Greek Chicken

We had another rainy day to enjoy at home and of course we thought – lets cook something good!  We took stock of all we had in our fridge and freezer… after finding a whole frozen chicken that Matt bought last month we decided to break in our new roasting pan.  We saw the recipe for the chick on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and then added to it based on what we had on hand.  

Directions:

Place carrots, celery, and onions in bottom of roasting pan with ½ stick of butter and about 3 cups of water.   

Split a whole chicken into two halves – rub with olive oil, then cover with Cavendars, garlic powder, salt and pepper…add to roasting pan. Cook for about 1 hour at 375 – we tented it for the first 30 minutes. 

Rice – make basmati rice according to directions (we made 1 cup) and then drain.  Sauté ½ cup onion, celery and 2 cloves minced garlic in pan with olive oil for about 3 minutes; add the rice and mix well.  Add in 1 T sesame oil – cook for about 5 minutes until rice starts to brown slightly.  Add in ½ cup fresh parmesan cheese and remove from heat.  Garnish with fresh cilantro and lime.

We made a basic tossed salad with a balsamic vinaigrette!  Good comfort food!  Enjoy the week – M&R

not sure what is wrong with these pictures!

The dollar menu

Sunday is my grocery shopping day.  I was stretching for a cheap, quick, and easy Monday meal.   While rummaging through the crisper I found a green bell pepper and part of a yellow onion.  I remembered that I had some frozen chicken sausages in the garage freezer too.  I bought a pack of hoagies at Kroger and voila!  I made a dinner for about $1.15 per serving!  Here's my cost breakdown:  

*The sausages are about .80 each ($12 for 15 of them at Sam's Club.  They come in 3 packs of 5 sausages each).  There are several different varieties and we've grown to love the roasted garlic and mozzarella flavor.  :)

*You can't get much cheaper than bell peppers and onions (about .89 for the pepper and roughly .25 per 1/2 onion)

*The buns were an exceptional buy for .79 (1/2 off regular price!)

I sauteed the peppers and onions in 1 pan and cooked the sausages in another.  That's it!  I forgot to take pictures, but I can assure you they were delicious!  Sausage, pepper, and onion "dawgs" are about as easy as you can get!  Next time you are in a pinch think about skipping the dollar menu at McDonalds and Wendys!  Your waist and your wallet will thank you later!  ;)


 

Easy Turnovers

Last fall we were at the Farm for a quick visit and Mom & Dad had a few dinner guests.  Most of you who know me know that I do not have a sweet tooth and rarely bake.  If I am baking I'm usually with my Mom (who LOVES to bake, mostly from scratch, and finds it therapeutic).  I can almost guarantee you that my baking is straight out of a box!  I think the fanciest thing I've ever baked was some boxed brownies that I stirred some raspberry jam into before I baked it.  That actually turned out really good!  I do not enjoy baking...mostly because I am impatient and it takes time. =)

Back to my story...they had friends over and somehow or another I managed to pull a dessert out of left field.  Not completely from scratch, but close enough if you ask me since I didn't use a box!  Here's what I did for some quick and easy apple turnovers:

2 apples (preferable Granny Smith) sliced thin
butter
sugar
nutmeg
cinnamon
Frozen puff pastry sheets (thawed)

Saute the apples in the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until softened.  You'll have to eye ball the nutmeg and cinnamon.  Start with a little and then taste to see if you need more.  Lay out the puff pastry on your kitchen counter and cut into squares.  Place some of the apple mixture on the puff pastry and then fold into triangles.  Use a fork to seal the edges.  Place on a lined baking sheet and bake according to the directions on the puff pastry package.  I also think we topped them with a little melted butter.  =)  When they were done Mom made a quick icing from confectioner's sugar and drizzled it over them.  Don't forget the Breyer's Vanilla Bean ice cream!  I also managed to eat one of these for breakfast the next day and they were pretty good leftover!     

We ran out of icing before we got to the poor little pastry on the top left!

Party of 2

We are spending this Super Bowl Sunday at home!  I was in the mood for appetizers tonight versus a large meal.  I decided on 3 appetizers: a "meat-za", ahi tuna with aioli, and a proscioutto/mozzarella roll-up.  The pizza was simple.  Italian sausage, sliced pepperoni, mushrooms, Boboli thin crust, shredded mozzarella, and a little Prego.  Cook at 450 for 10 minutes.  I cheated and bought a pre-made prosciutto/mozzarella roll-up and sliced it!  By far the party favorite (ha ha!) was the ahi tuna.  This is so simple and I've served it at many parties and even as an app for a wedding shower we threw last year.  If you are a ahi tuna lover you can't make too many of these.  I've never had any leftover at a party when I've served them.  Here's what you'll need:

For the tuna:
2  ahi tuna steaks
French bread rounds (or you can cut them yourself)

For the aioli:
1/2 cup mayo (give or take)
1 garlic clove, finely minced
juice of 1/2 a lemon
s & p
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Allow the tuna steaks to come to room temperature.  If you have bought frozen tuna steaks allow them to thaw completely.  Sear 1-2 minutes per side (depending on how raw you'd like the fish) and then set on a plate in the frig for 10-15 minutes.  *I find that the tuna slices better when slightly chilled* 

Make the aioli in a small food processor.  Remove the tuna from the frig and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices with a sharp knife.  Spread a little bit of the aioli on each piece of bread and then top with a small piece of tuna.  ENJOY! 

My favorite pic (used a setting that only shows the red color)

Deliciousness!

It was self defense...

 

Disclaimer - viewer discretion advised.

We thought we'd seen everything until we came across these guys fighting it out in the back yard.  The last straw was when one of them tried to pull a Jedi mind trick on Obi Wan Kenobeagle.  Naturally, Rachel's first response when he threatened her pooch was to shoot this wanna-be Jedi squirrel in the face...

After that we thought - DINNER!!

 

 we field dressed him and cut off the back straps and cutlets.

bread the meat with flour and fry it up in vegetable oil.

 Top it with fresh veggies

  ENJOY!