Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic & Thyme

Source: Everyday Food Magazine
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (3-3.5 lbs) cut into 8 pieces (i buy the already cut up chicken)
1 lb white new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
1 large red onion, cut into eighths
1 head garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled
6 sprigs thyme
1 lemon, quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
Coarse salt and pepper

Directions: 1.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onions, garlic, thyme and lemon in a 12x16 roasting pan. Whisk together oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season liberally with salt and pepper. 2. Turn chicken skin side up and roast for 50 minutes, until chicken is browned and cooked through.

Verdict:
This was delicious and so super easy, it made it even better. This taste like a home cooked meal that someone spent hours in the kitchen making. Bonus is everything is in one pot, so less to clean up. This recipe reminded me that we really should have baked chicken more often. Oh, and Allison even LOVED this!

Pierogie Bake

Source: stepahniecooks.blogspot.com

Servings: 2 servings

Total Time: 30 minutes - shorter if you don't burn the bacon the first time

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) package frozen potato and onion pierogies
2 slices center-cut bacon, chopped
2 garlic cloves,
minced 1/3 cup 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup thin sliced green onions
1 small plum tomato, seeded, and diced
Pepper
Cooking spray

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 400.
2- Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange the frozen pierogies in the dish.
3- In a medium saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan.
4- Add garlic to the drippings, cook for 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese, stirring until it melts. Add the broth, stir continuously until it's all incorporated
5- Pour the sauce mixture over the pierogies. Top with the cheddar cheese.
6- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with the tomatoes and bacon, and return it to the oven. Bake for 5 additional minutes.
7- Remove from the oven sprinkle with green onions and black pepper. Serve hot

Verdict:
This was really really good. We all enjoyed it. It would also make a really good side dish. So as my total time stated, I burnt the bacon the first time. So the second time I cooked the bacon for a few minutes in the pan and then finished it up in the microwave. That way I could get the grease from the bacon to move on to step 4 and my bacon would be cooked perfectly. Also, if serving as a main course again, I'll double the recipe. I'll definitely make this one again.

Oh, and I didn't have green onions on hand, so I used dried scallions instead.

Crock Pot Asian Beef and Noodles

Source: stephaniecooks.blogspot.com

Serves: 8 servings Total time: 5 mins prep and 9-10 hours cook time

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes 1 (12 oz) bottle reduced sodium stir fry sauce, any flavor 3/4 cup chicken or beef broth (low sodium) 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 (3 oz) packages Ramen noodles, broken 1/4 cup green onions, chopped

Direction: Coat a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen vegetables in the bottom and top with meat. In a medium bowl, mix stir fry sauce, broth and red pepper. Pour over meat and vegetables in slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or high for 4.5-5 hours (I recommend low, it will help to break the meat down more).

At the end of the cooking time, discard spice packets from ramen noodles. Stir noodles and green onions into meat mixture. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Stir before serving.

Verdict: While this didn't look all that appetizing (and my cell phone picture of it probably doesn't help matters), it was actually pretty good. Allison really liked it and it was a nice change of pace from the soupy type stuff you usually make in a crock pot. Plus it takes less than 5 minutes to throw together in the morning, especially if you get the stew meat that is already cut into cubes. I'll definitely make this one again.