Greek Vinaigrette with Feta

That should really say with LOTS of feta...

In our house, anything with Greek dressing and feta makes it better, well..maybe not blueberry muffins..or pancakes. Ok, so not anything. I usually buy the bottle stuff and serve it over cucumber and tomatoes. I am still searching for the 'perfect' dressing, a dressing we had years ago in our early dating phase during trivia night at an Irish pub, yes, Greek dressing at an Irish pub. It was creamy, and tart and just perfect.

But for now, this homemade version will work. It's very tart and wonderful. SUPER easy and your probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen right now.

1/2 cup FRESH lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon white sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

2/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta

Place everything BUT the feta in a jar with a tight fitting lid and give it a shake. Mix in the feta and chill overnight. 

It was EXCELLENT poured over some sliced cucumbers and chilled overnight. Yummy!

Coconut Rice and Beans

Happy Tuesday! We survived Isaac! Our part of Florida only received rain and some wind. It was a very loooong day stuck inside, especially with a restless 2 year old.

For dinner last night, I tried something new. Coconut Rice with Pinto Beans. It has a slight sweet flavor and is very creamy. It would be wonderful served with other island dishes.

 I 'cheated' and used my small rice cooker to cook the rice which made it extra easy. Below I have included instructions for the stove top version.

We served ours with the can of pineapple that's called for in the recipe for it's juice and creamed corn.

Kevin took leftovers for lunch today and said it was even better the 2nd day.

1 can coconut milk

1 can  (15 ozs) pineapple slices or chunks, juices reserved

1/2 cup water

1 cup uncooked brown rice

2 cups cooked pinto beans

In a medium saucepan, bring coconut milk, pineapple juice, and water to a boil. Stir in rice and return to a boil. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium and cook 45 to 50 minutes. 

Fluff with a fork and stir in beans. 

Yummy stuff! Season with salt and pepper if you feel it's necessary, I didn't think it needed it. 

Wonderful Comfort Food

When I was pregnant with Cooper, the one thing I strongly craved during my morning sickness months was comfort food. I wanted chicken and dumplings, fried cornbread and zipper peas. During the last month or so of my pregnancy during a phone conversation with my mother in law, she mentioned cooking chicken and noodles for company. Even though I had never had a taste of her chicken and noodles, I instantly started craving them. When she and my sister in law came to stay with us after Coop was born, I requested she make the chicken and noodles for us, she did and I was hooked. I now make the stuff myself every few months.

This recipe makes a HUGE batch. You can roast your own chicken and make your own egg noodles, or you can cheat and buy a grocery store deli rotisserie chicken and frozen egg noodles like I do. This dish is amped up even more in the comfort food department when served over mashed potatoes.

Heat up chicken broth/stock in a large soup pot and cook noodles in it according to recipe or package directions. This time around, I bought the large, family size bag of frozen noodles, or use 2 small bags. These are found in the frozen pasta section/bread section of the grocery store.

Meanwhile, chop up whole roasted chicken.

When noodles are cooked, add cans of cream of chicken soup and chicken. Simmer until it's all nice and hot. 

Serve over mashed potatoes, to enjoy the full carb load...

(I apologize for crappy pictures, my kitchen has a window, but not the best natural lighting. And I think my husband would look at me like a crazy person if I took our dinner outside to snap a pic before sitting it on the table)

Creamy Chicken and Noodles

7 cups chicken broth or chicken stock

1 large bag of frozen egg noodles or 2 small

3 cans cream of chicken soup

1 chopped up whole roasted chicken

Bring broth to a boil and cook noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, chop up whole rotisserie chicken. 

When noodles are finished cooking, stir in cream of chicken soup and chopped chicken.

Continue simmering until nice and hot. 

BBQ Chicken Biscuits

I am a big fan of things made in a muffin pan. From sweets to savory. From blueberry muffins to buffalo chicken biscuits. Tonight, I experimented with a new idea, BBQ chicken in a biscuit! My latest food obsession is ground chicken. I discovered it while trying to plan out a meal around what was on sale at the grocery store. I tried it the first time in taco soup, and was hooked! It cooks up so much better than ground turkey. It has a very fine texture and breaks down easier than turkey too.

These are super easy to make, the hardest part is chopping the onion. And opening the can of biscuits. I have a HUGE fear of them popping open and exploding all over the kitchen so I make my dear husband open them for me. I know, wuss!

Preheat oven to temperature on the biscuit can directions. Chop, or mince, the onion and saute in a little olive oil until they start to soften up.

Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Meanwhile, open biscuits and press into cups of a greased, large muffin pan. 

I tried the wheat Grand's biscuits this time around. I was pretty happy with the result. You can use any biscuit, just make sure it's the larger 'Grand' size. 

Drain meat and stir in BBQ sauce. 

Divide up meat between the 8 biscuits. I had about a cup of meat left that I put on a sandwich roll for my husband's lunch tomorrow. Anyway. Top with cheese and pop in oven. The directions on the biscuits I used said to bake around 15 minutes. I put them in the oven for 17 because it takes a little longer for the biscuits to bake with toppings on them. 

Let them cool a bit before removing from pans. Pick them up and bite them or eat them with a fork! We had ours with orange slices and a salad, but they would be great with a side of potato salad! Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Biscuits

1 yellow onion, minced

1 pound ground chicken

1 cup favorite BBQ sauce, I used honey

1 can of large biscuits

Shredded cheese, I used Fiesta Blend

Preheat oven to temp in biscuit directions. 

Saute onions in a little olive oil until just softened. Add in ground chicken and cook until no longer pink. 

Meanwhile, slightly flatten biscuits in the palm of your hand and press into greased large muffin pans. 

Drain chicken and stir in BBQ sauce. Divide meat between biscuits. You will have about an extra cup of meat.  Sprinkle cheese over biscuits and bake a few minutes over time called for on can. Until biscuits are done and cheese is melted.

Let them cool a minute before removing from pan. 

It's Been A Soupy Kind of Week

I love soup. Especially with some sort of bread on the side. I love to dip the bread in the soup or eat the soup over the bread. Today, I made 2 different soups. A split pea and a lentil.

The split pea is actually an Ina Garten recipe that I've made several times and LOVE. It freezes well and is super easy to make. I like to add extra potatoes and I use water instead of chicken broth. 

Parker's Pea Soup:

I TRY to cook healthy and try to do as much plant based stuff as I can...it's hard, cheese is good. 

Lentils are an excellent choice for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Lentils are so good for you, they are full of protein, low in fat, CHEAP and super easy to cook. I always kind of forget about them because every recipe I see that uses them usually calls for cumin, turmeric or coriander and I am not a fan. 

The soup I made tonight is super simple, filling, and only takes around 40 minutes including prep. I know it's not 'pretty', but it's very yummy!

Quick Lentil Soup

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup split red or brown lentils

4 cups water

1 carrot, sliced or diced

1 celery stalk, sliced

lemon juice to taste

salt and black pepper

Heat the onion and olive oil and saute until the onion begins to soften. Add the lentils, carrots, celery and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes until lentils and veggies are tender. Season to taste. 

Serve hot with fresh lemon juice. 

Hope you like it as much as we did!

Harper and HGTV Going Away

I have a darling boy, his name is Cooper. I love the name Cooper and like the whole using a last name as a first name thing. Like..Lewis, Anderson, Davis, etc.

Our girl name 'was' Harper. Well, today...I was browsing my new favorite blog (Suri's Slam Book, which is HILARIOUS) and saw that David and Victoria Beckham named their newest addition HARPER! I know, I have apparently been living under a rock, didn't even know she was pregnant. The name is going to become stupid popular now and I REFUSE to have a dime a dozen baby name.

We also canceled our cable today...due to be disconnected tomorrow...so I am soaking as much HGTV in as I can until the vast nothingness starts tomorrow.

I need a milkshake.

Earlier this year, I started a blog out of our little apartment in Tampa called Experiments in 4B. Shortly after that, we started the process of looking for and buying a house so I put the blog on hold until we were settled into our new home and I had something interesting to post about.

Since then, we bought a house out of the city and I (possibly) have interesting things to say! This blog is for myself...selfish, I know...I like to journal and haven't actually done it in years. Writing hurts my hand, we living a typing world now days. I also want to pass along tips, recipes and how tos...to you!

I am a pinterest junkie and have somehow become popular on there, even before blogging. As of today, I have over 5,000 followers. So, feel free to follow me.