DIY: Quick, Cheap, and Easy Fall Wreath

I love wreaths! I think they add such a homey feel to any place and now-a-days you can get so creative with what you can do with them.  I recently made our front door wreath for fall! It took me all of about 20 minutes and turned out super cute! (At least I think so anyway!)  I used a grapevine wreath from Michael's (they run them on sale for 3.99 most of the time!) and some flowers they had in fall colors for 60% off.  For the "S" and bow I used items I already had around the house.  The great thing about wreaths is that with a little floral wiring and hot glue you can pretty much get whatever you want to on there! When adding flowers I typically cut the stem a little longer and bend it to stick it in the wreath (to anchor it a bit) I always arrange the flowers how I like and then hot glue any places that need more support.  I then attached the "S" with some floral wiring to the bottom portion of the wreath and attached the chevron bow with wiring as well.  I can always add/change the flowers later on if I want to.  So for this cute front door addition I spent a whopping $6.51!

T

Delicious Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

I had originally pinned this recipe on Pinterest almost a year ago and had been wanting to try ever since.  The original recipe came from Mel's Kitchen Cafe who has lots of scrumptious looking recipes available on her site.  One thing I'll change for next time is making more sauce, I just like a little extra on the side for dipping.  If you aren't feeling rice this would go well with Asian noodles or even a salad with mandarin oranges and crunchies in it!

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

INGREDIENTS
Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
Sauce:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. While the oil is heating, cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Put the chicken into the bag with the cornstarch and seal, tossing to coat the chicken. Whisk the eggs together in a shallow pie plate. Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg and place them carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip each piece over to cook on the other side until nicely golden but not all the way cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken in the baking dish. Bake for one hour, turning the chicken once or twice while cooking to coat evenly with sauce. Serve over hot, steamed rice.


Note: if you like extra sauce, double the sauce ingredients – pour half over the chicken and follow the recipe instructions; pour the other half in a small saucepan and cook the sauce on the stovetop at a simmer for 8-10 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Serve it on the side of the chicken.

T

From Scratch Biscuits and Gravy

Since I fell behind with the meal planning post I decided to to post the recipe's with the picture.  First up is biscuits with sausage gravy, all homemade mmm! Next time I will definitely add more pepper and maybe some hot sauce!

Ingredients

Biscuits
3 cups All-purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1-1/2 stick (3/4 Cup) Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
1-1/4 cup Buttermilk

SAUSAGE GRAVY
1 pound Breakfast Sausage, Hot Or Mild
1/3 cup All-purpose Flour
4 cups Whole Milk
1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
2 teaspoons Black Pepper, More To Taste



Preparation Instructions
BISCUITS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor (or a large bowl.) Add butter pieces and pulse until butter is completely cut into the flour mixture (or use a pastry cutter if using a bowl.) While pulsing (or stirring) drizzle in the buttermilk until dough just comes together and is no longer crumbly.
Drop in clumps on two baking sheets, then bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown. (Optional: Brush with melted butter when biscuits first come out of the oven.)
SAUSAGE GRAVY
With your finger, tear small pieces of sausage and add them in a single layer to a large heavy skillet. Brown the sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Sprinkle on half the flour and stir so that the sausage soaks it all up, then add a little more until just before the sausage looks too dry. Stir it around and cook it for another minute or so, then pour in the milk, stirring constantly.
Cook the gravy, stirring frequently, until it thickens. (This may take a good 10-12 minutes.) Sprinkle in the seasoned salt and pepper and continue cooking until very thick and luscious. If it gets too thick too soon, just splash in 1/2 cup of milk or more if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Another yummy recipe from the Pioneer Woman, she really knows what she's doing!

MP Day #4 & 5

No recipes for today! Thursday night I had planned to make Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken, but my chicken hadn't thawed, Spence and I were both tired and I got an email deal on pizza and breadsticks, so we decided to opt for that deliciousness (and boy it was good)! We had enough left over for both of our lunches Friday so that worked out well.  Friday night's we usually always meet my parents for dinner, Spencer had to be a at football game so Dad and I went to Firehouse and had some delicious barbecue! Mmmm!

T

MP Night #3: Comfort food, Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday was a dreary evening.  It was very dark, cloudy, and on the verge of raining....this however made it a perfect night for some warm comfort food! On the menu for Wednesday was meatloaf and mashed taters (I also had a wedge salad).  I hadn't picked out a recipe for meatloaf so I got some ideas from my co-worker Sherry (who is a wonderful cook) and the kind of just threw some other stuff in and voila! a meatloaf was made!  Spencer gave high praises and I enjoyed it myself!  I am going to have to work on my photography skills in posting the meal pics, they don't look nearly as good as they taste!  Recipes below picture.....

Meatloaf

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground beef (I used 85/15)
• 2/3 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 egg (whisked before adding)
• couple splashes of milk
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tbs of Worcestershire sauce (I eyeballed it)
• 1 tbs mustard (Eyeballed it)
• Salt, pepper, garlic salt (just added some dashes of these, whatever your preference)
• SAUCE: For tonight I only used ketchup, but a mustard, ketchup, brown sugar mix would be yummy as well! 

Combine all these together in a bowl with your hands (it's much easier than a utensil), form into a loaf and place in a loaf pan.  Bake on 350 for 1 hour (After 30 min take out and add on sauce)

Mashed Taters

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes (This was the perfect amount for just Spencer and I, add more if you want to serve more than 2)
• Milk
• Garlic Salt
• Butter
• Salt & Pepper

Wash and peel potatoes, quarter, then boil (with lid) potatoes for 45 minutes in salted water.  Drain and add milk, butter, and seasonings.  Now the amount of these depends on personal preference.  For example, milk makes it creamy, but the more you add the less thick the potatoes.  I usually do about 1/4 cup milk and 2-3 tbs of butter.  Add sparingly, you can ALWAYS add more if you'd like but you can never take away!  Once everything is added you can mash with a masher or use a hand-held mixer (if I'm making a lot then I use my hand-held).  For my sour cream lovers out there, sour cream would taste great in this! (I just don't use it because hubby hates it!)

I also made my yummy Ms Fields cookies and they were/are delicious!!! 

T

Meal Planning Night 2: Pasta alla Vodka

Yet another recipe from Pioneer Woman was in the works for Tuesday night.  Pasta alla Vodka is something that I've made, but looked yummy when I saw it on an episode of Pioneer Woman (yes I record them and watch them when I get home from work).  I mean who doesn't love marinara and heavy cream?!  And vodka of course, but since I can't currently drink it I can resort to cooking with it.  This meal turned out pretty decent, Spencer of course wished it would have had meat but loved it otherwise.  My only qualm was that there were too many onions! Onions lovers you would be fine with the recipe as it stand, but I just am not a fan.  Next time I would only use about half an onion and maybe use a grater to make the onion into a less bulky consistency.....

Spencer had a football game, so this was thrown together quickly after and served by itself! Some chicken in the mix would probably be yummy! Here's the recipe......

Ingredients

• 1 pound Pasta

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

• 2 Tablespoons Butter

• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped Finely

• 2 cloves (to 3 Cloves) Garlic, Chopped

• 3/4 cups (to 1 Cup) Vodka

• 1 can (About 14 Oz.) Tomato Puree

• 1 cup Heavy Cream

• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes

• 1/4 teaspoon (to 1/2 Teaspoon) Salt

•  Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste

• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions, being careful not to overcook.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add in chopped onion and garlic. Stir and allow to cook for two minutes. Pour in vodka. Stir and cook for three minutes. Add in tomato puree and stir.

Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Allow to simmer, being careful not to overheat. Stir in red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water in case sauce is too thick. Add cooked pasta to the sauce, tossing to combine. Splash in a little water if it needs it. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Pour mixture into large serving bowl. Garnish with more Parmesan cheese.

T

Meal Planning: Beginning with the Basics

I have decided that I want to start meal planning so that I'm able to (hopefully) only hit up the grocery store once or twice a month.  Sunday I sat down and planned out our dinner meals for the next 2 weeks and made a grocery list.  I only planned dinners because we typically have cereal/waffles/bagels for breakfast and sandwiches/leftovers for lunch, so there was no need for me to cook meals at those times (not that I would even have time to do that ha!).

Last night was Fried Round Steak from my favorite The Pioneer Woman...I had planned to do a potato dish as a side, but ended up just going with macaroni because I was in a time crunch...It turned out to be pretty tasty and most of all VERY simple! Although next time I think will use some cream of mushroom and milk to make a gravy, then simmer steaks for about 30 min in the gravy so they are nice and tender.

Recipe below (macaroni was from a box)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Cube Steak (round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 3 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper, Or To Taste
•  Salt, For Seasoning Meat
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil (more If Needed)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter

Preparation Instructions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Mix together flour, seasoned salt, and pepper.

Season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece in flour mixture, pressing to coat with as much flour as possible.

Add butter to pan right before frying.

When butter is melted, fry pieces of steak in butter/oil mixture. Flip when sides are deep golden brown and cook about 1 minute on the other side.

Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately

For tonight, Pasta alla Vodka....also from The Pioneer Woman (if you can't tell, I LOVE her!)

T