Winner Winner this was a damn good Chicken Dinner

YUM!

Hello my name is…

Hello my name is….

Hello my name is…

Wow, I have been a total slacker on posting on my blog; however, I promise that I have still made new things each week. Seriously, though, my last post was January 27th! A lot has happened since then…

This meal, I am embarrassed to say, is from the Super Bowl. While watching Peyton Manning’s demise, we were eating delicious White Chicken Chili! Found the recipe on Pinterest (of course). The Woman’s blog is actually pretty cute – if you have time, check it out.

Ingredients

Chili:
1 1/2  lbs uncooked chicken breast (can be frozen) cut into 1-2″ chunks
2 – 15 oz cans of white beans (drained)
1 – 15 oz can of white corn (drained)
1 onion chopped (sweet/Vidalia)
1 clove garlic finely chopped (I love garlic so I used 2)
1 package taco seasoning *
1 – 7 oz can of chopped green chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 – 14 oz can of chicken broth

Direct Link to Recipe

*Amanda’s note: I actually made my own taco seasoning. It is really easy to do and you are more likely going to have the ingredients. I used this recipe. I didn’t use as much Cumin because I don’t like it.

I made Corn Bread to go with it. The brand is Krusteaz (TERRIBLE NAME), but for some reason I picked it up one day and it is amazing. Leave the Jiffy and go with Krusteaz.

All the ingredients – love the Slow Cooker!

I just learned that Crock Pot is a brand and Slow Cooker is the correct term… Who knew.

I added more corn because the recipe called for 15 oz and I had 2 14 oz, so I dumped both in. Slow cooked meals are not for thinking!

Finished Goods! It was really yummy.

Thanks for reading! Next blogs meal is already planned – I promise no slow cooker!

Maccaroni and Okay

I made a recipe from Martha Stewart for a side dish the other night. We had our friends the Orr’s over for dinner, wine and game night. After the age of 25, that’s what you do – dinner, games and booze. We were going to order in, but I just decided to throw a whole chicken in the crock pot and make this mac and cheese. I knew my nephews were coming over for dinner the next night and that it would be good to have a lot left over to give this to them.

Before I get too far into the recipe though, I want to talk about game night. We chose to play Trivial Pursuit. In hindsight, that was probably the worst game to choose. I was actually kicking some ass at the game and beating Adam – something he is not a fan of. I even got an Orange (sports) question right! Well, Adam caught up, the Orr’s were not even in the running, and the below was his question for a pie win. For anyone who knows Adam, they know that he was/is a huge 90210 fan.  Huge. So the fact the he pulled this blue question for a pie is total bull shit…

Are you kidding me!?!

Anyway, he ended up winning and I was bitter.

Back to Martha’s Mac. This side was pretty meh, but could be enhanced. It was lacking seasoning and I couldn’t think about what to add besides salt. Maybe even some heat like red pepper flakes. I have to be careful about how much salt I put into my food because it will kill my husband. It’s thoroughly annoying when he wins games on easy questions, but I would like to keep him. I was thinking next time I could a salty meat like pancetta or prosciutto and just have Adam eat something else. The most exciting thing about this meal was my new pan that I purchased. Again, it wasn’t bad, it was just not as good as it could be. I’ll make again just to try it out. It was easy enough and has potential. Recipe can be found here.

My New Clean Pan.

Onions and Butter

Base and Spinach

Finished Goods!

2-Fer

First let me start by saying I have been really touched by the comments that I have received, both publicly and privately, regarding this blog and my resolution. The comment that I receive the most is, ‘the (your) blog reads like you are talking.’ I take this as a complement and also makes me laugh. Some constructive criticism that I have received in the past at work is that my emails sometimes read like I am talking to that person, which is probably why I make people mad. You can’t hide who you are. I, along with so many others, have said that there needs to be a sarcasm font. I would also like to request an eye roll key. There may be one… If there is, let me know!

I wish I could say that my meal sucked again this week, but ’tis not the case! As you (hopefully) read from my previous post, my guests requested no shitty horse broth. Funny thing is that when I was flipping through recipes, I came across a soup and thought, ‘I should make this!’ Why? Why can’t I get over soup. I didn’t make soup. My dinner menu consisted of an appetizer dip, horseradish marinated flank steak, potatoes and brussel sprouts. My husband, though he loves my sprouts, has requested that I move on to another veggie because I am overdoing it with the sprouts. I can’t argue with him on that point…

My appetizer is what I loved the most. Full disclosure, I have made this dip before, but it was recent and therefore counts. Look, I couldn’t post that I made another crap dish, I just couldn’t.

Cilantro Jalapeno Dip

Dip Ingredients

This dip is so yummy and doesn’t involve a lot of ingredients. The most difficult part about this appetizer is handling the jalapenos. The great thing is that you can control the spiciness of the dip by how many jalapeno seeds you put in the dip. I am always looking for more appetizer options that don’t include cheese, but are still yummy – here’s the answer. Only reason I look for other options is because there are usually several dishes already with cheese and, believe it or not, there are weird people out there that don’t like cheese! I know! I served with pita chips and crackers. Recipe website is here

Cilantro Jalapeno Dip Recipe

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 jalapenos
• 1 bushel cilantro (meaning a huge handful)
• 1 packet of dry Ranch dressing mix
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1 cup Mayonnaise

Instructions

1. Puree the jalapenos and cilantro in a food processor until it looks like a paste
2. Be sure to scoop out the seeds of the jalapenos if you want a mild dip
3. Mix together the cilantro and jalapeno puree mixture with 1 cup of mayonnaise and 1 cup of sour cream mix
4. Chill for about an hour and serve
5. Enjoy!
6. Tip: Try it on burgers too! It’s amazing!

The reason this post is called 2-Fer is because I did take the author of the recipe’s advice and saved some dip from dinner and decided to use this as a topping for Turkey Burgers later on in the week. These were probably the best Turkey Burgers I have ever made, so I wanted to post my original recipe.

Ingredients

• Turkey Meat
• 1/2-1 cup of Panko Bread Crumbs ( All I had was Panko, but I am sure any bread crumbs will do)
• 2 tsp of Red Pepper Flakes (adjust to your taste of spice)
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 bag of dry Ranch Dressing Mix
• Ground Pepper
• Cilantro Jalapeno Dip
• Buns for Burgers
• Cheese (Optional)

Instructions

1. Place Turkey, Red Pepper Flakes, Egg, Dry Ranch Mix, Pepper in bowl and mix by hand
2. Add Panko crumbs a little at a time and mix with hand
3. Mold into burgers (1 package of Turkey Meat usually yields 4 burgers)
4. Cook inside or on Grill (we used our inside Grill because a. it is cold and b. because Adam has said that he has needed to get propane for the grill since about September)
5. Cook until brown, about 5 min
6. Melt Cheese (optional)
7. Spread delicious dip on bun
8. Combine and Eat

YUM!

I feel like I did in grade school when you had to write directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If I left anything out, figure it out. I will be making this dip and these burgers over and over again. So delicious and very easy.

And because our guests were so cute, I have to share pictures of them. We had a great time!

Cheer Up Charlie…

Since it has been cold as you know what this past week, something about a polar vortex, I decided to to make another soup for our weekly Sunday family dinner night! I really thought it was a good idea… I ended up feeding my family Charlie Bucket’s laundry again.

Picture that got me jazzed up for some potato soup!

The recipe was seemingly easy to make. Crock pot recipe, check! Perfect for Sunday family dinners. With the young boys (3 and under), we usually like to try to eat at 6:30, though that rarely happens. I put everything in the crock pot around 2:30 on high for 4 hours. Well, around 5:40 the potatoes (I quartered them) were still hard as a rock and still in quarter chunks despite trying to mash them… So I had this idea to puree the potatoes with an electric hand mixer while potatoes were still in the crock pot to try to get the consistency I wanted. Helpful hint: Don’t use an electric hand mixer in a full crock pot – shit will get EVERYWHERE!

Around 6:15 PM, potatoes still in hard chunks, I tried to mash them more. The soup was still really watery. My SIL stepped up to the plate and gave the helpful hint to add corn starch. For some reason, I had corn starch! We added it. Stirred. Waited. Repeated. Waited. Finally, I said, ‘whatever, let’s just eat.’ My family was nice and ate it and said that it wasn’t bad. We offered the soup to our 3 year old Nephew, Nathan; he tasted it and opted for a hot dog – Good choice, Nathan. I really do think that people can make this recipe taste good, so I challenge people to try it and report back. Recipe can be found here.  

Dressed Up with the side salad I served

Soup

1. 4 lbs Gold Potatoes (cubed)
2. 1/2 large Sweet Yellow Onion (chopped)
3. 6 Garlic Cloves (chopped)
4. 5½ cups Water or Chicken Broth
5. 1/2 cup Milk
6. 1/2 cup Sour Cream
7. 1 Tb Prepared Horseradish
8. Salt/Pepper
9. 1 Hillshire Farm Angus Beef Smoked Sausage

While eating, my SIL asked me what my goal was for this resolution, which I thought was a very good question. I thought about it. My answer was to have fun and be with friends and family. That is exactly what we accomplished that Sunday Family Dinner night, which doesn’t make Charlie’s laundry all that bad… Though, we have invited friends over this Saturday and that meal will be featured in my next post. My friends request?

“Don’t feed me some shitty horse broth”

Noted. Shitty horse broth will not be served.

Detoxing!

I had an amazing Holiday season with my family and friends. Great Christmas. Great New Year. But it is a New Year and I need to detox after all of the junk (food and alcohol) that I put into my body. Yes it was fun, but it’s time to get healthy. That’s what we always say the first week of January, right?  On our way home from a Cabin in Maryland, after spending an amazing time with Family and Friends, I vowed to be healthier and “detox” my body. This means no alcohol and no junk. I really didn’t get off to a good start on this vow because, out of necessity!, we had to stop by McDonald’s for some food. I hadn’t had McDonald’s in God knows when. This time I can say, “last time I had McDonald’s it was New Years Day 2014.” Sort of like when Jerry Seinfeld remembered the last time he threw up.

Anyway, after my already guilty feelings toppled with fat guilt from a McDonald’s breakfast, I Googled detox recipes to try. The first hit that I got was from Dr. Oz. I don’t watch the Man’s show nor do I really follow anything that he does, so I am not sure why I was so gung ho about trying this recipe, but I was. It was a detox soup that was supposed to get my colon, liver and kidney clean – sounds great! Here is the recipe:

Dinner: Vegetable Broth Soup
Ingredients

Makes 5 servings
2 red onions, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 fennel bulb, fronds and stalks included, roughly chopped
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup sliced shitake caps
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 cabbage, roughly chopped
2 quarts water
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
8 sprigs parsley, chopped stems and leaves
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
Directions
Combine all ingredients, except for the chopped parsley, in a pot. Add 2 quarts of water.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer covered for about 1 hour. Adjust seasoning.
Remove whole parsley sprigs and serve topped with some freshly chopped parsley.
Serve with a side of traditionally fermented sauerkraut and chopped apples (warm or room temperature).

Soup before 2 quarts (8 cups of water) went in

This meal was disgusting. It cleansed me because I did not eat it. First, I omitted the caraway seeds because really, who the hell knows what caraway seeds are!? It smelled so good cooking, but it tasted like sweaty gym socks that were being cleaned on the stove. I mean, I should have known that this meal was going to be gross, but I wanted to clean my kidney’s! I also did not make the sauerkraut with Apples – I don’t know it is necessary that I explain why. The best thing about this meal was how good I felt buying all of these veggies at the store. That and Adam made me laugh by saying Shit-Take mushrooms instead of the correct pronunciation.

I made Adam make me a grilled cheese instead…

Bottom Line:
Easy to make – Medium (chopping is annoying)
Tasty – No
Healthy – Yes
Will make again – NO, unless I have a fun New Year’s Eve 2014 going into 2015 and have to stop by McDonald’s to get breakfast Jan 1.
Cooking Choice Fail!

Don’t judge me on this meal alone. I said the good, the bad and the ugly; I posted the ugly. Next recipe will be phenomenal or at least won’t taste like sweaty gym socks. Here is the picture of our wonderful dinner.

Our New Year’s Day Meal

It’s a New Year!

Alright folks, a new year is upon us and I have decided to make a New Year’s resolution that actually might stand a chance at being completed. Each week I plan to make a new meal for my family that I have not ever made before, write it down, take pictures and noting what I did or did not like or whether or not it was delicious or not good enough for Molly and Maggie (dogs) to eat. I really enjoy Pinterest and really my Food Board is the only one that gets accomplished or attention. Don’t even think about asking me how many of my Motivation pins or DIY pins have been completed… Seems manageable enough, right?

I actually got this idea from my my lovely sister-in-law who did the exact same thing in 2007. She logged all of her recipes in an excel spreadsheet and included her comments and the recipes in a comment box within each cell. All the family and friends love it and I decided to give it a 2014 facelift with new recipes and a new medium. I think the fact that she completed it will help me in getting my act together and do the same because if I don’t complete it – I am going to hear about it. A little family competitiveness never hurt anyone.

I plan to post as soon as I can and note all the feedback that I receive from my taste testers. I am sure that my son, Ryan, and Nephews Nathan and Andrew will give me their most honest and loving opinions. Thanks to my amazing friend Kirstin for setting this blog up for me and coming up with the super cute name.

Here’s to a great 2014!!!!