Tasty Tuesday: Grilled Citrus-Glazed Chicken Salad

Grilled Citrus-Glazed Chicken Salad

I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for quite some time. It takes me back to just a couple of months ago when, while the weather was cold, we did not have snow on the ground and we used our grill from time to time. Since Valentine’s Day it has been far too cold and snowy for such things.

The original chicken recipe came from McCormick’s 3-StepCooking with Flavor cookbook.

Grilled Citrus-Glazed Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 ½ c orange juice

2tbsp honey

1tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

½ tsp ground mustard

1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Directions:

1. Combine the orange juice, honey, soy sauce, garlic, lemon pepper, and mustard in a gallon size plastic resealable bag. Add chicken, seal and squeeze to coat the chicken. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat.

3. Remove the chicken and discard the remaining marinade. Grill for about 12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

4. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes and then cut into cubes or strips. Place on top of a bed of fresh greens.

*I added toasted pecans, dried cranberries and a light walnut balsamic dressing. Enjoy!

Any leftover chicken can be used for additional salads or sandwiches.

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Christmas Memories: Homemade Sugar Cookies

I was so blessed to have my mom come up for Christmas. I love seeing her interact with G. I hate that our time together is so short and that the distance between us is so far...I have dreams for it to change some day. So until that day, we soak up every second and make as many memories as we can.

One of my favorite memories from childhood was making Christmas sugar cookies with my mom. She has used the same recipe forever and it always tastes the same. It is the essence of my childhood Christmases. To my delight, my mom chose to keep the tradition going with her granddaughter.

She even brought matching aprons! Isn't that the cutest thing?!

She and G enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Granna taught G how to roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters.

We opted out of the frosting this year and just decorated the cookies prior to baking. What fun!

Homemade Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

2/3 c butter (10tbsp)

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

8 tsp milk

4 c flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cream together shortening, butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and eggs, add flour, baking powder and salt. Add the milk. Mix well and chill for several hours (or overnight).

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Flour your work surface. Roll out the dough and cut with cookie cutters. Bake until the cookies are very lightly browned (10-12 minutes). Cool, frost and decorate.

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Inside Out German Chocolate Cake

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Oh how I love holiday baking. The kitchen gains a whole new scent from Thanksgiving to Christmas. The house is always filled with some type of sweet or savory smell this time of year. We had a short notice family gathering this past weekend and with some other fantastic activities we had planned, I didn't have time to do a lot of additional baking for the family event. That's when this semi-homemade dessert came to mind.

I have to give credit to one of my fellow teachers who first introduced me to the basic concept. Her recipe calls for a Butter Pecan cake base (A.MAZ.ING!) which was the only cake mix that was not available at our local Wal-Mart. What are the chances?

Time to improvise. What else goes well with coconut and pecans? Well chocolate of course! I call this cake simple (almost embarrassingly so) and you'll soon see why...

Inside Out German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 box of German Chocolate cake mix

1 can of coconut pecan frosting

Eggs

Oil

Water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Generously spray a bunt pan (I could not find my "pretty pan" so my angel food cake pan had to suffice) with cooking spray.

Prepare the cake mix according to directions on the box. Before pouring the batter into the pan, remove the foil seal from the frosting and microwave it for about 35 seconds. Scoop the frosting into the cake batter and mix well.

Pour the batter evenly into pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan by flipping it out onto a plate or platter.

 This cake is heavenly served warm but is also perfect the next day with a cup of coffee. You can't go wrong! I hope you'll find this recipe just as tasty and easy as I have. I continue to receive compliments on the taste and I never come home with leftovers (which could be a good or bad thing, depending how you look at it.)

Happy Baking!

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Peanut Blossoms

I think one of the reasons I love the Christmas season so much is that it reminds me of the good times from my childhood. I love looking back on days filled with snow, Christmas lights, the gathering of family and of course the cooking. There are many Christmas favorites but this one takes me back to my mom every time...

Peanut Blossom Cookies

Ingredients:

48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup  Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Dash of salt
Additional granulated sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cream butter and peanut butter in until well blended. Add white sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy.

Add the egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the peanut butter mixture.

Ok, here comes the fun part!

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. I use a melon baller scoop to give me the perfect amount of dough. Pour a 1/4c of sugar into a shallow bowl. Roll the dough balls in the sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Immediately press a Kiss into center of each cookie. The cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Let cool.

Now honestly I can rarely wait for them to cool...simply because the combination of slightly melted chocolate and warm peanut butter cookie is perfection.

You could use peanut butter cups or other flavors of Kisses. No matter how you do it, I'm sure you'll enjoy.

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Tasty Tuesday: Apple Crumble

I'm alive! I know I've been out of the blogging world for a bit but life has been crazy...a good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family. The food was good. The fellowship was great. The time with my sweet little family was priceless.

I've been savoring every moment. Before I get too sappy, I wanted to be sure to share a new go-to recipe. I opted to stray from the typical pumpkin desserts for Thanksgiving this year. I had some delicious apples that I had made and frozen a few weeks ago. (You can find the recipe here.)

I chose to make an Apple Crumble. Oh. My. Word. I could literally just eat it out of the skillet. Now that I've peaked your interest, here is the recipe. (The original recipe can be found here.)

Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

6 c. of Freezer Apple Pie Filling, thawed

1 c. wheat flour
1 c. old-fashioned oats
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c, white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
12 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350.

-Coat a cast iron skillet with cooking spray.

-Spread the apples evenly in the skillet.

-In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Using your hands (seriously the best method), mix the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumble has formed.

-Sprinkle the mixture over the apples evenly.

-Bake for about 40 minutes or until the topping is browned and bubbly.

-Enjoy alone or with a scoop of ice cream.

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Simple Cinnamon Rolls

I've been a little MIA lately with a sick toddler, home projects and work consuming my days. I finally opted to take a little break and share a recipe I recently tried.

I'm a sucker for cinnamon rolls and I have a great homemade recipe...but it is pretty time consuming (although well worth the effort.) When I stumbled upon this no yeast recipe, which means no rise time, I had to give it a shot. I had everything for the rolls on hand but not for the icing. We opted for pre-made cream cheese icing and that worked just fine.

No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

For the Cinnamon Filling:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter, melted

For the Cinnamon Roll Dough:
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
5 Tablespoons butter, melted and divided

Directions:


Preheat oven to 425. 

Combine filling ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well. In a larger bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

Whisk together buttermilk and 4 Tablespoons melted butter in a separate bowl, then pour into the dry ingredients. Stir together until dough just comes together (do not over mix.) Kneed slightly with your hands until the dough forms into a ball, then slice it in half.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a rectangle that is a little larger than a piece of paper. Press half the filling mixture into the center, leaving 1/4″ of the dough clear on all 4 sides, then roll, starting with one of the short ends. Pinch together the seam, trim the ends and cut into 8-10 slices. 

Repeat with the other dough half, then place rolls in a non-stick sprayed 9×13 pan. Brush the rolls with remaining melted butter and bake for 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

Top with icing and enjoy! 

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Tasty Tuesday: Sticky Chicken

Let me begin by saying that I have had continued requests for this dish by my husband since I made it the other night. I found the original recipe here.

Sticky Chicken

Ingredients:

1lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into large chunks or strips

½ cup flour
3 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 cup panko crumbs

For the sauce:
1½ cups brown sugar
⅓ cup Frank's hot sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons water

Directions:
-Preheat your oven to 425 and line a cookie sheet with a piece of foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
-In a zip lock bag, combine the flour and chicken pieces. Shake to coat them well.
-Pour the panko onto a plate.
-In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and water.
-Dip the chicken pieces into the egg mixture and then coat well with the panko.
-Place on the baking pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
-Meanwhile, combine the hot sauce and brown sugar in a sauce pan and mix well. Bring to a boil. Allow to boil for about a minute and then remove from the heat. Add in the garlic powder and water. Whisk until smooth.
-When the chicken is baked, toss it along with the sauce in a large bowl.

I served with ranch dressing and they were delish!

Fall Is My Favorite

A beautiful fall sunrise from earlier in the week.

If I could have this fall weather all year with a few snow days mixed in I'd be one happy girl. I love fall. There are so many wonderful things that are solely reserved for this time of year. We've had a lot happen over the last week and we're working on checking off more things from our Fall Fun List.

[Apple Pie Filling]
We went apple picking the other week and I've got oodles of apples to use up. I decided to make some apple pie filling.  It's really versatile and is perfect for holiday get togethers. It freezes well and makes a good amount.

Apple Pie Filling

12c sliced and peeled apples

1/2c white sugar

1/2c brown sugar

1/2c cornstarch

2 tsp apple pie spice

3c water

Prepare the apples and set them to the side. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large pot and stir well. Bring to a boil and as it begins to thicken add the apples. Lower the heat to medium/low and mix well so the apples are coated. Cover and cook until the apples start to soften a bit (10-12 minutes). Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes. 

Scoop about 2.5c of apples into each quart freezer bag. It yields about 4 quarts. Allow to cool completely and then freeze.

[Family Pictures]

We had family pictures done and got them back this week. I'm in love. You can check out more of them here. 

[6 Years]

We celebrated 6 years of marriage on Saturday.  Our friends graciously watched our daughter so that we could enjoy a night out. 

Our view from our dinner table

We took a walk around the lake after dinner

The restaurant

Smores! 

We returned to their house and cozied up next to the fire and made Smores. 

[Trunk or Treat]

Our friends' church had their annual Trunk or Treat on Sunday evening.  I must say we have the cutest little ladybug. We enjoyed dinner and of course there was candy. We'll enjoy our church's Fall Festival this Friday.

[Fall Field Trip]

We took our class to a local pumpkin patch. They enjoyed lots of fun activities and got to take home their very own pumpkin. 

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More Fall Fun

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October is flying by! My sweet girl turned 18 months old on Sunday. It's hard to believe.

We've been getting in some fun fall things this week that include marking things off of our Fall Fun Bucket List* that I'm excited to share.

-(FFL*) We visited the apple orchard by our home and brought home a slew of apples (not really sure what that means but I've always associated it with meaning "a lot".) G loved it and enjoyed some apples of her own.

-We visited our local Apple Harvest Festival. We met up with our friends. Their son is about 3 months older than G. They are just too cute! We saw several other families we knew and walked away with some very tasty apple cider and an I.D. made for G by our local Sheriff's Department.

-Family Photos. We had family photos done over the weekend. We'll probably pick some for our Christmas cards from this photo shoot. Our friend, and fellow firefighter, Frank, owner of Frank Crocker Photography, does professional photography while not at the fire house. Check him out if you're in the Central Virginia area. I don't have any of his photos yet, but here are a few I captured.

-Pumpkin Harvest Waffles. I have to share this deliciously satisfying breakfast with you. G loves them and since they freeze well, they are also a great quick grab for rushed mornings. I've used this basic waffle recipe for a couple years now. I adapted this new fall favorite from the original recipe.

Pumpkin Harvest Waffles

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1c whole wheat flour

1c white flour

2tbsp flax seed

1tbsp sugar

4tsp baking powder

1 3/4c unsweetened almond milk

1/2c unsweetened applesauce

1tsp vanilla

1 tbsp. pumpkin spice

1c pumpkin puree

Directions:

Whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla together. Stir in the pumpkin and apple sauce. Gradually add the remaining ingredients and mix until well blended.

Heat the waffle iron. Pour approximately 2/3c of batter onto the iron and cook according to the machine's directions.

Add your favorite toppings. I prefer butter and syrup. My daughter eats them plain. My hubby prefers whipped cream. The options are limitless!

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