Sunday, March 11, 2012

Chicken Dumpling Soup

I think I've said this before but I am the worst at making lunch.  Lunch is my least favorite meal and honestly (if I can pull it off) it is mostly replaced by brunch.  Now that I'm working in a school, lunch is unavoidable, and I need to find more things to bring to school for lunch besides a bologna sandwich.  Currently, my rotation consists of different soups, yogurt with fruit and granola, and bologna sandwiches.  Sometimes, if we have something particularly delicious for dinner I'll bring in left overs (like a taco salad - yum!).  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated though.

One soup that my mom loves to make at home is this chicken dumpling soup.  It's incredibly easy to make since you only need three ingredients and it's absolutely delicious.  You take 1 can of chicken broth and pour it in a pot with these chicken pot stickers.  Any chicken pot sticker will do but these ones from Trader Joe's are delicious.  Then you cut up some green onion and let it simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes and you're done!  This soup is filling and a nice treat on the weekends or reheated at work.  I'll definitely be working this soup into my rotation :)




Chicken Dumpling Soup
Serves 2
Prep time: 5 min        
Cook time: 15 - 20 min

Ingredients
- 2 c chicken broth
- 10 - 12 chicken dumplings or pot stickers
- 1 stalk green onion

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Let simmer for 15 - 20 min, or until the dumplings are tender.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.


Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Homemade BBQ Sauce

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had the opportunity to host a dinner party.  I wanted the theme to be a "classy tailgate" and take backyard tailgate foods and scale them up for a dinner party.  We decided to serve sliders with classy toppings (arugula, blue cheese crumbles, avocado, etc) along with some chicken for those that didn't want to eat red meat.  I wanted to make this chicken special, and when I found this recipe for Ina Garten's homemade BBQ sauce I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for.

I know this looks like a huge laundry list of ingredients, but believe me, it's worth it!  This BBQ sauce is incredibly dynamic.  It starts off somewhat smoky, then tangy, and then it has this little kick at the end from the red peppers.  This BBQ recipe would probably work best with chicken.  The longer you leave it in the fridge, the more time the flavors have to meld together and the more delicious your recipe will be.   It is time consuming, but the results are certainly worth the effort, especially if you want to add a little something special to your backyard BBQ (or classy dinner party).


BBQ Sauce
Yield:  1 quart
Prep Time: 1 hour

Ingredients
-                1 lg onion, chopped
-                3 cloves garlic, minced
-                ½ c vegetable oil
-                1 c (10 oz) tomato paste
-                1 c cider vinegar
-                1 c honey
-                ½ c Worcestershire sauce
-                1 c Dijon mustard
-                1 c soy sauce
-                2 tbsp chili powder
-                1 tbsp ground cumin
-                1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions
In a large saucepan over low to medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in vegetable oil until the onions are translucent.  Add the tomato paste, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, soy sauce, chili powder, cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Simmer uncovered on low heat for 30 min.  Store in refrigerator if not using right away. 

Source: slightly adapted from Ina Garten


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars

Spoiler alert - I'm obsessed with Glee.  (there may be some other spoilers at the very bottom of the post...).

I adored the first season of Glee.  I loved that there was a show about kids singing a cappella in a high school.  And I could look past all of the teen pregnancies and broken hearts and other stupid drama because the show was about music.

The second season kind of lost that.

The third season has been even worse.  But you know what?  I dig it.  There's a very fine line between over-dramatic and so dramatic that it's intoxicating, and I feel Glee has pushed the script over the edge to the point where I cannot look away.  High schoolers sleeping with their teachers (who adopted their baby), lesbians fighting for their right to kiss in the hallways, two high schoolers getting married much to the chagrin of Jeff Goldblum and Brian Stokes Mitchell.  Classic stuff!  I tried so hard not to get sucked into this over-the-top drama, but Glee was always on during dinner and my mom refused to change the channel so I'll blame it on her ;)

For a while I was a closet watcher, but when I saw how excited two of my friends were as they chatted about the latest episode I could no longer hold back.  I started to let it casually slip that I watched Glee "because it's on during dinner," but after a while they saw through the charade and the three of us would be shrieking over Quinn not getting any solos and what was going to happen to the show when everyone parted ways.

With the season finale looming overhead, I decided the three of us should actually watch the show together.  I DVR'd the last episode so we could watch it uninterrupted and invited the girls over for an absolutely sinful dessert.  I've had this dessert before at a friend's house but now I finally had the excuse to recreate it.

It's quite simple, really.  You whip up a batch of brownie mix (either from a box or from scratch, mine are from  a box) and a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough (again, mine are the break and bake kind).  Pour your brownie mix into a 9x13 in. pan, plop balls of cookie dough throughout the brownie batter, and bake.  Even though the brownies and cookies cook for different times, the cookies will take longer to cook since they're in the brownie batter.  The combination of brownies and chocolate chip cookies is nothing new, but if you're looking for a real treat, you can whip these up in a matter of minutes and wolf them down in about the same amount of time.  A sinful treat to eat while watching your guilty pleasure show :)



Also, how many more life lessons could Glee cram into one episode?  Is the next season going to start with a funeral or a wedding??  I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL APRIL 10TH.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

And the Award Goes To...

Over the past week I have been awarded two Liebster Blog Awards!  I couldn't be more flattered.

The Liebster award is a special award for blogs that have less than 200 followers (we're getting there!).  Liebster is a German term that means, "favorite, beloved, or dearest."  Thank you very much to Terri at That's Some Good Cookin' and Rina at I Thee Cook for thinking that my little blog deserved some extra love.

So now, I would like to pass the award onto five other up-and-coming blogs that I believe you should check out!  I follow all five of these blogs and I very much enjoy their writing style, their stories, and most of all - their food!

Jackie at A Bitter Sweet Wife

Melanie at Adorkable Recipes

Andrea at Quest for Delish

Kristina at Whipped Baking

Emily at Life On Food

Thanks again everyone!  And be sure to check these girls out and continue to share the little blog love :)