Balmasic Honey Chicken Thighs

I found this recipe on Pinterest, the gal has a great  site.  It looks so yummy that I just had to try it and I'm so glad I did.  I made it twice once on a trial run to see if the family would like it then made it for them and it was a big hit.  So will for sure make this again.

This recipe is so easy and quick.  Great for the week nights when you really don't want to spend much time in the kitchen after working all day.

Printable

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 dashes ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons water
Chopped parsley, for garnishing

Directions:

Season the chicken with the salt and ground black pepper.

Heat up a skillet on medium heat and slowly pan-fry the chicken, skin side down first, until both sides of the chicken become nicely browned and crispy. Remove the chicken and discard the chicken fat.
Add the olive oil and butter to the skillet, saute the garlic until slightly browned, follow by the honey, balsamic vinegar and water. Add the chicken back into the skillet and simmer and reduce the sauce until slightly thickened.
Remove from heat, garnish with the parsley and serve immediately.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU L♥ve.
Donna

Chicken Lo Mein

Lately I get cravings and just have to make what it is that I want to eat.  This time it was Asian Flare type stuff.  I've always wanted to make lo mein and wanted it to taste like the stuff from a local small Asian place.  Well think I finally found a recipe.  I found it here and she's right most of her stuff in Damn Delicious!!! I also made her Crab Rangoons, those were great too.  The Asian place here doesn't put all these great veggie's in their Lo Mein but the flavor of this is great.  So guess I won't have to spend the money for take out.  Also I found at our local Asian store they had fresh egg lo mein noodles.  The most time consuming part of this dish is of course all the cutting and preparing.  Oh yeah one other thing, I used rotisserie chicken, our local market had them on sale.....so one less thing to cook.  I made a very large fry pan of this and my grandson wanted to eat it all....I only let him have 1/2 so I could have something for dinner and also leftover so I won't have to cook the next day.
I omitted the mushrooms because I'm not a fan.

Printable
Ingredients: 
8 ounces lo mein egg noodles*  
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced (didn't use)
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 cup snow peas
3 cups baby spinach
1-2 cups cooked chicken

For the sauce

2 tablespoons  soy sauce, or more, to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I used fresh)
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste (I used sweet chilli sauce)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, ginger and Sriracha; set aside.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain well.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper and carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in snow peas and spinach until the spinach has wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in egg noodles and soy sauce mixture, and gently toss to combine.
5. Serve immediately.

Hope you give this a try, you'll be glad you did and may possibly not visit the local Asian Place again.
Have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU L♥ve.
Donna

 

BuckEye Bundt Cake

One of my friends posted this recipe on FB and I thought it would b perfect for my Monday Treat.
Don't know many people that don't like chocolate and peanut butter.  My daughter makes buckeye's every Christmas for her hubby, it's one of his favorites.  So she may add this to her list of things to make for him.  This was a huge hit.  Even one of the gals that doesn't eat many of my treats ate 2 pieces and wanted to take the rest home.  :)

Printable
Peanut Butter Filling
– ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
– 4 ounces cream cheese
– ¼ cup powdered (icing or confectioners’) sugar, sifted
– 1 egg, beaten
– 3 tablespoons whole milk
Cake
– 1 cup water
– 6 ounces unsalted butter + 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan
– ⅓ cup cocoa powder +2 tablespoons for dusting the pan
– 1 heaping tablespoon instant espresso powder *I used an expresso candy found in the coffee isle*
– 1 teaspoon kosher salt
– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 2 eggs
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– ½ cup sour cream
Shiny Peanut Butter Chocolate Glaze
– ½ cup heavy cream
– 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
– 2 tablespoons corn syrup
– ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
– 4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
How To

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Grease a 10-12 cup Bundt pan generously with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the pan and swirl it around to coat the entire pan evenly in a layer of cocoa powder. Pay attention especially to the middle tube and the bottom.
2. Make the filling by adding all of the peanut butter filling ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mixing with a hand mixer until smooth and no streaks of cream cheese or peanut butter remain. Set aside.
3. Heat the water, 6 ounces of butter, ⅓ cup of cocoa powder, espresso and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk to remove any lumps. When butter is melted and the pot just comes to a boil, take off the heat and set aside.
4. In large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar and baking soda. Whisk in the chocolate and butter mixture, followed by the 2 eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Whisk until there are no streaks of sour cream, but try not to overmix— a few lumps are okay.
5. Pour ¾ of the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Spoon the peanut butter cream cheese filling evenly on top of the batter, trying to keep it from touching the sides or middle tube.
6. Cover the peanut butter filling with the rest of the cake batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
7. Cool the cake for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a thin knife, if needed, and place a cake plate over the pan. Invert the pan so it’s resting cake-side down on the plate, and carefully lift the Bundt pan away from the cake.
8. Make the glaze by heating the cream, sugar, peanut butter and corn syrup to almost a boil. Pour the heated mixture over the chocolate and let it sit a minute to start melting. Whisk until smooth and shiny, then pour the mixture over the top of the cake.

Hope you give this a try.  Have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to DO ALL the things You L♥ve.
Donna

Marinated Roast Pork and Potatoes

This was a delicious meal.  I had a bonless roast pork in the freezer that needed to be cook soon and this turned out to be a very moist delicious way to cook it.

I used the meat thermometer to make sure it was done.  They have changed the temperature for pork from years ago.  They say now the internal temperature should be about 160° for roasts, of course you know you should take it out about 10°before it reaches that temperature so the meat and rest and the juices form in the meat.
Here are the potatoes

Marinade:
4-4.5 lb bones pork roast
4 TBL mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic (minced)
salt and pepper

potatoes:
5-6 med to large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks, salt and pepper and then toss them and a small sliced onion in oil.

Place roast in large plastic bag, add ingredients and let marinate at least 2-3 hours...best if you do overnight.
Preheat oven to 425° place roast in pan and cook on high heat for 15  minutes, turn oven down to 375° and continue to cook until the internal temperature in 150-155°.  Remove from oven and let rest for about 15-20 minutes.  For the potatoes you can par boil them is you like, I didn't do that I just peeled them and cut into chunks and when the meat was at about 125° I added them, and when I removed the meat I left them in the pan to finish cooking.

This was an awesome meal, I served this with sauerkraut and cooked carrots.  The only thing that was missing was some great biscuits.  Maybe next time.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU L♥ve.
Donna

Fudge Banana Muffins with spiced nuts and a hint of Apple Jack

I had some banana's that I put in the fridge and they were nice and ripe,  just perfect for making some sort of treat.  I also had some spiced walnuts and pecans from the holidays in a sealed container along with the chocolate fudge I made this year.  Soooooooo to the drawing board and I decided to just put them all together.  Why waste all that yummy stuff, Right??  I made these for Monday Work Treat.  The guys loved them even the one that doesn't like nuts.  LOL

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBL Apple Jack or some sort of Bourbon
2 large eggs
1/4 cup soft unsalted butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 very ripe bananas (mashed)
3/4 cup homemade fudge (approximate) chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped spiced nuts (walnuts and pecans)

Directions:
Preheat oven 400°, line 12-14 regular size muffin tins, set aside.
In bowl, combine dry ingredients, set a side
chop fudge and nuts, set aside
In a large bowl, cream the butter, coconut oil and sugar  until creamy.  Add 1 egg at a time and mix well, add mashed banana and Apple Jake, mix well.  Add dry ingredients and stir unless well incorporated.  Add the nuts and fudge mix until combined.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full place in reheated 400° oven for approximately 18-20 minutes.  Remember each oven is different.
Cool on rack....enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the THINGS Y♥u  L♥ve.
Donna

cracklin Chicken

My daughter found this on Pinterest and wanted me to make it for our Thursday family dinner.  Its is really good and so quick to make.  So if you're looking for a quick week night meal give this a try.  This would be great to make and then put in your salad.   This was a huge hit so I will for sure be making this again.

Ingredients:
boneless chicken thighs *skin on*
salt and pepper
ghee or butter and oil mixed *for frying*
large cast iron skillet

As the person that posted this says it's so much cheaper to buy bone in thighs and just removed them yourself.  It's not rocket science and oh so easy.
Turn the thigh skin down, get a good boning knife or kitchen shears and just start cutting along the bone taking your time and then cut around the knob at the end and remove.  It's really that simple.
Dry the pieces well and then salt the skin side *as the chef's say make it rain* which means hold your hand up high and sprinkle the salt on your chicken.  You can season the under side with salt and pepper or add some other spices if you like.  Guess you like a bit of kick you could add some chilli powder or such.  I just did the plan salt and pepper.  Was great.

Heat the oil and butter then add the chicken skin side down.  Cook for about 7 minutes *DO
 NOT MESS WITH IT* just let it cook, you can move the pan around on the stove to be sure that all the parts are getting cooked the same.    Check after about 7 minutes to see if it's nice and golden brown...like above... then flip and cook for about another 3 minutes.  Drain on paper towel....ENJOY!!

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU L♥ve.
Donna
 

Filled Carrot Cake Muffins

These were a Monday work treat, I must say they came out looking Awesome.  They were a big hit at work too.  Hope you'll give them a try.  See the cream cheese trying to ooze out the top?
adapted from here

This recipe made 14 regular size muffins

Ingredients

For Carrot Cake Muffins:

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup water
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup grated carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots)

For cream cheese filling:

• 10 ounce cream cheese-softened
• ¼ cup+1 Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

For Streusel Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 1 /2 cup unsalted butter-melted
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt

For the Glaze:

• 1 Teaspoon milk
• ¼ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F, line standard cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. To make streusel topping in a medium bowl stir together 1 cup all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon salt, add 1 /2 cup melted unsalted butter melted and stir it with a fork until crumbly, set aside.
3. To make the filling beat the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth, set aside.
4. To make the muffins, in a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients listed for the muffins.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, water and oil.
6. Stir the egg mixture into dry ingredients, then fold in grated carrots and stir well to combine..
7. Drop about 1 ½-2 Tablespoons of the batter into each cup and spread to cover the bottom, then place 1 heaping tablespoon of filling, cover with carrot batter to fill the cups ¾ full, then top with streusel topping and bake about 20 minutes, until the toothpick inserted in the cake (not cream cheese filling) comes out clean.
8. Remove the muffins from the oven, let them cool for 10 minutes in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
9. To make the glaze, stir well 1 tablespoon milk with ¼ cup powdered sugar and drizzle over the muffins before serving.  
10. These made 14 muffins. 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do All the things Y♥u L♥ve.
Donna