PW's Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes

I made The Pioneer Woman's Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes for a "Welcome Home" meal for my husband a couple of days ago. The fried chicken recipe is from her cookbook, which I love. The mashed potatoes recipe is in the cookbook, but also found it on her website, so if you want to make it just click here for the instructions. I halved the potato recipe for my family of four and had plenty leftover. The potatoes are so creamy and delicious, you will love them.

As for the fried chicken, it was delicious too. It was flavorful and a little less greasy than store-bought fried chicken. However, it was a little time consuming and I found that after I bought the chicken and oil, it was more expensive than store-bought fried chicken. Since we do not eat fried chicken very often (like once a year), I'll probably just buy it next time. But it was fun to learn how to make perfect fried chicken and if you live in an area (like PW) where you can't get store-bought fried chicken, this recipe is for you!

As I pulled the pictures from my camera for this post, I realized that I never took a picture of the plated chicken, potatoes and roasted asparagus that I served with it. I guess I was too distracted by my cute husband after 6 days apart!

Note: if you don't want to buy buttermilk and don't have any on-hand, you can make your own by combining 1 Tbsp vinegar with 1 cup of milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes.

printable recipe

Pioneer Woman's Fried Chicken

1 cut-up fryer chicken
3 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp seasoned salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp milk
Canola oil for frying

Rinse the chicken and place in a large bowl. Pour the buttermilk over it and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator and let soak overnight, or up to 24 hours. (I actually just started soaking it in the morning, about 8 hours before frying it). A half hour before you are to fry it, pull the bowl out of the fridge to warm it up a bit.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the flour, seasoned salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.

Add the 2 Tbsp of milk, and stir into the flour. Cut up the chunks with a fork or biscuit cutter until there are little bits throughout. Meanwhile, heat about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a big skillet, large heavy pot, or dutch oven to 365F. This was a pretty steady medium-high heat for me, but it might be different with your stove. Don't let it get too hot or cool.

Thoroughly coat each buttermilk-soaked piece of chicken in the flour mixture, pressing the flour bits onto the surface of the chicken to ensure plenty of good texture! The quality of this picture is terrible, sorry.

Add the chicken to the oil a few pieces at a time. Cook several minutes per side, covering the pot with a lid while it cooks, but making sure to peak in and check often to make sure the oil is not getting too hot and the chicken isn't burning.

After frying, place the chicken on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the largest piece of chicken is cooked through.

Serve with Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes or with home-made Biscuits.

This meal is featured in Menu Plan 13.

Done-In-The-Buns

So I think I've been taking too many pictures of my kids lately, if there is such a thing. Earlier, I called my daughter's name "Hannah!" and she turned to me and said "Cheese!" with a silly grin, kind of like in this picture.

Speaking of Hannah, I really think she will be the next musical genius.

Little wonder, with the brain food I feed her.

Okay, so hot dogs aren't exactly brain food. But kids do love them! This recipe is a yummy way to serve hot dogs that even adults enjoy.

Note: Please use caution when feeding hot dogs to young children, as they are a choking hazard!

This recipe is a family favorite from my mom. We like to dip these in ketchup and mustard and serve them with onion rings or potato wedges. The original recipe served 8. I like to halve it for my family of 4 and that is what is shown below, but feel free to double it if you have a bigger crowd!

printable recipe

Done-in-the-Buns

serves 4

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 rounded tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup hot tap water (120F - 130F)
1 Tbsp oil
taco sauce or salsa
4 slices of cheddar cheese
4 hot dogs

Preheat your oven to 170F, when it reaches that temp, turn it off. Mix the flours, yeast, sugar, salt, 1/2 cup hot tap water, 1 Tbsp in your mixer with a dough hook (a bread machine on the dough setting works great too). Once all ingredients are combined, turn the mixer on medium speed and let it beat the dough for about 5 minutes, adding flour or water as needed to form a ball. You can also knead it by hand if you like. You want to form a smooth ball that springs back when you press your fingers into it.

Grease a bowl and place the ball of dough in it, turning once to coat. Cover and place in warm oven for 30 minutes, or until doubled. This is a picture of the dough before rising.

Once dough has risen, punch down and roll out into a 10 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Preheat the oven to 375.

With a pizza cutter or knife, cut the dough into 4 wedges.

Spread a little taco sauce or salsa on the wide end of each wedge.

Now, arrange the cheese slices over the taco sauce in a narrow line.

Place a hot dog on top of the the cheese on each wedge.

Starting with the wide edge, roll up the wedges, folding the ends in to completely cover the contents inside, and place point side down on a greased baking sheet.

Cover and let rise in the warm oven again for 15 minutes, then bake for 15-20 minutes until brown.

Serve with potato wedges, ketchup and mustard!

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 13.

Thai Chicken Pizza

Yesterday was the first day since my surgery that I did not take any painkillers. This meant I was a little uncomfortable but it was worth it to have the energy to take my kids to the park. It was a gorgeous day and they had a great time.

Sharing seemed to be the theme of the afternoon. Here, Nathan and Hannah attempt to share a "piano."

It was pretty cool, actually, it played the actual C major scale and everything. Anyway, Hannah did not want to share with her brother. Here she pushes him away.

He attempted to come back and I admonished her to share. She actually turned around and said "No! I don't want to share!" as I took this picture. It was hilarious. She always takes me by surprise when she speaks in sentences like that.

In contrast, Nathan brought his toy car "The King" to the park. I was so proud of him as he shared it with another little boy. They both nicely took turns driving the King down this wall. Once, after Nathan gave the King to his little friend for a turn, the other boy said, "You're a nice person!"

As we left the park, I thanked Nathan for sharing his toy. "It's fun to share the King!" he responded. Aww, 100 episodes of Sesame Street couldn't have taught him what he learned yesterday, and I am so happy I was there to see it.

Sharing makes me think of this recipe, as it is one of the first meals we made for company when we moved to Denver.

This is the perfect pizza to fix for company. It's not a quick weeknight meal by any means, as the toppings require some prep work, but it is still simple to put together and looks and tastes like a gourmet pizza when you're done! It really is delicious, all the flavors and textures compliment each other so nicely. It does have a bit of a kick to it, but my children are able to eat it just fine without complaining about the heat.

When we made this pizza for company, Hannah was only about 6 months old and sitting in my lap as we said the blessing on the food. Our pizza slices were already dished up on our plates.

As we all closed our eyes for the prayer, Hannah reached out and, you guessed it, pulled the plate and its contents onto my lap. Of course, the pizza landed upside down and the toppings spilled all over my pants. It was hilarious and something I should have totally seen coming.

So, share: a laugh, your favorite toy car, your lap, this pizza -  but maybe don't share your lap while you eat this pizza, unless you want all the toppings in your lap...

This recipe is one by Rachael Ray on foodnetwork.com. Click here and here to see other delicious Rachael Ray pizzas that I have blogged about.

printable recipe

Thai Chicken Pizza

1 pizza dough, any brand (or make your own, see recipe below)
1/2 cup duck sauce or plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 package (2 cups) shredded provolone or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 rounded tablespoonful peanut butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning) eyeball it
4 chicken breast cutlets, 1/2 pound
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/4 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, chopped
1 cup bean spouts, a couple of handfuls
Palm full cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped peanuts, 2 ounces

Pizza dough

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Place dough ingredients in bread maker and run on dough-only setting.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top with duck or plum sauce - spread it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some crushed red pepper flakes then top with cheese and peppers.

Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 to 17 minutes.

Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use the microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce, 10 seconds ought to do it.

Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Let stand 10 minutes.

Preheat a grill pan (we used our cast-iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Grill chicken cutlets 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until firm and cooked through.

Slice chicken into very thin strips.

While chicken cooks, mix honey and vinegar and add the cucumber. Turn to coat evenly.

Top the hot, cooked pizza with chicken, scallions, sprouts and cilantro.

Drain cucumbers and scatter over the pizza. Garnish pizza with peanuts.

Cut into 8 wedges and serve. Enjoy!

This meal is featured in Menu Plan 13.  

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

In a couple of days our dog Jack turns 1 year old. We got him a new squeaky toy to celebrate. Yes, I am one of "those" pet owners, at least a little. I mean, we have stockings for our pets at Christmas but I didn't go so far as to bake him a dog-friendly cake. I have to draw the line somewhere...

Here he is at one day old. He's the third from the right. Just kidding, I have no idea, but he's in there somewhere! Poor mama, I know how she feels...

Here he is at a few weeks old, when we picked him out. The puppies were still pretty much impossible to tell apart, they were all so darling, but my husband said he was the one!

We brought him home a few weeks later at the beginning of May, when he was about 8 weeks old. Here he is on his first day home. I think he was a little overwhelmed.

Here he is in July on Hannah's birthday. Hello, Jack, you grew fast! Ignore my ugly bare feet in the background...

And here he is a couple of months ago. Isn't he a beauty? We highly recommend the breeders, Carolyn and George at Merriman's Labradors in Canon City, CO.

He is everything we wanted: energetic, fun-loving, good with the kids, energetic, sweet, smart, energetic, loyal, and a great companion. Oh, did I mention he is energetic? Quite rambunctious, especially when new people come to visit. And of course, like all labs, he does love to chew. And we bust him on the couch more often than we'd like.

But in all, he's a great dog. Happy Birthday, Jack! We sure love you!

Today, as Hannah sat in my lap coloring while I played catch with a football with Nathan with one hand and threw a tennis ball for Jack to fetch with the other, I realized two things:

1) I am a really really really talented multi-tasker.

and 2) I am thankful for easy dinners like this one with three kids two kids and a dog (and cat, can't forget Oliver) running around my house.

Adapted from a recipe on allrecipes.com.

printable recipes

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
1 cup plain dried bread crumbs
1 cup oil for frying
8 ounces Swiss cheese, cubed
8 ounces cubed ham
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Beat egg and 1/2 cup milk together until combined.

Stir in the chicken chunks to coat.

Then drain and coat with bread crumbs. Heat oil in a large skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry breaded chicken cubes in hot oil until golden brown on all sides.

Remove and drain on paper towels.   

Place chicken cubes in a casserole dish, along with the Swiss cheese, and ham. I added some sliced fresh mushrooms, because I like them and had some extra I wanted to use.

Stir together the soup with 1/2 cup milk.

Pour over casserole.

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes. 

This meal is featured in Menu Plan 13.