Soup
Monday: Ham & Broccoli Ring
Tuesday: I'm out to the Relief Society dinner; Jerry can make some mac n cheese (his fave)
Wednesday: Pierogies w/ peppers
Thursday:Crockpot Tamale Pie
Friday:Crockpot Curry
Saturday: Bean Burgers (still from the freezer- yay for cooking ahead!)

I discovered this lady who is using her crockpot everyday this year as her New Year's resolution. Her blog is at crockpot365.blogspot.com. I would be so sick of it, and I think she is too, but if you're looking for something innovative to do in the crockpot she's probably done it!

Menu Plan Monday (er Thursday!!): Week of Nov 2-8

I did plan on Sunday, just didn't get a chance to post until today! Last week I didn't stick to the menu completely, so there are a couple "roll-over" meals this week.
Monday: Chicken Enchiladas
Tuesday: Tuna Carrot salad
Wednesday: Stroganoff Meatballs
Thursday: Coconut Shrimp and salads
Friday: 7-layer dip & chips (i know this is not usually a "meal" but we'll make it one :))
Saturday: I forget... I'll get back to ya

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Oct 26

Sunday: Spaghetti w/ apple chicken sausage (thank you, Jerry!)
Monday: Broccoli Soup and cornbread muffins
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza, using this crust I froze last month
Wednesday: Tuna Carrot salad (recipe from my childhood!)
Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas (anyone have a good recipe??)
Friday: Spooky Eyeball Tacos- Happy Halloween!
Saturday: Out to Cafe Azul with my mama (thanks to Restaurant.com)

I HEART MY KITCHENAID
I just wanted to pay tribute to the other chef in our home. My husband can really cook, and I am the "pampered chef" when he does it (and I do something else). We've agreed that he does the cooking on Thursday nights himself, but he is always willing to chop or give me a hand while I'm cooking too. I never knew cooking could be so fun until he joined me in the kitchen.

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Oct 12

We enjoyed our weekend in Pennsylvania with family, and I'll be back to the kitchen on Tuesday. All the easier to plan my "week" of meals when there's a couple days fewer to plan. :)

Here's how the chili looked as it cooked:

Tuesday: Chili, cornbread muffins
Wednesday: Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Taco Salad (another recurring item on our menus)
Friday: Stuffed Rigatoni
Saturday: Slow Cooker Risotto - we'll try something new to do with food storage wheat!