Kitchen Creations: Buttaaa Chicken

Seriously, ya'll there's nothing butta than this chicken.  (I had to share one of my many puns I dish out when making this chicken.)

There's a whole lot of healthier things to eat, but we put our butter chicken on top of salad so that kind of balances it out, right? 

This is my husbands favorite chicken recipe, but I only use it with salad. And since chicken salad is one of our weekly go-to's, as you can probably tell (I have at least 4 posts mentioning salad).  I probably cook this once or twice a month.  

Like I said the recipe isn't for the health conscious, but it is delicious and super easy.  And it's so perfect on top of salad.  

I  take a cup/one stick of butter, 3 chicken breasts cut into chunks, and my choice of seasoning, and throw them in a iron skillet on medium.  I stir every 3 to 4 minutes, and the chicken is done in 15-20 minutes. It's not a lot of work at all.  

If you're wondering, my seasonings of choice are: basil, onion powder, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, lemon pepper, pepper, and a little bit of spice (hot sauce, pepper flakes, etc.).  I skip the salt on this one because there's so much butter.  But I change my seasoning occasionally, and the butter chicken always comes out perfect.  So if you ever try it, just season to taste and do what's comfortable.

Deliciousness is butta few steps away.

  

Dinner (& Wine Mixer): Grilled Pineaches (& Chardonnay)

I have done it! Not only do I have a recipe that works with dinner, but I have a recipe that makes a great wine mixer, too. (Wine is amazing, but Wine Mixers are just so fun to create!)

I call this grilled pineaches [pine-E-chez], because I had a bag of peaches and a bag of pineapples. . (And because I still take pleasure in combining two words to make one rediculous word.) 

Disclaimer: I call anything I put in a skillet, grilled. No grill was used. 

Directions: 

I let my frozen fruit thaw at room temperature for two hours.  

By dinner time, they were pretty soft.  I threw them in a skillet with a 1/4 cup of juice ( I used Passion Fruit Lemonade, because that's what we had on-hand), 2 tablespoons of  brown sugar,  3 tablespoons of  ground cinnamon, and 2 pinches of ground ginger,

I cooked them on medium for 30-45 minutes, stirring regularly.  And sprinkled nutmeg on top when they were done. That's it. An easy, quick side,

These sweet and savory grilled fruits added some balance to our somewhat spicy fried chicken and potato wedges.  And they weren't too sweet or too bitter, so the husband didn't mind eating them with dinner, and the boys ate them without question or complaint.  

After dinner, the grilled pineaches were absolutely perfect when I added 1/2 cup of them into 1 cup of Chardonnay, and blended it.  It helped cut the bitter after-taste of the Chardonnay.

And although I did not try it, I think these would be wonderful with vanilla ice cream. I will buy some ice-cream tomorrow, and top it with the leftovers and let ya'll know! 

Because of their flexibility and catchy name, Grilled Pineaches just may be my new favorite recipe. 

Kitchen Creations: Sweet Potato Mash

I've taken on a lot of new projects this new year! Trying to get the boys in social settings more often, starting school, and I'm helping with a few things within the community.  Since I've got a lot more on my plate, I will only be blogging regularly Monday through Wednesday.  I'll probably still blog some on Thursday, Friday, and even some Saturday's; but I won't be blogging regularly on those days.

...

Since this year has begun, I have either been sick or on-the-go.  Some days I feel like I have to squeeze time in to make dinner! But luckily, I have quick(ish) and easy go-to recipes. Like last week, I made my sweet potato mash. We are the southern family that eats applesauce with our pork chops, but sometimes I want something more "dinner-y" than applesauce, so I make my sweet potato mash.
This recipe feeds 3-5, depending on how big of servings you eat.

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
3 cups of applesauce (sweetened or unsweetened)
Cinnamon to taste

Like 3 Pinches of Ginger
2 Crushed Peppermints (*optional)
Brown sugar to taste (*optional)

Instructions:
1. Clean & shank/stab the sweet potatoes 10 or 45 times. I really dont think it matters how many times you do it, just make sure it's a good bit.

I was lazy the other day, and microwaved my sweet potatoes for about 24 minutes (at 7-8 minute intervals). But I usually bake them about an hour at 400. You can also boil them.  Just cook the sweet potatoes, it doesn't matter how.

2. Peel the skin off. It is always easier for me to skin the potatoes when they are still warm, and have been cooked. But you can do this first, if you prefer.

3. Mash the sweet potatoes.

4. Add apple sauce, cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar*, and peppermint*. Mix together.

5. Serve warm!

Makes a sweet, easy side with all the health benefits of the sweet potato.

Kitchen Creations: Mean Green Beans

Isn't my name catchy? It rhymes.  And I am pretty pleased with it. 

Anyhow, green beans are one of my favorite vegetables, and one of the few vegetables I can get Jeffrey to eat.  So we eat them pretty often.  And I wanted to share my no-fail (unhealthy) green bean recipe, since I get a good bit of compliments on them.  

Ya'll, I try to eat healthy and feed my family healthy food.  But I cook often with butter and salt, and that's like the very definition of unhealthy.  A salted green bean is still a green bean, so the good and bad cancel each other, right? (Well, that's what I tell myself.) 

Here's how I make my mean green beans! 

Ingredients: 

Everything is measured to-taste.  

1. Canned green beans (If you use fresh or frozen, you have to up the cooking time.)

2. Butter (I use 1/2 stick to a whole stick.) 

3. Garlic powder 

4. Onion powder 

5. Pepper 

6. Salt 

7. Hot Sauce 

8. Chicken Boilloin Cubes (I use one cube per can) 

9. A few tablespoons of vinegar 

10. Seasoning Salt 

Directions: 

1. Rinse and drain the green beans.

2. Throw all the ingredients into a skillet.  

3. Cook on medium high heat for 10 to 15 minutes, the green beans will be a darker shade of green when they are done cooking,  

Kitchen Creations: Beef & Potato Stew

Today I pulled out the crock pot! It's December, it's chilly, and the holidays are right around the corner! So I went for southern comfort, and decided to make beef and potato stew over cornbread and rice for dinner.  Tonight, I'm going to share my stew recipe with y'all. Spoiler alert...in involves wine!!

My recipe is super easy, and I set the crock pot on high so it took about 4 hours. You can set the crock pot on low, and it would take the same recipe about 6 hours. This recipe fed 4 adults and 2 preschoolers...So I'm going to say it feeds 5. But that's just a guess! 

Ingredients: 

Stew beef 

1 1/2 cup of Beef Broth

 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth

Seasonings of Choice

  2 Potatoes

1 Celery Stalk

1/4 cup of Butter 

1/4 cup of Flour

1 Onion (optional)

1/4 cup of Moscato...or any sweet wine, really (optional) 

Salt and Pepper (to taste) 

Directions:
1. Put stew beef in the slow cooker. 

2. Clean and cut the potatoes. (You can skin them, but we don't, We eat the skin. It's good for you!) If you are using real onions, cut those up. Then add them to the slow cooker. 

3. Using the seasonings ( I used basil, minced onion, seasoning salt, pepper, and salt-free seasoning) season the meat and potatoes to taste. (I never measure my seasonings.) And turn the slow cooker on high for one hour. Side note: You do not need minced onion if you're using a real onion.  

4. In a saucepan set on medium, mix the butter with the flour. Beat out all the lumps. Then slowly add beef broth,chicken broth, salt and pepper (to taste) and let it thicken. This takes about 5 minutes. Then add the gravy to the stew. If you are using the wine, add that too.

5. Chop celery stalk into little pieces and add to stew, and let stew simmer for a total of 4 hours. Stirring... and tasting, occasionally.

About 30 minutes, before the stew was done. I baked Jiffy cornbread in a pan, according to the directions. And I boiled  the rice. (Because I used two cans of broth, I boiled the rice in all the leftover broth, instead of water, to give it a bit more flavor.) 

When it was all done, I put a ladle of stew over my cornbread and rice.

It's southern and starchy, but it's most definitely a comfort food. It had us feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It was just right for the weather and the season!