bow tie spinich salad

sorry no pics, but this is a wonderful salad!!! we love it! i sometimes wish I had more reasons to make it it's so good! and it's always a big hit at parties.  I got it from this cookbook, The Domestic Art, a collection of fine recipes! so of course it had to be delicious!!!

8 c. of spinach torn
8 oz. bow tie pasta cooked and cooled
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
1/4 c. salted sunflower seeds
1/2 c red and yellow bell pepper, chopped
4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

dressing
1/2 c. oil
2/3 c. soy sauce
2/3 c. rice vinegar
6T. sugar
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 c. sesame seeds

combine dressing ingredients n a large zip lock bag.  add cooked and shredded chicken and marinate overnight in refrigerator.  combine remaining salad ingredients in large bowl.. before serving toss with dressing and chicken mixture.

Oatmeal Crispies

The other night Dane and I wanted a dessert after dinner but sadly our cupboards have been a bit bare since I went back to school so I thought, let's grab a cookbook and make the first recipe that we have all the ingredients for.  Of course the cookbook we grabbed was Pioneer Woman and the first recipe we hit was Oatmeal Crispies so we gave it a go.  We made the recipe minus the pecans and added craisins....so good!!  I am usually the type of person that can have a few cookies and be good but sadly I have been eating these for breakfast and dinner!  (It's healthy if it has oatmeal and craisins, right?)

Oatmeal Crispies

chicken pot pie with savor crumble topping!

one saturday morning while watching cartoons with george I left the tv on and came upon a cool cooking show, America's Test Kitchen.  it's awesome! this nerdy bow tie wearing guy gathered up a bunch of cooks and has them test recipes, brands, kitchen equipment and best of all, step by step instructions on how to make perfect meals! I love it. I'm usually not one for cooking shows, big yawn, but this one has had some pretty good stuff and they make everything look easy because they teach you step by step how to make the meal taste better and easier to make.

the latest episode i caught showed me this sweet recipe, Chicken pot pie with savory crumble topping!  i decided to go for it, they walked me through it and didn't make it seem so bad and I decided that for the first time in too many months to count I was going to make a really good home cooked meal...

****NOTE ****This recipe relies on two unusual ingredients: soy sauce and tomato paste. Do not omit them. They don’t convey their distinctive tastes but greatly deepen the savory flavor of the filling. When making the topping, do not substitute milk or half-and-half for the heavy cream.

Ingredients

For the Filling,

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
• 3 medium carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 1 cup)
• 2 small celery ribs , chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
•   Table salt and ground black pepper
• 10 ounces cremini mushrooms , stems trimmed, caps wiped clean and sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce (see note)
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste (see note)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• 3/4 cup frozen baby peas
•  

 Crumble Topping:

• 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
• 1 ounce Parmesan cheese , finely grated (about 1/2 cup) 
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream (see note)

Instructions

• 1. FOR THE CHICKEN: Bring chicken and broth to simmer in covered Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook until chicken is just done, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer cooked chicken to large bowl. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measuring cup and reserve. Do not wash Dutch oven. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
  

  

  This is my chicken after it was cooked, and just like the recipe said, it took exactly 12 mins! awesome!

• 2. FOR THE TOPPING: Combine flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in large bowl. Sprinkle butter pieces over top of flour. Using fingers, rub butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal.
  

  

  i didn't think i was doing this part right, but I did, it really does feel like cornmeal when you start to mash it all together! just like the recipe said! awesome!

   Stir in Parmesan. Add cream and stir until just combined. Crumble mixture into irregularly shaped pieces ranging from 1/2 to ¾ inch each onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until fragrant and starting to brown, 10 to 13 minutes. Set aside.
  

  

  here is what my crumble mixture looked like after it was cooked. I wasn't used to my new oven so I almost over cooked mine, but they are delicious! i could have eaten them plain! get your kids to do this part!

   3. FOR THE FILLING: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, celery, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. While vegetables are cooking, shred chicken into small bite-size pieces. Transfer cooked vegetables to bowl with chicken; set aside.

• 4. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their juices, about 5 minutes. Remove cover and stir in soy sauce and tomato paste. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid has evaporated, mushrooms are well browned, and dark fond begins to form on surface of pan, about 5 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to bowl with chicken and vegetables. Set aside.

side note, don't be afraid of the word dutch oven, i'm not sure why they call their pans that.

• 5. Heat butter in empty Dutch oven over medium heat. When foaming subsides, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in reserved chicken broth and milk. Bring to simmer, scraping pan bottom with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, then continue to simmer until sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and 2 tablespoons parsley.
  6. Stir chicken-vegetable mixture and peas into sauce. Pour mixture into 13 by 9-inch baking dish or casserole dish of similar size. Scatter crumble topping evenly over filling. Bake on rimmed baking sheet until filling is bubbling and topping is well browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon parsley and serve.
  
  
   this is the finished product! it was so so so good. I'm not even saying that because I made it, because honestly I'm not that great of a cook but I would make this meal again anytime! i loved it! you must try it! i promise your family will enjoy it and want it again. I made this without any help, and while my kitchen looked like this afterwards,
  
  
  haha, it was still worth it and the clean up was really pretty easy.  make sure you read through the recipe before starting though, that would have helped me out a little but all the same it was a meal worth making!!!! check out America test kitchen! you'll love all their cool recipes and ideas!!!

chickent spaghetti

recently we've tried some new recipes and found them worthy of being saved on the blog sphere. so here is one I'm making again tonight and hopefully I'll get the other posted later this week!

this recipe comes for the wonderful world of...the Pioneer woman!!! yep, she hasn't steered us wrong yet and this meal got a way thumbs up, even from some picky eating kiddo's.

here is the link to the recipe, Chicken Spaghetti

 james liked this meal so much the first time we tried it he wanted me to make another round again the same week! for someone that doesn't like eating leftovers I thought this was a big deal.  so, there's a tried and true testament to this meal! delicious!

side notes: we left out the pimento's and blended the onion real small so you could hardly taste it, so I guess we could have also left it out, (but I don't mind onions) other family members suggested that they would even add other veggies, such as celery or mushrooms. the options are endless!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

So for Bunco last month I decided to take a dessert and for some reason Lemon Bars sounded delicious so I called my mom for the recipe but she politely told me they are hard to make and I probably shouldn't serve them to people until I have made them a few times (yes, she is a perfectionist Wilcox, through and through :) )  She did tell me that Keri had this really good recipe for Lemon cookies if I wanted something lemony.  I'm not a huge lemon fan but she loved them and I know Dane is an absolute lemon-lover so if I didn't really like them he'd eat them.  I ended up making them and taking them to Bunco without tasting them (I know major mistake when serving other people) but then at Bunco people were asking who made the lemon cookies and then they wanted the recipe so I decided I better try one and well...they were DELICIOUS!!!  I had saved a couple for Dane in the fridge (which was good because I didn't bring home any leftovers home from Bunco) and he loved them so I ended up making a second batch in the same week and we have them saved in the freezer for a sweet treat.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies w/Icing

Bake @ 325 degrees

6 TB butter

2/3 C granulated sugar

2/3 C ricotta cheese

1 large egg

1 TB lemon extract

1 1/3 C flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Icing

1/3 C butter

¼ C fresh lemon juice

3 C powdered sugar

4 tsp lemon zest

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add ricotta cheese, egg and lemon extract.  Beat until well mixed.  Add dry ingredients and butter mixture; stir to mix and then beat until will blended.  Drop batter in TB portions 1 ½ “ apart on cookie sheets.

Bake cookies in 325 degree oven between 10 – 14 minutes – watch to make sure they do not over bake.  Cookies will be light on the top.  If baking more than one pan, switch pan positions every 8 minutes.

Icing

Combine Ingredients.  Add more lemon juice if needed for smoother icing.  One at a time, hold cookies by the edges and dip rounded tops into icing.  Set in a single layer, icing up (duh), on rack and let stand until icing is firm – about 10 – 15 minutes.  Serve, or store in air tight container up to one day.  Freeze to store longer.

THANKS KERI!!

Paying Our Respects...

Dane and I paid our respects from 300 miles away to the death of the family restaurant, Rafael's.  For those who don't know Rafael's has been a part of my family since before I was born.  Grandma Bonnie & Grandpa Bob loved it and any time we had a family gathering it usually was at Rafael's.  We would also go for lunch when Grandma & Grandpa would babysit me.  My dad would take us there when my mom was hosting Bunco at the house and we were kicked out.  We would go for birthday's to partake in delicious sopapillas.  We also went there the first time Dane's parents were introduced to my parents for all the fun wedding planning.  Within the last few years my aunts and uncles would gather there every Monday with Grandma Bonnie and it became a tradition that still stuck after she passed away last fall.  Sadly though, our delightful family restaurant shut it's doors on Saturday 7/31/11 and since Dane and I weren't able to go one last time with the family, we 'attempted' to make their famous 'Bean Dip Chips'!  They turned out delicious!

Recipe Items:
Tortilla Chips
Re-fried Beans
Tomatoes (1-2)
Onion (we used half)
Green Pepper (1)
Cheese

Prep:
Lay the tortilla chips on a baking sheet
chop the onion & green pepper and throw in a frying pan, you don't want to cook them but let them sweat to make them soft.  Warm up re-fried beans in a pan, once warm spread evenly on the chips.  Next sprinkle the peppers and onions on top.  Then chop the tomato and sprinkle on next.  Last you'll want to sprinkle shredding cheese across the top.  Set your oven to broil and watch closely, as soon as the cheese is melted they are done (ours took about 10 mins)

tuna melts!

okay okay, i know that when some people think of, or smell, tuna fish they tend to vomit in their months a little. I admit that I'm not one of those people i actually enjoy a good tuna fish sandwich. but I think that I have finally found the one and only tuna recipe that will swoon tuna fish haters over to from the dark side! this is not your grandmothers tuna loaf! this is really good!

and of course it would be because guess who the recipe came from? pioneer women! and she has yet to steer me wrong when it comes to meal time. here is the link to the recipe (you can even print it out to take the list to the store with you!).

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/tuna-melts/

and here our my sweet pics of making it and loving every bite.  the meal was easy, fast and so filling and healthy! and best part, I hardly even remembered I was eating tuna fish!!

see you can't even see the tuna....

 so here is our batch of the veggies, mustard, mayo, and tuna fish.  I dipped a Ritz cracker in this and it was so so good. I even thought that if I ever need an appetizer for a summer shindig, I might make this and just serve it up on crackers, or some good bread.  quick and easy!

and here it is out of the oven, like a I said so quick and easy and so so good!

these were so good and filling! and james loved them so i have a sneeky feeling that kids would eat them too! looks like a gorment grilled cheese! any way, if you are in a bind and don't want to run to your local fast food joint give these a whirl! they were a nice refreshing meal!! i promise everyone will enjoy them!