Engagement Chicken

Whether you're looking for that special someone to pop the question or you just want a different and delicious way to cook chicken, this recipe is for you! The real recipe is found here, but I didn't feel like adding all those garnishes, so I simplified it a bit and added lemon juice to the sauce.

Ingredients:

1 whole roasting chicken
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 or 3 whole lemons
salt
pepper

Method:

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2.) Remove giblets and rinse chicken thoroughly, inside and out. Make sure it's dry-ish (like no puddles of water left inside)

3.) Pour the lemon juice all over the inside and outside of the chicken.

4.) Salt and pepper the chicken, inside and out.

5.) Prick the lemons with a fork a few times all over, then place them inside cavity of the chicken. I only needed two lemons and I had to shove pretty hard to keep them inside. I think I broke a few ribs, so don't be shy about getting those lemons to stay put.

6.) Place the chicken breast-side down in a roasting pan with a rack. Bake for 15 min at 400 degrees F.

7.) Take the chicken out of the oven and flip it over. My chicken wasn't too hot, so I could do it with my hands, but a pair of tongs or wooden spoons works too. Reposition the lemons if they fall out.

8.) Lower oven temp to 350 and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the weight of the chicken. The recipe gave an equation of 18-20 minutes per pound plus an extra 15 minutes because it's stuffed with lemons.

9.) When the chicken is cooked, let it rest for 10 min. before serving. Take the lemons out and squeeze them into a bowl. They'll be nice and soft and everything will come out easily. Pour the drippings (which they called "marry me juice") into that bowl as well and pour the concoction over the chicken as you eat it.
10.) YUM!!!!

Glass Block Holiday Jello

So, I looked this awesome recipe up. It can be made for ANY occasion. Heck, it can be made anytime! I used this recipe for Easter. It was SO delish and you get so many compliments. I call it "mosaic jello".

Glass Block Holiday Jello

4 3-oz. packages assorted Jello (in coordinating colors)
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Spray 4 small food storage containers (like Tupperware/Gladware/Rubbermaid) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Bring 5+ cups of water to a boil. Combine 1 c. boiling water with 1 package of Jello, stirring until dissolved. Place the dissolved Jello in one of the prepared containers. Repeat with the remaining packages of Jello. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferable overnight.

When the Jello has set, bring another 1 1/2 c. of water to a boil. While the water is heating, sprinkle 2 packets of unflavored gelatin over 1/2 c. of cold water. Allow to stand for about 4 minutes. When the water is boiling, pour 1 1/2 c. boiling water over the dissolved gelatin and stir to combine. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Allow to come to room temperature.

Lightly spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully cut the colored Jello into cubes and gently toss to combine in the 9×13″ pan. Pour the cooled milk mixture over the colored Jello and, if necessary, rearrange some of the colored Jello to make sure it is evenly distributed and not sticking out of the white mixture too far.

Place the 9×13″ pan in the refrigerator and chill overnight. Cut into squares, rectangles, or various shapes with cookie cutters and serve.

Low calorie fruit smooties

These are super yummy, healthy, and low calorie.  They are great treats for Weight Watchers (only 3 pts on the new system, 2 on the old system), and are low carb too.

Ingredients:

1 c. (8oz) 1% or skim milk
6-8 fresh strawberries, or about a cup of a fresh fruit(s) of your choice*
1 tsp. vanilla extract (imitation vanilla is fine too)
6 ice cubes

Throw it all in together, blend, enjoy!

*Frozen berries or fruit work fine too- and won't change the calorie amount as long as they aren't sweetened.

If you have an 'ice cream' craving, put it in a glass or bowl after it's been blended and stick it in the freezer for an hour.  Yum!!

Steak Pizzaiola

It's fun to say (Steak Pete's-eye-Ole-uh), easy to make and less expensive than it sounds!  I discovered steak pizzaiola by watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond.  I also discovered braciole by watching this show, which I haven't tried yet since it looks kind of hard and messy.

Steak Pizzaiola
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• cooking oil 
• 4 small steaks (I used chuck steaks I found on sale)
• 1 large onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• hot cherry peppers (I didn't use these, but I did add a dash of red pepper flakes) (optional)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 28 oz can or 2 14 oz cans peeled plum tomatoes or diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Don't use olive oil at high heat because it scorches and tastes gross. 
2. Add the steak and brown well on both sides.
3. Meanwhile slice the onion and mince the garlic.
4. Remove the steak from the pan and reduce heat to medium.
5. Add olive oil if you need it, the onion and garlic and cook for about one minute.
6. Add the hot cherry peppers, if desired, and then the tomato paste.
7. Roughly chop or squeeze the tomatoes and add to the pan along with the spices.  The recipe was vague, so I didn't drain the tomatoes, which worked out well. 
8. Bring to a boil, put the steak back in the pan. Cover and lower to a simmer.
9. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours until extremely tender.  This depends on the amount of meat you have.

We cooked up some pasta to eat with this.  It was good!  

NOTE:  Because you're cooking the heck out of the meat, you can use really tough ie: cheap steaks.  The recipe originally said to use one 3 lb steak, but we used 4 quarter-pound steaks (there's only 3 of us after all) so we only needed to simmer it for 45 minutes.

 

Chicken Divan or What Am I Going To Do With All This Leftover Turkey??

With Thanksgiving over, I find myself with about eight pounds of frozen turkey sitting in my freezer.  I have made about a billion turkey sandwiches and a couple of gallons of turkey soup.  So, now I am on the hunt for good recipes that will use up that turkey.  This is one that has been a family favorite forever and translates well from chicken to turkey.  I recently tried a recipe for chicken a la king, which didn't work out so well, but I will keep trying and will share the good ones here.  So, to business.....

Chicken (or Turkey) Divan
Serves 4-ish

Ingredients:

2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast (about 2 breast halves)
1 12-16 oz package frozen broccoli
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/4 c lemon juice
1 can cream of chicken soup (cream of mushroom works ok too)
1 tsp mild curry powder (or more if you like)
cheddar cheese
croutons (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1. Cook frozen broccoli.
2. Mix mayo, lemon juice, soup and curry powder in a small bowl
3. Put chicken and cooked broccoli in an 8 x 8 baking dish
4. Pour soup mixture over top.  At this point I usually stir things up a bit, so the sauce gets all over everything
5. Grate cheddar cheese over the top (In my house, if you can still see broccoli or chicken, there's not enough cheese :) )
6.  Add croutons if you want.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes till cheese is melted and bubbly and a litte browned.
Serve over rice

French Fruit Pie

Yum! This is my favorite pie! My brother loves it so much that he requests this for his birthdays instead of cake!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c. whipping cream (the real stuff you whip yourself)

1 can (1 lb 4 oz) pineapple chunks

1 lg. pkg vanilla pudding mix (not instant)

1 can (11 oz) mandarin orange slices

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 c. milk

1 banana, sliced

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 graham cracker crust (regular size, not large)

Follow these carefully- ignore the directions on the pudding packet, because this recipe uses a different amount of milk than regular pudding.

Combine pudding mix, milk, and 1/2 cup only of cream in a small saucepan. Cook on medium hight heat, stirring constantly, until mixtrue is thick. Chill. Beat remaining cream with sugar and vanilla until stiff in medium bowl. Beat chilled pudding until creamy-smooth, then mix into whipped cream slowly (don't beat hard- use a slow setting on mixer or just stir it by hand). Pour mixture into graham cracker crust and chill. Drain and measure juice from the pineapple and mandarin orange cans to make 3/4 cup (usually just the juice from the pineapple is enough). Stir a little of the measured juic into cornstarch until smooth in small saucepan, then add remaining juice (from the 3/4 cup). Cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils (it will go from foggy to fairly clear). Let cool slightly while arranging fruit. Arrange pineapple chunks, orange segments, and banana slices into 6 even wedge-shaped sectons on top of pie filling. Spoon warm glaze over fruit and smooth evenly. Chill at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

** can also make this recipe with mixed berries for a yummy variation. I have used raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and pomegranate seeds. When I use berries, I mix them all together for the topping, rather than doing sections. Fresh berries are great, but defrosted frozen berries also work well- and provide you with the juice you'll need to make the glaze.

The Best Mint Brownies on the Planet!

For those of us that went to BYU, I'm sure you'll remember the Fantastic mint brownies at the Creamery.  This is the official BYU mint brownie recipe (don't ask me how I got it.......ok it's posted on their website) and it is my new favorite dessert.  I'm a chocoholic and I ALWAYS keep brownie mix in the house in case of chocolate emergencies.  My poor husband is sick of brownies because of this, but when I found this lovely recipe, he didn't mind the brownie-baking so much.

BYU Mint Brownies

MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.
PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

Ingredients:

BROWNIES:
1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe or purchase some chocolate frosting. You can also search the Internet for chocolate icing recipes.)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract (Note: don't accidentally buy peppermint extract...it just isn't the same)
1-2 drops green food coloring

Method:
1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.
2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.
3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing (Note: by short time they mean at least 30 minutes). Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.


PS:  If you are lazy like me, you can just do a box mix and then follow the recipe for the icing. It turns out almost as good as the "from scratch" recipe.  Also, the corn syrup isn't super-important in the mint icing, so you can skip it if you want and just add a little extra milk if it's too stiff.