May 30, 2012

Sweet & Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe

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My life has been so crazy busy over the last few weeks.  I got a new job and have been hustling and bustling trying to get trained.  It hasn't left much time for blogging between that, my family, and my other day to day stuff.  Let's just say that I really live for the weekends right now.  When I get home I want a dinner that takes very little of me.  Quick prep and let the oven take over from there.  I found this recipe here and am very glad I did.  It was very yummy and even the kids liked it.  My husband and I ate the leftovers warmed a bit in the microwave and wrapped in a slice of bread with a bit of yellow mustard on it.  Tasty and quick leftover goodness.  Give it a try when you are tired from all the hustle and bustle of your life.

You will need Bacon, Brown Sugar, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Canola Oil spray (or non-stick cooking spray), and Chicken.

Cut the Chicken breasts in half and season both sides with Salt & Pepper.

In a small bowl combine the Chili Powder and Garlic powder.  I went easy on the Chili Powder so my kids would eat the meat..but feel free to pump it up a notch for a spicier meal.

Evenly sprinkle the chicken with the Chili/Garlic Powder mixture on both sides.

I only had enough Bacon to use a half slice per piece of Chicken.  Next time I'll use a whole piece.  Just wrap the Bacon around the Chicken and place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray or Canola Oil spray.

Sprinkle the Brown Sugar over the top of the Chicken and bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. 


Enjoy!



Sweet & Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe
Source:  Diary of a Recipe Addict

4 Chicken Breasts, each cut in half
8 Bacon Slices (or 4, cut in half) 
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder  
1/2-1 tsp Chili Powder
2 TBSP Brown Sugar 

Mix together the Chili Powder and Garlic Powder in a small dish.  Season the Chicken on both sides with Salt & Pepper and the Chili/Garlic Powder mixture.

Spray a baking dish with Canola Oil spray or non stick cooking spray.  Wrap the chicken with the Bacon and place in the baking dish with the Bacon ends on the bottom.

Bake 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the Chicken is fully cooked and the bacon is good and crispy.

Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________

Last year I was cooking up..

An Awesome Apple Daikon Slaw  

and a super tasty  Orange Sesame Chicken


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May 21, 2012

Easy Parmesan Chicken Recipe and the winner of my Giveaway!!

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Easy weeknight supper alert!  Wait...scratch that!  Easy and really tasty weeknight supper alert!  I found the recipe here and boy am I glad I did.  I whipped this dish up in no time flat and my little family loved it.  Who would've guessed that mayo and Parmesan Cheese would be so darn friendly together?  I found the original recipe here, and I have to wonder what they did differently to get there chicken to look so differently.  Please don't judge the recipe by my final picture.  It looks a bit creepy but this made some moist and delicious chicken. 

easy parmesan chicken
You will need Mayo, Parmesan Cheese, Season Salt, Garlic Powder, Chicken and Salt & Pepper.

In a medium bowl add the Parmesan Cheese, Mayo, Salt & Pepper, Season Salt, and Garlic Powder.

Mix it together really well.

I seasoned the chicken breasts lightly with Salt & Pepper and then generously rubbed the Mayo/Parm mixture all over.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Enjoy!



Easy Parmesan Chicken Recipe
Source:  Food.com recipe by Denise in NH

4 Boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
1 C Mayonnaise
1/2 C grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 tsp Season Salt
1 tsp Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper to taste


In a medium bowl combine the Mayonnaise, Parmesan Cheese, Season Salt, Garlic Powder, and Salt & Pepper.  Mix together well.

Lightly season the Chicken with Salt & Pepper then spread the Mayo/Parm mixture on top.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Enjoy!

Congrats to Barb for winning the big prize!  Just get me your address and I will mail it to you on Friday May 25!  Make sure to respond no later than May 25th at Noon Pacific time.  Thanks to everyone who participated.


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May 19, 2012

Last Giveaway # 14

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Blog-a-pal-oosa

Today is the very last day of Blog-a-pal-loosa :(  I am so sad to see this fun group giveaway end.  I hope you have all enjoyed getting to know the other bloggers as much as I have.  This is such a fantastic group of ladies!  Today our last Giveaway is from Nina over at  Atir Inspired Decor, and she isn't messing around!  


She is giving away this necklace..



A Wallet...


Some Bling...


Lip Gloss Ball (I am dying to win this!!)

 
 Note Cards...


Craft Paint and Decorative Ribbon

And a Decorative serving dish!


and a bunch of other awesome prizes! 
Such a fun bundle of prizes!  What a way to end the 14 days of Giveaways!  Head on over to
to enter to win the fabulous prize!  Good Luck! 

Enter the remaining Giveaway's here:

and



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May 18, 2012

Giveaway # 13

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How crazy...there are only two day's of Giveaway's left!!  What!  Blog-a-pal-loosa has been so much fun for me.  I hope you have enjoyed it too.

Today Lauren who blogs over at Inside My Present

Photobucket



Is giving away a $20.00 gift certificate to UUPP Prints Etsy shop! UUPP has fresh, inspirational prints displaying anything from a Julia Child or Jane Austen quote to an endearing message for your sweetheart! Here is one of Lauren's favorites: 

Here is my favorite print:

Custom Color Happy Fork Knife and Spoon  Art Print 8x10

Way cute!

You'll find this giveaway at Inside My Present Good Luck!!

Plus don't forget to enter the other open Giveaways!

and
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May 17, 2012

Giveaway # 12

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Can you believe that today is day # 12 of Giveaway's!!!  Only a few more days of fun before all the prizes are gone.  Today the fun prize is from Jennifer who blogs over at Don't Mess With My Tutus.



She is giving away 3 samples of Annie Sloan Chalk paint and an ASCP color chart, 2 chip brushes and 1 bar of handmade "Painter's Friend' Soap!!

Sounds like a prize that my kids would love. Head over to Don't Mess with my Tutus to enter!


Good Luck!

P.S. Check out these other prizes before someone else wins them!

and
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May 16, 2012

Giveaway # 11

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Today's giveaway is from  Claiming Our Space.





She is giving away a set of 4 hand stamped tumbled Travertine tiles, a set of 4 slate fridge magnets with a Celtic design, and a set of 4 porcelain tile magnets stamped with green dragonflies. 

I hope you will head on over to  Claiming Our Space to enter this fun Giveaway.


P.S. Don't forget to enter the other Giveaway's before the awesome prizes go to someone else!


and
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May 15, 2012

Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce and LaPasta Aspargus & Grueyere Ravioli review

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I am one of those suckers that marketing teams love.  I find it very exciting when my favorite products get a package makeover.  Or when something I love tries something new.  For example, Oreo recently released their 100th Birthday - Birthday Cake flavored Oreos.  I was so excited to try them!  Too bad for me they were really hard to find..and they were only for a limited time.  I was only able to purchase two boxes, that I had to share with my family, before they stopped selling them.  Although I have heard from a very reliable source that they may be releasing them again in June.  One can only hope cause they were awful tasty.

The other day I was cruising around Costco (a place a girl can get into big trouble if she isn't careful) and I came across Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce.  It was a gorgeous orange color and just sounded so amazing to me.  Being a huge fan of Butternut Squash I just couldn't pass it up.

As I continued to cruise the aisles I peeked at the refrigerated pasta section and found some yummy sounding LaPasta Asparagus and Gruyere Ravioli.  Yum!  I couldn't pass those beauties up either.  So I took them both home with me and I am here to report back to you how I enjoyed them.


I cut the pasta package in half and actually froze half of the pasta to use later.

Let's get to cooking!

The pasta was so cute with the orange stripe going down the middle.  Okay, so maybe just off the middle.  Just toss the pasta in some boiling water and they are done cooking in five measly minutes!  Quick dinner!


I artfully arranged the pasta on my plate.

Topped it with the sauce, which I had warmed in a saucepan over medium low heat, and some grated Parmesan Cheese.

I love how you can see the Asparagus bits mixed in with the cheesy Gruyere.



We all liked this dinner but we didn't love it.  The pasta sauce was surprisingly sweet for my taste.  When I want dinner I usually want a good savory dish.  Even my four year old commented on how sweet the sauce was.  The sauce does have a nice roasted red pepper flavor that compliments it very well.  I don't know that I will rush out to buy this sauce again..but with the right recipe I would happily use it again.

The pasta was very good with just a light Asparagus flavor.  The sauce was way to overwhelming for the pasta and I wish I had just topped them with a little Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper, and Parmesan Cheese so I could really enjoy the flavor.  Next time I'll know how to treat this pasta right.

So final verdict..the sauce is good but a bit too sweet for my liking.  The pasta was very good but doesn't hold up to a strong flavorful sauce. Pin It

Giveaway # 10

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Today's giveaway is from Connie who blogs at the super cute Measured by the Heart.
She has a great Giveaway coming to you from  Pick your Plum.
Pick your plum is a daily deals site that scours the globe to bring you the best deals on high quality items. Because their deals are so HUGE, they can only offer 1 per day. They also come in limited quantities. Once they are gone they are gone. Some of their past deals include:
You can increase your chances of not missing these deals by signing up for their newsletter, or liking them on facebook. They post their deals daily on facebook before the newsletter even comes out.
Pick your plum has been nice enough to giveaway a swag box with $50 of the best crafting, baking, home decor and fashion items!!

Make sure you head over to Measured by the Heart and enter this exciting Giveaway. 
Good luck to everyone!!

P.S. Check out these other awesome Giveaway's that are still up for grabs.

and


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May 14, 2012

Giveaway # 9

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Today's Giveaway comes from Andrea who blogs over at Modern Yet Old-Fashioned.  She is a busy on the go Mom (I'm sure there are many of us who can relate with that!!!) and she is giving away some of her favorite on-the-go items! 




The winner will receive a Sport Mixer Blender Bottle, my favorite Nogii Paleo Bar and 3 Clif Kids Organic Z bars.  Courtesy of Life Fuel Supplements.

So Head on over to Modern Yet Old-Fashioned and enter to win this really fun giveaway!  

P.S.  If you haven't entered the previous Giveaway's make sure you do it today!  Three of the Giveaway's have already ended!


and 








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May 13, 2012

Giveaway # 8!! My Giveaway!

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 I am so excited to be part of Blog-A-Pal-Loosa!!  All of the items up for grabs have been really awesome so far!!  Today I am a little extra excited about the Giveaway!


Blog-a-pal-oosa


Why am I extra excited about today's giveaway you ask?  Well...you see...today is my day to give away an awesome prize! 

I wanted to give away something that has a real meaning and purpose behind it.  Something that you will cherish and hold very close to your heart.  Something that...well..you can eat!  I post about food here so I might as well give away food related goodies.  I don't think tonight's dinner will transport very well so I have decided to give away....

"Eat This Not That Restaurant Survival Guide" book and a $5.00 gift card to Jamba Juice!


I hope you are all as excited as I am about this!  In fact...if you take a gander at the picture for Best Foods #16 you will see the Delicious Jamba Juice Peach Perfection smoothie as the best Smoothie.



  Yum!  They might as well call the book...

"Eat Jamba Juice Not that."  Seriously!



Okay, so Jamba Juice isn't the only thing that they talk about in this book.  It has so much fun info for tons of different restaurants.  It is kind of a food Bible for dining out healthily.  Sadly I have eaten a few (maybe more than a few) of the dishes on the Not That list. 

Oh Chili's..why is your Baked Potato Soup so tasty yet so naughty?


This Giveaway is open to anyone who wants to enter! a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers reading this today!

Also remember to check out the other giveaway's before they go away..

1.  Fancy Flip Flops and Bag
2.  Cute child apron, chefs hat, and recipe cards
3.  $20.00 Amazon Giftcard
4.  $20.00 store credit to Lonestar Lovelies and a Fish pouch
5.  Adorable reversible pinafore and you get to choose the material and embellishments!
6.   Gingham bow tie or apron skirt
and
7.  Flat iron storage case

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May 12, 2012

Trading Blogs & a cookie recipe

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Have I got a special treat for everyone today!  A treat in more than one way.  Today I have a fantastic Guest blogger, Deena from Stay at Home Foodie, who has come over to share an absolutely delicious looking Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe with us.  These cookies look perfectly tempting and I will be baking a batch of these beauties very soon!  Deena and I are switching blogs for the day so please head over to Stay at Home Foodie  and take a peek at what I whipped up for her.

Also, I want to thank Melissa over at Serendipity and Spice for arranging the trading blogs!  Go check out her blog to see all of the blogs that participated and to check out what they all blogged about as well.

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Oh my! I’m so excited to be guest blogging here at The Grubery today. Jullee is being very brave … we have never met, and yet she’s handed over her blog to lil’ ole me. Thank you, THANK YOU!!!

 The first cooking class I ever took was with my mom – with a chef in his own restaurant. In the early nineties this was quite a novelty.
I was the youngest in the room by 20 years – my mom being the second youngest. And I took copious notes – ever the perfectionist, right? I don’t remember everything the Chef demo-ed. There was an amazing Cesaer salad made in a huge wooden bowl and I remember that he made an incredible peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookie. The Chef even gave me a taste of the cookie dough – kind of sneaking it to me and secretly confiding to me that he prefers this cookie raw. I held onto that recipe – taking it to St. Louis when I went to college and treating my roommates to this satisfying cookie dough on a regular basis. I’m not sure I even got around to baking them. Ever. They just didn’t need heat to make them incredible. But sometime after college I lost the recipe {probably because I didn’t want that cookie dough calling to me from the freezer anymore… I the freshman 5, sophomore 10, junior 3 AND senior 4 to work off!} And, being totally inept at baking, I never memorized the recipe.



Just look at those Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies!

But then it came back to me while reading Martha Stewart Living. And, although the recipe isn’t quite the same, with a little nip here and a little tuck there it came pretty darn close. Honestly, I prefer this cookie dough raw. There’s just something about the nutty, chewy cookie dough that is just SO SATISFYING. 






The dough is the best part of this peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookie

But try it for yourself. Just don’t be surprised if you end up needing to make a second batch to actually BAKE.

{deena}  
Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies {adapted from Martha Stewart Living}
  • ½ stick butter
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 cup + 1 tablespoon AP flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup all natural peanut butter
  • ½ cup chopped peanuts
  • ½ cup high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
 
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Brown the ½ stick of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until nicely browned and smells toasty. Add oats and cook for another 3-5 minutes until oats soften. Spread oat mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet to cool.
  3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
  4. In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat 1 remaining 1 stick of butter with white and brown sugars until pale and fluffy.
  5. Add egg and beat until fully incorporated.
  6. Add nut butter and beat on medium speed until well combined.
  7. Add oats, nuts, and chocolate chips and mix on low speed until combined.
  8. Add flour mixture and beat until fully incorporated.
  9. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of baking dough and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Be sure to space the dough balls 1” apart.
  10. Bake in 350 degree oven until golden brown around the edges (12-15 minutes).
  11. Let cool completely on baking sheets.
Cookies can be store in an air tight container for up to 1 week.
     
  • Measure dry ingredients
  • Measure wet ingredients
  • Whisk dry ingredients
  • Crack egg
  • Run stand mixer
  • Add things to stand mixer
  • Portion out cookie dough balls
  • Eat cookie dough :)
  Deena, the stay at home FOODIE, is totally obsessed with food {in a healthy way… mostly}. She lives by her FOODosophies  and is determined to teach her kids to cook – and eat – healthy and yummy food. You can find more of her food musing and recipes at: http://www.stayathomefoodie.com

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Thanks so much to Deena for sharing such a delectable recipe with us.  My family thanks you for the combination of some of our favorite ingredients in one delicious cookie.  Remember to check out http://www.stayathomefoodie.com where Deena shares so many great recipes and tips for including your kids in the kitchen. Pin It

Giveaway # 7

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Time for more fantastic Giveaway fun!!  Today's prize is something that I truly need!  I can't tell you how many times I have finished running a flat iron through my hair just before I have to leave on vacation.  I never know what to do with the hot iron so I usually just hold it until it cools off enough to put in my bag.  But...

Alicia at Little Sprinkles Of Fun is giving away a Thirty-One flat iron case in circle spirals! This flat iron case is made of a sturdy canvas in a fun circle spirals print. The silver thermal lining can withstand heat up to 400 degrees- so have no fear if you need to pack up your hot iron directly after use!






Can I just say how awesome and necessary this product is!  Head over here to enter and Good Luck!

Also check out the previous items in case you haven't already..they will be ending soon.

1.  Fancy Flip Flops and Bag
2.  Cute child apron, chefs hat, and recipe cards
3.  $20.00 Amazon Giftcard
4.  $20.00 store credit to Lonestar Lovelies and a Fish pouch
5.  Adorable reversible pinafore and you get to choose the material and embellishments!
and
6.   Super cute Gingham bow tie or apron skirt.

Also please check out the fantastic guest post that I will be posting later this morning!  I will be posting an amazing looking cookie recipe from Stay at Home Foodie! Pin It