“The book is called opportunity and it’s first chapter is New Year’s Day.” ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

January 2, 2015Leave a comment

I have another breakfast idea for you!

I had actually made the Sausage and Gravy Biscuit Casserole I posted last not too long before Christmas morning so I decided to try something else that morning.

It was so, so simple and delicious! I would highly recommend this for any morning that you are short on time or dragging about – especially if you were up late and not feeling up to doing much cooking. Would have been great for New Years Day morning but I was a slacker and didn’t get it up on the blog in time! 😉

Deep Dish Breakfast Bake

(adapted from Bran Appetit)

1/2 lb sausage (mild or hot – your preference)
1 package crescent rolls
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Brown sausage over medium high heat, breaking it up as it cooks.

Roll out crescent rolls into a 9×13 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Press seams together as so to make a whole sheet of pastry.

Sprinkle cooked sausage over dough, followed by cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with milk and add in rosemary, salt and pepper.

Pour egg mixture over the cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until eggs are set and the crust is a golden color.

***This can be made with bacon and diced ham in place of the sausage as well***

“I’m a maniacal perfectionist.” ~ Martha Stewart

October 8, 2014October 8, 2014Leave a comment

I am very impressed with people who can put dinner on the table and every single bit be homemade, every single time.

I can do it and have done it but I have found that if you really want to try and cook at home most weeknights, you have to take shortcuts or you will burn out.

I have gotten to the point that if I have cooked the main dish, I don’t feel too bad if I heat up a can of green beans or corn to go with it.

Or both.

Don’t judge. I never claimed to be Martha Stewart. 🙂

Here is one of those “I only have a short amount of time and a short amount of energy” dinners.

A main dish and canned veggies.

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders

1/4 cup of grainy, coarse mustard
1/4 cup smooth dijion mustard
1/2 cup honey
3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
salt and pepper
4-5 small sprigs of fresh rosemary, divided

In a small bowl, combine the mustards, honey, and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.

In a sauté pan or cast iron skillet, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

Add the onion and the leaves of one rosemary sprig and sauté over medium heat until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional 1 – 2 minutes, until fragrant.

Transfer the onion and garlic to an oven safe dish (or if the saute pan you used is oven safe, you can just use it). Place the chicken on top of onion/garlic mixture. Salt and pepper the tops of the chicken to taste.

Pour the honey mustard mixture on top of the chicken. Arrange the rosemary sprigs around the chicken in the pan.

Bake the chicken covered at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Then remove the cover, baste the chicken with the sauce, and continue to cook for an additional 20 – 30 minutes uncovered, or until the chicken is browned on top and cooked through.

This was really so very good!! It was actually much better than I even expected it to be!! The flavors were fabulous and the chicken was incredibly tender. It will most definitely go on the weeknight rotation.

2 side notes:

1. The sauce was so good that I would omit the canned corn and add a bag of “boil in the bag” (keepin’ it simple) rice, then serve the chicken and the sauce on top of it.

2. I LOVE rosemary so I would never leave it out but if you are not a fan or do not have it on hand, this recipe could easily be made without it and it would be your basic Honey Mustard Chicken but still delicious!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

-abp

“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.” ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

February 23, 2014February 23, 20143 Comments

Ahh, chicken noodle soup.

A classic.

I must admit – I have never craved or really wanted chicken noodle soup.

I’m not sure I have even had it when I was sick.

I mean, I’ve had Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, but nothing beyond that.

So what drew me to this recipe? I’m not sure.

Maybe it was the ease of it.

But I’m sure glad something did because now I am a huge fan and now I have a soup to take someone when they are under the weather.

I hope you find it as easy and enjoyable as I did.

Chicken Noodle Soup

(adapted from Yummy Mummy Club)

1.5 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 ½ cups chopped or sliced carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
3 sticks of fresh rosemary
2 slices of fresh ginger (¼ inch thick)
1 box chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1 tablespoon Crazy Jane Seasoning Salt
1 tablespoon Zoe’s seasoning (you could use an Italian or Greek blend seasoning)
2-3 cups egg noodles

Place celery, carrots, onions, rosemary and ginger in bottom of crockpot. Top with seasoning. Pour in broth and wine and stir to mix.

Place chicken on top and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Remove Chicken, shred and return to crock pot.

Add in noodles and cook for another 30 minutes.

Serve with hot cornbread. 🙂

1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium cooking onion, peeled and sliced (in large pieces so picky eaters can easily pick them out)
2 slices ginger (approx. 1/4 inch thick each), peeled

2-3 stocks fresh rosemary

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used a few more because the club-sized package was on sale)

1 container low sodium chicken broth (approx: 900mL—if not using wine add additional broth)

1 cup white wine (Optional but highly recommended)

Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste

2 cups egg noodles

– See more at: http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/maija-moments-canned-soup-mom/20121119/crockpot-chicken-noodle-soup#sthash.VYgYXNS9.dpuf

2-3 stocks fresh rosemary

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used a few more because the club-sized package was on sale)

1 container low sodium chicken broth (approx: 900mL—if not using wine add additional broth)

1 cup white wine (Optional but highly recommended)

Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste

2 cups egg noodles

– See more at: http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/maija-moments-canned-soup-mom/20121119/crockpot-chicken-noodle-soup#sthash.VYgYXNS9.dpuf

“When not eating, I like shopping; although I’m afraid I’ve become a bit of a cliche.” ~ Arabella Weir

August 12, 2013August 9, 20132 Comments

For a girl who really loves to shop – I thought I was going to love registering for baby items. After all, I had a blast working on my wedding registry.

Wrong.

It was so stressful! Do you have any clue how many choices of baby stuff they have out nowadays???

3 hours and one stress headache later I left Babies “R” Us.

And I still have to do Target.

Now Lily Pads/Baby Bundles – a local baby boutique, will be a different story. That’s for the fun, cute, frilly items. I could do that all day long.

After all that stress I need comfort food. Which usually consists of some kind of pasta. This meal is no exception.

Beef Ragu (adapted from SlenderKitchen.com)

2.5 pounds lean beef chuck, trimmed of fat
1 ribs celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1.5 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 tbsp fresh oregano or thyme, chopped
Wide noodle pasta

Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the bottom of the crock pot.
Season your beef liberally with salt and pepper and add it to the crock pot.
Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 6-8 hours until beef is fork tender. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Hope all is well!

-abp

“I just wanna live while I’m alive.” ~ Bon Jovi

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013Leave a comment

I marked an item off my Bucket List!

I went to see Bon Jovi in concert!! YIPPEE!!

Oh! It was awesome! This dream has been 20+ years in the making!

But because I had to go to Atlanta mid week to see them it kind of knocked out a couple of days which meant I had plenty I needed to get done on Tuesday.

I needed a meal that would cook itself.

Thank goodness for the trusty old crockpot!

(as you can see, I was really off my schedule considering it’s Saturday before this was posted)

Balsamic Pot Roast (adapted from Little B Cooks)

3 lb beef chuck roast
garlic salt and pepper for seasoning
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3-4 potatoes, cut into quarters
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 Tbs dried rosemary
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth

Season roast with garlic salt and pepper and sear both sides in olive oil.

Place in crockpot, top with onions, potatoes and carrots.

Mix remaining ingredients in bowl and pour over meat and veggies in the crock pot.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

I must add – I know my photos are not the super impressive works of art that a lot of blogs have but regardless – pot roast just does not photograph well. 🙂

Easy Peasy!

-abp

“Don’t compare yourself with someone else’s version of happy or thin. Accepting yourself burns the most calories.” ~ Caroline Rhea

November 2, 2012November 18, 20122 Comments

As mentioned earlier in the week – all I am craving is the “sweet stuff” but man can’t live on sugar alone (although goodness knows I could but my waistline could not) so…….

I found a couple recipes from Cooking Light I would like to try and tonights will be Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken.

¼ cup low fat buttermilk
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
4 (6 ounce) chicken cutlets
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
¾ teaspoon minced rosemary
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425º.

Combine buttermilk and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.

Add chicken to mixture, turning to coat.

Heat small skillet over medium-high heat. Add panko bread crumbs to pan, cook 3 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently.

Combine panko, nuts, cheese, rosemary, salt and pepper in shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture and dredge in panko mixture.

Place a wire rack on a large baking sheet, coat with cooking spray and arrange chicken on rack; spray chicken with cooking spray.

Bake for 13 minutes or until chicken in done. I served mine with wild rice and a salad.

Having this for dinner (292 calories, 9.6 grams fat/serving) made me feel better about all the Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies I ate!

I hope to try more Cooking Light recipes soon!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

abp

“You knew when you married me I’m more Coco Chanel than coq au vin” ~ Carrie Bradshaw

October 12, 2012October 12, 20122 Comments

My stupid, stupid cold is back. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I have no idea why this year has been so bad. The DH is threatening to take me to the doctor to see if they will take my tonsils out…….I believe this is mainly because he’s a big ol’ chicken about catching it from me. Although – if it will help me feel better on a regular basis – I’m all for it! I’ll just think about all the gelato I would have to eat while I recuperated.

I’d like to make my own gelato – does anyone have one of those electric counter-top ice cream/yogurt/gelato makers? I think I want one…….

Oh well, hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. On to brighter topics…….

DINNER!

On the menu tonight is the less fussy Coq au vin. Everybody loves a good Coq au Vin but is not always up for the work it can sometimes require. So I say this is Coq au Vin’s country cousin.

Country Style Coq Au Vin