A new way to blog & Honey Sauced Chicken

Yes.... I have been MIA for, well, almost a year.  I have excuses... but none that you care to hear.  I know you're just here looking for a good recipe right?  Well... that is what I intend to give you.   Read on!

Now.... I haven't gotten overwhelming responses from the way I previously did my blog.  So I am going to try something new.   I think that this "something new" will make it easier for me to post/blog and you will still get your awesome recipes and some great tips and reviews.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Pinterest... but it's amazing.  I have been "pinning" recipes on there for a while now.    What I plan on doing is trying at least one "pinned" recipe per week and sharing it here on my blog.    I suppose it will be similar to "reader recipes".  Another cool bonus is that you will be introduced to many many new cooking blogs.

Hopefully this new idea will be a hit... with me for blogging stamina and with you in your kitchen.  I'm sure my husband is going to be ecstatic about me blogging again because that means yummy new dinners again.  

Happy Cooking!!!


This week I made a recipe called "Honey Sauced Chicken"   
It is awesome for lots of reasons.  One being that it is a crockpot recipe OR an oven recipe.  Love those kinds.

Click here for the original site

Honey Sauced Chicken

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)  (I used boneless skinless thighs)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced  ( I added about 5 more cloves)

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes  ( I didn't add these, but hubs wishes I would have)

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:

Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Serves 2.

Review:   AMAZING!!!  It is very similar to sesame chicken or some similar asian dish.  We love asian food in this house and every single child ate ALL of it.  I don't know if that has ever happened unless it was pizza or actual chinese takeout.  This is going on my faves!

Tips: I read all the reviews on the blog and did indeed agree that the sauce was watery at the end.  So I mixed about a Tablespoon of cornstarch with some water to make a liquid and added it to the sauce. Stir it in and wait a few minutes and the sauce is thick.  The more cornstarch you add, the thicker it will get. (but be careful... you don't want jelly)  If you are in a hurry, you can dump it all into a pan and thicken it up that way.  (that's what I did).  Also please make note that the recipe on the original blog is for TWO servings.  I had to quadruple it to feed my family.  So make sure to do your math before you get to cooking! AND... if you are doubling the recipe make sure to account for a longer cooking time in the crockpot. One last tip... I diced my chicken up before putting it in the crockpot.  I hate having to cut it up at the end when it's all hot... so this was easier for me.  If your chicken is frozen, that won't work... but it's just a matter of preference.

Honey Chicken

OH....MY..... GOODNESS!!!

That is what I have to say about this.

I love love love love love Asian food.

We get chinese takeout more than my wallet would like

The fact that I am cheap clashes with this issue.

I have never been able to make take-out worthy chinese food at home (with the exception of my stir fry).

This totally fixes that problem.

Needless to say I am very happy and so excited to share this with all of you!

I'm not gonna lie, this takes a little bit of time to make... but it's so worth it.

I hope you love it as much as we did!

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” chunks
Oil,for deep frying
Batter:
4 Tbs cornstarch
¼ C flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ C water
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg white
Sauce:
1 ½ Tbs oil
2 tsp ginger (minced) or 1tsp dried
3 Tbs garlic,minced or crushed
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs honey
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
½ C water
1 tsp cornstarch (mixed with 1 teaspoon water)
Sesame seeds (for garnish)


Directions:

Batter:

 In a large bowl mix all batter ingredients together until smooth. Cover and allow the batter to sit for at least 30 minutes. 

Chicken:
Add the chicken to the batter tossing to coat.

Heat a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Fry chicken in small batches for 4 minutes or until batter becomes firm. 

Drain on paper towels.

Sauce:
To make the sauce. Heat 1 ½ Tbs of oil in your wok. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds.

  Add salt, honey, vinegar, and water. Mix well. Combine 1 teaspoon of water with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in a seperate bowl or cup. Add to the sauce and Simmer for 2 minutes.

Place fried chicken pieces in wok and stir to coat chicken with the sauce and garnish with sesame seeds. 

Serve with white rice.

Sorry the photo quality isn't great.  I have been using my cell phone instead of my camera (because it's easier).... but it doesn't do the best job!

***Review:

Obviously you know that I love this!  The even better part?  ALL of my family loved it.  That's right.... all 5 kids.  That NEVER happens.  I have one child that literally eats nothing at dinner because he is SO picky (Unless I make pizza or mac and cheese).  My oldest says this is the best thing I have ever made... I may have to agree!

**Tips: 

First off, I think the batter recipe is slightly off.  I would add a tad less water next time to make it thicker.  When I was trying to fry, the batter was so thin that it kept dripping down into the deep fryer and not staying on the chicken.  Also, cook the chicken in very small batches... otherwise it sticks together.  I used a fork to kind of stir it for a few seconds when I first drop it into the deep fryer to keep it from sticking.  I'm sure there is a better way... but this is what I did to make it work.  My last pieces of chicken were much nice than the first few batches.  

As for time savers, definitely make the batter first.  THEN take that 30 minutes it has to sit to cut up your chicken and dice your ginger and garlic.  I didn't do it that way because I didn't realize (until I got to that step) that the recipe said to let the batter sit for 30 minutes... so I was all ready to go and had to wait.  

If you do not have a deep fryer, you could totally use a deep pan full of oil if you had to.   I might try that next time just to see how it works.

*Serving:  

This was great on plain white rice.  You could serve it on brown rice or with veggies.  I could have eaten it alone it was so good.  

Printer Friendly Recipe

Honey Chicken

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” chunks
Oil,for deep frying
Batter:
4 Tbs cornstarch
¼ C flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ C water
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg white
Sauce:1 ½ Tbs oil
2 tsp ginger (minced) or 1tsp dried
3 Tbs garlic,minced or crushed
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs honey
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
½ C water
1 tsp cornstarch (mixed with 1 teaspoon water)
Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Directions:

Batter:

 In a large bowl mix all batter ingredients together until smooth. Cover and allow the batter to sit for at least 30 minutes. 

Chicken:

 Add the chicken to the batter tossing to coat.

Heat a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Fry chicken in small batches for 4 minutes or until batter becomes firm. Drain on paper towels.

Sauce:

To make the sauce. Heat 1 ½ Tbs of oil in your wok. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds.  Add salt, honey, vinegar, and water. Mix well. Combine 1 teaspoon of water with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in a seperate bowl or cup. Add to the sauce and Simmer for 2 minutes.
 Place fried chicken pieces in wok and stir to coat chicken with the sauce and garnish with sesame seeds. 

Serve with white rice.

Grilled Garlic-Dill Salmon

I have been MIA for about 6 months. 

I have an excuse

Really!

BASEBALL!!

I did not realize how much time it sucks from your life.

I love that my kids play, but practices 4 nights a week and 2 games per weekend is A LOT!

I mean, yes, I was still cooking... but taking the time out of my day to write it all down and take pictures?

Well... lets just say it kind of fell off the priority list in favor of... oh you know, SANITY!

So, baseball ended the last week of June and then it was summer break... and then.....

FOOTBALL! 

No, I can't get a break. 

BUT...

it's highschool football.... so I am not required to be at the every single day practices.

I only drive to and fro. 

Also, I'm adjusting.

So, I'm not going to promise to be back to my regular blogging schedule as of yet....

But I am going to make more of an effort

I am hoping by the time school well into full swing I will be back to my bloggy self.

Well enough excuses... on to the recipe!

ps... as I am writing this... it is now wrestling season.  It never ends!!!


Grilled Garlic-Dill Salmon

Ingredients:
5 Medium salmon steaks  ( you can really use whatever size you want, this just happens to be what I used)
1 Stick of butter
6 Cloves of garlic, crushed (or as much or as little as you like)
2 tsp Garlic salt
4 tsp Dried dill
3 tsp Lemon juice
1/4 C Olive oil

Directions:
Thaw salmon in cold water (if frozen)

Crush garlic cloves into small bowl
Place 1 stick of butter into bowl with garlic
Microwave butter/garlic mix to melt together (aprox 1 minute)

Add lemon juice to butter/garlic mix
Pre- heat grill
Place salmon on a tray and drizzle with half the olive oil. 
Sprinkle with dill

Flip salmon over and drizzle with the rest of the olive oil
Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt
Place salmon on grill and brush on about half of the garlic-butter mixture

Cook about 5 minutes per side, depending on how thick your steaks are. 
They are done when fish flakes easily with a fork.

After they are done, brush on remaining garlic butter mixture

Enjoy!

***Reviews: 
 This is a HUGE hit in my house.  Everyone cheers when they hear we are having grilled salmon. I love that!  The taste is so light and fresh and not fishy at all.  If salmon wasn't so expensive, we'd probably have it twice a week here.

**Tips:
This is a super simple recipe so there is not much to it.  My only suggestion would be to watch the fish if you aren't a experienced griller because you don't want to burn the outside before the inside is cooked.  Although, some people do like their salmon rare... blech.. not me!   


*Serving:
I think salmon goes great with wild rice.  That is my first choice... but it goes great with veggies too if you're trying to stay low on the carbs. This time I served it with yellow squash and wild rice...mmmm!


Printer Friendly Recipe:

Grilled Garlic Dill Salmon

Ingredients:
5 Medium salmon steaks  ( you can really use whatever size you want, this just happens to be what I used)
1 Stick of butter
6 Cloves of garlic, crushed (or as much or as little as you like)
2 tsp Garlic salt
4 tsp Dried dill
3 tsp Lemon juice
1/4 C Olive oil

Directions:
Thaw salmon in cold water (if frozen)
Crush garlic cloves into small bowl
Place 1 stick of butter into bowl with garlic
Microwave butter/garlic mix to melt together (aprox 1 minute)
Add lemon juice to butter/garlic mix
Pre- heat grill
Place salmon on a tray and drizzle with half the olive oil. 
Sprinkle with dill
Flip salmon over and drizzle with the rest of the olive oil
Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt
Place salmon on grill and brush on about half of the garlic-butter mixture
Cook about 5 minutes per side, depending on how thick your steaks are. 
They are done when fish flakes easily with a fork.
After they are done, brush on remaining garlic butter mixture
Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

• 
  
• Well.... here I am with a recipe.  
• 
  
• All of my excuses as to where I've been will be on the next post (since I actually wrote that one first)... so you will have to tune in again in a few days if you care to know.. or if you really like Garlic Grilled Salmon. :)

Well... it's fall and that means baking in my house.  Apple pies abound when the Courtland apples are ripe.  

I went to the orchard the other day and bought a peck of Courtlands.  

Problem?  well, I couldn't find the time to actually DO anything with them and I was afraid they were going to go bad.  

I know I've mentioned that I am cheap... so spending $10 on apples and not using them is nearing illegal for me.... ha!

So I peeled them and chopped them and then I made one large pie with a store bought crust (shhh).  

It actually was really yummy!

But I still had a HUGE amount of apples and nothing to do with them.

•   
• I didn't feel like making or buying  pie crust... so my friend Kristi suggested apple crisp.  
• 
  
• I said no, that I don't really like apple crisp, but thanks for the suggestion.   
• 
  
• Well the next morning all these chopped apples were staring at me from the bowl and I didn't want them to go bad.  
• 
  
• So, I googled "apple recipes"

After going through what felt like a million, I finally found Food network's Old Fashioned Apple Crisp recipe

It was simple and didn't call for a ton of ingredients or time.... so I made it.

I didn't have high expectations... but I don't like to waste food.

Well... you'll have to read to the review part to see what we thought!

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

• Ingredients
• 5 pounds McIntosh or Macoun apples  ( I used Courtland apples)
• Grated zest of 1 orange    
• Grated zest of 1 lemon   ( I didn't use any zest... because I didn't have any)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice   ( I used store bought orange and lemon juice)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  (* I used regular salt)
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced  (* I used salted butter... because that's what I had on hand)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 14 oval baking dish.( I used a 9x13 rectangle pan)

Peel, core, and cut the apples into large wedges or chunks. Combine the apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.

To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold cubed butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. 

Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. 

Scatter evenly over the apples.

Place the crisp on a sheet pan and bake for 1 hour* (mine only took 45 minutes) or until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly. Serve warm.

I didn't get a pic of it on the plate (sorry).  We had company for dinner so I totally forgot to take a picture once we were eating!  

***Reviews:

This was a HUGE hit with everyone!!!    I will be making this often because it tastes amazing and was so easy.  We had company the night we served it and everyone had 2 servings (with the kids begging for even more).  It was even good re heated!  Not soggy at all!

**Tips:
You can read above all the places I changed things.  I didn't add the zest and I think it tasted perfect.  I also didn't measure the apples, but I think there was about 8 to 10 cups of them.  I just filled the dish! 
 Also, I happen to have a kitchen aid mixer with a paddle attachment (thanks hubs), but if you don't you can use a regular hand mixer.  Basically, the butter needs to blend into the flower/oats and get all crumbly.  Note: the butter HAS to be cold... if it isn't, it won't form the little crumbles that you need for the top! 
As for mixing,you could even do it by hand if you had to... I mean, there weren't Kitchen Aid's when apple crisp was invented right?  
Also, in case you don't have time to bake this right at the same time you're making dinner... you can make it ahead of time.  I made mine in the afternoon and it was lukewarm by dinner and tasted great. It doesn't have to be piping hot.   
Oh... one more thing, my friend Kristi says this is awesome served with Vanilla Bean ice cream.  We didn't have any.... but I bet it's amazing!  Try it!

Printer Friendly Recipe


Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

• Ingredients
• 5 pounds McIntosh or Macoun apples
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 14 by 2-inch ovalbaking dish.

Peel, core, and cut the apples into large wedges. Combine the apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.

To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.

Place the crisp on a sheet pan and bake for 1 hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly. Serve warm.