"Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Easy Microwave Peanut Brittle

The other day at Publix they had the large cans of Planter's Peanuts BOGO.  I had not one, but two coupons I could use.  One store coupon and one manufacturer coupon.  This made these peanuts about $1 per can. Yeah!  I came home with 4 large cans.  I then remembered this recipe that I hadn't made in awhile.  It's so easy and taste pretty much like my Bigmama's homemade brittle that she use to make all the time  when I was a child.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup karo syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup planters peanuts

Place sugar and  karo syrup in a microwave safe bowl.  Stir. Microwave for 5 minutes.
Stir in peanuts and the butter.  Stir and cook for another 2 1/2 minutes.  The recipe calls for 3-4 minutes but I found this to work better.  Remove from microwave and add the soda and vanilla.  Stir and immediately pour onto a cookie sheet that you have sprayed with Pam.  Allow to cool completely.  Break into pieces just the right side to eat.  Store in an container with a good tight lid.

Roasted chicken with vegetables

We had dinner the other night with some good friends at  Cracker Barrel.  We decided to order the roasted chicken since it was only offered for a limited time.  It was very good and I decided that it could be made at home easily.  A few days later I was at Kroger and they had the whole chickens cut in half and marked down in price.  Perfect chance to try this.  I have a large braiser so it was perfect but you can do this in a dutch oven.  I sprayed the pan with Pam.  Then I laid the whole, half chicken in the pan.  I had some Montreal chicken seasoning.  I love the Montreal steak seasoning so I decided, why not.  I shook the Montreal chicken seasoning over the half chicken, both sides but I left the skin side up.  I surrounded the chicken with vegetables.  I had potatoes, carrots, onion and an ear of corn that I broke in half.  I placed this in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.  I then lowered the heat to 300 and put the lid on the pan.  I check the chicken with a meat thermometer every 20 minutes till it reached the desired temperature.  Couldn't have been easier.

Now, with the left overs...Larry doesn't like left overs so I had to do something completely different if he was going to eat it.  I put the deboned chicken and left over vegetables and drippings in a baking dish.  I had  green peas and frozen corn in the freezer so I added a little of both.  I stirred in a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise and added a little chicken broth so it wouldn't be too dry.  I took my Pioneer baking  mix and added about a half stick of melted butter and a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and enough milk to be a little wetter than you would have for biscuits.  You need to be able to spread it.  I poured it over the chicken/vegetable mixture and gently spread it out with a spatula.  You don't want to mix it in at all.  I baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes until it's lightly brown.  This made really good chicken pot pie. 

If you happened to have poultry seasoning, it would make the dough extra tasty if you add a little but it's not necessary.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

One Pot Pasta

I ran across this recipe just the other day and I had to try it just to see if it would work.  Not only did it work but it was easy and delicious.  Larry even liked it and he's not really a pasta fan.  As always, this is my easy version of the original recipe.

1 package of sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
2/3 cup frozen green peas
1/4 teaspoon of thyme
2 zucchini, washed and cut into bite size pieces or thinly sliced
1/2 box angel hair pasta
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or other large pan, add about 2 1/4 cups of water.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic and thyme.  Add spaghetti and then top with the mushrooms, peas and zucchini.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.  Stir in parmesan and cream and serve immediately.

I think next time I might add cooked chicken or shrimp at the last minute.