Dinnertime: Tried and True Chicken

I hope you enjoy my messy dinnertime photo. I am no food network chef and my space doesn't always look camera ready, so I thought I’d share with you the real world of my kitchen at dinnertime.

Today I wanted to share a recipe that I like to make when I can’t think of much else to prepare; a tried and true, easy-peasy cheap-o meal.

1 lb. Chicken Thighs

3 tablespoons Mrs. Dash seasoning

1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Red Cooking Wine

1/4 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic 

2 teapoons unsalted butter

3 large pinches of flour

Ready to get started? Here we go!

The chicken was seasoned with 3 tablespoons of Mrs. Dash Tomato and Basil seasoning. If you are watching your salt but love good flavor, she’s the way to go!

In the meantime I sautéed chopped onion and minced garlic in 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil.

 

Once the onions looked translucent I placed the chicken in the pan with the cooking wine and let simmer.

As a heads up, I am far from precise when it comes to cooking. For me it’s a little here, sprinkle there and taste to just make sure  -all of my measurements are purely guestimations-   yes, guestimations…I made that word up.

It is now time to take the chicken out of the pan to make a roux with the juices and onion-garlic bits that have already been cooked and left in the pan.

A roux {pronounced Roo} is a thickening agent which can be used to thicken soups or sauces. As long as you use your basic ingredients you can make a many different tasty options.  

Key ingredients for a roux: Fat + Flour + Liquid.

Try using one of the following in each category:

Fat: butter,oil, shortening, bacon fat, etc  

Flour: wheat, white or any you prefer 

Liquid: chicken, veggie, or beef stock

As you add in your fat and flour and mix, they will form a paste like consistency. This is when you want to add in your liquid of choice to thin it out and make more of a sauce.

 Though I tend to use stock, in this case I used more of the cooking wine for added flavor. You could obviously use regular wine as well or a milk/cream if you would like it to be extra creamy.

Over medium heat, use a whisk to combine all of the items you just added.  Once the mixture begins to bubble, add the chicken back in to finish cooking.

 I like to do this part before the meat has cooked all of the way through because the chicken will absorb more flavors and stay moist. Turn the burner to low and let simmer for 5 -7 minutes with a lid or cover. 

A few ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your home and about 20 minutes of time, make for a wonderful meal. I served this chicken with mixed vegetables and homemade garlic bread. 

I hope this Thursday finds you well and that you're counting down til the weekend just like me.

I'll talk to you soon....

xoxo bd

Pumpkins and Date Night

Hello again, friends I don't know about you but I am oh-so ready for fall. This past weekend I had the urge to watch Hocus Pocus. If you were a kid in the 90's, or maybe a parent to one, I'm sure you're familiar. Let's talk about pumpkins...I love them. Pumpkins on your front porch, pumpkin patches where you can pick your very own, pumpkin spiced lattes, pumpkin loaf, you name it, I love it. Fall just feels like home to me. I'm sure if you were to visit my blog(s) or diaries from the past 10 years or so, I always have an "I love fall" post. August flies in at the end of summer and my heart wants crisp air again. Can you blame her/it? So here I am lusting after a Season. I know I shouldn't lust but by-golly I'm tired of sun dresses. 

 Now let's talk about last night. Yesterday at work everyone gathered around my desk as they typically do, because let's face it, I'm the bomb dot com  close to the candy bowl. Anyway, my boss starts to speak sweet words about someone in our office and how hard they've been working then begins to mention some of the tasks I took care of. Lo-and-behold out of his mouth comes, "And so I hope you and Adam can find a night to treat yourselves to dinner on us." 

Really? Me? Us? Dinner? Dinner we don't have to pay for? Dinner at a restaurant I've been dying to try?

Yes. Please. and Thank You!!

They were kind enough to give us a gift card to Mack and Kates with a hefty sum giving us the opportunity to have two special dinners. Thank you everyone!!

I should have taken more pictures of our time or at least their decor; so cute and rustic! But you can only get a glimpse of what we ate.

I had the seared scallops over a cheesy quinoa and shaved brussell sprouts while the hubby had Lobster Mac'n'Cheese. Both of us really enjoyed our meals and are excited to go back again. I would love to try their brunch menu on an upcoming weekend. Today I've been sipping on green smoothies and chopping on apples to make up for our indulgent meal. Ohhh sooo yummy!

I will update in the next couple of days with photos from the baby shower this past weekend!

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesay! Talk to you soon...

xoxo bd

Vlogmas: Day 7

What a beautiful day it is outside! You may or may not be in the middle Tennessee area, but the sun today is shining bright. I feel like that past few posts I have made through Vlogmas have noted the dreary weather we've experienced. Not so for today, people, it is gorgeous!

I must mention something I struggle with regularly...whenever I go non stop and am out every night of the week doing something, I quietly wish for the night when I can be at home watching our shows under a blanket. Last night I got exactly that and yet I desired to be about town like a busy bee. Sometimes I make no sense to myself. 

A full fledged day of work ahead of me, I should end this entry now. 

If you, whomever you are, have kept up with my daily vlogging then thank you! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to spend a few minutes with me...it means a lot.

Okay I have to get going. Please enjoy this day as much as you can muster...I'll see you tomorrow,

xoxo bd

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Hello again, friends! 

As long weekends away would have it, there was much to do when we got home.

Last night neither of us got much sleep ; hubs stayed up playing with his new Xbox and I watched numerous videos on Youtube. I’m beyond interesting, can’t you tell!

With us fighting the urge to take a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day, we ran some errands and made it back to our little home for the yummiest dinner, made by hubs himself! To die…so good.

Oh and something really cool as well, Adam received the limited edition Birchbox Man in the mail and has now used the shampoo, moisturizer and a few other things. For what the box is actually worth, you get so many cool items and high-end products. Kudos to BB, you guys and gals hit it out of the park!

Here are a few snapshots of our evening:

 

I would like to say that our life has exciting events with parties to attend  and people to meet but lately, it has been more or less laundry, home tasks and work…as you can see. Someday soon :)

After devouring our meal we watched all of the behind-the-scences from Super 8 (It’s a must see if you haven’t already) and put up the tree.

I’m really glad to have one more day off so that all of the other necessary tidbits I have to take care of will be done by Monday.

Have a splendid nights sleep, I'll talk to you soon.

xoxo .bd

Pizza Pizza Pizza

In the Davis household we love pizza! In an effort to save money and also cut back on the calorie whopping greasiness of ordering out, we like to make our own. This has been a tried and true process for us, we've tried every different kind of recipe and nothing was consistent until now!

First you start with yeast.

Fleischmann's makes many types of yeast and if you can't find this specific "Pizza Crust Yeast" I would use the instant kind. If you use any other it will result in over an hour's wait for the dough to rise.

You can find these in the baking isle of your grocery store and should cost no more than $2 for a pack of 3.

To make the Dough:

1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 envelope yeast

1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoons salt

2/3 cup very warm water

3 tablespoons oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)

Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil. Mix together until well blended. Gradually add 1/2 cup flour until soft dough ball is formed. May be slightly sticky. Add additional flour if needed to form dough ball.

Knead dough on a floured surface or in my case I just use the same bowl with extra flour.

Let the dough sit in bowl covered for 20 minutes to help rise.

Roll out a 12 inch surface or if you don't have a rolling pin like me I just press from the center of the dough ball out towards the edge of the pan.

The Sauce:

I personally like to make my own to control the sodium but you're welcome to use whatever you like.

1 can tomato paste 

3/4 cup water (more or less depending on preference)

Fresh basil, oregano and rosemary (Dried versions work perfectly as well!)

1 clove garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 onion minced or 1 teaspoon onion powder

Pinch of sugar

Salt to taste 

Combine ingredients in a bowl then ladle over pizza dough. {You can use plain tomatoe sauce in place of the paste and water if you like.}

Toppings:

Toppings are the best part. You get to play around with all of the ingredients you love from sun dried tomatoes to olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, peppers,canadian bacon...it's endless.

Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 min or until cheese is melted and crust is browned.

 Here is one version we made with mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and sharp cheddar.

This version was the best! We found fresh mozzarella rolled with pancetta that melted beautifully and tasted fantastic! Those versions can cost more but when we found it on sale we couldn't pass it up.

This post is dedicated to my beautiful friend Allison who helped me make pizza last fall and requested my recipe. I hope you enjoy this affordable and scrumptious one piece meal!

Bon Appetit!

xoxo .bd