Auntie Mar's Chicken

Hello, friends!
I've missed you too - thanks for stopping in! :) I had a little accident tonight while cutting up a honeydew so my thumb is wrapped in a band-aid and it's making it difficult to type!  You know, I didn't think it would really get in the way either, but instead of hitting 'space,' my thumb is too big and I hit the 'b'!  But I've been wanting to blog for a while - I have so many great recipes to share!  My new favorite recipe is one that I got my from Auntie Mar and it just delicious!  And it honestly only takes FOUR ingredients!  (You can even get away with only using 3 of them, too!)  This turns out to be kind of like a sweet and sour chicken, but the sauce could also be used as a gravy.  I'm always searching for new ways to serve quinoa, and this chicken and sauce was perfect!!  It also goes very nicely with mashed potatoes or rice.

Aunty Mar's Chicken
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 can jellied cranberries*
1/2 pkg onion soup mix
1/3 container Kraft French dressing

Mix last three ingredients together in a roaster.  Add chicken and stir to coat evenly.  Bake at 300 degrees F for an hour and a half.  Serve

*You can freeze the other half of the cranberries and it's ready for the next time you make it!
**I've also made this without the cranberries when I didn't have it on hand and it is just as delicious, just a little bit less sweet is all.  I use more French dressing (about 1/2 container) if I'm not using the cranberries.

I'm sure you will enjoy this as much as we have!

Chili Salad? YES!

Is that Chili Salad you ask?  Why yes it is - I'm glad you asked!!  I made this a while back and it really was a fantastic combination!  Take one bed of spring greens, top with one tried and true recipe for Chili, add some crumbled tortilla chips and finish off with some grated cheese.  Seriously, can't get any better!  (and it's a great way of making Mike eat salad -haha).

My Tried and True Chili Recipe

1 lb lean ground beef

1 large onion, diced

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 can of corn, drained and rinsed

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of diced tomatoes, with liquid

1 cup of salsa (or if not on hand, I actually use tomato soup)

2-4 TBSP chili powder (my stock is old so I use lots!)

S&P to taste

Scramble fry the ground beef and onion over medium heat until beef is no longer pink.  Drain and rinse in the sink to get rid of the extra fat.  Add all other ingredients into the pan and let simmer for about half an hour (l.onger if you have the time!!).  

Turkey & Broccoli Divan - Turkey leftovers!

Turkey & Broccoli Divan - Served on a Bed of Quinoa.

I like posting recipes that involve using up leftovers.  Although I wasn't the one cooking the meal, we still ended up with a lot of turkey!  I decided to substitute leftover turkey in one of my favorite recipes  - Chicken & Broccoli Divan (a Campbell's Soup Recipe).  I actually had some leftover spinach dip and some sour cream that I had in the freezer that I threw in too!  The turkey really added a nice change to this recipe and I will definitely use up turkey leftovers the same way in the future.  

The only changes I made to the recipe (other than the additions above) was substituting two cooks up chopped up turkey for the chicken.  I, as always, add a lot more bread crumbs than recommended, as I love a nice crisp crust on top.  I used panko crumbs, which I like because they seem to make a crunchier top than regular bread crumbs. 

The link above is to my post about Chicken and Broccoli Divan, but if you want to go straight to the Campbell's recipe, the link is here.

Sous Vide Pork Loin

And We Meet Again!   Hello there you faithful reader(s)!  I do realize that I am two weeks tardy on this post, however, with a sick boy and the holidays, there has been little time for myself.  And when I've had time, I sunk into bed with my book (The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson - interesting non-fiction read).  Alas, that has finished and I have a couple moments, so here I am.

Thanks to Mike's boss, we have been introduced to the lovely world of Sous Vide.  It's essentially a super slow cooker that you use to make lean cuts of meat super tender.  You seal the meat in a ziploc bag (or sealed bag now that we have a foodsaver system- yay Christmas!) , throw it in your cooking vessel, plug it in, set the temperature around 140 (different for different cuts of meat), and let it cook for a day or two (or three!).

So we bought a cheap pork loin from Costco, cut it into roast size pieces, found a delicious spice rub, and went to work.  (And by 'we' I really mean 'Mike' as this is his baby but is just so good I feel I have to share!)   The rub he found was the Meatheads Memphis Dust Rub Recipe, which you can find here from www.AmazingRibs.com.

We did two pork loins as we were having a Christmas potluck and had a lot of hungry mouths to feed!  

We cooked it for 2 days at 140 Degrees F and the result was pure heaven. Mike did a quick sear on the meat just to get some appetizing color to the meat.  To be honest, I didn't realize that pork wasn't supposed to be dry.  The tenderness and the moisture was incomparable to any other pork dish that I've ever had!  Thank you, Mike, for a wonderful meal.  Yummmmmmm.

Quick Ground Beef Curry

Ever since my cooking classes earlier this year, I have been a lot more experimental with different flavors and spices.  Curry was my biggest enemy and now we are becoming at very least, acquaintances.  I ventured out to try this ground beef curry recipe after a quick google search brought up this CBC program "Best Recipes Ever" recipe located here.

To be honest, it wasn't that quick and I used the wrong type of curry.  I used a yellow curry powder, as it was all I had, and it was much too mild.  I think if I would have used the Madras Curry (which is a lot spicier apparently), this would have been much more flavorful and I would have enjoyed it more.  With that being said, Grayson liked it anyways!  I served it on basmati rice with a side of garlic naan bread.

Death By Chocolate

Death By Chocolate always reminds me of two women - my mom and my best friend Camille.  My mom has made this several times over the years (including for dessert the night Mike and I told our parents that we were expecting!)  And I remember the first time I met Camille -  it was at a birthday party and she had made the hugest vat of Death by Chocolate that I had ever seen!!! 

Every time I've had this or made this, it always tastes just a little different but is always phenomenal.  I think one of the biggest reasons for that is generally, you use whatever you have on hand and you don't measure!!  The skor bits on top could easily be replaced by pieces of and kind of your favorite chocolate bar, chocolate shavings, or even drizzled with caramel.  You could add berries or nuts and everyone would still love it.  It's a classic dessert that very seldom has any leftovers, no matter the version you make!  

Death By Chocolate

1 box of chocolate cake, prepared according to package directions and cubed. (My trifle bowl will only hold a 1/2 a cake, so I cube up the rest and freeze the other half - another dessert ready to go!)

1 tub of low fat cool whip

1 package of chocolate pudding, prepared

1 or 2 cups of Kahlua (optional)

1/2 cup skor bits

Place 1/4 of your cubed chocolate cake into your trifle bowl, ensuring the bottom is completely covered.  Top with 1/2 the Kahlua, 1/2 the pudding, 1/2 of the cool whip and 1/2 of the skor bits.  Repeat layers. Refrigerate for a couple hours to let all the Kahlua soak into the chocolate cake.  Serve to your guest OR grab a spoon and head for a nice quiet room where nobody will bother you!

Of course you don't have to use a trifle bowl, it really is just used for presentation so you can see all of the pretty layers.  You could also use a large glass bowl - or even an  old ice cream pail.  I promise you it will taste just as good! 

Zucchini Wedges

My mom introduced me to this recipe last week and we made it again for supper tonight!  It's a great way to use up some of the zucchini that grew amazingly big this year.  This is a much healthier version of pub-style food and satisfies that craving without the greasiness you get with deep frying.

Panko Crusted Wedges (left) and Shake 'N Bake Wedges (right)

I wanted to try two different coatings for the wedges so I used Shake 'N Bake (on the right) and made my own coating with panko crumbs and Epicure's Lemon Dilly spice mix (on left).  My preference? The Shake 'N Bake by far were the favorite in our house.  The color was more appealing, it had more flavor (which most definitely means a lot more added salt), and I really liked the texture.  The panko crumbs are made from only the inside of white bread (no crusts), which is why the color is so light, and whereas the crunch is usually quite nice - it just didn't compare to Shake 'N Bake!

Zucchini Wedges
3 cups zucchini, cut into wedges that are about 1"x3"and about 1/2 inch thick.
1 egg, beaten
1 package Shake 'N Bake Crispy Coating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Dip zucchini wedges in egg, and then toss to coat in breadcrumbs.  (can use plastic bag and shake it around or in a bowl and just flip it around to coat all sides).  Place on greased baking sheet.  Repeat until all zucchini wedges are coated.  Bake at 350 deg F for 25 minutes, or until fork pierces easily through zucchini.

*You could use this for other kinds of vegetables as well!  Get creative!