Greek Marinaded Chicken

I wasn't sure about this recipe when I saw the ingredients, but went a head and tried it anyways...it was delish! It really has a great flavor, one I didn't expect! I'm planing on making this again soon! 

1 c. plain greek yogurt

2 tabl olive oil

4 minced garlic cloves

1/2 tabl dried oregano

1/2 tea salt

1/2 tea dried parsley

6-8 chicken drum sticks skin/fat removed

In a mixing bowl, whisk the yogurt, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and parsley together. Place chicken in the marinade and turn to coat evenly. Cover wih foil and place in the frig for an hour. 

Pre-heat grill and cook 10-15 min until juices run clear. Goes great with some garlic bread and a side salad!

Mustardy Chicken

I've been making a similar chicken recipe like this one for a while, and when I tried this recipe it totally blew mine out of the water! This is soooo good!!! 

You can easily roast some veggies at the same time (different pan) so they'll be done at the same time. Slice up some french bread and smear it with some yummy garlic butter and you have a tasty dinner!

1 1/2-2 lbs chicken thighs trimmed of all fat

1/2 c Dijon mustard

1/4 c pure maple syrup

1 tea. Rice vinegar

1/4 tea salt

1/4 tea pepper

1 tea corn starch

2 tabl fresh chopped rosemary 

Pre heat the oven to 450. In a 8x8" glass baking dish, arrange chicken. Whisk together the mustard, syrup, vinegar, sant and pepper and 1 tabl rosemary. Pour over the chicken and bake uncovered for 40 min. 

Remove from over after backing and immediately transfer the chicken to a serving plate. Quickly sprinkle the corn starch over the sauce in the baking dish and whisk until thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle the remaining rosemary over the chicken!

*You have to whisk in the corn starch immediately to thicken or else if wont work.

Roasted Cauliflower

I love roasted veggies! You can substitute several different kinds of veggies for cauliflower; green beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts...I chose cauliflower since we haven't it for a while. 

1 med head cauliflower chopped into floweretts 

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic minced cloves

1/2 tea salt

1/4 tea pepper

1/2 c Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 450. In a mixing bowl, drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower, add the garlic, salt and pepper and toss well. 

Place in a baking dish and roast for 25 min stirring once about half way through. When done sprinkle with cheese and serve it up!

Chile Rellenos

These are really tasty! And whats really nice is that you can make them quick, or you can put more time into them using fresh poblano chilies. We served them with home made corn bread-yum!

4 Poblano chilies 

olive oil

6 eggs

11/2 c milk

1/2 tea paprika

1/4 tea cayenne pepper

1 1/2 c. monterrey jack shredded

corn tortillas

Heat your oven to broil on high & butter a 9"x13" glass baking dish.

Wash and dry your poblano chilies, and rub them with olive oil. Place them directly on oven rack, and allow to roast until they form bubbles (blisters) on the skin. Depending on your oven and how awesome it is, it could take 5+ minutes. My oven is begging me to put it out of its misery and buy a new pretty model, so it takes 10+ minutes to roast the chilies. Turn the chilies and roast each side until the skin is bubbly all over. Remove from oven, and place them in a large mixing bowl and cover with foil for 5 minutes (this allows the skin of the chilie to "sweat" off making it easier to remove.)

While the chilies are roasting, whisk together your eggs,  milk, paprika and cayenne pepper, then set aside.

Remove the peppers one at a time. on a cutting board carefully peel the skin off. Then cut the chili in half and remove the seeds.

Once the chilies are all skinned and halved...and seeded, lay a single layer of chilies in your baking dish, sprinkle 1/2 of your cheese over the chilies, then pour your egg mixture over cheese, and then top off with the remaining cheese. Bake for 40 min. Then serve on warmed corn tortillas.

You can make this meal quicker by using canned roasted whole green chilies instead of roasting your own.

I like to top mine off with hot sauce (cholula) the kids like theirs with sour cream, minced cilantro and mild salsa. 

Baked Beans

A friend made these at her son's birthday party, and I was impressed by the way my kids wolfed them down. They're really simple, no soaking over night, no cooking in the crock pot for hours...

1 large can maple baked beans
1/2 lb ground beef/turkey
1 small onion diced
2-3 tabl yellow mustard
3-5 tabl ketchup

Cook your ground beef until browned, add in the onions and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the mustard and ketchup and baked beans. Simmer for 10 min and serve! Easy!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I went my entire life dodging Brussels sprouts, until one day a friend brought some over. I didn't want to be rude, and I didn't want to break my "not eating Brussels sprouts" streak. I chose not to be rude! I tasted one, and saw the light! Not only did they NOT taste like feet like my dad warned me, they were absolutely delicious!!! I now bless our dinner table with them once a week at least. Roasting them is one if my favorite ways to make them. Plus it's quick! (And you avoid the strange smell they can give off-like it's their last defense lol!)

1lb Brussels sprouts trimmed and cut in half

2 tabl olive oil

Lawry's seasoning salt

Pre heat oven to 400, toss your sprouts with the oil, then sprinkle a couple dashes of the seasoning salt and toss again. Dump them out on a cookie sheet and spread them evenly in a single layer. Roast 10 minutes, then stir them up a bit and roast another 10 minutes.

There you have it. Super easy peasy! 

Crock Pot Broccoli and Beef

So I mentioned how green beans are "candy veggies", I'll have to add broccoli to that! Just so many ways to make them great!
Tonight I made Broccoli and beef, we really like it, and usually will have it once a month-that's saying a lot since I usually like trying new recipes...so it was good enough to make the repeat list in our house.
I promise you wont be disappointed!

Start out with:
1 1/2-2 lbs beef sirloin steak thinly sliced
1-15oz can beef broth
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 lg minced garlic cloves
3 heads fresh broccoli florets (4c approx.)
3 tabl. corn starch
1/4 c. cold water
1 1/2 c Jasmine Rice
2 c. chicken broth
1 tabl butter
1/2 tea salt

Start by pouring in your beef broth in the bottom of your slow cooker, add soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic-whisk well. Pop in your thinly sliced beef, and slow cook 6ish hours on low.
30 min before the timer is done, add your broccoli and mix well.
Meanwhile, begin cooking your rice. Place chicken broth, butter, salt and rice in a med sauce pan over medium heat, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer cover and let cook 15 min. Check rice to make sure its done, you may add 1/4 c more chicken broth, cover and let simmer another 5 min if needed.
Extract about 1-2 c of the sauce from the slow cooker, and pour into a small sauce pan. Bring to a low boil. Stir your corn starch and 1/4 c water together and pour into your boiling sauce. Stir until it thickens and pour back into the crock pot.
Serve the broc and beef over rice!

Roasted Green Beans

Green beans are like veggie candy in my opinion. I can eat them like candy, and there are so many ways to make them from time consuming to a quick toss with some seasonings. Tonight I wanted to stray from our usual way of making them, and try a quicker way of cooking them...

1-1 1/2 lbs Trimmed green beans

1-2 tabl. olive oil

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Pre heat your oven to 425. toss the green beans with the olive oil, give a quick few dashes of the seasoning. Spread them out on a metal cookie sheet and roast them for 20 min. Turning once half way through.

Sweet Mustard Chicken

Ever heard of "Man Pleasing chicken"? Its another recipe I got from Pinterest...I didn't quite follow the recipe, and went my own way since I didn't have all the ingredients, so here's what I did, and it turned out so sooooo good!

1/3 c. syrup (any breakfast syrup you have on hand, I used Log cabin)
1/2 c. Dijon mustard
2 chicken breasts halved

Mix the syrup and mustard in a mixing bowl, place chicken in the sauce making sure its nice and covered and allow to marinade on the counter for 30 min (or until you're done prepping the rest of your dinner-took me about 20-30 min) Pre-heat the grill to med heat, this chicken belongs on the grill! Cook chicken 10min each side until its done. Keep a watchful eye that the chicken doesn't over cook. (I'm AWFUL at cooking on the grill, normally the hubs does it, but this time I took over since he was busy.)

I served ours with the "pretty veggies" and rice, to be more specific the rice is called "seeds of change" quinoa and brown rice (a super quick and healthy side when your in a pinch)

Veggie Side Dish

I've seen this on Pinterest, and couldn't find a link for the recipe, so I came up with my own. I like the idea of using thinly sliced veggies and forming them into an upright line together...makes it look pretty;)

1 Zucchini thinly sliced
1 yellow squash thinly sliced
1 large baking potato thinly sliced
1 large tomato...yep, thinly sliced too
2 table olive oil
1 large garlic clove minced
1/2 tea italian seasoning
s&p (salt and pepper)
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. shredded mozzerella

Heat your oven to 375. Place veggie in a mixing bowl, pour your olive oil over, put in your garlic, italian seasoning, s&p and mix together. (my kids call this part "fluffing together" because your gently tossing them) Arrange the veggies in a glass 9"x9" baking dish, and sprinkle with parmesan and mozz cheese. Bake for 45ish minutes and serve.
My kids especially liked this dish. We had a little left over, and I poured warm spaghetti sauce over the veggies, and the kids were in heaven!

Fruit Salad

I don't know about you, but when I'm sleeping, or half way there, I get some of the best ideas. A lot of the time I'll come up with a new dinner idea, or some clever activity to do with the kids. The other night I thought "wouldn't cinnamon be good in a fruit salad? There are so many spins on fruit salad, and I'm sure someone already tried this one, but to me its a new recipe.

You'll need:

1 1/2 c. halved red grapes (green works too, but red tend to be healthier-so I'm told)
1 pear chopped
1 apple chopped (I used Gala-our fav!)
1-2 bananas (depending on size, and how much you like 'em)
8 strawberries quartered
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (can use slivered almonds)
1/2 lemon
1-5oz container vanilla greek yogurt
1/2 tea. cinnamon)

Place fruit in a mixing bowl, squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit (this will keep it from browning and you'll be able to store it in your frig for 2 days.) then toss fruit.
Open the top of the yogurt, and stir in the cinnamon (I had enough room inside my yogurt container to do this.) pour yogurt over fruit, dump in the nuts, and mix well.

To me, the flavor of cinnamon wasn't overwhelming. It was very mild. You can add more or less if you prefer.
2 of my kiddos loved it, then there's the baby who doesn't eat solids yet, and Miss. Drama Queen who has to be dramatic about EVERYTHING...I wonder where she gets THAT from?!?

I made this to go along with the Pumpkin Spice Muffins I made for breakfast.

Cream Cheese Alfredo Sauce

Don't you just LOVE the Olive Garden's Fettuccine Alfredo??? The sauce is one of my favorite Alfredo sauces, and I figured out how to make a sauce that I LOVE just as much as theirs...I added portobello mushrooms, and garlic, you can easily skip those if that's not how you roll.

2 tabl. Butter
2 Portobello Caps thinly sliced
8 oz. Cream cheese
4 tabl. Butter
1 c. milk
6oz. Parmesan
1 garlic Clove crushed
1 tabl. minced fresh basil
White pepper to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms; cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.Meanwhile, melt the cream cheese and 1/4 cup of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in the milk and Parmesan cheese, mixing until smooth. Add in the garlic, basil, and white pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the garlic. Stir in the cooked mushrooms before serving.
Toss with your favorite noodles.

I had this recipe published on Allrecipes ---> Fettuccine Alfredo Check it out, rate it, and enjoy!!!