Bacon Wrapped Chicken Shish Kabobs

I am stealing this from my mother-in-law.  It it wonderful.  We have made it over and over again. Leftover chicken it great on salads.  It is even great if you throw them in the freezer and pop in the microwave for a couple of minutes and throw on a salad.... Ok, now I am getting hungry.  Next time I make them I will have to snap a pic, but I wanted to put this out here so that I can find the recipe easy!

Shopping List:

~ 5 chicken breast halves, boneless, skinless

~soy sauce       ~honey       ~cider vinegar       ~canola oil    ~bacon (regular sliced)

 ~pineapple (fresh or chunks in a can)            

 ~skewers (Soak in water ahead of time so they don’t catch fire on the grill.)

1.  Wash chicken and cut into chunks.

2.  Mix marinade ingredients in a gallon sized freezer bag.  (Not the kind with a slider!)

     1/2 cup soy sauce 

      1/2 cup cider vinegar

      4 Tbs honey

      4 Tbs oil (Recipe called for canola oil, but I just used vegetable oil.)

3.  Add chicken chunks and marinate in frig for at least 4 hours. I left it in for 6 hours...  

    You could even let it marinate it overnight.

4.  Assemble skewers:

     Chicken: Wrap each chicken chunk in 1/3 strip of bacon, using the skewer to secure the

                bacon strip. Alternate bacon/chicken pieces with a chunk of pineapple.   

                Discard the marinade!!!

5.  Grill chicken kabobs until juices run clear, and bacon is crisp.

Sandra's Apple Crisp

Sandra's Apple Crisp

Sandra made her Apple Crisp for us earlier this year and I have been thinking about it ever since.  The topping isn't your normal 'Crisp' oatmeal topping.  It was yummy!  I usually can take or leave any type of crisp or pie, but this one was really good! 

Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cin (or more... Sandra uses more)
1 stick melted butter
1/4 brown sugar to mix into fruit
 sliced apples to fill a 9 x 13 pan


Mix the brown sugar and some Cinnamon (eyeball it) into apples.  Spread into a 9 x 13 pan.

Mix flour, sugar salt and cinnamon together and set aside.  Beat the eggs.  Mix with flour mixture.  (May be kind of lumpy.)  Spread over fruit.  (Use a spoon and drop over.)  Poor butter over the top of dry mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

*I'm going to try to make this using peaches.  I have a bunch of frozen peaches from this summer and I think that it will be great!***

Summer CSA

I have been waiting for today... my first CSA share from Visser Farms!  We just got back from picking it up and I can't resist 'documenting' our first batch of veggies :) 
We bought a half share this year, I was really nervous that this wouldn't be enough... but check out the amount of veggies that we got this week!  I think that this will be perfect!

asparagus, lettuce, rhubarb, tomatoes, green onions, red radishes, spinach, carrots and German Butterball potatoes

I won!

Ok, I see all these giveaways on blogs that I read and I have wondered how many people really win them... well I did!  I saw this post at Sarah's deals and decided to take the time to enter.  Then a few days later I got an e-mail in the mail that said I WON!  (Isn't it funny how simple little things like this can make your day :)  Today when we got home from running errands, I had this huge box on the front porch.   (Well, really  it was in another box, but when I opened it, this is what I saw!)   I had to quickly open it up to see what was inside it!  My 2 year old was so excited to see each think that was in the box!  Here is a run down:
1 tote, 3 cans of tomatoes (yay), a flash drive, a key chain, magnets and my two year old's favorite - the Car!    Have I said it yet that this package has made my day!

CSA preview

I'm so excited!  I have talked Chris into joining a CSA this summer. We are going to buy a half share from Visser Farms.  I bought a 'box' from there today so that I could see how it would work and so that I could talk to them.  Here is a peek at what we received today and I can't wait for the weather to get nice and we can start enjoying all of our great produce!  Why am I going this route?  Why don't I just buy what we need either at the store or the local farmers market?  There are a couple of reasons...

• I love veggies and want to try some that I normally wouldn't justify buying.
• We really want to be better about eating at home.  I think that by having the produce at home, I'll feel like I 'need' to use it and it will be an incentive to cook.
• I hope to create excitement for the girls about healthy food by exposing them to the farm and hopefully they will be excited to see what we will have each week in our box!

I really think that I should have been a farmer... I love this stuff!

BBQ Jalapenos

These things are my new favorites.  I could just make them and eat a batch of them myself! (Ops, don't tell... I did the other day!)  I saw them on a blog a while ago and then decided to make them this summer...  I LOVE them :)  I found the recipe on this blog.  I didn't change a thing, they are wonderful as they are!  One tip :   Don't buy the thick bacon because it takes to long to crisp up!

BBQ Bacon-Wrapped Jalapenos
20 fresh jalapenos, cut in half and seeded
2 blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 pound bacon, cut into thirds
BBQ sauce
toothpicks
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Spread some of the cheese mixture in each jalapeno half. Wrap each piece with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Brush with BBQ sauce, and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bacon is nicely browned.

Chicken Potpies

This Recipe is from my cousin Laura.  I think that it is yummy!  Lexi says "I don't like chicken pot pie!  (makes 2 potpies 6 servings each …Laura feels like it is more like 3 or 4)


Ingredients:

4 cups cubed cooked chicken (I used 4 breasts boiled or 1 rotisserie chicken)

4 cups frozen cubed hash brown potatoes thawed

1 package (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained  (Laura put a green bean, wax bean and carrot mix and added a ton of corn…in total more than the 16 ounces) 

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 can condensed cream of onion soup, undiluted

1 cup milk

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 package (15 ounces) refrigerated pie pastry



1. In a large bowl, combine the firs11 ingredients. Divide between two 9 in. deep dish pie plates. Roll out pastry to fit on top of each pie. Place over filling; trim, seal and flute edges. (I have no idea how to seal or flute edges so I just made sure it was pushed onto the pie plate) Cut slits in top or make decorative cutouts in pastry.

2. Cover and freeze one potpie for up to 3 months. Bake the remaining potpie at 400 Degrees for 35-40 minutes (I think that I had to cook over an hour-ish) or until golden brown.



To use frozen potpie: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking. Cover edges loosely with foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; remove foil and bake 50-55 minutes longer or until golden brown.
 
Variations:  I made one w/ frozen puff pastry and it was great.  I then just froze the filling and the next time I made it I put it in a 9x13 (maybe an 11x8ish) pan and covered it w/ foil for about an hour and then opened a can of Grands biscuits, spaced them on top and bake the amount of time on the can.   This was great!  (My favorite :)  Lexi still says "I don't like Chicken Pot Pie" :)