October 18, 2013

We just got in from the team dinner...it is the night before the state cross country meet!  The girls are excited and nervous, and so supportive of each other, it is really great to see.  Pasta, of course, was the perfect option for the runners, and now we are settled into our room for the night.

This week we tried a few new things and 2 recipes earned keeper status!!!  A third new dish, baked potato fans, were a great hit in theory, but they were a bit dry and the flavor profile needed some improvement.  I have seen many recipes so we'll try them again and see if we can get it right.  But the keepers were a pureed black bean soup, and a new panko breaded chicken.

We have been completely spoiled these last few weeks with amazing weather, but this week autumn finally arrived.  It is mid-October, so we can't really complain that the temperature has dipped below 70!  On Saturday we felt like soup, so I suggested a black bean soup to Ryan.  When he heard the first step involved bacon, we was all for giving it a try!  I actually took two recipes and made my own version.  We all loved it - even Liam!!

The other recipe was a new way to bread chicken.  We eat chicken a lot and we are always looking for a twist to change it up, and we found something new this week.  A little zingy with Dijon mustard and cayenne then breaded with panko.  Liam thought it was a little too spicy, but the rest of us loved it!  We could easily mix it up without the cayenne to do one piece for him, then add in the cayenne to prepare the rest.

Next week I'll let you know how the team did in the meet!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Panko breaded chicken with mustard and cayenne
Black bean soup

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients
* 4 slices bacon, finely chopped
* 2 cups chopped onion
* 6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
* 4 cups chicken broth, divided
* 1/2 cup chopped tomato
* 1 tbsp cumin
* 1 tbsp chili powder
* 4 cups black beans (canned, or previously prepared)
* kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup lime juice
* thinly sliced green onions, cooked and crumbled bacon, grated cheddar, sour cream for garnish

Directions
1. Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven.  After 4 minutes, add the onions.  Cook and stir for another 4 to 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
2. Add the tomatoes, 2 cups of chicken broth, cumin, chili powder and the beans.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Puree the soup until smooth.  Return to the pot, add the additional 2 cups of chicken broth, and season with salt and pepper.  Simmer an additional 15 - 20 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes before serving, add the lime juice.
4. Serve with garnishes of cheese, bacon, green onions, sour cream.

Notes
I keep bacon in the freezer to use in recipes.  I chopped the bacon while it was still frozen and then just tossed it in the pot to cook.   Also, I pureed this soup all the way to make it extremely smooth and silky, and it was fabulous!  The lime juice added at the end really added a bright note to the soup.  this made quite a bit of soup! I also make black beans to have on hand for all sorts of recipes and dinners so I used my beans for the soup.  If you used canned beans, don't forget to drain the liquid.  We served the soup with a warm loaf of French bread - yum!

We did try to freeze this and then have it a different time, but it was not good after thawing and reheating.  So enjoy it the day you make it, and eat the leftovers the next few days from the fridge, but don't freeze it.  You will be disappointed with the results.

Panko breaded chicken with mustard and cayenne

Ingredients
* 1 lb chicken breast, put into strips
* 2 tbs Dijon mustard
* 1/2 tsp kosher salt
* 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
* 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
* 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

Directions
1. Mix the mustard, salt and cayenne pepper in a bowl.  Mix the cheese and panko in a second bowl.
2. Dredge the chicken in the mustard mix, then coat with the panko mix.
3. Place the chicken on a rack prepared with cooking spray placed on a baking sheet.  Bake the chicken at 450 for 15 - 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Notes
Delish!  If not everyone at the table will enjoy the cayenne, the possibly prepare one piece before you add in the cayenne, then add in the cayenne and complete the rest of the chicken.

October 11, 2013

We are a family of runners.  I can say that now...my daughter is running for her middle school team and just this week they won the conference and are off to sectionals tomorrow.  My son joined the running club at his elementary school and is registered to run a 5k with the group in November.  My youngest wears Saucony as his primary shoes and thinks they help him run very fast.  I ran my first marathon on Sunday.  But now, I am so excited to say - my husband has joined the team!!!  He bought his first pair of running shoes, and we are entered to run a Thanksgiving 5k together!  Our youngest will cheer from the sidewalk, but 4 of us will be running together.  Needless to say, I am pumped!

In addition to all the running going on in our house this week there was some cooking.  Only one dish earned keeper status, but better one than none in my book.  We eat a lot of chicken, and so I did some experimenting this week with what was in my fridge.  Green onions, mushrooms, homemade chicken stock.  I saw a recipe with similar ingredients, but it also had cheese and lightly breaded the chicken.  I modified the original recipe quite a bit but what ended up on the table one evening this week was really tasty!  Of course the real hit of dinner that night was the roasted cauliflower.  Made one and a half heads for us, and it was still all gone in a blink of an eye!

Not sure what recipes will be tested this week but hopefully we'll find a few keepers.    Happy cooking!

New Recipes
Chicken with Mushrooms and Green Onions

Chicken with Mushrooms and Green Onions

Ingredients
* 1 lb chicken breasts, sliced or pounded thin
* 2 tbs butter, divided
* 1 tbs olive oil
* 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
* 1 cup chicken broth
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup sliced green onions

Directions
1. In a large skillet brown the chicken on both sides in 1 tbs butter and the olive oil over medium high heat.  Transfer the chicken to a greased 11 x 17 baking dish.
2. In the same skillet, add the remaining butter and saute the mushrooms until tender.  Add the chicken broth, green onions, and salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the chicken.
3. Cook the chicken in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.  Serve and enjoy!

Notes
We had this with salad and roasted cauliflower, but you could serve it with rice or noodles because the sauce would be very good over a side dish.  The chicken took on the flavor of the mushrooms and green onions, and we thought it was very tasty!

October 4, 2013

I suppose we should just get this out of the way...no new keepers this week.  But to be honest, there was only one new recipe we tried this week.  It was a cookie recipe, and the kids liked them, but they didn't stay soft very long so I don't plan on making them again.  As a result, they didn't earn keeper status.

My classes  were busy this week, and we had lots of sporting events and practices.  As I sat down to create the meal plan on Sunday I found my pen writing down easy dinners like tacos, hurry up ham, spaghetti and meatballs, salmon.  I knew we had a lot going on during the week, but also the marathon is on Sunday!  With a hectic week, and an epic run planned for Sunday I clearly didn't have the heart to waiver too much from food I knew and was easy to get on the table.  We will see what next week holds for our household - hopefully there will be a few new recipes.

Cheers for a good weekend, and happy cooking!

September 27, 2013

You will notice a trend this week in those recipes that earned the title keeper.  All three (yes, three this week!) have a similar flavor profile, and in addition all were time savers when it came to putting dinner together.  2 of the keepers are slow cooker dishes, and the other is a quick stove top skillet meal. Between school classes, soccer practices, cross country meets, and everything else, having dinner either going in the crock pot or easy to toss together was a life saver in the evenings.  Looks like this pace is going to keep up well into October, so don't be surprised if there are more slow cooker meals coming your way!

New Recipes
Slow Cooker Lime Chicken Tacos
Weeknight Beef Skillet
Slow Cooker Fiesta Cheese Chicken