No-Thyme Quick Chicken with Smash Broc-o-tatoes and gouda Gravy

First of all...this is one of my favorite family cookbooks! Check it out. It has lots of helpful tips on how your kids can help prepare the meals with you. I get lots of our recipes from this book...including the one tonight which happens to be one of my favorites!

(sorry the only picture i have of this meal...totally spaced taking pics during preparing it!)

No-Thyme Quick Chicken with Smash Broc-o-tatoes and Gouda Gravy
Ingredients:
4 Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut in 2 inch cubes
salt
4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves (i have used both fresh and not both are great)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
1 head of broccoli, trimmed and cut into florets and 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk or half-and-half
1 1/2 cups shredded Gouda cheese (i have used all gouda, part gouda part mozzarella and all mozzarella. all 3 ways are amazing! gouda is more expensive so i usually just do the other, but sometimes like to splurdge)

Instructions

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, salt the water, reduce the heat a bit, and cook until tender, about 12 minutes. Heads-up; about halfway through you will add the broccoli to the pot, so use a pot large enough to accommodate both.

Season the chicken breasts with the thyme, salt, and pepper on both sides. Heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 6 minutes on each side.

Add the broccoli to the potatoes and cook for 6 minutes.

Heat the butter in a small sauce pot over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the chicken stock and 1 cup of the milk or half -and-half. Thicken for 2 to 3 minutes, season the sauce with salt and pepper, then stir in the cheese in a figure-eight motion with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Turn off the heat.

Drain the cooked broccoli and potatoes and return to the hot pot to dry them out. Mash the broccoli and potatoes together, using the remaining milk to reach the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the chicken breasts on an angle. Pile some mashed broc-o-tatoes on plates and arrange the fanned-out chicken on the edge of the mound. Pour the Gouda gravy over the top.

*ok. Serious people this is soooo good! I have been making it for a couple years now. I have served it some very picky nieces and they have all loved it. Plus my girls. Its crazy how good the broccoli and potatoes taste with just a little salt and milk. A GREAT way to get some greens in our kids bellies. This is relatively healthy, just go a little easy on the cheese sauce! :) ENJOY!

Pound Cake

Sour Cream Pound Cake
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Allow butter, eggs, and sour cream to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and flour a bread pan. In a bowl stir flour, soda and powder; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl (i use my kitchen aid) beat butter on med to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating about 10 minutes or until very light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition and scraping bowl frequently. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to butter mixture, beating on low to medium speed after each addition just until combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 60 to 75 minutes or until a wooden toothpick insterted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

This is a better homes and garden recipe and i love it!! It is FANTASTIC for strawberry shortcake. It sounds like there are a lot of steps but it is really simple. And if you follow the directions to a T it will turn out yummy for you! I LOVE strawberry shortcake and this really is the best ever cake for it! :)

Stacey's Guacamole

3 ripe hass avocados, peeled and chopped
1 lime
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on taste
1/2 small or medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 TBLS chopped cilantro

Mash the avocados with the juice of 1 lime and salt. Stir in the cumin and cayenne. Fold in the onion garlic. When i chop up mine i use a "smart chopper". Its awesome. Especially with picky eaters, it chops the onion so small so you get the flavor but not the big pieces. Last stir in the tomato and cilantro. It tastes best if you can let it sit for a bit and let all the flavors combine. But its still great if you can't wait and want to eat it up right than! A trick i learned from a sister in law is to leave the pit in with the quacamole and it helps it to not brown as fast. I also will scale this recipe down to just one avocado when its just my girls and i and i just taste it as i go to season it. :) Enjoy.

Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 lb boneless beef round steak, trimmed of fat and cut into bite size strip

1 packet onion soup mix

1 can (10 1/2 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup sour cream

4 tbsp cream cheese

1. In 2-3 quart slow cooker, mix beef strips and dry soup mix until evenly coated. Top with soup.

2. Cover; cook on low heat setting 7-8 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before serving, cook rice. Just before serving, stir sour cream and cream cheese into beef mixture. Serve over rice.

We loved this recipe for stroganoff. It was easy and super fast. My crockpot cooks way fast so i only had to cook it for about 4-5 hours on low. The meat was extremely tender and yummy. The cream cheese adds another layer of richness. Definitely not a low fat recipe but really yummy!

A new Adventure

I love to cook. And i love to eat. A lot. So i decided i need to start writing down some of the recipes we try out and love. That way i have one place to go and find recipes i know we will eat and love as a family. Some may be healthy...some won't be. Some will be for lazy days (probably most). And i will definitely include treats as well. So enjoy! :)