Summer Classic

A few summers ago I noticed Grace in the our garden picking a cucumber. I watched as she picked it, and ate the entire thing. That's my girl! I make this cucumber salad and between the two of us we have no problem finishing it off in a day or two. It is a perfect summer classic and this recipe is one of the best! After all, how can you go wrong with these ingredients!?

Water, salt, vinegar, sugar, whipping cream is all that is needed for the marinade. I prefer the English or seedless cucumbers but the store only had the regular ole cucumbers our last visit. When this is the case, I prefer to slice them length wise and then scoop out the seeds/insides with a spoon. Then slice them and place in the water/salt brine for about an hour. Meanwhile, slice up the onions and place them in the vinegar, sugar, and whipping cream.

Drain the cucumbers, rinse and place on paper towels to drain. Put the cucumbers in with the onions and give a good stir. Place in the refrigerator, overnight if you can wait that long, and enjoy! They made a great side dish to our Asian BBQ chicken the other night, recipe coming soon!

Cucumbers and Onions

Recipe from Krista's Kitchen

2-3 cucumbers, sliced 

Mix together 2 cups of water with 2 TBLS Of salt and stir to dissolve. 

Put cucumbers in and let sit for an hour. When ready, rinse and drain the cucumbers on a paper towel.

Mix together the following, 

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup white vinegar

1/3 cup whipping cream

Add a sliced onion, followed by the rinsed cucumbers. Stir to combine

Refrigerate preferably over night...if you can wait that long:)

Chicken Fajitas the EASY way!

These are amazing!! Found the idea from Holly over at Life as a Lofthouse and I am so glad I tried them right away. This is just a suggestion, no real recipe to go with this one! I started with 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast. If you follow along, you know I like to cut my chicken up pretty small..cooks faster and easier for my little mouths to eat and chew up! Slice up an onion and green pepper, throw them in a gallon size zip lock bag.

 Pour in a bottle this new marinade from Lawry's. Love it. I started this first thing in the morning, I like to let it marinade all day long. 

When your ready, heat up about a TBLS of oil in a skillet. When ready, put in the chicken, onion and pepper mixture in the skillet and cook till chicken is no longer pink. 

Using some soft taco size shells, I put the chicken in a shell with some shredded cheese, rolled up and placed on my indoor grill pan to warm them through. I enjoyed this method of cooking the chicken. I have done fajitas before, where you cook the veggies, remove them, cook the chicken, then add them all back in...but from here on out, this will be the way it is done in our house. Easy and taste great!

The next day for lunch the kids and I used the leftover chicken to make this amazing salad! I warmed up the chicken and put it on top of some iceburg and Romain lettuce. Threw on some cheese, cilantro and sour cream. It was eaten as well as the fajitas the night before. 

BBQ Cups

When you need to make something for dinner that is fast and easy try these little meat filled cups. I found this idea over at Life as a Lofthouse and will be making it again. Next time I may even turn it into a breakfast meal and add egg and sausage.  Start by browning one pound of hamburger meat.

When the meat has cooked, add in about 1/2 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes until heated through. Spray a muffin tin with non stick cooking spray. Take a tube (12oz) of refrigerated biscuits and flatten each biscuit on the counter, just using your hands, then press into the muffin tin.

After each biscuit is in the muffin tin, add in ground beef and sprinkle shredded cheese over the top. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven and using a spoon remove and serve!

I may have filled mine a little high, however they stayed together and tasted great!

Potatoes and Dill

I love red potatoes, new potatoes, "B" size potatoes, whatever you want to call them! I enjoy them on the grill, or in the oven or boiled then sauteed in some butter and garlic. However tonight I wanted to make them using some fresh dill I bought last week. I melted some butter and added some minced garlic, dill, and a little salt. 

Next, dice up the potatoes into bite size pieces and started boiling a pot of water. Just a few inches of water in the pan and then put the steam basket in the pot and covered for about 15 minutes. I tested at about 10 minutes and they were still not as tender as I like. 

 Once they are tender, not mushy remove to a bowl and pour the butter/dill/garlic/salt mixture over the top, and stir to coat. These were a knockout at dinner! My little lady usually just picks at a few potatoes but she inhaled two helpings of these! 

 There were a great addition to tonight's meal of BBQ chicken legs and corn on the cob! Chicken recipe coming up tomorrow! 

Red/Baby/New/"B"/whatever you want to call them/ potatoes and Dill

6-8 medium to small size potatoes, diced

Bring about 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil, making sure that you don't add too much water that it touches the steaming basket. Place potatoes in steam basket and add to pot, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. 

While potatoes stir together;

3 TBLS melted butter

1 heaping tablespoon fresh chopped Dill

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 tsp. salt

When potatoes are fork tender, remove and place in a bowl. Pour butter mixture over potatoes and stir to coat. 

I have been on a bit of a dinner time slump lately. Getting tired of thinking of recipes, or just tired of cooking dinner in general. However this recipe knocked me right out of my slump. I made this for dinner and had leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day. I am not the type to enjoy leftovers and most of the time I end up throwing them away, however when it comes to this meal, we will eat every last bite! I will make this again soon, both kids loved the tender chicken and Doug was even pleased, which is saying a lot since he is so picky about what sauces he will eat.

I used bone in and skin on chicken breast. In an oven safe cooking pot, I browned the chicken breast that had been sprinkled with salt and pepper before hand. When they are browned, remove to a plate.

Place sliced onion rings and whole garlic cloves in the oil and stir for about two minutes. Pour in a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce. I ended up using about a bottle and a half. 

Place chicken breast back in the pot and cover, place in a 300 degree oven for about an hour and a half.

Your kitchen will begin to smell amazing. I couldn't wait to eat this meal! Remove the chicken and the meat will literally fall right off the bone. I also pulled off the skin of the chicken breast as I pulled the meat off the bone.  I consumed some of the chicken then placed the rest back in the pot to simmer in the sauce until dinner time. I removed the garlic cloves but left the onions in the chicken mixture. 

I love cole slaw on top of the meat, served on a bun. This is a perfect and easy summer meal! 

Barbecue Chicken
from The Pioneer Woman

4 bone in/skin on chicken breast (the original recipe calls for one whole cut up chicken but to make Doug happy I stuck to using all white meat)
One onion, sliced
6 whole garlic cloves, skin removed but left whole
2 TBLS canola oil
1 to 1 1/2 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Heat canola oil in a large oven safe pot. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken in oil and turn to brown. Remove to a plate and place the onion and garlic cloves in, cooking for about 2 minutes. Pour in the BBQ sauce and return the chicken to the pot. Place lid on and bake for about an hour and a half. Remove skin and bones from chicken and shred using two forks. Place back in sauce to simmer and keep warm until you are ready to serve!

Oreo Pops

I have yet to make the ever popular cake pops. The version below from Jamie Cooks it up, just requires a package of Oreos and cream cheese...easy. No baking required! 

Start by mixing in a blender, softened cream cheese and 1 package of Oreo cookies. I used the golden oreos, but I am sure the chocolate Oreo's would taste just as good. Mix until combined and place in a container and freeze for about 15 minutes. Remove from freezer and roll into balls, place a sucker stick in each rolled ball and then place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Stick them back in the freezer till firm, about 20 minutes. Follow the package directions for the candy melts and mix till smooth. Dip the oreo ball in and swirl around, tapping off the excess back into the bowl. I put sprinkles on some of them, others I tried to swirl the alternate color around it. 

I stuck them in a tissue covered piece of foam for our recent fish fry. Some of the guest swore they were just dipped marshmallows, however taking a bite they were hopefully pleasantly surprised! 

Busy Morning Cinnamon Rolls

I love when a meal or dish brings back a memory or a story. And these Cinnamon rolls prove that even the simplest and easiest dish can come with a story. I remember this particular story like it was yesterday, however I was actually in about 3rd grade, so doing the math, that was many many years ago. We were visiting my Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy one weekend and my aunt made these Cinnamon rolls. Uncle Bob was at church and by the time he returned home, there was maybe one roll left. It was at that moment that I saw a side of my uncle that I will never be able to forget. It was at that moment I realized that throwing a tantrum was not something only small children do. Uncle Bob threw his fit and we all watched as he was unraveling in front of us. To this day my sister and I still bring that day up. He is still bitter about it. You would think that Aunt Kathy spent all night on these rolls, but that's the beauty of these rolls, they are simple and quick! My favorite cinnamon rolls take a little more time, so when I want something fast and easy these rolls are at the top of my list!

Cinnamon, sugar, butter and a can of crescent rolls, that's all you need for these rolls. Start by unrolling rolls and take two crescent rolls and press together at the seams. Spread with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. 

Starting at the short end, roll and place seam side down on a cutting board. I was able to slice the roll into five Cinnamon rolls. Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place in a preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. 

For the icing, it's one of those "eyeball the amounts" kind of icing. Starting with a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar, stir in a tablespoon of milk and whisk. Add more milk or powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency. Pour icing over the rolls and serve!