Every time I mention that I am making these for dinner, I get about 10 requests for the recipe. You are all more than welcome to try this at home!

2 pounds of chicken (breasts, thighs, boneless, skinless, whatever you have on hand)
1/2 Cup EVOO
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp each Kosher Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder
2 Tsp Dried Dill (If you’re using fresh, then cut it in half.)
I never measure my herbs and spices. I eyeball everything. I’m just taking a stab at these measurements so play around with it.

Dump your chicken into a ziploc bag and pour all of the EVOO, lemon juice and spices on top. Close the bag and mush it around. Throw it in your fridge to marinate. I usually leave it overnight but anything over an hour is good enough. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put your chicken into a baking dish with ALL of the marinade. This is going to make a sauce so squeeze everything out of that bag! Bake for 35-40 minutes until your chicken is cooked all the way through. (No pink.) After that you have a couple of options.

Our favorite is to chop the chicken up and make sandwiches. Get some good pita and stuff it full of chicken, feta and hummus. Drizzle the sauce from the baking dish into the sandwich. You can also add lettuce, olives, tzatziki sauce and onions.

Put some chopped chicken into a greek salad with romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, olives, red onions and a good dressing. I like Ken’s Steak House Lite Northern Italian w/Basil & Romano.  You can also tear up some pita into the salad instead of croutons.

Leave the chicken whole and serve with Lemon Dill Rice.

Have fun!

I keep seeing pork chops on sale. This is a good marinade for any pork. I’m going to try it with pork loin as soon as it goes on sale! (My rule is to stock up on meat when it’s $1.00 a pound or less.)

Equal Parts EVOO and Lemon Juice
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Dried Thyme

I used 5 bone-in pork chops this time. I made the marinade with 1/2 cup each of EVOO and lemon juice. I wisked it together and added about a palmfull of kosher salt, a tablespoon each of pepper, garlic and onion powder and a teaspoon of thyme. You may have to play with the amounts until it’s right. I’ve gotten to the point where I just eyeball everything. I poured the mix over the pork chops and roasted them at 375 for about 45 minutes. These are good, tangy chops that go well with sauerkraut or mashed potatoes. Next time I’ll try marinating them in a bag and see if the taste is any stronger.

I like to break down big packages of meat into meal sized Ziplocks and add marinades. Then it’s ready for me any night of the week. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Over the past months, I’ve been trying to become a more frugal housewife. One of the ways I’ve discovered I can help is to stop buying so many prepared / prepackaged foods. It’s much more fun and thrifty to make my own. This is my version of Hamburger Helper.

1 Pound Ground Beef (I prefer 80/20 ground chuck.)
8 oz Egg Noodles
14 oz Tomato Sauce
4 oz Chive and Onion Cream Cheese
4 - 6 oz Velveeta Cheese
1 TBSP Garlic Powder
2 TBSP Onion Powder
1 TBSP Kosher Salt
1 TBSP Black Pepper

Cook your egg noodles until al dente and drain. Brown the ground beef and drain if you prefer. I did not and it turned out fine. Add your tomato sauce and seasonings to the ground beef. I never really measure anything but I tried my best to give you a starting point. I like things heavily seasoned so you may want to cut back a bit. Cube your Velveeta and drop into the beef. Add your cream cheese and stir until creamy. Add your noodles and stir everything together. You’ll have a big skillet of tangy, beefy noodles. Ben and I gobbled up as much as we could. It’s very filling!

I need some new dinner ideas. I feel like I’m in a rut. Do you lovely readers have any suggestions? Ben likes just about anything as long as it doesn’t contain seafood or mushrooms.

We also argued about breakfast-for-dinner. Ben acted like he had never heard of such a thing outside of Catholic pancake dinners. Please help me convince him that he is the weird one!

(I think it’s interesting to see how people answer this question. If you have a blog, post your answer there and challenge your friends! If not, feel free to use my comments.)

You’re on Death Row. They bring you your last meal. What’s on the menu?

Wedge Salad with Tomatoes, Bleu Cheese crumbles and Bacon.
Lobster Bisque

Shrimp Scampi
Bleu Cheese Stuffed Filet Mignon
Roasted Asparagus Parmesan

Dinner Rolls
Dublin Dr Pepper

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake
Mocha Latte

I’ve been in a major baking mood lately. Last Saturday, I made Ben a giant chocolate chip cookie cake with peanut butter cup chips and a thick layer of frosting. He loves it and has been whittling away at it for days. I’m not a huge chocolate fan so today I decided to make my favorite cookies, snickerdoodles.

I had just laid out all of my ingredients and cookware when Sophie began to fuss. She hadn’t had a nap in a while and I knew I would have to hold her to make her sleepy. I grabbed her sling and plunked her on my chest. While she cried, I explained everything I was doing in a low steady voice. She got quiet and focused on my voice. She also relaxed at the sound of the hand mixer. (She likes white noises like fans and hair dryers.) The last step of the cookie dough was to gradually add the flour. On the last batch in, I accidentally turned my mixer on WAY too high and threw flour everywhere. I continued mixing and figured I could clean it after I was done. When I turned the mixer off, I heard the tiniest little sound.

“kaff!”

I looked down and Sophie looked back up at me. Her eyelashes were heavy under a dusting of flour and her hair looked frosted. Oops. By the way, when you try to get flour off of your baby’s face, do not pick them up and blow on them like you’re an archaeologist in a bad mummy movie.

I can’t wait to teach her how to cook and bake. Then she can get me back.

My name is Kelly Dyer. I just made two perfect grilled cheese sandwiches.

IN YOUR FACE.

Another in my “let’s see what’s in the cabinet” recipe series.

4 Chicken Breasts
6 Red Potatoes
1 Can of Green Beans
1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
Milk
1/2 TSP Kosher Salt (Use 1/4 TSP of regular table salt.)
1/2 TSP Pepper
1/4 TSP Garlic Powder
1/2 TSP Poultry Seasoning
French Fried Onions

Preheat your oven to 375. Cut your chicken into bite sized cubes. Quarter your potatoes. Drain your green beans. In a casserole dish, combine your cream of chicken soup with about half a can of milk. Whisk this together and add your seasonings. I never measure anything but I’ve taken a stab at it above. Toss in your chicken, potatoes and green beans. Mix everything to coat and add half a cup of the french fried onions. Bake for 30 minutes. Bring the casserole out and top with another half cup of the fried onions. Bake for another 5 minutes. Enjoy a hearty casserole with your family.

Albertsons had 5 pound bags of red potatoes and small Yukon golds on sale buy one, get one free. I took advantage of this sale and remembered how to make the World’s Best Mashed Potatoes.

6-8 Small Potatoes
1 C Milk (I use fat free.)
2 TBLS Unsalted Butter (Butter takes the taste to a whole new level.)
Kosher Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder

Wash your taters. You can peel them if you want but the skins carry a lot of nutrients. Chop them into large cubes. Put the tater cubes into a large pot and cover with water. DO NOT heat your water and then try to drop the taters into the pot. I did not remember this step and ended up burning my arm. Bring the water and taters to a boil. Cover and boil for 12-15 minutes or until you can easily pierce with a knife. Drain your taters and put them back into the hot pot. This will evaporate the remaining water so you don’t end up with soggy spuds. In another pot, heat the milk with the butter. DO NOT BOIL. Just melt the butter down into the milk. Add the milk / butter to the spuds slowly and a little at a time. You can always add more but you can’t take away. Mash your spuds with the creamy mix until you get the consistency you like. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Serve to a happy husband while he watches 2 football games at the same time.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and Ben’s office is having a potluck on Wednesday. This is a dressing recipe I have made for years and people really seem to like it. Try it out this year.

Veggies:
4 - 6 Ribs of Celery
2 - 4 Carrots
1 Large Yellow Onion or 2 Small White Onions
1 Any Color Bell Pepper
6 - 10 Mushrooms (Baby Bella or Button)

Seasonings:
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Dried Sage
Garlic Powder
Dried Thyme
(You can also use poultry seasoning but then you would cut down / out the sage and thyme.)

Other:
2 Loaves Cornbread (8-inch pans)
1 6 oz Package Stuffing Mix
2 Boxes Chicken Broth or Stock (Low sodium is usually a good bet.)

Start out by making your cornbread the day before you make your dressing. Throw about a tablespoon each of your seasonings into your batter. After the cornbread has baked, let it cool and dry out overnight.

The next day, chop all of your veggies. I like a small chop on the celery, carrots, bell pepper and mushrooms and almost a mince on the onions. You can omit any veggies that you don’t like or put more of the ones you do like. Make it to suit your tastes. Now you have a choice. You can saute your veggies on the stovetop. Use a little EVOO or butter and start with your celery and onions. When the onions are soft, add your carrots and peppers. When those are soft, add the mushrooms. Season everything liberally with your seasonings. Now if you don’t want to use your stove top, throw all of your veggies into a mixing bowl. Season liberally with your seasonings and toss with EVOO. Lay all of your veggies out onto a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 400 degrees until everything looks soft. Stir the veggies around on the sheet every 20 minutes or so.

Time for the actual assembly of the dressing. Crumble the dry cornbread into your slow cooker. Mix in the stuffing mix. Add your veggies and stir to combine. Sprinkle just a little more of your seasonings into the dressing and mix. (Just a dash of each will do.) Add enough chicken broth to just moisten the cornbread. You do not want soupy dressing. REMEMBER: YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE AWAY. Stir your dressing and turn the slow cooker on Low. Now walk away. Do something else. Watch a football game or parade. Come back to check on your dressing in 2 hours. If it looks a little dry, stir in enough chicken broth to moisten the cornbread. Close it and go away. Keep checking every couple of hours. I usually let mine cook on Low for about 6 hours.

This is great for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner potlucks. The dressing can sit by itself and keep warm without you having to baby it. I hope you like it!

UPDATE: I tried something different this year and I like how it turned out. I added a package of stuffing mix to the dressing. It gives it a little more body.