Blueberry Crumb Bar Update

I sent about 32 left over Blueberry Crumb Bars (see them here) with WF to his first morning class at work. Immediately after, he called to let me know he only had 2 bars left and everyone said they were really good. He also said that another girl brought homemade mini muffins, but most people ate the blueberry bars. He sounded really proud which means a lot to me. I’m just a little disappointed that I won’t be in town next week to send another morning treat

Not So Successful Dinner

Sigh. Another dinner that was not so successful. In fact, I will call this one a failure. It was gross. The recipe, if done correctly, is probably really tasty. BUT it did not turn out well for me.

I had good intentions, I really did. WF has started his classwork portion of the work program he’s in so on Wednesday night he doesn’t get home until about 8PM or later. Sad, I know. So I decided to cook in the Crock Pot because it’s a way to cook a meal without worrying too much about when you’re going to serve.

Cinnamon-Kissed Chicken is a recipe I found in a Slow-Cooker recipe book right after someone gave WF this slow cooker:

I loved the idea of cinnamon chicken. The sauce is very simple and allowed me to use my zester again:

In an effort to keep the amount of chicken down so we didn’t have gobs of leftovers, I bought frozen chicken strips (we like using those) and just pulled out a few to defrost. I cut them up into bite size pieces:

Then in goes the sauce and I set the cooker to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. WF didn’t get home until about 9:30 so it actually ended up cooking for a little over 4 hours. I had been checking on it all evening and I could tell it wasn’t going to work out well. First, although the recipe calls for Red Wine Vinegar dressing (which was red), it didn’t occur to me that the chicken would turn red. Well, it did. And it wasn’t horribly unappetizing but it was a little off putting. I don’t even want to post the picture, but I will:

Because there wasn’t as much chicken as the recipe called for AND it ended up cooking for longer than necessary, the outcome was strangely textured chicken with an all right flavor. I cooked up some quick spaghetti in hopes that topping the chicken on spaghetti would somehow help it. Not so. The only success of the night was the crescent rolls I baked up. I wish I could say from scratch, but I have to thank the Dough Boy for these:

By the time WF got home, I knew we’d have to abandon the entire thing. We ate the crescent rolls and then kinda of grazed on other food we had in the pantry and fridge. I’ll still go ahead and post the recipe because it sounds like it could be really great. Just not the way I made it! If anyone tries it, please let me know how it turns out!

CINNAMON-KISSED CHICKEN

From Busy People’s Slow Cooker Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 c. red wine vinegar, fat-free dressing
• 1 tsp. fresh orange zest
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (again, I used frozen chicken strips, thawed)

Prep:

• Cut the chicken into strips

Cook:

1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray
2. In a bowl, mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar, dressing, and orange zest.
3. Place the chicken in the cooker and cover with the dressing mix.
4. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours (or LOW for 6 to 8 hours).

Servings: 4

Thank you Guy Fieri

Tuesday night dinner turned out a lot better than Monday. I watched Guy’s Big Bite on the Food Network a few weeks ago and he made Bloody Mary Flank Steak and Parmesan Tater Tots. It just looked really good and really quick. So I printed the recipes and gave them a try.

The flank steak recipe is super easy. Just marinate and cook! Although the recipe instructs you to marinate for 8 to 24 hours, I only marinated for about 4.5. I think it still came out pretty well. Guy also includes some Celery Seed, which I could not find. I bought Celery Salt instead and reduced the amount of regular salt I added, just to make sure it didn’t get too salty (made that mistake before!).

The marinade is a long list of Bloody Mary-esqe flavors and even though I’ve never had a Bloody Mary before, anything with vodka gets my vote.

Step 1: Dump everything in a bowl and stir.

Step 2: Pour in bag with flank steak and toss in fridge to marinate.

The flank steak I bought was 1 lb. as the recipe called for, but since WF and I cannot eat 1 lb. of meat in a single sitting, we cut it in half and then cut into two strips. The other half went back in the marinade for another meal. (Check out what we made with the leftovers!)

Step 3: Pan sear both sides on high heat and then cook on medium heat until meat is medium rare. You can also toss this on the grill, but all we have is the George Foreman and I don’t really like using it as much as WF.

WF and I are always a little wary of under-cooking out meat, so obviously this is not medium rare. But it was still delish. (Look, WF’s hands are famous!) Oh and we also didn’t really let the meat sit before cutting which is why all the juices are on the cutting board. We were hungry.

Onto the super easy Parmesan Tater Tots. I halved this recipe so we wouldn’t be swimming in tots. Start by tossing the tater tots with olive oil and bake.

This recipe calls for crushed garlic, shredded parm, and chopped parsley.

Toss to coat and you’re done. These tots had really great flavor as did the steak.

And finally, the quickest and easiest way I know to cook fresh corn on the cob. Leave the corn in the husk. Put the corn cobs in the microwave ONE AT A TIME. Cook for 3 minutes each. The corn will be VERY hot so let it sit for a while and then shuck. The husk and silks will come off very nicely and the corn will be warm and tender.

WF enjoyed the meal so much he hardly said a word while he ate. A+ for me!

Source: [FN]