recipe

Instant Pot Crack Chicken

January 28, 2018

We are going on our cruise tomorrow!!!!!!!

I am ridiculously excited. I’ve researched the ship and ports we are going to, I’ve joined FB groups to get get tips, and I’ve made lists, and I’ve packed and packed again. And I know I will still forget something! ha!

I think that is just the way it is when you are traveling, especially when you are traveling with kids. You can never pack enough when you have kids.

In order to help clear out our fridge before being gone for almost a week, I made Crack Chicken in our Instant Pot yesterday.

It lives up to it’s name. I’m addicted to to this dang chicken. I’ve made it far too often since getting the Instant Pot. I only “complain” about that as it’s not the lightest of dishes… hello cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and bacon.

But it’s worth it. I swear.

You can easily double this recipe, which is great for when you need to feed a crowd. It’s great for a pot luck or for a party… think Super Bowl!!! (Fly Eagles Fly!!!)

Talk to ya when we’re back from the cruise. In the mean time, enjoy some addicting chicken!

Instant Pot Crack Chicken

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/4″ wide pieces
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed
1 packet ranch seasoning
8 oz cream cheese, can use light cream cheese too
2/3 Cup water
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Process

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, set aside.
In the pot of a pressure cooker, add the chicken, then cream cheese, and then the packet of ranch seasoning over the top.
Add the water.
Place your Instant Pot on Manual high pressure for 15 minutes. Do a quick release. Turn to the keep warm setting.
Shred the chicken in the pot using forks.
Add the cheese and bacon, stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as a sandwich, dip, over rice or noodles.

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Sweet and Sour Marmalade Glazed Oven Baked Chicken

January 26, 2018

Did you know that Florida produces more than 70 percent of the United States’ supply of citrus? And, that it’s only 2nd in production to Brazil? That’s a lot of OJ!!!

So, obviously, I needed to get my hands on Orange Appeal by Jamie Schler. I am super excited about the fresh citrus that is in season now here. I can’t wait to go orange picking! So fun!!!!

I actually found Jamie’s blog Life’s a Feast years and years ago. Besides her incredible photography featuring food and flowers and life in France, I followed her Instagram because she had a Boston Terrier. Boston Terrier people are my kind of people. RIP Marty.

As well, I really enjoyed following along as she shares her life running a hotel in France. How fun is all of that. I always wanted a bed and breakfast, so following along her life allowed me to day cream about serving homemade scones and coffee to people while telling them about the area and the fun things they could do during the day.

Of course, nothing is all that easy or glamorous, but one can daydream of making jam for toast and filling vases of flowers.

Besides the hotel, Jamie has been busy with creating the wonderful Orange Appeal cookbook. It has everything that you can think of from salads, sauces, cakes, brownies, and cookies. You are covered for orange recipes from breakfast to dessert!

I zeroed in on the Sweet and Sour Marmalade Glazed Oven Baked Chicken because it sounded glorious with the different flavor profiles in the marinade- the sweet from the orange marmalade, the salty flavor from the sour, and the touch of sour from the vinegar.

The only thing that I changed for this recipe was the chicken that I used. The recipe calls for a whole chicken that is broken down into the various pieces or use chicken thighs. I would have used the whole chicken, as I don’t love chicken thighs, but when I was making this, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts were on sale. So I just used them.

Besides the chicken, this would be great with pork or lamb. The flavors in the marinade pair wonderfully with those perfectly as well. Follow the recipe as directed, subbing in the different meats, just cook until appropriate temperatures.

Also, cook the marinade in a sauce pan… A POT! I honestly wasn’t paying attention when I started (#IHave2KidsAndNoBrain) and put it in the skillet and then had a doh! moment. I kept on going, but it would have been a whole hell of a lot easier in a pot, so do that!!

This Sweet and Sour Marmalade Glazed Oven Baked Chicken recipe was a winner in my family.

We were far from civilized once we dug in; picking up the chicken, and taking big bites, and then licking all that delicious sweet and sour glaze off our fingers. It was messy and glorious. But you just need to dive in like that when you have amazing food right in front of you.

Sweet and Sour Marmalade Glazed Oven Baked Chicken

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large shallots, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 Cup white wine vinegar
2/3 Cup light soy sauce
1 Cup (12 1/2 ounces/350 g) orange marmalade
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4-6 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs or 1 whole chicken

Process

In a medium saucepan, cook the shallots in the oil over medium heat. Cook until sofa and golden, 3-5 minutes.
Add the ginger and stir until dissolved. Then add the vinegar and oil vigorously until reduced by half 2-3 minutes.
Add the soy sauce, marmalade, salt, and pepper. Stir until smooth and the marmalade is dissolved. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Rinse and pat the chicken dry. Trim excess skin and fat, as needed.
Place chicken in a large bowl or resealable bags, then pour 1/2 the marinade over the chicken. Rotate the chicken in the marinade to completely coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or seal the plastic bags. Let marinade for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Line a pan with parchment or foil, the oil well. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer. Spoon marinade over the chicken.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through to 165 degrees F. Keep an eye on the chicken at the end as the marinade can go from beautifully golden to burned quickly.
While the chicken is cooking, place the rest of the marinade in a sauce pan and simmer until it is reduced to 1/2 to 2/3 Cup and thickened.
Prior to serving, slather with the reduced marinade. Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cinnamon Rolls

February 13, 2017

This weekend was all sorts of perfect.

My brother and his family came in on Friday night for vacation. It’s been a year+ since we have seen each other so it was great getting to hang out and catch up. Best of all was the girls playing really well together, like they had just seen each other the weekend before. And the age different (3 & 6) even worked out well.

On Saturday we went Strawberry picking. So fun with the girls. And delicious. I made biscuits for shortcake for dessert that night. It was great with the grilled veggies, burgers, and hot dogs that we enjoyed for dinner. So yummy.

Besides that they also had a blast putting on tons of make up from my big makeup kit. Shoot, as long as you are not fighting, yelling, or destroying something… do whatever. They were so proud of themselves as well. But, let’s be real, they need to work on their eye liner application skills. ha!

And then Sunday was all about hanging by the pool. We had a leisurely morning enjoying breakfast before we headed out to the pool. The weather was great and the pool was warm so we had a blast lounging around and playing with the girls in the pool. Autumn was so worn out that she napped on me for 2.5 hours as we sat by the pool. I even napped. The best kind of day ever.

More family came over later on and we made homemade pizza (of course the girls wanted boxed mac and cheese…). The night wrapped up with baths and girls cuddled up to me while I read to them.

I am loving this year’s weekly recipe theme. I love working with dough and perfuming our house with cinnamon and sugar is just so fun. Plus, it’s fun as hell to come up with different flavors and combinations for the cinnamon rolls, monkey breads, and pull apart breads. And since we can’t possibly eat them all, I love getting to share with with our neighbors when they are fresh out of the oven.

Rock on Monkey Bread Mondays!

If you love peanut butter then you will looooooove these cinnamon rolls. There is just the right amount of peanut butter in them where you can taste it, and smell it, but it’s balanced out so nicely with the typical cinnamon and sugar in cinnamon rolls. Plus, the jam glaze on top rocks.

I always make PBJ’s with strawberry jelly so it just felt right to use that for the glaze, but if you like grape or something else then just give that a try. I bet a blueberry jam would be awesome on it too. No matter what, you can’t go wrong.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 12 large cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

For the Rolls

1 Cup warm milk (100-110 degrees)
1 packet yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (but not hot!)
4 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup melted butter
1/3 Cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 Cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

For the glaze

1/2 Cup strawberry preserves
1 Tablespoons orange juice

Process

Add the yeast to the warm milk. Let rest for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs, then slowly mix in the warm milk mixture. Add the butter and just mix to combine.
Add in the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a hook attachment, work the dough until combined.
On a well floured work surface, roll the dough into an even ball. Add the dough to a large oiled bowl. Rotate to cover the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let double in size, at least 1 hour.
While the dough is rising, cut the bacon into very small pieces and cook. Drain well and set aside.
Once the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 350 F and grease 1 9x 13 baking pan.
On a well floured work surface, roll the dough out so it is approximately 14″ x 24″.
Mix the peanut butter into the melt butter and then evenly spread out on the dough.
Then sprinkle with the cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll towards you and then cut into 12 evenly sized rolls. Arrange in the baking pan.
Bake for 24-26 minutes or until golden brown.
While the rolls are baking, warm the strawberry preserves and orange juice together; mix well. Drizzle all over the baked cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!

Layered Taco Bake

June 28, 2016

We are almost half way through the week. yay!!!!!

I am really trying to turn my attitude around and think positively when things are spinning around me. I am trying to live my life with a ‘half full’ attitude. I think it has been helping me lately.

I feel that you can’t beat a good attitude. At least it beats screaming at people or punching them. Ha! I still road rage at people, but I blast my music and sing/yell along to it instead of flipping people off. So progress, no?

So I am thinking positively about extra overtime money, compared to having to work late. Or that I am getting extra rest and sleep instead of feeling down about being sick.Or when something goes wrong I put on some inappropriate music (don’t click that link if you can’t handle swearing) to amp myself up to. I think that helps. At least I enjoy dancing around to it.

But the biggest most awesome thing going on right now… Gilmore Girls will be coming to Netlfix starting on July 1st. So if I stop blogging, it means I have fallen down the Gilrmore Girls rabbit hole. oh, I can’t wait. ( I apologize in advance to my husband. ha!!!)

My husband says I talk ‘Gilmore Girls’ fast. I take that as a compliment. It doesn’t matter that sometimes he can’t understand the fact that words come out of my mouth at the speed of light.

Anyway, I made this Layered Taco Bake recently and it was a HUGE hit at home. Like ‘don’t judge me, I’m taking seconds’ hit.

I just feel that you can’t beat a casserole, especially one that is loaded up with yummy taco ingredients.

Besides all the goodies I incorporated into the casserole, I would suggest that you add in things like diced red onion that you would cook along with the ground beef. Or layer in sliced black olives. I despise them but go for it if you like it!

Be sure to dance around your kitchen while you make this. It will help lift up your mood and I’m sure will help make this taste extra delicious. #science

Layered Taco Bake

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef ( I used 85%/15%)
1 Tablespoon Taco Seasoning
1 Cup water
2 Cups corn kernels (2-3 ears)
19.75 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed (15 ounce can would be fine too)
1 Cup sour cream
16 ounce jar of salsa
7 ounce can of diced green chilies
3 Cups Mexican blend of shredded cheese
12 flour tortillas, halved

Process

Preheat oven to 425.
Over medium heat, brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Break up the meat while it browns. Add the seasoning and water, mix well. Mix in the corn and the beans. Turn off the heat.
While the meat is browning, combine the sour cream and salsa. Set aside.
In an 9×13 pan layer the tortilla pieces to cover the bottom of the pan. ( I used 9 pieces)
Then spread 1/2 of the sour cream and salsa mixture on the tortillas, then evenly add 1/3 of the beef mixture, 1/3 of the chilies, and then 1/3 of the cheese.
Add more tortillas on, I only used 7 pieces for this layer) then repeat with the sour cream and salsa mixture, beef, chilies, and cheese. Then finish with the remaining tortillas, sour cream and salsa mixture, beef, chilies, and cheese.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
Let sit for 10 minutes prior to cutting and serving.

New Potato & Radish Salad in a Creamy Truffle Oil Dressing

April 27, 2015

Holy smokes guys, I bought a new bathing suit!!

I am so freaking ready for summer. It hurts me so much that it’s not yet warm. I’m not complaining that it’s not warm enough for wearing a bathing suit in April in New England, I’m not delusional! I’m complaining that it’s barely out of the 50’s during the days. There were flurries coming down just the other morning. Insanity.

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