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Recipes and Resolutions: Easy Chicken and Wine

31 Jan
Easy Chicken and Wine

The "Easy Chicken and Wine" recipe really IS easy!

Since today is the last day of January, this is technically the last recipe in my January theme, Recipes and Resolutions. The message behind that theme for January was that you don’t need to give up on quality, even gourmet, meals just because you shop on a budget. However, I wanted to just state for the record that just because January is over and just because I won’t be calling the recipes “Recipes and Resolutions” recipes anymore, doesn’t mean we’re going off the deep end here with our budgets. Really anything I post is budget-friendly, or we wouldn’t be eating it. That’s a promise.

On to today’s recipe…Easy Chicken and Wine.

This is another one of my favorite meals from growing up. According to my mom, she’s been making this before it was published in their “Newcomers Cookbook” in 1979. The recipe was from her life-long friend Nancy Roy, whose mother, Helen Thurston, passed it along to her. You don’t need a ton of ingredients and you mix them up in one 2c. measuring cup and then pour them over the chicken before baking, so it’s super easy. All of my kids like it, so it’s a winner all around.  It does take a little while to bake, but while it does, I can do something useful; like helping kids with homework.

INGREDIENTS

4-6 breast quarters (I use split breasts which I got at Aldi’s. Each pkg. had 2 breasts in it for about $2.00. I cooked four breasts total and we had an entire one left over, which I will eat for lunch this week.) Also, as a note, I know that skin on chicken is not as healthy as skinless, and so often we do use skinless chicken. But, this recipe is just soooo good with the skin on, so it’s a treat for us. However, you can do as you please with yours. It’s yummy though, just saying.

1 cup burgandy wine (I use whatever red wine we have on hand or the Holland House red cooking wine)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/4 tsp. crushed oregano

2 tablespoons water

1 garlic clove sliced in quarters (tonight I used minced garlic)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

This recipe makes a neat "teachable moment" for science, seeing the oil go to the top, the wine settling to the bottom.

DIRECTIONS

Wash and drain chicken quarters.

Place in shallow baking dish.

Combine all other ingredients and pour over chicken.

Cover with foil.

Refrigerate if there is time to do ahead. If so, spoon sauce over chicken several times before baking.

If not, bake chicken covered for one hour at 375 degrees.

Uncover and cook 10-15 minutes longer and cook 10-15 minutes longer and baste with wine sauce for further browning. This is really yummy with baked potatoes (which I put in the oven for the same baking time as the chicken) or over rice. We put the sauce into a gravy separator and use it over the chicken at the table as well.

Easy Chicken and Wine, asparagus, baked potato

Another meal brought to you by an Aldi's grocery trip! We *love* their asparagus too.

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The Best Things in Life

29 Jan

Today we took our kids out to breakfast. We had a coupon AND a gift card, so we were good to go. We were so careful with our selections that we will be able to go out again with what’s left on the gift card on a night when they have “kids eat free.”

While we were there, we sat and planned out our meals for the next two weeks, since it’s a pay week,  making our grocery list, and then headed for the store. At Price Rite we spent exactly $200 on the two weeks’ of groceries and we got 85 items; ingredients to make two lasagnas, a roasted chicken, BBQ ribs and more, more, more.

But, despite all that we did and all that we got, the best thing of all was free….the cardboard box from Price Rite. It wasn’t even from today’s trip, it was from a different trip, but they spent the whole morning playing with it.

Here’s a sneak peek at this week’s menu:

SUNDAY: BBQ ribs and chicken with homemade corn bread

MONDAY: Poached salmon over rice with steamed broccoli hollandaise

 

TUESDAY: Sausage and Peppers

WEDNESDAY: Cranberry Chicken

THURSDAY: Spaghetti with Tuna sauce

FRIDAY: Daddy Does Dinner…surprise!

SATURDAY: Make two, freeze one Lasagna

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Resolutions and Recipes: Basic Pancakes

22 Jan
Basic Pancakes

It's good to have a variety of different syrups on hand for pancakes. We often have maple, blueberry, strawberry or boysenberry.

Last weekend I posted my recipe for Hot Blueberry Compote, and I showed it over homemade waffles. However, it’s also delicious over pancakes. We always make our pancakes from scratch and the recipe is super easy. You can put anything in them or on top of them and we vary them with toppings and fillings such as: blueberries, strawberries, bananas, chocolate chips (of course) and craisins. My absolute favorite combination is a “pancake sandwich” of two banana pancakes stacked with a chocolate chip pancake in between them. Butter, syrup…mmmmm…..

Here is our recipe for Basic Pancakes, which uses very basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand. As usual it’s the recipe I grew up with. We keep it taped into the front cover of our recipe tin so that all we have to do is lift the cover, and there it is (Don’s idea.)

BASIC PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

2 cups Buttermilk (2 TBL white vinegar and enough milk to make 2 c.)

1/4 c. canola oil (or vegetable oil)

2 cups flour

2 TBL sugar or honey

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour onto hot frying pan or griddle.  Add desired fillings and/or toppings.

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Calling all Crock Pot Cooks!

19 Jan
Crock pot

Shhh.....all's quiet on the appliance shelf in my closet. My crock pot is ready and waiting for your recipes!

I have had a crock pot since I had my bridal shower in 1995. I love it, or should I say I love the IDEA of it.

I love the IDEA of my house smelling fabulous all day long.

I love the IDEA of dinner cooking without me while I’m at work.

On occasion, those wonderful ideas actually come to fruition. For example, yesterday’s crock pot oatmeal, that’s a good one and in the winter we have that a few times a month for breakfast on a school day. I’ve made a crock pot applesauce but other than the fact that it cooked while I was gone, it’s faster to cook it on top of the stove. The Hanukkah brisket, always delicious when we make it…every once in a while. We make a great pulled pork in the crock pot for our birthday party feasts, and next week during Superbowl Recipe Week (gasp…. I told!!!!) you’ll see that Don makes a great crock pot chili.

I have several crock pot cook books, but I just haven’t found “the” recipe or recipes for a regular night’s dinner, something I could do on a regular basis once or twice a month. First off, I hate the ones where you have to cook it all first on the stove and then just throw it all in to the crock pot to cook for 3 hours. That doesn’t seem all that helpful to me really. Second, I hate beef stew. Third, how many cream of mushroom soup recipes are there? Tons. And, I’m not knocking them because I happen to like cream of mushroom soup recipes (I posted one today, non-crock pot, but still…) And last….I hate my food to touch, so that presents a problem. Some foods are supposed to go together, others, not so much. Very tricky….ever see on my dinner plate photos just how far apart my foods are from each other? Uh huh.

So. Where does that leave me? It leaves me asking you for your help. I’ve been providing you with tons of recipes as the days and weeks have gone by on this blog, and I’ve got TONS more that I haven’t even touched yet. But, they aren’t crock pot recipes.

Where do you get your best recipes for the crock pot?

What good ones have you tried and loved?

Send them to me at jenniferlcowart@gmail.com and if I try them and like them, I’ll feature them on my blog in the future.

In fact, let’s make this worth your while. I’ll throw in a little prize for one lucky person who sends me a recipe. On February 2 I’ll use a random name generator to pull one name from all of the people who email me their favorite crock pot recipe(s) between now and the end of the day on February 1, and send one lucky winner a treat. I won’t say what that treat is, but it’ll be a little treat from me. (Don’t go crazy it’s not going to be a brand new crock pot or even a crock pot from 1995.)

Thanks for your help and good luck!!

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Recipes and Resolutions: Quick and Easy Chicken and Broccoli “Alfredo”

18 Jan
Quick and Easy Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

This is a great meal for nights when you need a quick one.

I love chicken and broccoli alfredo, and my kids love chicken/pasta/broccoli with olive oil and garlic. Last year I found this “cheat” recipe for chicken and broccoli alfredo in a magazine, and my family really liked it. We’ve made it often since then, and I made it last night. It’s a great meal for a night you need something fast. Because of the things I’ve learned to keep in the house most of the time, I almost always have pasta on my pantry shelves, chicken tenders and a bag of frozen broccoli florets in the freezer, as well as cream of mushroom soup on the shelf. You can use any kind of pasta. I’ve used egg noodles in the past. This time we used whole wheat spaghetti. You can throw in mushrooms if you have them, which we did, so I sliced them up, sauteed them, and threw them in.

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

Cooked pasta

1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets: we used a whole bag of frozen but we have used fresh in the past as well.

2 TBSP Butter

1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2″ pieces: we use the frozen boneless skinless chicken tenders, maybe five or six of them.

1 can Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (any variety like regular fat free etc.)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated parm cheese

1/4 cup ground black pepper

Optional: sliced fresh mushrooms that he sauteed first.

DIRECTIONS:

1) Prepare pasta according to package directions. Add broccoli during last four minutes of cooking time. (We just nuked the frozen broccoli and threw it in the mix at the end.) Drain pasta and broccoli well in colander.

2) Heat butter in 10″ skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook til well browned, stirring often.

3) Stir soup, milk, cheese, black pepper and linguine mixture into skillet. Cook until mixture is hot and boiling. Pour over pasta and broccoli (and mushrooms) and serve with additional Parmesan cheese.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Recipe of the Day: Crockpot Oatmeal

17 Jan
Overnight Oatmeal in the crockpot

My family loves this recipe so much, I double it.

As I write this, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day to remember and reflect, and and a bonus day for us to spend together as a family. Of course, by the time you get this post, it will be the day *after* MLK Day. I hope you were able to take at least a minute to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King and all that he did.

We had to laugh the other day when our youngest came home from school and informed us that today was Dr. Martin “Looter” King Jr.’s birthday and it was a sad day because “he got shooted.” As I listened to her speak though, I was impressed and pleased that she retained so much of what she’d heard in the story they read in class, and I was glad that they took the time to remember him.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is one that my family loves. I found it last year on Weelicous, a foodie website I follow. It’s a recipe for Overnight Oatmeal in the Crockpot. It’s fantastic for a cold winter day and I made it again just last week as the weather has begun to change here. It’s so cold right now, I’d love a big bowl of it right now! Last week on Weelicious, she even posted an update to this recipe, Pumpkin Spice Crockpot Oatmeal. To see that recipe, click HERE. I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to! In the meantime, below is her original version of the recipe. As an added piece of information, Steel Cut Oats tend to be expensive in the bigger stores. However, last week a friend of mine found them at Aldi’s, and other friends have found them at Ocean State Job Lot, so look around for the best price before you buy.

Oatmeal in the Crock Pot (Serves 4-6)

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats (not instant)

2 Cups Water

2 1/2 Cups Milk

1 Tsp Cinnamon

Desired accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, walnuts and or raisins, etc.

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine. (I add diced apples to mine as well.)

2. Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 6-9 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others).

3. Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.

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Resolutions, TWO Recipes and a New Waffle Maker!

15 Jan

This whole month I am focusing on budget-friendly recipes and tips for eating in without sacrificing your love for good food. Being a Sunday morning, today’s recipe is a great one for Sunday Breakfast (or Saturday for that matter) and if you have leftovers, it makes a great special treat for a weekday breakfast as well.

Each year my parents ask us for a couple of wish list ideas for Christmas gifts and this year  I suggested two items that we were doing without since they’d broken. The first one I featured this week, the food processor, and the second one is today’s feature:

Cuisinart Waffle Maker

This was our other wish list gift from my mom and dad this year.

We’ve always liked to make our waffles homemade and we had a waffle maker for the longest time. Ours broke in September after a long life, and we had not yet replaced it. We missed our homemade waffles on the weekends. Therefore, I was excited that my parents got us this Cuisinart waffle maker for Christmas and I could not wait to use it. Included with the box was a recipe my mom gave us for the waffles she makes so we tried that out this past weekend.

Growing up my mom often made a hot Blueberry Compote to go on top of our waffles or our pancakes.

Hot blueberry compote on waffles with whipped cream

This is one of my favorite breakfasts, after french toast.

It was, and still is, one of my favorite weekend breakfasts. It’s easy to make and delicious to eat. If you like whipped cream you can add it on top.

Therefore, on this lovely Sunday morning, I’m passing along both the waffle recipe and the Blueberry Compote recipe. Enjoy them both!

Cuisinart waffle maker

Brand new and ready to go!

All-American Waffles

serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

1 egg, separated (put yolk in two quart bowl and white in small bowl.)

1 cup plus 2 TBL milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 TBL canola or vegetable oil

1 cup plus 2 TBL flour

4 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

The waffle iron gets hot, so younger kids can't help out with dropping the batter onto the squares, but older kids can. Plenty of mixing and measuring for the younger kids to do though.

Separate the egg,  putting egg white aside in small bowl.

In larger bowl, combine the egg yolk, milk, vanilla and oil. Blend together, by hand, with wire whisk.

Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to the liquid ingredients and blend with wire whisk. (There will probably be some lumps.)

Beat the egg white with electric mixer until stiff. Fold into the batter with wire whisk until just blended.

(Do not beat egg whites into batter,  just fold in.)

When waffle iron is ready, drop batter into the four squares and use according to directions.

Hot blueberry compote

This is what the hot blueberry compote looks like when it's done.

The hot blueberry compote is kind of a neat recipe to make. It looks completely different from beginning to end, and I find it interesting to watch it go from a bright red color when you start,  to a deep purple color when it’s done.

HOT BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cold water
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (I usually do one frozen 16 oz bag unless I’ve got fresh on hand.)
2 1/2 TBL cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBL Lemon Juice

Hot blueberry compote

Here's what the compote looks like when you first begin.

DIRECTIONS

In large frying pan combine all ingredients.
Bring to a boil over medium heat.
Stir constantly until it boils. (You’ll see the mixture change from a bright red to a deep purple and thicken when it’s about done.)
Simmer for a few minutes over low heat.
Serve hot (warm).
Whipped cream on top is optional.

ENJOY!

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Resolutions and Recipes: Shrimp Scampi

12 Jan
Shrimp Scampi

Tonight's dinner, one of my favorite new recipes.

So many of the recipes I post are recipes I grew up on. Today’s recipe is not. Today’s is a recipe shared with me by my friend Donna. We often have the “so what are YOU having for dinner tonight” conversation and one day her answer was Shrimp Scampi, a recipe she promised was super easy and delicious, my top two qualifiers for a recipe. We tried it for the first time as a surprise dinner I made for our anniversary and it got all thumbs up from everyone in our crew. Even if someone doesn’t like part of it, they all like something in it.

To start with you’ll need to assemble your ingredients because the recipe is a quick one. Have everything ready.

Ingredients for Shrimp Scampi

Get your ingredients ready while your oil and garlic are sauteing.

Here’s the recipe:

SHRIMP SCAMPI
INGREDIENTS

1 pound shrimp (we keep a big bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup cut up tomatoes (If I have them, I slice grape tomatoes just in half, it’s faster and they hold their shape better.)
3/4 stick butter
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp Parsley (otherwise known as What’s That Green Stuff Mommy?)

DIRECTIONS

Simmering scampi

Simmer until the shrimp is pink and the tomatoes are soft.

Put olive oil in pan and saute garlic three minutes.

Add wine, lemon juice and butter and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes

Add shrimp and tomatoes and saute until shrimp is pink and tomatoes are soft.

Pour over rice or pasta (we use pasta.)

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Chicken Soup and a Food Processor for the soul

11 Jan
clip art box of tissues

We should take stock in tissues!

Those of you who know me and have known me for a while, know that my family seems to always be sick. We get hit with colds, sinus infections, ear infections, ear drum infections, the dreaded stomach bug (at least four times a year), and so on and so forth. This year, like years before, we started at end of November, went through all of December and into January, starting with Alex being sick before Thanksgiving all the way through Caroline being sick with a bad cold still today. I’m usually right there with them. It lasts through about, I don’t know…April?

Last week was Elizabeth’s turn again. She started with her cold while we were away for Christmas vacation, even though she was still on antibiotics from her sinus infection, and by the end of last week she had hit the wall, as they say, and I let her take a sick day on Thursday.

Almost any time they’re home sick with a cough and a sneeze, no matter who it is, they always ask me for chicken soup for lunch to soothe their noses and throats. They want me to make it “from scratch” which for me is not quite accurate since I keep chicken broth in my pantry at all times for requests such as this one. And, they’re always very honest with me regarding my soup, reminding me how good Daddy’s soup is (which usually IS from scratch) and that mine is almost as good, but not. In fact, last year when Elizabeth was sick and she told me about Daddy’s soup being the best, she actually thanked me for even trying to compete.

This time though, when Elizabeth asked for soup, I was actually excited! The reason is that I..okay WE… got a new Cuisinart food processor from my mom and dad for Christmas this year!

Cuisinart Food Processor

A Christmas gift from my parents that I was dying to use!

Now I could say, “How could they have known how badly I wanted a food processor?” but really, I told them when they asked for a wish list for Christmas this year. I really, really wanted one. We’d had one for a long time and then it broke and we never replaced it. I used to be “that mom” who made all my own baby foods for my kids and we used that thing to death. But I have especially missed it when I have made my chicken soups for my sick kids.

Therefore, last week when Liz put in her request, I jumped at the chance to open up my new gift. I must say, it was stunning.

Cuisinart 7 cup food processor

Look how beautiful it looks with the fresh veggies inside!

I was a little bit nervous to have such a nice food processor in my possession, “the mother of all food processors,” as my cousin Val said on Christmas Day. I didn’t want to break anything so I read the directions VERY carefully and so far, it’s all still in tact! (We’ve been known to break a few things on the very first day we’ve owned them.)

I must say, the food processor chopped my veggies so nicely and SO quickly! In my soups I usually put in celery, carrots and an onion. Last week, it turns out we were out of onions so it was just carrots and celery and then of course…chicken. For the chicken I pulled about six chicken tenders out of my freezer, thawed them cooked them, cut them up really small and put them into the soup.

Now here’s a funny story for you: take a look at this photo of my ingredients from Aldi’s:

Aldi's chicken broth and pasta

If you look closely maybe you'll see what I missed!

When I made the soup last week I went down to my pantry and grabbed a box of elbow pasta and three boxes of broth and started cooking. Do you see on the box where it says that it’s a TWO POUND box of pasta?? Nope. Neither did I. Turns out, two pounds is A LOT of pasta!! And, it makes A LOT of soup. But, that’s good, because it keeps well leftover for a few days and all of my kids like it. It also makes for a good lunch in their thermoses, which they like to take to school for a hot lunch when they can. Makes life easier for Don in the morning, that’s for sure.

pot of chicken soup

It was when I poured the pasta in that I thought to myself, "Hmmm that's a lot of pasta!"

All in all, my first experience with the Cuisinart Food Processor was great and I can’t wait to use it again!

I loved that in addition to the detailed instructions provided, there was (gasp!) a recipe booklet!! Lots of recipes for food processing! I cannot wait! In the meantime, I’ll be using it to keep on making soup for my babies to help them through another season of sicknesses and stomach bugs, knowing that my soup is not *quite* as good as Daddy’s!

I can't wait to use my new food processor again!

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Resolutions and Recipes: Rice Pudding

10 Jan

Yesterday I posted the recipe for Flounder with Lemon and Dill -sort of. If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll see what I mean. Anyway…the recipe is served on a bed of white rice, which we often have left over. If we have at least 1 1/2 cups of it left over, that’s enough to make Rice Pudding, which is one of my favorite wintertime desserts.

Rice Pudding with Whipped Cream

I happen to love Rice Pudding!

Rice Pudding, like tapioca, bread pudding, grape nut pudding and the like, are the type of dessert that you either love them or hate them. I happen to love puddings of all types, including this one.

The recipe is simple and like most puddings, the hardest thing is standing there stirring the pudding until it thickens. I read a book while I stir. We’ve had this recipe a while, but I’m not sure where we got it from. I have it written on a little piece of notebook paper, so I apologize in advance for not giving credit to someone, somewhere.

Stir the pudding until it's thick and creamy.

Stir the pudding until it's thick and creamy.

RICE PUDDING

Combine 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice with 1 1/2 cups of milk, 1/3 cup white sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt.

Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 15-20 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup of milk, one beaten egg and 2/3 cup of raisins.

Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in one tablespoon butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

Serve warm with whipped cream.

I don’t like whipped cream so I eat it without, but the rest of my family enjoys it with whipped cream on top.

  You can serve it in bowls, mugs, or we often use these ice cream sundae glasses, with tall iced-tea spoons, which is fun.

The next time you make white rice for a side dish, throw in enough for extras so that you can try out this yummy recipe! It warms your soul on a cold night!

ENJOY!

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