Blackened Chicken & Lime Quinoa

  My life has been pretty much focused around studying and exams for the past few days weeks which is why I haven't posted anything in 9 days a while. I have been making good grades on my exams and projects so my mom took me shopping to Cavender's where I got 2 new pairs of boots and 2 belts which brings my total of cowboy boots I own to 5 pairs. I still have to take my final exam, complete my final project, and send in my extra credit all before the 10th before I'm officially finished with this class.
  I originally though I would have about a 2 week break between finishing my wintermester and starting my spring classes, but  just noticed that it is actually only have 8 days. In those 8 days, I am planning on spending one day with my grandma since I've been putting off due to classes, trying to finish some of my crochet and knitting projects that have been almost forgotten, and to make & photograph a few recipes to have saved up for later.

This dish that proves healthy food can be delicious and fast to prepare!! 

This is my new favorite dish. 

Original Post I wrote a few months back:

Chinese Chicken Stir Fry

A few days ago I made my dad this cheesecake because cheesecake is in the top 3 of my dad's favorite desserts and he saw the 3 blocks of cream cheese in the fridge and brought up the subject. I think next time I might try to make a mini cheesecake for me using tofutti's better than cream cheese since I've heard really good reviews saying you can't tell the difference between it and dairy cream cheese. 

I did make a few changes from the recipe above: 

1) I made the filling in a food processor which was faster.

2) I used little chocolate cookies (teddy grahams) to make the crust instead of graham crackers 

3) I added another 1/4 cup of sugar into the batter because I almost made a marble cheesecake, but later changed my mind.

4) I didn't do the chocolate layer at the bottom which I only did once because I didn't realize at the time the chocolate could become completely solid again and once it was chilled it was too hard.

Lemon Pesto Pasta with Chicken

 I love this time of the year when Summer turns into Fall. It's a break from the summer heat and before the sometimes temperamental weather of winter; the temperature is just right to spend all day outside. Fall (or Autumn) to me means sipping hot apple cider and hot chocolate, football, baking pies, the beautiful colors of the leaves changing,  soups, cinnamon spice candles, layering sweaters & scarves for chilly days, more pumpkin recipes to share, and it's just a cozy time of the year to spend curled up with a good book.

  With that said, here in Texas we are still expected to have temperature in the 90's up to 103F for a little while longer so the sweaters will have to stay in my closet for now.  I also have some new DIY crafts & recipes to share soon since I haven't posted any in a while.

Light Sesame Chicken for 2

  One of my favorite chinese dishes is sesame chicken and this recipe is great since you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen. The flavor is simple- great for kids to adults who may not be real big on chinese food and it can be halved (what I did) or multiplied to serve a crowd. Even my dad, who generally will try, but not love the chinese-themed dishes I make said he liked it and finished his bowl.

 It's easy to make take-out at home and you can experiment with different ingredients and flavors. You could leave out the vegetables, add in other veggies, double the sauce portion if your prefer more sauce, and/or add some nuts like cashews or peanuts to add some crunch on top.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

   My cousin had her baby! She is so cute. We have only seen her in pictures because she came so sudden and I was sick so we'll have to wait for our family dinner before we get to see her. It's gonna be kind of weird having baby in the family seeing as i'm the baby and i'm 17. My mom will love having a baby in the family since she has baby fever; she goes gaga over them.

  I have also been experimenting with some items that we got from our co-op like these Lychee Popsicles (i'm still tweaking the recipe), but seeing that most of my posts lately have been of sweet items I thought I should throw in a savory one.

   I made this soup last week and it was good. I thought about using canned tomatoes and adding in jalapenos so I could manage the heat, but instead I used a can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies. And it was the hot version so my dad (who can't handle any kind of heat) only had a few bites. Oops. But my mom and I enjoyed it.

Oven-Fried Chicken

Magazines.
Food Magazines.
I have a good amount of them.I also have a folder with pages from magazines and print outs of recipes to try. I actually have been trying to put together a binder of recipes that I have tried, liked, or created; so it would be like my own little cookbook. I recently found a recipe for oven fried chicken in a Better Homes and Gardens Anyone Can Cook magazine.

With this being the new year, everyone is trying to eat healthier and that usually means giving up the food you enjoy. Well, my dad isn't able to get out of the house much due to his sickness and he has been craving fried chicken. We did own a little fryer, but we got rid of it because we stopped using it a few years ago. While flipping through the magazine I found a recipe for oven-fried chicken that was simple and looked easy enough so I made it. And it was a hit. I've made this recipe twice and each time I tweeked it a little to try and get the perfect (or nearly perfect) results and I think each time it gets a little better. My dad said that If he didn't know that I baked it, he would have thought it was fried. The cornflakes gave a good crunch, the chicken was juicy, and the leftovers tasted even better the next day.

Stove Top Chicken skillet

   I found this recipe in a magazine a few weeks ago, but I'm not sure which magazine it was since I ripped out the page.Oops.I do remember that all of the recipes had at least 1 brand name product that was incorportated in the dishes. This recipe was by Stove Top. I love Stove Top stuffing mix. It was what I made for Thanksgiving. Its the only stuffing that I like; the homemade stuff just doesn't hit the spot like Stove Top's.  Picky? Maybe a little.

  

Stove Top Chicken Skillet

Adapted from: Food & Family magazine 2009

serves: 6

1 1/2 cp hot water
1/4 cp butter, melted
1 pkg (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/2lbs)
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
black pepper & salt
1/4 cp sour cream*

In a Skillet:
1. Mix together the water, butter, and stuffing mix in a medium bowl. It may look too loose,but it thickens up. set aside. Season the chicken with some black pepper and salt.
2. In a skillet cook the chicken on medium-high heat for 5 minutes per side. Mix together the soup and sour cream; pour over the chicken. Top with the stuffing mixture; cover.
3. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes or until the chicken is done (165F).
 > I put the skillet under the broiler for 5-7 minutes to get the stuffing slightly crunchy.

For the Oven:
1. Heat the oven to 375F. Prepare everything as directed above.
2. Place the chicken in 9x13 baking dish. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken and top with the stuffing mix.
3.Bake for 35 minutes or until the chicken is done.
>Broil for a few minutes to get a crunchy topping if desired.

*The recipe called for 1/3 of a cup of sour cream, but the end product which was good-was a little too saucey for our liking. You could also maybe just forget the sour cream and loosen the soup with a few tablespoons of hot water.

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

   Meals made in a slow cooker or crock pot are good, especially around the holidays because they are easy, takes only minutes to prepare, and you only dirty a few dishes which is good since our kitchen is gonna be used non stop for the next few weeks. I mean you can come home to a home cooked, hot meal and all you have to do is make a side dish and serve and its much tastier and better for you than going through the drive thru.
   We actually have 3 crock pots (which comes in handy for church lunch ins), but usually only cook my mom's pot roast in them. And since we will be needing all of the freezer space we can find, to fit 3 turkeys (2 for church and 1 for us-well 2 are going into a ice chest) I decided that I will be making a few chicken recipes in the crock pot this week. I'm thinking that I'll make my dad and I chicken salsa tacos for Thanksgiving since we will be eating turkey on Saturday and will most likely be living off of turkey for a week after. I like turkey, but it seems like no matter how many people are over for Thanksgiving (16 this year), we always still have plently of turkey leftover,but one good result of that is turkey soup.
  This recipe was invented when I found some chicken recipes for the slow cooker online, but with each recipe I was missing a few ingredients so I made up my own recipe.

sorry. not the greastest photo

Roasted chicken quarters & Roasted baby potatoes

                                            This is a close up of the 1st egg that our chickens laid.

It was smaller than our store bought eggs.

Its "life" did not last long because I accidently dropped it.

Oops!

But this morning, there was another egg waiting in the nest.

And this afternoon, another little egg was laid.

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Here are some other pictures from this weekend.

Marley!

2 dogs, but they only ever play with 1 toy.

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Liberally season the chicken. We left the skin on, but if you chose you can take it off since you will be cooking the chicken in liquid; so you don't have to worry about it drying out.

dried chicken= YUCK

Creamed Chicken with Biscuits (It is so easy!)

Want a recipe that is simple,but at the same time looks good and tastes like something that your grandma would make when you visited? Well here it is.....

Creamed Chicken with Biscuits

serves about 6 adults who also ate a small salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 large onion or 1 small onion
• 1 tbsp. butter
• About 3-4 cups of chicken, cooked
• 1 (10 3/4  ounce) can of Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 cp. Sour Cream
• 1/2 cp. milk
• 4-6 Tbsp. of mild diced tomatoes & green Chilis
• 1 cp. shredded Mild, Cheddar cheese, Divided
• 6 frozen biscuits(if big) or 9 small biscuits if using a 9x9 pan
• >>>You could also maybe use canned biscuits which i almost did, but i decided to try this way first.
• Tip: if you want it to have some heat, add 1 or 2 jalapenos (your decision to de-seed them or not; I do)

1. Preheat the oven to 350. If using Big biscuits use an 11x9 pan, but i only had a 9x9 pan so I used a 9x9; Grease the pan.
2. Chop the onion. Melt the butter in a medium-large sauce pan, add the onion, add salt and pepper. Saute the until the onion are transparent,about 5-8 minutes if on medium-high. Add the diced tomato and chili's into the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.