Rosemary Smashed Potatoes

On Saturday we decided to do fun family things instead of yard work.  We went to a produce stand called Grant's Produce in Nokomis.  It was a great little stand.  Miss V picked up a bunch of little red potatoes.

Last night I made a recipe from Pinterest called Rosemary Smashed Potatoes, it comes from Paula Deen and can be found on her site.

3 pounds small red potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

 

Preheat oven to 375º. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Place potatoes in a stockpot. Add cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a small microwave-safe bowl, combine olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. Microwave on HIGH 30 seconds, stirring once.

Place potatoes on prepared pan. Using the bottom of a drinking glass or small bowl, carefully flatten potatoes until they are about ¾ inch thick. Drizzle with olive oil mixture, and sprinkle with salt.

 As you can see mine didn't smash so well.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

We had these with grilled Italian Sausage and salad.  They were pretty good, but I did cook them a bit longer since they didn't look very crispy.

Pasta Salad

One of my favorite things to make when it starts to get warm out is pasta salad.  I don't really have a recipe just a basic guideline; pasta, Italian dressing and veggies.  I love that it keeps really well and I believe it tastes better the next day. 

Last Friday my plan was to make it right after I dropped Miss V off at school.  Well she ended up with a sick tummy and stayed home from school.  Between bathroom visits and sleeping I didn't want to be banging around in the kitchen.

She started feeling better in the afternoon so I quickly made this so it would be ready by dinner time.

Cook whatever kind of pasta you have or want to use.  While it is cooking, I chopped up some peppers, cucumber and sliced up baby carrots.

Drain and rinse the pasta until it is cool.

In a large glass bowl, place the veggies and pasta.  Pour 2/3 of the dressing over the pasta, salt and pepper to taste and mix to combine.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool.

Right before serving I add the last of the dressing and mix again.  I also like to add Parmesan cheese to salad before serving.  Sometimes I like to add cheese cubes and diced tomatoes, but didn't have any this time. 

My absolute favorite dressing for pasta salad is Kraft Tuscan House Italian.  It has great flavor without being overpowering.

Mandarin Chicken with Panda Express Sauce

So last night I made Mandarin Chicken with the Panda Express Sauce.  This time I used the same directions as the Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Chicken and coating:

3 or 4 boneless chicken breasts

kosher salt and fresh black pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used much less than this)

Preheat your oven to 325.

Cut the chicken breast into bite size cubes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Create a breading station by putting the cornstarch in a bowl and the beaten eggs in another.  I like to do this on the stove top.

In a large skillet heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat.

Place a few pieces of chicken in the corn starch then shake off the excess and dredge in the egg.  Immediately put them in the hot oil.  Brown on all sides, but do not cook through.  Place the browned chicken into a 13x9 baking dish and continue browning the other pieces of chicken until done.

Pour a bit of sauce over the chicken.  Maybe a 1/4 of the bottle or to your liking.

Bake for one hours, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.  This step is very important if you want crispy chicken.

 I served this with rice and steamed broccoli.  This sauce was so good!!!!  Miss V loved it because it wasn't spicy like the Kung Pao sauce.

I also love cooking the chicken this way.  It keeps the chicken crispy and light.

I am definitely going to pick up the other sauces next time I am at Walmart.  So have any of you tried their sauces?  I asked my Facebook Fans if they have eaten at the restaurants and it was mixed.  Some love it, some didn't and some were saying it was just ok.

Chicken Cesar Sandwich

No real recipe for this one.   I have a ton of left over hamburger rolls from the party last weekend.

1 package of boneless skinless chicken breasts
Lettuce
Sliced tomatoes
Cesar Dressing
Shaved Parmesan

I pounded the thicker part of each chicken breast and cut them in half.

Grill them until cooked through.

Place a piece of grilled chicken on the bottom bun, then pour your favorite Cesar Dressing on top of the chicken.  Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan.  Place a slice of tomato and lettuce on top.

I even dipped my chip in a bit of extra dressing.  I am known to do that at Chik Fil A with their waffle fries.

Miss V's 11th Birthday Cake...I did it!

I did it!!!  It wasn't as hard as I expected.  It wasn't totally perfect, but hey...Miss V thought it was the best cake that I ever made.  It did take a few days to make.  It has been a busy week between her school events,  mini birthday party, shopping at the mall, getting everything ready for her brother's pre-deployment party, Easter and her actual birthday which was Easter Sunday.

How this cake started....I was showing Miss V lots of cakes on Pinterest and she spotted this

She quickly decided that is the one she wanted...but had a couple stipulations....It cannot be pink, it has to be lime green.  Ok......trying to figure out what other colors to use was easy.  She looked at her Vera Bradley backpack in Lime's Up.  So off to Hobby Lobby we went.

We found a smaller silicone cupcake mold and she was ok with it.  While I was looking for a large square pan she yelled that she found the GIANT cupcake pan.

We quickly put the silicone one away.  Then we went in search of the colors.  I love Americolor Gels.  They are in little squirt bottles.  So much less mess than Wilton tubs.

So I made the bottom cake which is a 12 inch square pan.  It takes two full cake mixes.  The bottom Miss V chose chocolate cake.  After it was cooled, I wrapped it in plastic and put it in the fridge.

Then the next day I made the cupcake parts.  I did a lot of searching and found some great tips so that the top part doesn't burn.

Set the oven to 325 to preheat.  Use one whole cake mix for bottom, so mix according to the package directions.  Spray the bottom part of the pan really well with cooking spray with flour or you may grease and flour the pan.  Add the cake batter to the bottom section of the pan.  Place the pan on a cookie sheet and place into the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

In the mean time mix up the next cake batter.  When the 20 minutes are up, carefully take out the pan.  Spray the top section with the cooking spray with flour.  Add the cake batter up to the next to last line.  Place back in the oven carefully and bake for 45 minutes.

Let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that both pieces would come out ok and they both came out perfectly.  Let them cool completely.  I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

Saturday morning I started by leveling all three section and then started decorating.  I crumb coated all three pieces with canned white frosting and placed back in the fridge.

I made some fondant and Miss V helped color small pieces.  I rolled and cut out circles while she played with a piece to make the big "gumball" for the top.

Totally forgot to snap a picture of the cut out circles.  Oh well....

I was slowly running out of time when it came to decorate it and I had to do it in front of guests and talk with them at the same time.  I kind of felt like I was giving a class...I totally forgot to put a dowel through the cakes.  I did push a skewer through it a the last minute when I saw that it was a bit wobbly.  The only real issue I had was that the canned frosting was a bit soft so it looked messy and I really couldn't pipe around the bottom of the cupcake or it would have plopped off.  Does anyone have tips that would help me next time???

Anyway it still came out adorable and the most important part...Miss V was thrilled with it.

As much as I secretly stress out when Miss V asks me to make her cakes.  She was traumatized a few years ago when the grocery store totally made the wrong cake and I didn't notice until we opened at the party. So I am thankful, if that didn't happen, I wouldn't have stepped out of my comfort zone and learned all sorts of new techniques and tricks.  Granted the cakes aren't perfect in my eyes...but they are perfect in Miss V's eyes.

A huge thank you to Hobby Lobby in North Port that had all the supplies that I needed to make this cake and I didn't have to run all around to find the GIANT cupcake pan.

Happy 11th birthday to my sweet little lady!

Also a huge thank you to Do The Happy Bounce for the awesome Army inflatable!  If you live in my area, I highly suggest renting from them!!!!

Our soldier.....

Sharing here:

Make Bake Create at Mommy Hates Cooking
Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Full Plate Thursday 4/4/13
Make Ahead Meals - Melt in your mouth Monday 111
Tempt my Tummy Tuesday 4/9/13

March posts....oh I have failed....

I feel as though I totally failed at making lots of new things last month.  March is usually a super busy month and I did make a few new things, but I quickly made a lot of older recipes.

I didn't even have time to update my blog, so in the next few minutes I am going to posting the new recipes that I did try and will back date them.

Hoping April will be loaded with lots of new things and I am about to get sucked back into Pinterest.

Kung Pao Chicken with Panda Express Sauce

Last week I was at walmart finishing up my large shopping list for my son's pre-deployment cookout and spotted Panda Express Sauces in the Asian aisle.  I have never eaten at Panda Express, but everyone that has, has raved about it.  Well I picked up a couple different sauces.

I decided to make the Kung Pao Chicken.  Well the link on the bottle does not work, so I just had to wing it.

1 pkg of boneless skinless chicken cut into bite size cubes
Cornstarch
Eggs
Pepper and Onion frozen veggie mix, thawed

I made a little breading station and heated my wok to medium high and added peanut oil.

In batches, I dipped the chicken in the egg then dredged in the cornstarch.  Cook in the wok until golden brown and no longer pink in the middle.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate.  Continue until all the chicken is cooked.

Add the veggies to the wok to heat up, add the chicken to reheat.  Add as much sauce as you like and until all the chicken and veggies are coated.  Toss for about 30 seconds until the sauce is hot.

Serve with fried rice or white rice.

The sauce was FANTASTIC!!!!  It was hot and spicy but not over powering.  I am looking forward to trying some of the other sauces and maybe even try eating at Panda Express.

Bzz Campaign - Cafe Escapes

I recently was chosen by Bzz Agent to try Cafe Escapes.  The bad thing was that my Keurig had died.  It was only three years old and we only used it a handful of months each year.  I had pleaded with customer service but they explained for $79.00 they would send me a new one.  Everyone that I knew with the same model also died but they got brand new ones for free.  I am not thrilled with their service.

So I asked a few neighbors if they had any Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons and sure enough I found a stack in my mailbox.

I bought the Keurig Mini for $79.00 and if it breaks I will not be purchasing another.

So back to the Cafe Escapes campaign.  The campaign had Chai Latte, Milk and Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa, Café Mocha and the two newest Café Escapes^® flavors: Café Vanilla and Café Caramel.

Miss V tried the Cafe Mocha first and really enjoyed it.  It was chocolatey with just a hint of coffee.  We both tried the Cafe Vanilla which we both really loved!  It was creamy, sweet and just right for our tastes.

I tried both Cafe Caramel and well I just didn't like the flavor.  It was a little burnt tasting.

We have also tried out the Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and hot Cocoa and we love them!  I did use a coupon and bought another box of the Cafe Mocha.  I really need to get another box of the Cafe Vanilla.

I would highly suggest that if you have a Keurig, try out all the flavors from Cafe Escapes!

My favorite:

Miss V's favorite with mini marshmallows

White Bean and Bacon Soup

It was a bit cooler than normal here in SW Florida.  I knew that I had to make a soup that I spotted on Pinterest.  The original recipe can be found at Table for Two.  It was such a warm and filling soup.  It was seriously yummy!

3 cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
5 strips of bacon, cut in small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 sprig of rosemary
4 cups of chicken stock
1 tbs tomato paste

In a large dutch oven, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove the bacon and place on a paper towel to drain.

Add the onion, carrots to the bacon drippings and saute.  Add garlic and continue to cook for a minute.

Pour in the chicken stock, add the rosemary and tomato paste and mix will.  Add the beans.

Gently simmer the soup for about 45 minutes.  Remove the sprig of rosemary.

Ladle some of the soup into a blender and process until smooth.  You may do this with all of the soup, but I did want some texture.

Serve with the reserved bacon.

Hot and Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken

So I spotted this on Pinterest and I have to say my version looks pretty gross.  It was very tasty though.  The  original recipe can be found at BHG.

2 medium onions cut into wedges
3 large carrots sliced
1 red pepper cut into bite size strips
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup chicken stock
3 tbs creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp lime zest
2 tbs lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs tapioca
1 tbs grated fresh ginger
3 tsp red curry paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas

In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, place onions, carrot, and sweet pepper. Top with chicken. In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, peanut butter, lime peel, lime juice, soy sauce, tapioca, ginger, curry paste, and garlic until smooth. Pour over all in cooker.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Stir in coconut milk and peas. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Serve chicken mixture with fried rice or over hot white rice.

I also served this with frozen veggie mix.

Chicken Sandwich with Roasted Red Pepper and Avocado

This sandwich looked to good NOT to pin!  You can find the original recipe at Kayotic Kitchens.

Crusty rolls
(leftover) cold chicken, I just roasted up a couple boneless skinless chicken breast with salt and pepper
1/2 a small red onion, sliced thin
1 Roasted Red Bell Pepper, I used one from a jar cut into slices
1 medium avocado, sliced
2 tbs mayonnaise
1 tbs yellow mustard
Iceberg lettuce, I think Romaine or Spinach would have been good too
pepper

In a small bowl combine mustard and mayo and a bit of pepper.

On the bottom half of the roll place in order

Lettuce
Chicken
Roasted Red Pepper
Onion
Avocado

Spread a bit of the mayo/mustard on the top half of the roll.

Assemble sandwich and enjoy!

I served these on Focaccia Rolls and had chips on the side.

Thin Mint Puppy Chow/Muddy Buddy

Disclaimer:  No Thin Mints were harmed in making this new snack ;o)

I saw this on Pinterest a couple days ago and we all know how awesome Thin Mints are.  Anyway you can find the original recipe at Shugary Sweets.

14 oz bag of Wilton Dark Cocoa Mint Candy Melts
1/2 a bag of Milk Chocolate Chips
10 Cups of Rice Chex
1 bag of Mint M&M's
2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

2 Gallon Ziploc bag, don't try this in a 1 gallon bag.  It just doesn't work well.

Place the Powdered Sugar into the Ziploc bag.

In microwave, melt chocolates together for one minute, stir and continue melting in 30 second intervals until smooth, it usually takes about two minutes.

Gently mix in the Chex cereal.  When cereal is coated, place the mix into the ziploc bag and seal.  Gently shake until cereal is coated with the sugar.  Pour in the M&M's and gently shake again.

Pour out onto a large piece of wax paper and allow to set up.

Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy
Sharing here

Melt in Your Mouth Monday #111

Chicken with Sausage, Peppers, & Onions

Here is another wonderful recipe I found on Pinterest.  It is from Sugar & Spice by Celeste.  I did have to make a few modifications since I don't have a large enough skillet for this recipe.  I started it on the stove top and then then put it in a baking dish for the oven part.

1 tbs light olive oil

8 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves (I only had boneless, skinless chicken)

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick 

1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch strips

3–5 pickled hot cherry peppers , stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp granulated sugar

1/3 cup white wine vinegar plus 2 additional tbs

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth plus 1 tbs

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves

1 tbs minced fresh parsley leaves 

Heat oven to 375

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Add sausage and break apart.  Cook until no longer pink and remove to a paper lined plate.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Add chicken to the skillet and brown on both sides until golden brown.  Transfer to a plate. Wipe out skillet and return it to the stove top.

Add a bit more olive oil and cook onion for about two minutes.  Add the red pepper and cherry peppers.  Cook until they begin to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, 1/3 cup vinegar, and 3/4 cup broth.  Bring mixture to boil, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Place the onion and peppers in a baking dish, mine is a bit smaller than a 13x9 pan.  Then place the sausage and chicken.

Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through.

Combine the 1 tbs stock, cornstarch, thyme.

Remove baking dish from the oven.  Remove the pan juices and put into a small sauce pan and heat on high until bubbling.  Add the cornstarch mixture and allow to thicken.

Adjust seasoning of the sauce, you can add a bit more vinegar.  Spoon the sauce around the chicken and serve immediately.

I served this with baked potatoes.  This came out really good and I loved the hot peppers with it.