Lemon Pepper Chicken and Rice

With a quick overnight followed by a day-trip this week, I spent some time over the weekend exploring new one-pot dishes looking for some new options. I found the motherlode at Yellow Bliss Road. Quite a few of her creations have been added to my Pinterest boards this week. Kristin's Lemon Chicken & Broccoli Rice was a shoe-in for this week's menu as I knew I had fresh lemons nearing the end of their shelf life. My original plan was to make the recipe as published, but I didn't have all the ingredients so my modified version follows.

It happened to work that three of my favorite Penzy's products found their way into this dish. My relationship with Penzy's is simply that I am a customer. They did not sponsor or compensate me in any way for this post. I have discovered many blends that have made their way into my regular rotation and found their products to be of high, consistent quality at a price that works for my budget. I happen to have a store not all that far away and have visited there a couple of times each year for about a decade now.

Lemon Pepper Chicken and Rice

Serves 4

1 lb. boneless chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 c. rice or mixed grains (for this rendition I used mixed rice, oat, barley, wheat and spelt)

1 tbs. Penzy's Onions Toasted Minced

1 1/3 c. chicken broth

Juice of 2 lemons

1 tsp. Penzy's Lemon Peel Powder

1 tsp. Penny's French Four Spice

Steamed mixed veggies

• Heat the oil in a small Dutch oven. Add the chicken and cook over medium heat until browned.
• Add the rice or mixed grains. Toast in the oil until golden.
• Add the broth, lemon juice and spices. Cover and cook following the grain package directions.
• Prepare steamed veggies (or reheat leftovers).
• Serve separately or combine chicken and rice mixture with vegetables.

Back in the Saddle - Dinner this Week - 03.22.15

So, I took a little break, not just from posting, but from dinner most nights as well. There was this chair that I was standing on then I wasn't. A complex sprain and possible break kept me mostly out of the kitchen for a couple of months. For future reference, it is not generally a good idea to perplex your orthopedic surgeon. We cleaned out most of the freezer stash, ate our fair share of takeout, scrambled eggs and simple pasta with jarred sauce.

This week is a fairly typical week. I'll be out Monday but everything else is a day trip or a regular day at the office. We kick off our short soccer season on Saturday morning and will hopefully be able to hit the local Easter egg hunt as well. H should enjoy picking up the bright eggs and A is a pro by now.

I have half a head of cabbage left over from last week's St. Patty's dinner so it will feature prominently in tonight's dinner. It's been nicer the last week or so making me anxious to dust off the grill later in the week. Busy days have me trying some new skillet dinners, too.

Sunday

Cabbage Sausage Supper

Strawberries

Cheesy Cornbread

Monday

Soft Tacos

Strawberries

Tuesday

Lemon Chicken Broccoli Rice

Grapes

Wednesday

Grilled Bacon-wrapped Sirloin Fillets

Grilled Diced Potatoes and Green Beans

Grapes

Thursday

Slow Cooker Sausage and Tortellini

Garlic Bread

Friday

Grilled Salmon

Steamed Veggies

Brownies

Saturday

Dinner out

Dinner this Week - 01.11.15

It is cold here. Bone-chilling, I don't want to go outside cold so this week will feature warm things, comforting things.

I also want to point out that I realize I prefaced this as a craft, food, family blog, but up to this point, have only posted food. Much of my free time over winter break was spent cleaning and organizing my studio. G decided I could have one of his vintage standing, roll-around toolboxes and chaos ensued. This afternoon, I finally got all the pieces put back together and started my first block in Pat Sloan's 2015 Vacation Time Block of the Month Quilt. I also compiled a list of in-progress and in-my-head sewing tasks to do this year. I need to share at least one project I did last year, too, that hasn't been blogged. So, there are non-food topics to come. :)

Sunday

Leftover Chicken Fajita Casserole

Apple Pie

Monday

Breakfast for Dinner

Scrambled Eggs

Toast

Bacon

Tuesday

Creamy White Bean and Bacon Soup from Table for Two

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Oranges

Wednesday

Slow Cooker Lemon Rosemary Chicken

Steamed Cauliflower

Grapes

Thursday

Goulash

Oranges

Friday

Make Your Own Homemade Pizza

Saturday

Leftovers

Dinner this Week - 01.04.15

I am so excited to be back to a schedule this week! While the holidays and some time off have been fabulous, it will be nice for life to return to normal, whatever that is.

One of the big adventures of the week was the death of our downstairs chest freezer. A morning of cold sorting, discarding and rearranging ensued. The bright side is I now have a very clear idea of what we have to move forward planning the coming week's meals to utilize stores and cut the grocery budget for awhile. Since we have a smaller chest freezer on the main level, we have opted to not replace it at this time. All in all, the process made me feel a bit like a hoarder. Replacing the storage space will just allow for storing more food than we really need to have on hand at one time. I like to preserve fresh produce, especially fruit for pies, crisps and smoothies, as well as summer's sweet corn and tomatoes whenever said things are fresh and available affordably, but I've maybe gotten a bit carried away the last few years. How much freezer storage do you have? How full is it? We were lucky, my in-laws were only using about a quarter of their freezer so my three laundry tubs of frozen fruits and veggies are hanging out there until we can get our food supply under control.

One last note on the freezer thing ... fortunately G was in the basement when the freezer made the clunky sound of death. We were able to respond immediately without any concern for the safety of the food in the freezer. If this happens to you, only food that is still firm is safe to return to the freezer. Food that is 40° or colder can be refrigerated and used within standard refrigeration time frames. Food that has thawed and been warmer than 40° should be discarded. Your safety is more important than whatever the value of the food lost.

Finally, you'll notice we eat a lot of oranges these days. Not only are they in season, but we have a half a case to work through. It is a common fundraiser for local FFA chapters to sell fruit and this year we got oranges plus a few apples. Luckily, I knew that I had plenty of apples from a summer pick and freeze and had not ordered a case of apples to freeze as I have the last few years. :)

Sunday

Garlic Butter Baked Crab Legs

Farro with Pistachios and Herbs (I used a wild rice blend and a dried herb blend as they were in my pantry.)

Steamed Cauliflower

Oranges

Monday

Chili and Cornbread

Oranges

Tuesday

Leftover Chili and Cornbread

Oranges

Wednesday

Pork Chops with Mushroom Pan Gravy

Leftover Rice with Pistachios

Steamed Broccoli

Apple Wedges

Thursday

Breakfast for Dinner

Scrambled Eggs

Bacon

Toast

Oranges

Friday

Chicken Fajitas

Oranges

Saturday

Dinner out or takeout

Have a great week!

Dinner This Week - 11.17.14-11.22.14

It is finally cold here. Really cold. OK, not so really cold, but it seems cold because we dropped from 60's to 80's to 20 overnight. Normally, whatever normal is for Nebraska weather, we have a couple of weeks in the 40's to make the transition from fall to winter. No such luck this year.

In other news this week, I opened my Etsy shop. Right now it has an array of vintage Rand McNally maps with more vintage goodness to come. Check it out at etsy.com/shop/ArtsAndCraftsHome.

While on Etsy, I've managed to make a dent in my Christmas shopping. Hopefully those Barbie clothes from Hungary get here in time.

In my pre-Thanksgiving week, I'm trying to keep things simple. This week has one overnight for my department retreat in addition to my regular Monday sorority night so you'll notice pizza AND breakfast for dinner. :)

Sunday

Chicken and Dumplings
Fresh Pineapple

Monday

BFD: Breakfast for Dinner

Tuesday

Skillet Chicken, Zucchini & Green Beans over Rice

Wednesday

Pizza!

Thursday

Smoked Pork Loin Chops
Roasted Broccoli
Cheesy Garlic Bread
Grapes

Friday

Dinner Out!

Saturday

Veggie Beef Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Pears

Chili and Cast Iron Cheesy Cornbread

Nebraskans eat cinnamon rolls with chili. It's a rule. Since I like breaking rules, I have been opting for cornbread lately. Tonight's cornbread features a great local product - Jisa's Farmstead Cheese New York Cheddar Curds. Delightful! The Jisa family owns a dairy and makes cheese in a facility on their farm about a half an hour from where I live. They are one of a few local cheeseries I love to support. Fortunately, I can get Jisa's many varieties of cheese at my local supermarket.

This is a great example of a meal that comes together quickly with the aid of some starters. The secret to the chili is Dei Fratelli Seasoned Diced Tomatoes. These tomatoes already have garlic, onions, celery, etc. in them so I don't have to clean and chop any of these. I LOVE these tomatoes. They appear often in our diet. I have been known to save a little in one of the cans to eat straight from the can. They are that good.

I usually have browned ground meat or cooked shredded meat in the freezer in one pound packages. This also speeds up the preparation of this recipe. While pulled pork is our favorite version, the image shown is ground beef. Depending on what is going on when I am preparing these packages, they may include shredded veggies - usually carrots, onions and sometimes zucchini. This is another time saver. While I am finding the pan and opening cans, the meat can be defrosting in the microwave.

Depending on my day, this chili recipe can be done in the slow cooker, on the stove or in the oven. It involves about five minutes of prep.

Chili

3 14.5 oz. cans Dei Fratelli Seasoned Diced Tomatoes

1 15 oz. can No or Reduced Sodium Black Beans

1 lb. browned ground beef, sausage or turkey or leftover pulled pork or roast beef

Chili Powder to Taste

For Slow Cooker: Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

For Stovetop: Combine all ingredients in a heavy dutch oven or stock pot. Simmer on medium 20-30 minutes stirring regularly.

For Oven: Combine all ingredients in a heavy dutch oven. Cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours.

Cast Iron Cheesy Cornbread

4 tbs. butter

1 8.5 oz. supermarket or name brand corn muffin mix

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

4 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese Curds - I use Jisa's Farmstead Cheese's New York Cheddar Nuggets

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Put the butter in an 8-12-inch cast iron skillet. Place the skillet on the oven's middle rack to melt.

Prepare the muffin mix according to the package's directions. Fold in cheese curds.

Pour batter in hot butter in the skillet. Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes. I find adding the cheese increases baking time a bit. Check for doneness using a knife or toothpick in the center of the cornbread. It should come out clean.

In this instance, I had chili and cornbread. For leftovers tomorrow, I'll have chili over cornbread or maybe broken cornbread chunks in my chili. You have some options. Like all chili, it can be served with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt, a sprinking of cheddar cheese, onions, avocado, olives or other toppings that work at your house.

Enjoy! How do you like your chili?

Dinner 10.24.14 through 11.01.14

It is good to be home! The break in the posts was a result of work and family requiring a lot of travel and not so much dinner at home. I only have one more overnight trip through the end of the year for work, and it is only one night. Yeah! Honestly, the opportunity to travel and learn new things and meet new people is one of the things I love most about my job, BUT it seems like I haven't been home much lately.

Fall is in the air, though it is still hitting 75 degrees most days. We are finally getting some serious leaf color (fortunately, I didn't miss that). Dinners reflect cooler weather. I recently borrowed Meat and Potatoes by Rahm Fama from the library. We are trying a few things this week from it before it must be returned.

Friday, 10.24.14

Chili and Cast Iron Cheesy Cornbread

Saturday, 10.25.14

Chicken and Cheese Ravioli Primavera with Steamed Veggies

Sunday, 10.26.14

Chicken Fajita Nachos

Pineapple

Monday, 10.27.14

I'll be spending my birthday evening at Sigma, everyone at home can have breakfast for dinner aka scrambled eggs and toast.

Tuesday, 10.28.14

Scalloped Potatoes with Smoked Pork Chops

Garlic-Thyme Veggies from Meat and Potatoes. I'll be using a broccoli and cauliflower mix.

Wednesday, 10.29.14

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Biscuits

Thursday, 10.30.14

Pistachio Crusted Pork Scalopini Chops, also from Meat and Potatoes

Savory Bread Pudding Muffins, yet again, from Meat and Potatoes

Green Beans with Bacon

Friday, 10.31.14

Halloween!

Dinner will be out depending on how trick or treating goes.

Saturday, 11.01.14

We'll be Sneak Peek-ing.

Have a great week!