Sticky Chicken

I think this is seriously my new favorite dinner. It is so easy and tastes great. The leftovers with the broth make a great start to chicken soup or dumplings. Or the meat makes a fantastic sandwich.

The first time I posted this, I told you to rub the seasoning on the night before. That's a great plan because you can go from fridge to crock pot in a minute. BUT I didn't plan that far ahead last time and just rubbed in seasoning and started the crock pot and guess what..I think it tasted the same.

I serve this with everything from pasta, to potatoes, to just a green salad. LOVE it. You could also season a turkey breast and get similar results. YUMMY

Here's what you'll need:

4 t Salt
2 t Paprika
1 t Cayenne
1 t Onion Powder
1 t Thyme
1 t White Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 t Black Pepper
1 Whole Chicken
1 medium Onion chopped

In a small bowl, combine the spices. If you bought a chicken with giblets and/or neck..remove those. Wash the chicken well, taking extra care with the cavity. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, inside and out. Try to make sure it's evenly distributed and that you rubbed it in well.

Place in a ziploc and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, dump onion into cavity of chicken and put in the crockpot. You don't need any liquid because the chicken will make it's own juice. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, I cooked 10 because that's how my day worked out, it was falling off the bone. Slice it up and you can spoon some of the pan juices on top if you desire. I threw the onions out.

Here's your spice mix.

Just a whole chicken, wash it, pat it dry and rub the seasoning in
Give that chicken a good rub and put in a ziploc bag and into the fridge
Doesn't this look yummy!
I cut it up, poured a bit of pan juices on top and put in the oven on warm while I made the sides. Forgot to take a "pretty" photo, sorry.

Having a Bad Day??

Actually my day wasn't "bad", I was just tired. But when I came home and saw this on the door, my day improved tremendously.

Claire is so creative. She did this with Bendy Sticks. The picture is hard to see but those girls are dancing and they have their legs kicking.

Gyro Kjome Style

I remember my kids taking a bite of my Gyro at the fair and after they said, "what kind of meat is that"? I said, "Lamb".

"ewwwww, why didn't you tell us. I think I might be sick".

"You mean like Mary had a Little Lamb..LAMB".

The horror of it all. It's what I like to call a therapy moment for my children. You know, when they are older and are sitting in their therapist's office..."and then my Mom fed me.......LAMB".

To this day I don't think Max will try anything I have unless he first asks, "what's in it"? Live and learn I guess.

So, when I put these on the table I got an eyebrow raise. "Just eat it", I said.

"But what kind of meat is this"?

"It's like steak".

"What kind of steak"?

"$15 per pound beef tenderloin now EAT it". Another therapy moment perhaps?

At any rate, it was a hit. Dinner was on the table in less than 20 minutes. And, Max even said that he'd like to try it with cheese next time. It's all about baby steps:)

What you'll need:

3/4 lb Beef Tenderloin ~ you could use a strip streak or even sandwich steak
your favorite seasoning~I simply used salt, pepper and garlic powder
Package of Flat Bread
Lettuce

Tenderloin

Sliced nice and thin. Let's hope my Father in Law doesn't see this because this is a crime in his opinion to do this to a piece of prime beef

Flat bread that I heated up in the oven for a couple of minutes. You could skip that step but I think it makes it just a bit tastier. And, if you wanted to melt cheese on the bread, now is your chance.

I cooked the meat to medium because that's about as funky as it gets with meat around here.

Serve with some fries and you've got dinner

I would throw a little sour cream mixed with salsa on mine but I'm crazy like that:)

Coconut Curry Soup

This soup was a HUGE hit. Seriously, everyone LOVED it.

It came about because I had leftover Crockpot Curry.

This is the rice I bought.

This is the chili paste I use, found in the Asian aisle.

8 C Water
6 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
2 bags Instant Basmati Rice
5-6 C leftover Curry Chicken
1 can Coconut Milk
1 T Chili Paste
1 t Salt

Bring water and bouillon to boil. Add 2 bags of rice and cook for 8 minutes. Remove bags of rice and add leftover curry, coconut milk, chili paste and salt. Bring to boil and add rice back in. Serve.

Throw 2 bags of rice into the water with bouillon cubes.

About this much leftover curry works.

Add the leftover curry

Add coconut milk, chili paste, salt and bring to a boil. Add rice back in. Serve

Mmmmmmm

Spicy Peanut Butter Pasta

It's Kristen's birthday today and we went to spend it at her cabin. Chilling, laughing and eating is how we'll spend our time:)

This is the meal she requested for dinner. Spicy Peanut Butter Pasta

2 Chicken Breasts sliced thin
3 Cloves Garlic minced
1/2 small Red Onion diced
1 Bunch of Broccoli tops cut off into pieces, discard stock
2 inches Fresh Ginger sliced thin and minced
1/2 Red Pepper chopped
2-3 T Soy Sauce
1 C Peanut Butter
2 C Chicken Broth
1 C Shrimp cut in half ~ I use the frozen precooked ones that are thawed
1 1/2 T Chili Garlic Sauce
1 1/2 T Olive Oil
1 pkg Linguini Noodles cooked according to directions

Start pot of salted water to boil to cook Linguini noodles. When the water is boiling and you've added the noodles and given a stir, throw the broccoli into the water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove broccoli and let pasta finish cooking to your liking.

Cook chicken, garlic, red onion and 2 T soy sauce until chicken is cooked through. Add Ginger and Red Pepper, saute 2 minutes. Add Chicken Broth, Peanut Butter, Olive Oil and 1 T Chili Garlic Sauce. Cook until sauce thickens a bit,just a couple of minutes. Add shrimp, broccoli and noodles. Taste, if you want it spicier add another 1/2 T of Chili Garlic Sauce, 1 T more makes it really hot...that's how I like it but it's HOT!
Here is your chicken, onion and garlic. Add soy sauce and a few cranks of pepper.
This is what your broccoli looks like chopped up, washed and ready for the water.
Add the ginger and peppers and saute a couple of minutes.
Add peanut butter, chicken broth, Chili Garlic Sauce and oil. Cook for a few minutes until combined.
This is what the Chili Garlic Sauce looks like. You'll find it in the grocery aisle by the Asian food.
This is what the sauce looks like when it's cooked together.
Here is the broccoli cooking for 2 minutes with your noodles.
Add the shrimp to the sauce.
Add the broccoli to the sauce and 1/2 T of Chili Garlic Sauce.
Fold your pasta in and you're ready to eat unless you want to go really hot...add another 1/2 T of Chili Garlic Sauce.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRIT!!

Gift Idea

Two stop shopping...Target and Michael's.

Grab some mini Tootsie Roll Pops at Target and a foam ball, terra cotta pot and paint from Michael's.

Paint your pot and let it dry. We just picked up some cheap paints at Michael's that are not too far from the pots themselves. I think any paint except water colors would work.

Put your foam ball inside.

Start pushing suckers in until you can't see the foam ball any longer. Ta DA!

Claire had a fun making this and our birthday girl loved it.

Fried Chicken Wings

Remember I said we eat the same things often. Well, we don't eat these "often" but they are a favorite for my kids and when I threw them in the pan I thought I should share the recipe again so you can enjoy them at your house too.

You'll need a package of chicken wings, salt and pepper, Crisco and a couple of potatoes, regular and sweet.
Cut your chicken wings in half and cut off that extra wing thing. If you don't have kitchen shears, the best kitchen invention EVER in my opinion, you can use a knife. But, I'd go buy yourself a pair if I were you and ONLY use them for food. OR you can leave them whole, it doesn't matter to me, I'm just making them so my kids are happy and cutting them in half makes them happy.
Here's your chicken all rinsed and patted dry. Sprinkle (not pour) generously with salt and pepper, flip the chicken over and repeat.
Here's the Crisco. I took a picture so you know that I mean the solid stuff and not oil. Oil breaks down when you're cooking and the chicken can get greasy. It's also easier for clean up because when it cools, it gets hard and you can easily scrape it from the pan. You are gonna want about an inch and half in your pan when it's melted so the wings are half covered when you throw them in. In my deep pan, it's about 1/3 a container. I don't use a thermometer so I can't tell you "the temp", I can tell you that my knob is on 8 and when the grease is melted, you can start to smell it ever so slightly probably about 3 minutes after it's melted, it's hot enough. Throw a fry in and if it bounces to the top, your grease is hot enough. Or if you put ONE wing in and it starts to sizzle fast, it's ready. If it's not hot enough, just wait a couple of minutes...that wing will taste fine, it just absorbed some extra grease. A friend told me once to throw a match in and if it's hot enough it will light? Haven't tried it but thought I'd mention it.
You can flour chicken anyway you want, sometimes I put it on a plate but tonight I used a ziploc. I put a cup of flour and a few teaspoons of salt in the bag. I threw in some wings and gave it a shake. Make sure they are well coated but give them a shake as you take them out to get off the excess, you don't want clumpy flour in the pan or on the wings.
I'm an equal opportunity fry girl and because you need to make multiple batches it's ok to mix it up. So here are sweet potatos peeled and sliced fairly thin, regular potatoes sliced thin and one that I left the skin on and sliced thin like thick potato chips. Make sure they are similar in thickness because they need to cook evenly. God forbid we have some mushy fries and some burnt ones.
Here's the chicken frying. DON'T crowd the pan, make sure each wing has it's own place to cook. I'll be honest and tell you that I have a bit too much Crisco in the pan, for best cooking..the wings should not be completely covered. They still turn out ok, you just have to watch them a bit more. You're going to cook them for about 4 minutes and then flip and cook another 4. They should be golden brown when they come out. I'll be honest and tell you that I'm always concerned that chicken isn't cook and err on the side of cooking them too long because it just makes them crunchier.
Here they are fresh out of the hot grease. Put them on paper towels to drain and immediately sprinkle with salt. Start your next batch. DON'T cover them, the crust will get soggy. Wings taste fine even when they aren't piping hot.
Here are the fries in the pan. DON'T crowd your pan, you want them to cook evenly. Stir them around until they are golden. Probably takes about 4-5 minutes, I've honestly never timed it but you all know what cooked fries look like. Sweet potato ones take a bit longer. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle generously with salt.
Dinner is served as the batches of fries come out. They each get a few and then on to the next batch and throwing them on the table as they come out. Mom usually gets to sit down as they are finishing up but they don't mind hanging and chatting because they just had their favorite dinner