Measuring Spoons

I have been baking a lot recently which has proven to be quite difficult. You see in the past few weeks E has been sneaking into my baking drawer and throwing away my measuring spoons without my knowledge. I finally realized this when I unloaded the dishwasher and started baking bread and found that I only have a 1/4 teaspoon and 1 Tablespoon. That's a lot of measuring for something requiring 1 1/2 teaspoons:-) I'm in the market for new teaspoons. Any suggestions?

Homemade Teriyaki Marinade for Grilled Chicken

Grilling season is around the corner and I'm getting so excited. Last Father's Day we surprised K with a grill and it's changed out lives. Haha- okay maybe not changed but definitely enhanced out delicious eats. We've made grilled pizza, steaks, chicken, vegetable and are always open to new grilling recipes. Well, even Southern California has rainy winter days and today was no exception. I saw this marinade on Pinterest (where else?) and made it to throw onto the grill today. Unfortunately, the rain started in the afternoon which meant no grilling. No worries there, instead of grilling a whole chicken breast, we cut the chicken into cubes and grilled it on the stovetop instead. Talk about delicious and full of flavor. I love the tangy soy sauce and limes paired with the sweetness of the honey. Thank you GroceryBudget101.com for the recipe.

Recipe (slightly modified):

3 Tbl Soy Sauce

2 Tbl Honey

1 Tbl Vegetable Oil (though I'm sure you can omit this as well)

Juice from 1 Lime

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Place ingredients into a small bowl and stir well.

Pour into a gallon size ziplock bag and add chicken. Cover chicken in the marinade and place the sealed bag into the fridge until you're ready to grill. Let it marinade for at least 30 minutes but I prefer a few hours.

We marinaded our chicken for about 5 hours which made the chicken super tender. We cubed the chicken and placed it on the stovetop to cook. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Though we didn't get to grill today, we both agreed this marinade is a keeper. The chicken was tender and moist, jammed packed with flavor.  Pair with a side of rice and veggies and you have a perfect meal.

Enjoy!

Lemon Snickerdoodles

I love snickerdoodles. They are my very favorite cookie. Snickerdoodles work for every occasion throughout the year and let's not forget how delicious they are. When I saw the recipe for Lemon Snickerdoodles, I whipped up a batch right away and I'm so glad I did. Can you say divine? I love how the lemon zest gives the cookie a settle hint of lemon that is not overpowering. I found this great recipe at Not So Humble Pie blog and modified it just slightly.

Recipe:

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 C butter, softened

1 C Sugar

1 Tbl lemon juice

1 Egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. Baking soda

1 3/4 C Flour

1/4 C sugar to roll the dough in

Zest the lemon into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and sugar and mix well. Continue mixing while adding the lemon juice, egg, vanilla, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Once mixed together add the flour a little at a time until fully incorporated.

Form the dough into a bowl and cover in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Take the dough out of the fridge and remove wrap. Form small 1" balls and roll in the sugar. Place on a non-greased baking sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. These cookies just as pretty as they are delicious. I've made two batched within one week and everyone who has tried one just loves them. You'll love them too, promise:-)

Enjoy!

Crockpot Shredded BBQ Chicken on a Homemade Hamburger Bun

My amazing friend, C, brought me dinner the other week when I was sick. It happend to be one of my favorite meals she makes. Yesterday I was craving this deliciousness and contacted C to get the recipe. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make and double checked in case I forgot something:-) The chicken was so incredibly tender with the tangy-ness of the BBQ sauce and with the sweetness of the brown sugar was incredible. The smell was intoxicating and I ended up eating before K got home because I couldn't stand it anymore haha.

Recipe (slight change from C's recipe):

2-4 frozen chicken breast

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

1/4 C brown sugar

3 Tbs ketchup

Add the BBQ sauce, brown sugar and ketchup to your slow cooker. Stir.

 Add the frozen chicken breast and cover with the sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

How easy was that?! Now the fun part begins. I didn't want to run to the store to buy rolls or hamburger buns...blame it on my laziness! So I jumped onto Pinterest to find an easy hamburger bun recipe. I found a great one that I had all the ingredients for. It was very simple to make and most likely you have all the ingredients in your kitchen too. Here's what you need:

Recipe (found at thekitchn.com):

1 tablespoon active-dry yeast

1/2 cup (4 oz) warm water

1/2 cup (4 oz) milk (whole, 2%, or skim)

1 large egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon butter

Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let dissolve.

In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, egg, oil, sugar, and salt. Add to the yeast/water mixture and mix well.

Add the flour to the mixture one cup at a time. I used the hook on my kitchen aid to mix this together. Once the dough forms, take out and knead by hand ten times or until it is smooth and springs back when you touch it.

Oil the mixing bowl and place the dough inside. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for the dough to rise. Let is rise for an hour or longer until it has doubled in size. My house was pretty cold so I turn my oven on low and placed it on top to help it rise.

Once the dough is ready, take out of the bowl and cut it into 6-8 even dough balls. Place on a baking sheet and let rise for another 45 minutes until they look puffy.

Preheat the oven to 375. Melt the butter in a small jar and brush on the top of each roll with a pastry brush.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the buns are golden.

Let them cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before eating. If you're not eating them right away you can place in a tuber-ware container to keep fresh until you're ready to eat.

Now- back to the chicken. By this time you chicken is probably cooked all the way through and ready to shred. You know my trick by now. Using a handheld mixer, shred the chicken. Continue cooking on low or "keep warm" until you're ready to eat.

Like I said, I couldn't wait any longer so I cut my hamburger bun in half and filled it to the max with chicken. I gobbled that sandwich down in seconds....seriously though it was soo good!!

Enjoy!