Pasta Portabella

It was a hectic Monday, after a super-busy weekend, and we were hungry. So I threw together some baked chicken and pasta portabella. 

It all starts with the fact that Italian dressing and presliced baby portabella mushrooms are my crazy Monday friends.

I took frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts out and placed them right on a baking sheet, and baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I cooked up a pot full of noodles and tossed them with olive oil, soy sauce, Italian dressing, a tablespoon of butter, a little chopped onion, the baby portabella mushrooms, and fresh snipped basil. All of these ingredients are to taste, no big measurements on any of them really. Just lots of splashes.We sprinkle on Italian cheese after the pasta hits the plates.

The chicken comes out, half baked, and each piece of chicken is turned and splashed generously with Italian dressing. I salt and pepper, and then put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes to finish it off. That simple.

While I was grabbing some basil out of the garden, I got a few of those sweet late-August tomatoes and whipped up a little batch of bruschetta. It can go on both the French bread slices, toasted in the oven, and spooned over the pasta. My family loves it all--pretty nice Monday meal and nothing had to be thawed or planned!

I got back, pretty quick, to knitting my little squares. They are starting to stack up and I'll be able to make my little wall hanging pretty soon! Happy eating, writing, dreaming and stitching!

Slow Cooking - Cool Kitchen

There are some summer days when turning on the oven to roast a chicken for two hours is just not an option. That's when you break out the crockpot and get dinner going early!

My family loves slow-cooked chicken--the aromas fill the house all day, and although you sacrifice the crispy browned skin, the meat is very juicy.

Use your fresh garden herbs for this dinner while you have them! Stuff a roasting chicken with a bunch of fresh rosemary--you can also use thyme, or both--and a few cloves of garlic, half an onion, and a lemon cut in halves. Run the lemon over the skin of the chicken, then rub the chicken with olive oil and salt it. I set my crockpot on high for six hours. I have one of those crockpots that switches over to "warm" automatically when it's done, which is nice if you're working all day or out shopping, or aren't sure exactly what time you'll be home. Cheddar dill biscuits are perfect for this meal--just whip up some Bisquik biscuits and add in an extra splash of milk, a cup of shredded cheese, and 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh dill.

Enjoy eating fresh from the garden while you can!

Dilly Dally Cheddar Bread

Homemade bread! We love those words around our house. Homemade bread is a meal. Homemade bread makes a meal. Your own homemade bread brings a satisfying goodness to the table that reaches back in time.

But knead time equals lead time--you don't always have hours to work with dough and let it rise. Enter: quick bread! Better yet: herb and cheddar cheese quick bread that simply goes great with everything and offers happy eats by the slice. Dilly Dally Cheddar Bread is a breeze to make and bake. Dill is my favorite herb to use in this bread, but I've also made it with rosemary and thyme. If I ran a bed and breakfast, I'd serve it every day.

 
Dilly Dally Cheddar Bread
1/2 stick butter
1-1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill (also works with rosemary or thyme)
3/4 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients. Cut in the cold butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the dill and cheese, and incorporate into the butter and flour mixture. Stir the egg into the milk, pour into the bowl all at once and stir quickly until all the ingredients are just mixed. Do not over-stir so that the bread will be tender. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy some Dilly Dally Cheddar Bread today, write a little somethin' somethin' in your journal, dream up a bit of creativity, get a few stitches in, and enjoy life.

[picture on the right: one of my favorite things about summer--a Ball jar of fresh herbs gathered daily. Here is a bunch of fresh dill, basil and thyme.]