Easy Garlic Broiled Chicken

This was by far one of the most frustrating recipes--I felt like the name of the recipe was somewhat misleading...that, or I'm just a bit "cooking-challenged"! I was so excited, because I saw the word "easy" and thought how perfect it would be for a quick weeknight meal! My husband and I decided that we would make it a point to sit down every Friday for dinner, as a family, since it's the ONLY night a week that we're all home around dinnertime. I had every intention of sitting down at 7pm, but we didn't end up eating until a little after 8pm! Granted, I did bathe the kids before dinner which stalled my starting dinner a bit, but it still felt like it took forever and a day for the chicken to finish cooking--it was *supposed* to be done in 20 minutes! I followed the recipe exactly as written, which may have been my first mistake--I generally tend to take the suggestions of other "reviewers", but it seemed as if enough people stated that they made it exactly as written and enjoyed it. I almost didn't even bother posting this recipe, because I was that frustrated, but I definitely think it has potential--that, and we had the leftovers last night and it tasted delicious reheated! I can count on one hand the amount of times I've used the broiler on my oven, so that might have been part of my problem. Perhaps I should have moved the rack up a bit, but I did take one person's suggestion and left it in the middle of my oven, since they said the chicken seemed to burn on the outside real quickly, while it was raw on the inside. I initially set my timer for 10 minutes, turned and basted the chicken and then set it for another 10 minutes and when I checked on it, it didn't appear to be anywhere near done and the skin wasn't at all browned. I moved the rack up and set it back in for 5 minutes, took it out and quickly realized it wasn't done as I was cutting it up for my kids. I put it back in and ended up going through this SEVERAL times until it was finally finished! Bless my kid's hearts...they sat so patiently, eating their broccoli and salad, even though it was already pushing 8pm, which is when they're normally heading to bed! Anyway, I'm going to post the recipe below and will be very anxious to know if anyone tries it and what changes you make! Since I did enjoy the leftovers so much (and my husband and son really liked the chicken the night I made it), I will give it one more try, but next time, I think I will let the chicken sit in the sauce (turning at least once) for an hour or two, prior to cooking and will then attempt to bake the chicken at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes and perhaps broiling the last couple of minutes. The recipe called for a fairly substantial amount of garlic (which we love) and the kitchen smelled wonderful while it was cooking, but I didn't feel as if the sauce/flavors had enough time to infuse into the chicken and I ended up broiling my chicken thighs for closer to 40 minutes. I used 10 bone-in chicken thighs (with skin) and one and a halfed the sauce ingredients, which gave PLENTY of sauce that would have been great spooned over noodles or rice. I really think this recipe has a lot of potential and the fact that it didn't cook as quickly very much could have been "user error". Feedback would be much appreciated from those of you who experiment with this recipe!!!

Easy Garlic Broiled Chicken

1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
6 boneless chicken thighs, with skin
dried parsley, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven broiler. Lightly grease a baking pan.

In a microwave safe bowl, mix the butter, garlic, soy sauce, pepper, and parsley.

Cook 2 minutes on High in the microwave, or until butter is melted.

Arrange chicken on the baking pan, and coat with the butter mixture, reserving some of the mixture for basting.

Broil chicken 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until juices run clear, turning occasionally and basting with remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Marinated Baked Pork Chops

The first week of my husband's crazy semester is just about coming to an end! This week has really flown by, so I anticipate that the next four months will go by in the blink of an eye. I've been on a mission to find "quick weeknight meals" and as usual, turned to one of my favorite sites: Allrecipes.com. I LOVE that site for so many reasons, but one of my favorite features is the ability to search for recipes by ingredients. We've been attempting to be as cautious as possible, financially-speaking, now that my husband stepped down to a part-time position, so I looked at the sale ads and noticed that pork chops were on sale this week. I searched on allrecipes.com, listing "pork chops" as my ingredient and was then able to sort the recipes, listing them in order of which received the highest ratings. This particular recipe had over 940 reviews and received 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. I was drawn to the simplicity of the preparation aspect of the recipe and that there really was very little to do during the cooking process. My husband (who is BY FAR the pickiest eater of the four of us) went back for seconds...he said he really enjoyed dinner :) I would make a few suggestions, however, to the original recipe. I tripled the sauce ingredients, allowing extra sauce to spoon over the rice that I served as one of my sides...we also had green beans. The recipe didn't really specify a particular type of pork chop, but my husband picked up a package of the assorted pork chops and I used the center cut pork loin chops. They were approximately 1/2 inch thick and I made five, since I knew my kids likely would opt to eat something else. The recipe suggests baking for an hour, but I baked mine for approximately 45 minutes and then broiled them for an additional 2 minutes and while I would make these again, I would cut back on the cooking time. I'm thinking 40 minutes would have been plenty of time, but obviously you'll want to make sure they're thoroughly cooked, so you may have to experiment a bit on your own. I'd definitely check them closer to 40 minutes, though! I'm going to list the recipe as originally written, but I would very much encourage you to take my suggestions into account--especially tripling the sauce ingredients and cutting back on the cooking time!

Marinated Baked Pork Chops

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 pork chops, trimmed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a small bowl, thoroughly blend soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup.

Place pork chops in a medium baking dish, and spread with 1/2 the sauce.

Bake pork chops 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn, and spread with remaining sauce. Continue baking 30 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chops has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Source: Allrecipes.com

Turkey Tetrazzini and an Update

Well, well, well...it has been WAY too long since my last post! There have been many changes the past five months and it's been a bit of a struggle to get into somewhat of a groove and attempt to bring some degree of normalcy back to the very chaotic schedule we are now juggling! I've always been a creature of habit--I swear by my planner and can't stand deviating...if I can get something done a week ahead of time, that would be my preference. Unfortunately, all of these changes have forced me to deviate a bit and "planning" is becoming more and more impossible--hence the lack of posts/new recipes! Just to back up a bit...my husband and I had a lengthy conversation back in July and he decided that he really wanted to go back to school to pursue a degree in Nursing. He's taken classes here and there, but it's been difficult to really buckle down and focus, while working full-time, finding time for our two small children and attempting to juggle our work schedules so that one of us can always be home with the kids. We decided that I would go back to working full-time hours (and more, when I'm able to get additional shifts) and he would go down to a part-time position and start taking classes on a full-time basis. That certainly has been easier said than done! This next semester is going to be especially crucial for my husband, as he is getting ready to apply to the nursing program by April 1st and should *hopefully* find out by early June if he is accepted. Keep in mind...I'm someone who doesn't do well with the "unknown" and the suspense of waiting to find out whether or not he's accepted and/or what our alternate plan will be since the program he's applying to is very competitive, is absolutely driving me crazy! This blog had always served as somewhat of a diversion for me, which is why I am excited about jumping back in and shifting my focus a bit! I certainly can't promise "fancy meals", by any stretch of the imagination, but my goal is to seek out recipes for everyone else trying to juggle crazy schedules and live on a budget! My husband is going to have late classes, several days a week, so my intent is to find recipes that reheat well or those that can be frozen and ready to serve after defrosting and rewarming!

My first recipe for the New Year is Turkey Tetrazzini. My children requested turkey for Christmas dinner--actually, my son's actual request was for "whole body turkey"...as opposed to just a turkey breast :) The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint my kids, so I began watching the sale ads to see if anyone had turkey on sale. Naturally, no one did...I mean, really...why would they when they know many people serve turkey for Christmas and will pretty much be suckered into paying whatever they charge?!? I'm one of those people who firmly believes that everything happens for a reason and on my way home from work one night, I stopped at Target to pick up some last minute stocking stuffers. I was making my way toward the "Health and Beauty" area, but for some reason, I took the long way around and passed by a frozen display of whole turkeys. I went over to check the price, figuring that Super Target, of all places, would be exorbitantly expensive (as their meats tend to be) and they had turkeys for $.39/lb! I have never seen turkey so cheap and was beyond excited to bring it home and show the kids! The thing is...seeing as how this turkey was just for the four of us, a 10-12 lb turkey would have been more than enough, but I picked the largest one I could find...about 18 lbs. Shockingly, there was a TON left and seeing as how we were going out of town the middle of the following week, I had no idea what to do with all of the remaining turkey?!? I froze the turkey carcass (in anticipation of making soup), along with the obscene amount of leftover turkey. When we returned from my parents' house, after having a wonderful and relaxing visit with them for New Year's, I thawed out the turkey carcass and my bag of turkey. I made a HUGE pot of soup--and when I say "huge", that is a major understatement! (I have 3 LARGE containers in the fridge and had to freeze another 3LARGE containers--and that's after my husband and I ate a ton!) While we were visiting my parents, my Mom suggested that I make turkey tetrazzini with some of the leftover turkey. I naturally went directly to Allrecipes.com and found a recipe that received great reviews, although I only somewhat loosely followed it and took many of the reviewers suggestions, in addition to adding some of my own. My husband seemed to really enjoy it and seeing as how he's a pretty picky eater, it's always a major compliment when he makes a point to comment on something that I make! My kids liked it, as well, and as for myself...I definitely liked it, but think I might try it with chicken next time. I wouldn't hesitate to use it again if I had leftover turkey, but I'm not sure that I would go out of my way to buy turkey for the recipe. It's funny, too, because some of the people who reviewed the recipe mentioned that they felt it was a bit bland, so I made sure I added extra seasoning, however, I would even consider adding a bit more salt next time. The original recipe didn't call for any salt whatsoever. One other major change that I made that is unlike more traditional tetrazzini recipes, was that I substituted penne pasta for spaghetti, per my husband's request, and I would definitely do that again! I hope you enjoy and be on the lookout for more recipes in the very near future!

Turkey Tetrazzini

1 (16 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta (or spaghetti)
10 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
1 cup frozen peas
Italian breadcrumbs

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. While pasta is cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add diced onions and minced garlic, stirring frequently. Stir in flour, until blended. Add chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.

When pasta is done cooking, drain and return to pot. Add chopped turkey, peas and chicken broth mixture to the pasta and stir to blend all ingredients together.

Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and top with Italian breadcrumbs. Bake uncovered for approximately 45-50 minutes.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Goulash

My sister, Sarah, is SUCH a good cook and has an unbelievable knack for finding good recipes to try! A couple of weeks ago, I bought about 5 lbs of ground beef, intending to make meatloaf, but then realized that I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand. I was a bit flustered, trying to figure out what to make, without having to make a trip back out to the store and I noticed this recipe on her blog. My husband and I have always loved cooking-themed shows, whether it be Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Chopped, etc, and we've heard people mention Goulash multiple times, yet have never tried it. My sister said that they truly enjoyed this recipe and it's from Paula Deen, so I knew I couldn't go wrong! I did make a couple of changes--the biggest being that I omitted the ground turkey altogether...it makes me want to gag and used all ground beef. I also used an entire 1 pound box of macaroni and am confident that this would easily serve a family of four and depending on how hearty your appetites are, you likely may even have some leftover! I made it later at night, after the kids had gone to bed and my husband and I each ate a large bowl-full and we had 2 decent-sized containers left. As my sister suggested, I served salad and garlic bread with it. Definitely a great "comfort food"!

Bobby's Goulash

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound ground turkey (again, I used all ground beef!)
2 large yellow onions, chopped
2- 15 oz cans tomato sauce
2- 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon House seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked) ***I used a full pound of uncooked macaroni***

Directions:

In a dutch oven, saute the ground beef and ground turkey over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Break up the meat while sauteing. Spoon off any grease. Add the onions to the pot and saute until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups (I added a little extra, b/c of the additional pasta) of water, along with tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, House seasoning, and seasoned salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 15-20 minutes.

Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 30minutes. (My sister suggested stirring periodically to ensure that it doesn't stick and burn to the bottom of the pot). Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes before serving.

Source: Delectable Dining; originally from Paula Deen Celebrates!

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

Yes, it has seriously been 4 1/2 months since my last post! I'm not ordinarily known as a "slacker" and I seriously have no idea how the time flew by so quickly?!? I put my blogging on hold back in late February/early March, because we were focused on getting our house ready to put on the market and between getting everything organized and having to keep the house spotless 24/7, it's been hard to get psyched about doing much in the kitchen. We've pretty much been eating off of paper plates the past 2 months, but I've finally decided to get back in the swing of things!

Grocery shopping has been a bit challenging lately, because NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING has been on sale--at least in terms of meat, chicken, pork, etc! I found some chicken legs and thighs on sale for $.99/lb the other day, so I picked up a package of each and knew I'd have to find a good way to "dress them up", because they're not necessarily my husband's favorite. I went to allrecipes.com (which tends to be my "go to" site) and typed in "chicken thighs" under the search for recipes by ingredients and this recipe was rated very highly! I am so very glad that I tried this recipe and like many of the reviewers said, I honestly think it was one of the best teriyaki sauces I have EVER had...homemade, bottled, or otherwise! I did change around the recipe a bit, but I loved the way the sauce turned out! I do happen to like chicken thighs, but my husband and I both agreed that it would be absolutely delicious with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I served it with white rice and Asian-style veggies that I sauteed with a little peanut oil. I truly think the options are endless, if you focus more on the sauce-aspect of the recipe. I will definitely make it again, but the next time, I think I'll either cut up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and stir-fry them in the sauce or bake the strips in the sauce and serve them over rice. Whatever you choose to do, I definitely think the sauce is the focal point, so you could try the recipe as written, substitute bone-in chicken breasts or try the boneless, skinless. I'll be anxious to hear feedback in general and especially if anyone tries a different method of cooking! FYI: I doubled all of the sauce ingredients, because I wanted to ensure there was plenty of sauce to spoon over the rice. I already doubled the ingredients in the recipe listed below, because I wouldn't suggest making any less...

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 skinless chicken thighs (I used 4 thighs and 8 drumsticks, skin removed)

Directions:

In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. (It took about 20 minutes to get as thick as I wanted it).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). (I actually did 400 degrees, but would even consider going down to 375).
Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. (I also lined my dish with foil, for easier clean-up!) Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking. (I would also suggest maybe covering the first 30 minutes and uncovering for the second half of cooking. Of course if you use a different type of chicken, you'll have to alter the cooking time--the hour of cooking was for the thighs and legs).

Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com

Chicken Pomodoro

Noticing this recipe yesterday morning was a HUGE lifesaver! Lynda at "Lynda's Recipe Box" posts so many wonderful recipes that I have bookmarked to try, but when I saw this particular one, I knew it was going to be what we had for dinner! I nonchalantly mentioned to my husband the night before that I was wanting to try a new chicken recipe that I found that contained Dijon mustard and he seemed a bit disenchanted. My husband snubs ALL condiments--ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc! I wasn't about to lie to him, as I knew he'd be upset if he realized I neglected to mention that there was mustard in the dish (especially since it called for 3 tablespoons and likely would have had a very distinguishable mustard flavor), but the mere fact that he knew it contained mustard would have likely caused him to decide upfront that he didn't like it. When I saw this recipe on Lynda's blog, I knew immediately that my husband would be much more excited about dinner! This recipe was delicious and relatively quick to put together! Lynda did mention that her husband would have preferred more sauce and that was my husband's only complaint. I will definitely make this dish again, but next time, I will double the sauce. The recipe below is written almost exactly as Lynda had it posted on her blog, but I would suggest adding (2) cans of diced tomatoes and maybe 2/3-1 cup of heavy cream--I actually used half and half. Enjoy :)

Chicken Pomodoro

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (14.5-ounce) can small diced tomatoes
1/3 cup heavy cream
Pasta of your choice (I used angel hair, per Lynda's suggestion!)

Directions:

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown; remove chicken to a plate.

Heat remaining oil in skillet and cook diced onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and dried basil, if using. Cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, cream and bring to a boil. Return chicken and accumulated juices to the skillet. Lower heat to a simmer and cover skillet. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes(depending on size of chicken breasts).

Transfer chicken to platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Continue to simmer sauce, uncovered, until slightly thickened, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. If using fresh basil, add it to skillet at this time, and season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and pasta.

***Make sure you boil your pasta, according to the package instructions--if using angel hair, I added my pasta to the boiling water when I removed the chicken and allowed the sauce to thicken up--the angel hair only took about 4 minutes to boil.***

Source: Lynda's Recipe Box

And the winner is...

KATY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I apologize for the delay in posting (I know I said I'd announce who won yesterday), but I was having some "technical issues". I thank each of you for the very sweet comments...they meant so much! It was also fun to hear about different dishes you've tried! I know that I, personally, tend to comment on people's recipes when they initially post them , but then sometimes forget to let them know after I actually try a recipe. I had no idea that the Fiesta Taco Casserole was such a hit :) Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week and thank you, again, for all of your comments!

Katy--if you would be so kind as to email me your address (rach1341@sbcglobal.net), I will get your magazine in the mail!