Easy Lemon Chicken

I helped out with a catering event earlier this week and really enjoyed it. I was in charge of making the chicken and a mistake actually turned out to be great. The caterer asked me to marinate the chicken in Italian dressing, but I already had placed half the chicken onto baking sheets and thought she meant to brush the dressing on and let it sit for a few minutes. Anyways, I ran out of dressing and we needed a quick marinade for the rest of the chicken. All we had was olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper. In my opinion, the "mistake" chicken was better than the Italian one. Anyways, here is what we did.

Recipe: Serves 4

12 chicken tenderloins

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp pepper, freshly ground is best

1 lemon, sliced into 1/4 rounds

Heat oven to 375*. Combine oil, lemon juice, and pepper. Pour over chicken, mix, and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Place chicken on baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Take the chicken out, flip it over, and top with lemon slices. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Serve alongside 7 grain pilaf* and

enjoy!!

*Kashi makes a great 7 grain pilaf. Cook according package. Near the end of cooking add a couple tablespoons of butter, cracked pepper, and 1/4 cup of cranberries. Finished cooking, fluff with fork, and splash with bit of lime juice. Enjoy!!

Cooking with Carob

I don't know if any of you have used carob chips in your baking, but I tried them in a brownie recipe and thought they were terrible!!!! Carob chips are often substituted for chocolate chips--especially in vegan/vegetarian baking. I would like to try using them again. If you have tried them with success, please leave me a note with some tips or let me know if there are recipe modifications when using them. Thanks!!!

Beef Stew

This is a combination of various beef stew recipes. I just took all the things I liked from each recipe and made up my own. Also, I fixed so that my father-in-law could eat (he is watching is calorie/fat/sugar/sodium intake) so there is no added salt to this.

Beef Stew Recipe: serves 6

5 lbs Bottom Round Roast

6 Red Potatoes, quartered

1 Small Onion, diced into large chunks

2 large Carrots, diced into 1" chunks

1 package of Baby Portabello Mushrooms, stem removed and halved

1 can diced Tomatoes

2 tbsp. Tomato Paste

3 Garlic Cloves, roughly chopped

1 tsp dry Thyme (1 tbsp fresh Thyme, if using)

1 cup water (or homemade or low sodium stock)

In a pan, sear roast just until it browns on each side. While meat is browning, chop veggies and place in slow cooker. Add tomatoes and tomato paste, then stir together. Make a well in the veggies, making sure there is a layer of veggies on the bottom. Place roast fat side up in the well. Pour the water or stock in, and sprinkle the thyme over meat and veggies. Cook on low for 8 hours. (Or in the oven at 200* for 8 hours.) Slice and plate roast. Scoop out veggies*. Season individually. Serve and Enjoy!!

*I am not good at making gravy, and since I did not add salt for flavor, I used a dry gravy mix to serve alongside. However, you could use some of the juice from the crockpot to mix in with the gravy mix or make a rue and whisk the rue into the leftover juices; allow to thicken and enjoy homemade gravy.

New Apartment

We finally moved!!

We moved in to our new apartment last week, and we love it. We didn't have any furniture really, but God blessed us. We found this couch for $25!! There is some fading and a spring that needs to be fixed, but other than that it was in really great condition. And it fits perfectly into our living room.

This is an awesome table I found on Craig's List. Fantastic condition and great price for it's age, I just couldn't pass it up. It was one of those moments where I just knew this was the table I had been looking for for my future home.

We really have been blessed and can't wait to see what God has in store for us!!

Poor Man's "Stir Fry"

So this was just thrown together but should be a good recipe for my Peace Corps pals!

Recipe: Serves 1 large or 2 small portions
1 package ramen noodles, any flavor
1 package mushrooms (or other quick cooking veggies--think stir fry)
a few dashes of soy
juice from 1/2 lime (or whole lomi)
two eggs
oil or margarine

Place pot of water over high heat and bring to boil. While waiting for water to boil**, chop mushrooms or other veggies. Heat skillet with oil or margarine over medium heat. Add veggies to pan and ramen to water. Cook veggies until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Drain noodles and add to skillet. Make hole in the center and crack eggs directly into pan. Let eggs set for 30 seconds, scramble in the center and then stir into noodles and veggies. Stir just until eggs are finished cooking, add a dash of soy to taste and lime juice. Enjoy!!

**If you are cooking on a buta gas, bring water to boil remove from heat, add ramen, cover for 3 minutes, drain and return to pot. Place skillet on buta gas and cook veggies until soft and then follow the recipe.

Upcoming Recipes

Since I have started working again (after a year off), it has been hard adjusting to cooking once I get home. Mostly this has do with the fact I am on my feet all day and just don't feel like standing in the kitchen at home. So I have been thinking of what I can do to make it a little easier to have a good home-cooked meal and still enjoy cooking while not being exhausted. Also, Nick's breakfast habits have changed so I am thinking of things we can cook the night before or whip up in a jif.

My solution: Slow cookers.

I have used my slow cooker before, but probably not to its full potential. In the coming weeks I am going to be trying some new recipes specifically for slow cookers and see what happens. I'll be posting some these recipes--at the ones that work--and offering suggestions for the recipes and tips for using slow cookers.

So here are a few recipes that might be making an appearance soon: Asian Pepper Beef, Lemon Honey Chicken, Oatmeal, and Morning Casserole.

Lastly, I have seen some recipes for slow cooker bread baking. I think I may try something and take it to church on Sunday, see what people think. On to a new adventure!!