Bloody Bones

Things are progressing with our house.  All the inspections are over and "passed".  We are set to close on December 5th.  My husband even found a lot that is worth considering out in Fort Collins.  It would be so nice to find something before we moved out there.  Then we could send our 6 year old to the school where our house would be, and we wouldn't have to move him around next summer.  Way too much to think about when moving with kids.  It was much easier when we moved to Iowa and he was only 18 months old!  

This post may sound gross, but it isn't I promise!  I hope you are enjoying my week of Halloween themed treats.  They are so much fun to come up with, especially when you have a 6 year old little boy to share them with!  This was one of his favorites.  He pretended he was a vampire all through dinner.  These are so easy too! I only used Parmesan Cheese and Garlic, but you could flavor these however you wanted.  You could add Italian Seasoning or Basil too. 


Bloody Bones
Adapted from Pillsbury
Printable Recipe

1 can Pillsbury Breadsticks
2 Tbls Butter, melted.
1 Tbls Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Garlic Powder (plus any other seasons you would like)
Pizza Sauce

Preheat oven to 375.  Open the can of breadstick dough, and separate into 12 sticks.  In your hands roll it to about 12 inches long.  Loosely tie each end in a knot, so they look like bones.  Place on a lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until lightly browned. 

Meanwhile, mix together butter, cheese and garlic.  Brush breadsticks with butter mixture once you take them out of the oven. Serve with sauce. 

THE Rice

We have accepted an offer for our house!  YEAH!!!  Our house was on the market for 41 days, which seems like a lifetime to me, but the realtor keeps telling me it is super fast.  The average days on market for our price range is 103, so I guess she is right.  I am just so excited to be able to have an end date, and be able to move on with the next stage of our lives. 

Now.... The Food!

I am struggling with what to call this post.  This rice doesn't really have a name.  We just call it "The Rice".  It is a recipe my husband grew up with.  It is super simple, but so good.  It is fancy enough that we have made this many times while entertaining, or even with small holiday meals.  But we also make it during the week too.  Everyone loves it, and are amazed when they see the recipe.  Aside from the baking time, it is super quick and easy to throw together.  The first time I had this rice was when I was 15.  My husband (then boyfriend) was helping me with math homework (he was a much smarter Senior boy).  He was supposed to be making us frozen pizza for dinner.  But instead he made Chicken and this Rice!  I was blown away, and it was so good!  Had to keep him around after that :)


The Rice
Printable Recipe

2 cups Minute Rice
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 can Condensed French Onion Soup
1 small can Mushroom (you can saute fresh ones if you have them)
1 small can of Water

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. 

Melt butter in a pan. Add the rice.  Cook the rice until lightly toasted, stirring frequently. 

Place rice into a casserole dish that has a cover.  Pour in soup, mushrooms and water.  Mix together.  Cover and bake for about 45 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. 

Chicken in a French Pan Sauce and Polenta Fry Fail

What a great weekend!  On Friday afternoon my 6 year old and I drove to Minnesota.  We went to see my best friend Beth and her family.  We got to go out to my favorite pizza restaurant for dinner, and see some other great friends from when we lived there.  Saturday was the start of my girls family weekend!  It was so nice to spend time with my cousins and my aunts.  There was lots of laughs, lots of good food, and lots of shopping!  This afternoon was back to reality.  Time to drive back to Iowa, and arrive in our empty house.  My husband moved to Colorado on Saturday, so this is our new normal.  It will definitely take some getting used to. Thank goodness for Skype! 

This chicken has a fancy name, but it is super easy to make.  I saw this in Cooking Light about a year ago, and I have made it many times since.  My son will even eat this!  He calls it the chicken with the really good sauce.  I couldn't get this chicken to look pretty, but trust me you need to try it.  This is one of those posts where you aren't proud of the pictures, but the food is just so good you have to post anyway! 

I recently saw Polenta Fries on another blog, I can't remember where though!  Her fries looked great.  Mine on the other hand were a mess!  I believe the recipe is good one though, you can get it here.  The herbs were too much for our taste.  The fries didn't hold their shape, as you can see in the picture.  I will try these again without the herbs, and maybe cut them skinnier so they cook better.  I love the idea of them, I want them to work 

Chicken in a Classic French Pan Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light
Printable Recipe

1 Tbls Olive Oil
4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup heavy whipped cream
1/2 tsp flour

Preheat Oven to 350. 

Heat an oven proof skillet over medium high heat.  Add oil to the pan.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Place the chicken in the pan.  Cook for about 4 minutes until browned.  Turn chicken over, and put the pan in the oven.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (will vary based on thickness of your chicken). Remove chicken from pan, cover with foil and let stand while you make the sauce. 

Return the skillet to medium high heat.  Add wine and bring to a boil.  Cook for 1 minute or until it is reduced to about 2 Tbls.  Scrape the brown bits into the wine.  Stir in mustard.  Stir together heavy cream and flour until smooth.  Add to pan, and bring to a boil.  Cook until slightly thick, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Pour sauce over chicken to serve.  Enjoy!

Creamy Polenta

I ended up having to take my son back to the doctor today.  He just wasn't getting any better, after being on the antibiotic for 2 1/2 days.  They gave me a stronger antibiotic.  She told him in 24 hours he would feel like a new man!  I really hope that she is right!

I struggle with side dishes almost every night.  My family does not agree on vegetables, unless it is corn on the cob.  I like most veggies steamed or sauteed.  Husband, not so much.   He has a select few that he likes, but they happen to be the ones I don't!  So when I can find something that suits us both, it makes it into the rotation often.  This Polenta is one of those we both love!

Creamy Polenta
Recipe from Cooking Light
Printable Recipe

2 cups Milk
1 cup Chicken Broth (or 1 cup water, 1 bouillon cube)
3/4 cup uncooked polenta
1/2 tsp Salt
3 oz reduced fat cream cheese

Simmer milk and broth together over medium heat.  Gradually add polenta.  Cook for approx. 20 minutes, or until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat, stir in salt and cream cheese.

We eat this a lot with pork chops, but it would go well with just about anything!

Honey Oat Bread

I love fresh bread, who doesn’t?  There is just something about bread out of the oven that makes it better than anything else.  So when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit, I was sold.   There is NO KNEADING!!!  Yes you read that right, this bread is amazing and there is no kneading involved.  Yes there is yeast,  but still, the kneading is the worst part for me.  I never do it long enough, or too long, it is always a struggle. 

I made this when we had some friends over the other night.  Everyone loved it.  The kids all had multiple slices too!  It was light, with a little bit of sweet, it was just perfect.  And it has Oatmeal in it, so it has to be healthy, right?  I am always hearing how I should eat more Oats!  This calls for all-purpose flour which is what I used.  Next time I think I will try ½ all purpose, ½ whole wheat.  My husband said it would be a good bread to mix in some nuts into. 

Honey-Oat Bread

Recipe from Bon Appetit

Printable Recipe

1 ¾ cup warm water

1 Tbls Active Dry Yeast

¾ cups quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup honey

3 Tbls Canola Oil

2 ½ tsp salt

5 cups (about) all purpose flour

1 large egg, beaten

2 Tbls additional oats

Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let set for 10 minutes until frothy.  In a large bowl mix together the oats, honey, oil and salt, and the water.  Stir in enough of the flour to form a soft dough (I started with 4 ½ cups and went from there).  Coat a large bowl with non-stick spray.  Transfer dough the bowl and turn it over to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel.  Let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in volume.

 

Punch the dough down, and shape into 2 loaves.  I just free formed 2 loaves on a baking sheet.  But you could use loaf pans if you wanted (this is actually what the recipe calls for).  Cover and let rise for 20 minutes. 

 

Brush the top of the loaves with egg, and sprinkle with the additional oats.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.  When you knock on the bottom of the bread and it sounds hollow, it is done. 

Top with butter, or honey for a delicious side to any meal!

Grilled Potato Packs

My husband forwarded me an email he got from Betty Crocker for some grilled potatoes.  He never searches for recipes, or pays that much attention to them.  So when he sent me this email, I took it as a hint.   I figured the next time we grilled, I would make these potatoes!  As luck would have it we had friends over for dinner just a couple days later.  They were bringing chicken to grill, so I had to come up with the side dishes and desserts.  These grilled potatoes were loved by everyone!  

This recipe would also be a great camping recipe.  You could add ground beef and green peppers, and have a complete meal.  If I camped, I would remember that for later.   But since, I don’t, I will just make them at home!  The original recipe calls for grilling them from start to finish.  I didn’t want to deal with that.  An hour on the grill when the chicken was going to take 15 minutes?  Not for me.  I par-cooked the potatoes ahead of time, so they just had to spend the last 20 minutes on the grill.  It worked great, you still got the crispy ones on the bottom where the foil was hitting the grill, but done so much quicker!   I will post the recipe the way I did it, but you can omit my step and just go straight for the grill if you prefer.

Grilled Smokey Cheddar Potato Packs

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Printable Recipe

4 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks

½ tsp salt

1 Tbls butter

1 Tbls Olive Oil

1 cup cheddar cheese

4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

¼ cup sliced green onions

In a large microwave safe dish heat the diced potatoes for 10 minutes, stirring after 5.  Place the potatoes a large sheet of heavy duty foil.  Toss them with the olive oil.  Sprinkle over the salt and bacon.  Dot with butter.  

Wrap the foil securely around potatoes.  Place over a hot grill for about 20 minutes, flipping half way.  Open up the foil, and top with cheese and onions.  Stir around to melt the cheese.   Serve straight from the foil pack.  Enjoy!

“Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans.”

Summer Slaw and a Slew of Awards! Take Two

With blogger going down for awhile on Thursday this post was lost in cyberspace.  I did have the bulk of it stored elsewhere, so I can repost most of it.  The rest I will have to try to piece together. 

Summer is a busy time of year for everyone.  I always go into summer thinking we don't have that much planned, then the next thing I know summer is over, and almost every weekend was full!  Not sure how it happens, it just does.  With only 11 days left of school (oh my, not sure if I am ready for that), summer is almost here.  This has been a crazy week for weather here in Iowa.  It feels like July 4th weekend with the heat and humidity, not the spring weather that makes living in Iowa acceptable.  Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come!

This slaw recipe is a good one.  It is lighter, and just more summer friendly.  It is a vinegar and oil slaw - no mayo!  I think I have mentioned before how picky my family is.  This is one of very few veggies I can get my husband to eat.  And boy does he eat this!  And it takes about 2 minutes to put together, so you can't really go wrong.  It is great for summer BBQ's, and potlucks where food will be sitting out for awhile.  You don't have to worry about the mayo going bad.

Summer Slaw
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbls sugar
2 Tbls Canola Oil
1 bag coleslaw mix
1 tsp salt
Pepper

Mix the vinegar and the sugar together.



Whisk in the oil.



Add the coleslaw mix, salt, and a little pepper.



Toss to combine.




Let sit for about 20 minutes, for the flavors to combine before you serve.  Store any leftovers in the fridge, just as good the next day.

 

 

 

Next Up......The Awards 

This was not backed up - so I have to try to piece together who I gave the awards to.  If I missed adding you to this post, but I notified you - just let me know and I will go back and add your link.  I really don't want to shortchange anyone here - sorry!

I want to say a huge Thank You to Whiski Business who gave me these awards in the first place.  She is a relatively new blogger like myself, and has an amazing site.  She has already made the Top 9 - something I aspire to make....someday!  If you have not checked out her blog, you should!

If you received this award, you then need to pass it on to a few other worthy bloggers.  I think it was 10 people I was supposed to pass it on to. Link back to who gave it to you, saying something nice about them!  

The Baker Chick

Notes of a Foodie

Apron Strings Baking

Savour the Senses

The Country Cook

Four Points Foodie

Farrah

Apron Appeal

Kate From Scratch