Chicken and Dumplings

I really like Chicken and Dumplings...and tonight is the perfect weather to have them! It's cold out and raining, it will probably be snowing soon. There is nothing like good comfort food to make the winter seem worthwhile. It's also a great one-dish meal and reason to use my Dutch Oven! Here is the really easy recipe that I use from Martha. What's for dinner tonight in your house?

Menu Planning

I've just discovered a great blog:



She has a great article on menu planning that is definitely worth checking out. I menu plan using my Outlook calendar. She does it with Google calendar and gives step by step instructions.

Do you menu plan? What method works for you?

Tangerines

Today I took the boys to my parent's to pick tangerines. There is something so cool about picking produce or fruit. You feel so connected to it. You value it more than if someone gave it to you or even if you bought it at the store. You don't want to waste even a little of what you worked hard to grow and harvest. Maybe this is why my grandmothers canned.

They boys really didn't like tangerines last year- but today they were eating them up! I even taught them how to use the special citrus clippers. We also picked some lemons and oranges I'm going to juice and freeze some in ice cube trays to have on hand for recipes. Now for some tangerine recipes. Any ideas?

Going Green at the Grocery Store

These bags are cute enough to make me want to "go green". The prices aren't bad either (5.99 for one bag or $18 for 4) The bottom one even says...

"God created the Earth and commanded us "to tend and keep it" Gen 2:15"

Ouch. Lately I've been reading some great articles on how as a Christian it really is our job to take care of the earth God has left us with. If you are interested you can read more here .

Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

If you haven't tried these yet...you should! They are so yummy! I've only been able to find them around the holidays at Save Mart (however I hear some Super Walmarts carry them as well).

In oatmeal cookies, coffee cake or even scones they are a delicious change of pace. If you like them- stock up, because they won't be back til next Christmas.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Yes- I know, I'm on a bit of a roll with the bundt cakes. I borrowed my mom's pampered chef stoneware bundt cake pan. I love it and I'm never giving it back. You can borrow it if you need it-okay mom?

On to the recipe (again from April) for her amazing coffee cake.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Mix Dry Ingredients and set aside:

2 ½ c flour
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ t salt

¾ cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 ¼ c sugar

4 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 ½ c sour cream

In large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the sour cream and mix on low speed just until the batter is blended and almost smooth.

Option Streusel Topping and Filling:
2 T butter, at room temperature
¾ c chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1/3 c brown sugar
1 ½ t cinnamon

If you use the streusel topping, pour half the batter in the pan (spray pan well- I use the spray with flour for baking) then half the streusel topping. Then the other half of the batter and the rest of the topping.

Bake at 350 for about 60 min. sometimes it takes an extra 10 min or so. (Use a really large bundt pan). If you don't have a bundt or a mom who has one you can steal- I think you could use a 9x13 but it would bake much faster so keep your eye on it.

Options- I folded in Hershey's Cinnamon Chips (I'll post about these later). You could also fold in fresh blueberries and a little lemon zest, or Cranberries and a little orange zest. April also does a version with mini chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar layered in the middle (also called a Brooklyn Bundt).

Kahlua Cake

1 chocolate cake mix
7 oz chocolate pudding (instant)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup kahlua
16 oz sour cream

Blend all ingredients until smooth, batter will be fairly thick

2 cups chocolate chips

Add chocolate chips and mix into batter

Pour into bundt pan and back in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour

Sissy - Here is my recipe, just a couple things are different. Sherri also makes this and puts a glaze over it after you take it out of the bundt. I think it's just water, sugar and kahlua that you simmer and then brush on. It makes a moist cake even more moist! Enjoy!!

Chocolate Kahlua Bundt Cake

This wasn't as good as April's version (see her recipe above).

1 chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. 3 - 3/4 ounce instant chocolate pudding
1 pint sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup Kahlua
6 ounces chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chops in mixing bowl until well blended. Fold in chips by hand. Pour into well-greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour. Let cool 20 minutes in pan then invert on cake plate. Serve warm.

Thanksgiving!! We Survived!!

This year for Thanksgiving we had Cliff's entire family (all 22 of us) up to Hume to celebrate, this is a tradition Cliff started about 10+ years ago. But, this is our first time having everyone up since we've been married. The last time they were all up was 5 years ago when we were just dating, we tried to have everyone here 3 years ago, but it didn't work out with the families schedules. So this year we decided to bring back the tradition. Now of course this year is the first year that I've been a part of the family, so there are some different expectations with a single guy hosting and the fairly new sister-in-law & daughter-in-law trying to figure out the family traditions. I think overall we did a pretty good job!

Here is a picture of the whole family out by the lake. Everything was good and most importantly I think the family was impressed, my husband said that I "rocked Thanksgiving Dinner" but what else is he going to say right? I had some great cooking advice from my wise brother-in-law who is king of great Turkey and Stuffing, the two main things you want to be great right? I brined the Turkey and we roasted one and BBQ'd the other. They both came out very good and very moist! And Cliff did a great job carving it (after he told his brother that he could take his judgemental looks into the other room while he carved)!!! Way to go babe!

So here was the menu for the day:

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Egg & Sausage Casserole

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Cranberry Coffee Cake

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Fresh Fruit

Thanksgiving Dinner

Turkey

Sausage & Apple Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy

Sweet Potato Casserole

Green Bean Casserole

Salad w/apples, cranberries & feta

Variety of Rolls

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

Pecan Pie

The kids table: I made them a Turkey Centerpiece with feathers made out of construction paper so they could write what they were thankful for, I read a few after dinner. One child had written "Barack is my Hero", good to know they are thankful for so many things! I'm not sure that went over very big, but that's okay I'll keep trying.

This is the Adult Table, our camera had been outside so the pictures I took came out blurry, this was the only one of all the cameras. But at least you can see the table.

We have had a good weekend, full of activities and of course plenty of food. I am a little tired and ready to jump into Christmas decorating, shopping and planning. But, I still need another day or two to recover. I had everything listed out to do for the last week or so and tried to make it where I only had a couple of things to do each day, until Wednesday and Thursday of course. For the most part my plan worked well. I said we were going to eat at 4:00pm and I think we sat down about 4:45pm. Not too bad, what can I say it's in my gene's!! I'm not sure we've every had a family meal on time for any Briner family gatherings!

Mac-n-Cheese

I was in the mood for some macaroni and cheese yesterday and I had just bought a cauliflower the other day (not sure why I bought one in the middle of summer) so I wanted something to use with the cauliflower. I have also been trying to find ways to get vegetables into Peter's food, since he's been on more table food I've realized that his vegetable intake has gone down in the last month.

So I made a fairly typical cheese sauce and at the same time steamed the head of cauliflower and then pureed it in the food processor. I added it to the sauce and mixed in the macaroni and you really could not even taste the cauliflower. It was really good! Peter enjoyed it, Cliff enjoyed it and so did I. Here is a link to Jessica Seinfeld's recipe, I didn't really follow this one except for the cauliflower.

Happy 30th Sissy!

Ina's Coconut Cake!

The layers are baked, the frosting is made and a dozen cupcakes are ready to go to make sure we have enough! I can't wait- hope you love it!

Edamame!

They like it! They really liked it! I've been meaning to try Edamame for awhile now- finally last night I needed a quick veggie to go with our dinner and this took 2 minutes to boil so it was fast and easy. I sprinkled on some kosher salt and really thought I would be the only one eating it. In fact, I didn't even put it on the boys' plates...but soon they were reaching for it and the four of us ate a bowlful! I'm so happy to find a veggie that the boys really love (besides carrots, corn and cucumbers)! Here's what you'll find in a half-cup serving of shelled edamame (or 1 1/8 cup edamame in the pods):
120 calories
9 grams fiber
2.5 grams fat
1.5 grams polyunsaturated fat (0.3 grams plant omega-3 fatty acids)
0.5 gram monounsaturated fat
11 grams protein
13 grams carbohydrate
15 mg sodium
10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C
10% Daily Value for iron
8% Daily Value for vitamin A
4% Daily Value for calcium

As you can see, that little serving of edamame gives you a bunch of fiber: 9 grams, about the same amount you'll find in 4 slices of whole-wheat bread or 4 cups of steamed zucchini. It has almost as much protein as it does carbohydrate. It contains around 10% of the Daily Value for two key antioxidants; vitamins C and A. And for a plant food, it's quite high in iron; it has about as much as a 4-ounce roasted chicken breast. (Info from MedicineNet.com )

Roasted Fingerlings and Green Beans

This recipe from the April Southern Living was delicious! With such easy main dishes ready to go in the freezer- it is nice to have a little extra time to spend on a special side dish. The extra tarragon dressing was great on the salad too!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

I know, I had you at the title right? These are amazing! Sissy posted about them a while back and I couldn't get them out of my mind! I made these for our American Idol (YEA, David Cook) Finale party. We topped them with ice cream (vanilla & American Idol mint cookie crunch) and homemade hot fudge -they were amazing! Here is the link to Ina's recipe with the PB, but it's really easy you just swirl the peanut butter and bake. I sprinkled a few peanuts on top for added crunch and flavor! This will solve all your chocolate cravings!

Freezer Cooking

I'm joining two friends to try out freezer cooking. We are all making three (family sized) servings of four different meals plus one side dish. Tonight we are getting together to "swap" meals. These are the four I have in our freezer-

Turkey Taco's

This recipe is my invention- but really yummy! I also use this meat for taco salad and yesterday I even threw it in a basic mac and cheese recipe for a quick pasta dish.

Pulled Pork We already ate our serving of this, and I must say it was really good. This is a great summer slow cooker recipe.

Rub:

boneless pork shoulder (about 4 to 41/2 pounds- I used two roasts for 3 families)

4 tablespoons kosher

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1/4 cup paprika

2 to 3 sprigs thyme, leaves only

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Scant 1 tablespoon cayenne (I used way less)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cook on low in slow cooker for 10 hours. Chill in fridge, remove fat and shred. Mix in favorite bbq sauce and bag to freeze. To serve: Defrost in fridge overnight, reheat on low in skillet or in microwave and served on buttered, toasted buns. Yum!

Freezer Mashed Potatoes

This is a new recipe I'm going to try- I'll add roasted garlic.

Garlic Lemon Chicken

This is a Karlson family recipe I can make with my eyes closed. It is my go-to summer recipe when entertaining because it always turns out and everyone seems to like it (and it is easy!). This works for any type of chicken but I usually use bone-in or boneless breasts.

Marinade:

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 olive oil

3 (or more) cloves of garlic, minced

1 T. soy sauce (gives chicken great color)

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

One Tablespoon fresh (or teaspoon dried) of each:

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Rosemary

I really like how this turns out with fresh herbs- but I used dried because we are freezing it and herbs turn black in the freezer.

Marinate for a few hours then grill.

Marinated Tri-Tip Steaks

Marinade:

Garlic salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/4 c. Kikkoman teriyaki sauce

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. red wine

This is a new recipe- I hope the girls like it!

I have been cooking up a storm this week (and my kitchen now needs a serious deep cleaning!). Next week I'm looking forward to kicking back and just pulling dinner out of the freezer!

Baby Shower

We had a very cute Baby Shower for my friend Jen. She's having a baby girl and that was a great excuse to have a brown/pink theme (one of my favs).

My inspiration for the food part was cupcakes! I figured that everyone woman needs an excuse to eat a really good cupcake. We used Ina's recipes for the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes and the coconut cupcakes wow were they good! We also had chocolate with pink frosting (they were really cute w/sprinkles) and white with chocolate frosting. We kept it mostly in the brown/pink theme.

Ina's Croissant Bread Pudding

We had some leftover (read stale!) croissants from the bridal shower last week. Eric remembered this recipe from Ina and decided to try it out today. We rarely make dessert unless we are having guests over so this was a serious treat. We topped it off with a carmel rum sauce and holy smokes- good stuff!

Dinner this week:

Honestly- I don't follow these recipes too closely (click on links), they are more of a jumping off point for me...

Steak Fajitas {Tyler's amazing mariade! Worth trying- also awesome on chicken}

Thai Chicken Wraps {I'll probably simplify this recipe a bit}

Philly Cheese Steaks {Never made these before- still craving beef though!}

Portabella Ravioli {in the freezer from Sam's} with chicken and alfredo sauce

Country Style Pork Ribs on sale this week at Vons {but this is an Eric meal}

Taco Salad {never fails me!} Everyone has their own version...mine is with ground turkey and a 50/50 salsa & sour cream dressing

My new favorite sandwich

Four simple ingredients:

baguette

+

raspberry jam

+
sliced brie

+

ham

= really amazing, really delicious sandwich!

After having this at a family party recently, I decided to add these to the menu of the bridal shower last weekend. They were so easy and really a big hit. I think they are perfect for a bruch or a luncheon. Plus they are great at room tempurature- so great for buffets or open houses.

* Pictures of the shower coming soon!

Menu for Bridal Shower

I'm throwing a bridal shower luncheon in 10 days and I still need to nail down so many details! I think I have my menu planned- (I would love feedback and/or ideas).


Chicken Salad on Petite Croissants
Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Brianna's Red Wine Vinaigrette
Fresh Fruit Salad
Crudités Platter
Additional Side Salads (provided by bridesmaids offering to help)
Chocolate Cake by Eddie's Pastries for dessert
Strawberry Lemonade


Now ideas for favors and games...?

I *heart* Ina

I love the barefoot contessa for her sophisticated yet back to basics approach to cooking and entertaining. I just picked up Ina Garten's newest cookbook at Costco this week. (It is about $14 less than Boarders). I love the two other cookbooks I have by Ina and this one looks wonderful as well. My goal is to try one Ina recipe a week. Tonight was her Turkey Meatloaf from her first cookbook. Meatloaf is something you either hate or unashamedly love. Since it is Eric's favorite- and I love leftover meatloaf sandwiches, meatloaf it was! Her recipe calls for 5 lbs of meat! I cut it in half it (as I usually do her recipes). It was great- but I'm really looking forward to the leftovers on toasted sourdough tomorrow!

Outrageous Brownies

Outrageous Brownies (by the Barefoot Contessa- Ina Garten)

*Ina's recipe is HUGE! It is dangerous for me to have so many brownies in my house- so this is 1/4 of her regular recipe. You could also half it. Here is her full recipe in case you are having 25 people over for dessert! (It calls for a full pound of butter!).

1/4 pound unsalted butter

1/4 pound plus 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1.5 extra-large eggs

1 tablespoons instant coffee powder

1/2 tablespoons real vanilla extract

½ c. + 1T sugar

¼ c. + 1T flour, divided

1 t baking powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cups diced walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 8 by 8 by 1 1/2-inch pan.
Melt together the butter, chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.
Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and chocolate chips with flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Sound like too much work? You can buy her mix here or I've seen it at Williams Sonoma or Crate and Barrel as well. (But it is not your betty crocker $2.99 mix- try $10.95!)

My new favorite snack

Friends, meet my new favorite snack- Mozzarella Roll! You can buy these at your local grocery store in the specialty cheese section but I've also seen them at Sam's Club. My favorite is one with spicy salami and pepperoncini inside- but they come in mild versions too. While pregnant I need quick, high protin snacks- and this is it! You could even make one yourself using Paula Dean's recipe. Everyone needs a signature appitizer- something you are known for bringing to parties and get togethers- I think this along with some other antipasto trimmings is going to be mine!

Pioneer Women's Most Favorite Salad Ever. Ever, Ever, Ever!

Do you know about The Pioneer Women Cooks? It is a great down-home food blog that you should check out. This salad just screams summer and I can't wait to give it a try. Check out her step by step pictures (and super funny directions) if it looks yummy to you.

Asian Noodle Salad

adapted from Jamie Oliver

SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 package linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small bag bean sprouts (also called “mung bean sprouts”)
3 sliced scallions3 peeled, sliced cucumbers
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet

DRESSING:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapeños, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.

Blog Abandonment

Dear Blog-
I need to apologize. I have abandoned you. Left you high and dry. Ignored you. Pretended like you didn't exist. I'm sorry. Mostly to my 3 readers- but really, truly sorry. And to my co-blogger and sister, you rock…I stink. Here I dragged you into this blogging thing- and then abandoned you too.

I can offer only two explanations for my lack of effort for the last three months…

January Resolutions- eating healthier has been b-o-r-i-n-g! Nothing inspiring to blog about has been coming out of my kitchen! (My sweet husband has lost 25 lbs though!)

First Trimester Exhaustion. I’m pregnant and things are going well, but I'm really tired. And just doing the basics around here (laundry, dinner, diapers) is about all I’ve had in me. Now that I’ve made it to my 16th week, I’m hoping my energy level is going to pick up here- soon!

I miss you dear blog and I’m really going to try to devote more love and attention your way.

Sincerely, Sara

This Week's Menu

I know it's only Saturday and I'm letting you in on the plan for dinner for the week. Here goes, of course there is always the chance that it will change if I feel like something different!

Sunday: Chili & Cornbread

Since it's SUPER BOWL, I thought I would at least make an effort to support the game and have some 'game day food' maybe I'll make some 7-layer dip or at least guacamole and chips I don't have any chips, maybe I could bake some corn tortillas and turn them into chips.....hmmm that sounds pretty good, I'll have to work on that.

Monday: Whole Wheat Ravioli w/tomatoes and basil & salad

This is one of Cliff's very favorite meals, he even likes it since I've 'lightened' it. It is really good, so it will probably appear on our menu at least twice a month.

Tuesday: Chicken Fajitas

I have a ton of red peppers, so this is a good meal to use them up!

Wednesday: Dinner with friends

I'm supposed to bring dessert, so since it will be our one dessert for the week I want to make something really good. I've been thinking about red velvet cake. Now I used to think it was weird, but then I watched Bobby Flay on 'throwdown' against a chic that made these REALLY good looking red velvet cupcakes and my friend made one in December and I didn't get to try it and was pretty sad about it I think what I really want is the cream cheese frosting, how can you really go wrong with that? The other option is a flourless chocolate cake. I'll let you know how either turn out!

Thursday: Halibut, Roasted Potatoes & Veggies

I'll probably use my wonderful new grill pan with a little lemon, maybe some thyme or rosemary for the fish. I'm trying to have fish once a week...obviously I failed last week.

Friday: Chicken/Broccoli/Califlower Casserole

This is going to be an experiment, does that sound gross to throw califlower in there too?

Saturday: This Crust Pizza

I'm not sure what my plan is for this, I want to find a homemade crust recipe that is thin crust...we'll see how it goes.

Last Week's Menu

It is kind of a funny title to post what we have eaten this last week, but I'm a little behind the game lately. Sissy and I are really big slackers! My sister the internet, blog queen...what happenend to her? What is she pregnant, working and have a couple of crazy boys to raise every day? What happenend to my 3:00am blogger? I hope that you come back to us soon. I am in need of some of those new recipes that I know you're trying.

Here is my menu from last week:

Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie, made light with Phyllo Dough

This was really good, I just made my own chicken pot pie filling and then did the phyllo dough on top, the whole thing had a little bit of a sweet, but savory taste - so good!

Monday: Chicken w/goat cheese & Basil

This is an Ina recipe, everything she makes is good. Just enough flavor from the goat cheese without being over-powering.

Tuesday/Wednesday: Down the Hill

(I did have a really good salad and pizza at CPK, how great is my husband that he splits things with me) I won't tell you what I had at Red Robbin that isn't really a part of a "healthly eating plan." :)

Thursday: Sesame Chicken w/brown basmati rice (did you get some yet sissy?) & broccoli

This was REALLY GOOD! My favorite meal of the week, and we had some good ones! Try it!

Friday: Orange Chipolte Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Chili Powder Fries & Salad

I really like these, I used my new grill pan, which is great because nothing sticks to it. It's always nice to find a new way to cook Pork Chops. I did take note on a couple of the reviews that said there wasn't enough flavor and I marinated the chops for an hour or so and added a little chili powder, garlic and orange zest, I thought they had a kick from the chipolte peppers! I love sweet potatoes this way too!

Saturday: Chicken and Dumplings & Salad

Cliff loved this! It was really good I must admit, it reminded me of something my grandma would make...looking back at this weeks menu I guess I was in the mood for comfort food. I probably has something to do with all of the snow we've been getting lately and the fact that I've been inside most days this week...I'm just starting to go crazy!

A light take on Pizza Margarita

I made a great lunch today, we needed something different than the usual Turkey Sandwich. So I had some fresh Mozzarella and Basil, yum! But, no pizza dough and at 11:15 no time for dough either. What I did have was some lavash bread (really thin for roll-up sandwiches). So I thought, why not make that into a really thin crust pizza. And that is what I did, and it was super tastey! My husband loved it, we had a couple of pieces and a half of a bowl of leftover soup and it was perfect!

All I did was spread out the lavash bread, topped it with fresh motz, tomatoes, fresh basil, a little drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and a light dusting of parm. cheese! So good and easy, it would be a great dinner with a great chicken salad or something.

Try it sometime!

It's a New Year!

2008 for us is getting back to healthful eathing...so with that in mind here is our menu for the week. I know the week is half over but better late than never!

Jan. 13-19

Sunday: Beef & Tomato Gratin, Salad

Monday: Turkey Chili w/cornbread topping @ Sissy's

Tuesday: Grilled Teryaki Salmon, Brown Basmati Rice & Stir-fry veggies

Wednesday: Leftover Beef & Tomato Gratin, Salad

Thursday: Braised Mushroom Chicken, Spelt & Bocollini

Friday: Sissy's Tacos (love these!)

Saturday: Whole Wheat Raviolis w/a light Tomato, Basil Sauce, Green Beans & Salad

Loved the gratin, it was a nice change from your typical heavy au gratin potatoe dish. Also nice to have everything in one dish. I'll post next week's menu soon.