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Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder #recipe

October 22, 2013 by

The temperature dropped about 15 degrees in the last couple of days. I’m now sporting pants and sweatshirts and shoes that require socks.  With this dip in the weather comes the longing for comforting and nourishing food that warms the belly.  SOUP.  I love soup of all kinds but it’s not the most popular in this house. I told the kids  they were getting Corn Chicken Chowder for dinner and surprisingly I was greeted with OHs and mmmmmms.

Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder #recipe

I’ve only ever had Corn Chowder from one place, WAWA.  While I always like it I knew it was missing a freshness. I also knew  it wasn’t at all healthy. I made my own soup using inspiration from several recipes found online and adapting to my own tastes, time and ingredients. The ingredient list looks long but most of it can already be found in your pantry and fridge.

Light but Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder

Ingredients

  • 3 slices of uncooked bacon
  • 2 cups of diced chicken (cooked or uncooked)
  • 2 lbs diced potatoes
  • 1 small diced onion
  • 2 stalks diced celery
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1/2 cup diced red pepper
  • 3 chopped garlic cloves
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 can cream style corn
  • 3-4 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 -1 cup light half & half
  • pinch of Cayenne

Directions

In a large stock pot or dutch oven add your bacon and turn the heat up to medium.  I add mine in whole slices but you can chop it before hand. It WILL be used at the end.

When the bacon has crisped and rendered all of its fat remove it and all but 1 TBLS of the grease.

Add the potatoes, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and stir into the bacon grease and sauté for a few minutes. If your chicken is raw now is a good time it to capture some of the yummy bacon flavor.

Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder #recipe

Once the chicken has mostly cooked through add in the rest of the veggies(except corn) the garlic and thyme. Cook for a several minutes till veggies soften then add corn and canned corn and salt and pepper if needed. If you are using cooked or leftover chicken now is the time to add it.

Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder #recipe

Add broth and simmer till potatoes are cooked through. Using a hand masher work through the soup to smash some potatoes, this will naturally thicken the soup instead of adding flour or cornstarch.

Add half & half and cayenne, stir and serve. Top with crumbled bacon.

Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder #recipe

Additional toppings could be sliced green onions, shredded cheese or sour cream.  The smashing of the potatoes and addition of SOME half and half make this a creamy soup without the guilt of heavy cream and lots of butter.  In fact besides the initial bacon slices there was additional oil added.  The key is to have flavorful ingredients.

Creamy Corn Chicken Chowder #recipe

Celery is key, switch other veggies to suit your tastes but don’t skip the celery.




Harvesting and Roasting Sunflower Seeds

September 3, 2013 by

I’ve always loved sunflowers. Their cheery vivid golden yellow blooms always put a smile on my face. I finally planted them in our garden this year. They were easy to grow and I was greeted with new flowers every week.

Sunflower Seeds from the Garden

I had always planned on harvesting the seeds but to plant for next year. Some point along the way I decided to harvest them for consumption. It could’ve been Rob’s new obsession with eating them during Shaun’s football practice.

Harvesting and Roasting Sunflower Seeds

Start off with finding blossoms that are drooping, brown and dried on the back of the flower. Cut a

few inches down the stem and shake off any insects. Using gloves vigorously rub off the remaining buds until you see even speckled black and white. These are the tops of the seeds.

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds for Eating

 

Working over a bowl or large surface massage out the seeds. The drier the flower is the easier it will be.

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds


Remove leaves, pulp and bugs then set your seeds in a large bowl of water. Leave it alone for 24 hours.

Rinse your seeds in a fine colander and place on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. Pat dry and set aside for an hour or so to dry. I like to place them in a sunny spot to get as much moisture out as possible.

prepping sunflower seeds for roasting

Preheat your oven to 300°. Move your seeds to a shallow cookie sheet in an even layer. Do not add oil or salt. Place into oven and roast for 30-40 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. Taste as you go to ensure they are done.

Roasted Sunflower Seeds

Remove from oven, allow to cool and enjoy.

  • The addition of oil, salt and flavorings can be done as soon as your seeds come out of the oven.
  • I recommend harvesting from the LARGE sunflowers. These will have larger seeds.
  • Don’t think you’ll get seeds as large as the ones that come packaged in the store.



#ad Tyson Project A+ Program plus Chicken Parm Pockets #Recipe #Clip4School #CBias

August 12, 2013 by

I’m the type if mom that plans out the family meals for the week to include  homemade mashed potatoes & mac and cheese and made from scratch pizza dough. I like being able to prepare balanced meals that everyone will enjoy.  But that doesn’t mean I’m not the first to admit I rely in some cheats to get me through a busy week.

Tyson is definitely one of our go-to brands for convenience foods for these exact moments.  Another reason I’m stocking up on Tyson favorites right now is the introduction of their Project A+ program for schools.

The Tyson Project A+™ program is one of the simplest ways to support your school. Just clip and redeem Tyson Project A+ labels from packages of Tyson® products. For every label we receive, we’ll give your school 24¢ – and your school can use the money for whatever it needs.

Tyson Foods Project A+ program

These funds can be used school trips, school supplies, musical instruments, athletic gear and more.  Schools everyday are faced with budget cuts and the decision on what academic or extracurricular activity is going to have to suffer.  Getting started is simple.  Register your school, assign or volunteer as the administrator for the program and educate the families to clip and save the labels to cash in for CASH.  Set goals, make it a competition, spread the word, engage the families. Do whatever it takes to #Clip4School.

Tyson Foods is stepping up and giving schools and their communities the chance to make a difference by doing what they already do, shop for groceries to feed their families.

My grocery list usually consists of the things we need to get through the week but I like to toss in some “just in case” items such as Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Fries or Chicken Wings in case our dinner plans have gone awry.

I used Tyson Foods Crispy Chicken Strips for a new meal idea, a twist on Chicken Parmesan.

Tyson Foods Crispy Chicken Strips #Clip4School

Chicken Parmesan Pockets #cbias #clip4school

Chicken Parmesan Pockets

  • Crispy Chicken Strips (25oz package)
  • 2 tubes of refrigerated Pizza Dough
  • Italian Blend Shredded Cheese
  • Pasta or Pizza Sauce

Chicken Parmesan Pockets #cbias #clip4school

Start by cooking chicken strips according to package directions.  Divide each pizza dough into 6 pieces and roll out into 6×8″ rectangles.

Chop cooked chicken into bite size pieces place a small handful on each rectangle of dough and top with sauce and cheese.

Pull up the corners to the top and press edges onto each other to seal closed.

Bake for 12-18 minutes until golden brown.  Serve with extra sauce and veggies for a balanced meal.

Modify this recipe to suit your family’s tastes by adding roasted red peppers, chunk mozzarella, spicy  marinara or Tyson Food Grilled Chicken Strips instead.

What meals can you change up just by using one of Tyson Foods many many wholesome choices?




Making Smoothies #kidsinthekitchen

August 8, 2013 by

Breakfast time this summer has been a bit lazy. We’re all getting out of bed late and no one is in the mood for a heavy meal. While I encourage healthy choices sometimes the entire meal is a bit unbalanced.
This week I wanted to start a couple of days right with a nice balance of sweetness and protein with smoothies.

I let the kids choose what ingredients they wanted and Strawberries, Banana, Pineapple seemed to be a hit. With the addition of yogurt, orange juice and a squeeze of lime juice the final flavor and texture were spot on. I could’ve added some protein powder or peanut butter to enhance the nutritional content. Next time!

#kidsinthekitchen making a smoothie

I don’t own a blender so I used my margarita machine. It works great at chopping ice into a nice slushy margarita so why not a smoothie. I dumped almost a whole banana, 1 cup each of frozen strawberries and pineapple, 6oz of yogurt and 1/2 cup of OJ into the pitcher and blended till smooth. This was enough for 2 kid size drinks to go along with their cereal and milk.
#kidsinthekitchen making a smoothie
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

July 25, 2013 by

In the beginning of the season Shae was so excited about her Blueberry Bush growing and giving off fruit, she talked about the food she would make and couldn’t wait each morning to go out and eat right from the branches.  That all ended when the birds found where I had moved it.  That was the end of the berries for us. Fortunately Rob has been able to pass a produce stand everyday coming home from work and picked up this HUGE container of blueberries for just $3.

I knew what I was making,  Lemon Blueberry Muffins with Brown Sugar and Almond Streusel. The recipe was adapted from a few I found online; tweaked, edited and made my own.

I’ve made these twice and everyone LOVES them.  The best part is the burst of fresh lemon flavor from the juice and zest.

Muffin Batter

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2  tbls baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 12 tbls cubed cold butter
  • 1 1/3 cup milk
  • 4 eggs (3 whole,  1 yolk)
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tbls)
  • zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
  • 2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen)

Muffin Topping

  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (optional)
  • 4 tbls melted butter
  • 4 tbls flour
  • 5 tbls brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
    Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

 

Preheat your oven to 375 and thoroughly grease 24 muffin tins.

In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer blend the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar for a few seconds.  Then add the cold butter and mix till butter resembles small pebbles.  In a small separate bowl add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and milk and beat till combined then add to the flour mixture.

Mix till batter comes together but do not over mix.  Add blueberries and gently mix for a few seconds. You don’t want to break up the blueberries, that will make your batter purple.

Fill your muffin cups almost full.

For the streusel topping start with melting your butter then adding in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix till crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of each muffin along with the almonds.

Bake for 19-22 minutes till golden brown.

Remove muffins from tins and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

Print
Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Serving Size: 24 regular size muffins

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

  • Batter
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tbls baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 12 tbls cubed cold butter
  • 1 1/3 cup milk
  • 4 eggs (3 whole, 1 yolk)
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tbls)
  • zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
  • 2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen)
  • Topping
  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (optional)
  • 4 tbls melted butter
  • 4 tbls flour
  • 5 tbls brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 and thoroughly grease 24 muffin tins.
  2. In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  3. Add the cold butter and beat till butter resembles small pebbles.
  4. In a small separate bowl add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and milk.
  5. Beat till combined and add to flour mixture.
  6. Mix till batter comes together but do not over mix.
  7. Add blueberries and gently mix for a few seconds. You don't want to break up the blueberries, that will make your batter purple.
  8. Fill your muffin cups almost full.
  9. For the streusel topping start with melting your butter then adding in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  10. Mix till crumbly.
  11. Sprinkle on top of each muffin along with the almonds.
  12. Bake for 19-22 minutes till golden brown.
  13. Remove from tins and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.
https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/07/lemon-blueberry-muffins-recipe.html

Tips while baking

  • zest the lemon before juicing, it’s much easier this way
  • don’t make the lemon and milk mixture ahead of time, you’ll end up with curdled milk if it sits too long
  • omit almonds if desired
  • batter should be thick, much thicker than pancake mix

These make a great snack, breakfast or even dessert.  Switching out ingredients is simple to come up with new recipes such as Cranberry Orange Muffins or Lemon Strawberry Cake.  I would rehydrate dried fruit that was already in our pantry for these pairings.




Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

July 11, 2013 by

The kids like elaborate desserts at home. Make your own sundaes and homemade strawberry shortcakes usually top their list. This are delicious but I sometimes crave something a little different. Quesadillas are a regular lunch for us so I asked Shae and Shaun to come up with some Dessert Quesadilla ideas.

I pulled out ingredients that I thought would fit well into a dessert theme and let them create their own treats.

Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

Shaun was first. He loves chocolate covered strawberries so he went with sliced strawberries and chocolate chips. He made it almost all by himself. I helped with flipping the quesadilla and moving it to a plate but he manned the stove pretty well.

Chocolate covered Strawberry Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

Shae went with  my favorite combination, S’mores.  She wasn’t as confident at the stove but was able to help quite a bit.

S'mores Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

The final one was made for dad; bananas, chocolate chips and crushed salted cashews.  He loved it.  This is something we are going to keep experimenting with, coming up with new combinations and ingredient ideas.

Dessert Quesadillas made by kids
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Veggie and Pasta Summer Salad Recipe Virtual Dinner Party Blog Hop

July 3, 2013 by

With Summer comes a whole new challenge with making dinner because I just don’t feel like it. We use the grill most of the time but sometimes I long for the cool weather standbys of pasta or potatoes. A cool crisp pasta salad is a great way to satisfy those carb cravings. This Summer Veggie Pasta Salad is the right balance of comfort food and fresh healthy lite fare.

Veggie and Pasta Summer Salad

Summer Veggie Pasta Salad

Ingredients
10 oz of pasta, I used rigatoni shape
2 cups of broccoli florets
1 cup snap peas
2 cups of baby carrots, quartered lengthwise
olive oil
salt and pepper

Dressing
1TBSP Dijon mustard
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 olive oil
1tsp finely chopped garlic
handful fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil
2 sprigs oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano

Directions
Bring large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to directions on box. While pasta is cooking heat up large skillet to cook veggies.

With a drizzle of oil in hot pan cook carrots with salt and pepper till just tender then set aside. Using the same pan add broccoli and 1/2 cup of water and cook broccoli till just tender then set aside. Do the same for the snap peas.

In a large bowl combine the mustard, vinegar, garlic and herbs. Add pasta and cooked veggies and mix into dressing. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
Veggie and Pasta Summer Salad

Veggie and Pasta Summer Salad

Use any vegetable that you can get your hands on. I’ve made this with jarred roasted red peppers, zucchini, fresh off the vine tomatoes and garden peas. Experiment with other flavored vinegars or even try roasting vegetables. Add the ingredients that best suit those you are feeding.

 

To get the full Progressively Perfect Virtual Dinner Party blog hop experience, click the links below in order:

Appetizers

Salad

Drinks

Entrees

Coffee, Tea & Dessert

 

  • A Grande Life- No Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake
  • The Naughty Mommy- Key Lime Pie
  • Latte and Legos – Spiced Vanilla Chai Latte

Late Night

  • The Turnip Farmer- Vodka Gummi Bears

Decorations, Outfits and Music




Meal Plan for the Week 4-15

April 15, 2013 by

I’m a pretty good meal planner but I’m not good at blogging that plan. I often forget till about Tuesday and then by that time it’s too late. I’m on time this week and want to share with you what we are having this week.

Monday-Pasta, Sausage and Veggie Toss. Easy mix of shaped pasta tossed with sliced cooked sausage and lots of fresh tomatoes, broccoli, red peppers, baby spinach mushrooms and herbs.

Tuesday-Turkey Tacos with black beans and brown rice. Bulked up lean turkey with beans, salsa and corn served with rice and beans.

Wednesday– Sausage and Ricotta stuffed Potatoes. Spicy sausage and creamy ricotta mixed with herbs are stuffed into fluffy buttery baby potatoes for delicious finger food dinner
Sausage and Ricotta Stuffed Potatoes

Thursday-Breakfast for Dinner. Pancakes for kids, eggs for adults with sausage and fruit on the side.

Friday–Homemade Pizza. It’s been the same meal every Friday for the last 5 years.

I don’t usually plan meals for the weekend because our daily plans are always in the air. We keep our freezer stocked with plenty of easy meals like frozen filled pastas, chicken fingers, fish fillets and of course plenty of leftover pizza if just need quick meals for busy days when the meal plan falls through.




SnackTime, Ladybug Apple Snack #KidsintheKitchen

April 12, 2013 by

This week was snack time with #KidsintheKitchen. I’m all over pinterest and kid friendly food blogs like In the Kitchen with My Three Sons and see all of these awesome food pictures on a plate. They amaze me. I consider myself crafty and creative but this is so far beyond my expertise. I’m in awe at some of the ideas these moms come up with.

I wanted to make something with the kids but knew I needed to keep it simple and use things we have in the house. Check out our Ladybug Apple Treat.
It took just a few minutes from start to finish and the kids ate everything that was involved.
Ladybug Apple Snack for kids #kidsinthekitchen
As you can see I pulled out all kids of candy ideas for the ladybug head. I wasn’t sure what was going to work best. We ended up using a apple (half for each ladybug), creamy peanut butter, chocolate chips (raisins would work), pretzel twists.
Ladybug Apple Snack Supplies
I cut the apple into quarters, as evenly as I could and gave the kids each a half, opened up a little to resemble wings. The rest was up to them. The peanut butter was the glue so everything used was edible. I think the snack was a good mix of healthy foods and sweet treats.  This is definitely a snack we’d try again. Maybe next time we get more creative with the whole picture.
Ladybug Apple Snack #kidsinthekitcen
eating ladybug apple snack
eating ladybug apple snack
Did you have fun in the kitchen this week? Did you try a new food or a new restaurant?  Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? Share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen. I would love for you to join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together and enjoying it and learning something.

  • preparing healthy snacks
  • having a tea party
  • counting skills with m&ms
  • pouring from measuring cups
  • discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
  • creating new family friendly recipes

Don’t have a blog, then share a photo you uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Share whatever you have, we want to see it.

Linky Rules

1. Link up only your kid friendly recipes, stories, pictures or cooking lessons here.
2. Link directly to a specific post, update or tweet not your homepage.
3. Please add a Kids in the Kitchen button or link on your site or blog post or share through social media so readers know you are participating.
kids in the kitchen, meme

kids in the kitchen, cooking with kids, weekly series
4. Click through and comment, pin, like, tweet or share with other participants. We love to share inspiration and ideas with each other, don’t link and run.
5. Follow the hosts of this feature,Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara and me, Melinda at LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!

I can’t wait to see all of the fun food themed ideas, excursions and photos you have to share.





Homemade Brushetta #recipe

February 27, 2013 by

Somedays I crave a little snacking food. Lately it’s been all about tomatoes; fresh salsa from the deli, roasted beefsteaks with parmesan cheese and today it was brushetta that was calling my name. I made this a while back for my family and it got really good reviews. It’s such a simple dish I’m not sure why I don’t make it more often. This amount serves 4-5 but can easily be doubled or quadrupled for larger gatherings.

Print
Fresh Brushetta at Home #Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 Roma Tomatoes
  • 4-5 Sundried Tomatoes
  • 2 tsp finely minced garlic
  • 1 tsp dried basil or 6-10 leaves fresh basil finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
  • 1-2 tbls grated Parmesan cheese (fresh is best)
  • 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Rough chop Roma tomatoes, finely mince dry packed sun dried tomatoes or finely chop marinated sun dried tomatoes.
  2. Add all ingredients into a bowl, mix well and set aside for 1-2 hours.
  3. Serve with thin sliced baguette or as a pasta topping.
https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/02/homemade-brushetta-recipe.html

homemade brushetta recipe
The sundried tomatoes boost the flavor and the Balsamic Vinegar gives it a great earthy sweetness. Fresh tomatoes are best but if canned are all that is available then I suggest a high quality, no salt added organic diced tomato.




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