Saturday, December 1, 2012

Chicken Divan

1/3 c sliced or slivered almonds
1 qt chicken broth
lemon zest
4 T butter, divided
1/2 c. plus 2 T flour
1 1/2 c. rice
1 lb chicken
salt
pepper
poultry seasoning
2 T olive oil
asparagus
lemon juice
1/3 c milk or heavy cream
2 T tarragon

Toast almonds in a fry pan until golden, then reserve.
Boil 2 3/4 c. chicken broth, lemon zest, and 1 T butter. Add rice and return to a boil. Reduce to simmer, cover, and cook for 18 minutes.

Microwave asparagus in 1/3 c. water and some lemon juice.

Dredge chicken in flour, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Heat 1 T butter and the olive oil in the fry pan, then add chicken. Cook chicken 3-4 minutes on each side. Melt remaining butter around the chicken. Add 2T flour and stir one minute. Slowly pour in remaining chicken broth and milk. After sauce bubbles, add tarragon and allow to thicken another 2-3 minutes.

Serve chicken and asparagus on a bed of rice, then cover in tarragon sauce and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Reuben sandwiches

8 slices bread
butter
3T mustard
4T dill relish
8 slices swiss cheese
2/3lb ham
1/3lb corned beef
saurerkraut

Mix together mustard and relish. Spread on one side of sandwich, then layer cheese, meat, and cheese. Top with sauerkraut and other slice of bread. Grill sandwiches in butter on medium heat for 5 minutes per side.

I know the relish sounds odd, but it makes the sandwich.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

After Thanksgiving (which I am suddenly hosting this year - eeks!), this blog will take a turn. I have posted all of my unique recipes, and would now like to share my favorite recipes that others have created. My plan is to post a year of meal plans, with links to recipes where possible. Eventually, we should have 365 dinners, as well as quite a few lunches. Then I'll have a master yearly meal plan that I can tweak for my schedule, adding in new recipes where I had unfortunately planned flops.

I won't post regularly until after the holiday, but until then, here's a preview of what's to come:

*recipe is new to me, so try at your own risk

11/14 D half a recipe of split pea soup, canned tomato soup for the kids, fresh bread (baked from frozen bread dough I made earlier this month)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Split-Pea-Sausage-Soup/Detail.aspx

11/15 L ham, pb banana choc chip muffins (I'll double the recipe and freeze half for breakfast over the holiday), fruit
http://dinnersdishesanddesserts.com/peanut-butter-banana-chocolate-chip-muffins/
11/15 D spaghetti

11/16 L mongolian beef, broccoli, rice
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/09/mongolian-beef-broccoli.html
11/16 D *sausage and biscuit skillet
http://allears.net/din/recipes/rec_sbs.htm

11/17 L chicken salad wrap
11/17 D beef tips, sweet potatoes, salad
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/steak-tips-with-mushroom-sauce/detail.aspx

11/18 L pancakes, leftover smoked sausage, eggs
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-grain-pancakes/detail.aspx
11/18 D bbq chicken pizza, salad

Happy meal planning!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Chocolate french toast

I recently modified a recipe I found in a library cookbook. It was such a hit with the kids, and I thought it would be fabulous for a holiday brunch, although we'll only make this on occasions that the hubby misses a meal due to work. Chocolate French Toast 3 T butter 3/4 c. milk 2 T sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 c. chocolate chips 2 eggs 6 slices bread Melt butter and chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Add milk, sugar, and vanilla. It's okay if the mixture looks chunky, just mix it as best you can. Whisk in eggs. Cut bread into triangles, then push into buttered loaf pan (9x5). Pour chocolate mixture over the bread, making sure to cover all the bread. Feel free to push the bread down to submerge it - just make sure there's no naked bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours (or 30 minutes, if that's all the time you have before the minions demand food). Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until custard is set and edges are golden. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Monday, July 23, 2012

peanut butter snack

You know when you get to the bottom of a peanut butter jar and you feel guilty for throwing away that last tbsp that you you know you could scrape up but you're too lazy to bother? It makes a quick easy snack for kids. Simply tear up a piece of bread into bite-size pieces, stuffing them into the nearly empty pb jar. Get a spoon and stir it around, then drizzle about 1 tsp dark chocolate syrup into the jar. This ensures the kids dig around for every last bit and only adds about 3 grams of sugar to the snack. As soon as picky E. finished her snack, she asked when we could have it again! Try different varieties, like Sunbutter and oat bread. You could throw in some raisins to make it more like a pb&j. It bet it would be really awesome with banana bread!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Dairy-free Egg-free Jam Bars

For Mother's Day, I was looking for an easy light dessert, and ended up heavily adapting one from a cookbook. The result was still quite delicious, like a cross between a fruit crisp and a jelly doughnut. 1 c. oats 1 c. flour 2/3 c. brown sugar 1/4 t. baking soda 1/4 t. salt 1/4 c. sunflower oil 3 T. apple juice (give the rest of the juice box to the child watching you bake) 10 ounces tart jam (I used a lingonberry jam) Mix together all dry ingredients. Add oil and juice. Set aside 1/2 c. of this mixture. Press remaining mixture into a greased 9x9 pan. Spread jam over the top. Top with sprinkles of the reserved mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.