Chicken with mushrooms and bacon makes a tender, juicy and surprisingly flavorful chicken dinner. The chicken breasts are dredged in flour and browned in a skillet to keep them juicy on the inside. The mushrooms, and bacon are quickly sauted and added to the chicken in the crockpot where they simmer for only four hours. Put them in the crockpot at lunchtime and come home to a wonderfully aromatic dinner. Serve with brown rice, pasta or potatoes with vegetables on the side. Have fruit or ice cream for dessert. (Even better ice cream with fruit.) Use chicken breasts that have been flattened or sliced to about an inch thick. They will cook more evenly than the chunky chicken breast. This slow cooker chicken recipe is a simple meal and takes less than 15 minutes and one skillet to ... [Read More]
simple
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Bytes decided he was in the mood for Grandma Call’s No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. Deep chocolate flavor, textured with oats and coconut, those cookies were a favorite of his. And of Grandma’s thirteen other grandkids who wandered through her kitchen. She always had some goodie tucked away for their visits and this was a frequent flier! When the clink of the cookie jar lid was heard from the kitchen, it was usually a taller grandchild helping themselves and a cousin. Too close to dinnertime and Grandma would peer around the corner into the kitchen and warn the red handed cookie holder that mealtime was imminent. But if timed right, she would pretend she didn’t hear a thing and the pilferer was home free. For one of her birthdays, the family compiled a book of Grandma’s ... [Read More]
Honey Butter Baked Pear
Pear baked in honey laced with butter. I had to start with the basics for this one. And I'm so glad I did! Bosc pears are an aristocratic fruit. A ripe Bosc pear has a sweet,somewhat spicy refined taste and is buttery smooth on your tongue. They are firm and more densely textured than other pears so hold their shape beautifully when cooked. Their shape is elongated and elegant. They can be distinquished by their unique soft cinnamon bronzy skin. Bosc (pronounced “Bawsk”) pears are available beginning in September through the winter months until mid-spring. Of French origin, most Bosc pears purchased in the US are grown in Washington and Oregon. In Europe, they are known as Kaiser Alexander Pears. This was the first time I ever baked a pear. Big mistake – waiting this long ... [Read More]
Parmesan Panko Crusted Chicken
Parmesan Panko Crusted Chicken -- another quick and easy dinner. Chicken made moist with egg, flavored with parmesan cheese and panko, then crisped in a bit of olive oil. Tender and flavorful any time, any season and picture perfect enough for guests. This is one of my “stand in the refrigerator door-- what am I going to cook now?” inventions, so if you are looking for gourmet – maybe next time! I spied a jar of grated parmesan cheese in the refrigerator door, looked at the package of chicken tenderloins in the freezer next door and remembered seeing parmesan chicken on a restaurant menu once and there you go. Chicken breast tenderloins are slices of chicken breast about one half inch thick. They’re not available in all stores, but I can buy them at one of the supermarkets for ... [Read More]
Wicked Good Simple Sweet Slaw
My mother’s Sweet Coleslaw recipe. I could eat it twice a day at least four days a week. Crunchy, creamy and the perfect accompaniment for anything. I’ve never seen another recipe for coleslaw this simple – and no vinegar. I don’t consider myself a picky eater by any means – just please, please, please don’t give me coleslaw with vinegar in it. Who wants vinegar when we can have sweet and creamy, I say! I’m sure Mom’s recipe started out with one medium head of cabbage, sliced very thin to make approximately four cups. You can do that. You can also shred cabbage very nicely with the food processor. I prefer packaged shredded cabbage – at least until garden season with our own fresh cabbage. Mom was also a flexible cook (where do you think I got that???) so she would adapt. ... [Read More]
Peanut Butter Double Chocolate Bars
Christmas at Wheel's family farm included candy. I zeroed in on the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars Grandma made. The peanut butter cup knockoff. Tastes just like the cups in the bright orange wrapper -- aka Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! Sweet peanut butter wrapped in chocolate -- bliss! This is a very simple recipe – four ingredients counting the secret and unexpected one. It’s faster to make with a food processor and the microwave, but easily done by hand. I cut the recipe in half to make 32 pieces in an 8x8 pan instead of the 48 pieces Grandma made in a 9x 13. Line the 8x8 pan with non-stick aluminum foil, parchment or wax paper leaving a 3 inch overhang on each end to make “handles” so you can lift the candy out of the pan for slicing without losing a single piece. The ... [Read More]
