Rave Review - Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Please forgive me for not taking pictures of this dish!  To get an idea what it will look like, check out the original post on Allrecipes.  This was So yummy and so easy to prep!  Sometimes a crockpot meal requires some prep time on the front end but not this one!  Literally - 5 minutes and I was walking out the door to a museum!  Smelled heavenly when we walked back in the door!
I honestly forgot to add the ketchup to the mix.  It could only add to the taste of this dish.  This meal will be added as one of our favorites.
I also only used 7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs to feed the 6 of us.  We still had a few leftovers.  I think 10 would have been way to many!
Not a huge fan of fruit and meat mixed together, I only used 1/2 a can of the pineapple.
None of my changes were bad.  This recipe was so good and easy.  I cooked Jasmine rice to serve with it and steamed peas.  So easy!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup lite soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained with juice reserved
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook chicken thighs just until evenly browned on all sides. Place thighs in a slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, mix honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and reserved pineapple juice. Pour into the slow cooker.
3. Cover, and cook 4 hours on High. Stir in pineapple tidbits just before serving.
4. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Remove thighs from slow cooker. Blend the cornstarch mixture into remaining sauce in the slow cooker to thicken. Serve sauce over the chicken.

Mini Banana Muffins with Crumb topping

These were the perfect little muffins to bake for big and little friends that visited one morning!  I often have ripe bananas frozen.  When a banana gets too ripe, I toss the whole banana, peel and all in the freezer.  When I need to bake muffins or bread, I just lay the right amount of bananas (normally 3 for bread/muffins) on a plate and microwave for about 2 minutes.  The liquid from the frozen bananas is not an issue when baking.

Normally, my go to banana recipe calls for chocolate chips. But, I was out of chocolate chips!  So thanks to the power of the internet and the fabulous website called Allrecipes, I found another winner!

I baked the muffins in a mini muffin pan only because I was having guests the next day.  It is easier for a mom - and toddlers - to pop a tiny muffin in the mouth versus a regular size one.  And moms have to know how to eat fast!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Double Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Super easy, impressive and enjoyed by all - that is the perfect kind of dessert in my book.  Now if you truly dislike chocolate, walk away now.  This is full of chocolate through and through!  A local charity is hosting a "Chocolate Festival" this coming weekend with vendors, chocolatiers, and a couple of contest for amateur and professional bakers.  My daughter and I are entering selections in the amateur chocolate decadent dessert's category - Alex's Awesome Brownies and this Double Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze.  My young sons are having a difficult time understanding that all the chocolate sitting in the kitchen is not for their consumption!

Double Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze

1 box yellow cake mix

1 large box instant chocolate pudding

1 cup oil

4 eggs

8 oz. sour cream

6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions For Cake

Mix above ingredients with spoon in the order given. Bake at 325 degrees F for 60 minutes in a lightly oiled bundt pan.   May need to bake 5 minutes more until middle no longer moves when pan is jiggled.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

This is so amazingly simple!  Melt chocolate chips (I used semi sweet) and add room temperature butter - YUM!

1 cup chocolate chips melted (I use the microwave method)

Add 3-4 tablespoons of room temperature softened butter

Pour over cake.

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White Fish (wahoo) with Italian Bean Bouillabaise

I love feeding my husband.  He enjoys food and is my biggest fan.  The other day he passed along a recipe he found.  As he laid wahoo (fish) out of the freezer last night to thaw, I knew I was going to give this recipe a whirl.
This fancy sounding dish is very simple.  The only ingredient I didn't have stocked in the pantry was green olive tapenade - and I was determined not to run to the grocery store for it.  Thank goodness for the world wide web - I found a recipe on how to make your own tapenade.  Yeah - I had 90% of the ingredients on hand, thus would make do!
This recipe to make your own tapenade called for anchovies.  Believe or not, they are on my pantry shelves.  My sweet husband enjoys adding them to store bought pizzas (as well as other toppings).  After tasting the dish, he even agreed they could have been left out of the tapenade.  That would have been the only change I would have made with the dish overall.
This recipe was part of Harris Teeter's seafood recipes they email their "seafood club" each week.  Thus the heavy suggestion for Harris Teeter products.  I served it over Jasmine rice.

White Fish and Italian Bean Bouillabaisse

Serve with oyster crackers, french bread and a glass of Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon. Ingredients: 2 lbs Harris Teeter Fishermans Market haddock or cod (skinned, deboned, and large diced) 1 medium Harris Teeter Farmers Market onion, diced 2 Tbsp garlic, minced 2 ribs Harris Teeter Farmers Market celery 4 oz H.T. Traders green olive tapenade 2 cups Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon 28 oz Harris Teeter canned diced tomatoes, fresh may be used 16 oz Italian white beans, drained 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped 2 oz Parmesan Reggiano, grated 4 oz Harris Teeter olive oil sea salt cracked black pepper Directions: In large heavy bottom saute pan, over medium high heat, saute onions, garlic, and celery until translucent. Add diced whole fish and tapenade, cook until fish is tender. Add Hogue Cabernet, tomatoes and white beans, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add parsley and parmesan, adjust salt and pepper to taste, serve with rice or pasta.

What's for Dinner Oct 2 - 8

I just pulled recipes out of several magazines and was actually putting them away when I thought - YUM! - perfect for this week's menu!

Sunday:
Roast in the crock pot with gravy
Mashed potatoes
Fried Green tomatoes
Salad

Monday:
Lazy Baked Greek Chicken (from Rachel Ray)
Pasta
Greek Salads

Tuesday:
Chili
Cornbread
Salad

Wednesday:
Four Cheese with Bacon Mac and Cheese
Salad
Fruit Salad
Steamed Broccoli

Thursday:
Eat out with gift certificate (love Groupon!)

Friday:
Company Fish
Pasta
Steamed Green Beans
Salad

Saturday:
TBD

Sweet Salsa Chicken - In the Bag and to the Table!

This is one of my favorite kinds of meals!  I pulled the bag out of the freezer this morning.  After it was thawed, I pour the chicken and sauce into a baking dish, popped in the oven and our main dish was ready!  And it was DELISH!
I'm not a fan of the term "dump chicken" - just sounds bad.  So from here on, I will refer to this as chicken in a bag!  Several weeks ago, I had purchased several packages of skinless, boneless chicken breast.  Some were baked at that time for dinner, others went into chicken pies or soups.  And 3 of them were made into this great recipe - Sweet Salsa Chicken.  Of course, I didn't have all of the exact ingredients on hand so I improvised - and it worked!
The basic recipe is chicken breasts, apricot jam, and salsa.  Throw all those ingredients in a bag and freeze.  Thaw and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  How easy is that!
My version:
3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut in half (easier portion size for my family)
1/3 cup apple butter
1 1/2 salsa (I used medium and it had some kick - would use mild next time)

Toss all of the above ingredients into a large ziploc bag.  Freeze.
Another option is to marinate it overnight or at least 8 hours.
If frozen, thaw completely.  Bake at 350 degree for 30-35 minutes.  Enjoy!

We enjoyed this dish with a side of black beans, salads, and tortilla strips!

Beef and Barley Soup - bring on Fall!

  
  Waking up to a dreary sky, drizzling rain just screams SOUP to me!  Deciding which soup to make was the harder decision.  I could eat soup for 7 days and be happy! (My family probably wouldn't agree - so we haven't taken that challenge!)  And the winner for today was -Beef and Barley, in the crockpot - bonus for a Saturday!
     I pulled up the recipe I used for Beef Barley Stew and Easy Hamburger Soup and switch them up a bit.  Soups to me are honestly an easy entree to make - kind of like a quiche or an omelet.   A great vegetable soup is essentially emptying out the crisper in the refrigerator!
     So here is what I came up with for my Beef and Barley Soup - and it was DELICIOUS!  Kids all ate TWO bowls, full of veggies and goodness!

Beef and Barley Soup
1lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped into small pieces
3 Beef Bouillon cubes
1 can diced tomatoes - juice and all
1 can corn - don't drain
3 tablespoons oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups water (may need to add another as it cooks)
3/4 cup barley (uncooked)

Brown hamburger in skillet with onions.  Add everything BUT barley into crockpot.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Add Barley 3 hours prior to serving to allow for it to cook.  If it becomes too thick while cooking, add another cup of water.

Enjoy!