Category: OLD BLOGS

Coffee BBQ Chicken, Vegetable Yam Mash & Cherry Green Beans

Many of you know that we are sitting and waiting for our investment house to sell so we can move home. One of the things I DON’T want to do is move food cross country so I have been taking my recipe experiment nights and trying to use what we have on hand and use up ALL stock (packages and bottles that are space hogs and breakable especially). The result? I have actually developed some great new recipes that I don’t mind sharing and we will eat again and again. This week we have Coffee BBQ Chicken, Vegetable Yam Mash & Cherry Green Beans. I hope you enjoy them.

COFFEE BBQ CHICKEN
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 3 pounds of chicken wings
1/2 cup STRONG coffee
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup minced green onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Juice of 1 lime*
honey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Juice of 1 orange*
1 7up
dash apple cider vinegar
dash Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

  • Pierce each piece of chicken a few times with a fork.
  • Whisk together the 7up, Juice of 1 orange, dash of apple cider vinegar and dash of Worcestershire sauce.
  • In an airtight container place chicken pieces side by side. Salt and pepper generously.
  • Pour the 7up mixture over top and marinade for several hours or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • In a small saucepan whisk together the first 11 ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes to meld flavors.
  • Add honey to thicken.
  • In a shallow baking dish place chicken pieces side by side. Pour BBQ sauce over top to cover and bake for 1 hour or until tender.

*I saved the pulp from each to simmer in the BBQ sauce.

VEGETABLE YAM MASH
1 large yam*, peeled and quartered
1 large russet potato*, peeled and quartered
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 package KNORR vegetable recipe mix

  • Melt the butter and blend with the sour cream.
  • Add in the vegetable mix and blend well. Set aside while you prepare the yam and potato. This can also be done the day before and refrigerated until needed.
  • In boiling, salted water cook yam and potato until tender.
  • Add yam and potato to the sour cream mix and mash together until well blended.

*any combination of the two would work well

CHERRY GREEN BEANS
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 large bunch green onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

  • Melt butter. Saute’ green beans until tender.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
  • Whisk together the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lime juice and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
  • Pour over the bean mixture and simmer 2-3 minutes.
  • Add cherries and heat through.

Enjoy! See you next Sunday for another Simply Delicious Sunday. Don’t forget to visit the other participants, and to comment on their blogs.

Off to a great start~

Sweet Melissa from Frugal Creativity left us this wonderful award on our 4 week anniversary. It’s never easy to begin from scratch on a new endeavor, but it’s fun and easy when you’re working with a great group of women. And then before the ink was dry Amanda from Coping with Frugality also awarded us with the same award. We really appreciate Melissa and Amanda’s thoughtfulness in presenting this to us.

Here are the rules of this blog award. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Since we are still so new, I’m going to reserve passing this for a few days to confer with my fellow authors and their choices for the award.

2 types of Egg Rolls & 2 dipping sauces~ Simply Delicious Sunday

EGG ROLLS
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves minced garlic, jar
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 small bunch green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 cup Napa cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons sesame oil
wonton wrappers
1 cup shredded pork or

  • In a wok or skillet, stir-fry the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the scallions, celery, carrots, and stir-fry over high heat for 2 minutes.
  • In a bowl, combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, and sugar. Add the cabbage to the broth mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft. Add sesame oil, cool for at least 15 minutes, and strain. Fold in the meat pieces.
  • Fill and roll the egg roll wrappers. Brush the edge with water. Fold in the sides of the wonton and continue rolling the egg roll up until it is closed. Press to seal, set aside, and complete the rest until all ingredients have been used up.
  • In a skillet set over moderately high heat, heat the remaining oil and saute the egg rolls until golden brown on all sides, using tongs to turn them. Serve when cool enough to eat, with dipping sauce.

SHREDDED CHICKEN VEGETABLE EGG ROLLS
2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken or pork pieces
1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 large stalk celery, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic, jar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons canola oil
egg roll wrappers (I use Melissa’s)

  • Heat skillet with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots, Saute’ until tender.
  • Drain, retaining oil.
  • In a large mixing bowl toss meat pieces with sesame oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Add vegetables and blend well.
  • Cool 5-10 minutes.
  • Fill center of each wrapper with 2 tablespoons of filling.
  • Fold 1st corner towards the center. Then fold each edge towards the center. With a pastry brush wet the exposed triangle of dough and roll the bulk onto it.
  • Add oil back into pan and add the additional 2 tablespoons and bring to medium heat.
  • Cook egg rolls on all 4 sides until golden.



BLACKBERRY PINEAPPLE DIPPING SAUCE
1/2 cup Blackberry Pineapple Jam
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • Heat jam in microwave for 20 seconds to warm and thin.
  • Whisk in honey and sauce sauce.
  • Set aside.

DIPPING SAUCE
* 1/3 cup lite soy sauce
* 1/3 cup rice vinegar
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1 to 2 teaspoons sesame oil
* Pinch of red pepper flakes

  • Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Garlic Parmesan Stuffed Chicken with melted Strawberries



GARLIC PARMESAN STUFFED CHICKEN with MELTED STRAWBERRIES*
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves minced garlic, jar
1 large bunch green onions sliced
1/4 cup seedless strawberry or raspberry jam*
3 1/2 cups strawberry pieces*
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Whisk together the jam, lime juice and vinegar.
  • Pour over strawberries and onions toss together.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread into a 3 quart baking dish.
  • Toss garlic and Parmesan cheese together.
  • Cut a pocket in the side of each chicken breast and fill with garlic cheese mixture. Secure with toothpicks to close or use these cool loops or band! Salt and pepper each side.
  • In a skillet, heat olive oil and saute’ onions. Add chicken and brown on each side.
  • Transfer chicken to a baking dish and put into the oven for 10 minutes.
  • Add the strawberry baking dish to oven and bake both another 15-20 minutes until chicken is no longer pink, the berries have softened and the jam mixture has thickened.
  • Serve chicken with the berries over top and with Herb Rice Pilaf.

*I like to also change it out sometimes and make it with apricot pineapple jam, an 8 ounce can drained crushed pineapple and 2 cups of fresh apricot pieces.

Chicken Apple Puff Bundles – Dinner and Dessert All in one

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.
~La Rochefoucauld
Personally, I like to go a step farther and eat creatively which is what inspired this recipe!

CHICKEN & APPLE PUFF BUNDLES
3/4 pound chicken tenders
1/4 cup chopped Vidalia onions
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
4 ounces orange juice with pulp
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons golden raisins
puff pastry*
cinnamon sugar
egg, beaten

  • Thaw the pastry sheets at room temperature until they’re easy to handle (about 45 minutes).
  • Pre-heat the oven to 375°.
  • In a skillet melt butter and saute’ chicken and onion until golden.
  • Whisk the orange juice, apple pie spice, brown sugar and sugar together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
  • Add apple pieces and raisins.
  • Add to chicken and onion mixture.
  • Simmer until moisture is absorbed.
  • Line baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment paper.
  • Unfold pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 10-inch square. Cut the pastry sheet into 4 (5-inch) squares. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet.
  • Spoon 1/4 cup of apple mixture into center of square.
  • Brush the edges of the pastry squares with the egg.
  • Fold each pastry in half over the apple mixture and press the edges to seal.
  • Place the filled pastries onto the baking sheets.
  • Brush the tops of the pastries with the egg.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastries are golden. Let cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove the pastries to a wire rack and let cool.
  • Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

♥final blog signature. ♥

Wednesday wish list

I love to dream and wish. This also creates a great list for family and friends for gift ideas. Want to play along?

I love this Cuisinart combination food processor and blender from Overstock.com.

Cooking Enthusiast has some fun items. This stainless steel extra large scoop and mesh flavor infuser would both be so helpful.

With the summer season upon us I want to be grilling more, but also grilling healthy so this stainless steel grid for the grill form Sur la Table would be sooooooooooooo helpful.

Williams Sonoma is also one of my most favorite cooking stores. I found this electric griddle over there and I really need a new one. Mine is a hand me down from my grandmother that has been on its last legs for years!

Wednesday Kitchen Wishes

I love to dream and wish. This also creates a great list for family and friends for gift ideas. Want to play along?

These great items from Williams Sonoma and Villaware are on my covet list this week. From top to bottom: angled potato ricer, hand crank pasta machine, brushed stainless steel soup/stock pot, avocado pitter & slicer and Cuisinart Popcorn popper. Of course I can live without all of them, but would really rather not some day!


ORTEGA CHILE BAKE

I thought I’d kick off the week and the meme with a family favorite which is also super simple time saver recipe, inexpensive, great ‘user upper’ of great food AND it was sooooooooooooo tasty I thought hubby was going to lick his plate. He settled for seconds though.

This recipe originally ran at 3 sides of Crazy 12-14-08. It was cold and snowy here that day. A day that just cried for a really hot lunch! So I took to the freezer and refrigerator to see what there was (we hadn’t planned on being here so nothing had been planned) and I found some leftover BBQ beef (which I drained of all sauce), 1/2 a package of shredded cheddar cheese, a can of cream of celery soup, some pasta shells and a can of diced green chiles. This is tlso the most perfect recipe for leftover Pot Roast or roast beef. We had 6 servings for $4.29 or $0.72 cents per serving.

ORTEGA CHILE BAKE
Left over shredded beef (technically 0.00 since it was already accounted for)
1 can cream of celery soup (.96)
3 cups AL DENTE pasta noodles (1.12)
1 can diced green chiles, drained (.89)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (1.12)

  • Drain chiles.
  • Stir soup and chiles together.
  • Stir in beef until well blended.
  • Add pasta and mix well.
  • Pour into a greased 9×9 baking dish and top with cheese.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.