11/21/2012- Roasted Chicken

I've never made roasted chicken. It always seemed too difficult for me. I thought there'd be more work to it than what I did.

This recipe....

Pat chicken dry
Put oil on it
Put salt and pepper in it (about 1tsp each)
Put salt and pepper on it (about 2tsp each)

DONE

May I just say......BEST CHICKEN EVER. I like skin sometimes, but I ate ALL the skin. If I could make just skin and eat that, I would.

I had a 7lb chicken and it was done after exactly 3 hours at 375 and was perfect. Next time, I'm going to make some stock from it!

Hawaiian Chicken Drumsticks

I really had my doubts about this, especially since it had peppers in it. I hate peppers, with a passion. But, I did my duty and followed the recipe. The recipe itself was difficult to follow, the wording and measuring wasn't consistent. So, I'll tell you what I did in effort to follow the original recipe.

Ingredients from original:

7 pieces chicken drumsticks, rinse and pat dry with paper.
50 g butter
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips.
1 can pineapple rings in juice, drained and set aside.
1 cup catchup
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup soy sauce
1 onion, cuti into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon powdered ginger or 1 teaspoon thinly sliced fresh ginger root.
½ cup water
a dash of salt and ground pepper to flavor chicken

What I did:
12 chicken drumsticks
1/4c butter
1 green pepper cut into strips
1 can pineapple rings
1 c ketchup
1/2c brown sugar
1/2c soy sauce
2T dried minced onions
1t minced garlic
1/2t ground ginger
1/2 c water

I didn't get the chance to put the salt and pepper on the chicken and put it in the fridge for an hour, so I picked up after there.

I melted the butter in my skillet and put in all the chicken, turning it to "brown" on all sides. It didn't really brown, more...yellowed....

When it was all yellowed, I put it in my giant dish into the oven (my skillet wasn't oven safe) for 28 minutes.

While it was in there, I mixed up my ketchup, pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce and water.

I got really confused when it came to the rest though. I couldn't tell if I was supposed to take them out of the oven and keep them in the skillet or out...I put them in and then realized I was supposed to keep them out, so I set them to the side. In the skillet I mixed about 3T of butter, the garlic, minced onion and pepper.

After 3 minutes I added in the saucy mix and had it on med-high stirring occasionally.

The sauce never really "thickened" after 4 minutes on 8 of 10 heating so I added in the chicken and put the pineapple on top. I turned it twice, once every 2 minutes and then simmered it for 5 minutes.

Overall it turned out pretty good! Aaron had 6, I had three, took one to a neighbor, "tried" one out and gave one to Noah.

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Honey Glazed Ham

In my opinion...If anything will be called "world's best", it will be THIS. Words cannot describe how amazing this ham was.

The recipe calls for 4lbs of ham, I had a 10lb one. Therefore, it cannot fit in a 5qt crock pot....Into the oven it went! I doubled the recipe so it was 3 cups of ginger ale to start with. Covered it with foil and put it in at 300 for 5 hours. Then, I poured on 1/2c honey mixed with 1t ground cloves, 1t ground mustard and 1/2t ground cinnamon.

The end result was heaven. Earlier I told some online friends about this ham and I used words I wont use on here...that's how good.

Behold the ham....

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I felt I would be doing the ham injustice if I didn't try to make a nice dinner to surround it. So, I had ham, Grands flaky biscuits, fresh (boiled) broccoli and fresh cut fruit. And some yummy yummy iced tea.

Tonight's a good night.....

Now go make the ham.

11/09/2012- Lemon Garlic Chicken

So, I was in a bit of a rush this day and didn't get any actual pictures taken. Hey, it gets busy with two kids! Lol.

I did marinate it for 2 hours (the minimum time) because I actually forgot until later. But, it was very easy to throw together and get in the fridge. I used 4 chicken breasts because 1) That's what I had and 2)they were huge.

Also, I didn't use any lemon zest because I have no clue how to make that from a lemon. Cheese grater? Really, how do you do it? Please comment and tell me.

Anyway, you just put all that into a baking dish and cook it. They came out really tasty and made the house smell good. My only complaint, though, would be that the inside wasn't that moist. The skin had great flavor, but if you have thick breasts like I did, it didn't get through enough. Maybe marinating it more would help, but I'm not sure. It did go great with the scampi noodles though!

I'll be making it again, so I'll be sure to add pictures then!

This photo is courtesy of the creator.

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11/08/2012- Mini Chicken Pot Pies

What's better than getting veggies, protein and dairy all in one yummy muffin? Getting a toddler to eat it. These were perfect. Right size for Noah to eat and flavorful enough for Aaron to eat too. I forgot to put in some poultry seasoning, so I don't think there was as much flavor as there should have been, but it was still pretty good.

The recipe calls for about 1T mix on the bottom of the tin and then you put in your veggie/chicken/cheese mix and pour another tablespoon on top. Honestly, the last two that got filled and cooked were better than all the others. Why? Because I ran out of Bisquick mix and so I just stirred the mix around in what was at the bottom. It brought out the flavor more and every bite you got had something delicious in it.

The "recipe" that I used didn't give exact measurments, so here's what I did.

Follow the "pancake" directions on a box of Bisquick
Boil two chicken breasts for 10-12min and shred/cut into bite sizes
While letting chicken cool, add a can of pees and 2 cups shredded cheddar to a bowl
Cut carrots into small sizes (I used a whole carrot and cut it very small)
Mix cooled chicken in with veggie/cheese mix
Stir
Use 1/4c for each muffin spot

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They were so good, even cold, that Noah and I snacked on them the next morning. I'm surely going to make them again. The changes I'll make, however, will be to add the poultry seasoning, maybe a bit more cheese and only using 1T and stirring the mixture in with it.

11/06/2012- Baked Potato Soup

This recipe is right up there with the sausage and potato casserole. It was incredibly easy and insanely delicious. I invited our neighbor, Chris, over for dinner that night and he kept saying how good it was and ended up having three bowls and took one home with him.

Noah helped me put it all together and loved helping. When it came time to test the soup, however, he was adamant that he hated it, before he tried it. Once he tried it, though, he was all about that soup. You know if Noah eats it, it's good.

We went to the store to get some bacon bits and I also picked up a loaf of artisan wheat bread. It was divine.

There was enough in there to let Chris have his three bowls, me have two, Noah and Aaron have one, send some home with Chris and have enough leftover for lunch the next day. You can bet I'll be making that again! Now I just need to find some cheap chicken broth like I did (it was on sale for $0.68 per 14.5fl oz can) and I'll be making that soup like a mad woman!

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11/05/2012- Mini Tacos

This recipe was mainly promoted to be a football party appetizer or something like that, a general party food. But, me being me decided it was a good Noah food. He's got small hands, so give him small foods.

Noah LOVED helping make these. He helped put all the won ton wrappers in and fill it with taco meat. He tried putting the cheese on top but it was either too much or too little.

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In the end they were pretty good. The meat was spicier than normal because I used red pepper flakes this time. Also, the edges of the won ton were very pointy and hurt when they poked the top of your mouth. Next time I do them, there will be corn in the mix along with more cheese and maybe some salsa or tomatoes. It was good, but a bit boring.

11/04/2012- Apple and Honey Pork Loin

I like pork and I like apples. I had pork and I had apples. Seems to work well, right? Well, it smelled good, and looked ok and fell apart wonderfully. Honestly though, it didn't taste all that great. I put it on a Grand's Flaky Biscuit with some honey BBQ to give it flavor. The apples and honey didn't do that much for it. I recommend trying it because you must might like it.

It was pretty simple sounding, but I think I made it more complicated than it should be. My pork was actually two put together. I didn't know that until I opened it. So, instead of cutting it in half to have two shorter ones I had two long ones. I followed the directions like it said, but the apples didn't cover the bottom or the top. I also think I put too much cinnamon on.

In the end, it was mushy from the apples and my house smelled like apple cinnamon. Ha, can't complain much about the smell.

This was after it was all cooked and before it was pulled apart/out.

And after it was pulled apart. It literally fell apart as we took it out.

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11/01/2012- Baked Meatballs

Aaron loves meatballs. I mean, straight up love! We used to buy bags of meatballs (Cooked Perfect are his favorite brand) and he’d eat upwards of 8 at a time with his pasta. So, what better reason to make some myself?! I was intimidated by the ones I saw where you cook them in a skillet and roll them. I’d tried it once and the middle never got cooked. This recipe looked promising, though. It was simple to do and you just bake them. Two things, though. Make them all as close to the same size as possible and do NOT use wax paper. I learned the hard way about that one! They were absolutely delicious! Aaron and Noah kept asking for more and I found myself randomly snacking on them the next day. They’re good cold, too!

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10/29/2012- Slow Roasted Beef

Superstorm Sandy (Hurricane) was due to hit us later in the day, so we invited our neighbor, Chris, over for dinner. It was pretty intimidated by the recipe for this, but I think I did well. It started out the day before, with me realizing I needed to wrap the beef in salt and plastic wrap for 18-24 hours. I had actually wanted to make it the day before, but had to wait so I could do it “right”. On the 29th, I started out by searing it as suggested. Well, Aaron did that while I did something else – can’t even remember what it was now…. After it was seared, I read that I needed a roast rack. I had no clue what that was! Thankfully, a friend of mine from four doors down was on Facebook chat and said she had one. The beef was so big, I had to cut it in two. I had one on her rack and one on a cookie sheet. Sounds funny, but it worked!

On one of the racks, I rubbed it in garlic butter with some oregano mixed in. At first, I put it in for 2.5hrs on 225 degrees. I then turned it off and let it sit in there, just like the directions said. When I cut it, though, it was still all bloody. Looked delicious to me, but I wasn’t about to feed it to Noah. So, I wrapped it in foil and popped it back in for another hour. Came out perfectly!

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In the end, we had rolls, beef, mashed potatoes, green beans and mixed fruit. It was so yummy and the perfect way to listen to the “hurricane” pick up!

10/28/2012- Balsamic Chicken and Pumpkin Pancakes

With Hurricane Sandy coming, I decided I needed to make as much food as I could. So, I started with 15 balsamic chicken drumsticks. That's a lot of chicken. Not so much, though, when it's absolutely divine.

I even wanted to eat the marinade. That's how good it was. Very simple too, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and honey. The recipe says you don't have to marinade it, but I always find the skin only has the flavor. Hopefully, by letting it sit for a while, it'd soak it up.

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While those were cooking and Aaron had Noah downt he street at a birthday party, I decided to use the last of my pumpkin puree. I had used some of it for my pumpkin pie oatmeal and had about a cup left. If the power went out, I didn't want to lose that awesome pumpkin. I searched around Pinterest and found this pin for pumpkin pancakes! Perfect!

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I threw them into bags when they cooled and put them in the fridge. Thankfully we never lost power. Noah's been asking for them though, so they aren't sticking around long! Guess I"ll have to make more. I'm hoping to get a new waffle maker soon, so maybe this would make yummy pumpkin waffles?

10/27/2012- Chili and Hot Dogopus

10/27/2012- Chili, Hot Dogopus

What goes together better than chili, hot dogs and spaghetti? Trick question, I didn't put them together and I don't see how on earth that'd taste good. I had cooked up 3lbs of ground beef and separated it out into one pound bags. I needed to figure out what to do with my cooked beef, and chili was a good option. It was cold, chili's warm and the perfect fall food/soup. So, off to Pinterest I went. I didn't have a packet of chili mix, so that was out. There needed to be a simple recipe for me to use. Thankfully, I found it.

This chili was delicious. Typically, I'm a chili snob. I prefer the packet version with my two cans of whatever it is I add and call it good. This, beat it out of the park by far. It was simple it was tasty and it wasn't spicy. We also made up some yummy corn bread to put in/on it as well.

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Noah also got a special treat, we made (what I call) a hot dogopus. What's that you ask? It's a hot dog with spaghetti legs!!!

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It's really simple, cut up your hot dog, break apart your spaghetti and stick it in then boil. Easy peasy. Noah had fun making the legs, watching the water and helping me drain (don't worry, I am uber protective of him and watch every move). I think he had a bit of a hard time realizing that it's ok for two such different foods to combine. After eating the first one, however, he didn't care and ate them all up!

10/25/2012- Cheesy Potato and Sausage Casserole

I don't know that I've ever made an actual casserole before. I mean, I have the dishes and I have recipes, but I don't think I've actually done in an actual casserole dish. This one, though, was one that had to be made. It's a potato and sausage casserole and O.M.G. is it delicious. Aaron and I had to fight ourselves from eating it all that night. Noah, not the biggest fan, but then again he doesn't like "saucy" things, especially on meat.

The prep time on here is a lie. I think they assume you already have potatoes boiled and peeled and sausage cooked. Otherwise, how else can you prep this all in 20min? I boiled the potatoes and cooked the sausage at the same time, but even then, I had to cut the potatoes and peel them. You also have to make the cheese mixture, which is a good chunk of time.

I wish I had taken pictures of the process of it (I'm making it again soon, so I will gladly take more photos). This crappy cellphone picture does not do this thing justice. It makes the house smell amazing and tastes like heaven.

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Here's what was photographed by the creator of this amazing dish

10/24/2012- Pizza Dough

So, this was the best and worst Pin try so far....I made pizza dough. Well, Noah and I made pizza dough. I started out following this recipe, but when it came time to mix, it was gooey and didn't form up like it should. I've made bread before with my grandparents, so I know what it should look and feel like, and this was far from.

So, I called up grandma desperate for help. She told me to add more flour to try to clump/dry it up and get it to form correctly. So, I added....and added.....and added. Three extra cups I added, plus a few handfuls that I added before I called her. It was crazy!

After it was all said and done, it rose up out of the bowl. A few hours in the fridge and a couple out and I cut it in half (froze half) and made a DELICIOUS pizza. The crust was AMAZING. Next time, though, I'm adding garlic butter to the crust. Mmmmmmm

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*The second time I made the pizza (from the other half) I added the garlic butter to the crust and it was SO good. I highly recommend it! I'm also going to experiment and try to make a "stuffed crust" like Pizza Hut does. It's Aaron's favorite pizza.

10/23/2012- Beef Stroganoff, Cold Compress and Cloud Dough

Today was a busy day Pinterest wise. Aaron was home and hurting because he did a 10 mile run a couple days before and his knee was acting up. So, after I started dinner, I made him a cold compress that I found on Pinterest.

First was dinner, Beef Stroganoff made in the Crock Pot! It was VERY delicious. I did, however, forget to put in the cream cheese at the end. I don't know if I would have liked it more or less, but either way, it was yummy!

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The compress is simple, Blue Dawn and rubbing alcohol in a baggie. Simple enough right? Yes, if your bag doesn't leak :-/ Ours did, but I put it inside another bag and put it in the freezer. It'd be good for a quick fix, but certainly not for long bouts of "healing". I took it out and it melted very quickly. I am keeping it to have on hand for helping Noah if he gets hurt. A good 5 minutes should come of it, otherwise it's useless.

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The final project was something called "cloud dough". Basically, it's a crap ton of flour and baby oil. 8 cups of flour to one cup baby oil and it's essentially soft sand like stuff. It's messy but fun!

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10/22/2012- "World's Best" Chicken

The Worlds Best Chicken? Eh. It's ok.....Certainly not the worlds best. Honestly, the glaze/sauce/whatever would taste better on pork in my opinion. It's a simple mix of dijon mustard, maple syrup and red wine vinegar. You pour it on top of some chicken with salt and pepper on top. At the end, you put a bit of rosemary on.

if you eat it as soon as it comes out, it's nice and moist. Let it sit at all (like I had to do for Aaron since he hadn't come home from work yet) and it dries, but all chicken seems to do that. Overall, I'd make it again, but I'd probably make a few changes, like maybe more syrup? Not sure. Either way, Noah had fun making the sauce and pouring it on!

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I also made garlic bread for the first time. I had a Pin for it, but it was too hard to follow because the measurments were different. So, I melted butter, mixed in onion powder and oregano (thanks grandma for the advice!!!) and smothered the ciabatta bread. It was SO delicious! I also gave some to my neighbor a few doors down for her dinner.