We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friends, so we buy ice cream --Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Savory Mustard Chicken Thighs
Recipe and photo from here: http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/
preheat your oven to 450ºF
mix together:
1/2 cup of dijon mustard,
1/4 cup of maple syrup,
1 tablespoon of rice/rice wine vinegar.
Salt and pepper 1.5 lbs chicken thighs
Then pour the mustard/syrup mix over the chicken in a foil-lined baking dish
Put the chicken thighs into the oven, and let them bake for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165ºF. Baste the tops of the chicken with more sauce half way through.
Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Plate the chicken, making sure to spoon some extra sauce over the top. Sprinkle over some fresh rosemary.
We served this with some seasoned brown rice and vegetables.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Pinto Beans and Rice
1/3 cup picante sauce
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon garlic , minced (kind in jar is okay)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 bay leaves
1 cup cooked white rice (we found that it needs about twice this much. So I cook 1 cup of uncooked rice. Brown rice also works)
Rinse beans in colander. Put in a crock pot (or large pot). Cover with water, plus about 2 inches over top of beans. Add all ingredients, except rice.
(Add water if necessary) May also cook on low overnight.
Add rice and cook until rice is warm.
Black Beans and Rice
1 cup black beans
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt/Pepper
Cook beans either by soaking overnight (which I never remember to do) or by the hot soak method.
Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
1 large onion, diced small
2-3 tsp. olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T Creole Seasoning (recipe below)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste (I didn't use salt because the creole seasoning has salt, and I only used a little bit of pepper)
4 cups cooked small red beans (or use 3 cans red beans, rinsed and drained and add 1/2 cup more chicken stock)
3 cups diced lean ham or Louisiana Hot Sausages (dice into pieces about the size of the cooked beans)
3 cups homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. green Tabasco (or use a smaller amount of red Tobasco)
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
3 cups cooked white rice for serving
Cut ham or sausage into small pieces, about the size of cooked beans.
Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan, then saute diced onion about 5 minutes, or until onion starts to brown. Add garlic and saute 1 minute, then add Creole Seasoning, dried thyme, and dried oregano and saute 1-2 minutes more.
Put onion mixture into small crockpot. Add cooked beans and diced ham or sausage. Add stock, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, bay leaves, and red wine vinegar, and stir to combine.
Cook on high for 4-8 hours, until the beans are dissolved as much as you prefer. I like this best when the beans are at least 3/4 broken apart and dissolved into the liquid. Canned beans are usually softer and will break apart more quickly.
Serve hot, topped with white rice.
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Friday, July 27, 2012
Black and Blue Berry Breakfast Cake
Heather made this for us in early July and it was delicious. A few days ago, Elliott and Ann Nielson gave us some of their blackberries so we thought, "Black AND Blue Berry Cake. . . " So we added 50% more to the ingredients in the original recipe and cooked it in a 9"x12" pan.
3 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
1 1/2 c + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 1/2 egg, room temperature (scramble two eggs together: take out a tablespoon of egg [cook it in the microwave for a snack while you finish the cake])
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 TB baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blackberries
Friday, May 25, 2012
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Ingredients
- FOR THE ICE CREAM:
- 12 ounces, weight Strawberries, Hulled And Sliced
- 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- ½ cups Half-and-half
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- _____
- FOR THE MIX-INS:
- 4 ounces, weight Strawberries, Hulled And Finley Diced
- 2 teaspoons Sugar
- ¼ cups Bittersweet Chocolate
- 1 teaspoon Heavy Cream
- 3 whole Chocolate Graham Crackers
Preparation Instructions
For the ice cream:In a blender or food processor puree the strawberries, cream cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, lemon juice, sugar and salt.
Pour ice cream base into your ice cream maker and churn per manufacturer’s instructions, approximately 30 minutes.
While the ice cream is churning, prepare mix-ins if desired.
For the mix-ins:
In a small bowl combine the strawberries and sugar, mix well and place in the freezer
Melt bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream in the microwave in 30 second intervals at 50% power. Stir after each interval. Repeat until melted.
With a spatula cover the chocolate graham crackers with melted chocolate and place in the freezer.
Approximately 5 minutes before ice cream is done, remove strawberry mixture and graham crackers from freezer. Add macerated strawberries to the ice cream while still churning. Roughly chop graham crackers and add to ice cream.
http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2012/05/strawberry-cheesecake-ice-cream/
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Homemade salsa
I use my blender to chop everything up, but a food processor is easiest. Be warned, it makes a ton of salsa.
10 roma tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 white onion
2 jalepeno peppers
1 Anaheim pepper
2/3 can crushed tomatoes
3 Tbsp garlic salt
2 tsp sugar
Juice of 4 limes or to taste
Mix it all together and serve
Friday, March 30, 2012
Sugar cookies with too much butter in them
Thursday, March 22, 2012
P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Thai Peanut Satay
Ingredients
2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into Bite Size Pieces
_____
FOR THE MARINADE:
4 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce
4 Tablespoons Lime Juice
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 teaspoons Cumin
4 teaspoons Coriander
2 teaspoons Turmeric
_____
FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE:
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
⅓ cups Onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Chili Powder
5 Tablespoons MARINADE
¼ cups Brown Sugar, Packed
½ cups Water, Or More If Needed
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter, Do Not Use Natural Or Low Fat
1 whole Lime, Cut Into Wedges, For Garnish
1 bunch Fresh Cilantro For Garnish, Chopped
Preparation Instructions
1) Combine all marinade ingredients and whisk well to combine. Reserve 5 tablespoons of marinade for the sauce and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the sauce. Set the remaining marinade aside.
Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and skewer*. Skewer your chicken pieces on presoaked (in water) wooden skewers or metal skewers. Pour remaining marinade over chicken skewers being sure to coat thoroughly. (I use gloves, because the turmeric can stain your hands). Marinate chicken in the refrigerator for an hour.
2) For the peanut sauce, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions for 5-7 minutes. Add chili powder and the reserved 5 tablespoons of marinade, brown sugar, and ½ cup of water. Keep the pan over heat until very hot. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, carefully whisk until completely incorporated. Add additional water if the sauce is too thick. Loosely cover the pan and set aside. To warm the sauce, do so in microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds at a time and stir between. Heat until just warm. If you over heat the sauce, the oil will separate.
3) Preheat grill and cook skewered marinated chicken over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes. Serve chicken with peanut sauce and garnish with cilantro and fresh lime wedges. Makes approximately 32 – 6″skewers for appetizers or 8 dinner size portion skewers.*I like to skewer the chicken first before the marinade is added. It’s much less messy and when you’re entertaining, you won’t have to skewer the meat while you have guests. Again, I recommend using gloves.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Quinoa Burger

I found this on pinterest, but the recipe and photo came from Eating Well, Living Thin. Elliott, who is in the phase of not trying new foods, or old foods that we just haven't had in a while, loved this. And before bed he asked for more.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Pumpkin Granola
5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbs ground flax (optional)
1- 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts like walnuts, almonds (I put both in)
1/2 cup honey
½ cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup oil
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 325° F.
In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, salt, flax, and nuts. Mix well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together honey, pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. They will be moist. Evenly spread the mixture onto a large baking sheet.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Pumpkin Roll
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
Chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 375. Mix 3 eggs on high until frothy with volume. Slowly mix in sugar then the pumpkin. Add flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Heavily grease and flour a cookie sheet. Pour mixture into pan and sprinkle with chopped nuts (optional). Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Put powdered sugar on towel, nuts side up. Roll up in the towel. Cool. Unroll carefully. Fill with cream cheese frosting and re-roll.
Cream cheese Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3-3 cups powdered sugar
Blend the cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach a spreadable consistency.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Chocolate Mint Cookies
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tbs. water
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 packages Andes Mints
In a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, cook butter, brown sugar, and water until melted. Add chocolate chips and stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until all the chips are melted. Pour into a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes. With beaters, mix in one egg at a time. Then add dry ingredients.
Chill dough for at least one hour (or until it is no longer sticky to handle). Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with tin foil. Roll teaspoon sized balls of dough, about one inch in diameter. Make sure to put the dough back in the fridge while waiting for the cookies to bake. Bake 10-12 minutes. (cookies will crisp as they cool). Remove from oven and immediately place an Andes mint on top of each cookie. Allow mint to soften
and swirl with the back of a spoon. Cool thoroughly.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
- 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
- 3/4 cup pitted and quartered kalamata olives
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.
- Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.
- Add chicken thighs, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken thighs to a plate and allow to cool. Pour broth into a medium-sized bowl.
- Return the saucepan to the stovetop and lower heat to medium. Add olive oil.
- Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.
- To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash. Stir to combine.
- Stir in reserved chicken broth and quinoa. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.
- Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork.
- Stir the chicken, olives and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in parsley and serve.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Oatmeal pancakes
3/4 cup oat flour (you can make this by pulsing rolled oats into a food processor or spice grinder until finely ground; 1 cup of oats yielded 1 cup oat flour for me)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon Kosher or coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus extra for the pan)
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup cooked oatmeal*
1 tablespoon unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses or 1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs
Whisk the dry ingredients (oat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the butter, milk, cooked oatmeal, honey and eggs together until thoroughly combined. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using a light hand is important for tender pancakes; the batter should be slightly thick with a holey surface.
Heat a 10-inch cast-iron pan or griddle over medium heat until water sizzles when splashed onto the pan. Lower to medium-low. (This is my tip; I find pancakes impossible to cook well over higher heats. I’ve got more pancake tips over here.) Rub the pan generously with butter; Boyce says this is the key to crisp, buttery edges. Working quickly, dollop 1/4-cup mounds of batter onto the pan, 2 or 3 at a time. Once bubbles have begun to form on the top side of the pancake, flip the pancake and cook until the bottom is dark golden-brown, about 5 minutes total. Wipe the pan with a cloth before griddling the next pancake. Continue with the rest of the batter.
Serve the pancakes hot, straight from the skillet or keep them warm in a low oven. We also found these to reheat surprisingly well the next morning, again in a low oven.
* Make oatmeal, if you don’t have any leftover: Bring 2 cups of water, 1 cup of rolled oats and a pinch of salt to a boil and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Let cool. You’ll have some extra oatmeal, which you can eat while you’re cooking.Friday, October 7, 2011
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
1 store-bought rotisserie chicken carcass, or 1 1/2 cups already cooked chicken meat
6 cups water
1 or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules (check for gluten, this was clearly labeled gluten free)
1 cup broccoli florets
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
kosher salt to taste (probably a good 1 teaspoon, since the base is water)
50-cent piece size, or so, handful of raw spaghetti noodles to add at the end (I used Trader Joe's brown rice)
1 large handful raw spinach leaves to add at the end
Parmesan and Asiago cheese, optional garnish
The Directions.
If you're going to use a chicken carcass, cook it on low overnight in the water. In the morning, unplug the crock and let it cool before digging in with CLEAN hands to pick out the bones. Strain through a colander (retaining liquid!) if desired.
Or, start with a slow cooker with 6 cups of water, and add chicken. Add all vegetables except for the spinach leaves. Stir in the bouillon and vinegar. Salt to taste. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until sweet potatoes are tender and the onion is translucent. (I forgot about starting it until 2, and so I turned it to high for about 3 hours and it was just fine)
15 minutes before serving, put in raw spaghetti noodles and a large handful of spinach. Cover and flip to high.
Garnish with parmesan and asiago cheeses, if desired.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn
photo from whatsonmymenu.blogspot.comIngredients:
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups broth*
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
*I like the flavor of chicken broth, but if you want to make this meal vegetarian, use vegetable broth or water.
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.
4. Use this the way you would use any taco filling: in taco shells, tortillas, or on salad topped with lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, and sour cream.