Family favorites
With all of the hot humid weather we have been having, I did not want to heat the kitchen up so this was the perfect recipe on a hot summer day. I served this with jasmine rice. This recipe is sweet, but still has as much heat as you want to put in with the addition of red pepper flakes. We really enjoyed this dish and will be making this again. We also made this into a wrap the next day!
INGREDIENTS
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup blackberry jam
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
1 Tablespoon corn starch
Rice, cooked as directed
DIRECTIONS
Arrange chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker so they are not over lapping. In a medium bowl whisk together honey, soy sauce, blackberry jam, hoisin, olive oil, garlic, onion and crushed red pepper flakes. Pour mixture over the chicken, cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours until chicken is cooked through. Using tongs remove chicken from slow cooker, reserving the liquids and place on a cutting board. Shred the chicken placing the chicken in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk the corn starch with 3 tablespoons of water to make a slurry.
Transfer the liquid from the slow cooker to a small saucepan. Set over medium high heat and whisk in the slurry.
Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until reduced to your desired thickness. I left my sauce slightly loose so it would cover the rice slightly. Put the chicken back in the slow cooker along with the sauce and mix to coat. Serve warm over rice.
Enjoy!
This recipe comes from www.justataste.com
I am always looking for a new breakfast muffin recipe and this was perfect! This was easy, delicious and not only has apples, but has grated zucchini that you can’t even taste. So this is a perfect recipe to sneak in some veggies to the kiddos before school! I can’t believe it’s that time of year again…back to school, where did summer go?!
This recipe makes 12 regular size muffins.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup peeled and shredded apple (I used Granny Smith)
Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line or spray muffin pan with liners or non-stick baking spray, set aside.
In a medium bowl add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract, whisk until smooth. Add in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder and stir until combined. Fold in the shredded zucchini and apple (along with any juice from shredding). Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full filling 12 cups. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.
Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temp.
Enjoy!
This recipe was found at www.persnickety plate.com
This is another fantastic recipe from Pinterest. This was sweet, full of milk chocolate, white chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie crust! This can be made with many different combinations of chocolate chips. Peanut butter chips, coconut, pecans or other nuts! This is a definite “make it your way” kind of recipe. We really enjoyed this combination and it became an instant favorite!
INGREDIENTS
8.5 ounces of prepared cookie dough, (I used the Pillsbury roll) softened to room temp. For easier forming
3/4 white chocolate chips
3/4 semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 toffee bits
3/4 chopped pecans
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 square pan with foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray. Press cookie dough onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle all of the chocolate chips, toffee bits and nuts evenly over the cookie dough crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Bake 25-27 minutes until edges are golden brown and the center looks somewhat firm. Cool completely before cutting into bars (waiting is the most difficult part!) Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Recently Jim really wanted to have a lobster bake with our friends. The hard part was we were getting together at their house and did not want to completely disrupt their kitchen and wanted an easy way to boil the seafood…so guess what? We used our TURKEY FRYER! Say what? Yes, that turkey fryer that is sitting in your garage waiting to be used. This will bring new life to that fryer and something NOT deep fried and completely delicious! Dig out those deep fryers you are going to thank me! The best part is you can make as much seafood that will fit in that huge pot! (Adjusting the liquid of course) you will be the hit of the party with this! We have done this twice already and have plans to do it again!
My measurements serve 4-5 people
INGREDIENTS
1 pound small red potatoes
4 ears of corn, cleaned and broken in half
1 pound of kielbasa, sliced into 1 inch rounds
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, deveined with shell on
1 1/2 pounds little neck clams, cleaned and soaked in room temp. water for 20 minutes
6 lobster tails
1 onion, diced
6 beers (we used blue moon)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
3 Tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
1 stick of butter, melted and used when serving
Lemon wedges for serving
DIRECTIONS
Connect your deep fryer to the propane tank outside and away from the house. Add the beer, garlic salt and Old Bay seasoning to the bottom of the pot. In the basket of the fryer add the potatoes, onion and kielbasa and bring to a boil. Add corn, clams (removed from water)and lobster and cook five more minutes, add the shrimp and cook an additional five minutes or until the shrimp are pink and cooked through. Using oven mitts as the handle will be very hot, remove the basket from the pot and liquid and pour everything onto a baking sheet or large platter. Serve with melted butter and lemon wedges.
Enjoy!
I made this salad with what I had in my fridge and it was delicious! I had three teenagers that all enjoyed it, so that says something! The fried goat cheese is AMAZING! If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it. Our family likes goat cheese and I use it often but this was really a nice change. Crispy and creamy all in one bite! I also marinated the chicken for a couple of hours, so it’s a good idea to plan ahead a little bit for this.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DRESSING AND MARINADE
1 cup of blackberries
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of honey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
FOR THE SALAD
8 ounces of goat cheese, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cups Panko bread crumbs
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
2 cups arugula
2 cups blackberries
1 cup cashew halves
Canola oil, to fry
DIRECTIONS
Mix all of the dressing and marinade ingredients together muddling the blackberries. Marinate the chicken with one cup of the marinade and store in the fridge. Reserve the remaining dressing for later also storing in the fridge.
Pre-heat your grill to medium high heat. Mix the romaine lettuce, arugula, 2 cups of blackberries and cashews in a bowl and set aside. Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat with enough canola oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Slice your goat cheese into at least 1/4 inch thick rounds, flour all sides of the goat cheese and dredge in the beaten egg. Lastly coat the round of cheese in Panko Crumbs. Do this for each round setting them on a plate until they are all coated and you are ready to fry. Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade.
Grill the chicken on both sides until cooked through and no longer pink on the inside. While the chicken is grilling add the goat cheese rounds to your heated canola oil and quickly fry both one side of the cheese until golden brown and turn the cheese to the second side until golden brown. Remove from heat and add to your Romaine mix.
When the chicken is done slice and add to the romaine mix. Drizzle with the remaining balsamic dressing.
Enjoy!
