Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

*aren't they gorgeous? I took this picture right before inhaling half the cookies. So.Good. 

I get into these obsession-loops… basically, where I fixate on a particular ingredient or recipe and I can't stop thinking about it until I make it... especially when sweets are involved. Normally, I'm a regular old chocolate chip cookie kinda girl, but I went out for lunch with my sister-in-law recently and tried an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

It was ok, but just ok, and I thought for sure I could find a better recipe to make at home. I obsessed about it for a week before finally looking around, and this one from Allrecipes is really fantastic. Here is my take on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

What you need:

1C butter, softened

1C brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2C white sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4C flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3C oats (I used old-fashioned)

1/2 C semi-sweet MINI chocolate chips (I add my chips by sight, you should too. Most recipes call for WAY too many chocolate chips.)

What you do:

Start by preheating your oven to 325 (or 350 if you're me and don't pay attention to anything ever).

Cream butter and sugars together until smooth, then add vanilla and eggs. Keep mixing until everything is nice and smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda,  and salt.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until just blended.

Add oats and chocolate chips, again stirring until just blended.

Drop heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges start to look golden.

Cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling (if you can resist eating them immediately…).

These cookies freeze and reheat very well!

Guilt-Free Apple Crisp

*sadly, not my photo. I found it on Allrecipes.com by googling "Apple Crisp". Mine totally looked this good though. I will prove it next time I make it! :)

About a month ago, I had a crazy hankering for apple pie. If you know me IRL, you'll know how bizarre and unlikely that is, given I don't actually like pie, especially apple. But anyway, there I was with no dessert in the house and a bunch of honeycrisp apples on the counter. No way was I attempting to make pie crust from scratch, so I googled until I found this Apple Crisp recipe from Chowhound. It ticked enough of the boxes that I decided to try it.

I have to say up front, however, that I did not actually follow Chowhound's recipe very closely, because it seemed to take what could be a relatively healthy dessert and make it into a relatively unhealthy one in a few steps. So, if you're looking for a LOT of sugar and butter with your apples, use the original. Mine's a little more spartan, but it turns out amazing every time and it's totally easy.

Also, the recipe below makes like 4-6 servings... if you want to make a smaller batch, just use fewer ingredients; you'll have to play around with it a bit to get the amounts right. Sorry, I know that's  not very helpful...

Start by pre-heating your oven to 350F.

What you need:

6 medium honeycrisp apples (I assume this would work with any apple, but I prefer the sweeter, crunchier varieties and honeycrisp is my absolute favorite)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 C brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 C uncooked oats (I used old fashioned)
1-2 Tbsp butter, cold or room temp, plus a little more to grease your dish with

What you do:

Lightly grease an 8x8 glass dish with butter (canola oil or spray would work fine I'm sure).

Peel and cut your apples, either into 1/4" thick slices, or small cubes.

Add cinnamon and salt and toss lightly until apples are coated. Put apples into greased 8x8. Set aside.

In separate bowl, mix together butter, oats, and brown sugar. You may need to add a bit of extra butter; you want your mixture to be a bit like wet sand.

Once you have a consistency you like, spread mixture evenly over top of apples in 8x8 pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the apples are soft and the topping is crunchy(ish).

Cool for a few minutes before serving. Apparently, it's great with whipped cream or ice cream, but I never get that far... I just eat it immediately the way it is.

Chicken Creole

A while back, I shared my version of this recipe for Shrimp Creole by Never Enough Thyme. It was a weekly staple at our house for quite a while, but eventually it faded as these things tend to do. I was recently stuck for dinner ideas and decided to try making it again, but I realized after I started that I didn't have any shrimp at home. Solution? Make Chicken Creole instead! So that's what I did… and the hubs and I both like it better than the shrimp.

What you need:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (bscb), trimmed and cut into cubes

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 C yellow onion, chopped (not as fine as dicing, but smallish pieces mmmkay?)

3 small celery ribs, chopped (see above.)

1 green pepper, cored, seeded, chopped (see above the above)

3 garlic cloves, minced. I used 3tsp of pre-minced garlic from a jar... you use what you like.

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (I use Meijer organic petite diced)

3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried, but trust me, use fresh!)

2 bay leaves

12 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 servings of rice (we now use quinoa or  a combination of the two. It's awesome.)

What you do:

As advertised, trim anything undesirable and cube your chicken. Ideally, cut your chicken to the size of standard sugar cubes.

Cook chicken in a pan with a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Normally I will cook it until it seals, then take it off the heat and set aside. Always check your chicken's internal temp before eating!

Prepare your rice /  quinoa  / grain mix. You'll want that ready to go when the Creole finishes.

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan, then add the onion. Cook until the onion softens, but do not brown. Add celery, green pepper, and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the veggies are softened.

Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Stir, then add your chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, stirring often. You'll want some, but not all, of the liquid to evaporate; I would say this is one of those "evaporate to taste" kind of situations. Personally, I like it a little saucier, but you might want it drier. Your call.

Using a meat thermometer, test a few pieces of chicken to ensure they are cooked through (165F). If not cooked through after 10 minutes, cover and leave to simmer another 3-5 mins, or until meat is cooked.

Once cooked, remove from heat and let rest for a few minutes before serving over rice. Feel free to garnish with parsley if you're so inclined… I can't be bothered. 

For my take on Never Enough Thyme's Shrimp Creole recipe, click here.

Apple Spice and Everything Nice Muffins

*Yes, those are my muffins... a variation written below for your baking pleasure. Sidebar: don't buy those recipe cards! They're too thick and awkward... I really don't like them. 

About a thousand times a year, I lament the fact that I can never find really good muffin recipes. Like, you know those muffins you get at the coffee shop, or even from McDonald's... the big, fluffy, slightly sticky ones that are always way tastier than they probably should be? Like that. Every muffin recipe I have at home has been kind of meh. So I was really pleased when I had an insane apple-muffin craving last week and stumbled upon this wonderful recipe by Once Upon a Chef. 

My friend Kali over at Kali Kat Corner both made these on the same day, with different results (all good, though). Kali's (mostly) a vegetarian, and her blog is chock-full of amazing veg-oriented recipes. Please, take a moment and check her out. 

(...Don't worry, I'll wait. You'll be back for these amazing muffins, after all...)

Ok. Ready?

What you need:

1/2C butter
1/2C white sugar
1/4C packed brown sugar (dark)
1 egg
1C sour cream or plain yogurt
2C flour (I used AP, recipe suggested 1C each of AP and WW)
1tsp b.Powder
1tsp b.Soda
1/4tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp cloves
2C peeled and diced apples (dice 'em how you wanna eat 'em)

A bit of extra brown sugar for sprinkling purposes

  

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Blend butter with both sugars until fluffy
• Blend in egg, then blend in sour cream / yogurt. Batter will look grainy.
• In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and spices
• Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring just until blended
• Add apples and stir until blended
• Scoop batter into cupcake papers
• Sprinkle each with brown sugar
• Bake 20-25 mins or until tester comes clean
• Cool on wire rack (but eat at least one while it's warm)

Variations:

• use 2C of mashed banana instead of apple
• use a combination of mashed banana and diced apple, 2C total
• add mini chocolate chips (to taste) to any of the above
• use a combination of banana and apple AND add mini chocolate chips (I did, as pictured... So good!!)
• use mashed banana and add peanut butter chips (to taste)
• make something up and tell me all about it!

I really think this is going to make a great base recipe for all sorts of muffin types... Carrots? Berries? Mangoes!? You can always leave out the spices, too, and you'll have more of a white-cake style base... which would be great for all kinds of other applications. The sky is the limit here... enjoy! 

Mrs. Cameron's Home-Ec Muffins

*Yep, my picture and my muffins. Yum!

In middle school, we all had to take Home Economics (Home Ec). I don't remember learning much that was useful... We mostly made really terrible food and learned things like how to balance a chequebook.

Our teacher, Mrs. Cameron, was a very fancy lady. She was big and had huge blonde 80s hair and long nails and she always wore makeup. I remember she really seemed to like teaching, though she didn't seem to care much for children. 

Anyway, this is the one and only recipe we made in Home Ec that seemed worth repeating. Don't limit yourself to chocolate chips*, either... I've added blueberries and I've made these with gingerbread spices. The recipe is just for the basic plain-cake muffin... The rest is up to you. 

What you need:

1 1/4 C Flour (AP)

3 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/3 C White Sugar

1 Egg

1 C Milk

1/3 C Canola Oil

1 C Chocolate Chips*

What you do:

-In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture. 

-In another bowl, blend the egg, oil, and milk. 

-Pour the wet ingredients into the "well" in the dry ingredients. Stir batter until just blended and no lumps. Do not over-mix.

-Stir in chocolate chips.

-Fill paper muffin liners 2/3 full. Bake for 16-20 mins at 400F (or until tester comes out clean.

-Cool on wire rack. 

Crispy Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

*Yep, I ate these. They were delish.

I had my mind blown today by an article in The Awl about using the microwave. The article also included a method for making sweet potato chips (and others, including beets) in the microwave.

In retrospect, I'm not sure why I was so surprised by how well this worked. After all, I used to make pita chips* all the time in almost exactly the same way. I guess I just never thought of it for vegetables before.

Anyway, my chips turned out extremely crispy and crunchy, which is exactly what you want in a sweet potato chip right!? Obviously, they're not quite the same as a fried chip, but I suspect these are a bit healthier (and, they had more sweet potato flavor, which I consider a bonus). I only prepared a sweet potato; it's up to you to read the original article if you want ideas for using other veggies.

What you need:
A sweet potato, or several, depending.
Olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Seasoning, if you're into that.

A mandoline slicer will help you immensely for this recipe. If you don't have one, you'll need to slice your sweet potato very evenly and super thin. I wouldn't recommend a knife; a vegetable peeler might be better.
You'll also need some paper towels, a microwave-safe plate or dish, and... duh... a microwave.

What you do:
Wash and dry your sweet potato. Leave the skin on, obvs.
Using your mandoline, slice the sweet potato into even, thin slices.
Place the slices in a single layer on a layer of paper towel. Place another layer of paper towel on top and press gently to dry your slices. You'll never get them totally dry, so don't try, just get as much as you can by blotting and move on.
Toss your slices in your oil or spritz the oil on if you've got a mister. You want to coat each slice but you don't want them dripping oil.
Place a fresh layer of paper towel over your microwave-safe plate.
Next, put a single layer of oiled sweet potato slices on top of the paper towel.
I recommend salting at this time, but you can play around with this. ((My first batch I salted after I finished cooking them and the salt didn't stick. The second batch I salted at the halfway mark, and they were a little saltier. Next time, I'd salt them right at the oiling stage.)
Put the plate in the microwave and cook on high for 2-3 minutes**.
Remove them from the microwave, flip each slice, and put back in for 2-3 minutes on high.
They're going to get a little brown in the middle. That's ok; just don't let them get too brown. Obviously, this means you have to watch them fairly closely while you make them.
Once cooked, take them out of the microwave and just let them rest*** for a few minutes. If you're using a seasoning, now's the time to add it.
Once they're cool, you can eat them right away. I have no idea how you'd want to store these yummies but I will update this recipe once I've tried a few methods. Feel free to leave suggestions below. :)

*To make pita chips: cut pita bread (the kind that is like a pocket) into pieces of the desired chip size. Place pieces on paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and nuke them for however long it takes for them to get crispy; I haven't done this in a while but I feel like I was doing 1-2 minutes on high per side in the past.

**As the original article says, all microwaves are different so you may need too experiment with cooking times. I did 3 minutes on high on one side, 2 minutes on high on the other. I tried 2:30 on the second batch and half of them burned... so play around and see what works for you.

**I actually used my wire baking rack to help cool them; I just lifted the paper towel and sweet potato slices right off the plate and set them on the rack. If you don't have a rack, you might consider putting another paper towel layer down on a cutting board or other flat surface and lifting your microwaved paper towel and sweet potato onto it.

Tasty Protein Smoothie

*That is my empty blender bottle. I liked my smoothie so much I guzzled it before I remembered to take a pic. Oops. Yum. 

I'm a huge advocate for eating "real food". I think it's important to practice portion control, eat a healthy variety of foods each day, and always avoid "pills, powders, and potions". 

I really mean it. I'm not going to put a big lecture here about why I'm against supplements and the three Ps; that's not what this blog is about. However, I am about to post a recipe for a smoothie that uses protein powder, so I figured I'd best explain it a bit. The brief version: I needed to make a radical change in order to actually lose pounds on the scale, so I chose a specific, short-term plan and incorporated a protein supplement in order to shake up my metabolism (or whatever it is that is helping me to lose... and it is, by the way, helping). I do not advocate using supplements or any of the three Ps long term, but I do believe that within a defined, short-term diet plan, they can be useful. 

The issue with using protein powder is it tastes awful and feels gross in your mouth. I hate it. It makes me gag. But I have found with this particular recipe that I not only tolerate but actually enjoy getting my protein in, and the added bonus is it satisfies me for a very long time. I'm less likely to indulge or over-eat after I have this smoothie, so I'm trying to have it regularly. 

What you need:
1/2 C of cold, strongly brewed coffee, plus a little more
1/4 C of 1% milk
4 tsp granulated sugar
1 scoop of chocolate-flavored protein powder. 

Approx 1/2 C ice cubes

Blender

Blender Bottle

Notes: 

Regarding the protein powder: I use Optimum Nutrition's Platinum Hydro Whey (chocolate). I admit, the reason I'm using it is that we had some in the house already from our former weight-lifting days. There may be better options out there for weight loss, but I have found that in terms of meeting my current specific goals (filling, low calorie, tolerable on the palate) it's fine. 

I brew a large pot of coffee on the weekends for use during the week. I use Panera's Italian Espresso because I find it good and strong without being too bitter. I put it in the fridge in a pitcher unsweetened once it has cooled.

What you do:

In my blender bottle first, I mix the coffee, milk, sugar, and protein. Shake vigorously, until the powder is (mostly) mixed in. I then add enough ice cubes to bring the total volume in the bottle up to just below the lip, then dump the entire mixture into my blender. If you're doing it this way, do not forget to retrieve your blender ball before you turn on the power blender. Metal in your shake? Not delicious. 

I use the "ice crush" setting on the blender and blend the hell out of the ingredients. It gets kind of frothy, which I think is a good thing. Once it's all smooth, I pour it gently back into my blender bottle. I use a big plastic straw so I can drink while I'm driving. Up to you how you get it into your mouth. 

That's it. The great thing is, it's about 240 calories and it fills you up for hours... I'm normally so full that I only want a little fruit or veggies for lunch, and I'm good until dinnertime. What I love about this recipe is that you honestly cannot tell there's protein in the smoothie at all... it gets so well-blended, it's just like drinking an iced coffee. Plus, I get my caffeine fix too. :)

One thing: be sure to hydrate well throughout the day. I've heard protein powders can have some less-than-ideal side effects in terms of digestive regularity. So drink lots of water... you should be fine. :) 

The Easiest Most Delicious Pasta Sauce from Scratch

*oh look, my tomatoes from last summer! Yes, that's my picture. I ate that orange one about two seconds after snapping this photo. 

I've been feeling a little uninspired in the kitchen lately. My hubby has been out of town a lot, and it's hard to get back into "cooking for one" mode. Then again, last week I made that amazing, incredible cauliflower casserole... and that thing was inspired, man.

Anyway. The point is, when I got home tonight I had a few leftovers and absolutely no ambition whatsoever to make anything fancy, but I was craving pasta badly. Cue the carb-fest!

I adapted this recipe from my Simply Shrimply Spicy Pasta. You can, and probably will, adapt it to suit your taste and the contents of your fridge. My one regret tonight is that I didn't have any soft cheese to add to this in globs... ricotta or even goat cheese would have been welcome.

What you need:

1 28oz can of diced tomatoes (I am still using Meijer's "organic" petite diced ones.)
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 clove garlic (or 1 tsp of minced from the fridge, ya'll)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
+EITHER:
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
OR:
2 tsp minced fresh basil (or more? I LOVE basil...)
OR:
2 tsp Italian seasoning

Garnish: Fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

What you do:

If you're going to eat this now, start your water boiling first and get your pasta going. You'll want the pasta to be finished around the same time as the sauce. Tonight, I used elbow macaroni.

Set your skillet on medium and put the olive oil in to heat.

Add the butter.

Once the butter melts, add the garlic and stir slightly. Let the garlic soften but don't brown it.

Add the whole  can of tomatoes, juices and all. Add all the spices. Stir together well.

Let simmer for 5-8 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly. Using a potato masher or some other method of your choosing, mash your tomatoes to a consistency you want to eat. If you like big chunks of tomato, don't mash. I prefer a more blended sauce, personally.

You should probably be ready to drain your pasta by now... please do. I'll wait.

Turn off the heat under your sauce, then toss your pasta into the skillet and stir it all up. The sauce probably won't coat the pasta very well but you still want to marry them together as much as you can.

Serve, preferably with Parmesan cheese all melty and gooey on top.

Seriously, this takes a total of maybe 10 minutes to do if you've got everything handy.

Roasted Cauliflower, Goat Cheese, and Tomato Casserole

*My picture of my amazing dinner... omg, just looking at it makes me want to eat more!

I know I say this every time I make something new but… seriously, this is the best thing I've ever made!! Hands down, it's my new favorite. I made it tonight because my hubby is out of town, and he's a little less enthusiastic about cauliflower than I am. That said, I'm 100% sure he's going to love this if I make it for him, it's that good.

This Roasted Cauliflower, Goat Cheese, and Tomato Casserole is originally from The Iron You. You can see it here; I made a few changes, of course, so this is my mouth-watering version. It's supposed to serve six, but it will not. I ate half of it in one sitting. If you're serving six people, I suggest you triple your recipe, or just make three. (Seriously.)

What you need:

1 medium head of cauliflower
Olive Oil (total of 3Tbsp)
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp pre-minced garlic (or 1 clove fresh, minced)
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp ground coriander (finally used my coffee grinder for this, worked great!)
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 large eggs
3/4C crumbled goat cheese

What you do:
Preheat your oven to 450F.
Cover a cookie sheet with foil, set aside.
Rub a medium casserole dish with oil and set aside.

Trim the stem and leaves from the cauliflower

Cut the cauliflower into "steaks", about 1/2 inch wide. Some florets will fall off, not a big deal.

Toss the cauliflower in 2 Tbsp olive oil, with a pinch of salt and pepper. You want it all to be coated.

Spread in an even layer onto a the prepared baking sheet.

Roast the cauliflower in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning the largest pieces about half way. When I make this again, I might cut the whole thing up into smaller pieces from the get go… but anyway, this time I did the steaks and it was great.

While your cauliflower is cooking, start preparing the sauce. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

When hot, toss in your chopped onion and cook just until softened.

Add garlic and sautée for about a minute (don't brown it!).

Toss in tomatoes, spices, and salt. Stir together, then cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes. The sauce will thicken some.

Remove your cauliflower from heat and toss into a large bowl. Chop or break the biggest steaks into smaller pieces.

Add the tomato mixture to the bowl with the cauliflower and stir it all to combine it. Place in casserole dish and flatten out the top a bit.

Scramble your eggs, then add the goat cheese and mix well. I whisked the two together until they made a thick cream; I recommend doing this, as it adds the goat cheese flavor to the entire dish!

Pour mixture over the cauliflower / tomato.

Place casserole in oven uncovered and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove from heat, rest for 5 minutes, then cut and serve.

One serving yields 170 calories, 13 grams of fat, 10 grams of carbs and 7 grams of protein. Since I ate 3 servings, I guess I'd better get my ass on the treadmill tonight.

This recipe blew my mind. I thought it would be good, I never thought it could be this good. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Sweet Cherry Wine Sangria

*Yep, that's my image. I don't have a fancy pitcher, but this one worked just fine.

Sweet Cherry Sangria

I’ve had ok Sangria, and I’ve had some brain-melting-awesome sangria. Regardless of the quality of the final product, it’s almost always “good enough” to enjoy on a hot summer’s day.

I looked for a good recipe but ended up kind of winging it at the end, using this recipe from Allrecipes.com as a base. It turned out FAN-TAS-TIC.

Prepare in the morning for an afternoon / evening event. Prepare the night before for brunch or lunch. You want to give the fruit a chance to soak up some of the alcohol, and for the flavors to mix together.

What you need (Per batch. I suggest you plan to make two):

1 bottle Grand Traverse Bay cherry wine (or equivalent)
3/4 C brandy
12 oz lemon-lime soda, or to taste (Sprite or house brand preferred at our place!)
1 C orange juice, or to taste (pulp or no pulp, it’s your call)
1 lemon, sliced thinly
1 lime, sliced thinly
1/2 orange, sliced thinly
1 apple, cored, pared, sliced or cubed (you could just use half I guess…)
1 C fresh pineapple chunks (do not use canned… really!)

Optional fruit:
Personally, I think the more fruit the better, but it’s your call. Use any or all of these in combination.
1 cup of cherries, pitted, halved
5-10 strawberries, stems removed, sliced thinly
1 small handful raspberries, rinced
1 nectarine, cored, chunks or sliced thinly (skin on)

What you do:

• Prep all your fruit as you like it. I LOVE eating the fruit after I’m done drinking my sangria, so for me chunks of apple, nectarine, and pineapple are awesome. If you just want the fruity flavors, you may be better to slice everything super thin. Your call. 
• Put your fruit in a large pitcher and pour in the brandy. Let soak for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. 
• Chill your wine, orange juice, and lemon-lime soda in the meantime. 
• About an hour or two before serving, add the wine to the pitcher and stir gently. 
• Immediately before serving, add the lemon-lime soda and orange juice to taste. If you like, add more wine / brandy to taste. Gently crush your fruit if you wish before serving (I do not like it this way, but many do). 

Serve over ice or not, with cherries for garnish or not, and enjoy!

Strawberry Jam in Mason Jars

*ya, dis mah jam. Like, literally... it's my jam.

Certo Strawberry Jam

When I was younger, my mom took us every year to pick strawberries from a local farm. We’d pick basket upon basket of strawberries, eating probably a third as many while out in the field. We would eat some fresh for the next few days, and my mom invariably would slice some up and serve them with angel food cake and whipped cream… a summer staple. The rest, though, were reserved for jam.

My mom made her jam in a giant yellow pot on the stove. It was a simple recipe: purée the strawberries, add sugar to taste, and boil to thicken. Sometimes, after it was finished thickening she would pulse it in the food processor a few times to get the big chunks out, but not always. Then, we’d pour it into peanut-butter jars and store them all in our big chest freezer. It didn’t matter what time of year we opened one of those jam jars, the smell and taste of summer always came through. It was heavenly.

Now that I’m grown up (ish), I wanted to try making my own. I also wanted to try canning it, because we don’t have a chest freezer. After asking around, the consensus was that Certo’s own recipe is the way to go, so that’s what I did… mostly.

The Certo recipe calls for very specific, precise measurement… not my forte, I’ll admit. I tried to follow their rules but frankly, I didn’t, and my jam turned out amazing. I would say if you’ve never made jam before, go straight to the Certa site and follow their recipe. If you’re a little more comfortable, read on!

What you need:

2 pints fresh strawberries (I got mine at the grocery store, conveniently packaged in pint containers. Score!)

7 C sugar

½ tsp butter (optional)

1 pouch fruit pectin (Certo obviously recommends Certo brand, which I like)

Canning supplies:

Boiling water canner and enough water to fill it half way, jars, lids, etc.

You’ll want to prep your jars ahead of time. Wash your jars and screw bands in hot soapy water, rinse, and set aside. Put a small saucepan on the stove with your flat lids and heat until it bubbles, then remove from heat and set aside. I kept mine in the sauce pan on a trivet and that was easiest for me. Have your supplies near at hand and ready to go.

What you do:

• First, fill up your boiling water canner about halfway, and set on high or medium-high heat to start the water warming. Ideally, your water will be boiling by the time your jam is ready.
• I hate lumpy jam. This was definitely a consideration when I adapted this recipe. I used 2 pints of strawberries which was close to 4 cups of raw, prepared berries. I cut off the stems, sliced them in half, and then threw them in the food processor. I basically puréed them before even cooking. You could, I suppose, do this later. The end result was about 6 Cups of pureed strawberries.
• Next,  I threw the strawberries into my cooking pot on medium-high heat. As the strawberries warmed, I turned the heat up a little (to 6 or 7 on my burner).
• Once the strawberries start steaming, add your sugar and stir well.
• Bring the heat up to high (not max), stirring frequently.
• Add the butter if you want to in order to reduce foaming. I didn’t bother with this, but I did scoop off some of the foam with a slotted spoon.
• Bring your strawberries and sugar to a full rolling boil. That means that it doesn’t stop boiling when stirred.
• Stir in the pectin, then return your mixture to a full rolling boil. Once there, let it boil for another minute or two, stirring constantly and skimming off foam frequently.
• Remove from heat. Skim any remaining foam.

Canning:

•  Ladle jam immediately into prepared jars, filling almost to the top (within 1/8 of an inch).
• Using a damp paper towel, wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with hot flat lid and screw bands on tightly.
• Place jars on elevated rack rack, the lower into canner full of boiling water. The water should cover the jars by a good 2 inches.
• Boil jars for 10 minutes.
• Remove jars from canner and place upright on a rack to cool. I used my cookie rack and it worked just fine. Let the jars cool completely before you do anything else.
• Once cooled, check your seal by pressing the middle of the lid. If it springs back, the lid is not sealed and you’ll need to freeze or refrigerate your jam. If you are going to freeze it, remove some of the jam first or you may burst your jars.  

My Made-Up Shrimp Stir-Fry

*Yes, that is my image, captured on my phone. Not sure the colors are terribly accurate, but it's the best I've got.

My Made-Up Shrimp Stir-Fry

Last night I was in a bit of a pickle. I had to be somewhere at 7 o’clock, I got home later than planned, and I didn’t know when the hubs was going to get home. Thankfully, I had a pound of frozen, deveined, easy-peel shrimp in my freezer. I set that to thaw as soon as I got in the door, and started looking for recipes. I had planned on shrimp for dinner but didn’t have much planned beyond that, and didn’t have time (or ingredients, in some cases) to make any of my more involved shrimp recipes.

So, I winged it, with great results (thank goodness)! I started out using this recipe from A Calculated Whisk, just to make sure I was on the right track. What followed was pure garlicky magic.

What you need:

1lbs raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail off, thawed if frozen
2 Tbsp olive oil
2+ tsp minced garlic (I didn't measure that carefully. It was about 2 tsp and it was nice and garlicky.)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp smoked paprika or to taste
1 package frozen steamable veggies: I used cauliflower, broccoli, carrots
1/2 C water

What you do: 

• Heat oil in large skillet over medium low heat.
• Add garlic. Sautée until garlic is soft but don't brown, approx 2 minutes.
• Add shrimp, turning heat to medium. Stir to coat with oil and garlic.
• Sprinkle salt, pepper, and paprika evenly over the shrimp.
• Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Do not overcook!
• While cooking the shrimp, put your steamable veggies in the microwave on high.
• After 4 minutes, remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.
• Remove veggies from microwave and toss into skillet. Coat veggies with pan sauce.
• Add 1/2 C water to pan, stirring.
• Cook veggies in skillet, covered, for 2-3 minutes, or until tender.
• Toss shrimp back in, stir it all together while cooking for 1 more minute.

Serve hot. Sprinkle a tiny pinch of Parmesan cheese on each serving if desired.

Shrimp Creole

*Yep, those are my images... of my dinner! 

Pinterest is taking up all my time but man is it tasty! I got this recipe via Pinterest, but it's posted by Never Enough Thyme... you can see it right here. The whole reason I started keeping this blog is that I often change recipes on the fly, and unless I write down my own little variations, I forget them and have to start over every time I want to make the dish. So in a rare twist, I didn't change one single thing about this recipe. Really! I followed Never Enough Thyme's recipe to the T, with amazing results. I've never cooked shrimp creole before but I guarantee I'll do it again. 

The author over at Never Enough Thyme specifically requests that if you want to re-print her recipe that you write it out in your own words or link to the original post. Obviously, I've already done the linking part, but I really don't want to make her mad because I will probably be going back to her site for more recipes... I'd hate to get blacklisted. So I'm going to write it out my own way and hope for her blessing, but please: visit her site to see the original... let this post just be a guide to Never Enough Thyme! :)

What you need:

1 lb Raw shrimp, peeled, and deveined. I used flash-frozen peeled / deveined / tail-off. 

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 C yellow onion, chopped (not as fine as dicing, but smallish pieces mmmkay?)

3 small celery ribs, chopped (see above.)

1 green pepper, cored, seeded, chopped (see above the above)

3 garlic cloves, minced. I used 3tsp of pre-minced garlic from a jar... you use what you like.

1 28oz can of diced tomatoes with juices (Oh, a variation! The original calls for 3C of diced tomato with juices, but the cans don't come in that size so I just approximated. I left a bit of tomato in the can but not much.)

3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried, but trust me, use fresh!)

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (Hubby did not like the lemon. May try without it next time)

12 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 servings of rice

Garnish:
Juice of 1/2 lemon (since you're already going to use the rind, why not juice that lemon?)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley. If you don't care about garnish, just skip this step... then you don't have to buy a whole pile of fresh parsley just for this recipe! I wouldn't repeat this next time. 

What you do:

Rinse your shrimp and set it aside. You'll want it to drain and be fairly dry when you add it at the end of the recipe. 

Boil water for your rice. You need the rice to be ready when the dish is finished cooking, so start both at the same time (or cook the rice ahead, whatever. You don't want to have to wait when the creole is done!)

Melt the butter in a large sautée pan, then add the onion. Cook until the onion is wilted, stirring often. Do not brown the onion! Add celery, green pepper, and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the veggies are softened.

Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, Tabasco, lemon rind, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes uncovered, or until most of the liquid is gone. Mine took only about 12 minutes and then I had to cover it or I wouldn't have had any liquid left at all. So mind it carefully while its cooking! 

Add the shrimp. Stir it in well, then cover it. Set the timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT COOK FOR ANY LONGER. Seriously, don't do it. The worst thing is over-cooked shrimp. It will take no more than five minutes... trust me. 

Garnish with lemon juice, parsley, and whatever else you want. Serve over rice... because yum! 

The Prettiest little veggie dish in town

*These are my pics! 

I am a serious Pinterest addict. I know that the first step is admitting I have a problem, but whenever I do that people are like, "Oh really? Have you found any good recipes on there?" and I have to tell them YES!

Like this one by Just a Pinch Recipes. Seriously the best vegetable dish I've ever made, and the prettiest. It was a work of art to my eyes and my taste buds. The hubs and I have already talked about a bunch of ideas to vary the recipe and possibly even add a protein, but I'm not sure I want to mess with perfection.

What you need:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium potato
1 medium tomato
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C shredded cheese (I used a colby jack this time)
2 Tbsp shredded aged parmesan

Update 1/19/2014: I made this recipe tonight with just yellow and zucchini squash. It was delicious. You definitely can vary the veggies if you're feeling adventurous!

Update 3/6/2015: I made this last night with only zucchini squash (4 medium). I also used fresh basil (about 1.5 TBSP), and kosher salt. Finally, I used a very mild Parmesan cheese (BelGioioso, comes in a shrink-wrapped triangle wedge, tastes more like a moderately aged asiago than a parm). I didn't change the cook time or anything, just the ingredients. It turned out amazing.

What you do:

First up, preheat your oven to 400F. Take your favorite 8x8 baking dish and spray it with a non-stick, or oil it up in your preferred method. I used olive oil and a paper towel. Do your own thing.

I will admit the prep for this recipe is kind of long... especially if you are hand-cutting all your veggies. If you have a mandolin or a food processor that will slice thinly (and very consistently), by all means, go for it!

If not, cut up your tomato, squash, zucchini, and potato into thin slices. Try to make the slices of each veggie consistent with each other.

Finely dice your yellow onion. Be anal about this: make the pieces very small! It will pay off.

Heat the oil in the pan. Toss in your onion and garlic and sautée until they soften... Probably about 3-5 minutes. Don't brown the onions... just soften them.

Once they're done, spread the onion and garlic into the bottom of your 8x8. Try to keep it even so the flavors will spread out through the whole dish.

Next is the artsy part: stand all your sliced veggies up vertically in an alternating pattern. You'll probably get 3-5 rows of veggies into your dish. I used a little less tomato than the other veggies, so when I got to my last row I had to re-arrange a few slices here and there to get everything spread out evenly. The pattern itself doesn't matter, by the way... but if you keep it consistent, the flavors will all blend together in layers of awesomeness.

Once all your veggies are standing up pretty, sprinkle the salt, pepper, and basil over the whole dish.

Wrap it in foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Once the time is up, take the foil off and inhale deeply. Once you've done that a few times, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the dish, trying to keep as much as possible over the rows of veggies. Repeat with the parm.

Throw it back in the over for another 15-20 minutes, or until your cheese looks brown and the bottom of the dish is bubbling. After the additional 15 minutes, I turned on the broiler and left the dish in there for another 2-3 minutes just to get it really brown at the top. This is optional of course.

Pull it out and let it rest for a few minutes. This would be great as a side, but we ate it as our main course and it was delicious and very satisfying. It was sad to break into the pretty rows to serve it (and messy too; we used a large spatula to select segments of the rows to serve them!), but oh em gee was it delicious!

Simply Shrimply Spicy Pasta

*I totally did not take this picture. As you can see by the watermark, it's from Budget Bytes.

I don't get a lot of "weird" food cravings, but when I do crave something I definitely get some serious tunnel vision about it. So, when I realized I'd been thinking about almost nothing but shrimp for over a week, I decided it was time to do something about it. 

I've only ever cooked shrimp once or twice before; I'm a little intimidated by seafoods in general, as they are so easy to under or over cook. Still, I decided I needed to be brave and give it a shot, and I'm glad I did. The ever-amazing and wonderful Budget Bytes provided the base recipe (here), and I messed with it a little until it tasted the way I wanted, which was freaking delicious. 

A few notes about this recipe: Your home will likely smell like garlic shrimp for a day or two after making it. It's worth it. Also, the recipe calls for fresh parsley; so do yourself a favor and use fresh parsley. You can get by making it with dried (I did it), but the burst of fresh herbs will add a flavor dimension to this meal you just can't get with dried, IMHO. When you're picking up the parsley, get some fresh basil too. Trust me. 

What you need:
1 (15oz) can of Diced Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

4 Cloves Garlic, minced (or 3-4tsp of minced from the jar... or more, if you like it zesty!)

1/2 lbs Raw Peeled and Deveined Shrimp (I bought a 3/4 lbs bag of flash-frozen raw/peeled/deveined shrimp for like $8; they only take about 10 minutes to thaw by running them under cool waater.)

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 tsp Chili Pepper Flakes (Hot, optional)

1/4 tsp Salt

Black Pepper to taste

A small handful of fresh Parsley (about 4T worth).*

A small handful of fresh Basil (see above)... (if you like basil. If you don't, just skip it.).*

8oz fettuccine or equivalent of your favorite long pasta (I use angel hair). 

What you do:

• Mince your garlic if you're using fresh. Tear or finely chop about 2T worth of parsley and basil and set aside. Roughly tear the rest of the parsley and basil to sprinkle on when serving. Set aside.
• Boil water for the pasta. Add the pasta. Cook the pasta. Got that? Once it's tender, drain it and set it aside. 
• Rinse your shrimp with cool water (unless you just thawed them under cool water, which would render this step unnecessary.) Be sure to drain the excess water. 
• While the pasta is cooking, add the olive oil and butter to a large skillet over medium heat. 
• Once the butter melts, throw the shrimp and minced garlic into your skillet. Sauté the shrimp and garlic for 3-5 minutes; just until the shrimp is opaque and slightly pink. Once done, remove the shrimp from the skillet and set it aside. Use tongs; you want to keep as much butter/oil/garlic in the skillet as possible.
• Pour the can of tomatoes, juices and all, into the skillet, along with your pepper flakes (both if using both), salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and then let the sauce simmer for 5-6 minutes; it should thicken slightly. 
• Once the sauce thickens, toss your shrimp back in there and simmer it all together for 1 minute. Then, add the drained pasta into the skillet as well and stir it all together. You want the sauce to coat the pasta. 
• Taste and adjust your salt/pepper if needed. Remove from heat. Sprinkle a little of the roughly torn parsley / basil over the skillet before serving, reserve a little if people want to garnish with more. 
• Serve hot with some fresh Parmesan cheese tossed on top. 

*Like I said, you can totally swing this recipe using dried herbs, as I did. I used about 1T each of dried parsley and basil in the sauce and didn't reserve any for garnish... next time, I will definitely use fresh, but in a pinch you'll be just fine. 

Banana Chocolate Chip cake

Yes, this is my photo. This recipe is likely the most-used in the book... as evidenced by its disreputable state in the photo!

You know when you have this great idea, and then it all goes awry? About a year ago, while I was visiting my mom in Ottawa, I took a pile of photos of her old recipe book, thinking I would transcribe them to put them here... they're all recipes I grew up with and still make today. Anyway, I took all these pictures and had all these plans and then... well, I forgot where I filed them. 

I came upon them the other and and I was so excited! So I guess now I'd better get them uploaded and shared before I lose them again! 

This recipe was an absolute staple of my childhood lunches. My mom used to make this at least once a month, and a full batch could last us a whole school week, which was awesome. This cake is moist and delicious without being soggy... and the chocolate chips are such a decadent treat for a school lunch (or a snack at home when you're all growed up).

Literally all of my mom's recipes list margarine or shortening instead of butter. Needless to say, I always use butter. I also prefer to use frozen bananas... mostly because I'm too lazy to remember to take them out of the freezer and thaw them before I start baking lol. Normally, I'll toss whole frozen bananas on a paper towel in the microwave for 30 seconds, or until I can get the peel off. Sometimes they need a little more warming before mashing... sometimes not. And of course, there are other substitutions. For example, you can see I scrawled on the bottom that you can use apple cider vinegar to sour the milk... which is delicious and I recommend it. Also, this recipe is g-r-e-a-t if you substitute pumpkin puree and some pumpkin spice for the bananas. Yummo, I promise. 

So without further ado, here is my childhood favorite. 

What you need:

1/2 C butter (or margarine if you must)
1 1/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 C mashed banana (or pumpkin)

1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C sour milk

2/3 C chocolate chips (My mom used more, I prefer a higher cake-to-chip ratio. You decide what you want.)

How to sour  your milk:
I normally measure out about 2/3 cups of milk (I almost always use skim, since that's what I keep in the house, but it doesn't really matter). Then, pour enough vinegar (white or cider) to bring the liquid up to 3/4 cups. Stir with a fork, and let it rest for a minute or two until it starts to get nasty. I always give mine another stir before I pour it into the batter. 

What you do:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until they're nice and smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, bananas (or pumpkin), and mix well. 

In a separate bowl, mix flour, soda, powder and salt. 

Add 1/3 of your dry ingredients into your creamed mix, stirring well. Add 1/3 of your sour milk and stir well again. Keep alternating until all of the dry mixture and the sour milk are mixed into the creamed bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 pan. Honestly, I never even knew I was supposed to flour the pan... haha... so it's not absolutely necessary but it might help? Also, this works well in muffin tins lined with papers, for a more portable snack. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until it pokes clean.

Let it cool before cutting. Haha. Kidding. You'll never be able to let it cool first. Eat it while the chips are melty and gooey, you'll be a happy camper. Mmmmm. 

Crunchy, gluten-free Chex chicken

*not my image, but my chicken looked exactly like this! I got the image here. 

So last week, I made very yummy coconut chicken strips on a night when my step-daughter was visiting. She doesn't eat gluten, so we couldn't share our chicken strips with her, and she was disappointed, so I decided to see if there was a way to adapt the recipe to be gluten-free. 

As it turns out, neither my hubby nor I wanted to eat coconut chicken again so soon. It's good, but it's definitely not a weekly dish at our house. So I decided to do just plain old panko-style chicken strips instead... seemed easy, right!?

First was figuring out how to get gluten-free panko. Turns out, Chex cereal is a great substitute! I bought a box and crushed up enough for the chicken and it worked perfectly. In fact, I liked it better than Panko because it wasn't as sweet. Next, I had to find a flour to use to coat the chicken. This, I think, will be an ongoing challenge. I looked first for coconut flour but nobody in my area had any, so I  chose an all-purpose baking flour that was gluten free instead. It smelled a little weird, but it was actually not bad at all. I might even use it for baking someday lol. 

Overall, the were good but bland. My step-daughter liked them, but she likes any meat she can get her hands on so this is not a surprise. My hubby and I found them good but a little bland to eat. The coating was super crunchy and delicious, but the flour was a little gooey, and since I didn't really season them, they didn't have any real flavor. Next time, I will add seasoning to the flour before dragging the chicken through. 

What you need:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips. You could use pre-cut tenderloin strips if you don't want to trim the chicken yourself. 

2 eggs, beaten

2C crushed Chex cereal. You could probably crush your cereal in a food processor, but I just did it in a bag and that was fine. 

2C gluten-free flour

salt and pepper (and other seasonings!)

What you do:

Set up your prep station as follows: chicken strips, then a bowl with your flour, then a bowl with the eggs, and then a bowl with your crushed Chex cereal. 

Turn on the oven to 400, and lightly spray a cookie sheet with Pam (Original Pam = gluten-free).

Take a piece of chicken and coat it in flour. 

Next, drag it through your egg wash, ensuring the entire strip is wet and eggy. 

Next, press the strip into your Chex cereal, coating both sides with Chex bits. I press my chicken in pretty hard so the Chex sticks well. 

Repeat with each piece of chicken, lining the finished pieces up on the cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip. Bake for another 10 to 12 minutes. Check your chicken for done-ness, but it should be ready to go. 

Take it out and eat it. I paired it with rice... I don't recommend this. Pair it with salad instead! I also dipped my strips in President's Choice Memories of Thailand spicy sauce... yum, yum, YUM! 

If you have any suggestions to make this recipe better, please post them in comments! 

Wrap and roll breakfast for dinner

*yup, this is my image... and my dinner!

You have no idea how much I love breakfast. I never tire of breakfast food... like, never. So when I'm bored with recipes and want to do something delicious, I often explore breakfast options. Why not, right?

When Tim and I were dating, we would often go to Chez Cora for breakfast or brunch. It's delicious and they have a little more variety than your standard breakfast place on their menu. That's where the inspiration for this recipe came from: we tried a "Good Morning", and we were both hooked! Essentially, it's a basic crèpe wrapped around fried eggs, bacon, and cheese, then pressed in a panini press and served with fresh fruit. I skip all the formalities like pressing and fruit... who do I think I am?

The nice thing about this is you can make most of it ahead of time. I've done the prep work the night before so we could have a really nice breakfast without cooking for an hour first. I make the crèpes and bacon ahead, then fry up the eggs when we are ready to eat. Yum!

What you need:

Crèpes:
1C flour (AP)
2 eggs
2/3C milk
1/2C water
1/4tsp salt
2TBSP butter, melted

1 package of bacon (I like John Morrell Applewood Smoked)
Your favorite cheese (we used pepperjack cheese this time; I highly recommend it!)

What you'll do:

Making the crèpes:
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour and eggs. I mixed by hand, and got them as smooth as possible.
Slowly add the milk and water, stirring continuously to try and keep the mixture as smooth as you can.
Add salt and butter. Beat until no lumps remain.
Heat a pan to medium. Use about 1/3C of batter per crèpe. Cook on one side until there are bubbles across the entire surface, then flip for a few seconds.

Once they're done, set the crèpes aside for a bit. I put mine into a ziploc bag, each separated by a sheet of wax paper. This keeps them soft and pliable.

Next, cook your bacon however you like to. I vote BBQ, but that's just me. You want to let it drain and pat it dry as much as possible... you don't want too much grease getting into your wrap/roll.

Finally, if you're ready to eat, fry up some eggs. We use one egg, 1.5 pieces of bacon, and 1 slice of cheese for each wrap. Tim and I both prefer our eggs over hard for this sandwich, but you could do them lighter if you prefer.

Assembly:
Put a crèpe on your prep surface and place your cheese in the centre. Take your egg right out of the pan and put it right onto the cheese, then put the bacon (broken into smaller pieces) on top. Fold up the bottom 1/3 of your crèpe, pulling the edge towards the centre. Then fold in the sides, and roll the whole thing up until you've got a tidy little packet. I throw my little packets back into the egg pan for a few minutes to seal them up and crisp up the outside as well. Serve and eat them hot!

You could (probably, you should...) serve them with fresh fruit or a light salad. You could also douse them in maple syrup, if you're so inclined, and I'm pretty sure honey or jam would work really well too.

Enjoy!

Sweet Molasses Steak

*Not my image, it came with the recipe. Also, those are PC molasses, so we know the recipe is from Canada. Yay!

The more I eat, the more I love to cook. The more I cook, the more I like to eat!

Over the past eight months, I've learned to cook a whole lot of new things, but we were still using store-bought marinade for beef. So when I saw this recipe, originally from Allrecipes.com, I had to try it.


Overall, I loved this recipe, but it was much sweeter than we were expecting. It really was very sweet, but that works with a nice juicy steak! Also, I expected the marinade to burn off a bit more on the grill, but because I was grilling rare and medium-rare, the steaks came out a little bit saucy. It works, but if you don't like sauce or gravy, you might want to wipe the marinade off the steaks before grilling.

Next time I make this, I'm going to spice it up a little bit. I would almost add jalapenos to the marinade... Or perhaps serve it with a spicy veggie/rice dish instead? I'm not sure. But anyway, enough maybe, here is what you came for.

Admittedly, it takes a lot of discipline for me to use molasses in cooking, because my instinct is instead to eat them directly out of the jar. I definitely had a few tastes along the way, but managed to get my 1/2 cup in the bowl.

As usual, I can't follow an original recipe to save my life. So I made some changes. This is my version.

What you need:

1/2 C molasses
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C tomato ketchup
1/2 C spicy ketchup (I used Heinz chili ketchup)
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 Tsp minced garlic
2 TBSP minced white onion

What you do:

Ready? Easiest. Directions. Ever.

Take all your ingredients. Mix them in a bowl and stir them together. Put them in a zipper bag with your steaks. Let them sit anywhere from 4 to 24 hours. Grill to taste. Serve with something. Or nothing. As you like it.

One suggestion: If you can't marinade for at least 4 hours, I suggest you tenderize your steaks with a fork... lots of holes means the marinade will get more surface area and help make your steaks soft and juicy. Yums.

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

*yes, this is my image... I'm doing my best to resist gobbling it all up before the hubby gets home!

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

I'm seriously starting to think I need a Pinterest intervention. A Pintervention! Anyway, I have seen this recipe floating around Pinterest for ages and finally decided to give it a go. Some claim it's the awesomest Sweet & Sour chicken ever. Some say it's "addicting", which, incidentally, drives me up the wall. The word is addictive. As in "That chicken is addictive" or "These bath salts are addictive". Addicting? Not a word. Non-addicting is a word. It means you cannot become addicted to something... it isn't an addictive substance. Kapish?! 

Now then. The recipe is on Life as a Lofthouse's blog, so go check it out already! 

As usual, I can't follow the darn directions, so I substituted fresh minced garlic (you know, fresh from a jar in my fridge?!). I also added a few hefty shakes of chili flakes to my sauce, to spice it up a bit. I highly recommend you do the same, because it's awesome. 

Start out by preheating your oven to 325...

What you need for the chicken:

1 to 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed, trimmed, and cubed.
Salt and pepper to taste

1 C corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 C canola oil

What you do to the chicken:

As advertised: thaw it, rinse it, trim it, cube it. Put it in a bowl or whatever makes you comfortable. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. I used none, because that tastes best to me. 

Pour the oil into a large skillet and start it heating. 

Next, roll the chicken cubes around in the corn starch, ensuring they are completely covered. 

Dip the corn starchy chicken into the eggs, ensuring full coverage. 

*Fry your chicken until it is lightly browned and sealed, but not cooked through. 

Remove from skillet and place in a 9 x 13 baking pan, ensuring they're as evenly spaced as possible. 

*Confession: I don't fry a lot of things. Ok, this was totally the first time I've tried this. So one thing I learned is, you can't overcrowd your skillet or it makes turning your chicken really difficult... and you end up with uneven batter. So, if you used lots of chicken (more than a pound), or if you're a pan-frying pro, you'll know to do this step in two batches. I didn't, and it wasn't catastrophic, but I recommend you don't overcrowd your pan. 

What you need for the sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt (as mentioned, I used about the same of "fresh" minced garlic"... in my continued boycott of any dehydrated garlic products.)

What you do for the sauce:

Well, this is easy: Put the ingredients into a bowl. Whisk them together. Ta-da!

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken. I was a little leery when I saw that my sauce wasn't going to actually cover the chicken, but it's ok... it works fine because you're going to be turning the chicken throughout the cooking process. I gave mine a few shakes once it was in there, just to ensure even-ness.

Place your baking pan in the oven. Close the door. Bake for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. 

I served mine with steamed white rice and steamed mixed veggies (broccoli, peas, water chesnut, carrots, etc... I think it's called "Asian Mix".) Well, I served what was left anyway. Some serious snacking occurred when the chicken came out of the oven.