Pin a Day: Slow Cooker Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce

This past weekend was cool and wet, so we ended it with a delicious crock pot meal.  We love Asian foods so this Slow Cooker Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce sounded perfect.   I put some chicken in the crockpot.  Next, I made a sauce of coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, honey, garlic,  and red pepper flakes.   I covered the chicken with the sauce and turned the crock pot on low for about 6 hours. I checked it about halfway through and turned the chicken over.  After 6 hours, I shredded the chicken and put it back in to soak up the sauce.   During this time, I chopped up some peanuts, sliced some scallions, and got the water boiling for some rice noodles.  Once the noodles, had cooked, we were ready to serve.  This was aa really tasty dish.  There was a ton of great flavor without being too spicy or sweet.  I think in the future, I might consider adding some broccoli or carrots so that it had some vegetables in it. I also liked that this meal made enough for leftovers for a few lunches.  This will definitely be a meal we make again in the future.

Dream Dinners: Canadian Bacon Stuffed French Bread

Friday was a busy day for me.  I went to work in the morning and had to do a little bit of Harvey prep in the afternoon.  I ate lunch and we ran to get gas, a new bed for Lola (which she has already started eating!), and some groceries.  We were almost done at the grocery store when it started pouring.   We brought in our food, dried off, and hunkered down for a weekend of rain.  The best part of our Friday was dinner.  We had another Dream Dinners fan favorite, which is definitely becoming a favorite of ours.  I love sandwiches, so I figured I would like this.  Making the sandwich in the store was fun, too.  It consisted of french bread, cream cheese mix, Canadian bacon, sausage, and Swiss cheese.  I heated up the oven to 350 and baked it for 35 minutes.  At that point, I opened up the foil and baked it another 10 minutes.  I let the sandwich sit for a few minutes before slicing and serving.  This dinner was delightful.  The bread was so tasty and the toppings were perfect.  We will definitely be ordering this meal again in the future and hope to try replicating with our own ingredients.

Dream Dinners: Outlaw Chicken Marinara

On Thursday, we tried a new Dream Dinners meal.  This Outlaw Chicken Marinara sounded a lot like Chicken Parmesan, so I was pretty excited to try it.  This dish was assembled with breaded chicken, ricotta cheese, marinara sauce, mozzerella cheese, and seasonings.  I heated up my oven to 375, covered the dish with foil and cooked it for 30 minutes.  I took off the foil and baked it 10 more minutes uncovered.  Finally, I broiled it for about 5 minutes to brown the cheese.  We let it sit a little bit and served it with some fresh cut strawberries and salad.  The flavor and seasoning were pretty yummy on this dish, but it just wasn't our favorite.  It wasn't terrible, just ok.  Most of our Dream Dinners dishes have been so delicious, so ok was a bit of a disappointment.  Mike said that the leftovers were not great.  Next time this dish appears, we will not be ordering it, but given how great all the other meals have been, one disappointment isn't too bad. 

Dream Dinners: Cheddar Filled Mini Meatloaves with Potato Pancakes and Almond Green Beans

Everyone at work always raves about the various meatloaf recipes at work, so I was pretty excited about dinner last night.  I had also been told that the potato pancakes were fantastic and I already knew that I liked the green beans.  They were right!  This meal was delicious and I wish that I had followed the directions a little bit better on the potato pancakes.  I preheated the oven to 425 and prepared a muffin tin.  While I was waiting for the oven to heat up, I mixed the ground beef with the seasoning mix.  I shaped the meatloaf into 6 balls and placed them in the muffin tins.  I added 2 tsp of cheddar cheese to each mini meatloaf and pressed it into the center.  Next, I spread the glaze on each meatloaf and put them in the oven for 25 minutes.  Towards the end of the meatloaf's cook time, I heated up two skillets to make the green beans and potato pancakes.  For the green beans, I toasted the almonds for two minutes, added in the butter, seasoning and green beans, and cooked for about 5 minutes.  I added the pancakes to another skillet and cooked them about 3 minutes on each side.  I should have kept them frozen, but I didn't see the directions until it was too late.  Everything finished up at about the same time and dinner was served.  We already knew we loved the green beans, but the meat loaves and pancakes were good, too.  The meatloaf had great flavor, was well cooked, and was the perfect size when cooked in the muffin tins.  The potato pancakes were tasty, but we really didn't care for the dipping sauce.  Overall, we really liked this meal and will definitely be making mini meatloaves in muffin tins more often. 

Dream Dinners: Orange Asian Chicken and Asian Vegetable Quinoa

Last night, I made a meal that I had really been excited about.  One of my customers told me that the Orange Asian Chicken was her all time favorite Dream Dinners meal, so I made sure to put it in my August order.  I also made sure to grab a side of Asian Vegetable Quinoa from the Sides and Sweets freezer because it was so good.  I started by heating up a skillet.  I transferred each chicken breast to the bag of bread crumbs and flour and shook it, making sure to coat each chicken breast thouroughly.  I browned the chicken for 4 minutes on each side.  Next, I added the sauce, turned down the heat, added a lid, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  At this point, I heated up a second skillet to cook the quinoa.  I checked the temperature of the chicken after 10 minutes, and let it cook another 3 minutes.  Finally, we were ready to eat.  Once again, Dream Dinners knocked it out of the park!  The orange chicken was tangy, well breaded, and tender.  The quinoa was an excellent side choice.  This meal was just as good as any orange chicken you'd find at a restaurant.   I would definitely pick this again and I am guessing there will be a fight for this leftover.

Pin a Day: Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Lots of people enjoy Taco Tuesdays and after last night's meal, I think we might start having Spaghetti Sundays!  I decided to try making Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce.   Normally, I open a jar of Ragu or whatever sauce sounds yummy, add frozen meatballs, boil my pasta, and I'm done.  This took a bit longer, but the results were pretty great.  I started by browning some ground beef and sautéing it with salt, pepper, and onions.  Once that was done, I added it to my crockpot with crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, minced garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, a bay leaf, and red pepper flakes.  I gave it a good stir and turned the crockpot on high for about 3.5-4 hours.  It was supposed to cook on low, but I started it a bit late.  After 2 hours, I had Mike give the sauce a stir and a taste, so we added more garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, and red pepper flakes.  At 3 hours, I heated up the oven to cook some bread, made a salad, and started my noodles boiling.  Once the bread had cooked, and the noodles were done, it was dinner time.  This was really excellent spaghetti sauce.  It definitely had a kick to it thanks to my heavy hand with the garlic and red pepper flakes.  My bread and spaghetti noodles were both from Whole Foods 365 and they were pretty delicious.  The bread was sealed and needed to be cooked, so it was nice and fresh.  This sauce was worth the time spent, as it was definitely better than jarred sauce.   I made enough pasta for about 4 servings, but we definitely had extra sauce.  I put the extra sauce in a plastic container and froze it, so we can have a quick and easy meal on another Sunday.  This recipe could definitely be adapted to taste with many different seasonings.

SMASH!

It's been so hot here, so we have been lazy most weekends.  Staying home has finally gotten a bit old to us, so we had a fun day out yesterday.  We started off with some donuts at Morning Sunshine Breakfast Treats after our morning walk.  We went back to the house and got cleaned up before we started our next adventure.  A few weeks ago, we won some free movie passes and treats from Alamo Drafthouse and we've been meaning to use them.  We got there pretty early to use our passes to get our tickets to Atomic Blonde and then had to pick a lunch location.  We decided to give Smash Burger a try.  The menu was varied and all the burgers sounded yummy.  We could pick from beef, turkey, bean or chicken and a variety of different styles.  I knew that we were having popcorn at the movies, so I went a little bit lighter with the chicken Baja Jalapeño Sandwich.  It was a grilled chicken patty with jalapeno jack cheese, guacamole, chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, and jalapeños on a multigrain bun.  I decided to skip the jalapeños and enjoy.  It was really tasty.  The chicken was cooked to perfection and the chipotle mayo gave it quite a kick.   

Mike went for traditional with a triple double and Smash fries.  His burger was yummy and we really liked the fries.  They were well seasoned with rosemary and very crisp.  It was a great lunch stop and we will definitely try it again, perhaps when we head back to the Alamo for our second set of movie passes and treats. 

Dream Dinners: Chipotle Aztec Steaks and Lemon Broccoli

Yesterday, I talked about the high quality of the food from Dream Dinners and our meal last night was a great example.  We made the Chipotle Aztec Steaks and a side of Lemon Broccoli.  In addition, I boiled some pasta, added a little butter and Parmesan seasoning, and we had a complete meal.  I started by making the pasta and heated up the grilled pan.  I cooked the steaks for 5 minutes on each side on medium high heat.  Once I flipped the steaks, I added the broccoli to a skillet and cooked it about 5 minutes.  I allowed the steaks to rest for a few minutes before we plated our meals.  The steaks were cooked to perfection.  I love using my grill pan and the directions on the steak were spot on.  Our steaks were browned on the outside with pink inside.  The flavor was great too with a little bit of a kick and a smoky taste.  The pieces of broccoli were quite large and the lemon butter seasoning added great flavor.  The broccoli was tender and juicy.  We were really satisfied with the steaks and this meal and can't wait to try our next Dream Dinners meal. 

Dream Dinners: Pub Style Chicken with Mashed Potatoes

Once again, I am trying a new Dream Dinners meal.  I have been very happy with all the recipes I've made and also with the quality of ingredients in the meals.  Last night was no different.  I wasn't totally sure what to think of this recipe, but we were very happy with the results.  I preheated the oven to 350 and prepared the pan.  I added the chicken to the pan and spread sauce on top of it.  I baked the chicken for 20 minutes uncovered in the dish. I pulled it out of the oven and sprinkled it with a bacon/cheese mixture and let it cook for 15 minutes.  At this point, I put the mashed potatoes in a saucepan and heated them up.  My chicken cooked slowly or my oven was off last night and I had to cook my chicken another 10 minutes to reach the desired 165 degrees.  Finally, it was ready to eat and I served the chicken breast on a bed of mashed potatoes.  This was delicious!  The mashed potatoes were soft and creamy.  The chicken was cooked to perfection and so flavorful.  It had a ranch/teriyaki and peppery flavor to it.  We had a salad on the side, which we ate while the chicken was cooking longer, and it was a complete meal.  The chicken would also be tasty on a bun or pretzel roll for leftover purposes.  Another night, another dinner success! 

Pin a Day: Apple Doodles

It's another Baking Wednesday!  I have been working hard to find recipes that won't melt in the heat at trivia, but I don't want to make the same thing every week.  Cookies seem to be a safe option, so I looked through my Pinterest boards for a new cookie recipe.  Back to school equals fall in my book, so I used that inspiration and made these Apple Doodles.   I may have been jumping the gun a little bit, but I was eager to try these.  I started by peeling and dicing an apple.  I picked a Granny Smith, but you can pick your favorite variety.  Next, I creamed the butter and sugar in my stand mixer.  To that, I added in vanilla and an egg.  In a separate bowl, I combined flour, pudding mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. I gradually added that to the mixer, scraping the sides as I went.  Finally, I added in the apples and white chocolate chips.  I chilled the dough in the fridge for an hour.  During that time, I preheated the oven to 350 and made a cinnamon sugar mix.  I rolled the dough into balls and rolled them in the cinnamon sugar mix before placing them on baking sheets.  I was able to make almost 3 dozen cookies.  I let the cookies bake about 9 minutes.  They were a little underbaked, but I hate burnt cookies.  10-11 minutes would probably be ideal.    I let the cookies set on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before allowing them to completely cool on cooling racks.  We had plenty of cookies to share with our favorite beer tenders, our awesome team mates, and some of our favorite competing teams.  The cookies were definitely fall in a bite.  The apples were nice and soft.  I enjoyed the cinnamon sugar and wished that I had a pumpkin beer to chase them with.  The cookies brought us luck and we pulled in a 3rd place showing after some tough rounds.  These were a great fall tasting cookie that were simple to make and definitely enjoyed by all.

Pin a Day: Easy Arroz Con Pollo

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day.  We got a little bit done in the morning and took a while getting ready to go out for a late lunch.  We weren't really hungry for dinner, but we knew we couldn't skip dinner.  I decided to try this Easy Arroz Con Pollo.   This recipe made plenty of leftovers, but it also allowed us to eat as much or as little as we liked.  I started by cooking some chicken.  While the chicken cooked, I worked on the rest of the recipe.  I heated up some oil in a skillet.  To the heated oil, I added onion, rice, and garlic, cooking about 5 minutes.  Next, I added in chicken broth, tomatoes, cumin, and oregano, cooking it about 20 minutes or until the rice was tender.  Finally, I added in the cooked chicken and peas.  I cooked that for about 5 more minutes.  The results were great.  The meal had a bit of a kick-spice wise, but wasn't too spicy.  We just ate this as is, but it would be great as nachos or tacos.  To make it a little creamier, you could add cheese or sour cream. Adding more chicken broth, this could be a tasty soup, too.  I liked that this meal was healthy, easy, and provided plenty of leftovers for later.  We will definitely have this again-either as is or in a modified version.

Grove is in the Heart

Welcome to Cedar Park's newest hot spot, The Grove!  We headed over early last night to try it out.  Reservations are available, but we didn't like the times that were open (4:45 or 9:15).  So, we took a chance and managed to sneak in after a 10-15 minute wait.  The atmosphere was very Austin cool with a peaceful winery vibe.  The patio would be great for a fall or spring visit, but last night was way too hot for that.  While we waited for our table, I enjoyed my first frose and Mike supported Whitestone by drinking a blonde.  After being seated, we had the tough task of deciding what to eat.  The menu sounded delicious, but there was only so much room in our stomachs.  We opted to skip appetizers, saving room for drinks and desserts.   

Frose and Blonde from Whitestone

While waiting for our meal, we split a Malbec flight.  Our wait carried it out in a really cool device and it was accompanied by a card that gave us details about each wine in the flight.  We liked the first one the best and agreed that the last was a little too much for us.  The menu had about 10 different flights depending on what you wanted to try, which I think is a genius idea.   

Malbec Flight

Watching the various plates and drinks pass by made me really excited for our food.  It was not a disappointment.  Mike picked pizza and it was delicious.  The bacon was probably some of the best bacon ever and all the toppings were fresh and perfectly paired.   

Popeye and Olive Oil Pizza

I picked the Grilled Pork Tenderloin.  It was marinated in a Tex Mex lime seasoning and accompanied with black bean, corn, and pepper mix.  The flavor of the pork was amazing!  The citrus and spice were on point and the pork was cooked perfectly.  We agreed that this might have been the best pork we've ever had. 

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Midway through our meal, I let Mike know that I would be requesting the dessert menu.  He appreciated it, so he didn't stuff himself full of pizza.  The Grove didn't have a printed dessert menu, but our waiter gave a great description of our options.  There were many standard choices, such as creme brûlée, pineapple upside down cake, and chocolate torte.  Those all sounded fine, but when he described the chocolate Nutella dessert, we were salivating.  It was a small, moist chocolate cake on top of chocolate, strawberry, and Nutella sauce.  The cake had been cut open and filled with a Nutella mousse and covered with more sauce, topped with a strawberry.  It was decadent and the perfect finale to our experience.  We loved everything we tried last night and look forward to returning.  I may have found my birthday dinner spot, perhaps I'll be able to celebrate on the patio. 

Chocolate Nutella Dessert

Dream Dinners: Southwest Pork Carnita Wraps and Key Lime Corn

My new job has been keeping us well fed!  I have assembled meals in the store twice and have cooked several different meals at home.  I love that the meals cook quickly and give us a variety without having to buy ingredients 50 million new ingredients.  Last night, we tried the Southwest Pork Carnita Wraps and I added a side of Key Lime Corn.  We had made the Key Lime Corn before, so we new it was tasty.  I started off by bringing rice and water to a boil and boiling it for 20 minutes.  Next, I added the pork mixture to another pot and simmered it about 20 minutes.  At the very end of the cook time, I cooked the Key Lime Corn in a skillet for about 5 minutes and we were ready to go.  In each wrap, we had a tortilla, rice, pork mixture, and cheese blend.  This was another simple, yet yummy meal.  The pork had a slightly spicy and smoky flavor, which paired nicely with the sweet and tangy Key Lime Corn.  This meal also provided plenty of leftovers.  Mike had some for lunch and there is still enough leftover for at least one more wrap.  The pork would also be tasty on chips as nachos.  I love trying the new meals and being able to give tips to my customers, as well as enjoying them with Mike. 

Dream Dinners: BBQ Chip Chicken Tenders with Dipping Sauce and Sour Cream and Chive Wedges

Chicken tenders are always so delicious to eat, but not as delightful to make.  I usually hate making them, but I didn't mind making these.  The chicken tenders and wedges were both things from Dream Dinners.  I had tried the chicken tenders as an appetizer, which were really tasty.  I started by preheating the oven to 375 and preparing a pan for the tenders and a separated one for the wedges.  I put the wedges in about 5 minutes before the tenders because they were supposed to cook at a higher temperature.  Then, I got to work on the chicken tenders.  I poured the BBQ crumb mixture on a plate.  I massaged the bag of chicken breasts to blend the sauce, removed the chicken from the bag, and cut each into three tenders.  I coated each tender in the chip mixture and placed them on a baking sheet.  I cooked the chicken tenders for about 20 minutes.  I mixed the dipping sauce while the chicken tenders and wedges cooked.  We each took 3 tenders, some wedges and the dipping sauce.  The meal was really yummy.  Everything cooked nice and crisp and the dipping sauce was amazing!  It was a little bit spicy and tangy-I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow to see exactly what I put in the sauce. The BBQ chips gave the tenders a great flavor and we also liked the seasoning on the potato wedges.  We have been really happy with all of our Dream Dinners meals and are excited to try more. 

Pin a Day: Perfect Blondies

Yesterday was Trivia and baking day.  We were hoping to give the team that has been winning a run for their money, so I needed a great treat to help attract team members.  I decided to try these Perfect Blondies.   I deleted the toasted coconut because its not our favorite, but otherwise I tried to follow the directions.  I started by preheating the oven and prepping my 9x13 pan.  Next, I melted and browned the butter in a small saucepan.  I let it cool and then mixed it with brown sugar.  To that mixture, I added eggs and vanilla.  Next, I added in sea salt and baking powder.  Then, I carefully added the flour, scraping the sides as I went along.  Finally, I added in some dark chocolate chips and added the batter to my pan.  I baked it for 20 minutes and allowed it to cool.  I cut the blondies into small squares before we headed to trivia.  As is customary, I made sure to share with my team, my favorite rival teams, the beertenders, our quiz master, and even the food truck guy.  The blondies were a hit and helped us to bring home a winner!  It's always fun to play trivia and we enjoy a good win, too!  This recipe was pretty easy and tasty, so I am sure that I will make it again.

Dream Dinners: Terra-cotta Chicken with Pita and Hummus

This weekend I made my second set of Dream Dinners meals.  I made a full month's worth and it was at a busy session, but I was happy with the results and managed to fit everything in my cooler bags and freezer.  Sunday night, I pulled out a meal and last night, I cooked Terra-cotta Chicken with Pita and Hummus.  I sliced up a few strawberries while the oven and grill pan were preheating.  Once the grill pan was heated up, I added the chicken breasts and allowed them to cook for 6 minutes on each side.  I wrapped the pitas in aluminum foil and put them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes to warm up.  After the chicken had cooked on both sides, I removed it from the stove top and plated it.  I added a squirt of hummus to each plate and I cut the pitas into bite sized pieces for dipping.  We really liked this meal.  The marinade gave the chicken a really tasty flavor.  I liked the hummus and pita combo as a side, too.  This meal was quick, easy, and tasty.  We would definitely make it again next time it comes up in rotation. 

Pin a Day: Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls

My summer time meal goals are pretty simple.  I try to make foods that are quick, tasty, healthy, and that don't heat up the kitchen too much.  Last night, I accomplished that with Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls.   I started by boiling water for rice.  Once the rice going, I got started on the chicken.   I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and seasoned them with salt and pepper.  I added a little bit of oil to a nonstick skillet, heated it up, and cooked the chicken.  While the chicken was cooking, I mixed a sauce of soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and cornstarch.  I added the sauce to the chicken and cooked it until it thickened up.  I also steamed some frozen broccoli in the microwave.  After everything cooked, it was dinner time.  We added rice, broccoli, and chicken to our bowls and bon appetite!  This meal was tasty-we always love Asian inspired dishes.  It didn't make a huge mess and cooked pretty quickly.  Overall, we were very happy with this choice.

Pin a Day: Super Soft Sprinkle Pudding Cookies

Trivia nights usually equal baking days and yesterday was no different.  The last treat I made for trivia night was delicious, but melty.  I decided I needed to make something that was less likely to melt for this week.  Of course, this week was a chilly 82 degrees. :) I opted to try these Super Soft Sprinkle Pudding Cookies.   They sounded simple, tasty, and less likely to melt.  I started by preheating my oven to 350 and softening some butter.  I mixed together the butter and sugar.  Next, I added in eggs, vanilla, salt, and baking soda.  The pudding mix was added next and then the flour.  Finally, I added in the sprinkles, scooped them out, and lined them on my cookie sheets.  They baked for 8 minutes and were lightly browned.  I might consider baking them 7 minutes next time to give them a lighter color.  I let them set on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes before moving them to my cooling racks.  I packed them up and they were ready for trivia.  We had a full team last night and the cookies barely had a chance to leave our table as we devoured them.  They were light, soft, and not overly rich- a perfect summer time cookie.  Mike and I brainstormed using different flavor puddings and add ins to create a variety of different cookie flavors, as the base recipe was pretty simple to follow.  I'm glad I found this recipe and will definitely be making it or a variation again.

Dream Dinners: Chicken Soft Tacos with Key Lime Corn

Last night, I had a meeting at work, so I was glad to have a quick meal to make when I got home.  These chicken soft tacos cooked quick and tasted great.  This was our last meal of our intro offer and we've been very happy with the meals.  I heated up some oil in a skillet and added my chicken mix in for about 2-3 minutes.  Next, I added the sweet cilantro lime sauce and cooked that for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, I heated up the key lime corn mix for 5 minutes.  I popped the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds to heat them up and we were ready to serve.  We topped our tortillas with the chicken mix, key lime corn, and shredded cheese mix.  I also added a little sour cream from the fridge because I love sour cream.  We loved the flavor of these tacos and the corn, but it was definitely not 3 serving for us.  We each had two tacos and there was no more meat left.  We had a little leftover corn.  If we pick this meal in the future, we may choose to make a six serving size because we like tacos and love taco leftovers.  I can't wait to make and try my August meals.  This time I have a full month's worth and I will be trying more sides and sweets so I can better make recommendations to my customers.  If you are in the Austin area, you may consider giving Dream Dinners a try.  I am hoping to host a party at some point this fall or winter.

Pin a Day: Cheese Crusted Beef Tenderloin Steaks

I love a good steak, but I like to switch up the way I cook them from time to time.  I was super excited to try this recipe for Cheese Crusted Beef Tenderloin Steaks.   This was a really simple and tasty recipe that I will definitely make again at some point.  I heated up the broiler and prepped my pan.  I opened up the steaks and peppered each steak.  I put them in the broiler for 5 minutes on each side.  While they were cooking, I mixed together Italian blend cheese, blue cheese, and some diced scallions.  After the broiling was complete, I split the cheese mixture between the two steaks and cooked them for 2-3 minutes until the cheese had melted.  I served them with a baked potato, fresh strawberries, and a side salad.  We really enjoyed these steaks.  I hadn't made steaks in the broiler before, but these turned out great.  They were cooked to perfection and the cheese added yummy flavor.  This was a simple recipe, but I am happy to learn a new way to cook steak and a new option for topping them.