Spinach-Artichoke Chicken Things

Wow. I should come up with a better name for these. Seriously. Who wants to make "Spinach Artichoke Chicken Things?"

But you do want to make them, I promise. These are soooo good! This recipe's on my top ten list for this year. I think. Yum, yum, and yum. It might have something to do with my love for crescent rolls. Maybe.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts cut into little strips/cubes
1 package frozen spinach
1 can drained artichoke hearts
8 oz sour cream
1 1/4 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp Garlic Powder
A few pinches of salt
2 cans of crescent rolls
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook chicken strips on medium heat for 5ish minutes on each side (or until done).
2. Add in frozen spinach and drained artichokes and cook for 7ish more minutes. (I mashed the artichoke hearts with a spoon after a couple minutes so they would be in smaller pieces)
3. Add in sour cream, 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese (save the other 1/4 cup!), garlic powder, and salt.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Open up crescent rolls and unroll. Put a small amount of the chicken mixture on each one, and fold up (I folded the two big corners around the sides, and pulled the pointy corner over the top).
5. Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese over the tops of the rolls, and cook 10-12 minutes (or until crescent rolls are lightly browned).

And to make this recipe even better.... you'll probably end up with a little leftover chicken mixture, and you can stick it between two tortillas and cook it and a frying pan to make a GREAT quesadilla lunch!

Enjoy!

Coconut Cookies

If you like coconut, go buy some RightNowThisInstant. Because you are so going to want to bake these cookies!

Okay so this is an awful picture. But trust me, just bake these. They're good. 

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flaked or shredded coconut (I used the sweetened kind)

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
2. Cream together the butter and both sugars until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix well.
4. Mix in the coconut.
5. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes or more.
6. Shape dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.
7. Bake 10ish minutes, or until coconut is lightly toasted. Cool on wire racks.

Using rounded-tablespoon-ish-sized cookies, I got about 4 dozen out of this recipe! So yummy.

The law students devoured these, so your friends will probably like them too. Happy baking!

Apple Dip

I've been trying to eat "healthy snacks" instead of things like cookies. It's hard. I'm having lots of success with green apples though.

Or I was having success with green apples, until I remembered this recipe from my childhood: apple dip. Those healthy apples aren't quite as healthy when paired with this. But they taste so, so good!!

Apple Dip:

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 8oz package cream cheese, very softened

Mix it all together. Make sure you mix up all the brown sugar clumps. Refrigerate. Eat.

Serve in a cute little bowl with apples arranged in a cute little row.

(It tastes even better that way)

Sweet and Sour Chicken!

Look! A "real food" recipe! I didn't want you all to think that I just bake all the time and don't ever cook real stuff. So here you go. Sweet and sour chicken. :)

Recipe adapted from here.

Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce (double these ingredients if you want an extra batch of sauce. I'd recommend it!):
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar (I'd use a teensy bit less than 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Coat chunks in cornstarch using a plastic bag, and then dip in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish.

I used two breasts of organic chicken (left), and two of the kind that comes frozen in a bag (right). Is it weird that they look so different? They all tasted the same in the end...haha.

Mix the sauce ingredients (one batch) and pour over chicken (I don't have a picture of this, so you'll have to imagine!). (If you're making an extra batch, cook the sauce on the stovetop at a simmer for 10ish minutes until it reduces and thickens).

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken chunks every 15 minutes so they end up evenly coated with the sauce.

Serve over rice! Definitely make the extra sauce to pour over the top, especially if you're planning on eating some of it as leftovers. :)

Salmon Chowder

Here's a yummy fall recipe for you all! It's kind of labor intensive, but you could be like me and chop all the ingredients and cook the salmon and bacon ahead of time, and then you just have to dump stuff in pots. :) It's worth the work, I promise. Perfect for fall!

Recipe adapted from here.

14oz can chicken broth

½ cup chopped onion
½ cup diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
1½-2 cups diced potatoes (about two potatoes)
2 Bay Leaves
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon old bay seasoning
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill weed

½ stick butter

1/3 cup flour
1 qt. (4 cups) milk
1 teaspoon cornstarch
8 slices bacon, cooked and diced
1 1/2 - 2 lbs frozen salmon (not thawed)
2 cups frozen corn
1 12 oz. pkg. Cream cheese

To cook the salmon: Brush both sides of the fish with canola oil. Cook uncovered in a large skillet over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes or until browned. Turn the fish over, season with salt and pepper, and cover the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook 6 more minutes. Let salmon cool on a plate, then flake apart into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

Simmer chicken broth, onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, bay leaves and other seasonings for 15-20 minutes in a covered medium saucepan, until vegetables are soft. (This took way longer than 20 minutes when I did it... just go until the veggies are soft).

Heat milk in microwave for 2 minutes. In a separate large-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until the mixture starts to thicken slightly, being careful not to let the it boil. In a small bowl, mix 1 tsp cornstarch with a little bit of water to create a slurry. Add to the pot and allow to thicken slightly. 

Remove the bay leaves from the chicken broth and add the chicken broth and vegetables into the milk mixture.

Stir in corn, bacon, salmon, and cream cheese. Cook on medium, stirring frequently until heated through and cheese has completely melted. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

This makes a TON of chowder, so I went ahead and froze half of it. I thawed it in the fridge for a couple days and then reheated it on the stove, and it was still quite yummy! 

Lemon Tarts!

I'm on a lemon kick recently. If it has lemon zest in it, I will bake it excitedly. I think it has something to do with my new Martha Stewart grating set:

If you're engaged, put this on your registry NOW! You'll thank me later when you're collecting lemon zest in your cute little plastic container. 

When I saw the recipe for these on my friend Marissa's blog, I knew I had to get out my graters again. These are so cute, and so easy to make! I give this recipe five stars. :)

(adapted from Marissa's recipe)

For the tart shells: 

1/2 cup softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg white

1 1/4 cups flour

For the filling:

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon of butter, melted and cooled

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325. 

Tart Shells: Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Blend in egg white. Add flour and mix until blended. 

Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray, and divide the dough up into 24 pieces and press into mini muffin shells.

Tart Filling: Whisk the eggs, then whisk in rest of the ingredients. Spoon filling into tart shells.

Bake 20(ish) minutes until light golden brown. Let tarts sit in the pan for a few minutes, and then remove to a wire rack. Store in the fridge. Remove from fridge 10ish minutes before serving (or else the shells will be a little hard).

I liked them, Jeff liked them, and a dozen or so of my fellow law students liked them. I even ate a few for breakfast one day!

Lemon Blueberry Scones!

These are perfect for Saturday mornings. Or, if you have a husband like mine who enjoys sleeping until 2:00pm, these are perfect for Saturday afternoons. :)

Recipe adapted from here.

Scones:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, chilled and sliced
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 cup frozen blueberries

Glaze:

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 drops yellow food coloring

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter slices to flour mixture, tossing to coat. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until mixture is sandy and butter is well distributed, with no pieces larger than a big pea. 

Add in milk, lemon juice and lemon zest and stir until dough comes together. If dough is too wet, add an additional tablespoon of flour to the dough. 

Either keeping the dough in your mixing bowl, or turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 1 minute. Flatten dough and add blueberries. Knead gently for 30-60 seconds to distribute them. Divide dough into two balls and press each into a disc about 3/4-inch thick. Use a knife to divide each disc into six wedges and place scones on prepared baking sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until scones are golden brown.

Mix the glaze ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over still-warm scones. Yummm!

Taking pictures of things baking while they're in the oven is my new favorite thing. I totally just realized it was possible. Fun, fun, fun!

Let me know if you try these! If you're not up for the lemon glaze, you could just put some coarse sugar on top, or just brush them with egg whites before you bake them, or leave out the lemon juice and just do a regular powdered sugar glaze. The possibilities are endless! 

PS - Another Monday, another Mingle Monday at Life of Meg! Join in on the fun and find some new favorite blogs!