Zesty Shredded BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
1 c. barbecue sauce
1/4 c. Italian salad dressing
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. black pepper


Directions:
Place chicken in the crock pot. Whisk together the remaining ingredients until brown sugar is dissolved. Pour evenly over the chicken breasts. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Once chicken is fully cooked, remove from the crock pot and shred. Place shredded chicken back in the crock pot and stir until well coated with the sauce. Serve on buns or hoagies with additional barbecue sauce if desired. Makes about 6 servings.

Recipe adapted from here

Notes: What an easy and delicious recipe! I loved the extra kick the italian dressing gave to the sauce. We ate this along with sweet potato fries and a lettuce salad...yum!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Notes: This is a simple and delicious recipe from Emeril Lagasse. His recipe calls for 1 whole tablespoon of minced garlic and I made it this way at first and it was barely edible in my opinion because the garlic was SO overpowering, which is why I changed it to 1/2 a tablespoon. You could even do less if you want. We love garlic in our house so the 1/2 tablespoon was just right. We loved this dressing and I will definitely make it again!



Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3/4 c. olive oil

Directions:
Whisk together the first 5 ingredients (everything besides the olive oil) until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the olive oil slowly, mixing constantly or place everything in a sealed container and shake until well combined. Makes about 1 cup of dressing. Store in the refrigerator and shake well before each use.

Skillet Sausage and Potatoes

Ingredients: 
4 medium red potatoes
1 medium sweet onion
2 tbsp. butter or olive oil
14 oz. turkey polska kielbasa
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
Wash potatoes and microwave for 6-8 minutes (all at the same time) until tender. Heat butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cut potatoes lengthwise and then slice into half moon shapes. Cut onion in half and then into thin slices. Place potatoes and onion into the heated skillet and saute for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season generously with salt and pepper. Thinly slice the sausage and add the the pan. Saute an additional 15 minutes, until everything has a nice golden brown color, stirring occasionally. Makes 4 generous servings.

Notes: This is such a comfort food to me and I've been craving it like crazy! I haven't made it in a long time because it has meat, obviously. This is a great, easy dish to throw together and we eat it with garlicky green beans...delicious!

I'm still here!!

I really hope I haven't lost the few readers I had due to my lack of posting! I still haven't had it in me to get creative in the kitchen. This baby is sucking the love of food out of me! So sad. This next week I'm determined to cook dinner as many nights as I can. Last week I think I only cooked 2 or 3 times and I can do better!

My body has really craved meat (mostly chicken and turkey) during this pregnancy and I have been giving it what it wants so if you see me posting recipes with meat, that's why :)

This pregnancy is going really well so far! I had a horrible time with my daughter so I was afraid of the same things this time around. I'm almost 15 weeks now and the morning sickness is finally starting to go away and I'm starting to feel like I can do more. I can't believe we find out in only 5 weeks if we're having a boy or girl! We have been talking a lot about names lately so we're getting anxious to find out.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know I am still here! Thanks for sticking with me...I promise to start posting more!


-Chloé


*200th post*

Sugared Pecans

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/2 tbsp. water
1/2 tbsp. vanilla
1 lb. pecan halves
1 c. white sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon


Directions: 
Preheat oven to 250 degrees, grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Place egg whites, water and vanilla in a mixing bowl and whisk vigorously for 60 seconds, until foamy. Add the pecans and stir well to coat. In a small bowl, toss together the sugar, salt and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar mixture into the pecan mixture and stir well to combine. Spread pecans evenly on the prepared cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Notes: Every holiday season I've wanted to make these but I've never gotten around to it. This year pecans were on sale so I went for it! They were super easy to make and they turned out great! I put them in cello bags and gave them out as little Christmas gifts to friends and family.

PS: This is not my photo! I gave all my pecans away before I could take one...

Baking something extra special...

My last blog post explained that I haven't been posting much lately because I haven't had much time to be in the kitchen due to the holidays, etc. The truth is I haven't wanted to be in the kitchen lately...but I'm cooking up something extra special right now! We are expecting our second child July 4th! We found out in mid November and just told our families on Christmas. We're already almost 3 months along and I still can't handle cooking and being around food very well. So please stick with me during this time! I'm hoping as I get farther along in this pregnancy I'll be able to spend more time in the kitchen....

Margot is going to be a big sister! Yay!


-Chloé

Merry Christmas!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...it has been quite the busy month! Hopefully in the new year I can get back into the swing of things and start posting more regularly. Until then, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year :)

 

God bless! Lots of love, 

Randy, Chloé, Margot, Buckley and Truman

Photo done by Kama at Fizelwink Photography

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. flour
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. milk
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tbsp. oil or melted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. chopped pecans
Cooking spray



Directions:
In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin puree, egg, oil or butter and vanilla. Preheat a large skillet over medium/high heat and coat with cooking spray.
Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moist...don't over mix! Ladle the batter in about 1/3 cup measurements onto the hot skillet. Once bubbles form and begin to pop, flip over and cook an additional minute or so, until golden brown. Spray pan again for each batch. Makes about 10 medium pancakes.

Notes: I know pumpkin season is technically over but I had to squeeze in one more recipe! And I'm so glad I did...these were delicious and super flavorful! We ate them for dinner :)

Lemon Bars

Crust Ingredients:
1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. white flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 c. white flour
4 eggs
2/3 c. lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
5 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Crust Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 13x9 pan and set aside. Beat together the 4 crust ingredients until dough forms. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, press dough evenly into the prepared dish and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. 

Filling Directions:
While crust is baking, whisk together the sugar and flour. Add the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest and food coloring if using. Stir until well combined. Once crust has finished baking, pour the filling over the top (will be very thin) and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until light golden brown on top. Place powdered sugar in a sifted and dust the top of the bars evenly while cooling. Cool completely, slice and serve. You can serve room temperature or refrigerate. Makes 24 bars.

Notes: These bars have always reminded me of my older sister. She used to make them all the time when we were kids and I never tried them because I didn't think I'd like them (I used to be really picky!). I thought of them today for some reason, maybe because my sister was on my mind, and I decided to give them a try! I'm sorry that I never tried them before...they are delicious! Very sweet and tart...but delicious!

PS-all the bars got eaten before I got a chance to take a picture of them, so I borrowed this one from Google images until next time I make them!

Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake

Cake Ingredients:
18.25 oz. yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 c. butter, melted


Filling Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
15 oz. can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted
16 oz. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg


Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 13x9 baking dish and set aside. Combine the cake mix, egg and butter and mix until well combined. Press evenly into the prepared baking dish and set aside.


Filling and Baking Directions:
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, butter and beat until combined. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Pour mixture over the cake batter (mixture will be thin) and bake 40-50 minutes. Do not over bake, the center should be a little gooey. Makes 12-15 squares.

Notes: I made this cake for Thanksgiving a couple years ago and it was a hit! I made again for an event at our church this evening. This is a Paula Dean recipe so you know it can't be good for you at all ;) But it's SO good! It's like a cross between pumpkin pie, custard and cheese cake with a really yummy, buttery crust. It's especially tasty with whipped cream and coffee.