Baked Buttermilk Chicken

Serves 4 (with some leftovers)

Cooking spray
4 chicken drumsticks, skins removed
4 chicken thighs, skins removed
2 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
4 cups cornflakes, finely crushed
3/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Transfer to a medium bowl. Pour buttermilk over chicken. Cover, and let marinate 1 hour in refrigerator.

2. Preheat oven to 400°. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil, and spray generously with cooking spray.

3. Toss cornflakes, Old Bay, thyme, basil, and cayenne in a large bowl. Remove 1 piece of chicken at a time from buttermilk, letting excess drip back into dowl, and dredge in cornflake mixture.

4. Transfer pieces to oiled baking sheet; lightly coat each one with cooking spray. Bake, turning pieces halfway through, until crisp and cooked through, about 40 minutes.

Served with green beans and roasted potatoes

Results: Henry ate...make that, devoured, two drumsticks all on his own. Steven wouldn't even pretend to look at the chicken. He did, however, love the roasted potatoes and requested seconds. I thought this was very good chicken, and easy to prepare, but it was messy to eat and between the hour to marinate and 40 minutes cooking time, it took awhile to be ready. The corn flake mixture was yummy, but most of it came off on the baking sheet when I turned the chicken. I'm definitely keeping this recipe!

Korean Barbecue Wet Rub

Serves 4

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 pork loin chops

1. Preheat grill.
2. Combine all ingredients. (Can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week at this point). Rub marinade onto pork chops and grill until finished.

Served with Sesame Cucumber Salad and Mac & Cheese

Results: I so cheated on this dish and made Mac & Cheese for Steven to eat. My requirement was that he could have the Mac & Cheese after he ate one bite of pork without gagging. You should have seen him struggle to eat this teeny, tiny dime-sized bite of pork! He finally did, and got his Mac & Cheese. Henry had no problem eating his, but didn't like the cucumber salad. (Not surprising.) This rub is very easy to prepare and very delicious! (The recipe says it can also be rubbed on salmon, steaks or chicken.)

Swiss Chicken

Serves 6

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup white wine
2 cups seasoned dry stuffing mix
3/4 stick butter, melted
Cooking spray

1. Preheat over to 350°.
2. Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray
3. Place chicken breasts in the prepared dish and cover each cutlet with a slice of cheese. Set aside.
4. In a bowl, stir together the soup and wine until combines. Pour mixture evenly over chicken.
5. Sprinkle stuffing mix and melted butter over dish.
6. Bake, uncovered, for one hour.

Served with green beans.

Results: I'm not a big casserole fan, but this one is really good. This dish is so easy to prepare, with no chopping or pre-cooking required. Love that! It also freezes well (just thaw before cooking), so make an extra for the freezer. Henry ate all of his, Steven wouldn't touch the chicken (but did eat all of his green beans, which was surprising.) A definite keeper.

Smoky Bacon and Blue Cheese Chicken Salad Pitas

Serves 4-6

3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1&1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Pitas, cut in half (I used small pitas because I figured it would be easier for the boys to eat)

1. Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring well. Combine lettuce, chicken, bacon and tomatoes in a medium bowl, stirring well. Drizzle yogurt mixture over chicken mixture; toss gently to coat. Spoon chicken salad into each pita half.

Served with grapes

Results: I knew that neither boy would touch the tomatoes or lettuce, so I separated theirs out and added peas.

This was very good, and I will definitely repeat it, but I felt like I was standing in the kitchen forever! Maybe I was just in a mood, because there was nothing particularly hard about the recipe. Both boys took a bite, and claimed to not like it. Not a success with the boys, but very good for the adults. The blue cheese/yogurt mixture was great.

Salmon with Orange Marmalade

Serves 4

1/4 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1&1/2-pound) salmon fillet
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat over to 400°.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Place salmon on rack of a broiler pan lined with foil; sprinkle fish evenly with salt. Spread half of marmalade mixture over fish. Bake at 400° for 18 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove from oven. Spread remaining marmalade mixture evenly over fish.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Broil fish 3 minutes or until topping browns.

Served with edamame beans and spinach salad with Orange-Sesame Dressing

Orange-Sesame Salad Dressing
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon hot mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Slowly drizzle oils into juice mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Results: The salmon was a bit overcooked, so watch the cooking time. I think 10 minutes would have been plenty. Still, it was very tasty and I would make this again. It was super easy, but make sure you do cover that baking sheet because the marmalade burns. Fake gagging from Steven, but Henry devoured his, and had an extra piece from Chris and me. Chris didn't think the salad dressing was that great. On just the spinach, I agree, but I did have a salad with spinach & chicken for lunch the next day and it tasted much better.

Cuban Chicken

Serves 4

1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; add 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Keep warm.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Combine the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, salt and paprika, and sprinkle evenly over chicken. Coat the chicken with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Serve with bean mixture; sprinkle with cilantro.

Served with rice.

Results: Chris really liked this dish, and I really liked the black bean & pineapple mixture. The chicken was a bit too spicy for Henry. Steven. Oh...Steven. This time, he not only fake gagged, he vomited it right up. That kid is getting on my nerves. For that reason, I will probably not make this dish again.

Pepperoni Bread

Serves 4

one can of refrigerated pizza dough
one jar of pizza sauce
whatever "topping" you want (we used mozzerella cheese and Summer Sausage)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 egg
cooking spray
Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Roll out pizza dough on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spread pizza sauce (leaving about an inch from each side. Add toppings, as desired. Gently roll the dough, lengthwise. Pinch the ends closed.

3. Whisk the butter and egg together, then brush onto the dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Results: Success! Steven loves this bread, and has requested it three times since the first time I made it. It's super easy and quick to prepare. I think I'm going to start sneaking some veggies in. This recipe came from my friend Terri.

Roasted Salmon with Citrus and Herbs

Serves 4

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons grated lime rind
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (2 1/4-pound) salmon fillet
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Place salmon on the rack of a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Rub parsley mixture over salmon. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Served with broccoli and rice.

Results: I'm a sucker for salmon, and this recipe was fantastic. We all ate every bite except for He Who Shall Not Be Named. I would say this recipe is very close to replacing this one as my favorite salmon recipe.

Coconut Thai Shrimp and Rice

Serves 6

2 (14 1/2 oz) cans of chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 to 3/4 tsp cayenne
Grated zest and juice of 2 limes (1/3 cup lime juice)
7 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 cups converted white rice
1 lb peeled and de-veined cooked jumbo shrimp, thawed if frozen
2 ounces fresh snow peas, cut into thin strips
Toasted coconut, for garnish

1. In a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker, mix the broth, water, coriander, cumin, salt, cayenne, lime zest, lime juice, garic and ginger. Stir in the onion, carrot, coconut, raisins, and rice. Cover and cook on low setting for 3 1/2 hours or until rice is tender. Stir in the shrimp and snow peas. Cover and cook 30 minutes longer. Serve garnished with toasted coconut.

Results: All the chopping was a bit of a pain, but this was delicious! I loved the toasted coconut on top. Steven wouldn't eat it, but the rest of us devoured it. This is another recipe from 365 Days of Slow Cooking.

I'm back

I know, I know...you thought I fell off the face of the earth. It has been an extremely busy couple of months, as we sold our house, bought a new one, and moved into a rental home until our new house is ready. Nothing to take the motivation to cook out of a girl like packing up some boxes!

Now that we are (mostly) settled in the rental house, I'm going to attempt to get back to this blog!