Teriyaki Baked Chicken

This weekend we visited the GA Aquarium in Atlanta. My parents were sweet enough to treat us to an amazing double date day which started off with breakfast IHOP and then the trip to Atlanta to see some fish!

Robert and I with my sweet parents

 Seahorse Love

 Lion fish- I can't help but think of Deuce Bigalow...

We went to Ruth Chris Steakhouse after our Aquarium visit which was such a treat! I have heard such great things about Ruth Chris- with the exception of the prices! It was a great experience, but we definitely won't be regulars! Robert got the filet, along with my dad. My mom got the stuffed chicken. I felt it was only appropriate to get some fish after our day, so I got the salmon. Probably the best salmon I have ever eaten! It was huge and I got excited when it came out thinking I would have leftovers. Well, let's just say that didn't happen. 

So back to the reason for today's post. I wanted to thank my parents for such a great time. I decided to cook them dinner- who doesn't love to come home and not have to cook right? I found this recipe for Teriyaki Chicken and it sounded really good so I decided to give it a shot. I tried to take pictures as I cooked this time which is easier said than done. I kept forgetting to take pictures of steps...or worse spilling soy sauce everywhere trying to get a "action" shot of me pouring it into the saucepan. Embarrassing. Especially since I already was a little short on soy sauce and half of it sizzled away on my stove top...

Ingredients

• 2 T cornstarch
• 2 T cold water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce (or lite soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic- minced
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 1 can pineapple chunks
• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. In small saucepan over low heat combine cornstarch, water, sugars, soy sauce, cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, and pepper.                                                                                                                              
3. Let simmer stirring frequently until sauce thickens and bubbles.
4. Place chicken and pineapple chunks in greased 9 x 13 oven safe dish.
5. Coat chicken and pineapple with prepared teriyaki sauce.

6. Bake in preheated oven 30-45 minutes until no longer pink and juices run clear.

*Recipe compliments of Allrecipes.com

I am a big dummy and forgot to take a picture after it was done baking. I know that is kind of the point of a baking/cooking blog...the finished product. You will have to use your imagination for this one. Sorry.

And now for something sweet...

If you know me well, or at all for that matter, you know I didn't forget about dessert! This is a great recipe for something sweet and easy that you can actually feel good about. It is still January and I know those resolutions are still going strong at this point...right?

Pineapple Angel Food Bites

*Recipe compliments of that genius girl Melissa

Ingredients

• 1 box angel food cake mix
• 1 can crushed pineapple (in pineapple juice)
• optional- a splash of vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix angel food cake mix and crushed pineapple until moistened. Be careful not to over mix. Add vanilla if desired...I did!

2. Line and grease muffin pan or 9 x 13 baking dish. (either way turns out great)

3. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake according to box instructions. Note: This cookie scoop pictured above is probably the best baking accessory I own. I use it for everything! Cookies, muffins, you name it. It really cuts down on the mess of transferring any type of mix into muffin tins or to make uniform cookies!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

              

 

My Best Friend is a Genius!

For Christmas this year I received a really neat and creative gift from my genius of a best friend, Melissa.

 Chalkboard paper labels

I recently transferred all of my baking ingriedients into mason jars to store in my cabinets so these were perfect. These are my jars before...

I'm not sure why it took me this long to actually put them on the jars-  but it was quick and easy! The hardest part was finding chalk. I guess not many classrooms have chalkboards these days. Here are some pictures-

All tucked away in the cabinet! A quick and easy fix to having rolled up bags of leftover chocolate chips laying around. Thank you Melissa for such a great gift!

Football Food

My first post! Whew...I have to say I am a little nervous. I will start by saying that I realize I have poor grammar and bad spelling. So here goes...

The national chamionship game was last night. Robert told me he wanted to throw a football party. My first thought of course was- what to cook? We decided with it being such a late game and questionable turnout, finger foods would suffice.  He requested Rotel Dip, his favorite, which I will spare you any pictures of. It looks like vomit- but the boys love it. I also made pigs in the blanket, which is a crowd pleaser and even with 3 packs of lil' smokies still wasn't near enough. I decided to try to make homemade jalapeno hummus. Publix makes some that I absolutely love. Mine didn't turn out so hot- but I of course ate it anyway and had garlic breath all night long (oops).

 My winner of a recipe for the night was dessert- imagine that! I decided to try a recipe from Pinterest called

Pretzel Peanut Butter Bites.

{recipe courtesy of Foodaphilia}

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp softened butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar {maybe more}

3/4 cup brown sugar

Pretzels

1 bag  semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Combine peanut butter and softened butter in a large bowl with a fork or whisk, or in a stand mixer.  Add the sugars and mix to combine.  At this point if the filling will roll easily into balls without sticking to your hands you’re ready to go.  If not, add a little more of each sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll. I needed more powdered sugar to make them a little less sticky.

Roll each portion into a small ball, then sandwich them between two whole pretzels.  When all the balls are rolled and successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour.

Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted.  Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer and quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate.  Return to the tray and repeat with remaining sandwiches.  When all are dipped- place in regrigerator to set.

These were a hit. It's hard to go wrong with a sweet and salty mix. Even my innocent, underfed, attention-starved beagle decided to have a few when everyone walked outside at half-time. Imagine that...