I made these the other night and I wasn’t really expecting them to be that great. I don’t usually like any kind of skewered meat. But this was really pretty good. The combined flavors of the chicken and the peanut sauce was awesome. I served them with white rice and steamed peas.

The Recipes:

The Peanut Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and saute onion and garlic until lightly browned. Mix in water, peanut butter, soy sauce, and sugar. Cook and stir until well blended. Remove from heat, mix in lemon juice, and set aside.

The Chicken:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 pinch ground cumin
• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast cutlets

• skewers

In a bowl, mix soy sauce, tomato sauce, peanut oil, garlic, black pepper, and cumin. Place chicken into the mixture, and stir to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 – 30 minutes.

Thread chicken onto skewers. Grill skewers about 5 minutes per side, until chicken juices run clear. Serve with peanut sauce.

I tried this recipe out last week and it was yummmmmy.  I’d never had these jalapeno kettle chips before. And now I like them.  I figured they would be good because I like things with a bit of a bite to them. I still hate breading things though, it’s super awful and messy, but totally worth it because it always turns out super tasty. The jalapeno ranch dip I made was super good as well. I served the chicken with baked potatoes and seasoned, steamed broccoli. Yum.

The recipes:

The Chicken:

• 4 chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 – 2 pounds)
• 1 bag Jalapeno Kettle Chips, crushed
• 1 cup low fat buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Preheat oven to 375º.  In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, salt, and cayenne. Pound out, or cut  chicken breasts to roughly 1/2″ thickness and add to buttermilk mixture (coat well).

Place crushed Kettle chips in a shallow baking dish.One piece of chicken at a time, take out of the buttermilk and gently shake to remove some of the excess. Dip into the chips and coat thoroughly on both sides. Place on  baking sheet.

Place into oven and bake for about 35 minutes, until cooked through.

Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup (plus 2 tablespoons) buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon Hidden Valley ranch dressing powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• dash of cayenne
• 5-6 hot pickled jalapeno slices, finely chopped

Mix ingredients together (adding additional buttermilk until desired consistency). Refrigerate until ready to use.

Last week I was feelin’ pretty lazy when it came to dinner, so I decided to do this baked chicken foil packets thing because they’re so easy. Everyone got to choose what they wanted in theirs.  I chose to make garlic butter chicken with some green onions. I served mine with some leftover spaghetti noodles I had in the fridge. The husband chose to put white onions, green onions some spices(I forgot exactly what he used) and some sweet chipotle Tabasco type sauce we got in one of those hot sauce gift boxes for Christmas, and the kid wanted cheesy chicken so I mixed a little bit of cream, shredded Monterrey jack cheese and some pepper in his. I baked them in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes, until the chicken was all cooked through.  Everybody loved their creation, even Kaden even though his really didn’t look very appetizing, he said it was,  “amazing.”  😛

Tonight I made braised beef for the first time. I’ve never braised anything before actually. But it turned out pretty well.  Tonight was also the first  time I’ve ever made hush puppies.  They turned out perfectly and were so so so good.  Also fixed a side of seasoned, steamed veggies.  We’re both stuffed so I’m gonna say I did well. 😉

The Recipes:

Spicy Garlic Braised Beef

Mix the flour and garlic powder together in a shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip the steak in the flour mixture evenly coating both sides. Set aside. Discard remaining flour mixture.  Heat the cooking oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the steak in the skillet and cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes each side. Stir in the chicken broth, lemon juice, garlic, scallion and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low. Cover, and simmer until steak is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. To serve, remove steak from the skillet, and slice across the grain in thin strips. Place on serving plates, and ladle sauce over meat.

Jalapeno Hush Puppies

• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 1/4 white onion, diced
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Oil for frying

Mix together all dry ingredients. Then mix in the egg, buttermilk, onions and jalapenos. Batter should be thick.
In batches, cook tablespoon-sized balls in 350 degree oil, until crisp and golden brown, turning every so often so they’re evenly cooked. (about 4-5 minutes). Remove to paper towels, serve!

*Note* I used a medium sauce pan about 1/2 – 3/4 full of vegetable oil. Just don’t fill the pan too close to the top or it will bubble and splatter all over. Messes are never fun.

I tried this recipe out for dinner the other night and it was pretty yummy. I like crunchy things I guess.  The dipping the sour creamed chicken into the cornflake mixture is a total pain in the butt, but it was worth it. I fixed this with a side of Pasta Roni because I was feeling pretty lazy. 😛

The Recipe:

• 1 cup sour cream

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard ( I used a sweet and spicy mustard. It was all I had)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

• 1 cup crushed cornflakes cereal

• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Butter a baking dish.  Whisk the sour cream, Dijon mustard, garlic, and pepper together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to assure the breasts are well coated. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.Combine the cornflakes and onion soup mix in a bowl. Gently press the chicken breasts into the cornflakes mixture to coat and shake off any excess. Lie the coated breasts in the buttered baking dish. Drizzle the melted butter over the chicken.  Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

I’ve made this recipe twice now, and we’ve loved it both times. It really is just like the soup from Panera and pretty easy to make.  But I think next time I make it I’ll cut the recipe in half. It makes a little more than 2 people need. 😛

The Recipe:

• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 boneless chicken breast halves (cooked and cubed)
• 1 (6 ounce) package long grain and wild rice blend, quick cooking version (You will use the seasoning packet. I used Uncle Bens butter and herb flavor)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup butter (12 tbsp. or a stick and a half)
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 3 cups light cream (I used half in half)

Open rice, pull out seasoning packet and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine pepper and flour. Set aside.
In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth and chicken. Bring to a boil, then stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add carrots, celery and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in contents of seasoning packet, and continue cooking vegetables until softened, about 5 minutes more. Add seasoned flour gradually while constantly stirring, to form a roux. Saute roux for 3-4 minutes to cook out raw flour taste.
Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through and rice is done,15-20 minutes.

The Husband and I decided to make a bunch of Chinese food for Christmas lunch with my mom and sister and brother-in-law.  We made Kung Pao pork, beef and broccoli, sesame chicken, vegetable fried rice, vegetable lo mein, spring rolls and sweet and sour soup.  We even got fortune cookies. 😛  I was a little worried since we had so much to fix and all of it being new recipes we’ve never tried before, but everything turned out really well. The kung pao pork was probably my favorite.  We have a ton of leftovers and will probably be eating this for the rest of the week.  

I made these for my sister for Christmas. I can finally post about them since they’ve officially been gifted now. Yay!  My sister and brother-in-law love the movie ‘Despicable Me’, so that’s how I got the idea. Finding plain yellow onesies was the hardest part. I got all the different colored fabrics from Hobby Lobby and used fabric glue to glue them in place and then sewed around the edges.  I haven’t gotten to sew very much stuff with my new sewing machine yet, so my stitching is pretty crazy. But hooray, another sewing project success!

This is a recipe I’ve made one time before and like it, so it has been in my cookbook since.  So I decided to make it again!  The husband complained about because he hates curry.  But too bad. I like it, and I’m the cook. 😛  It’s pretty simple to make and looks pretty and smells soo good while it’s cooking. I served it over rice.

The Recipe:

• 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tsp. sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. curry paste

Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peppers; cook until onions are soft and translucent. Stir in chicken and garlic and sprinkle with sugar. Cook, stirring about 3 minutes, then stir in maple syrup and cook about 5 minutes, until caramelized. Stir in curry paste and heavy cream. Reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes, or until sauce reached desired thickness.

This is a recipe I’ve made many times before, and it has rightfully earned it’s place in my cookbook. It’s super easy to make, and is so good. However, it wasn’t as flavorful this last time because I used store brand Greek dressing since that was all Dillon’s had at the time. I thought it would be the same, but it was not. Kraft Greek dressing is the best. I served it with white rice.

The Recipe:

• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into pieces
• 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 large red onion, chopped
• 1 small can sliced black olives
• 1/2 cup Kraft Greek salad dressing
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup Feta cheese

Load all ingredients except the feta cheese into crock pot. Set on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. (or 3 hours on keep warm setting for ill tempered crock pots like mine) Sprinkle on feta cheese on individual portions when serving, or mix it in right before dishing out.