Day 10: Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken

This recipe ended up on the menu for several reasons:

1) It's from Heather. Her tortilla soup didn't fail me, so I assumed this one wouldn't either
2) It's a Weight Watchers' recipe(7pts per serving) and after all the other not so waist friendly foods, I was happy to try something "good for me."
3)It's five ingredients
4) On Easter, my grandma handed me a bag of "marijuana." Her words. It was actually a bag of fresh dill weed. Apparently she bought a giant jug of it so she distributed it like pot to all my aunts and cousins at our family gathering.
5) It seemed way too easy and fast, so I wanted to see if it was for real.

Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken POINTS : 7

2/3 cup(s) lite honey mustard dressing
2 tsp dill, freshly chopped
1 medium scallion(s), finely sliced
1 cup(s) cornflake crumbs
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4 oz pieces
salt/pepper

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a shallow pan with cooking spray.

Step 2: In a small bowl, combine honey mustard dressing, salt, pepper, dill and scallions; remove 1/3 cup and set aside.

Step 3: Place cornflake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken into dressing mixture and then cornflake crumbs; place in prepared pan.

Step 4: Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink in center, about 15 minutes.

Step 5: Drizzle remaining dressing mixture (the 1/3 cup that was set aside) over chicken breasts and serve.

Kitchen Play by Play: Seriously, the was ridiculously easy. I was finished with prep in 5 minutes and the food was on the table in 20. I did not measure the corn flakes because I like a lot of crunch. I also did not have any scallions so I didn't use the ONE it called for. Heather said it makes a difference, but I figured I wouldn't know any better. I did forget to spray my pan. It didn't burn, but the bottom coating of the chicken slide off when I served it. I made Rice a Roni and carrots to finish off the meal.

The Finished Product

The Verdict:
Nicole- I'm not a honey mustard person. I was pleasantly surprised though; this was really good especially for the calories. I also cannot believe that I had dinner on the table in 20 minutes without using a frozen meal. Welcome to my recipe box...4.

Paul- gives it a 4. "tasty"

Austin- ate half of a chicken breast. He even said "mmm...I like it."

Day 9: Deviled Steak

I am not big on steak. I went through a phase around 16 where I gave up meat for like a year; and when I started eating it again, I'd get really sick because my body couldn't adjust to it. So now, other than the occasional Fillet Mignon, I don't eat steak. However, oddly enough, I craved steak when I was pregnant.

My mother in law gave me this recipe last week when we were at their house celebrating Easter. She said that the meat gets fork tender, the sauce is good and that round steak is really cheap. It sounded perfect for this challenge, so I decided to give steak a chance. Round steak is really cheap, and in this economy everyone is looking to save money at the grocery store which is why both times I went to Jewel they were completely out of round steak. I tried again today and bought the last two packages. The recipe seemed easy enough but hunting down the ingredients proved to be a challenge.


Deviled Steak
2lbs Round Steak( Eye of Round)
2 tablespoons butter
1large onion, sliced
1 Tablespoon flour
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 cup water

Step 1: Cut steak into serving pieces and brown in butter.
Remove to 9 x13 pan
Step 2: To fat in pan, add onion and cook until brown
Step 3: Stir in flour and seasonings. Slowly add water
Step 4: Pour over meat. Cover
Step 5: Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Serve over egg noodles.


Kitchen Play by Play: My knifes suck, so cutting the meat took a hell of a lot longer than it should have. I only used 1 1/2lbs of meat because I didn't want a lot of leftovers. I did use the same amount of sauce though. Overall, the preparation was uneventful. The browning required a little bit of time, but the easiness of the sauce made up for it. The smell of the onions browning in the fat was awesome. It smelled like a patty melt. Total prep time was about 17 minutes. To complete the meal, I made egg noodles and heated up some canned green beans(still a veggie).

The Finished Product

The Verdict:
Nicole- It was definitely fork tender, but the sauce didn't do it for me. I didn't feel like it had enough taste. It was very bland. I bet if the sauce had been doubled(minus the water), I would have enjoyed it more. If you remember from my Russian Chicken post, I'm a sauce person. I like a lot of it, and there was hardly any sauce to pour over the noodles. I think the onions sucked it all up. However, it certainly was edible. I'd give it a 3.

Paul-gives it a 2. "Lacked flavor and was difficult to eat." " The sauce was too watery so the noodles were slippery and wouldn't stay on the fork."


Austin- Grandma Jane...he ate it ALL. He even said, "I like it." That right there was the reason for my 3. Absolutely worth the time and money when you find a dish a 2 year old will eat.

Day 8: Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

This Betty Crocker recipe was given to me by my friend, Dianna. She knows how much Paul likes Buffalo wings and how much I like BBQ sauce. Within a week of receiving this recipe, I tried it. It was a huge hit. So tonight since I had a monthly dinner date with friends, I knew I needed a casserole to leave for Paul. Paul's mom, Jane, came to help Paul with our kids' crazy bedtime routines and to spend time with Austin and Peyton, so I wanted to make something I thought she'd enjoy as well.

There are several variations to this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. You can use ranch or blue cheese, BBQ, teriyaki,or buffalo sauce, O'brien or southern potatoes. I used Obrien potatoes the first time and southern this time. Paul said he couldn't tell the difference. I haven't experimented with a different sauce yet because we really enjoyed the buffalo taste.

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/buffalo-chicken-and-potatoes/5d92a1de-7c9f-42cf-ac32-cc83463a884b?WT.mc_id=taf_recipe_BC


Note: I don't measure the cheese. I just add what I think looks like a good amount. Also, no one in our house likes green onions, so I do not add any to the dish.

Kitchen Play by Play: I bought chicken tenders to save time. I didn't want to slice chicken breasts. A) I hate touching raw chicken B) I hate touching raw chicken. The rest of the prep was super simple. Just make sure to take the potatoes out with plenty of time to thaw. I forgot to take them out both times and needed to defrost them in the microwave. I used low fat cheese and ranch for this recipe. I would have done low fat soup too, but cost won out on that one. The low fat soup was $1.00 more than the regular. Also, the buffalo sauce has 0 calories which makes this dish almost guilt free :) Broccoli and green beans rounded off this "healthy" meal.

Sorry no picture tonight from me, but there is one on the website. I forgot to ask Paul to take one.

The Verdict:
Nicole- Based on last time only since I wasn't here tonight to try it, I'd give it a 4.

Paul- gives it a 5. "I just like it. It's tasty. I could eat it for 30 days."

Austin-didn't care for the potatoes but ate two pieces of chicken and a ton of broccoli.

Jane- gives it a 4.5. She would have liked the potatoes to be a little softer. Paul likes them a little al dente.

Week 1 Dessert: Imperial Pound Cake

I love sweets, but I HATE to bake. My mother is a baker, a great baker. She can whip up lemon squares in two minutes and a cream puff ring in less. I make pudding and jello. And the first time I tried to make cook and serve pudding, I burnt it. So the biggest challenge of all this week for me was baking this dang pound cake.

Imperial Pound Cake

1lb Imperial margarine
1lb confectioners sugar
3 cups cake flour(sifted)
6 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1: cream margarine and add sugar. Beat until fluffy.

Step 2: Add eggs. One at a time. One minute each(I set the timer).

Step 3: Gradually add sifted flour and blend

Step 4: Stir in vanilla

Step 5: lightly grease angel food cake pan.

Step 6: Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 20 minutes

Kitchen Play by Play: Everything went great. I was really pumped at how well I was "baking." My counter top was a mess, but I didn't care because I felt like Duff from Charm City Cakes. I actually enjoyed cleaning up the mess especially since I could smell the pound cake baking in the oven.

The Verdict:
Nicole- My baking "high" ended almost as quickly as it began. So the taste was fabulous, but the texture was HORRIBLE. I choked on it...it was soo dry. I did continue to eat it though, dipped in coffee or under ice cream. Since the flavor was there, with the added moisture it was certainly edible. I know what it can be so I still give it a 4. Plus my grandma said that she thinks the bake time is too long. She told me she takes hers out at 1 hour and 10 minutes. Would have been nice to know before I tried to conquer my baking fears.

Paul-gives it a 3. He's sweet. I would not have given it that high if I tried it for the first time.

Austin-didn't try it. I thought it would be a choking hazard.

Day 7: Easy White Pizza(5 ingredients)

No real story here except that I hate measuring out a ton of stuff for a recipe. It's too tedious, and I don't have time for it which is why I added this category to my list of rules. 5 ingredients or less sounds like a time saver to me.

I found this recipe on the Food Network Channel's website under a show titled, "Five Ingredient Fix." Imagine that. It has a lot of great recipes but very few are main dishes. Most of her recipes are for desserts or side dishes. But this recipe scored 5 stars and was rated by 19 people so I figured that it must, at the very least, be edible.

Easy White Pizza

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/easy-white-pizza-recipe/index.html

Kitchen Play by Play: So all week, I have been doing so well with the execution of the recipes...until now. Leave it to me to struggle with a recipe that actually has the word "easy" in the title. First off, the frozen pizza dough takes 2-4 hours to thaw out. I looked at these instructions at 3:00pm when dinner is supposed to be at 5pm. So needless to say, Austin did not join us for dinner tonight. The dough was not workable until 6:15. Then, when I went to get my disposable pizza pan out of my pantry, imagine my surprise when it wasn't there. I guess I forgot that I used it for taffy apple pizza a while ago. The lack of pizza pan meant that I had to use a sheet cake pan instead. So now instead of a round pizza, I had to make a rectangle. Pulling it into rectangle shape caused me to rip 3 holes in the dough. I patched them up and continued with the directions. My dough did not stretch all the way to the edges of the pan though. The recipe calls for a bag and a half of mozzerella cheese. I put 3/4 of one bag on and it looked like a shitload of cheese. I was afraid adding more would make the crust soggy, so I decided to monitor the cheese situation while it was cooking. With 8 minutes left, I added the rest of the bag on top of the pizza. When the timer went off, the pizza appeared to be crispy and delicious looking. WRONG!! When we took our first bites we discovered the dough was still raw under all the ricotta cheese parts. We put the sliced pizza back in the oven for 10 minutes more. This cooked the dough, but burnt the cheese. Son of a bitch!!!!

The Finished Product(Prior to cutting and placing back in the oven)

The Verdict:
Nicole- Based on the mockery in the kitchen and the fact that once it was done and over with it wasn't all that great, I'd give it a high 2. I did really enjoy the frozen dough as opposed to Pillsbury pizza crust. You get three frozen rolls of pizza dough for $3.99 at the Jewel. I thought this was very reasonable. For me, I would have liked more garlic flavor. If I ever made it again, I'd probably mince garlic to go on the pizza as well. I also did not care for the ricotta cheese; it wasn't well enough disguised for me.

Paul-gives it a 3. He had 5 pieces and commented on how much he liked the clean up(we used paper plates). He also suggested waiting until the last 10 minutes to add the mozz cheese. That way the dough could cook through and the ricotta could get hot, but the mozz cheese wouldn't burn. Good point!

Austin- as before mentioned missed out on this meal. He did have veggies for dinner though(I still haven't broken that rule).

Day 6: Chicken Tortilla Soup in Crockpot

This recipe was introduced to me by my cousin Heather about 6 months ago. She, unlike me, is an avid cook and baker, so much so, that I actually get angry at her for making me look bad. She will get home from work at 6pm and make meatloaf and homemade scalloped potatoes. I used to get home from work at 4pm and pop a frozen pizza in the oven. She is kind of the reason I started this challenge. First off, she began blogging about random, hilarious things about 2 months ago and second off, I don't want my husband to think he married the wrong Jeske cousin :)

Anyways, she had been raving about this soup forever, so finally I bit the bullet and asked for the recipe. I was surprised at how easy and tasty it was. Note: This was also only the 2nd time in 6 years I had used my crock pot. I was always afraid of leaving it on while I was at work. I know that the point of the crock pot is to set it and forget it, but I couldn't forget the fact that my house could start on fire with my dog inside...no pot roast was worth that risk. I have used the crock pot numerous times since then, but was only able to leave it home alone for the first time 2 weeks ago. I was gone for 1hour and had crock pot anxiety the entire time.

Heather and I both made some changes to the recipe which is from allrecipes.com. I provided the link below as well as our revisions.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Chicken-Tortilla-Soup/Detail.aspx


Changes we made:
No water, instead 32oz chicken broth(more flavor)
Put chicken in frozen. Still cooks perfectly and so much less prep.
280z can whole tomatoes
7oz green chiles
You could also use a spicier enchilada sauce, but I've found that the garlic, onion and green chiles give it plenty of a kick.
We don't make our own tortilla strips. I buy the pre-packaged ones that live by the lettuce at the grocery store, and Heather crushes Tostitos on top of her soup.


Step 1: Place frozen chicken on bottom of pot with frozen corn. Putting these in first prevents splashing.


Step 2: Chop garlic and onion and add to pot


Step 3: Add tomatoes with juice, squeeze tomatoes so they mash a little


Step 4: Add all other ingredients


Step 5: Set crock pot for 8 hours


Step 6: At about hour 6, take chicken out and shred with two forks. Put back in for remaining two hours


Step 7: Top soup(in bowls) with tortilla strips/chips, sour cream and cheese


Kitchen play by play: Not much to tell. Austin helped dump the spices and the cans. I chopped the onion and garlic which is the most time consuming. We were done in 10 minutes. I have chopped the night before and measured the spices in a small bowl the night before so that in the morning I really am just dumping ingredients into the pot.


The Finished Product


With cheese and sour cream


Full batch in the crock pot

The Verdict:

Nicole- I love soup, but I hate making homemade soup due to the necessary prep time. So besides the fact that it tastes great, it is a winner in my book because it takes little to no time to create. I give it a strong 4.

Paul- gives it a 4. He even suggested that I make it for his department pig out next year. He also said that it was very tasty. He tops his with sour cream and cheese.

Austin- Ate some but enjoyed his Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets more.

Bella(our dog)- LOVED IT! I went upstairs to get my laptop to start typing this and when I came back Bella was at the table slurping up my soup. Everyone was a winner tonight!

Day 5: Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

Tonight was a pick from one of my childhood favorites. My mom makes a mean sloppy joe and thankfully it is easy enough to recreate without fail. Although, every time I admit to my mother that I used some kind of meat other than 80/20, I do get a short lecture. Sorry mom, tonight I used 85/15.

This has also become my mom's most requested dish. She has made it for 4 moving days, Austin's first birthday, and various other events where people all ask that she bring "her" sloppy joe. For Austin's birthday she made 12 pounds; it was obscene. But all 75 guests at the party raved about it.

Ever since I can remember, I've put a slice of American cheese on my sandwich. I think we've decided that my Uncle Jerry was the originator of this delicious addition. At Austin's party, people kept asking what the cheese was for; they thought it was weird. But I'm here to say...TRY IT!!! It will not disappoint.

At the last minute, I invited my grandma and her boyfriend, Leo, over for dinner. They have been trying to come visit for weeks so I called and invited them. They did not rate the meal, but they did make a few comments(see below).

Sloppy Joe Sandwiches(makes 5-6 sandwiches)

1 lb 80/20 meat
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup diced green pepper(fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup diced onion(fresh or frozen)
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 Tablespoon worsteshire
1Tablespoon sugar
Buns

Step 1: Brown meat, salt and pepper. Drain.

Step 2: In large pot, add all ingredients to meat

Step 3: Cover and cook on med-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

Kitchen Play by Play: I specifically chose this recipe for tonight because Paul was not getting home until later, and I knew that this required very little time away from the kids. I always use frozen veggies so prep time is literally 5-6 minutes. Then 30 minutes later you have a delicious meal. You can certainly let your sloppy joe cook for longer at a lower temperature if you'd like it to meld longer but it is not necessary. I always only cook for 30 minutes and mine has never lacked flavor.

Too much going on tonight with the dinner guests, I forgot to take a picture and sent the leftovers home with them...sorry.

The Verdict:
Nicole- Pretty obvious since it's one of my childhood favorites...5. I skip the bun but not to avoid the carbs. I eat my sloppy joe in a bowl with a piece of cheese on top and scoop it up with Wavy Lays potato chips. Hello, Fabulous! Pickles on the side are a must as well.

Paul-gives it a 4. "Sloppy Joes are always tasty; I really like them."

Austin- gobbled it up. He takes it in a bowl like his mom with lots of cheese and pickles on the side. No chips. Just straight up off the spoon.

Grandma- Upon first bite, " mmmm...this is so yummy." Note: In the 30 minutes it was cooking, she commented about how good it smelled 5 times.

Leo-didn't say much about the dish itself, but he ate it all and was happy to take home leftovers.