Crispy Chicken Thighs and Pan Roasted Potatoes

Hello, friends! Last Monday of the school year for us, so we are all ready for this week to end…then on to SUMMER BREAK! I guess you guys can tell I’m just a little bit excited about that one. So last night I made this delicious one pan dish (plus a couple of sides). Crispy chicken and perfectly cooked buttery potatoes? Yes, please! It was a big hit and I have just enough left for a leftover meal this week!

Ingredients

4-6 chicken thighs or breasts (bone in and skin on)
1 small bag, about 20 small whole yellow potatoes
1/2 stick of butter =)
liberal amounts of salt and pepper to your taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a cast iron pan. Season each side of the chicken with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken skin side down and cook until it is crispy, about 10 minutes depending on the size of your chicken. Flip to other side and cook for 5 minutes. Remove chicken and add the rest of the butter to the pan. Then add the potatoes.

Situate the chicken on top of the potatoes. The potatoes should be like a bed for your chicken. Place in the oven and cook for about 45-60 minutes or until potatoes are tender and chicken thighs are cooked to 165.

Serve with another veggie and in possibly macaroni and cheese. This is a Sunday dinner, so why not!

Steak and Potatoes- A Love Story

There once was a girl. The girl was a vegetarian for a very long time. Then one day she ate some steak and never looked back. Here are some pretty pictures of steak and potatoes just so you understand the loss she had for such a long time.

Twice Baked Potatoes

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2015/02/15/steak-twice-baked-potatoes-and-pan-steamed-broccoli/

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2014/01/19/porterhouse-steak-slow-cooked-mushrooms-and-onions-and-steak-butter-mashed-potatoes/

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2014/01/03/steakhouse-dinner-at-home/

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/06/27/living-a-dream/

Crispy Cod with Corn and Mashed Purple Potatoes

Evening food lovers! So tonight I used the ingredients from my Blue Apron meal. I did not actually follow the real recipe for a few reasons. The actual recipe is supposed to have corn on the cob with garlic butter and pickled cucumbers. There was supposed to be 2 ears of corn, but there was only one, so I improvised with a Steam fresh bag. Only Katie and I like cucumbers, and if I tried to pickle them she probably would have cried. So I cut them up for us so we could snack on them.

The fish was treated with the standard breading procedure- FEB- Flour, Egg, and Breadcrumbs with seasoning (salt, pepper,Old Bay- my addition) and cooked on each side for about 3 minutes in a bit of olive oil.

The potatoes were chopped in medium sized pieces and boiled until soft, about 14 minutes. I added 3 tablespoons of butter and seasoned it with a healthy portion of salt and pepper. Then I took my handy dandy potato masher and mashed those beauties right up!

Make Ahead Meatloaf

Another busy weekday calls for a make ahead meal. Last night I assembled this meatloaf ahead of time so all I had to do when I got home was pop it in the oven. It took a good 1 hour, but I still had dinner on the table by 6:30. Most families I know eat between the 5:30-7:00 window, so this is a perfect thing to make the night before. You could even make 2, and freeze one uncooked for another night!

Easy Make Ahead Meatloaf- Feeds 4-6- You can double this recipe for a bigger family, leftovers, or an extra uncooked meat loaf to go in the freezer

Ingredients
1 pound of ground meat- I used 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground mild sausage
1 egg
1/2 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs (add more if too wet)
2 tablespoons Worchestershire
1 can tomato sauce (1/2 in the meat and 1/2 on top)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 splash of red wine (more if too dry)
1 garlic clove grated (or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder)
1/4 onion grated (or 1 teaspoon of onion powder)
fresh or dried herbs- This time I used dried Italian seasoning- about 1 tablespoon
salt and pepper to taste- do not skimp

Directions

In a large bowl combine all your ingredients. I get in there and mix it up with my hands. Mix just enough to combine the ingredients. DO NOT OVERMIX! I do not use ketchup at all. The tomato sauce, tomato paste, and Worcestershire combo is better and gives the meatloaf so much more depth of flavor than ketchup ever could. I take my mixture, form in a loaf shape, and put it on some aluminum foil in a long baking dish. Top with more tomato sauce. 350 for about an 1 hour or until meat is at 155. Take out and let it sit for 10 minutes to set and for carry over cooking. Enough leftovers for the hubby and I to take for lunch tomorrow!

I served with some green beans and fried potatoes (small white potatoes diced with salt and pepper cooked in a bit of olive oil and cooked until tender, about 40 minutes).

Chicken Gnocchi Caprese

Howdy! I made this Blue Apron meal last night. I changed it up a bit and added some leftover chicken from my Chicken Parm Bake. Since I am the only one who ate the salad, I added a few extras to the butter lettuce and cucumbers that were supposed to be in it.

Garlic Toast

Salad with cucumbers, raspberries, artichokes, shaved parm, and cashews.

Chicken Gnocchi Caprese- 1 package gnocchi, 1 cooked chicken breast, chopped, 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (I added a bit more sauce that was leftover from Saturday’s dinner), 5 cloves garlic, basil, and Italian seasoning.

It was a hit! I will be adding gnocchi more to the dinner line-up!

Weekend Wrap Up 3/20/16

This Saturday was all about CHEER! Uniform fittings and another long day of competitions. I was surrounded by cheerleaders ALL DAY LONG. Becca was so excited to compete!

Getting her cheer make-up done…

They won! National Champions…first place with no deductions at all!

Today we slept in late. I did lots of laundry and went to the gym for a sweat session. Then I came home and made my version of the Chicken Milanese meal from Blue Apron.

I made these potatoes; diced and coated with a couple tablespoons of olive oil with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper, cooked at 425 for about 25-30 minutes. Basically what I have made before in terms of the chicken.
A bright spinach salad with radishes, parm cheese, and some chopped nuts.

With a gorgeous Dijon Mustard (2 tablespoons), Sour Cream (or Greek Yogurt), apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon), and about a tablespoon of olive oil all mixed together seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. I was the only one who ate the salad (shocker). I let them eat the potatoes, but of course I snuck a few for quality control =) I also made them some green beans for a veggie.

Weekend Wrap-up- A Day for Katie and a Day for Mommy

Hey guys! So this weekend we celebrated 2 important people. Katie and ME!!! It was Katie’s birthday which always coincides with Mother’s Day. Best Mother’s Day present I have ever received =) Lots of fun, yummy food, and amazing family!

First Up…Katie’s birthday. She wanted to invite a few friends over for a play date. Only one sweet girl could make it (damn you spring sports), but we all had a blast. It was nice to hear 3 girls running around and playing together. We miss that. We ate cake, drank strawberry milkshakes, and opened presents. Tons of fun!

I made bacon cheese burgers for dinner. YUM! https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/08/28/burgers-2/

Had a fun day with my Mommy at a picnic in the park…

Dinner was so fun! I cooked stuffed mushrooms (Italian Sausage in mushroom caps topped with mozzarella cheese baked at 350 for 15 minutes), and steak with twice baked potatoes (https://funfoodiefamily.com/2015/02/15/steak-twice-baked-potatoes-and-pan-steamed-broccoli/)