Taste Bud Tickler Chicken

So this was not a pin I was going to blog on, but after I ate this last night I just had to!  This was absolutely AMAZING!!!  I did make it a little bit different than Rachel Shultz makes because I didn't have everything on hand, but I will definitely make this again and again and again....yes, it was that good.  The only bad part was that I did not make enough of this!!!!  The original recipe called for boneless skinless chicken breast and to bake, but as you can tell by the picture above, I did not use chicken breast or bake this...I let my crock pot do all the work, I will post the oven recipe, but if you want to make it in your crock pot, just mix everything and pour it over your chicken, slow cook for 6-8 hours and let it melt in your mouth...

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used thighs this time)
1/2 cup Dijon mustard (I used horseradish mustard)
1/4 cup maple syrup (I used homemade buttermilk syrup)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
Rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together mustard, syrup, and vinegar. Place chicken breasts into 9×13 baking dish. Season with salt & pepper.  Pour mustard mixture over chicken. No need to marinate. I love that because I hate marinating/often forget to until it’s too late.

2. Bake for about 35-50 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Season with rosemary. Prepare for people to ask you to make it again.

Hooded Car Seat Blankie

This was so much fun to make.  I had to make it a second time though because I didn't think it was too important to make sure you cut this in the shape of a square...I mean, I can bundle her up in a rectangle pretty good...well, I was wrong, it is just a little different for a car seat.  So, if you want to make one, or know how this was made check out Kelly's post at Imperfect Homemaking. 

Before I made this this afternoon I made my Breakfast Pizza and had some help from my oldest middle daughter :)  They love to help in the kitchen!  Now to get them to want to clean up afterwards....any tips Mom's? ;)

Ghost Pepper & Garlic Hot Sauce

This is really good, and it will probably be even better when I make it next time and follow all of the directions!  I did not cook my fresh chili peppers, I have a stash of frozen peppers to make salsa with and I used 2 green jalapeno's and a habanero pepper. after they thawed out.  I also passed on the onion since I was out but I know that would have added a lot more flavor as well.  So needless to say, mine has a little kick to it, but not too hot since I used the jalapenos.    

Ghost Pepper & Garlic Hot Sauce

1 tsp. vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced fresh chile peppers
6 Ghost Chili pods, rehydrated, minced
6 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, minced
2 cups water
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin (optional)
1 cup white vinegar

1. In a nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, cook onion, fresh chiles, and garlic in oil until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.  

2. Add remaining ingredients, except vinegar, to saucepan; reduce heat to medium-low; simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
 
3. Pour saucepan contents into a blender or food processor; puree until smooth.  Add vinegar to mixture; blend until combined.  Pour mixture into a sterilized jar with a lid.  Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 year.

Notes: For a mild sauce, use Anaheim, Poblano, or Jalapeno. For a medium sauce, use Serrano, Cayenne, or Tabasco. For a very hot sauce, use Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Thai, or Pequin.

My pin list

On to this weeks "pin list" of things to make and do...first off I have a few Ghost Peppers that have been whispering my name...so since I am all out of hot sauce, that is what I plan to make with them...we will see if I regret it or not...lol...I already had to open some windows upstairs to ventilate the house since I am rehydrating these babies...cough, cough, cough...I love anything spicy, so I can't wait...

 

Next on my list...I am not the normal coffee girl, I like my drinks fluffy and sweet...so I think this is in order...I love it when my husband buys these and I will sip off of his, but his is usually way to strong for me, I am a weakling and don't like to taste a glass full of coffee beans in my cup...

As of late my sewing machine has been whispering my name as well...I made my first ruffly skirt, well ruffle bottom anyways, for Miah the other day and I have a huge pile of jeans to upcycle into skirts.  I was going to do a normal jean into skirt transformation until I came across this pic...and have decided to try this instead :)

And last but definitely not least...This adorable car seat swaddler.  It gets kind of cold here in Montana so I have decided Joci needs one of these to keep her warm, that way she will not kick off her cover like she loves to do...

So, once these have all been done, I will update you all with my successes (hopefully successes...)

BLT Salad

Who is not a fan of bacon?  If you are not, I think there is something wrong with you... (That would be the half of my family on my fathers side...for religious reasons) But seriously, I L.O.V.E. maple bacon...I mean what is better than a sweet strip of crispy mapley bacon?  Mmmmm, I so loved the smell of my house when I made this.  And can't wait to make it again.  I love BLT sandwiches, but I think I love this salad even more...I think I had (I know I did really) three HUGE helpings of this for dinner, and I wanted even more, but had to refrain...that was very hard to do...anyways, I am smelling that bacon just thinking of this...please do try (and bring me some left overs!)

Ingredients

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (about 1 to 1/2 inches)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
12 slices bacon, cut into one inch pieces, cooked and drained
3/4 cup mayonnaise
6 scallions, sliced into thin circles
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1 head of romaine lettuce, outside leaves and tops removed and saved for another use (you want the firm inside leaves only), torn into bite-sized pieces
12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Cover potatoes with cold water in a large pot. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender but not mushy, 12-15 minutes. Drain, place in large mixing bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon vinegar. Cool for 10 minutes. 

2. Whisk mayo, scallions and remaining vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

3. Add bacon, lettuce and tomatoes to the bowl with the potatoes. Gently mix in the dressing, and then scatter the chives on top.

Here is one of my girls after she snuck 3 suckers into her mouth at the same time...lol, kids...

Snicker's Caramel Apple Salad

Mmm mmm good :)  I wanted something different than a normal caramel apple to bring to our harvest party.  Boy am I glad I found this recipe :)  I love sour apples so I used Granny Smith's but this would be good with almost any kind of apple you like.  Next time I will try it with Honey Crisp apples...But hey, who can go wrong with apples, snickers, cool whip, caramel???  That is what I thought.  This is a wonderful fall dessert salad that I am sure you will all love. 

• 6 regular size Snickers Candy Bar
• 6 apples I used Granny Smith
• 1 (5 oz.) package Vanilla Instant Pudding dry, do not prepare
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 (12 oz.) tub cool whip
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Instructions

1. Whisk vanilla pudding packet, 1/2 cup milk and cool whip together until well combined.
2. Chop up apples and Snickers.
3. Stir chopped apples and Snickers into pudding mixture.
4. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with caramel ice cream topping.
5. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

She even she thought this was a good recipe :)  

Pinterest Picks

Monday Madness turned into Turbulent Tuesday for this week...My plate is very busy this week but all is good.  So my Pinterest picks for this week are....drum roll please...

Snickers Carmel Apple Salad

for our harvest party at church

on Friday

Mac-n-cheese Pizza

from Framed Cooks blog

BLT Salad

from Framed Cooks blog

Take some really cute pics

of my girlies

And make a skirt or two like this 

for my girls

Pinterest Pin Updates

So this week I have done/started 3 of my 5 pins....Last night I went to a friends house to eat diner and hang out since my husband is out hunting for the weekend.  So I decided to try the Chicken Club Egg Rolls at her house.  They were yummy but the next time I make them I will tweak them just a little bit.  I love cream cheese so I will definitely add that, maybe some green onions and/or cilantro and some sugar to the mixture.  I am looking forward to making these again!!!!  I ate the left overs for lunch today and liked them even better...wish my kids didn't like theirs so I could have eaten more...lol

I have also started my crusty bread.  I kept meaning to do this all week long for I love bread,  I. LOVE.  BREAD.  So I will probably stay up late tonight to make this after it has sat for about 12 hours....then make more tomorrow.  I made it plain this time but next time I plan on jazzing it up some :)

And I started my Naked Egg Expiriment with my two little girls yesterday.  It is going a little slower than I thought it would, but I do see the egg shell slowly breaking down...the kids are going to love it!  The egg is a lot more bubbly than in the picture below and I can see spots where the egg shells is already dissolved...kids think this is way neat :)

So...I will hopefully update tomorrow with a new naked egg pic and my bread pic...(If I can refrain from eating it first...)

 So here is my end result of my bread :)  Yummy!  Can't wait to make it again...

The pink egg is Hannah's, it was dyed with some beet juice :)   She then slid it around in this tub and it broke, then of course she had to play with it...

This one is Miah's egg, she threw it in the tub and watched it break.  the girls really enjoyed doing this :)

Monday Madness

After a nice relaxing Sunday it is back to the grind! And since I do not post nearly enough I am going to start something new on Mondays...I will be posting links, more than likely Pinterest links, of things that I either want to cook, sew, make, or try this week.  I don't promises to get to them all, but when I do I will give my thoughts on them :)  So here is what I have planned for this week!

 

Breakfast Bagel Pizza

 

I wanted to make something different for a weekend breakfast since I always make my oven pancakes so I went with this breakfast bagel pizza instead.  I am so glad I did!!!  This normal is made with pizza crust, but I was out of yogurt and decided to use bagels instead! 

First I preheated  my oven to 375° F.  Oh, and DO NOT forget to spray or grease your pan...if you don't you WILL regret it like I did...took forever to get that bread baked into the pan off...

 

Back to business here...Then I brushed some olive oil on my onion bagels.

 

I topped them with a slice of deli ham, you can use any meat you would like, bacon works well, or skip the meat altogether...

 

Then I added cheddar cheese, next time I will shred it though, I think the adding of the egg will be easier then.

 

Add some colorful veggies, I had heirloom tomatoes and green onions for this but really the possibilities are endless!

 

I placed everything on their neatly...

 

Then had to move it all around so the egg wouldn't just slide right off...

 

Top with more cheese (your favorite kind...Swiss would probably be wonderful with this...)

 

And then bake in your preheated oven for about 25 minutes.  Believe me, you will be happy you made this...makes me want to go make it now for lunch! 

Crunchwrap Supreme

So my family absolutely loves Mexican food...this may be more like taco bell food...but none the less, they love it.  I came across this on Pinterest of course and had to try it out.  Thanks to Culinary Couture this will now be on my food list to make again, and again, and again!  Instead of a crunchy tortilla round I used Nacho Cheese Doritos on the inside and it was amazing!  Reminds me of a Doritos Locos Taco...mmm mmm mmm!  To view the recipe please check it out here.

So, if you love Mexican food, please do try this, you will not regret it! 

Easy Peasey Pizza Dough

My new addiction...Pinterest...sigh.  Yesterday I went to someone's board and re-pinned over 100 of his food pins.  Pathetic I know...but they looked oh so yummy!   Since I did that I had to make something new and I am so glad that I did, so is my family!  This pizza crust is sooooo easy to make and it tastes wonderful.  I did not have self rising flour so I made my own.  It ended up being for of a thin crusted pizza but it was so good that my "thick crust only" husband had a bunch of pieces and said we definitely have to keep using this recipe ;)  I love it when I get comments like that!  For my husband and the girls I made a pepperoni pizza with Old School Pizza Sauce which is the best pizza sauce I have ever had in my life...

I have made it multiple times and will keep making it.  For myself I made a Garlicky Cheese and Tomato pizza which was divine and I will be making this again on Friday for a game night with friends and everyone is bringing a homemade pizza...I wonder where that idea came from....la la la...anyways, on to the simplest pizza dough recipe ever! 

1 cup self raising flour
1 cup of Greek or natural yoghurt
Extra flour for dusting the board


In a bowl, combine the flour and yoghurt and bring together to form a ball.  Turn out onto a floured board to knead and roll.  Knead for 5-8 minutes. Roll into a pizza shape and add toppings.

Notes

This quantity is suitable for one pizza.  If the dough seems a little wet when you mix it, just add a sprinkling more flour. The more you knead it the better it comes together.  I thought in the beginning that there was no way this will work but as I kneaded it, the dough became pliable and stretchy.

Pizza dough recipe found on Kidspot.

What to make this 4th of July?

Here are some more GREAT posts by Kate...I myself am thinking of making these Mini Caprese Bites for the 4th, along with my Sweet Dilled Macaroni Salad...mmm mmm mmm, can't wait!