Sweet Lemon Pepper Chicken Roast
One of the packet seasonings from Aromatica Organics is the Sweet Lemon-Pepper flavor. I’ve used some of the seasonings like Cajun in the Beef & Salsa Quesadilla and Beef & Veggies With Egg, Carribean Jerk seasoning in baked chicken quarters and sweet lemon pepper on Turkey burkers. I wanted to try how 1 pack of seasoning will fare with a roast, hence this sweet lemon pepper chicken roast.
INGREDIENTS:
1 chicken roast
1 packet of Aromatica Organics Sweet Lemon Pepper
half a stick of butter
1 tsp of olive oil
Preheat the oven to 355°.
Make sure the chicken roast is patted dry. Take slices of butter, carefully insert each slice underneath the skin without pulling the skin off. Be gentle when doing this step.
Then sprinkle the sweet lemon pepper seasoning on the chicken. Sprinkle and massaging it at the same time to distribute the seasoning equally all over the chicken.
Brush the roasting rack with olive oil. Place the chicken on the rack, then bake it in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes or baked beans, and corn or steamed veggies. Either side dishes would complement the good balance of sweet and peppery taste from the roast.
Turkey Burger W/ Broccoli Slaw
I found these 4-pc pack of wheat rolls at Wal-Mart and thought they would be really good as burger buns. At first, my husband wasn’t too sure about it but then I told him my idea of adding coleslaw on top of the patties so I was able to convince him in the end. We both decided ground turkey would compliment wheat rolls and coleslaw.
INGREDIENTS:
1 and 1/2 pound of ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
sprinkles of dried herbs : basil, oregano, thyme (or Italian seasoning)
1 tbsp of Aromatica Organics sweet lemon pepper
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
more dried herbs : basil, oregano, thyme (or Italian seasoning)
a little bit of oil
cheese slices
broccoli coleslaw
For the broccoli coleslaw : combine 1 bag of broccoli coleslaw mix (refer to this link for a picture), 2 huge spoonfuls of mayonnaise, 1 tsp os salt, sprinkle of peppers, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of sugar. Mix everything together, put in a covered container and store in the fridge until ready to plate the burgers. Here’s how it should look like.
For the turkey patties :
Heat oil in a pan. Cook onions, garlic, and dried hers seasoning.
Add the cooked onions into the bowl of ground turkey. Add just a little bit more of fried herbs into the beef. Add 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and 1 tsp of Aromatica Organics sweet lemon pepper as well.
Mix with hands and form patties. Cook each patties using an electric griddle. Or a pan or grill, whichever you prefer or whatever way is available. About 8-10 minutes on each sides. Or less. just don’t burn the patties.
Put the slices of cheese on top to melt slightly.
Carefully slice the wheat rolls. Place the turkey patty with cheese on top of the bottom roll, then add the broccoli coleslaw on top. Finish with the top portion of the wheat roll.
A scrumptious and most filling burger I’ve had in a long time.
—-originally posted at old Blisstree/b5media—–
Peanut Butter & Co. Reviews
Hubs and I discovered the Peanut Butter & Co products at Wal-Mart Supercenter a few months ago. We were intrigued with the combination of peanut butter and white chocolate so we decided to start with the White Chocolate Wonderful variant which has the all-natural peanut butter and white chocolate combo. The website sells it for $6 but if I remember it right, it was about $4 at Wal-Mart. Hubs tested it first by getting a spoonful of it. He told me it was just OK and he was right. The combination wasn’t as rich as I expected it to be. The white chocolate flavor got lost. It was more peanut butter with a slight taste of white chocolate. I was really disappointed. It did not inspire me to make any desserts out of it. It served as spread on toasted breads and kids licking a spoonful for a snack. Just like regular peanut butter.
Even though the 1st variant was disappointing, we decided to try another one. This time it’s the Dark Chocolate Dreams. This was much better. The combination of peanut butter and dark chocolate was balanced. You can taste both flavors. The rich dark chocolate flavor blended really well with the creaminess of the peanut butter. So with that, I was inspired to make cupcakes ala self-frosting nutella cupcakes.
Would I buy it again or try the other variants? Hmmm, perhaps, but it’s not something I would include in my grocery list every 2 weeks. It will be like a novelty grocery item that I might indulge on if I have extra money in the budget.
Chicken Fried Steak W/ Caramelized Onions
A classic chicken fried steak dish usually calls for a cream gravy. I changed it up a bit by topping the steaks with slightly caramelized onions cooked in a balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. I like it. The reduction of balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce gave the chicken fried steak a tangy and citrus-y flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
4-6 cubed steaks
2 cups of flour
1 egg
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper for seasoning
cooking oil
1 large onion, sliced in flat rounds
1/4 cup (or less) of balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup (or less) of Worcestershire sauce
another 1/4 cup of water
Heat the pan with oil.
Beat the egg and water together. Set aside. Combine the flour, salt, pepper and paprika on a plate. Mix everything together.
Coat both sides of the cubed steaks one by one with the egg mixture then drench each into the flour mixture. Slowy drop the steaks into the heated oil. Fry both sides until golden brown. Do this in batches.
Placed the cooked cubed steaks into a plate.
Using the same pan, add little bit more oil, then scrape the bits gently, don’t discard. Just leave the leftover bits into the pan. Add the onions, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, water, and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper. Stir the whole thing then cover the pan. Sitr occasionally. Cook until the onions are slightly caramelized/wilted and the sauce has reduced a bit.
Pour the sauce on top of the chicken fried steak.
Of course you can always stick to the classic gravy sauce but it wouldn’t hurt to put your own twist into it by replacing with a different sauce plus the onions on top.
Banana Bread With Nutella
It’s been a while since I made banana bread so I figure today is the day to make one again. This time I followed the banana bread recipe from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook, a gift from my Mother-In-Law. I usually add chocolate chips in my banana bread but this time around I decided to add Nutella instead. The results? Well, I had to “hide” the banana bread so we don’t finish the whole loaf in one night. We still got about half left to hopefully make it by tomorrow.
Hush Puppies
The children love hush puppies. We usually get them with the southern take-out dinner from White Schwan’s. Of course I wanted to learn how to make hush puppies myself. I search online for an easy recipe that I could make and I found it at AllRecipes.com called Vicki’s Hush Puppies.
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 large onion, diced
* 1 cup self-rising flour
* 1 cup self-rising cornmeal
* 1 quart oil for frying
Mix sugar, eggs, and onions in a large bowl. Blend in the flour and cornmeal.
Heat the oil. Create a ball using spoons from the batter. Gently drop the formed batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Fry up the hush puppies in batches. Drain the oil in paper towel covered plate.
Serve the hush puppies as is for snacks or as a side dish for dinner.
—-originally posted at old Blisstree under b5media—–
Honey-Mustard Panko Breaded Fried Tilapia
This Honey-Mustard Panko Breaded Fried Tilapia dish was actually inspired by a Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals episode that I watched yesterday night. Except Rachael used pork cutlets. I wanted to do something different with the tilapia fillets that I had so I figured I’d use the concept.
INGREDIENTS:
6 pack of Tilapia fillets, thawed (a bag is $6 at Wal-Mart Supercenter)
3/4 cup of spicy brown mustard
1/3 cup of honey
a tbsp of vinegar
half a bag of Panko breadcrumbs (find at Asian stores)
salt & pepper
oil for frying
Heat up oil in a frying pan.
Slice the fish in the middle so that should give you 12 pieces of fish fillets.
Combine the mustard and honey. Add the tbsp of vinegar just to thin out the mustard and honey a bit.
In another bowl, season the Panko breadcrumbs with salt and pepper.
Drench both sides of the fillets with the honey-mustard combo. Coat each fillets with the breadcrumbs. Fry them in the oil until golden brown. Do this in batches.
They didn’t turn out as “pretty” as I would’ve wanted them but the flavors were definitely there. They look like fried plantains but trust me, they are fish 
. I served them with rice and green beans with cherry tomatoes salad.
—-originally posted at old Blisstree under b5media—–
