Almost Like Donetta's Chicken and Rice

My friend Donetta makes the BEST chicken and rice.  When I delivered my first baby, she brought dinner to me and it featured her chicken and rice.  She was generous enough to give me her recipe but for whatever reason, mine has never turned out as well as hers... until now.

Tonight, I had chicken thighs in the fridge and had no idea what I was going to do with them.  Suddenly, chicken and rice popped into my mind but I didn't have any condensed mushroom soup.  Ugh.  I didn't want to head out to the store with my little ones so I consulted my dear friend Google.  I found two recipes (a & b) that sounded promising.  However, as I cooked, I found myself combining them.  I am soo glad I did since the result was absolutely delicious.  The whole family loved it... including the kiddos!  Here is what I did.

Almost Like Donetta's Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 medium chopped onion
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used the whole package so it was more)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup white wine
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
1 can low sodium chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1 cup long grain rice
2 Tbsp fresh/dried parsley
1/2 tsp paprika


Directions:
Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and set aside. 

In a pan, heat a little olive oil and add onions and mushrooms.  Sautee until softened and the mushrooms release most of their liquid.  Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.  Pour vegetables into a 9x13 baking dish and top with rice.  In pan, add butter and melt.  Whisk flour into butter and cook for 1 minute... until the mixture begins to brown slightly.  Pour in the stock, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until mixture begins to get bubbly and thicken, about 5 minutes.  Pour sauce over rice and veggies and add parsley.  Mix until the contents are evenly dispersed.  Top with seasoned thighs.  Sprinkle top with paprika and cover with foil. 

Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 45 minutes, until rice is soft, chicken is cooked through and liquid is evaporated.  My dish needed more time, so I removed the foil and baked for another 10 minutes.

Valentine's Day Celebration!

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?  Here is what we did.

First, I decorated.  I set everything up the night before.  This way, when they woke up and headed downstairs, they walked into a Valentine's Day dream!  They squealed with delight.  Sister even said, "This is beautiful!"  Warmed my VERY tired heart.

Next, I set up a treasure hunt.  The kiddos LOVE treasure hunts.

 

 

  
Success!  They found the treasure!  See's chocolate foil hearts and an outfit to wear on Valentine's Day!

 

She found it!!!  Oh, and brother just HAD to bring that hanger with him.

 

Cutest little Valentine in red pajamas no less!

Running with chocolate.  Smart boy!  Sister will likely try to eat his too!

 Love the "bed head."

Chocolate in the morning?!  You bet!

 

Made a breakfast of champions...

Mmm....

 

And packed up a LOVE-ly lunch!

 

Once ready for school, we grabbed the valentines for our classes and headed out.  Sister had brownie pops and brother had Goldfish crackers.

And a LOVE-ly dinner!  Mini heart pizzas anyone?  The kiddos helped add all of the toppings... and brother helped himself to whatever was added.  Who am I kidding, he also tore off pieces of the dough.  He doesn't discriminate.  He apparently couldn't wait for it to be baked.  (I am also noticing the heart cookie cutter got quite a workout!)

 

 Oh, and red Jello with peaches too.  We spared no expense.

 Modeling their Valentine attire at the end of the day...

 

 
And a little homemade chocolate pudding with plenty of whipped cream for dessert. We love pudding around here.

 

After bath and putting brother to bed, we looked at all of the class valentines.  I also got to learn about all of her friends and hear some funny/interesting stories.  Happy moment!

A closer look.

My personal favorite.  Good job, Everett's mom!

My least favorite.  This was a glitter bomb.  Inside this sweet little box was a TON of gold glitter and stickers.  Ugh.  ALL over the carpet.  No bueno.  This mom is NOT my friend right now. (Insert grumble, over the big mess and glitter in the eyes, here.)  At least Sister enjoyed the surprise.

Happy Valentine's Day!  

Hope you spent it with the ones you love.

Meatloaf Cupcakes?

I have seen the idea of creating faux cupcakes in the media for a long time now.  So, it wasn't a big deal when I suggested my husband make meatloaf cupcakes for dinner one night while I was traveling to a conference.  We figured this might encourage our newly picky three-year-old to eat her dinner. 

While it didn't exactly motivate her to move fork to mouth, it did cause her to smile.  She picked at her food a bit more than usual which was definitely a plus.  My visiting mother, along with the rest of the family, loved it!  We will try this again.

So, meatloaf cupcakes?  You can use whatever meatloaf recipe you happen to love.  Mix up a batch then distribute evenly across a muffin tin.  Be sure to spray the cups with cooking spray.  Cook according to directions. 

Prepare a batch of mashed potatoes and cook some peas while waiting for the meatloaf.  When everything is ready, the plating fun begins!  You could pipe the mashed potatoes onto the "cupcakes" so it looks more like "frosting" but we were a bit impatient and just added a glop on top.  Then, add the pea "sprinkles."  An absolutely adorable dish!

My favorite meatloaf recipe is Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Brown Sugar Ketchup Glaze from Cook's Illustrated but my husband used this recipe from Betty Crocker.  It was pretty great too!

Enjoy!

Christmas Dinner

We had a quiet Christmas this year... we stayed home.  The entire family has colds and we are a sight (and a sound) to behold.  This November, my mother celebrated her 11th anniversary with her transplanted kidney and liver.  We still try to do all we can to keep our germs to ourselves and protect her as much as we can.  Although we missed our extended family, it was nice to tuck in rather than make the 3 1/2 hour drive with two little ones and a dog.

We also got to do a non-traditional Christmas dinner.  We chose to have homemade lasagne (which turned out better than it ever has), strawberry salad and Italian pull-apart bread.  We enjoyed a divine chocolate cream pie for dessert.

I saw a recipe for Italian pull-apart bread on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  It looked pretty good but I thought, "How easy! I don't need to pin that!"  Well, it seems I did because I failed to buy all of the ingredients and we didn't have any parm, romano or asiago on the premisis.  Rather than skip it, we improvised and I am glad we did.  This is our version of Italian pull-apart bread... and it is pretty incredible.

Italian Pull-Apart Bread

1 loaf frozen bread (like Bridgeford)
1 Tbsp Italian herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary) - fresh, chopped is best so double if using fresh herbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder (could use fresh, minced or crushed)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sea salt
pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Remove bread from freezer and allow to thaw in refrigerator overnight.  Coat a bowl with olive oil and place bowl inside and cover with a piece of plastic wrap.  Place in a warm spot and let the bread rise until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use a pair of kitchen shears and cut dough in small chunks, about the size of a small meatball.  Mix herbs, salt and pepper into melted butter and dredge the small bits of dough into the butter before placing evenly into a bundt pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Drizzle dough with remaining butter mixture.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise a bit longer.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the top is golden.  Remove from oven and turn out onto a large plate.  Serve immediately and be prepared for the little rolls to disappear quickly!

Cooking with Kids

My Wee One loves to cook.  Well, let's rephrase this... she loves to cook with Momma.  She will often tell me, "I help you," then happily push a chair to the counter to take part.  However, when I ask her to help me she squeals with delight and enthusiastically runs to wash up and begin.

I too love having Wee One help but mealtime prep isn't always a kid-friendly time for help.  Be it hot ovens, flaming stove tops, or sharp knives, there are a number of safety hazards I must consider in order to protect my budding chef.

Here are my tips for cooking with kids:

1. I often ask my girl what she would like to have for ____________  (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack).  I offer 2 - 3 options based on the ingredients we have on hand.  She is a more enthusiastic participant when she gets to choose and likes what we are preparing.
2. I make sure we wash our hands together to stress the importance of food safety.  It is never to early to start!  This cute video teaches kids about proper hand washing techniques.
3. We put on our super cool aprons to protect our clothes.  She LOVES her apron from Williams Sonoma.
4. I try to introduce my kids to a wider variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, grains and dairy products.  I also use REAL food, rather than engineered/convenience products, and talk about the growers who produced the food.  As an Agricultural Educator, I think of this as another opportunity to teach my kids about agriculture.
5. I pull out all of the ingredients and utensils needed to prevent a lot of running around the kitchen.  This allows me to stay focused on my girl.  As she grows, I will have her read the recipe to me as I gather to further integrate her into the process.
6. I keep the environment happy and light.  Will things get messy?  You bet!  Will we end up having to re-count or re-measure?  Yep!  Just laugh and make sure you schedule plenty of time so the rest of the family isn't waiting to be fed.  I also provide lots of feedback and positive conversation to prevent frustration and stress.
7. I also use the time to teach and reinforce practical math, listening and processing skills.  Since my girl does not yet know how to read, I read the directions and then ask her what we need to do.  I also have her count as we add 1, 2, 3... of something.  She loves participating and I love teaching.
8. All chopping with knives, bringing things in and out of the oven, and most stovetop cooking are done by me.  If something can be cut using a butter knife or plastic knife (ie. chopping strawberries), it is delegated.  As she grows in skill and confidence, she can begin to take on more of these responsibilities with adult supervision.
9. I have Wee One help plate before we serve.  This way, she can take even more ownership over the meal AND sees the end result of her efforts.
10. In our family, we make sure we praise Wee One's efforts while enjoying the dish.  Everyone takes turns thanking her for her delicious efforts.  She eats her meal with a smile, often cleaning the plate!

A particular favorite of my girl's is Breakfast for Dinner.  Mini German Pancakes with Fresh Berry Compote is always a hit and she can do virtually all of the prep!  We serve them with bacon to make Daddy happy.  Who am I kidding... we serve them with bacon to make EVERYONE happy!!

Mini German Pancakes with Fresh Berry Compote
1 cup milk
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Zest from one orange (1 tsp +/-)
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease two muffin tins well and set aside.

Using a blender, add the first 6 ingredients and blend until smooth.  Ask your little helper to man the machine and tell you when all of the flour has been incorporated.  Add butter a little at a time to temper eggs.

Evenly distribute batter to muffin tins (slightly less than half full).  Hint:  using an emptied and cleaned plastic catsup bottle to fill the tins, makes this job easy for little hands.  Bake for 15 minutes or until puffy and golden.  Remove from tins and serve pancakes while still warm.


Fresh Berry Compote
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Juice from 1 orange
2 tbsp water
Sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries - a couple of tablespoons to 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp cornstarch

Add berries to saucepan with juice and a little water.  Turn on medium heat and cook until berries begin to burst.  Blend sugar and cornstarch together so no lumps remain.  Add to the pot and continue cooking for a few minutes, stirring frequently, to allow mixture to thicken a bit. Serve over Mini German Pancakes and top with fresh whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Delicious!!!

Yummy Dinner!

Photo courtesy of http://southernfood.about.com 

 I am not sure about you but I tire of having the same go-to meals for dinner. While I appreciate the fact I need not think too intently about how to prepare some delicious, healthy dishes for my family, my palate yawns at the thought of having spaghetti with meat sauce AGAIN! Before leaving the office last night, I decided to scan the internet for a recipe for tilapia. We enjoy fish yet often don't think to feast upon it. I had everything the recipe called for at home, except dried basil (of which the recipe called for 1/2 tsp). Rather than stop at the store for one small jar of basil, I substituted the recipe with dill. I also didn't want to make fresh bread crumbs so I made use of some left over Panko in my pantry. Both proved to be positive alterations. While deceptively simple, we had a delicious dinner of baked tilapia plated with freshly steamed broccoli and my homemade applesauce. YUMM-O and super healthy... even the baby and the hubs enjoyed it!!! 

Baked Tilapia with Butter Crumb Topping 

4 - 6 tilapia fillets (about 1 1/2 #) 

salt & pepper 

3 Tbsp melted butter 

1 cup Panko bread crumbs (can use fresh) 

3/4 - 1 tsp dried dill 

 Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a large baking dish with extra virgin olive oil or cooking spray. Salt and pepper fillets and arrange in dish. In a separate bowl, combine butter, crumbs and dill. Top fillets with crumb topping. Place into oven and bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Place under broiler for 2 - 3 minutes to brown the topping. Remove to a plate for serving.