June 21, 2013

A whirlwind of a week, to be sure!  We tried a lot of new dishes, discovered 2 keepers, caught up with dear friends we hadn't seen in a while, and topped it off with a quick trip to the ER for IV fluids for our youngest.  In between those things there were about a million other activities, and now here we are to Friday again!

As for those keepers - banana muffins, and balsamic chicken thighs.  Both recipes have fabulous flavor.  We were originally introduced to the muffins through my nephews when they slept over, and they were so great, I had to get the recipe, and we made them this week!  My kids love bananas and love muffins, so it certainly wasn't a stretch to think that these would be rated keeper.  And the balsamic thighs were from (More) Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer.  The kids loves these, and next time I will have to make more.  It called for bone in chicken thighs, which I used, but you could easily do this with bone-in or boneless chicken breasts.

You might wonder how often I re-make recipes we rate keepers.  Quite often!  This week alone we made chocolate chip cookies, angel food cake (had to use the egg whites that I had from the ice cream recipe that was not given keeper status), pizza, hurry up ham, pasta with sun dried tomatoes,  and waffles.  So many of the keepers have been made numerous times.  I know if we add one of the recipes from the archive to our weekly meal plan it will be eaten and enjoyed.

What recipes have you found here that have become regulars in your kitchen?

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Banana Muffins
Balsamic Chicken Thighs

Balsamic Chicken Thighs

Ingredients
* 6 bone-in chicken thighs
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken together in a freezer bag.  Add chicken thighs.  Coat the chicken, then freeze.
2. Thaw the chicken and marinade (place in the fridge the night before you want to make this)
3. Pour the chicken and marinade in a prepared 9x13 baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Notes
My kids loved these!  Ryan was out the night we had these, but I know he would have enjoyed it.  I think the marinade could have handled 8 or so, instead of just 6 thighs, so feel free to pop a few more in your freezer bag for your family.

Banana Muffins

Ingredients

* 4 ripe bananas

* 1 cup packed light-brown sugar

* 1/2 cup canola oil

* 1 large egg

* 1 cup all-purpose flour

* 1 cup whole-wheat flour

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1/2 cup sour cream

* 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan, regular or mini, with paper liners.

2. Peel four bananas, and place them in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until mashed, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar, oil, and egg; beat until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat until combined.

3. Fill muffin liners three-quarters full. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for regular muffins and 20 for mini, rotating pan halfway through. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store, covered, at room temperature.

 

June 14, 2013

Bummer...no new recipes this week.  School let out for the summer earlier this week, at least for the kids.  I still have class for a bit longer, but only one more week to go.  Trying to do homework and projects while the kids are footloose and fancy free - man, it is tough to stay motivated!

I had high hopes to try a new dinner recipe on Wednesday, but we've caught 'Hawks fever and decided ribs and wings seemed more appropriate for watching the game.  I did find a cookbook with freezer meals that I am going to test this week.  Cooking once and having a few meals in the freezer always is a good idea to me, and this was a new cookbook I hadn't come across before.  Don't Panic- Dinner is in the Freezer.  Hopefully next week I'll have a new recipe to share!

Do you do any long term cooking, perhaps Once a Month Cooking?  Or even doubling a recipe when you make it so you have a spare in your freezer?  Any good recipes, cook books, or websites to share?

Happy Cooking, and wish me luck that I'll find a few new keepers this coming week!

June 7, 2013

I started this week on the east coast, competing in a triathlon.  It was fantastic, I did really well, and am already counting down the days until the same race next year!  When I returned home, Ryan had already headed to Europe for business.  Needless to say, between the last full week of school activities, my own class workload, and feeding children all week I wasn't inspired to make complex new dinner dishes.  However, I was inspired to find a quick way to have "bisquick" on hand without actually pulling a yellow box from my pantry!

My children love, and I mean LOVE, Eggo waffles.  The boys would eat them morning, noon and night (plus snacks in between) if I let them.  My daughter loves them too, but she sticks to the morning hours for when she wants to eat them.  I love a good, hot waffle fresh from my waffle maker.  I don't love making a huge mess in the morning, and long ago found a recipe that was super quick and easy and used Bisquick.  This week I found a recipe for homemade Bisquick, and I have stored it in 2 cup portions in the fridge to make it even easier than pulling out the yellow box!  Win-win!  I added some whole wheat flour to the mix, and the waffles turned out great.  I am converted - and it was so easy we made waffles a few times this week! 

We did try one new dinner recipe - homemade chicken fingers.  I saw a recipe that used lemon-pepper seasoning and panko, and I had lemon-pepper panko on hand.  I am sure ours turned out a bit more lemony-peppery than the original recipe, but we all loved them.  We also did a quick browning on the stove and then finished them cooking in the oven.  It was an easy dinner, and everyone enjoyed it.

The kids get out of school on Monday, but I go through the end of June.  Wish me luck as I try to stay focused while the monkeys enjoy summer break!!!

Happy cooking!

New Recipes
DIY Bisquick
Chicken Fingers

DIY Bisquick

Ingredients
* 6 cups flour
* 3 tbsp baking powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 cup butter, cold and cut up

Directions
1. To a food processor, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Add the cold butter to the food processor, and pulse a few times until crumbly and incorporated.
3. Store in the fridge.

Notes
I combined 5 cups of AP flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour.  I store it in 2 cup containers, because then it is so easy to whip up a batch of  the kids' favorite waffles.  This will stay quite a while (a few months) in the fridge, but for us it won't last that long!  We've already used it twice week and the kids have requested it again for the morning!  Feel free to halve the recipe, but I wouldn't double it or you will overflow your food processor bowl!

Chicken Fingers

Ingredients
* 1 lb chicken breasts, cut up
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup AP flour
* 2 cups panko  bread crumbs
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* 1 tsp lemon-pepper
* 1/2 tsp cayenne
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
 * oil for browning

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Beat the eggs in one shallow bowl or pie plate, and put the flour in a second shallow bowl or pie plate. Season the flour if desired with salt and pepper
3. In a third shallow bowl or pie plate combine the panko, garlic powder, lemon-pepper, cayenne, salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
5. Dredge the chicken in the flour, the eggs, and then the seasoned panko.
6. Brown the chicken on both sides until golden and crispy, then transfer to a wire rack on a cookie sheet.
7. Cook for 12-15 minutes until fully cooked through.

Notes
I sprayed my wire rack before putting it on the cookie sheet.  Placing the chicken on the rack elevated it and allowed the chicken to cook and not get soggy on either side.  The original recipe called for the chicken to be fully fried, but this method worked well for our family. Also, I only had lemon-pepper panko (always on hand since we love lemon pepper panko salmon), so I skipped the lemon-pepper seasoning and used the flavored panko.  The kids loved these even though they had a little kick!