Crockpot Lemon Chicken

During soccer season I work in the mornings and have soccer in the afternoon or evenings.  Which means no time to cook a good dinner.  I try to freeze some meals but didn't do that much this year.  So crockpot meals are a good alternative.  We made this one and it turned out good.  I served it over rice and with some broccolli.  Much better then gross quick meals my kids have been eating lately.


Recipe:

1 lb chicken breasts
1 packet Italian dressing mix
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken stock
egg noodles or rice

Place chicken breasts, Italian dressing mix, butter, lemon juice & chicken broth in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When finished cooking, shred chicken with 2 forks. Serve chicken over egg noodles or rice and top with juices from crockpot.

Butterscotch Pudding Triple Chip Cookies

My husband has been wanting cookies lately.  I usually bake during soccer season and give the girls my cookies as their "player of the game award".  I baked my go to chocolate chip recipe and must have messed up somewhere b/c they were not very good.  I felt like I had to redeem myself.  So I found this recipe.  I figure it would be good to try something new.  They turned out great.  They are moist and full of flavor.  My husband liked them so much that I got a text while I was at my game telling me they were delicious. 

I think I would like to add more chocolate chips and cut back on the white chips, but that is a personal preference.  They are good regardless.  Make them!!!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz) package butterscotch instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat and set aside.
2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in butterscotch pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips.
3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/butterscotch-pudding-triple-chip-cookies/

Oven Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is another summer picnic food.  Since summer is almost over here is a version that you can make in the oven.  I like the white meat and so do the kids so we make this like chicken fingers.  The breading was good and flavorful.  The chicken was moist.  Next time I make it I will try to cut back on the butter.  We didn't even need close to that amount. 

Ingredients

• 2-3 chicken breast halves, cut into strips or large pieces
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp. + 1/2 tsp. Morton's Season All Seasoning Salt (or your favorite seasoning salt)
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1 c. Flour
• 1 Tbsp. Paprika
• 1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

Instructions

• Place chicken strips in a large Ziploc bag and cover with buttermilk. Seal bag tightly (squeezing out all the air) and allow chicken to soak for at LEAST an hour (several hours is best).
• In a shallow bowl or pie pan, combine seasoning salt, pepper, flour, and paprika. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with cooking spray then cut up the butter into pieces and place around the bottom of the pan (doing it this way keeps the chicken from sticking as bad).
• Place the pan in the oven for about 8-10 minutes until the butter is melted and HOT.
• Remove from oven and spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan.
• Shake excess buttermilk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix.
• Carefully place each piece of chicken in the pan.
• Cook for 15 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 15-20 more minutes, or until cooked through.

 

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2012/08/oven-fried-chicken.html

Corn Salad

During the summer we love making this corn salad recipe.  It is a great side to take to a bbq, potlock, whatever.  It is simple and yummy... a great combination.  I can't believe summer is almost over!

For this receip, I like to use fresh corn off the cob but have used frozen corn many time and it is still delicious. I don't have exact measurments.  You just put in the amount that you would like and what looks pretty :)


Corn Salad Recipe

Corn-- approx taken from 6 ears of corn
chopped  purple onion
chopped fresh basil
equal parts oil and balsalmic vinegar
tiny bit of lime juice
tiny bit of hot sauce
feta cheese

mix all together.  Let sit for awhile so flavors soak in.  Serve cold

Yum Yum Sauce

We like to eat hibachi.  It is the only time I will eat shrimp or scallops.  Something about that hot grill, garlic, sake, and lots of butter.  Although I usually get steak and chicken. 

Every now and then we make fried rice and some chicken.  I found this simple recipe for the white sauce, aka Yum Yum sauce that they use at the hibachi places.  It tastes good (not good for you though!).  Make sure you let it sit in the fridge over night. If you make it and use it right away it will just taste like mayo.  You need to let the other ingredients get soaked in.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients together and keep in fridge over night.

Peanut butter chocolate chip brownies

I love almost anything peanut butter and chocolate.  I had these brownies pinned forever.  We were going to dinner at a friends house so I finally made them.  They were delicious.

The recipe is from bakerella's site.  She makes cake pops.  They are amazing.  She makes any character.  They are so cute.  I tried to make Mickey ones for Amelia's birthday party.  They didn't look anything like bakerellas.  My brownies didn't look like hers either but they still tasted good!


Recipe:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 X 8 pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together with a wire whisk and set aside.
• In a mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the sugars and mix until combined.
• Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Spread in the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.

Frosting
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
Milk

• Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth.
• Stir in the peanut butter until completely combined and set aside.
• In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
• Add the sugar and mix until combined.
• Add the chocolate and peanut butter mixture and mix until completely blended.
• You can add a teaspoon at a time of milk if you would like the frosting creamier.
• When the brownies are cool, spread the frosting on top.

http://www.bakerella.com/peanut-butter-brownies/

Cheesy quinoa mac n cheese bake

Ingredients

Here is a little bit healthier version of mac n cheese. My kids love mac n cheese. They would eat it every day if I let them. While they didn't love this they did eat it. So that is a plus. My husband enjoyed it a lot. I think it needs to be a little creamier/cheesier. I would make it again but add less quinoa or make more of the cheese mixture.  You could easily play around with this recipe and add whatever you would like.  I might add some hot pepper seasoning or a little hot sauce next time. 

     Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• good pinch of salt
• a few grinds of seasoning salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup soy milk or non-fat milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling
• Optional- Crushed Red Pepper, Panko Bread crumbs for topping

1. Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes)
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish( or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray.Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese.
3. Cook for 30-35 minutes

http://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-quinoa-mac-cheese.html