Cookbook of the Month Recipe - Sweet and Sour Chicken

Last year when I got laid off, I had this idea in my head of what life as a stay-at-home mom was going to be like. Part of the idea was dinner on the table every night. The first couple of months after Abbi was born, I realized that it is just not that easy. My baby was definitely my priority, and dinner often got pushed to the back burner.

Fast forward to now. My beautiful girl is now 9 months old, and almost doesn't seem like a baby any more. But still, sometimes dinner is hard to get on the table. Maybe it's the time of day - she's usually so good about playing by herself and keeping herself occupied, but as soon as the evening strikes, a lot of the time she wants full attention. I try to keep her entertained by letting her watch me make dinner while sitting in her high chair. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I've had a fair share of times that dinner ends up half made on the stove, only to end up eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.

I loved quick and easy dinners before, but now I completely love them. Don't get me wrong, I love to make something complicated and "all out" every once in awhile, but for every day - quick and easy is my mantra. And really, it doesn't get any easier than this recipe. Seriously - a total of probably 5 minutes of prep work, throw it in the oven and less than an hour later, dinner is on the table. That is exactly why I chose this recipe. Another recipe you can make while holding a 9-month old in one hand!!

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this. As I was making it, I thought to myself, "you never like things made with these onion soup packets. Why in the world did you choose this recipe??" But I'm glad I did, because it was quite tasty, and even better the next day! I think I should start rating recipes by how good they are as leftovers sometimes! And even though this is nothing fancy or spectacular, I'd totally make it again!

Recipe Rating: 4.1 out of 5

Sweet and Sour Chicken
adapted from Recipes from River View

Serves 4

4 chicken breast halves
1 cup Catalina salad dressing
1 cup brown sugar
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
rice, for serving

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken in a casserole dish.

In a small bowl, combine the dressing, brown sugar and onion soup mix. Pour over chicken breasts. Cook in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

Serve over rice.

Brownie Macaroons

My poor daughter is sick for the first time. This is the first time I'm experiencing taking care of a sick child, and as a mother, it is so hard to watch her suffer. Luckily, it's nothing big, (no H1N1), but even if it was only a few sniffles, it would still be hard to watch. I've spent 90% of the last day and a half with her in my arms. I know that when I am sick, cuddling always helps!!

Needless to say, I haven't done much cooking in the last 2 days. It's a bit difficult to do anything when you've got a 20 pound child in one arm! But these cookies - they would seriously be easy enough to make one-handed!! I do have to say, I'm not a big boxed brownie lover. I think from scratch is almost just as easy and a lot tastier. But I will seriously keep boxed brownie mixes on my shelf for these cookies! If you can't decide which you are craving - a cookie or a brownie - then these are for you. But they are addictive - I'm warning you now!

Brownie Macaroons
adapted from Best of the Bake-Off

Makes 24 cookies

1 (19.5 oz.) pkg. brownie mix
2 cups coconut
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons oil
1 egg

Heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; beat 50 strokes with spoon. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheet; flatten slightly.

Bake at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are set. (Centers will be soft.) Remove from cookie sheets.

Celery Root

Have you ever tried celery root? Want to know more about this root vegetable? Check out my post over at Cafe Zupas today!

Amazingly Moist Salmon & Peppery Cheese Bread

I am so proud of myself. I have been working on organizing things on my computer, and trying to move a lot of it off my regular hard drive and onto my external hard drive. In the process, I started going through the recipes I have yet to blog. But I'm happy to say, I have now gone through all of them, typed out the recipes, and have them all prepared to post about. Now I just have to remember the details on some of these meals I made a few months ago!

Even though I made this quite some time ago, I do remember it. Except for that broccoli side dish. I don't know if it is just steamed broccoli, or if I did something special with it... I always love salmon recipes. I love salmon to start off with, and it is just so easy to prepare. I used to be scared of preparing any type of fish until I discovered it's much easier to cook a salmon fillet perfectly than it is to cook a chicken breast perfectly! This salmon is exactly what the title says - amazingly moist. If you area mayonnaise hater, you'll probably want to skip this one, but I love it, so I loved this recipe. And the bread is quite delicious. And it's perfect for a week night since it is a quick bread. I don't see savory quick breads often enough, so I'm always quick to jump on them when I do see them. Altogether a delicious meal!

Amazingly Moist Salmon
adapted from Extraordinary Meals from Ordinary Ingredients

Serves 4

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4 salmon fillets, about 1 1/2 pounds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 500F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, and lemon rind.

Sprinkle the salmon with the salt and pepper. Coat each fillet with some of the mayonnaise mixture and set on the baking sheet.

Roast until the salmon flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 12 minutes.

Peppery Cheese Bread
from Better Homes & Gardens Treasured Recipes

Makes 1 loaf

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 beaten eggs
1 8-ounce carton plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, pepper, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, yogurt, oil, milk and mustard. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; add cheese and green onions. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in a 350F oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool for 1 hour on wire rack. Serve warm. Wrap any leftovers and store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

October Cookbook of the Month Review

I remember when I first moved away from home and had to cook for myself, I was always drawn to the magazines at the check out counter at the grocery store. I often walked away with a copy of Family Circle magazine. First of all, it was always inexpensive, and second of all - the cover recipes always looked so good. I ended up with a huge stack of magazines that I still wish I had today, but I think they made it into the garbage during one of my many moves while I was single. I don't know if I ever even made a recipe from one of those magazines, but I've always been a sucker for a pretty photograph!

So when I chose this cookbook - Family Circle All-Time Favorite Recipes - as the Cookbook of the Month, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I had no idea if I would like the recipes or not. And now, looking back, I realized that this cookbook is everything I was hoping it would be - tasty, family friendly food. If you are a regular reader here, you will know that this kind of cooking is what I am all about. So you can bet you'll be seeing more recipes from this cookbook!






Sweet 'n' Nutty Chicken - 4 out of 5












Chocolate Peanut-Butter Balls - 4 out of 5











Pork Stir-Fry - 4.25 out of 5












Orange-Honey Sticky Bun Muffins - 4 out of 5











Pork & Squash Burritos - 4.4 out of 5

Average Recipe Rating: 4.13 out of 5

I really wanted to buy a new cookbook for this month's Cookbook of the Month, but I am still forcing myself to use cookbooks from my shelf. And I could not make a decision this month. I changed my mind several times, but ended up settling on one called - Recipes from River View. It is a neighborhood cookbook that my mom's neighborhood just put together. I usually hesitate to choose books like this for the Cookbook of the Month, just because it is not a book that you can go out and buy. I usually like to highlight a cookbook that you may want to add to your collection, but I couldn't resist using this cookbook this month. There are so many recipes in it that I want to make. So even if you can't buy it, hopefully you'll enjoy the recipes I share with you from it!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Remember the pumpkin puree I made earlier this week? Well, this is a perfect use for it! Check out the recipe for this Spicy Pumpkin Soup at the Cafe Zupas blog.

Cookbook of the Month Recipe - Pork & Squash Burritos

I love it when a month has 5 Fridays in it - so that I get to do an extra recipe from my Cookbook of the Month!! This month's cookbook - Family Circle All-Time Favorite Recipes - is so full of recipes that I want to try, so I didn't struggle to find a fifth recipe.

These are quite delicious - and squash is in season right now, so these are a perfect dinner idea. But do you want to know what I like the best about them? They freeze wonderfully! I only had soft taco sized tortillas on hand, so my burritos ended up a bit smaller - and the recipe ended up making a ton. More than we could eat in a few days. So I wrapped each of the leftovers individually, first in plastic wrap, then in foil. Then I popped them all in a freezer bag, and into the freezer they went. Last night I was feeling lazy, so I popped a few of these into the microwave (minus the foil, of course!) and they came out wonderful and delicious! In fact, I think I even enjoyed them more the second time around than I did the first!

Recipe Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Pork & Squash Burritos
adapted from Family Circle All-Time Favorite Recipes

Makes 6 servings

1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2x1/2 inch x 1/2 inch sticks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise
1 pork loin (1 pound), trimmed and cut into matchstick strips
1 medium zucchini, cut into 2x1/2 inch x 1/2 inch sticks
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
6 flour tortillas (10-inch)
1 cup shredded monterey-jack cheese

Bring 1/2 inch water to boiling in a large skillet. Add squash; cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook 6 minutes or until softened. Increase heat to medium-high. Add the pork, zucchini, chili powder, cumin, salt and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, 6 to 8 minutes or until pork is cooked through and vegetables are tender.

Stir in orange juice and reserved squash; cook 2 minutes or until heated through.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in damp paper toweling. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes or until steaming and very pliable.

Spoon squash filling over warmed tortillas, dividing equally. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold up each tortilla, envelope style.