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.

Asian beef in the crockpot

Ok, so I have been slacking this week. 

I just realized that I haven't posted since Monday and today is Saturday.

Have no fear though.... I will have my 3 posts in by Sunday.

This week has been especially busy for us.

We had 2 school delays and one snow day. (not normal for this time of year) 

These kinds of things totally threw me off.

Not to mention, I spent most of my free time finishing up Christmas shopping

And then hubs car broke down.... and we had a piano recital... you get the picture. 

There was some grilled cheese,pizza & take out nights this week.

I am embarassed to mention how many.

I did, however, get lots of stuff at the grocery store to make some yummy dishes. 

I am hoping to cook a lot next week and have all that to share with you soon.

 

I have been in the mood for Asian food lately  (ahem, mostly take out)

So I have been searching for something I can make at home.

I actually made this Asian Beef recipe last night, in hopes of blogging about it then.

I made the mistake of getting it into the crockpot too late.

I figured I would just put it on high and it might be done by dinner.

Nope!

One thing I already know is that you can't rush a roast.

So when it wasn't done at 6pm, I threw some penne pasta on and heated up some sauce & veggies

Viola! Instant dinner.

I let the roast keep cooking for another 2 hours and it was done.

So, it's dinner tonight.



Ingredients:
4 pounds boneless beef or pork roast ( I used deer)
1/2 C  soy sauce
1/2 C hoisin sauce
4 Tbs ketchup
6 Tbs honey
2 tsps Chinese 5-spice powder*

 2 tsp garlic powder (or 6 cloves, minced) ( I used fresh garlic)
1/2 C Ty ling Sesame sauce( I added that later because I thought it needed it)

*(If you don't have the 5 spice powder you can try 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 3/4 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp garlic salt)

The Directions:
Place the roast in a  5 quart crockpot. You can use fresh or frozen meat
Sprinkle the dry spices directly onto the meat, and top with the ketchup and honey.
Pour in the soy and hoisin sauces.
Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.
(definitely give it the whole 8 hours.... this is not a quick cooking recipe)

When it's tender/done shred up and put back in juices to serve

***Review:

The first taste went to my 8yr old whose eyes got huge and this thumb went up immediately!  After chewing he yelled out "Awesome".  This is a good sign.  I however, didn't love it.  I think that the hosin sauce just isn't my thing.  It's a little more spicy/bbq flavored and I like my asian food sweet/salty.  But, a few of the boys liked it.  A few didn't. Hubs is not home for dinner tonight, but I think he will probably like it.

 

**Tips:

As stated above, definitely let this thing cook for 8 hours on low.  It takes a long time for roast to be so tender that it shreds. 
Also, I would recommend serving this with rice.  I didn't have any so I used angel hair pasta... not the best idea.. but it works.  I have also seen that you can serve it over shredded cabbage, which I think would be good.  I actually have some, but it's for another recipe this week. 
also, if you do use noodles, you could add a little sesame oil to them to give it a little asian flavor.

Sweet & Sour Crockpot Chicken

Wow!

I am voting this the BEST crockpot recipe I have made so far!

I really really like this one.

Maybe it's because I have a love for Asian food, but whatever....

It's awesome!

It could also be that it is one of the easiest.

Hmmm!

I hope you will try this and let me know what you think.

Hopefully, you'll be just as excited about it as I am.

It's ok if you're not, I want to know that too!

I'm sure there's bound to be one or two people out there that actually try these recipes

Right?  :)

If you're one of them, please leave me a comment here and there and let me know what you think

Sometimes I feel like I'm writing to myself, ya know?

On with the cooking......................

Ingredients

• 6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 cup Russian or French salad dressing
• 1 cup apricot preserves or jam
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. dried thyme or basil leaves
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbs Corn starch (optional)**

Directions: 

Place chicken pieces in the bottom of your crockpot

Mix remaining ingredients (except corn starch)in a medium bowl and pour over chicken.

Stir to coat.

Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours

**Before you serve it  you can thicken the mixture by combining2 tablespoons cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water or chicken stock and mix until smooth. Add to the crockpot; turn to high for 10-15 minutes until sauce is thickened.

This is definitely not a great picture, but I was in a hurry.  It actually looked much better than this!

***Review:

I think I stated my opinion in the beginning... I am in love.   Hubs was afraid he wouldn't like it because it has apricots in it and he HATES anything peach or that has a peach type flavor. No worries though... he loved it.

It has a great sweet and savory flavor.  Very similar to the sweet and sour chicken you get in a chinese restaurant. My 8 yr old looooved it.... which is saying something.   Only 1 of the other kids didn't like it... so I call that a score! 

**Tips:

Definitely add the corn starch to the mixture if you have it.  It gives it just the right consistency. Also, make sure your chicken is frozen....that is why it was so moist... especially for chicken breast. I don't think I've eaten such a tender piece of chicken breast before.

*Calories:
This recipe makes six servings and has aprox. 350 calories per serving.   Don't forget that the rice or whatever you serve it on is not counted in this number.

Sesame Beef & Chicken Stir fry

So last night's steak had purpose in today's meal (and tomorrow's)

I almost always make more than we need for one dinner so we can use it for lunch or for another meal

I like to cook this way because it saves me a lot of time

I like to save time! 

I think you probably do too.

This post is going to be to the point today...

I had dentist appointments for 3 kiddos ... no naps and a thingy at school tonight that I have to take ALL the kids to by myself because the husband has to work late!  (did I mention no naps?)

Oh the joy!

I am tired.... so I have no energy to write a fun post! 

I am really just wanting to take a nap!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 3 steaks (raw or cooked) cut into very thin strips
- 3 chicken breasts (raw or cooked) cut into very thin strips

- 1 small onion finely sliced

- 1 bag stir fry vegetables or parisian style veggies or fresh veggies

- sesame oil

- soy sauce

- 1 jar Ty Ling sesame sauce

- *1 (5 oz) can water chestnuts

-* 1 (15 oz) can baby corn

(*optional)

Directions:

Add 2 tsp oil to pan/wok

Add onions to pan when oil is hot

Cook onions until carmelized

Add vegetables

If using fresh broccoli add a little water to the wok (2 Tbs)

Add a few shakes of soy sauce to the veggies while cooking

When veggies are done, take them out of the pan and set aside in a bowl

Add a few more tsp of oil to the pan

When it's hot add the raw meat 1st (my chicken was raw)

Add a few shakes of soy and cook until done (just a minute or 2)

Add the cooked meat (my steak was already cooked)

Immediately add the Ty Ling Sesame sauce to the meat (aprox 1/4 C)

Let the sesame sauce cook down for about 3 minutes

Add vegetables

Add more Ty Ling Sesame sauce (about 1/4C)

Cook for a few more minutes to blend flavors and you're done

Serve over white or brown rice

***Reviews:
A-W-E-S-O-M-E!-  I LOVE this stuff!  I love Asian food, but we can't always afford to eat out.  I found this sauce one day and thought I'd give it a try... oh..my ... goodness.  It's sooo good!  So, whenever I make steak for dinner this is always dinner for the next day!  Hubs loves this dinner and the kids LOVE this.  Yes, I know it seems wierd that they would eat this with all its veggie friends inside.. but they do.  Add "Chinese" to anything and they are all about it.  Too bad this is one of the few "chinese" dishes I can make! Anyway, I hope you try it because it's really very easy. 

**Tips:
You can use raw or already cooked meat in this... which I love.  I didn't have enough leftover steak so I used that and the raw chicken... it was actually better having the combo. Make sure you cut the meat very thin... wok cooking is supposed to be "high heat" so you want things to cook fast and not burn.  Also, if you don't have a wok, you can use a fry pan... just make sure it's a big one!  Oh and sometimes I add sesame seeds to this while cooking and then as a garnish after... but I totally forgot this time!
 I used a frozen veggies in this.. and I always have before, but I find that the frozen bags ususally are lacking in the broccoli area... so I added a little fresh broccoli too... I just cooked it first so it wasn't so "raw", then added the other veggies.  I liked the fresh broccoli better... though frozen would work just fine. 
I usually add water chestnuts and baby corn if I have them... I didn't tonight.  It still tastes good.
Basically, meat, broccoli and the sauce is all you really need.
And if I'm being honest here.... even though brown rice is healthier.. and that's what I used.... I definitely prefer white rice with this.  Not sure why. I didn't have any though... so brown minute rice it was.  Speaking of rice... make sure to put the water on for the rice right about the time to start the veggies cooking or just before so that it can be done when the stir fry is done. 

I hope you like this recipe! Pleae let me know if/when you try it out!  I'm curious to know what you think.
Also, if you have any great "Asian" recipes....I would love it if you would share them with me.  You can send them to thedinnerdrama@hotmail.com
 I can't wait make some reader recipes to post on here!