Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes

I recently saw this recipe http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/01/mini-puffed-oven-pancakes-with-berry-sauce/posted on Our Best Bites blog and since my family loves breakfast for dinner, especially crepes, I thought I would give it a try and boy did it go over well!

I got comments like: Rhett: "Mom, you are the best cooker ever. You should go on one of those cooking shows and make these because you will win first place." Gracie: "I thought crepes were my favorite food but just for the record, these are my favorite." (I'm not sure where she heard the "just for the record" thing, but she says it all the time!)

I made a double batch and it was a good thing, because Gracie and Rhett ate 12 each! I didn't make the sauce, because I had some raspberry pie filling that I needed to use. I also had some leftover Buttermilk Caramel Syrup (also from OBB) that we used. They were both really good on the pancakes and of course we had to sprinkle powdered sugar on them and top it all off with some whip cream!

To go along with the pancakes I made this Orange Julius: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/01/classic-orange-julius.html
I don't think I had ever made an "authentic" Orange Julius before and this one was it! It was so good! I'm sure I will be getting requests for this meal again soon!

I'm sure I will be getting requests to make these again soon!

Corn Chowder

(Image found here)

Another quick and easy recipe we like at our house and everyone eats it. :) I got it years ago from my friend Emily. I think this would be a really easy recipe to throw into the crockpot and cook since the only thing that really has to cook through is the potatoes. For the bacon, I often use the precooked bacon crumbles. Makes it super easy.

Corn Chowder

1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
3 cups diced potatoes
1/2 lb. bacon, fried (really crispy) and crumbled
2 cans creamed corn*
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. paprika
black pepper, to taste

Melt butter and saute the onions, soon followed by the potatoes. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 1 hour. Stir often (or potatoes will stick to the bottom of your pan!). Serves about 6.

*if you don't have creamed corn on hand, you can use regular corn and add a scoop or two of sour cream.

White Chicken Chili

(Image found here)

Here is a quick and easy recipe that I love to make a few times each Fall/Winter. I got it from my friend Mindy Giles, and I believe she said she got it from the back of the can of beans. :) So, it's a pretty basic and easy recipe but it's always a hit at our house.

White Chicken Chili

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1-4 oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2-16 oz. cans Great Northern Beans (with liquid, don't drain)
1-14.5 oz. can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken breast (I have used canned chicken when I am going ultra easy on this and it works great for this recipe)

In large skillet, cook onion in oil for 4 minutes or until transparent. Add chilies, flour and cumin; cook and stir for 2 minutes (mixture will be really thick and pasty). Add beans and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened. The "paste" of chilies, flour, and cumin will start to break up as the chili simmers. Stir often. Add chicken; cook until hot.

Garnish with cheese, sour cream and salsa, if desired.

Meal Planning-What Works For You?

Hi Everyone!

So I'm a big planner so meal planning definitely is my kind of thing but I'm wondering what works best for you guys (if you even meal plan).  Now that I've done it a lot, I'm starting to notice what isn't working the greatest for us but I'm not sure how to fix it.  Since I'm getting ready to prep my next meal plan, I'd love some of your inside tips & tricks! :)

Here's what I do:  I like to plan at least 3 weeks out (sometimes as long as a month out) that way I only make 1 main grocery shopping trip a month but can pick up necessities as we run out (eggs, milk, cheese, bread, etc). 

So here is where I run into my problem:  Mike changes his mind!  (so do I, but I like to blame it on him haha)  For example:  I had Chipotle Chocolate Chili on the menu 10 days ago because we both wanted to try it but when the day rolled around, we weren't quite in the mood for it so I skipped it but we still haven't had it!

My main question is do you plan each day individually& stick to it? Or do you just plan a set amount of meals & cook them when you want within that time period?

What works for you?

~Ang~

Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

So, for dinner last night, I tried a new recipe. I have had this one pinned on pinterest for a long time and finally remembered to try it. It was really good. Generally, anything with balsamic vinegar is a big hit for me! I would probably do a few things differently next time I make it, though.

1. In her recipe, she says to cook on low in the crockpot for 6-8 hours. Mine cooked for about 7 hours and the top part of it really dried out, which is uncommon for crockpot meats. I think what I maybe would do is turn the roast halfway through cooking so each half gets a turn to sit in the juices. :) We'll see if that works a little better!

2. I would probably make a bigger batch of the glaze. The glaze was definitely delicious and since I served my roast with rice, I felt like I wanted more sauce to cover some of the rice. I don't think I would quite double it since that would seem like a ton, but maybe make it at about 1.5 times the original size.

But nonetheless, it was delicious and I will definitely make it again! Here is the link:

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/09/sweet-balsamic-glazed-pork-loin-slow-cooker.html

Brazil Meal

We had a fun Birthday Party meal for Charlie this Sunday and I thought it turned out really good. We picked all Brazil food, and they all came from www.ourbestbites.com. (Thanks Marilee and Marilyn for doing this with me, it turned out great!) First Marilee made Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/02/quick-brazilian-cheese-rolls-pao-de-queijo-2/ and these were really good. Allie kept saying how much she liked the “muffins”, she loved them. Marilyn made the yummy Brazilian Lemonade: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/05/brazilian-lemonade/ that everybody drank up. Gus was sad because it kept plugging up his sippy cup. Then for the main course we had Black Beans and Rice with Chicken and Apple Salsa: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/01/black-beans-rice-with-chicken-and-apple-salsa/ and I think everybody loved that too. The kids had theirs wrapped in tortillas. We just grilled chicken breasts and gave everybody one. The salsa sounded interesting, but it was really good, even with just chips.
(Sorry I don’t have my own picture, we were too busy gobbling it all up.) We doubled the recipe and had tons of leftovers. It smelled so good as we were making everything. And now we know why Brazilians take naps after lunch, that’s when they have their main meal, or dinner. We all could hardly move after that and just wanted to take a nap. We did good surprising Charlie, and he said it was just like being back in Brazil. So if anyone's in the mood for Brazil this was a yummy dinner.

Cranberry Vanilla Granola

Since I shared this recipe with Marilee on Saturday, I figured I would post it here also. I originally found this recipe on the blog called Favorite Family Recipes, and have adapted it a bit to my liking after a few times of making it. It is quite simple to make and my family LOVES this stuff. We eat it with milk for breakfast instead of cereal or by the handful as a snack or on yogurt. It is really, really good and I feel like it is a little bit healthier than other things we could be eating too. :) So, here is my version of the recipe.

Cranberry Vanilla Granola
8 c. oats
1 c. sliced almonds
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Craisins, to taste (I usually use one small bag of the Wal Mart brand dried cranberries, I think it is between 1-2 cups)
3/4 c. canola oil
1 c. honey
3 Tbsp. vanilla (use the real stuff if you have it-- it tastes much better)

Preheat oven to 300-degrees. Combine first 8 ingredients (dry ingredients) in a large bowl. In a saucepan combine oil, honey, and vanilla and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute then pour over oat mixture. Mix until all ingredients are moistened. Divide and spread mixture over 2 large cookie sheets and bake at 300-degrees for 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on pans until the granola hardens (it may be a little chewy and that's ok.. if you prefer it not to be chewy at all, allow to dry completely). Break up granola and store in large Ziploc bags or containers. Serve plain, with yogurt, or with milk. Enjoy!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Tonight for dinner we tried a new recipe at our house. It was the Crispy Cheddar Chicken from Jamie Cooks it Up. The link is: http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2011/10/crispy-cheddar-chicken.html

It was really good and everyone (even Rhett) ate their entire plate and raved about how much they liked it. When I make it again, I will grate my cheese smaller or even put it in the food processor for a second to make the cheese pieces smaller so they stick better. Other than that, I woudn't change a thing. I made twiced baked potatoes to go with it and a green salad would've been nice. I will definently be making this again for my family!

Mike's Favorites -Part 1 "Aussie Chicken"

I don't know if you all know this but Mike has a love for mushrooms unlike most.  I mean they are right up there after ME (of course) but up there with his other top loves like bacon, Dr. Pepper, his XBox, potatoes, steak, etc  :)  Needless to say, we eat mushrooms often: in salad, eggs, stuffed, sauteed, and the list goes on.  So when I found this recipe, I knew it would be a hit in this home.  It might not be your cup of tea but it sure is Mike's.

I believe it's supposed to a mimic recipe from a dish at Outback Steakhouse but we've never had it there.  I got it from this blog about 3 years ago so I'm not sure if it's still a good source for recipes since this is the only one I've ever tried.  One of the great things about this recipe is that it's easy to downsize or expand the recipe if needed.  Welp-here it is!

Aussie Chicken
* 4 Chicken Breasts (I like to cut them in half so they are thinner & a better chicken to goodies ratio. For just the 2 of us, I will use 2 chicken breasts sliced thin creating 4 thing pieces so we have leftovers.)
* 8 slices of bacon (I use the crumbled bacon from Costco-saves time & increases simplicity)
* 2 Tsp Seasoning Salt
* 2 Cups Colby Jack or Monterey Jack Cheese Shredded (I prefer Monterey Jack)
* 1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms (you knew that was coming, huh? but of course I use a bit more)
* Honey Mustard -it didn't have a measurement but it will depend on how saucy you like things.  I think originally it had a recipe for this but I like simple & just buy Honey Mustard Dressing (current favorite, suprisingly enough is WalMart brand Honey Dijon Light Dressing) but you could probably try the Honey Mustard dips they have now for a thicker sauce

-Rub chicken breasts with seasoning salt, cover & refrigerate for 30 minutes (sometimes I don't wait 30 minutes because I forget so I just rub it in really well & then start cooking it). 
-Preheat over to 350. 
-Cut bacon into bite sized pieces and cook in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy & set aside.
-Heat a tablespoon or 2 of oil in the skillet & place the breasts in the hot oil for 5-6 minutes per side, or until brown. 
-Drizzle some Honey Mustard in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish to lightly cover the bottom (for just Mike & I, I use an 8x8 dish).
-Once browned, place the chicken in the baking dish & drizzle more sauce over the top.
-Then layer mushrooms, bacon & shredded cheese on top.
-Bake for 10 minutes or unitl cheese is melted & chicken juices run clear (I usually do 15 just to be safe).
-You can use more of the honey mustard for additional sauce if you need it.
                                               Enjoy!!

The Beginning of a Great Thing!

Hi Everyone!

Well, it's finally up and running with lots of kinks to work out (I'm sure) but I am SO excited for this blog!  So let's all embrace the idea & share, share, share!  Share cooking successes & failures (wink wink -you know we've all had them) as well as crafts, DIY projects, or even just great deals that we should all know about! 

So-here we go:

At the cabin for Christmas, Marilee showed me this awesome blog so I've been trying some new recipes on this month's meal plan.  One of our new FAVORITES, which will be a regular in the Searle home is Mel's Crispy Chicken Wraps. They are SUPER easy & SO yummy!!  It calls for a rotisserie chicken which makes it even easier since it's already cooked but I rarely buy those & I'll be using boiled & shredded chicken next time.  We had 4 or 5 left over and they were yummy the day after too! 

Happy Cooking!   Luvs~Ang~