Thai Chicken

I thought I grabbed a package of chicken breast but I grabbed thighs instead. I can honestly say I didn't know what to do with them because I have never cooked thighs. The good news, the entire package was only $4.99.

I went looking around the internet and found this recipe. I will admit that the ingredients didn't sound good together, Salsa and peanut butter??...I tried not to think about it. The reviews were positive so I threw caution to the wind and gave it a try.

The result...really good. I will make this again but I would use chicken breast next time just because it's lower in fat.

What you'll need:

6 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs, I just pulled the skin off
16 oz jar of Cilantro Salsa ~ I only had one choice so I used Garlic Cilantro~the recipe said you could use any of your favorite salsa
1/2 C Peanut Butter ~ I used creamy
1 T Chili Garlic Hot Sauce~Optional but it gave the dish some heat that I liked. You get this by the Asian food at the grocery store
2 t Ginger
2 T Soy Sauce
2 t fresh Lime Juice ~ that was half a lime for me

Put the chicken in the crockpot. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over the top of chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked on high for 4. If you used chicken with bones, pull the chicken out of crock and pull away from bones. Break chicken into pieces, toss back into sauce and serve over brown rice. Serves 4
This is what the Chili Garlic Sauce looks like. You'll find it in the grocery aisle by the Asian food.

Dinner is served

El Grande Burro

Just that title takes me back in to high school and eating at Chi Chi's. I ordered a beef El Grande Burro every single time I ate there. LOVED them!

Unfortunately, Chi Chi's was SHUT down. Shut down before I figured out exactly how to make the burro sauce. But, I think I got close.

Enchilada Sauce

Large Jalapeno
medium Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 T Olive Oil
14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis
28oz can Tomato Puree
2 C Water
1 T Chipolte Pepper
1 T Chili Powder
1/2 T Cumin
1/2 T Sugar
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper

Give the jalapeno, onion and garlic a whirl in your mini food processor or just finely chop up. I left 1/2 the seeds in the jalapeno for some added heat. If you don't like spicy, take the seeds out with a spoon. Be sure to wear plastic gloves when handling peppers OR be very careful of your hands around your face and eyes.

You can also use a variation of peppers but Target didn't offer choices so this time, you get just Jalapeno.

Put the jalapeno, onion and garlic in a pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and let it sweat a few minutes. Stir it around a little bit so nothing sticks. Add everything else, give it a stir and put on a low simmer for at least an hour to blend all the flavors. If you think it needs some more spice, add teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper.

Taco Meat

1 lb ground Beef (you can use turkey)
1/2 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic
4 t Chili Powder
2 t Cumin
1 t Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper if you're feeling Sassy

Put all of this in a pan until cooked through.

Now the special thing about a burro is that it has lettuce and tomatoes in the inside. I know, sounds gross...hot lettuce, but it just worked. So..add to your shopping list:

Bag of Lettuce Shreds
1 large Tomato chopped
4 C Cheese ~ I used Mexican Blend
Tortillas ~ I bought the ones that come with 8

Put your tortillas between two damp paper towels and microwave for about 45 seconds. Put about 1/2 C of meat, few Tablespoons of Cheese, lettuce and tomatoes and fold it up. You are going to fold like an envelope, fold in both sides and then kind of roll it up to make a packet. Put seam side down in sprayed 13x9 pan. Pour enchilada sauce on top and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake another 5 minutes or until melted.

Top with more lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream. YUMMY!!

Onion and jalapeno ready for a whirl.














Blend up the onions and jalapenos in the food processor















Let the onions, peppers and garlic sweat a bit















Sauce is ready to go














Put your taco meat first, top with tomatoes, cheese and lettuce last
















Fold in sides and then fold over kind of like an envelope














Put seam side down in your dish













Top with sauce













YUMMY!!

Beef Enchiladas

I LOVE Mexican food and with Cinco de Mayo coming up, I figured you needed a yummy recipe to try.

I made my own enchilada sauce for this one and I think it gave it that extra somethin somethin.

Enchilada Sauce

Large Jalapeno
medium Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 T Olive Oil
14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis
28oz can Tomato Puree
2 C Water
1 T Chipolte Pepper
1 T Chili Powder
1/2 T Cumin
1/2 T Sugar
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper

Give the jalapeno, onion and garlic a whirl in your mini food processor or just finely chop up. I left 1/2 the seeds in the jalapeno for some added heat. If you don't like spicy, take the seeds out with a spoon. Be sure to wear plastic gloves when handling peppers OR be very careful of your hands around your face and eyes.

You can also use a variation of peppers but Target didn't offer choices so this time, you get just Jalapeno.

Put the jalapeno, onion and garlic in a pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and let it sweat a few minutes. Stir it around a little bit so nothing sticks. Add everything else, give it a stir and put on a low simmer for at least an hour to blend all the flavors. If you think it needs some more spice, add teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper.

While that's cooking, make your taco meat. You can use ground turkey, I do that often but I had beef today so that's what I used.

Taco meat

1 lb ground beef
1/2 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
4 t Chili Powder
2 t Cumin
1 t Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper if you're feeling Sassy

Cook this all together and put to the side.

I also made a quick pan of this rice
but any white or brown rice will work. You'll need a couple of cups.

You also need about 3 Cups of your favorite cheese and the 10 pack of tortillas. I used the Mexican Blend Cheese this time.

Wrap your tortillas in some damp paper towel and heat up in the microwave for a minute. If you just bought your tortillas, you can probably skip this step because they'll be soft enough to roll.

Spray a 13x9 pan. Put about 1/4 C of taco meat off center of your tortilla, add about the same amount of rice, sprinkle with cheese and roll up. Put seam side down in pan. Continue until all 10 are rolled. Depending how saucy you like your enchiladas, you might want to hold back a cup of sauce. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, if you want the additional sauce, add now. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Top with rest of the cheese and put back into oven for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream.

Layer your meat and rice. You can throw some cheese in there too but it's not necessary. Roll up and put seam side down in your 13x9 pan. Top with enchilada sauce, bake for 40 minutes. Throw cheese on for another 5 and you are in for a treat!

Happy Easter

I told my kids that they will be having their photo taken with the Easter Bunny until they leave for college. They don't even blink when we hit the mall for our annual tradition.

Hope the Easter Bunny left you a bunch of chocolate!!

Enchilada Sauce

I am going to give you a couple of recipes for this sauce next week.

Enchilada Sauce

Large Jalapeno
medium Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 T Olive Oil
14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis
28oz can Tomato Puree
2 C Water
1 T Chipolte Pepper
1 T Chili Powder
1/2 T Cumin
1/2 T Sugar
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper

The photos below wouldn't let me comment next to them for some reason and it's really not necessary but here are the steps.

Give the jalapeno, onion and garlic a whirl in your mini food processor or just finely chop up. I left 1/2 the seeds in the jalapeno for some added heat. If you don't like spicy, take the seeds out with a spoon. Be sure to wear plastic gloves when handling peppers OR be very careful of your hands around your face and eyes.

You can also use a variation of peppers but Target didn't offer choices so this time, you get just Jalapeno.

Put the jalapeno, onion and garlic in a pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and let it sweat a few minutes. Stir it around a little bit so nothing sticks. Add everything else, give it a stir and put on a low simmer for at least an hour to blend all the flavors. If you think it needs some more spice, add teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper.

Freezes well.

Clown Cake

If you're scared of clowns, I'll see you on another day. Look away if you're scared of clowns. Ok, I feel better now that you've been warned.

I wasn't going to post this cake because it's a bit of a fright. I made a clown cake for Claire's birthday a few years back and it turned out fine. This one was for my niece Maddy and truthfully, I thought of making something else for her, but I had no time. Thankfully she thought it was fine.

For whatever reason the frosting for the hair just went limp and melted down the side. It was standing up at attention, looking quite cute and came back a little bit later and I found the scary clown sitting on the plate instead. Oh well, guess I have to admit I'm not perfect;)

How you make it:

One cake mix prepared according to directions.

Pour into a sprayed Pampered Chef Batter bowl. Bake at 350 for an hour, I think mine was actually a little over an hour. Make sure you test this one with a skewer to make sure the cake it baked in the middle. Cool for 10 minutes and then flip onto a plate. Cool for several hours and frost with buttercream frosting.




SCARY


She still liked it, bless her heart.

One bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

I decided to try a Martha Stewart recipe that I've read great things about. Claire needed cupcakes for school and this was the perfect chance to try it out. This recipe made 48 cupcakes.

What you'll need:

1 1/2 C unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 C Flour
3 C Sugar
1 T Baking Soda
1 1/2 t Baking Powder
1 1/2 t Salt
3 Eggs
1 1/2 C Buttermilk
3/4 C Oil
1 1/2 t Vanilla

Throw all the wet ingredients into your bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Add the dry and give it a whirl. Fill cupcake liners up 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for about 15-18 minutes. Cool completely. Frost with your favorite frosting and sprinkles and share with your friends.

Wet ingredients waiting for the dry



Shiny, silky batter



Lots of sprinkles...YUM



Or just frosted with a pick

Fried Potatoes

My Mom used to pan fry potatoes probably a couple times a month. And, we never had pork chops and cream corn without them:) They are good any time of day. I actually like them a lot with my eggs at breakfast.

My kids aren't big potato eaters so I don't make them very often which is kinda silly since they are really easy to make for just one person which is what I did tonight.

This recipe is for one, figured that would be the easiest because than you can just double, triple or whatever you need to do for how many people you are feeding.

What you'll need:

Medium Potato peeled and sliced thin ~ I used Russet because that's typically what I have in the house
1 T minced Onion
1 T Butter
1/4 t Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder

You can layer your potatoes in the pan but try not to go more than about 4 potatoes thick, takes too long to cook.

Turn your burner on to about a 4. Melt your butter in the pan, throw in potatoes and onions. Season and cover. You want to cover so the steam can help cook your potatoes. Check at about 2 minutes and give a flip. Keep that up for about 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are soft and crispy all at the same time. Serve
Slice the potatoes in even slices and chop up some onion
Put them in a pan with a pat of butter and season. Cover and cook on low medium heat for a few minutes.
Give them a flip and cover again
Yum

Diaper Cake

Claire and I are going to a baby shower for my cousin so we decided to make a diaper cake. Super easy and fun.

You'll need:

55-60 diapers
assorted Rubber Bands
12" Cake round ~ purchased at Michael's
Roll of It's a Boy or It's a Girl Ribbon from Michael's
Duct Tape

I counted the day I did this but can't find where I put the paper with that count. SO...here's my best guess at remembering. The bottom layer has about 32 diapers. The second layer had about 17 and the top layer about 10. There is no perfect science, it's what looks right to you.

I had also purchased a cute stuffed animal for the top but when I opened the diapers and realized they had polka dots, well..I tweaked because it didn't match and just made a bow which I actually like best anyway.


Roll up tight.












Secure with rubber band














Start small. Rubber band this many together, add another row on the outside













Keep adding until you almost fill up the cardboard circle. Remember to secure with rubber band.













Put some duct tape on the cake round.













Put some duct tape between each layer.












Isn't it cute??

History Day

History Day is an annual tradition in our school system that begins in 6th grade. Max started his project this year in the time frame that he was supposed to. He did his research, we went to the libraries, he had his general idea and then waited until 2 days before to actually start typing. He promptly lost his flash drive, but luckily had printed it out so I did step in. I helped re-type in order to get it on the board, to make it to school for grading and judging. I told him that I hoped he learned his lesson that procrastinating was NOT a good thing and next year I expected better of him.

A week later I came into the house to his smiling face. Out of 25,000 students, 4500 are sent to Districts and he was one of the 4500. So much for learning a lesson;)

On the day of districts, he was interviewed by the judges while a teary Mama watched from a distance. Another life moment that struck me how much my baby is growing up. He didn't make it to State but I am very proud of his procrastinating self. He said next year he'll work harder and if I know Max...he will.

Hopefully he'll smile nicer next year too. Apparently I was embarrassing him because I was "gasp" taking a photo.

Project...Hormel P-9 Meat Strike

Guinness Chocolate Cake

I wanted to try a new cake and found this one here. It was a very dense chocolate cake that had a twist of flavor different from a traditional Devil's Food.

I only did a half recipe because I made it in a 13x9 cake pan. I think I would use a bundt pan next time just because of how dense it was. And, you know me..I only half follow directions. I try a little bit harder when it's baking so here's my best effort.

Here is the recipe I used:

1 C Guinness Stout Beer
1 C Butter
1 1/2 C Cocoa Powder

2 C All Purpose Flour
2 C Sugar
1 1/2 t Baking Soda
3/4 t Salt
2 Eggs
2/3 C Sour Cream ~ I used light

Bring the beer, butter and cocoa to a simmer over medium heat. Use a whisk to keep the mixture moving and smooth. Cool slightly.

Pour mixture into a bowl and add eggs and sour cream. Beat with mixers until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat briefly on slow speed until barely combined. Use a spatula to fold (stir) the batter until it's completely incorporated.

Spray a 13x9 pan, pour batter into pan and cook in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes and flip onto your favorite serving dish and frost.

It called for a cream cheese frosting but I used my new favorite frosting and added 2 T Cocoa, it was delish!

Cooked Frosting
5 T Flour
1 C Milk
1 t Vanilla
1 C Butter
1 C Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens, looks like pudding when it thickens. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together with your mixer until light and fluffy~you can't cream too much, you want the sugar to basically dissolve into the butter. The longer you beat it, the better they mix. Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Now add 2 T of cocoa and whip until combined...HEAVEN, pure heaven I tell ya:)

I didn't take many photos. I don't know why. Maybe it's because mixing a cake all pretty much looks the same?? Anyway, I think the written directions should get you through.

You can usually buy just one Guinness, ask you liquor store.
Shiny chocolate mixture
Ta da
AND...my final part of this cake. I brought this into work for my friend Jessica. While getting into the building I DROPPED the cake. Yes, upside down in the container. The pretty cake was destroyed and Jessica got a trifle (broken cake with frosting in a container) instead of this lovely cake.

Gift of Money

I'm not a big fan of giving money but as the kids get older, I get it. They want money because they are saving for big ticket items or they just want cash to have in their pocket.

What I do try to do is make getting the money a little more fun. This time, I taped it together at the ends to make a long roll of money. I usually tape the first bill to a sucker or something so they grab the sucker and the money comes pulling out.

Pan Fried Sweet Potatoes

I'm still trying to like sweet potatoes because they are good for you. I have tried a bunch of recipes and while they are tasty, they aren't something that I eat much of or would make again.

This recipe, I enjoyed. This recipe I would make again. This recipe people asked for. And, it would be a nice addition to your Easter dinner.

What you'll need:

3 Large Sweet Potatoes
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Nutmeg
1 t Salt
2 T Butter
1/3-1/2 C Brown Sugar

Pierce your sweet potatoes and put on a foil lined pan..sweet potatoes ooze sticky juices so it's easier clean up. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. You want them softened but not soft. Basically when you give them a squeeze they should move just a bit. You can make these the day before if you want.

Cool potatoes and peel. Add 2 T of butter to frying pan. Slice the potatoes into slices and throw them into the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Cook for a couple of minutes. Top with 1/3-1/2 C Brown Sugar and cook for about another 6 minutes. All the flavors melt together and cook onto the slices. Taste and add more salt if you think they are too sweet.

Slice the cooled sweet potatoes
Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar. Pan fry for about 8 minutes until the flavors have time to blend
Sorry, I forgot to take a photo when I put them on the table. But I think you get the idea. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Serena

Today is Serena's GOLDEN Birthday. She will be having her party next weekend so you'll have to wait to see her cake until then. But, I just wanted to give a shout out to one of my favorite girlies...Happy Birthday Serena! Hope your day is LOTS of fun!!

Guitar Cake

Another cake that I did before blogging. This one was for my niece Mara and today is her GOLDEN birthday so I thought I'd share. Mara ripped the directions out of a magazine to show me what I needed to do, a magazine that I cannot find now.

The base of the guitar was a 13x9 that I trimmed to look like a guitar. The stem of the guitar was a loaf pan, that I cut in half so it was the same thickness as the base. Cut two other pieces for the knobs off to the side. A piece of Kit Kat candy bar and some baby M&Ms attached the stings of frosting.

I frosted with a thinned butter cream because of the cutting involved. When that hardened, I used regular butter cream to frost. It was a relatively easy cake to make and she loved it.


Happy Birthday Girlie!!

Bacon Wrapped Fillets

Is there anything better than a really good steak? Before I got pregnant with Claire I could name about 100 things that I thought were better. But I swear the second I got pregnant with her, I could NOT get enough red meat. Clearly my body wasn't going the sweet route that it did with Max. I probably ate red meat a couple of times a year but in the months pregnant with Claire, I think I ate an entire cow. Her Dad would beg for chicken to be served, lol. After she arrived, I didn't lose my love of steak.

Imagine my glee when Target was having a sale and I got bacon wrapped fillets for cheap! The added bonus is they are pretty quick to cook.

First thing you need to do is season them with Season Salt, Pepper and Accent. Give a liberal shake, pat the seasoning down, flip them over and repeat. I didn't measure, sorry, but for this size steak, probably between 1/4 and 1/8 t of each seasoning on each steak. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes to soak in the seasoning.

Get a pan out and heat that baby up for a minute or two. Throw in a tablespoon of butter, give it a swirl. Put your steak in the pan and sear for about 2 minutes, flip to another part of the pan that has been heating up. Don't flip over in the same spot, you want the heat of the pan to sear in the juices. If your pan isn't big enough to have open space, no worries, just cook in batches and make sure you use a new hot spot each time.

Put the seared steak in an oven proof pan. Put in 400 degree oven. We like our steak Medium so for this size steak, about 13 minutes worked perfect. Take out of the oven and let rest for a few minutes before serving.
Season and sit for about 15 minutes
Get your pan HOT, throw in a pat of butter and then the steaks
Flip them to a HOT spot in the pan
Put them in the pan and throw them in the oven
Dinner is served