WWRR: Wednesday's Weekend Recipe Review
Alright, I promised that I would share the new recipes that I tried out this last weekend! And good news... I found TWO fabulous keepers, and ONE that needs to be slightly altered, but I can't figure out what exactly needs to be altered to make it work. So... I'll rant and rave about the 2 with you and will then share a link for the third one and you can give it a go and let me know what worked/didn't work for you!
Ok so the first one that I tried was found in the Oct/Nov Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. Fun fact about me, I have a secret obsession with cooking magazines. It's true. I don't allow myself to buy them often, but every now and then (about once a season) I'll pick up either a Real Simple, BHG, or a Taste of Home mag.
They are my guilty pleasure. Some people my age prefer People magazine, Cosmo, or Seventeen, but I prefer the mid 30's-40's magazine of choice. I'm ok with it.
Anyways, the Mister LOVES him some veggies and I came across the Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas recipe in BHG and made a few alterations. Delicious!!!
So I can't take props for this recipe, it's an original from BHG, but here is the recipe the way I did it. I wrote out the difference bw the magazine's original recipe and my adjustments so you can feel free to try it whichever way you'd like!
Roasted Veggies & Chickpeas
Baby Carrots - about a 1/3 to 1/2 of a full bag (BHG calls for 1 lb.)
1 Sweet Potato - cut into wedges (BHG calls for 1 lb.)
1 onion - cut into wedges (BHG recommends a red onion)
6 red potatoes - cut into wedges (BHG calls for 1 lb)
1 zucchini - cut into thicker slices (BHG didn't have zucchini in the original recipe)
1 squash - cut into thicker slices (BHG didn't have squash in the original recipe)
1 can of chickpeas/corn - The Mister was scared of the chickpeas so I think next time I'll use corn. :)
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced (BHG calls for 6)
3 tbsp of olive oil (BHG calls for 2 tbsp)
1 tsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. brown sugar (BHG calls for 1 tsp)
dash of salt (BHG calls for 1/4 tsp.)
lots of dashes of pepper ;) (BHG calls for 1/4 tsp.)
Instructions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut up all the veggies, stick 'em in your baking dish. Add the garlic to the dish (side note: do you have Pampered Chef's fancy garlic tool? If not, you need one. I think it's one of the first things my mom bought me when I started cooking. ugh, I LOVE IT.). In a small bowl, mix your olive oil, rosemary, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. The pour mixture over veggies, and toss 'em to make sure they all got a little spice/oil lovin'. Stick the dish in the oven uncovered for about 40-45 min. But be sure to stir them twice while they're baking.
Seriously... these were yummy. I definitely will be making this again! Delicious & healthy. Yes please.
Alright on to Delicious Recipe #2: Crispy Cheddar Chicken.
Yall, I'm going to have a real heart to heart with you. If you're not on pinterest, you need to be. It will change your cooking/crafting/fashion-loving life. If you doubt me, you should know that I found this next recipe on Pinterest and if I hadn't been on it, me and crispy cheddar chicken might have never had the blessed opportunity to meet one another.
Ok, so onto how you make this yummy goodness. There are a many recipes that I try and then decide to not touch again, but this one will be a staple in the Salmon household. It's fantastic. A food blogger, Jamie, posted this recipe (but I found it and her on pinterest). I pretty much stuck to her recipe but only made two minor adjustments. I'll note them in the ingredient and instruction list.
Crispy Cheddar Chicken
Ingredients for the chicken:
4 large chicken breasts (I cut them in half and cut off the fat)
1 sleeve of Roasted Vegetable Ritz Crackers (Jamie calls 2 sleeves and for just the plain kind of Ritz crackers, I got a little feisty when shopping for this recipe and bought these on a whim, hoping that they might add some flavor. Also, start off with one sleeve and if you need more, go ahead and use two! I just didn't get to the second sleeve, one was enough)
Salt & pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (Jamie calls for 3 cups, but I add a cup of parmesan cheese so all together I had 3 cups)
1 cup parmesan (not in original recipe, but I love the flavor it adds!)
1 cup of milk (Jamie calls for 1/2 cup. I started with a half a cup, but then ended up using more. Start with the 1/2 and add as you need)
Ingredients for the sauce:
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp butter
Pepper (to taste - original recipe doesn't call for it, but we salmons love pepper)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts in half. Get three medium sized bowls. Place milk in one bowl, mix both cheeses in a separate bowl, and smashed crackers in another. To smash the crackers, I leave them in their sleeve and manually smash them with my hand. The idea is, you want the crackers to be crumbs, not just broken up cracker chuncks. Ok, take your chicken and dip it in the milk, then the cheese, and then the cracker crumbs. Then stick them in a baking dish (that you've sprayed with olive oil).
Then after all the chicken is in the 9x13 baking dish, I gave it another sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover the dish with foil and then stick it in the oven for 35 minutes. Then remove foil from dish and allow it to bake for another 10-15 minutes. You want the chicken to be crispy golden brown, but not burnt! ;)
While the chicken is baking, make your sauce! combine the soup, sour cream, butter and pepper in a small sauce pan. Cook on medium to high and continue stirring until the sauce is hot and ready.
When chicken is done, place it on a plate, spoon over some sauce on it, and voila! You have a beautiful and delicious chicken recipe that is sure to impress.
Ok... now to recipe #3. I just really didn't care for it which is surprising because it was Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip bread. How could I not love it when it has my 2nd favorite food combo: Peanut butter, fruit, chocolate (2nd only to carbs and cheese of course)? I found this recipe also on Pinterest and was pretty darn excited about it's potential.
Here's the thing, it wasn't awful and in true Brittany fashion I didn't stick to the exact recipe (are you shocked?) so perhaps my alterations made it less than satisfactory. I definitely doubled the chocolate chip content and used creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy bc I didn't really like the idea of having a peanut in my bread. But that's just me. But overall it was just... ok/bland. I might try to make it again and figure out a few enhancements. I'll let you know if I do... anyways... I think you should try it and let me know what you did the same/different and how it turned out for you. Because it looks delicious, but for me it just wasn't all I had hoped for it to be! ;)
At least it was pretty ;)
Alright, that's enough recipe reviews from me for the day! I hope you all have wonderful Wednesdays and at least waste some time this week on Pinterest. It really does make my heart oh so happy.
Much love.
