Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Roasting a chicken is one of those things that SEEMS really hard, but is actually super easy.

I love this meal because 1. It’s loaded with lots of veggies and 2. Everything cooks in one big pan together.

I’m not an expert at roasting chickens. Check out how burned he got:

This is what you get for not roasting him on the lowest rack of your oven.

BUT, it tasted awesome. That's what matters, right? Right.

Here’s what you need (inspired by this recipe)…

1 3-4 lb whole chicken

Honey

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

1 bag of green beans

9 carrots, sliced

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1 ½ pounds of baby potatoes, chopped into small pieces

3 whole heads of garlic (I’m teaching you to roast these babies, too)*

*Use whatever veggies you want! These are just my favorites. Asparagus would be fantastic in this, but unfortunately, my lovely fiancé rejects asparagus. 

*To prepare your garlic for roasting, chop the tops off so you can see the bulbs of garlic. Drizzle with about ½ tbsp. of olive oil and put some salt on top. Wrap each head of garlic individually (and tightly) in aluminum foil.

Here’s what you do…

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Your chicken needs to roast on the lowest rack. I did not do this and it was a huge mistake.

2. Clean your chicken. Not to be sexist, but ladies, get your man to do this. I did it myself because I thought I was all big and bad…no. Terrible idea. I stood in a corner for 10 minutes trying to pull myself together afterwards.

3. Pat your chicken dry, and set aside.

4. Chop all your veggies and put into a large baking pan or roasting pan. Coat veggies evenly with salt, pepper, and ½ tbsp. of olive oil and ½ tbsp. of honey. Mix together with your hands.

5. Nestle your chicken, breast side up, in the center of your veggies.

6. Coat your chicken with ½-1 tbsp of both olive oil and honey. Season it evenly with salt and pepper.

7. Place your aluminum wrapped garlic heads on top of your veggies.

This is not breast side up - my bad.

8. Allow to roast for 90 minutes.

9. Take out and let the chicken sit for 15 minutes.

10. Unwrap your garlic heads, allow to cool, then individually pull out each bulb and place in a large bowl. Mash it up with a fork and add ½ tbsp of honey.

Mmmm roasted garlic

11. Meanwhile, transfer your vegetables to the large bowl with the garlic/honey mixture in it using a slotted spoon so not all the liquid comes along. Mix veggies and roasted garlic paste together. This won’t be the most beautiful looking bowl of veggies, but it tastes freaking amazing.

12. Cut slices of chicken off and put with your veggies.

13. Enjoy!

Like I said, it’s not the most beautiful plate of food, but it is so fantastic, so simple, and really inexpensive.   Here's hoping your Monday is not nearly as gloomy as mine!

Read More

Whole Wheat Soda Bread

I'M FREEEEE!!!!!!!!!! Which means I can spend my Saturday baking bread.

I know, very strange, but I woke up this morning REALLLYYY wanting to bake bread.

The difference between soda bread and normal bread is that normal bread is baked with yeast, and soda bread uses baking powder/soda. It is more dense, but I like it. It's a filling snack/side and the whole wheat makes it fairly healthy. And all the herbs make it freaking delicious.

AND IT'S REALLY EASY. So, go make some bread.

Here's what you need (from How Sweet It Is):

1/2 stick of unsalted butter
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of old fashioned oats
1 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp black pepper
 5 clove of garlic, minced
1 3/4 cup of buttermilk
1 egg white, beaten (you can buy the prepackage egg whites)

Here is what you do...

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, melt your butter over high heat. Keep stirring it for about 3-5 minutes until it starts to brown. As soon as it starts to brown, take it off the heat and set it to the side.
3. Meanwhile, in a big bowl, mix both flours, oats, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, thyme, basil, rosemary, pepper, and garlic.

4. Pour in your butter and buttermilk and mix with a fork. Eventually, I started kneading it with my hands. It was pretty dry, so you'll want to knead it for awhile so everything sticks together.
5. Split it in half - this makes 2 loaves. Roll them into balls, then cut an X in the center of each one - less than 1/2 an inch deep.

6. Place on a baking sheet and brush egg white all over each one.
7. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes - halfway from the top of your oven.
8. Take out and let sit for 30 minutes.
9. Enjoy!!

It tastes delicious and would make a great side to a lighter meal. Is it weird that I'm proud of the fact that I made bread?

Probably. Let's just say I'm still brain dead from finals. Now that it's over, you'll be seeing a lot more of me this summer - I can't WAIT!

Read More

Classic Sloppy Joes

One week. I have one week and then I will be FREE from finals. FREE to annoy you all every single day with brand new recipes. Like this!

Sloppy Joes. So random, I know, but I had a dream the other night about this awesome camp I went to as a kid (who doesn’t love capture the flag in the middle of the woods???) and they served the BEST sloppy joes. Although they were probably terrible and terrible for me, but I was 7 and had no clue.

These are not terrible for you. And are very very tasty. And can be made in a crockpot, or a large pot. I prefer the crock pot because I can wander off and forget about it.

I got this recipe from this fantastic book (buy it here):

If you have a crock pot, I recommend it. The recipes aren’t the most healthy, but they are super easy and easy to MAKE healthy by substituting ingredients.

Here’s what you need…

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 lbs of lean ground beef*

1 ¼ cup of ketchup

1 red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces

5 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp of white vinegar

4 tbsp of plain yellow mustard

2 tsp of chili powder

¼ cup of brown sugar

Whole wheat hamburger buns

*I used 93% lean ground beef, however, ground turkey or chicken will work just as well and likely be more healthy. Justin refused to eat a sloppy joe not made from ground beef.

Here’s what you do…

1. Regardless of whether or not you’re using a crock pot or large pot, heat a large skillet with about 1 tbsp of oil and sauté the onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add the meat and mash and stir until it’s brown. Drain the pan and set the meat aside.

2. In your large pot or crock pot, add ketchup, bell pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard and chili powder. Add your meat/onion mixture. If using a crock pot, cook on low for 6 hours. If using a large pot, cook over low heat for 3 hours stirring occasionally.

3. Serve on delicious whole wheat buns.

4. Enjoy!

Life will be exponentially better in one week. Be safe and enjoy Cinco de Mayo/Derby tomorrow, and think of me...sad at my desk studying a combination of Civil Procedure, Torts, and Contracts. I know, you're jealous.

Read More

Roasted Potatoes

Here's the problem with finals. 

Last semester taught me to diet/exercise pretty intensely for the 2-3 weeks leading up to finals because once they hit, I will eat anything and everything and find every excuse not to work out (ummm I'm studying, hello!). Things like these happen:

Justin wanted to grill steaks the other night to celebrate our final classes of 1L year, and what's a steak with some potatoes?? Nothing. It is nothing.

Here's what you need (original recipe found on How Sweet It Is)...

3 lbs of small potatoes (I used baby red)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1 tsp of olive oil
3 strips of bacon, raw
1 bag of 2% sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp fresh parsley
3 tbsp fresh chives
4 green onions

Here is what you do...

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop potatoes into small, bite size pieces. Throw into a bowl with 1 tsp olive oil (no more than this!), and the yellow onion and coat evenly with salt, pepper and garlic powder (to taste).
3. Evenly spread your potatoes onto a cookie sheet. Chop your 3 pieces of raw bacon into tiny pieces and sprinkle evenly on top of your potatoes.
4. Put in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip then (I basically mixed them around), bake for another 15 minutes, stir them around, bake for another 15 minutes, stir them around, annnd bake for another 15 minutes and stir them around. Total baking time = 1 hour.

5. Take potatoes out of the oven and immediately sprinkle parsley, green onion and chives on top. Then, cover evenly with cheese. Turn off the oven, but put the cookie sheet back in for 2-3 minutes so the cheese will melt.

6. Take them out and serve right off the cookie sheet to avoid losing cheese. ENJOY!!

These were so so good. I have been eating them ever since. Well, those and baked tater tots covered in cheese and bacon (why are those in my house?!?!? What is wrong with me??).

Wish me luck. When this is all over, Justin may need to roll me out of the house.

Read More

Garlic Parmesan Chicken with Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta

Do you think it's abnormal that food makes me so happy?

Probably. I'm okay with that. Two side notes before I get started...actually, 3:

1. Blogger changed their layout. Not. happy.

2. This page has had over 1,000 views (the new layout allowed me to see this)! You guys are SO awesome!! I am really glad you keep coming back for more of my crazy :)

3. My dog ate...probably a solid 4 ounces of fontina cheese and crackers this weekend when we turned our backs. Is it weird that I was oddly proud of her? She's got good taste.

So, this recipe. Really delicious. I made the chicken with my crock pot, but if you don't have a crock pot (Nicole, notes like this are for you), I have put an alternative way to cook the chicken.

Also, I am going to put down the measurements I used, but the suggestions for what I would do differently. Summary: too much chicken, not enough pasta.

Here is what you need (from How Sweet It Is):

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts **

4 tbsp olive oil

6 tbsp of dry white wine

Salt

Pepper

5-6 garlic cloves, minced finely

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/4 cup of fresh grated parmesan

1 cup of whole wheat orzo pasta, uncooked

Vegetable of choice (I used peas - I love them)

**Next time, I will only use 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and probably about a 1 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat orzo.

*The non-crock pot directions are on the bottom!

Here is what you do...

1. Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Combine garlic, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 3 tbsp of white wine, the garlic, basil, parsley and parmesan cheese in a ziplock bag. Add the chicken and let marinate overnight.

2. The next day, throw your chicken in the crockpot with the remaining 3 tbsp of wine and cook on low 6 hours.

3. Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to the directions on the bag. Drain and add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 2-4 tbsp of parmesan.

4. Cook your veggie (I highly recommend peas) and throw those into the pasta.

5. Shred your chicken and add into pasta as well.

6. Sprinkle a little more parmesan on top, and enjoy!

*If you don't have a crock pot, purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Pull the breast meat off and set aside. Sauté your garlic in a large pan with olive oil for a few minutes, then add all the wine, basil, and parsley. Stir for a few minutes, then add chicken and simmer until wine is mostly absorbed. Add to pasta/veggie mixture.

I start finals in a week, so I apologize in advance if I go MIA for a bit. 

Read More

Chicken Enchiladas with a homemade Red Sauce

Fiestaaaaaa!

The alternate title for this post was "things that look gross, but taste awesome." I was not sure you all would read it if I gave it that title...

In case you are unaware, I am losing my mind. I have a rather large paper due one week from today, and finals start in two weeks, yet, I was so stressed on Thursday, I had to spend the night in the kitchen cooking. And these happened.

They are a mess because the corn tortillas I bought were awful. They tasted great, but they just didn’t…roll well. So, my enchiladas looked terrible, but really tasted fantastic.

In case you were wondering, Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby, quite possibly two of my favorite events, happen ON THE SAME DAY THIS YEAR! I might make these and some mint juleps (actually…no, I’m not going to do that. That sounds gross).

Here is what you need (recipe adapted from My Life as a Mrs)…

Olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

4-5 cloves of garlic, diced

2 jalapenos, seeded and diced (get the seeds out!!!)*

1 tsp of salt

3 tbsp of chili powder

3 tsp of cumin

3 tsp of sugar

2 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce

1 cup of water

1 large tomato, chopped into small pieces

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bag of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 bag of Monterey jack cheese, shredded

14 corn tortillas (spend a little extra and get some good ones)

*If you are not a fan of spicy food, leave out the jalapenos and this recipe is not spicy at all.

Here is what you do…

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Saute garlic, onion and jalapenos in a large pan with olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the salt, chili powder, cumin and sugar and stir until well blended.

4. Add tomato sauce, water, and tomato and allow the mixture to simmer about 5 minutes.

5. Add the raw chicken breasts to the mixture. Bury them in the sauce so they are well covered and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes, turning once after about 12 minutes.

6. Remove the chicken and chop into little pieces. Set aside in a large bowl.

7. Here’s the complicated part. You may need another set of hands for this. You want to strain the juice from the remaining mixture into a bowl, and then mix the vegetables that are leftover in with the chicken. Here is a picture to help:

8. Mix about ½ cup of the sauce in with the chicken and vegetables and about ¾ cup of each of the cheeses.

9.  Pour a bit of you chicken mixture into the center of each tortilla, wrap tightly, and place in a large greased baking dish, seam side down.

10. Spray cooking oil on top of the tortillas and bake for about 10 minutes; until the tortillas are brown on top.

11. Remove from the oven, turn the oven down to 400 degrees, and evenly pour the remaining cheese and sauce on top. Baking for 20 minutes, remove and let sit for 10 minutes.

12. Enjoy!

I made some spanish rice (from a box) and refried beans to round out the strange looking meal. It was VERY good...but very messy. Have a great week!!!

Read More

Grilled Chicken with Fontina and Prosciutto

Sorry for the delay! Life has been a little hectic. I have missed my kitchen.

Okay, so that doesn't look super appetizing because I desperately need a new camera, BUT, it is delicious. I found this on one of my new favorite blog sites, My Life as a Mrs.

Can I tell you how adventurous I am? I don't like mushrooms. After spending a wonderful Easter weekend with my fantastic future in-laws, I was inspired to cook something amazing because they all make the BEST food, hence why I want to learn to cook like a Grill :)

I decided to give mushrooms a shot. Justin almost fell over in shock.

I was skeptical, but I gave it a shot, and it was fantastic. I also think this sauce would be tasty on fish, maybe without the mushrooms.

Here is what you need (adapted from My Life as a Mrs)...

For the chicken:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast for each person you are serving
salt
oregano
pepper
1 slice of prosciutto for each slice of chicken (can get in the deli)
Enough fontina cheese to cover each breast

For the sauce:
1 large yellow onion, diced
6-7 cremini mushrooms, sliced
4-5 cloves of garlic, diced
3 tbsp of butter
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup of chicken broth or stock
1/2 tsp of salt
black pepper
1/2 tsp of basil (or 6 fresh basil leaves)

Side note, this is my lemon juicer. I love this thing:

Here is what you do...

1. Season your chicken with salt, pepper and oregano on both sides. Grill on medium heat for about 9 minutes on each side. Remove, and set to the side.

2. Meanwhile, drizzle a large pan with olive oil and add your onions. Sauté for a few minutes until soft, then add your mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes. Then, add your garlic. Stir often.

3. Once your mushrooms are soft, add butter and lemon and stir well.
4. Then, add chicken broth/stock, salt and pepper and simmer for a little bit until it gets thick. I ended up simmering mine for almost 20 minutes, but I don't like my sauces super thin.

6. While your sauce is simmering, place your prosciutto over your chicken, then your fontina. Place under the broiler for about 4 minutes until the cheese has melted.
7. Right before you serve your sauce, add your basil and stir.
8. Pour your sauce over your chicken.
9. Enjoy!

I served it with brown rice, which I thought was the perfect complement. Pasta probably would have work as well.

Have a GREAT rest of your week, and I promise not to stay away too long this time! Exams are quickly approaching and I have a feeling I will need to relieve some stress in the kitchen :)

Read More