Spiced Apple Rice Krispies

These where supposed to look like apples. I didn't really get that far cause I didn't have the right decorations and I was feeling a little lazy about it all.  

You can see what they are supposed to look like at "Everday Mom", since thats where I got the idea in the first place

4 Tbsp. Butter

10 oz marshmallows

8 oz. rice krispy cereal

3 packets Alpine Spiced Cider Mix (Or other powdered apple cider mix)

Red food coloring

Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the apple packets and food coloring. Stir in the cereal and mix well.

Butter your hands and shape into balls. Decorate as desired and enjoy!

Juicy Herb Pot Roast

1 beef roast

oil

1 tsp. Granulated Garlic

1 onion, chopped (dehydrated work great)

1 Tbsp oregano

2 tsp. paprika

2 beef bouillon cubes, crushed

1 cup water

Heat oil in a large skillet. Sear the beef on both sides and place in a crock-pot. Sprinkle all the seasonings on top and drizzle slowly with the water. Don't pour it or it will wash the seasonings off the meat. 

Cook on low for 6 hours, until cooked, but not falling apart. Shred with a fork, this should be a little hard to do, don't wait until the meat is falling apart on its own.

Cook, shredded, for 2 hours on low until the meat is very tender and the liquid is coating the mat enough to make it sorta saucy.

Red Beans and Brown Rice

I started my first blog , Bean Basics, in July of 2009, long before I started this blog. It was pretty specific though, it had to be a bean recipe. But since I was cooking with mostly beans, as a meat replacement at the time, it wasn't a huge deal. In fact it was really fun to write down all the creative things I came up with. This was the first recipe I posted there, it wasn't something I came up with on my own by any means, but it was one of my favorite recipes ever. My mom used to make it all the time when I was a kid. It's cheap to make, really simple to throw together fast, and it tastes like bacon. Don't let the simplicity of it not intrigue you, this is really fantastic, nothing else tastes quite like it.

What's not to love?

1 lb bacon

2 cans red beans

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

2 heaping tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Dash Mortons Natures seasons (optional)

Dash Tabasco sauce

3 or 4 c. cooked brown rice

Cook bacon until nice and crispy and then remove from pan. Saute the onion in the bacon grease until tender. Whisk in the flour and cook until thickened. 

Combine the liquid from beans and enough water to make 2 cups, add to the pan and whisk in. Cook until thick and bubbly. Add the beans and remaining ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. Top with reserved crumbled bacon and serve over brown rice.

Since beans have a lot of protein on their own I don't actually crumble the bacon on top like my mom did. We have BLT's for lunch and reserve just the drippings for dinner.

Perfect Brown Rice

I have a hard time with brown rice. It usually starts getting sticky and burning on the bottom of the pan before it's done, which I can never get it, it always stays crunchy in the middle. Either way it doesn't taste good. If you don't have this particular problem crongrats! You can continue on your merry way without having to read this post. If you CAN'T get it to work though, this is for you. And it's really simple too. 

2 c. brown rice

4 c. water

Salt to taste

Pour into a casserole dish, the water should be about an inch deep. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 until rice is tender. This takes about 40 minutes.

You can season it any way you want, chicken broth, onions, carrots, herbs, any other flavorings you want before you bake.

Pecan Crusted Chicken - SRC

So this in only my second month in the Secret Recipe Club. For those of you who missed it last month, I am assigned a blog, and I get to pick any recipe from said blog. I then make the recipe and blog about it myself. Someone returns the favor and I get to see which of my recipes was enjoyed by someone else.

So I was given the blog "Everyday Mom".  One recipe really stood out to me a lot, the Pecan Crusted Chicken. Usually when I try out new recipes I don't stick exactly to the recipe, I tweak it a bit. But this was something I hadn't ever tried before, and I wanted to try it exactly as she meant it to be.

Next time I make it though I am going to make a few small changes. I am going to add a lot more mustard to the egg mix and use 4 shallots instead of the just the one. I still can't decide my stance on the lemon zest, I loved it! But it also felt a little out of place at the same time. It was juicy and tender and I liked it. I also only used 2 chicken breasts here, because I always cut mine in half lengthwise first, that change made it so I only needed 2 eggs. I'm also toying with the idea of making something with a bacon crust...

I served it with Packard Potatoes, and buttered peas. 

Pecan Crusted Chicken

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c. Roughly chopped pecans
4 Tbs. Butter
1 Shallot, minced
1 c. Panko
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper
3 Eggs
3 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. Ground black pepper
1 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 c. All-purpose flour

"Using a fork to prick chicken several times then sprinkle with salt.  Place on wire rack set over baking sheet, refrigerate while preparing coating.

In a food processor, chop nuts until they resemble a coarse meal.  Over medium heat, melt butter, swirling pan constantly until butter is golden brown.  Add shallot and a pinch of kosher salt.  Cook shallots until light brown, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat, add Panko and nuts.  Stirring frequently cook until golden brown about 10-12 minutes.  Transfer mixture to shallow dish or coating plate.  Add lemon zest, thyme and cayenne, stir to combine.   

In second shallow dish beat eggs, mustard and black pepper. 

 In third shallow dish mix together flour and seasoned salt.

Remove chicken from refrigerator, pat dry with a paper towel.  Working with 1 piece at a time, dredge chicken in flour, then egg mixture,  allow extra to drip off.  Coat each side of chicken in panko nut mixture, pressing gently so crumbs adhere.  Transfer coated chicken to wire rack, set in baking sheet.  Repeat until all chicken is coated.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until thickest part of the chicken reads 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer. "

Her recipe for Apple Rice Krispies also stood out to me, I will be trying it out this week and then let you know how it turns out later. And for Halloween I want to make some orange pumpkin ones as well.

And this recipe for hash was a close second for being my test recipe. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I love chocolate chip cookies. I mean who doesn't? But I hate dropping them into cookies, baking, cooking, lifting them off the tray, trying not to eat them all as they come out of the oven, and then shaping more for the next tray. It's all a hassle. So that's why I like cookie bars. You dump them all in the pan, spread it out and bake. It's even better if someone else makes them for you.

These are perfectly crumbly without being dry and hard, and chewy without sticking to your teeth and being too gluey. Thats cause of the addition of cor syrup. I know what you are thinking, "CORN SYRUP??? Do you know how bad that stuff is for you??" But come one people, it's a dessert!! It's not going to be good for you no matter WHAT you do to it. So add a little, it makes them perfect. The recipe looks really familiar to me, I think it might be the Neslte chocolate chip cookie recipe with corn syrup added baked in bar form.

2 1/4 c. all- purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. corn syrup
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (12 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup oats (or nuts)

Cream together the butter and corn syrup. Next beat in the white sugar and the brown sugar. Then add the eggs and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat into the butter mixture.

When combined beat in the chocolate chips and oats. Dump into a 11x13 casserole dish and spread out so it's even. Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes.

They are darker in color than a chocolate chip cookie, I thought they were burned, or at the very least going to be too dry to eat. Not so! Just take it from me but don't ask how I know, eating half the pan in one sitting will give you a stomach ache. 

Tzatziki Sauce

This is great with slouvaki, falafel, or even just sliced roast beef in pitas. It's also good with corn chips for a snack.

For a simple dinner sprinkle chicken with Greek Seasoning and pan sear, serve with tzatziki sauce and a side of Mediterranean seasoned orzo or quinoa. I like it on sunny side up eggs for breakfast.

I also like to serve it on a "Veggie Delight Platter" similar to what the local cafe serves. Arrange pita wedges, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions rings, alfalfa sprouts, kalamata olives, tzatziki sauce and hummus on a platter. This makes nice light and tasty party food.

For a simple lunch throw all the things from the platter idea into a tortilla for a simple wrap.

1 c. greek yogurt, plain yogurt or sour cream

1 tsp. lemon juice

Dash Tabasco

1 tsp dried dill

3 cloves garlic, miced

1/2 large cucumber

Salt to taste

Peel the cucumber and cut into quarters lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and grate the cucumber. 

Stir everything together and taste, adding more dill or garlic, etc. depending on your tastes. Go really easy on the seasonings at first, they tend to "develop" as they sit. So let it sit for a couple hours and then see if it still needs more spices.