Dinnertime!

Dinners

Chicken Parmesan and Leftovers!

My air fryer and I are getting to be good friends! Instead of frying the chicken parm in oil, I used the air fryer to give me a lovely crisp piece of chicken.

Once the chicken was cooked, I used a nice marinara, placed the chicken in it, covered it with more marinara, fresh Parmesan and fresh mozzarella.

While that cooked, I steamed a couple artichokes, boiled some fettuccine and toasted some garlic bread!

The next night, I used the leftover chicken breasts and cooked up some zoodles for a fresh dish (of course we love our garlic bread so that had to be made as well!).

Chicken Pot Pie

The weather had turned cold again so I reached back for my old standard, Chicken Pot Pie. I’m still working on my pie crust and it’s getting better!

I used the ole faithful Betty Crocker cookbook and it’s still my favorite!

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2 1/2 to 3 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey

1 box (10 oz) frozen peas and carrots

1 package (15 oz) refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box (I had one and made one)

Directions

• In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and peas and carrots; remove from heat.
• Heat oven to 425°F. Roll 1 pie crust into 13-inch square. Ease into ungreased 9-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Pour chicken mixture into crust-lined dish.
• Roll remaining pie crust into 11-inch square. Cut out designs with 1-inch cookie cutter. Place square over chicken mixture. Arrange cutouts on top crust. Turn edges of pie crust under; flute edge.
• Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Crock pot Pork

Thanks to a Facebook recipe, I thought I’d give this a try! It didn’t come with any measurements and nothing was precise as I cooked!

 

I’d found this beautiful pork loin on sale and couldn’t wait to try it out!

I started with a palm full of oregano and basil (about 2 Tablespoons), 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. Then I added 4 minced cloves of garlic, about 1/3 cup of honey 1/8 cup olive oil and 1/8 cup soy sauce (for anyone that saw the Facebook recipe it called for grated Parmesan which I omitted).

I pulled the pork out of the crock put and poured the liquid into a sauce pan to reduce and thicken.  I poured the liquid on the sweet potato and carrots as well!

Celebration Dinner

My husband and I celebrate all kinds of things in our relationship and like to have a delicious meal. We try not to go too crazy but make it fun instead.

I’m still on my mission to win the battle of puff pastry. So I decided to give bacon and puff pastry wrapped asparagus a try. I will definitely do this again!

I sliced the dough into 10 pieces, sliced the bacon in half and spiral wrapped them around an asparagus stalk. Then I brushed the dough with an egg wash. I baked them at 400° for 18 minutes.

While that baked, I put filet mignon wrapped in bacon on the grill. I added a dollop of Stonewall Kitchen Horseradish Aioli and wow! What a perfect paring!

       

Copper Pan Burn

As much as I love my copper pans, I have to admit I had a tiny mishap! I’d taken the pan out of the oven with the potholder and forgot that I still needed it! I grabbed the handle and yowza, that hurt! I haven’t been able to wear my wedding ring for the last 3 weeks. I’m not positive how I burned the inside of my ring finger but lesson learned!

Week 1

Week 3