Chicken Nuggets

I posted this recipe a couple of years ago, but thought it deserved another shout out. I have a very picky daughter.  She has never been a good eater! She literally almost starved herself when she was born cause she couldn't be bothered to wake up and eat. Thus began the food battle with her. She will not touch any vegetable or fruit. If there is even a speck of either on her plate, she will not eat the carbs or meat she has agreed to try. We can usually trick her into eating her meat by letting her pretend to be a dinosaur at the dinner table, otherwise,she is strictly a carbs and junk food girl! Tonight we are having a delicious veggie soup for dinner. My daughter will get these homemade chicken nuggets. My kids love chicken nuggets and I love these because I know how they were made. I'm not a huge fan of the processed stuff. So this post is for you, Tess. I hope someday you at least taste a strawberry:)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

1 cup or so of seasoned breadcrumbs
5 or so tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Splash of water
2-3 tbsp of butter, melted
1-2 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a shallow dish, whisk together egg and water. In a separate dish combine breadcrumbs and cheese. Place chicken in egg wash and coat chicken pieces, then coat in breadcrumbs, turning chicken to make sure it is covered. Place prepared chicken on greased baking sheet and drizzle each piece with some melted butter.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes depending on how large or small your chicken pieces are. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. (These freeze really well too!)

Spicy Peanut Noodles

It has been so nice to be back in the kitchen cooking, although doing it some evenings with a screaming newborn is less than fun. On Monday we had some fake out Chinese food to celebrate a belated Chinese New Year. I tried this new recipe and we loved it! It's more Thai foodish, but still delicious.

Spicy Peanut Noodles
another day in paradise

3 tbsp peanut butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp honey
3 cloves mined garlic
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
8 oz spaghetti noodles
shaved carrots
chopped cilantro
chopped peanuts

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles and put them in a serving bowl. In the meantime, in a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, hot sauce, and broth. Mix until peanut butter is melted and things are well combined. Add peanut sauce to drained noodled and mix well. Garnish with carrots, cilantro, and peanuts.

Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

Despite the 20 pounds of baby weight I have to lose, I made a cake this week. I just needed to bake something, and something good. I love this cake! It is gooey and rich. A perfect dessert to help me get back into the kitchen.

Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

Crust: 
1 box yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
Filling:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 box (16oz) confectioners sugar
plus more for dusting

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, egg, and melted butter. Mix well until dry ingredients are moistened. Pat lightly into prepared pan, covering bottom and sides.
In another large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. Beat in melted butter until well blended. On low speed, gradually add in sugar. Beat until smooth.
Spread cream cheese mixture over crust in pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until sides are set and center is still jiggly. Remove from oven and cool completely. Sprinkle more confectioners sugar over cake and cut into squares.

Serves up to 20

New Addition!

I am missing my little food blog, but I have had a good reason to neglect it. This sweet little girl joined our family January 3rd and life has been anything but routine since. She is doing really well and I am slowly recovering from the surgery. It is weird to be a mother of 3, but I wouldn't have it any other way!! I am hoping as I get life figured out with a newborn, I can at least get something blogged once a week. We'll see what happens though....

~Gwen~

Chocolate Toffee Trifle

Man it's been forever since I blogged something yummy! Life has been busy and it is only going to get busier in the next couple of weeks. We have had a wonderful holiday season and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little one, hopefully anytime after Christmas.

I made this yummy trifle last night for a family dinner. It was a hit!

Chocolate Toffee Trifle
1 devil's food cake mix, plus ingredients to make the cake
1 large box instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk
1 (8oz) bag toffee pieces
1 (12oz) container cool whip, thawed
Hershey's syrup

Bake cake according to package directions. Let it cool completely. While your cake is cooling, beat the pudding and milk together until thick.
Chop up your cake into bite size pieces. Sprinkle 1/3 of your cake pieces into bottom of trifle dish. Spread 1/3 of the pudding over the top of the cake. Sprinkle 1/3 of the toffee pieces over the pudding. Spread 1/3 of cool whip over toffee. Drizzle some hershey's syrup over the top.
Repeat the layers twice more.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 12 hours.

Source: www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

A fun Thanksgiving treat!

Pumpkin Penne Pasta

Wow! Almost an entire month without a new post! That tells you how crazy my life is. I have been cooking...no one in my home is starving. I am trying to teach myself balance and sadly with the craziness of life and frantically preparing for our new little addition, food blogging gets put on the back burner. Only 8 weeks left until we get to meet our new princess and we can't wait!!

We have been enjoying the flavors of fall the last month. Last night we enjoyed some pumpkin pasta that was yummy!

Pumpkin Penne Pasta

Salt

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta

2 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, grated

2 cups chicken stock

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp hot sauce

freshly grated or ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp ground sage or 7 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced

Grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt and the pasta and cook to al dente, reserving 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock, pumpkin, and cream, then season the sauce with hot sauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes longer to thicken. Add a little of reserved cooking water if needed to thin out the sauce a bit. Stir in the sage, then toss in the drained pasta and cheese.

Serve 6

adapted from rachael ray