From The Good Life

As the weather begins to cool off and the leaves start to turn one of the only Fall flowers in my garden is my Maximillian Sunflower. Much to my husband's dissapointment, I am not much of a mum fan. So our yard is lacking in Fall color. I need to change that, what are your favorite Fall flowers?

Today I should be posting this month's Chocolate With Francois recipe, Apple Saffron Tart. Unfortunately, life has just gotten in the way of my blogging this week. You can find the recipe at our host for this month, Accro's blog. Links to the other CWF bakers can be found here.

Root Beer Chicken

We eat a lot of chicken at our house. For me, the challenge is finding new and different recipes. I found this recipe at Monster Mama through Foodie Friday's quite a few weeks ago. If you've never been to Foodie Friday, check it out. There's so many awesome recipes and Michael's site is amazing!

I've made Dr.Pepper Flank Steak but never anything with Root Beer. I don't drink much soda or pop, as we call it here in the midwest. As a kid, Root Beer was my favorite.

I am giving you the recipe as written on Monster Mama's site. I decided to make this a slow cooker recipe. I doubled the sauce and cooked it on low for about 5 hours. It didn't have the same thick glazed finish as Monster Mama's did but it was delicious nontheless. You could put it under the broiler for a few mintues to carmalize the glaze. This one goes in my make again file.

Root Beer Chicken
Recipe Courtesy of Monster Mama
1/2 bottle of root beer (about 1 cup)
1/2 c dark brown sugar,packed
1/2 c of ketchup
1 tbsp BBQ sauce
2 tbsp pepper jelly or other jam/jelly
1 tsp spicy mustard (I used Dijon)
4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into halves
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced and thickened. Hold over a very low heat until needed. Separate the sauce into two bowls (one for brushing on raw chicken and one for serving with your chicken on the side)
Preheat oven to 350º and line cookie sheet with foil or spray with non-stick spray.
Season your chicken with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder on both sides. Place on baking sheet and brush them with the root beer sauce. Bake about 10 minutes then turn over and brush with more root beer sauce and continue baking in oven until they are done how you like them and thoroughly cooked through - about 15 minutes more.


I am linking this to Tuesday's at the Table, Tasty Tuesday's and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - SMS

I've always been a little intimindated by the thought of making jam. When I mentioned to one of my co-workers I was thinking about making jam. She said she hoped I had better luck with jam than she did. Okay, do I really want to try this? A couple of months ago, I ran across this recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. It sounded easy and delicious. Besides this way I will be done with a SMS recipe ahead of time! :) Melissa's recipe says you can make this with the traditional canning method, which I knew I didn’t want to do, or you can freeze. Freezer jam is perfect for me.

If you’ve never made jam, I would recommend trying this recipe. It’s easy and fun. I love that this recipe uses Granny Smith Apples as a natural source of pectin. This recipe was a great example of something being so much easier than I expected. The most challenging part determining when the jam had cooked long enough.




This week's SMS recipe is Plum Raspberry Preserves. Thanks to Margot of Effort To Deliciousness for choosing this week's recipe. Margot has a feature on her blog, she gives every recipe an Effort to Delicousness ratio. You can see all of the other SMS gals preserves here.

Happy Pink Saturday!!

Wildflowers from a summer drive.

Happy Pink Saturday!!

Hatch Chili Casserole

Are you familiar with Hatch Chili's? They grow in New Mexico and are easily found in Texas and the Southwest. I'd never seen them here until this summer. Our local Hy Vee store featured them in an ad, along with serving suggestions and recipes. I didn't want to just roast them or make salsa. This is a delicious, easy main dish! You could substitute almost any chili for the Hatch. I am not a big fan of hot chili's. These added a nice touch of heat but not the same sense of heat you get with jalapenos.

HATCH CHILI CASSEROLE

1 1/2 CUP FRESH ROASTED HATCH CHILI'S
2# HAMBURGER MEAT BROWNED & DRAINED
1 CAN RED ENCHILADA SAUCE
1 CAN MUSHROOM SOUP
1 CAN MILK
1 MED. ONION CHOPPED
1 CLOVE GARLIC CHOPPED
1 PKG. CORN TORTILLAS
1 LARGE MOON OF CHEDDAR CHEESE GRATED
1. BROWN & DRAIN MEAT, ADD ONION , GARLIC, SOUP, SAUCE, & MILK. MIX AND HEAT TILL BUBBLE STAGE IN 3QT. CASSEROLE DISH 2. LAYER CORN TORTILLAS, MEAT SAUCE MIX AND CHEESE, REPEAT LAYERS TOP WITH REST OF CHEESE. HEAT IN OVEN ON 350* FOR 30 MINUTES .

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

From The Good Life

Can you believe this is the first day of fall? This summer went so fast! Fall is my favorite season. I just hope we have a nice long fall because I don't love what comes after fall...winter. I am so hoping we don't have a winter as harsh as last year's. As we say good bye to summer, I am sharing some of the final blooms from my garden.

Pacific Rim Chicken

Do you participate in the Tuesday blog party, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's? If you don't, you should check it out. Not only is it a great way to showcase your blog, you can find all sorts of great recipes to try!

A couple of weeks ago Lisa posted a recipe for Pacific Rim Chicken. The flavors in this recipe are some of my favorites and as a bonus this recipe goes in the crock pot. I've mentioned before the crock pot is my friend. Especially on a Monday or any other day when I know I may not feel like cooking after work.

I prepared this recipe with chicken thighs. Until recently, I never cared much for chicken thighs. Besides their nice flavor, they're so reasonably priced. I just bought a large package at Costco for .99 cents a pound. Seriously, it doesn't get any better than that!!!

I served this with brown rice. One of the challenges with brown rice is the cooking time. I've read recently if you soak brown rice prior to cooking, it cooks much faster. After soaking mine for four hours, it cooked in about 25 minutes in the rice cooker.

Pacific Rim Chicken

1- large onion, finely chopped
1-large green bell pepper, chopped
4-5 large chicken breast halves, skin and fat removed (about 3 1/2 lbs)
1- 8oz can crushed pineapple, including juice
3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup dry sherry (I used Mirin)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/3 cup long-grain white rice, cooked according to package directions (I used brown rice)

In large crock pot, combine onion and green pepper. Arrange chicken over vegetables. In medium bowl, combine pineapple and juice, broth, sherry, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, salt, if desired, and black pepper. Stir to mix. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low, stir chicken into sauce, and cook an additional 5-6 hours or until chicken is done.

Remove and reserve chicken in medium bowl. Transfer liquid and vegetables to saucepan. Quickly boil down sauce, stirring frequently, to thicken slightly. Meanwhile, slice chicken meat. Arrange rice on serving platter. Arrange chicken slices over rice. Pour sauce over all.

I am linking this to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's, Tasty Tuesday's and Tuesday's at the Table.