Pan Grilled Chicken with Scalloped Potatoes

Pan Grilled Chicken with Scalloped Potatoes

We eat a lot of chicken in this house. It's by far the most cost effective and versatile meat I can buy, and I'm constantly trying to find new ways to serve it. So far I haven't tired of it, and I do cook other kinds of meat, so you will eventually see variety! In the picture, the potatoes don't look quite like they should because we were hungry, and a little too impatient to wait until the cheese had browned. It still tastes fantastic, though. I prepare the potatoes, and cook the chicken while the potatoes are in the oven so they're done at roughly the same time.
To make this meal:

Chicken:
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder

Put your pan over medium heat (I use a big pot because our kitchen is cold and the pan loses less heat). Drizzle a little olive oil in the pan and coat the chicken breasts with it. Add seasonings to taste. Cook chicken until browned on both sides and cooked through- 15-20 minutes for me, and I adjust the temperature throughout the cooking to make sure the chicken doesn't get too dark.

Scalloped Potatoes:
5-6 Medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds (enough to go in a 9x13 pan)
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Flour
1/2-1 tsp Salt
1/4-1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4-1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4-1/2 tsp Dill
1/4-1/2 tsp Oregano
2 Cups milk
2-3 Cups grated cheese

Boil sliced potatoes until slightly soft, but not falling apart. Drain and pour into 9x13" pan.
While potatoes are boiling, melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add flour and spices (I don't measure the spices, just do it to taste), increase heat, and stir until smooth and bubbly. Add milk and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil one minute; sauce will be thicker. Turn off heat. Add half of the cheese to the sauce, stir until melted. Pour sauce over potatoes and stir a little to make sure they're all coated. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese over the top. Bake in a 350F oven 30-45 minutes or until the top of the cheese is slightly browned. Let sit a few minutes before serving to let it set.

Baked Oatmeal

Baked oatmeal topped with a little cream

My dear friend Crystal over at Serving God and Family has been making this baked oatmeal for a while, and I've been drooling every time she talked about it. She finally posted the link to the recipe, and I was all too happy to try it. I'd never had baked oatmeal before, but it's really quite something. It's not mushy oatmeal, but crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. I think it's meant to be served with milk, more like a cereal. You can find the recipe here at All Recipes.

I modified the recipe a bit because I wanted to make honey almond baked oatmeal. I didn't have any eggs, so I used about 1/4 Cup homemade applesauce mixed with about 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. I substituted about 1/8 Cup honey for some of the brown sugar (though I would increase it for more of a honey flavor next time). In addition to the cinnamon, I also added ginger, nutmeg and a pinch of cloves (I put these four spices in any sweet thing I can). To give it a nice crunch I added about 1/3 Cup chopped almonds (I think I would also increase this next time). I omitted the dried cranberries as well.

Pan Grilled Chicken with Apple-Onion Sautee

Pan Grilled Chicken with Apple-Onion Sautee

Served with herb & butter rice

Tonight's recipe is the result of a last minute meal fix. Ken tried a "roasted chicken breast with marmalade recipe" and needless to say, the recipe was a disaster. After nearly losing lunch from tasting some of it, to the smoke alarms going off, I feel pretty accomplished for pulling a success out of the hat tonight.

2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/5 Onion, diced small
2 Apples, diced
1/2-1C Apple juice

Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder to taste. Cook in a lightly oiled skilled until golden on both sides and cooked through. In a bigger pot, cook onions in a little olive oil until translucent, add a little salt, pepper, and garlic (I used powder, but would entertain the real thing next time). Add chopped apples and sautee for a few minutes, then add apple juice. Increase heat to high and let the liquid reduce by half. Add chicken breasts on top and reduce heat to medium/medium high. I started stirring the apples around the chicken so the chicken would absorb a good amount of the flavor. Cook down until the liquid is gone, apples are soft and starting to caramelize.
We served ours with herb & butter boxed rice, and it was fantastic. I'll definitely be making it again, intentionally next time. :)

Ken's Pancakes

Ken's Pancakes

Ken makes the most interesting pancakes I've ever had. He doesn't put any leavening agent in them like other pancakes, so they are thinner (like a crepe) and more dense than your average pancake. My favorite thing is that they are slightly sweet and buttery- I like to eat them plain, as well as with toppings.

11.5oz Flour (A little more than 2C)
2.5oz Granulated Sugar (Between 1/3C and 2/3C
2C Milk
2 Large Eggs

Sift flour, add sugar. Add wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Preheat skillet on medium heat (level 5 on our stove). Melt a little butter to cover the pan. Add 2/3C batter for large pancakes and 1/3C for smaller pancakes. Before flipping, add a little butter around the edges of the pancake. You'll know it's ready to turn when the edges turn slightly tan. It takes about a minute for the first side and less than a minute for the second. Pancakes should be slightly golden- pay attention, they burn quickly.
Serve warm plain or with desired toppings- we add butter and syrup or butter with cinnamon and sugar. They also work well with fillings. Enjoy!

Beef Crock Pot Roast

Beef Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

My favorite all-in-one meal is roast with potatoes and carrots. You throw a roast in the crock pot, add carrots, potatoes, garlic, onion, worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, and water, and let it cook it on low for 8-10 hours. It is so wonderful to eat, and great to just have to serve it up at dinner time instead of busting out pots and pans!

Tomato Alfredo Lasagna with Spinach

Tomato Alfredo Lasagna with Spinach

I bought ingredients for lasagna the last time I went to the store because I thought it might be a fun dish to make. First I was going to use my mom's recipe, and I had also looked at a Food Network recipe. In the end, I came up with my own recipe after figuring out the basics of a lasagna. Some of this could be done more simply by buying things ready-made, but it only takes about an hour to do it all from scratch.

1 Package Lasagna Noodles
2 C. White sauce recipe (with garlic and onion powder added) --could also you store-bought
1lb Ground Beef (turkey won't give the same taste)
1 Jar Three Cheese Pasta Sauce
1/2 C. Onion, minced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Basil
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/2 Bundle Spinach, washed and dried
1 2lb container Ricotta
6 oz Parmesan
8 oz Mozzarella
1 Egg


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F when noodles are cooking
It's easiest to prepare the sauce ahead of time or first in the recipe. Cook white sauce (I'll put the one I use at the bottom of the page if you don't have one). Brown ground beef in skillet with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Make sure the beef is in very small bits. Add beef and jar of pasta sauce to white sauce, set aside. Boil water, add lasagna noodles, cook, drain, and coat with olive oil. While noodles are cooking, add olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Saute onion, garlic and seasonings until translucent. Add spinach and salt and pepper to taste and cook down; finely chop, set aside. In a bowl, mix ricotta, parmesan, egg, and spinach.
In a deep 9x13 casserole dish spoon a little sauce into bottom. Layer noodles, slightly overlapping. In spoonfuls place 1/3 of ricotta mixture on top, spread evenly. Pour 1/3 sauce over ricotta, spread evenly. Repeat 2x, then top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 1 hour. Remove and let cool approx. 30 minutes before cutting and serving so everything sets. Enjoy!

White Sauce
4 Tbsp Butter
4 Tbsp Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
2 C. Milk

Melt butter in pan, add flour and seasonings. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Chicken & Rice Soup

Chicken & Rice Soup

Winter is the perfect time for soup! I've been having fun making up soup recipes, and this chicken & rice soup is my version of something that was served at our church's Community Kitchen. I must say, I think my version tastes a bit better. I had a lot of time to let it sit, though. I ended up with a ton of soup, so I took some to my sister, who seems to be fighting some kind of cold like Weslee and I are. I don't usually measure my recipes, but here is a rough estimate of what went into the soup:

Boil 2 chicken breasts in a big pot(I tossed a little salt and pepper in the water, and probably had 8-10 Cups water)
Cook 2 Cups Rice (I have a rice cooker, so I did the chicken and rice at the same time)
1/5 Onion, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Whole Carrots, diced
Spices to taste
6-8 Bouillon cubes (I put in a few less than the amount for the water I had)

Remove chicken from water, set on cutting board to rest. Strain water from pot into another container. In pot, add a couple teaspoons olive oil, saute onions, garlic and carrots. Add seasonings. Slowly add a few cups of water, adding each when the previous water returns to a boil. Add bouillon cubes as water boils. When you've added about 6 cups of water, start adding spoonfuls of rice. When rice has been added, chop chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to pot. You may need to add more water, depending on how much the rice has absorbed. The starch from the rice will thicken the soup. Let soup simmer for 1/2-1 hour to let flavors meld.

Like I said, the recipe is not exact, but just a rough estimate of what I did. Experiment with it to figure out what you like best. I served it with some garlic bread, but that's not a requirement. It's really a stand-alone meal, as well. It's a great alternative to chicken noodle soup, and was very soothing to my cold.

Salsa Soup

Salsa Soup- one with lots of sour cream added :)

2lb beef roast, cubed (about 1/2" cubes- bite sized)
1/2 C. Onion, chopped
3 Garlic cloves, chopped finely
1/2 C. Carrots, diced
2 C. Corn, cooked
2 Bell peppers, any color, diced
2 C. cooked beans (I used pinto and red beans. Black would also be nice)
2 Cans Stewed tomatoes (I cut up the larger chunks)
6-8 C. Water (Depending on how much broth you want. I used 6 cups)
6-8 Bullion cubes (enough for the water)
1T-2T Chili seasoning (to taste)

Put large pot on medium heat. Put beef in the pan, add a little salt and pepper, and cook most of the way through. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook until onions are transluscent. Add corn and bell peppers, allow a few minutes to incorporate. Add water, bring to a boil. Add bullion cubes, beans, tomatoes and chili seasoning. Simmer for 1/2 to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve plain or topped with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.