Spicy Pineapple Chicken with Rice & Peas

This is another recipe my husband picked out for this week. It was spicier than I expected, but the spiciness was in the sauce so if you don't like it you could leave that off. We left it off of our kids' plates and it worked perfectly for all of us!

3 Tbsp honey mustard
1 tsp chili powder
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 2 lbs)
1 & 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup rice
2/3 cup frozen peas
6 oz pineapple juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a bowl, mix together honey mustard, chili powder, 1 tsp salt and ginger.
• Coat the chicken in mustard mixture and place in foil lined baking sheet. Bake until cooked through, about 35 minutes.
• Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until coated.
• Add 1 & 1/3 cup water and 1/2 salt, bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked, about 15 minutes.
• Remove rice from heat, add peas, cover and steam until heated through.
• Transfer chicken to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Reserve the juices.
• Pour reserved juices in to saucepan with pineapple juice and cayenne. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until thickened and reduced to a thin glaze, about five minutes.
• Drizzle the chicken with the sauce and serve over the rice.

Cajun Mac & Cheese

My husband picked a lot of our recipes for this week, and he loves pasta... specifically mac & cheese! He said this was really good! I'm not a huge pasta fan, but I thought it was pretty good too.

The only thing I would change about this dish is I would probably add more of each filler to it (bell peppers, scallions, and especially the andouille sausage). I like to have at least one of each thing in every bite, especially the meat. Also, make sure you use a VERY large skillet, I used my largest and had a hard time keeping the pasta from spilling while tossing it at the end.

Kosher salt
12 oz wagon-wheel pasta
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
6 oz andouille sausage, diced
2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper (red or green), chopped
1 Tbsp Cajun spice blend
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, diced

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al dente (about 1 minute less than box directions).
• Reserve 1 cup of cooking water and drain pasta.
• Meanwhile, combine olive oil and sausage in large skillet over high heat and cook until sausage starts to brown (about two minutes). Stir in scallions and bell peppers and cook until slightly soft (about three more minutes).
• Add Cajun spice and flour and cook for two more minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and continue until the sauce is thick and smooth (about five more minutes).
• Add the pasta, cheese, and reserved water to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, tossing to coat the pasta and melt the cheese (about one minute).

Molten Lava Cakes

Yay, this is my 100th recipe post!

I was perusing my magazines for some dinner recipes and came across this in the Food Network chocolate issue! There are quite a few other recipes in there that look good, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more :)

I made these for myself and my husband and gave two to my mom for Mother's Day. I will note that I did overcook them a little bit, so they weren't as molten as they should have been. I kept looking at them in the oven and the top just didn't look done enough! While they were done on the outside, they were pretty molten in the middle still. Next time I make them I'll cook them less and take another picture.

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for the ramekins

4 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of nutmeg

12 oz semisweet chocolate

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 & 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting

6 large eggs plus 6 egg yolks

1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Butter 8 - 6 oz ramekins and sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp of granulated sugar.
• Combine butter, cinnamon, cayenne, nutmeg, and chocolate in a saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, whisk the flour, confectioners' sugar, eggs and yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a bowl until creamy. Whisk in the chocolate mixture.
• Divide among prepared ramekins.
• Bake until tops are stuff and edges darken, about 12-14 minutes.
• Remove and let cool 5 minutes.
• Loosen edges of cakes with small paring knife and transfer to plates while warm. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

 I apologize for the smudges at the top of these two pictures... I didn't realize it until after I had cut the cake open, but one of my little ones had gotten their fingers on the lense and left finger prints all over it ;) Next time I make this I'll get some better pictures!

Sweet-and-Spicy Meatloaves

My husband has been asking for me to make him meatloaf since we've been together and I finally got around to it last night. I'd never made any sort of meatloaf, nor had I eaten any. Something about eating a huge lump of ground beef just never sounded really appealing to me. I was pleasantly surprised! My husband raved on and on about how great it was :)

The only change I'll make next time is making more of the topping to serve on the side.

Meatloaf
2 slices whole-grain sandwich bread, torn in to pieces
1/2 small onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, quartered
1/2 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 large egg
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp peach chutney or apricot jam

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Pulse the bread in a food processor until finely ground, transfer to a large bowl.
• Pulse the onion and the carrot in the food processor until finely chopped, transfer to the bowl with bread and add the turkey, beef, egg, curry powder, salt, and pepper.
• Mix by hand until just combined. Shape into four oblong loaves and place on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.
• Mix the ketchup and chutney in small bowl and brush over the meatloaves. Bake until baked through, about 20 minutes.

Side
2 medium red-skinned potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 head broccoli, florets cut into pieces, stem thinly sliced
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp curry powder

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the potatoes and cook about four minutes.
• Add the broccoli and cook another six minutes.
• Drain and toss with olive oil and curry powder.
• Serve with meatloaves.

Cupcake Brownies

These are another of the cupcakes I made for my friend's bake sale. You can see the other two here: Chocolate Peanut Butter and PB&J .

These are basically brownies in a cupcake shape. Kind of neat for to-go brownies, maybe for a party or travel! I'm sure you could use the same idea with boxed brownies if you don't feel like making them from scratch :) I left the nuts out because I know a lot of people are picky about nuts.

1 cup butter or margarine

4 - 1 oz squares semisweet chocolate

1 & 3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 & 1/2 cups chopped pecans

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line 18 muffin tins with paper muffin cups.
• In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt butter and chocolate. Cool for ten minutes.
• In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Add vanilla and chocolate mixture.
• Stir in flour and nuts.
• Fill muffin cups about two-thirds full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

PB&J Cupcakes

First, I have to start by mentioning a blog award I got from Kelly at Today Was a Fairytale :) Thanks Kelly! You can see my blog post about it here, Liebster Award.

A friend of mine had a bake sale for a fundraiser and I offered to help make cupcakes! I made three different kinds. These, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, and Cupcake Brownies. She raised $150! Nice job Sarah :)

Cupcakes

1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp strawberry extract

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup raspberry jam

Frosting

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup milk

•  Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line 18 muffin tins with paper baking cups.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add egg, strawberry extract and continue beating. Beat in milk and buttermilk, then jam. The batter should be purple.
• Slowly stir flour mixture in to the batter mixture until evenly combined.
• Pour batter in to prepared baking cups.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
• In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Mix in 2 cups of confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup at a time. Stir in 1/4 cup milk, gradually add remaining sugar. If frosting is too dry, add 1 Tbsp of milk.
• Frost cooled cupcakes.

Taco Soup

I got this recipe from a neighbor years ago and have been meaning to make it for my family for quite some time. It's great because it is something you can make out of food you can store, so it's not something you need fresh items from the grocery store for.
The original recipe calls for a can of stewed tomatoes (undrained) instead of salsa, but my husband does not like tomatoes, and I don't like them cooked so I made a last minute substitution with the salsa I found in our fridge! An added benefit was the salsa gave it a little spice :)

1 lb ground beef
Taco seasoning
1 can corn
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 cup salsa
Sour cream
Corn chips
Tortillas
Cheese

• Brown ground beef and season with taco seasoning according to packaging.
• Combine corn (undrained) with both cans of beans (rinsed), salsa, and browned beef in a large pot.
• Heat over medium heat until and let simmer.
• Serve with sour cream, chips, cheese and tortillas as desired.

Dijon-Tarragon Chicken

I got this recipe out of a Rachel Ray magazine. We had some frozen chicken I wanted to get rid of and slow cooker dishes are my favorite way to use frozen chicken with very little work. This dish is a fabulous dish for a day you know you'll have a little time in the evening, but still don't want to do a lot of work. Most of the work is done in the morning with a little bit left right before you eat. The chicken literally falls apart when you touch it, it's wonderful!

Morning/Afternoon
1/2 cup & 2 Tbsp chicken broth
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
4 lbs chicken
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

• Pour broth in to slow cooker.
• In small bowl, combine mustard, 1 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper.
• Rub chicken with mustard and place in slow cooker.
• Top with garlic and tarragon.
• Cover and cook on low for about five hours.

Evening
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 lemon
1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

• Transfer chicken to a serving plate and cover to keep warm.
• Strain pan juices into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
• In a small bowl, combine the cream and cornstarch. Whisk into the saucepan and cook until thickened.
• Stir in juice from the lemon and pour over the chicken.
• Top the chicken with tarragon, parsley, and zest from lemon.

Glazed Pork Loin

Last time I made a meal with pork loin all I could find was a cut about 2 feet long and about 4 inches wide. I ended up cutting that in to three pieces and freezing the two I didn't use. I used one of the frozen pieces from that to make this meal. I stuck it in the slow cooker, frozen rock hard and it turned out fabulous! Incredibly tender even. I'm not sure if that's exactly the cut of meat they mean by pork loin, but that is what I used...

The original recipe was found in Every Day with Rachel Ray. I made a few changes to make it fit our day and our family which included moving it from the oven to the slow cooker and changing the vegetables that went with it.

1 & 1/2 lbs pork loin
Salt & Pepper
4 Tbsp grainy mustard
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 lbs red potatoes
4 sprigs thyme
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• Season pork all over with salt and pepper. Place in center of slow cooker.
• In small bowl, mix together vinegar, mustard, and brown sugar. Brush over pork.
• Cut potatoes in to quarters and scatter around pork, sprinkle with oil, any remaining mustard glaze, salt, pepper, and stir to coat. Sprinkle with sprigs of thyme.
• Cover and cook on a medium to low setting for 6 to 8 hours.

Sage Pork Chops

First, I'm putting this under fast/easy, but note it does take a bit to cook. The prep time is very minimal though, so I thought it fit under this category well enough!

I finally managed to get back in to a cooking mood. It's been a while since we've eaten much at home, so I made myself sit down and make a grocery list. We hadn't had pork chops in a while, and I wanted to make something we'd never had before, so I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. The original was definitely WAY too salty, so I've adjusted the recipe to account for that. I also felt that while good, the chops were a little dry, so I adjusted the time too.

1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried sage
2 tsp ground black pepper
6 pork chops
2 Tbsp butter (we used extra virgin olive oil)
1 cup water
2 cubes beef bouillon

• Combine the salt, sage, and pepper. Rub on both sides of each pork chop.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet and brown the pork chops (approx 5 minutes on each side).
• Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, bring water and bouillon to a boil.
• Pour bouillon mixture in with pork chops, cover, and let simmer for approximately 20 minutes on medium or until tender and cooked through.