Sesame Chicken and Rice Pilaf

Saturday night I made Sesame Chicken and Rice Pilaf for dinner. This was the first time that I had made the Sesame Chicken. Everything was completed and on the table in 30 minutes! As you can tell from past posts we have been doing a lot of sauces, but it really keeps the chicken juicy. *TIP* cut up the chicken half frozen-it cuts a lot easier and save a lot of time and mess. It went perfectly with the Rice Pilaf which is a staple at our house. I always use the same recipe because when you find a good one why change it. Rice Pilaf is really a recipe that matches well with so many dishes. ENJOY!!

Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce

Presten made Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce -for dinner last Monday night. It is kind of a cross between spaghetti and goulash. He used diced tomatoes and a some tomato sauce in place of the chunky tomato sauce-it turned out great. Very simple to make, just something a little different from our usuals that we eat. Try it and it will be a favorite!

Cashew Chicken

Last Sunday Presten made us Cashew Chicken for dinner. We have attempted similar dishes in the past, but it never has turned out as good as this one. I think one of the big differences is that it calls for peanut oil and that is what we used. It was very simple to put together and tasted great! You can't beat that! Leftovers were great too! Definitely a keeper!

Crack Chicken

This recipe comes from one of Presten's employees at work. She had made them for the store and Presten came home just raving about them. We are not sure of their official name, but Presten calls them crack chicken because they are so addicting!

Crack Chicken Recipe
3 chicken breasts--still half frozen
3/4 of a package of bacon
brown sugar
cayenne pepper-a couple shakes-depending on how spicy you like it
maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the chicken up into a chucks. Cut the bacon into thirds. After the chicken is cut up, wrap it up in a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Combine brown sugar and cayenne pepper in a bowl and roll the chicken/bacon in the sugar mixture. Place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake the chicken for 20-22 minutes. Remove chicken from baking sheet and then drizzle maple syrup over the chicken.

You will not be disappointed! :)

Japanese Mum's Chicken

A couple weeks ago as I was making our weekly menus I came across this recipe called Japanese Mum's Chicken. I am always looking for recipes that do not call for 100 things, but have a lot of flavor. This one tops that cake! We made it with chicken legs, but I am sure that it would be just as good with chicken breasts. We used jalapeños that I had frozen last summer from the garden-it was the perfect amount of heat. It was really not spicy, but did add flavor to the glaze. A must try!

The Wonderful World of Coleslaw!!

This whole week I had been meaning to post this recipe. We actually had it for dinner last Sunday. I typically do not make coleslaw because it just never turns out quite right. However, I found this recipe and with all the great reviews I decided to try it. Wow!! It was the BEST homemade coleslaw I think I have ever had. The recipe calls for it to sit 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving, but next time I make it 48 hours ahead because it was even better on Monday for lunch. Click on Coleslaw for the recipe.

Here we Go!

Well this is my first post to my new Food Blog! As we make meals that are worth "talking about" I will share them here!

Saturdays menu item~Honey Baked Chicken and Spinach Risotto. This was my first time making both of these items. We have made risotto many times, but never with the aborio rice that it calls for. Mainly because the grocery store that we shop at did not carry it until now. It defiantly creates more of creamier texture then the standard white or jasmine rice that I usually use. The chicken was wonderful. I was bit worried about the amount of curry that it called for. I don't really care for the smell of curry, but I decided to just go for it~and I am glad I did. It really created a deep flavor without over powering the chicken. I also used stone ground mustard which gave the sauce a little more texture. I cut down on the butter that it called for by a lot- because I made the dish only using 3 chicken breasts. The recipe called for a cooking time of an hour and 15 minutes. Next time I would probably do 1 hour. It wasn't dried out, but it could of been more moist. We rounded out the meal with some roasted asparagus. With a few tweaks we will defiantly make this dish again!--de-lish!!!

***For the complete recipe click on the light purple text honey baked chicken and spinach risotto at the top of the blog -this will lead you to the link.