Gardening

Well thanks to us moving into our own home last year this year we're accomplishing one of our long term goals: planting a garden.  This is a dream/goal of ours for years and we're finally getting to work on it.  So far we've planted a few fruit tress and have one garden box of raspberries and strawberries planted.  In the next few weeks and months we'll be planting more things in the garden.  For this blog that will mean that I'll be adding more healthy recipes as well as very possibly some of our favorite canning recipes this fall.  So while I do have some recipes to post here soon that we love, there will be some changes coming to this throughout the year.

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

We love this one.  It has been made so many times in the house.  It is like many others one I found on pintrest.  The original recipie comes from here: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/slow-cooker-honey-sesame-chicken-recipe.html

Ingredients:4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
Salt and pepper
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (could also use olive oil or canola oil)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional - doesn't really add heat, just adds more flavor)
4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds

Directions:
Season both sides of chicken with lightly 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 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

Note: I didn't put in the garlic or red pepper flakes due to diatary needs at this time, but it still came out great! 

Mini German Pancakes

This is a huge hit in our house for breakfast right now.  http://realmomkitchen.com/489/mini-german-pancakes/

We top them with fresh fruit and the kids just eat them up.

1 cup milk
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Blend first six ingredients (milk thru orange zest) in a blender. Be careful to see that any flour clumps get well-blended.
2. Blend in butter a little at a time in order to temper the eggs.
3. Grease muffin tins well and distribute batter evenly between 24 tins (I did more like 18. Gimme Some Oven’s tins were slightly less than half-full. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup and filled it almost full.) Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top.
4. Served with your favorite toppings.

Jay just makes his own recipie, but the link gives one that is similar to what he uses.

Taco Cupcakes

This one is also from pintrest and a huge hit with my kids.  We almost never have leftovers when I make it.

I use my Crockpot Chicken Tacos recipie for the chicken, tried hamburger but it was too spicy for the kids, and it just inhances the flavor of the meal.

This one comes from: http://bricelife-gabrielle.blogspot.com/2012/01/taco-cupcakes.html  and has been modified for what my kids will eat.

Wonton wrappers
5 T + 1t of queso dip or salsa con queso (I never measured it really)
1 c chunky salsa (just never measured it)
cheese
shredded chicken

First, pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist 8 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

 Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin. Spoon a teaspoon of queso dip into each wonton wrapper and spread across the bottom.

Put in some shredded chicken followed by some salsa.  Top with cheese.   Now put on another wonton wrapper and press down before doing the exact same process of cheese sauce, chicken, slasa and cheese.

Bake 18-20 min or until golden brown.  Let cool for 5 min before serving.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Another great one from pintrest!  This one is a huge hit in the house and we use the chicken for several other recipies as well.

http://mychocolatetherapy.blogspot.com/2012/01/crockpot-chicken-tacos.html

Chicken
1 jar of large salsa
Taco seasoning

Put the chicken in the crockpot, add salsa and taco seasoning.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.  Shred and enjoy with your favorite taco toppings. 

Note: I just recently did this using a whole chicken due to family being in town for a visit and cooked it on low for 24 hours.  Tasted fantastic in the recipies I've used the chicken for.

Oven Baked Fajitas

Pintrest has become a huge hit for me in finding new recipies for us to try out.  This is one of our absolute favorites to have that I found from that site.  This one came from here: http://realmomkitchen.com/9318/oven-baked-chicken-fajitas/

I've modified it to fit what my kids will eat and it still turned out great!

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 packet of McCormic Fajita Seasonings

1 medium onion, sliced

1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use half a green and half a red)

Flour tortilla shells

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
2. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt
3. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
4. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
5. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve on tortillas with desired toppings.

Shepherds Pie

This has come from several different recipies over the years and melded into one that everyone in the family loves, as well as makes a great leftover for lunch.

1 lb Hamburger
2 cans tomato soup
1/2 bag frozen veggies
4-6 potatoes (size depending)
milk
cheese
butter
worchershire sauce
1 onion chopped up

Brown the hamburger with chopped onion and worchershire sauce.  Drain the fat.  While working on this take and peel the potatoes and cube so that they can be made into mashed potatoes.  Throw in with the meat and onion the soup and veggies.  Simmer until warm then place in a casserole dish.  Make the mashed potaotes using milk and butter and top over the meat mixture.  Top with cheese if desired.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 min until top of potatoes are golden in color.  Serve and enjoy.