I had decided on the menu plan to make chicken drumsticks for tonight's dinner.  As I went into the kitchen to get it started, I realized I had absolutely no idea as to how I wanted to prepare them.  I knew I wanted something tasty, not fried, and not horribly difficult to make.  I took a look around the kitchen to see what we had, and decided to try my hand at just throwing some stuff together that sounded good.  What I came up with was perfect!  I am pretty dang proud of myself, because it is very rare that I pull something out of thin air.  I am usually a play-it-by-the-recipe cook, and it's almost always from a recipe! 

 The chicken came out slightly sweet, but with a hint of earthiness and bite that made it easy on the taste buds.  (It looked pretty, too, but I had to take a picture with my daughter's Ipod, since the camera is currently out of the area while my boyfriend is away.)  Here's what I did, with a guesstimate on the quantities, since I just threw stuff in without measuring:

Ingredients:

• Package of chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1 pound's worth)
• 1/3-1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon style mustard (or two very large tablespoons)
• The juice from one medium orange
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, crushed
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (I'm a bit of a wuss with spicy... adjust to your taste!)

Directions:

1.   Arrange chicken in a baking pan.  (I used a glass 9x13-inch pan, and did not have any need to grease it.)
2. Over low-med low heat, stir together honey and mustard until melty and combined.  Add remaining ingredients.  Adjust spices as desired to suit your tastes.  *Note:  The sauce on the stove tasted much sweeter than it actually turned out on the chicken.
3. Once well combined, pour over chicken.  (I let mine sit, covered, for a couple hours, but I don't believe this is actually necessary.  I just already had stuff in the oven!)
4. Bake at 375*F for 45 minutes, or until meat no longer pink and juices are clear. 

I served this with rice and corn.  My kids actually both liked it!  Score one for me!

While I am a fan of lasagna, I rarely ever make it.  I know that my kids aren't too keen on the red sauced varieties, so I came up with this one.  None of the recipes I could find online matched the ingredients I had in my cupboards, so this one I just winged.  It's really the first recipe I've done all on my own.  I think it turned out pretty dang good.  I loved the crispy cheese on top.  My kids aren't too hip on spinach, though they liked the rest of it.  It made for wonderful leftovers for lunch the next day, too!

Ingredients:

• 8-10 ounces spinach, quickly cooked and wilted (I used frozen.  Fresh would be awesome.)
• 1 15-oz package of low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• about 3 cups alfredo sauce (The link is to my homemade sauce.  Jarred would be fine, too.)
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
• 2 cooked skinless chicken breasts (I broiled mine with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder.)
• extra shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F. 
Mix together spinach, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses in a medium bowl.
In a 9x9 pan, pour a very thin layer of Alfredo sauce.  Lay 4 noodles side by side on top, to cover pan.
Spread half of the spinach and cheese mix evenly over the noodles.
Pour about a third of the Alfredo sauce over top.
Lay another layer of noodles, then spinach/cheese mix, then sauce again.
Top with one more layer of noodles.  Pour the remainder of the sauce over top.  Sprinkle with extra mozzarella.
Bake for 45-60 minutes.

   My boyfriend has been wanting enchiladas for awhile now.  I came across this recipe  while perusing Pinterest the other day, and thought it sounded simple enough.  I made it tonight, and the results were astounding.  Simple, delicious flavor.  We are not big fans of spicy in this household, and this had just enough of the green chilies to give it some oomph, but not too much for our fragile taste buds.   Even the kids enjoyed it! 

  We put some chicken breasts in the crock pot with a bunch of taco seasoning on high for about 4-5 hours this afternoon, then shredded it to use for this dish.  I highly recommend this!   The recipe originally calls for Monterrey Jack cheese, but since I didn't have that I used the cheddar and mozzarella mix, which I thought tasted fantastic, and so did everyone else.    I imagine you could use just about any kind of cheese that your family enjoys and still have a wonderful outcome.  I am thinking some of those bags of the Mexican cheese blends next time....  


Ingredients:

• 10 soft burrito shells (I used flour, I imagine corn would be good, too)
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 4-oz can diced green chilies
• 1 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken and 1/2 cup of each of the cheeses.   Spread the mixture evenly among the tortilla shells.   Roll the tortillas up and place in an 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter.  Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute.  Add in broth and cook over medium heat until it starts to thicken.   *Note- sauce will be a bit thin.  The next two steps thicken it a bit.*
4. Remove sauce from heat.  Stir in green chilies and sour cream. 
5. Pour over enchiladas.  Top with remaining cheeses.  ( I put a bunch more cheese on.  We are cheese lovers!)
6. Bake for 22 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

  Macaroni and cheese is one of those all-time comfort foods that just warms your belly when it's cold outside.  And Baby, it's cold outside!  At least for a cold-wimp like myself.  I've always wanted to try the ol' baked macaroni and cheese.  The kind that uses real cheese- not processed cheese like Velveeta.  Not that I don't like Velveeta, but it's just not in the realm of that good-ol-home-cookin' vibe that I was striving for.  Not to mention I've tried it that way before, and while I thought it was okay, my children did not. 

  Enter this recipe.  It caught my eye because of the broccoli.  I  *heart* love *heart* broccoli!   A warm dish of mac and cheese with it?!  Hallelujah!   Oh my.  Swoon.
Yeah.  I made it.  Boyfriend helped and my son grated the cheese.  So it was almost a family affair. 

**Notes**  Ok, so the kids weren't entirely keen on it, but they ate it after some modifications.  Originally garlic was not in the recipe.  I added it, because it really needs it.  Also, they sprinkled more cheese over top and added some salt and pepper.   Next time, I will definitely use a more 3-cheese blend approach.  The cheddar we used was a bit bland.  It had called for sharp cheddar, so that may have made a difference.  Also, next time I want to throw in some seasoned, cooked, diced chicken, or add some tuna.  =)  Overall, very good and satisfying.  I will make it again!

Ingredients:

• 12 oz elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup garlic powder OR minced garlic (more or less to your specific tastes)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken broth (veggie broth is fine if you are vegetarian)
• 8 oz (2 cups) cheddar cheese  (next time, I think I'll do some sort of 3-cheese blend)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12 oz broccoli florets (we chopped ours in a chopper)
• 1/8 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Spray a 9x9 (or so) baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook pasta and broccoli together in a large pot using directions on pasta bag.  Prepare al dente.  Drain and set aside.
3. In a large skillet, melt butter.  Add onions and garlic and cook until golden-about 2 minutes.  Add flour and mix well, letting it brown a bit-about a minute.   Stir in milk and broth.  Let boil, and stir constantly until it thickens- about 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once thickened, remove flour mixture from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.  Mix until cheese is melted and smooth.
5. Add cheese mixture to drained pasta and broccoli mix.  Stir until well combined.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get breadcrumbs golden. 

  Tonight was one of those nights were I realized suddenly that nothing had been taken out for dinner, and I had a child coming home that needed to be fed before his karate class.  So, something quick and simple and light so as not to weigh him down too much before his class.  Chicken is always our standby for this.  Quickly defrosted and stir fried, it is all three of those qualities in one tasty package. 

  I decided to go with an orange teriyaki combination.  Actually, I let my son choose between that or honey-sesame and he chose the orange-teriyaki.  It was a bit much on the green beans, so next time I will either sans the sauce when cooking them, or cook them with less.  The chicken, however, was delicious.  So much so, that I decided to blog it, even though I have no picture to show it off to you. 

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved and diced
• 2 green onions, diced (both green and white parts)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, diced (or to taste.. I like a lot of garlic)
• about 2 cups green beans
• about 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
• about 1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together teriyaki sauce and orange juice.  Adjust quantities of each to your taste. 
2. Saute green beans and garlic over high heat (I used a wok- use what you have that will fit them) in a small amount of the sauce mix.  A little goes a long way in flavoring the beans. Saute until tender-crisp and warmed through.  Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Saute onion and green onion in sauce left in pan until onion is clear- a minute or two.  Add diced chicken and some more sauce.  Add sauce in small portions at a time.  The idea was a light coating- not a full on sauce.  This of course you can adjust to your liking.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is cooked through.  It took me about ten minutes. 
5. Serve warm with green beans.  I think rice or noodles would go wonderfully with this.  I just didn't make them.

This served 3 of us.  =) 

   I think I've mentioned this before, but we eat a lot of chicken in our household.  My kids' favorite is just a basic poached chicken and rice or noodles.  However, you can only do that so many times before it starts to get boring.  I had forgotten to take anything out yesterday, so we knew it was going to be chicken and rice again, but I wanted something a bit different.  I didn't want to make the same 'ol same 'ol.   So I searched through some websites searching for something that was still quick and easy, but a bit different than normal.  I found this, and tried it.

  While making it, I didn't think it was going to turn out right.  It just didn't look appetizing.  I think that, since my chicken was still partly frozen, that it put too much moisture in the pan, so the cream sauce was much thinner than it should have been.   Also, I had covered it to cook, and I think I should have left the lid off at first.  However, despite all my mess-ups, it still turned out pretty good!  I can only imagine how tasty it will be when I do it right!   The kids both really liked it, and I now have another chicken-and-rice recipe to add to my repertoire. 

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves 
• black pepper to taste (I used about a tablespoon)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes (mine were not crushed because I couldn't get them to crush)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• pinch of salt- to taste (optional)
• 1 can (4oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
• 3 tablespoons sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and chicken.  Season with bouillon, paprika, salt and pepper. 
2. When chicken is almost thoroughly cooked, add mushrooms. Cover and cook about 5 more minutes or until mushrooms are tender and chicken is cooked through.
3. Add sour cream and stir. 

Tonight's dinner was Sloppy Joes.  This is the first time I've ever made them from "scratch".   I got this recipe from Taste Of Home.   I didn't have any onion powder, so I just used a crapton of garlic powder.  The sauce came out very thick, so if you are a fan of that (I kind of am), then you will be pleased with this.  It was kind of sweet, but not too much.  I liked it.  My daughter (11) did not, but my son (14) did, although he didn't eat a bun.   My boyfriend really likes it.  

I apologize for the crappy pictures this time around.  My boyfriend wasn't here, so I took the photos, and I am not anywhere near as talented. 

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds hamburger
• 1 cup ketchup
• 8 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 4 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  hamburger buns

Directions:

1.  In a saucepan, cook beef until no longer pink inside.  I let mine stay a little bit pink, so that the rest would cook out during the simmer process.  Do whichever makes you happy.

2.  Meanwhile, assemble the rest of the ingredients.  When finished, it should look something like this:

3.  Drain meat.  Add all the ingredients except the buns.  

4.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Doesn't it look delish?  (No, not really... it looks like what it might later, actually.  But trust me.  It came out tasting much better than it looks!)

5.  Spoon meat mixture over top of buns.  I prefer mine toasted, but forgot to do that, so I just used regular ol' buns.  Enjoy!