Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Baked and Breaded Moist Chicken

I wanted to make a baked chicken and decided to experiment.  I came up with this recipe and thought it came out pretty good.



*Please keep in mind that all measurements are an estimation

Ingredients:
6 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs

Breading Paste:
-3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I made my own breadcrumbs by grinding up (in the magic bullet food processor) croutons since i didn't have breadcrumbs
-4 Tbsp Mayonnaise
-1-2 Tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard or Dijon Mustard (Amt depending on your like/dislike of mustard)
 *I'm not a fan of mustard, but baked with chicken I think it goes great!
-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
-A Sprinkle of Fresh Rosemary Needles

Directions:
1. Grease 9 x 13 in pan
2.  Pat chicken dry and lay in pan
3.  Salt and pepper chicken (both sides)
4.  Mix breading paste: breadcrumbs, mayo, mustard, parmesan cheese and rosemary
5.  Spread paste on both sides of thighs

Bake at 400 degree for 20-25 minutes (Check to make sure cooked all the way through thickest piece of chicken)





Monday, July 30, 2012

Teacher's "Survival Kit" (1st Day of School Bribe, I mean Gift)

Inspired by Pinterest, I decided to make a "Survival Kit" for my 2nd Grade daughter's new teacher for the first day of school. 

I found stickers, girls/boys hall passes, teacher notes, colorful pens, glue stick, snacks (cookies baked by her new student and mom, popcorn, chocolate, granola bars, and powdered iced tea) and can't forget a small bottle of acetaminophen (Tylenol) for all the headaches I'm sure she'll have.
 

I found a cd basket and decided to stuff it with all these goodies.


Sunday, July 29, 2012

BAD BAD BAD review of Nutella Cookie Recipe!

I found this recipe on Pinterest.    Recipe called for 1 cup Nutella, 1/2 c sugar, 1 c flour and 1 egg 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes.  I thought it  was so simple and too good to be true.  In my opinion WAY too good to be true.  I love Nutella, but I did not like it in this cookie.  There was no mention of greasing the pan, so it stuck to my pan like glue and never really seemed to bake.  It looked awful and tasted awful.  BAD BAD BAD!  Total waste of my ingredients.  I really don't know what happened. How can some people rave about it and I thought it was awful?  Please don't try it.  Thanks for letting me vent.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Salmon Italiana Recipe


My dad first introduced this recipe to me.  He makes it for potlucks and family parties, but I cook it once a month if I can.  It's such a flavorful and hearty dish that I just had to share.  I serve it with rice (as with most everything) and a green salad.




Ingredients: 
1. Salmon -enough steaks to line the bottom of a 9x13 in pan (Sorry don't pay attention to weight) I usually buy the individually packaged salmon steaks from Costco
*Season with lemon pepper or salt and pepper.  Stab the salmon with a fork all over so the fish soaks up all the flavors.  
2.  Italian Salad Dressing (not the creamy) 1/2-3/4 bottle *You want the salmon to be saturated in the dressing, not just a drizzle on top.
3.  Chopped Tomatoes (Roma is great) and Cilantro - enough to cover the fish
*I am not a huge fan of cilantro, but it really tastes great in this dish.  Not the same without it.
4. Shoyu or Soy sauce ( I just drizzle it in circles a few times over the fish)  Feel free to be generous, cuz it's such a complimentary flavor.  *I always drizzle it over when the fish is cooked and on my plate.

Let marinate for as long as you like.  Longer the better.  I have cooked it almost immediately and it's still good, but so much better when you let it marinate.  


Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish.  Check at 20 minutes.




Lilikoi Bars (Self critique)

Here is a recipe for lilikoi bars that I came up with while combining a few others.  I think they're delicious!  (so does my husband and 7 year old)


First you need to make the crust, bake it, then add the lilikoi mixture, then bake again.

Crust
One package Betty crocker sugar cookie mix (follow back of bag instructions for baking time and degrees)
Smooth over bottom of GREASED 9X13 in pan 



Lilikoi Mixture:
4 eggs
1/3 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1 Tbsp butter
*Whisk together
3/4 c lilikoi juice (no seeds)
*Whisk together, then pour lilikoi mixture onto baked cookie crust.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.   (It's hard to tell when they are ready.  Still haven't figured out a good way yet, maybe tooth pick?)
Sprinkle powdered sugar over top ( I used a strainer to get it real fine)







Friday, July 27, 2012

Mermaid Nails

I came up with these just playing around with my new grey nailpolish (looks blue but it's actually grey) and a silver nail art pen.  You can barely see the silver dots until the light hits my nail in just the right spot. 

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe Critique

Two Thumbs up for this recipe!  I used this frosting to practice my icing skills, using a freezer ziploc bag (the thickness of the freezer bag is better for "drawing").  Pictures are of my attempts.

From All Recipes.com
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

This is my daughter's name (Tiare).  Of course this is the one she chose to eat.  This was done first with a tiny snip of the corner of the ziploc.  I barely cut off the tip.

I snipped a little more off the corner of the bag to make these flowers.  Definitely need to practice my flowers. 

Sprinkles!