Tag: chicken

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March Comes In Like a Lion and Goes Out Like a Lamb……….Maybe

Recipes

Crockpot Chicken Dinner

This is one of my toss it all together, taste test along the way, and have dinner recipes. All ingredients are “approximate”.

3 skinless chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup of white rice

2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables

Water and chicken broth (1 part water to 2 parts chicken broth) enough to cover all ingredients.

Salt and pepper to taste.

I cooked on low for 5 hours

It was delicious and made its own gravy. I ate it just like it was but you could put it over biscuits or potatoes, whatever sounds good to you.

Crockpot Vegetable Soup

4 cups vegetable broth

1 bag of mixed cauliflower and broccoli

1 small bag of mini carrots

1 russet potatoe cut up

1 T. garlic minced

1 onion diced

1 small can of stewed tomatoes, not drained

1 can of tomato paste

2 stalks of celery diced

1 bay leaf

salt, pepper, Italian seasoning to taste

I put everything in the pot and cooked on low overnight. I adjusted the seasoning by added a little more of each and it was lunch! It is always better to start with a little seasoning and then add a little at a time. Once you put it in, you can’t get it out again! LOL

Bacon Wrapped Crackers (peartreekitchen.com)

  • 54 buttery crackers , like club crackers, about 1 ½ sleeves
  • 16 ounces thinly sliced bacon , cut into thirds
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • Take bacon out of the refrigerator and allow to soften slightly.
  • Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
  • Prepare a baking sheet with sides by lining with non-stick foil or parchment paper. Spray foil or parchment with baking spray.
  • Cut bacon slices into three pieces if using regular bacon, or cut slices in half if using center cut bacon.
  • Wrap one bacon piece around one cracker. Repeat with all crackers.
  • Lay on the baking sheet with seam side down. These can be placed close together, but not touching. Repeat with all crackers.
  • Sprinkle the top of each wrapped cracker with brown sugar. Do not use too much or it will run off and create a hard caramel layer. Repeat with all crackers.
  • Place into preheated oven and cook for 30 to 45 minutes. Longer may be required for crisper bacon.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.
  • Move to serving tray and enjoy!

Praline Candied Bacon (giftofhospitality.com)

I have not made this but looked up the recipe after I had it at a local restaurant, Music For Your Mouth. It is amazing! This is not their recipe but I am sure it is similar. I am buying bacon today!

INGREDIENTS  

  • 1 lb thick cut bacon
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup very finely chopped pecans INSTRUCTIONS 
  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and top with a wire rack. Lay the bacon in a single layer on the wire rack (it can touch slightly but not overlap).
  • In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard. Use a pastry brush to brush the half the brown sugar mixture over the bacon.
  • Bake the bacon for 20–25 minutes, or until the bacon is mostly cooked through.
  • Remove from the oven and flip the bacon onto the other side. Brush the bacon with the remaining brown sugar mixture. and sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top, pressing gently with a spatula to adhere if necessary.
  • Return to the oven and cook until the bacon is very crisp, about 5–10 more minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Serve immediately.

Hacks

*I am cleaning pennies for a 50th anniversary gift and this works great. Just put the pennies in a dish and cover with any citrus juice like lemon and add salt. Allow to sit for 15- 20 minutes and then scrub with an old toothbrush to get off all the gunk! Dry with a soft cloth. This works with any coin.

*When reheating leftovers, create an empty circle in the middle of the food. This empty space will help the food heat up more evenly.

*Taking something apart to fix it? Take a photo before you start. This will give you a visual reference when putting it back together.

*Ever get a ring stuck on your finger? Spray some Windex around the area. It will slide right off.

*When making any toasty sandwich like BLTs, place two slices of bread together in a single toaster slot. This way, the bread gets toasty on the outside, but stays soft and chewy on the inside.

*Need a quick measurement but don’t have a ruler? Use a dollar bill. It is 6 1/8 inches long. You can get a rough length measurement that way.

* There’s a trick to keeping your refrigerator clean. Line the shelves with plastic wrap, waxed paper, etc. When there are spills just replace the liner.

*You can take the crumbs left in the bottom of a chip bag and save them in a jar. Just puree them in a blender and they can be used as a coating for fish or chicken.

*Don’t have an apple corer? You can use a winged corkscrew instead. This works great! Try it with baked apples.

*Amazon return bag trick, what you say is this? My hairdresser sharedn this with me. Thanks, Kim! Just watch, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG5M9S56LDM

Craft Cache

It’s been a bit of a crafty time. I either have to give more away or get a bigger house!

Several years ago in a ceramics class did these bird houses. The base they were on broke but I saved them for future use. I finally found a use! I hot glued them to the bottoms of some small clay pots I had and put some moss around the base. I haven’t decided if I want to to any embellishment to the pots or not. I kind of like the plain look. What do you think?

This banner is Dollar Tree (more accurately, Dollar and a Quarter tree but I am not bitter at all! Grrr) all the way! I started with the plain banner and then added some pastel little bunnies that I painted. I had this adorable plaid pastel ribbon from DT too, so I just added a little bow. It is cute and was super quick to make. Painting the bunnies took the longest and that wasn’t too long at all.

This cute little bookmark is made from a square of scrapbook paper. Watch the video to see how simple it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEwl0fvqo18

This adorable carrot was all Dollar Tree too. I started with the wooden carrot cutout from which I removed the jute hanger. I painted the carrot orange, the raised part of the carrot top white and the trim was painted lime green. I then used a dollar tree napkin (that I took the top decorated ply off bottom plain ply) and decoupaged it too the raised carrot top. I used orange burlap ribbon to wind around the carrot, securing it with hot glue. Finally, I added that sweet little bit of carrot ribbon to the top of the carrot. The jute hanger went back on and there you have it!

Isn’t this bunny adorbs?!! 3 of us got together and made these wreaths. The form was a bunny head and ears from DT. First, I wrapped bulky pink yarn that my friend, Shelly, shared with me, around the entire form. You can either tie a knot to anchor the yarn or use hot glue. Next was the black and white check fabric in the center of the ears. I cut two rectangles of the fabric that were slightly larger than the ears and glued them to the back of the ears. After the glue dried I cut the excess fabric off so you couldn’t see it from the front. I fashioned a messy bow using four pieces of ribbon, two black and white check and two pink. The bow was then glued to the wreath slightly of center. The final touch were some flowers in a deeper pink. I took the larger flowers off the stem and hot glued them, centering more toward the left ear. To finish it off, I added some stems of smaller flowers. You can make a jute hanger that will be hidden behind the ears.

The egg wreath form was from, you know where (DT). The rope and embellishments were purchased there as well. I anchored the rope with hot glue and wrapped the entire form with it. The embellishments were added and I made a messy bow from ribbon I had on hand which was glued slightly off center, at the top.

I hope this post finds all of you doing well and that you saw something of interest in it. Share your thoughts, etc, in the comment section and see you next month! Thanks, as always, for reading.

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Leap Year, February 29

I hope everyone is faring well in the doldrums of Winter. I think the secret is to have hobbies or things you enjoy doing when there isn’t as much action to be had outdoors. In my case, I have too many things I am interested in doing.

There are projects waiting for me everywhere! I am not kidding. There’s the scarf I am knitting to match my new Winter coat. It is 2/3’s done. Two skeins of yarn weren’t enough so I had to order some online and wait (momentum died).

There’s the book folding pattern of a motorcycle for my son which required at least 1,000 pages. The size was a tough one but I am using a Webster’s New World College Dictionary (librarians and others who might object, I am sorry). I am now on page 450 of the pattern.

Also, I am going to make an Easter decoration. I purchased the plastic eggs and I already had the twine and burlap ribbon. The Easter decoration idea comes from something I saw in the store, it was overpriced and I thought that I could make it for a lot less.

Lastly, my daughter wants a ponytail hat. That project is all cast onto my loom but I haven’t started knitting.

Once I told my Mom that things would slow down after I got “such-and-such” done. Her reply was, “No. You will just find something else to do.” There you have it! Moms are always right. I am resigned to the fact that this is the way I am and that I kind of like it that way.

Recipes

I have tried many things since my last post but there are a couple I would like share with you.

This first one is going to sound a little odd at first but you really must try it! It is fantastic. That is fantastic if you like dill pickles or dill in general. Let me know in the comments what you think when you try it.

Dill Pickle Soup (lavendarandmacarons.com)

This soup is actually a Polish recipe. I had never heard of it until recently. My brother-in-law told me they have it on the menu in a Buffalo area restaurant.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 medium onion finely minced
  • 1 large carrot grated on large holes of box grater
  • 1 c dill pickles sliced horizontally and then halved
  • 5 c vegetable broth or chicken broth if you want
  • 3 medium potato peeled and cubed
  • 4 1/2 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 1/2 tbsp flour
  • 4-5 tbsp pickle juice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 4 tbsp dill chopped

Instructions

  • Add broth to a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add potatoes, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes.
  • At the same time, heat butter in large non-stick pan (avoid Teflon pans) over medium heat.
  • Add onion and carrot and cook until vegetables begin to soften, approximately 7 minutes. Stir in dill pickles and cook for 3 more minutes.
  • While vegetables are cooking, in a medium bowl whisk together sour cream, flour and 3 tablespoons of dill pickle juice.* (Note 1)
  • Stir in sautéed vegetables, salt, pepper, sour cream and flour mixture into the pot with potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender when poked with a knife.
  • Remove from the heat, and serve immediately garnished with fresh dill.

The bonus here is that it is a vegetarian soup and if you left out the sour cream it could be vegan too.

Oven Roasted Rotisserie Chicken (countrysidecravings.com)

Honest to goodness this chicken tasted like a rotisserie chicken you would buy in the store or one that I used to make when I had a rotisserie. The chicken was melt in your mouth delicious.

Ingredients

  • ½-1 tablespoon seasoned salt
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1½ teaspoons onion powder
  • ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 (5 lb) (2.2kg) whole chicken
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C).
  2. In a small bowl, combine the salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and peppers.  Set aside.
  3. Remove giblets from chicken and rinse chicken in cold water.  Pat dry with paper towels.  Rub chicken with olive oil then rub spice mixture over entire chicken.  Place in a baking dish, cast iron skillet, or rimmed baking sheet.  
  4. Bake for 80-90 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees F and the juices run clear.  Baste with juices 3 times during the cooking process if desired.  Let chicken rest 15-20 minutes before carving.

Let’s Do a Little Life Hacking Now

Microwaves are a great kitchen tool. Here are some things you can do with your “nuke” that you may not have thought of.

  • A plastic cutting board can be put in the microwave for 1 minute to disinfect it. Wash the board well, rub it with a cut open lemon and nuke it for 1 minute. You can also microwave a sponge for a minute to sterilize it.
  • If you have fresh herbs that you want to dry that only takes 1 minute as well. Just place them on a paper towel and put in for a minute. If they are not dry enough to crumble in your hand then you can keep microwaving at 20 second intervals until they are.
  • Microwave garlic for 15 seconds to easily peel the cloves.
  • To get more juice out of citrus fruit microwave them for 10 to 15 second and then juice away!
  • If you have a stale roll or some sort of bread just wrap it in a paper towel or napkin for 20 seconds and viola it is edible again!
  • Do you cry when cutting or chopping onions? Just peel the onion and microwave it for 30 seconds and chop without tears.
  • Microwaving peaches or tomatoes for 30 seconds will make them easy to peel.

Beyond the Microwave

  • If you accidentally over salt something that you are cooking peel a potato and add it to the pot. The potato will absorb the excess salt.
  • Did you know that the tag on bed sheets, blankets, comforters indicates that it is to be placed at the lower right hand corner of the bed?
  • Cornstarch will untangle any knot you have. Just sprinkle some on the knotted shoelace, string, chain, etc, rub it in and watch the knot untangle.
  • Ever tried heating citrus or spices in water on the stove to make your house smell heavenly? Here’s one that will have your house smelling like a bakery in no time. Get a small pan and fill it with water. Just add some vanilla and cinnamon and simmer slowly. Remember to keep an eye on it though.

I hope that you enjoyed this post and found something that you can use. See you next time!

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It’s Getting Chilly

Here we are in my “neck of the woods”, Western New York, and it is getting mighty chilly. I still haven’t caved and turned the furnace on but I can feel myself weakening. I play this game with myself every year to see how long I can go before I have to turn the heat on. I really don’t mind a little chilly. Just throw on a sweater or hoodie. However, when it is cold and DAMP, that’s when I can’t keep it up any longer.

Yesterday I was closing storm windows and “battening down the hatches” for our traditional snowy, cold winter and my thoughts went to baking. Yep, food, that is how my mind works. So, first, I thought I would share a couple of recipes with you.

During my vacation to Alaska my son and I went to the Taku Glacier Lodge near Juneau via a seaplane over 5 glaciers. It was beautiful. I was nervous about the plane ride but I am so glad I went! While there we saw black bear and had a salmon feast which included, cole-slaw, salmon, baked beans, and herb biscuits. The entire meal was delicious but, alas, I am a lover of carbs! The biscuits were the star for me. I bought a cookbook in the gift shop while we were there and the recipe for the herb biscuits was included in the book. Of course I had to make them!

Famous Taku Herb Biscuits

4 cups of flour

3/4 cup powdered milk

2 Tablespoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 level Tablespoon of each:

thyme, parsley, tarragon, basil

1/2 Tablespoon of garlic powder

1 cup of butter (cold)

approximately 1- 1/4 cups of water (be careful not to add too much)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together. Place the butter in the dry mixture and work into dry ingredients until the butter is no smaller than a peanut.

Make a well in the center and add cold water. Work enough to have a slightly sticky dough.

Place dough on floured board. Fold, turn it over and fold again. Do this 8 times. You may need to add a little flour between folds if the dough is too sticky.

Pat into a square about 1 inch thick. Cut into square biscuits or use a round biscuit cutter.

Place on un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.

These are best served hot. Be creative and use the biscuits to make tasty sandwiches.

Notes:

I gave you the recipe exactly as was written in the “Top Secret Recipes Served at Taku Glacier Lodge”. Now, I need to tell you what I did and make some comments.

I was out of dry milk and kept forgetting to pick it up so I finally decided to make it but use milk instead of the water and omit the powdered milk. This is tricky because you don’t want to add to much liquid. That is why I started out with 1 cup of milk. I ended up added 3/4 more cup a 1/4 cup at a time as I judged the consistency of the dough. Knowing it was to be sticky, I aimed for that consistency but not so wet and sticky that I had trouble working with it. It is important to start slowly adding liquid. You can always add more but you’re in trouble if you add too much.

When I added the butter to the bowl I cut the sticks of butter into chunks. This saved a lot of time when working the butter into the dry ingredients. I used a pastry cutter to do this and it was not time-consuming at all. You can see from the pictures below that there are visible chunks of butter in the dough.

I did cut the biscuits into squares. To me that is more rustic looking which is really what these biscuits are. Also, cutting them into squares rather than using a round biscuit or cookie cutter means less waste and no need to re-spread your dough to cut more biscuits. This dough is not meant to be handled that much anyway.

The recipe called for un-greased cookie sheets. I sprayed mine. I have learned that for me biscuits stick when you don’t spray the pan.

Lastly, the recipe states to bake for 25-30 minutes. I set my timer for 15 minutes just to check on them since it was my first time making this recipe. I am so glad I did because they were done. As a matter of fact, they were just a tad darker than ideal. There was nothing wrong with them. They weren’t burned. I just like them a little lighter because they are prettier that way. For the second sheet of biscuits I set the timer for 14 minutes and they were perfect!!!

By the way, I was able to cut 16 biscuits out of the dough this recipe made. They are so yummy!

This is the dough in the bowl. Notice how sticky it looks and the chunks of butter.

You can still see the chunks of butter and notice that there are 16 large biscuits cut.

Just ready to go into the oven.

The second tray of biscuits as they came out of the oven and I had adjusted the baking time to 14 minutes.

Kitchen Tip

One of the things my friend, Linda, and I learned at the Taste of Home Live Cooking Show was how to spatchcock a chicken for baking. Spatchcocking a chicken, turkey, or Cornish hen allows the poultry to cook evenly and all the meat stays moist because it all gets done at the same time. Basically. you are cutting the bird up so that it lays flat and cooks evenly. The breast of birds cooks more quickly and can often be dry due to the fact that you have to cook the bird longer to get the rest of the bird completely done.

The following pictures were taken from Martha Stewart online. It shows the process so well and I need to give Martha credit for the photography.

Lay the bird breast side down.

Using kitchen scissors cut to the side of the backbone. You will be cutting through small bones.

Repeat the process on the other side.

Then you turn the bird over and flatten with the palm of your hand. This way the whole bird is touching the baking pan. Your bird will cook evenly and be moist. There are many recipes online for baking a spatchcock chicken. However, you can bake it as you usually do but be aware of adjusting baking times. Your bird will most likely be thoroughly cooked in less time.

Money Saver Extraordinaire!

Yesterday was a great money-saving day for me! I belong to NYSUT which is a union. NYSUT stands for New York State United Teachers. They have a Member’s Benefits department with money-saving offers, etc. Occasionally, I get mailings from them. The latest one was for car insurance group discounts with MetLife. I decided to call and get a quote. By the time I was done I had new car insurance, new homeowner’s insurance and no longer needed AAA for roadside assistance. For the same price per month that I was paying for car insurance alone, I am not getting car and home insurance. The car insurance includes roadside assistance so no need for AAA. I saved $335 a year doing this. We went through my coverage while on the phone and I have the same coverage as before if not more in some instances.

The moral of this little story from yesterday is to check on these things we get in the mail. A lot is junk. However, when you have a reputable company known worldwide and it is endorsed by an organization you belong to and trust, you just might benefit. The key here is to be selective!!!

I will see you with a new post next week. Stay warm and enjoy your days!

 

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