our halloween!

our halloween this year was a warrior theme!

see if you can guess which warriors they were ;)

battle ax from foil and electrical tape

leather arm gauntlets from an old worn-out pair of my boots

...complete with leather lacing!

felt and cardstock for a certain spartan skirt

"leather" armor from scraps of suede

with "hammered detailing"

the baby had an easy outfit

the viking

the spartan

braveheart!

we went to our cc's church's fall festival and had a blast!
so much so, we didn't have time to take pictures :)

afterwards, in the parking lot...

halloween isn't complete without a viewing of hocus pocus...

or some fun snacks!

or a fun dinner!

can't wait for next year!

poppy seed chicken salad

We have this tiny cafe in my hometown called Central Perks.
It's right on the square, which is the heart of my little town.
It's in a large building, with antiques and local crafts surrounding the cafe area so you can browse around while you are waiting for your order.
Quaint and cute.
And they serve the best chicken salad ever.

This is not it.

But!
It's really delicious!
I've tried many a chicken salad, hoping to land upon one that suits my tastes.
It took years, but this finally is what I consider perfect, for me.

Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
Adapted from Food Network
Serves 4.

3 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)

Kosher salt

1 large orange

½ cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sour cream or low-fat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 small red or Granny Smith apple, chopped

½ cup chopped pecans, toasted (or almonds or walnuts...)

¼ cup chopped fresh chives

1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds

Freshly ground pepper

½ cup dried apricots, chopped (optional)

Cover the chicken with cold water in a saucepan and add 1 teaspoon salt. Remove strips of zest from half of the orange with a vegetable peeler and add the zest to the water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 18 minutes. Remove the chicken and let cool.

*You can also use leftover shredded chicken!*

Grate the remaining orange zest and juice the orange into a large bowl. Stir in the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, celery, apple, nuts, chives, poppy seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Add the apricots, if desired.

Shred the chicken, discarding the bones and skin, and toss with the dressing. 

Serve over lettuce, as a salad, or stuffed into pitas, as a sandwich.  Enjoy!

buttermilk grilled chicken

Sorry, no abundance of pictures today. It’s just such an easy recipe that I guessed you could figure it out.

Plus, I didn't take any! 

:)

No one wants to see a goopy mess of buttermilk and raw chicken in a bag.

But don’t these that Mike grilled look good?

Buttermilk Grilled Chicken

Serves 4.

1 quart of buttermilk

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

2 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ cup canola oil

4 leg quarters

Mix buttermilk, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic and oil together in a gallon-size zip lock bag. Add chicken and seal bag. Massage bag to coat. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Grill and serve!

tex mex stuffed peppers

Laaaazy.

That's how I'm feeling.

Could be because I'm approximately 14 weeks pregnant and deciding not to do anything just might be the best thing ever.

But, wait.
I do have an 18 month old little BOY who doesn't let Mama rest a moment, even if she's very tired from playing chase outside and growing another child, all at the same time.

So, lazy?
I wish.

When you combine all the above things, you get these stuffed Tex-Mex peppers.
No recipe needed!
Perfect.

Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers
Serves 4 or makes 8 halves.
4 red bell peppers
a pound of ground beef
a couple teaspoons each of ground cumin, chili powder, paprika, etc....whatever you want!
a cup or two of frozen corn
a cup or two of leftover rice (Mexican or just plain will do fine)
a can of drained, rinsed black beans
a cup or two of leftover queso (now, you can "make" it: a block of Velveeta zapped in the microwave with a can of Rotel OR you can buy it)
a few handfuls of shredded Mexican cheese

Split peppers and de-seed.  Place in a lasagna pan, so that all sides are touching another one, (you don't want them tipping over!) and set aside.
Brown beef with spices until cooked through, over medium heat, and drain any excess fat.
Add corn, rice, beans, and queso and stir to combine over medium low heat, until all melty and gooey and delicious looking.
Spoon into pepper halves.  Pour water in pan, about halfway up the sides of the peppers, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake at 375* for about 20 minutes.  Remove foil, cover with shredded cheese, and broil for a few minutes, until cheese is nice and bubbly and getting brown.
Remove, cool, and enjoy with a spoon!

chicken cordon bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu is definitely not my favorite chicken dish.
Mostly because I don't like ham.
But, I have a friend that requested this for a dinner we were having so I tried to oblige.
I googled and picked through and adjusted.
And finally landed on this.


Fantastic.
Seriously.
I wouldn't change one single thing.


The cheese does leak a bit but the chicken is moist and the crust crisp and the cheese gooey and the ham salty.
Can't ask for anything else.


Chicken Cordon Bleu
Serves 4

*tip! the breaded chicken can be refrigerated covered for up to a day

Found somewhere online!
25 Ritz crackers
4 slices hearty sandwich bread, white or wheat (I used homemade)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
8-16 thin slices deli ham (about 8 ounces)
8 thick-ish slices of Swiss cheese
4 thick boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds total)
Salt and pepper
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 450*. Pulse the crackers and bread in a food processor until they are coarsely ground. Drizzle in the melted butter and pulse to incorporate together. Transfer the crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the crumbs are lightly browned. Transfer the crumbs to a shallow baking dish. Leave the oven on.

Top each ham slice with one slice of cheese. If your ham slices are too smile, shingle two ham slices on top of each other to create a larger slice and roll the cheese up in that. Roll tightly and set aside. 

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Cut a pocket in the thickest part of the chicken breast and stuff each pocket with 2 ham and cheese rolls. Pull the top flap of chicken over the rolls and press to seal (you can use a toothpick to gently secure the pocket edge, if you like). Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the stuffed chicken, covered, for at least 20 minutes.

In another shallow dish or pie plate, beat the eggs and mustard. Place the flour in a third shallow dish. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Working with one stuffed chicken breast at a time, coat the chicken lightly with flour and then dip in the egg mixture, covering both sides. Dredge the chicken in the toasted bread crumbs, pressing lightly to help the crumbs stick to the chicken. (The breaded chicken can be refrigerated covered for up to 1 day.)

Transfer the chicken to a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven until the bottom of the chicken is browned, about 10 minutes. Move the chicken to a middle rack in the oven, reduce the temperature to 400 (you don't have to leave the chicken out of the oven while the temperature adjusts, just put it back in the oven and then reduce the temperature), and bake until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through (160 degrees on an thermometer), about 25-30 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

GD Round 2 - swedish meatballs

I just love finding new ways to use old recipes.
I also love IKEA.

I know that's random.
But, if you've been to IKEA, then you know where I'm going with this.

You can spend a whole day in that place.

And they even have a place to eat.
Which has swedish meatballs.
See?
Makes sense now, eh?

I just love their meatballs.
Covered with a rich, smooth, brown gravy.
Yum.

Now, if you wanted to be more authentic, you'd make your own meatballs and they would include allspice and nutmeg.
But, this is a Round 2 recipe.
So, we are using my Maw Maw's famous meatballs.
Still fantastically good.

Swedish Meatballs

Serves 4.

Meatballs, enough for four
1/4 cup flour
3 cups beef stock, homemade or store-bought
1/4 cup heavy cream
A couple sprigs of thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste

Get a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Melt a bit of butter and drizzle a bit of olive oil and add the meatballs.  Brown on all sides and remove to a plate.
Once all of the meatballs are browned and removed, decrease the heat to low and add the flour to the pan or skillet. Whisk until lightly browned, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock and whisk until sauce begins to thicken. Add the cream and thyme and continue to cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Taste for seasoning.  Add the meatballs back in, simmer in the gravy until ready to eat and enjoy!

double decker club sammies

I hate boring.
Boring salads.
Boring sandwiches.
Boring boring.

But, these.
These are quite something.
From the Pioneer Woman so you know they aren't gonna be boring.

Filled with bacon, ham, turkey, avocado, cheese, and two different kinds of mayos.
Um, yes.
Yes, please.

Double Decker Club Sammies
Pioneer Woman Cooks
Serves 4.
12 slices sandwich bread (I used 1/2 rye and 1/2 pumpernickel!)
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon basil pesto (homemade or storebought)
1 tablespoon prepared sundried tomato pesto (or just a couple of pureed sundried tomatoes)
8 slices bacon, sliced in half
1/2 pound sliced deli ham
1/2 pound sliced deli turkey
4 whole avocados, sliced
4 slices cheese (swiss, mozzarella, or whatever you'd like)
Romaine lettuce

Toast bread until light golden brown. Set aside.
Fry bacon until just barely crisp, then set on a paper towel to drain off excess grease. Set aside.
Mix together two tablespoons mayonnaise with basil pesto and in a separate bowl, mix the other two tablespoons mayonnaise with sundried tomato pesto.
Okay, when all that is done, start the sammies!
To make one sandwich, spread two pieces of bread with basil pesto. On one piece of bread, lay ham on top of pesto mayo, then top with cheese and lettuce. On other piece of bread, lay the slices of 1/2 avocado on top of the pesto mayo. Top avocado with bacon. Put the two sides together, ingredients in.  
Next, on the top of the top piece of bread, spread the sundried tomato mayonnaise. Spread one side of the third piece of bread with sundried tomato mayonnaise. Place ham, cheese, and lettuce on top. Place other half of the avocado slices on the other piece of bread. Top with bacon slices. Place this piece of bread, ingredient side down, on top of the first piece of bread.
Cut in half or quarters, on the diagonals and enjoy!!

grilled flank steak with tomatillo sauce

As a good wife (in the 1950's?) should, I make sure that when my husband is coming out of the field from a month long (or longer) exercise, I have a steak ready for him.

Unfortunately, for him, he has to grill it.

(Just kidding....he actually loves to grill!)

I mean, there are just some things that men should do.

Grill.

Fry.

Handle raw chicken. 

(I have a thing with raw chicken.)

And, yes, I can do all these things.  

And since he is gone a lot, I do these things by myself quite often.

But, I digress.

Aaaand now I can't remember where I was going with this.

But!

This is the best flank steak recipe that I have ever made!

And that's all you need to know, really....

Grilled Flank Steak

The GD Kitchen

Serves 4.

3 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 orange, juiced

2 limes, juiced

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

Dash cayenne pepper, to taste

2 1/4 pounds skirt or flank steak

Tomatillo salsa verde

Combine the first nine ingredients in a large ziplock bag.  Seal and squish around to combine.  

Add steak and massage to really get the ingredients into the meat.  Let sit in the fridge for 2-4 hours to marinate.  

Preheat your grill to high. 

Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest.

Warm the tomatillo salsa verde, while the steak is resting.

Slice the steak into very thin slices, across the grain.  

Pile some meat on your plate and spoon the sauce on top.

Enjoy!