Chicken Porcupines

Chicken Porcupines

The next time homemade meatballs are on the menu, reserve 10-12 meatballs for this appetizer, especially if you have young children around. These 'porcupines' are kid-friendly because they're bite-sized and small enough to hold in their little hands. The porcupine quills are formed by rolling the meatballs in long-grain rice and steaming them.

These were steamed in a rice cooker at the base of which egg-drop soup bubbled happily. They're ready when the grains of rice begin to stick out of the meatballs, resembling porcupine quills. This could take a while so be patient.

Serve with a drop of Sriracha sauce or ketchup, as shown above, or make a dip as described below. These are great for starters and could also be served at a potluck or picnic because they're convenient to transport and eat.

Thursdate Meatball Stroganoff

Meatball Stroganoff

Thursdays are Grand-boy's day, nicknamed Thursdate in our home. One of our three grandsons is picked up at 4 pm., has dinner and spends the evening with us and gets dropped home at 8 pm. It's our favourite day of the week and the grand-boys enjoy it even more. The dilemma for me is to come up with a kid-friendly dinner such as spaghetti & meatballs, fajitas, taco salad, et al.

This meatball stroganoff was popular when our own boys were growing up and it was delegated to hubby to make the meatballs from scratch. The aroma of garlicky mushrooms and browning meatballs simmering in mushroom soup and sour cream would cause neighbours to drop by for a taste test. But that was many moons ago and became a distant memory until today. 

I hope Grand-Boy #2 likes it as much as I do.

Kid-Friendly Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Mini Chicken Pot Pie

One of our three grandsons has dinner with us once a week and it's always a challenge to come up with something palatable for them. Today I made these little chicken pot pies that can be made in under 30 minutes. It took me 10 minutes to assemble them and 15 minutes to bake in the oven. And they're just the perfect size for children to hold in their little hands. Serve them with a side of salad or fruits and a stress-free dinner's ready in no time flat!

The crust was made from Pillsbury crescent rolls dough that were coaxed into each compartment of a muffin pan.The filling was made with diced fajita chicken strips (any cooked chicken will do), frozen mixed vegetables consisting of carrots, peas, celery, potatoes and corn and a can of cream of chicken soup. I used Campbell's cream of chicken soup because I was in a hurry, but homemade cream of chicken soup is really easy to make. 

Each package of dough contains 8 crescent rolls and I used the 'grand' or big sized rolls.

The broad side of the triangle of dough was stretched to cover the bottom and sides of each compartment and the pointed end was wrapped around the top with a hole in the center to allow steam to escape.

Cooked until the tops were golden brown, these little pot pies were done in just 15 minutes. Note that the empty compartments were filled with water.

Needless to say, it was a hit with our Grandboy this evening!

Ingredients:

1 (8 rolls) can Pillsbury Grands! Big & Buttery Crescent Rolls, separated

1/2 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables for soup

1 (10 oz.) can  or homemade Cream of Chicken soup

1/2 (16 oz.) pkg. fajita chicken strips, diced

salt to taste

Pam butter-flavored spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F and grease muffin compartments with Pam spray.
2. Microwave vegetables (without water) on high power for one minute or blanch in boiling water for 1 minute and drain.
3. Combine chicken, vegetables, soup and season with salt to taste.
4. Line muffin compartments with broad side of crescent roll dough, leaving pointed end hanging over lip of compartment.
5. Fill with chicken mixture to mound over the top and wrap the pointed end of the crescent roll around the top, leaving a space for steam to escape.
6. Fill empty compartments with water and bake at 375*F for 15 minutes until tops are golden brown. 

Serve with a side of soup or salad.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

A favorite among children, this light and simple meal is fun for them to assemble and hold in their little hands. It’s also easy to brown the chicken and mix the sauce beforehand and cook just before serving. For children this works as a main course, but for adults this probably would work better as an appetizer for dinner or as a main course for a light lunch.

Ingredients:

1 lb. minced chicken

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
¼ tsp. sesame oil
1 can water chestnuts, diced

6-8 button mushrooms, diced
12 leaves Boston or Romaine lettuce

½ cup roasted almonds or peanuts, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Separate lettuce leaves, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Whisk 1 tsp. oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil together until thoroughly combined.
3. Add remaining oil to a non-stick skillet on medium heat, and cook chicken thoroughly for about 20 minutes, until browned.
4. Add sauce to chicken in pan along with water chestnuts and mushrooms.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish.
7. To serve, place 1-2 Tbsp. chicken in a lettuce leaf and garnish with nuts and/or green onions.

Spooky Orange Faces

Healthy & Easy Halloween 'Carvings'

We had a wee, four-year-old guest this last weekend, who was tickled pink by these spooky orange faces, inspired by a pin on Pinterest.

Once There Were Four Spooky Faces

I used a black washable marker to draw the faces on these California cuties.

A real sweetheart, cheerful and full of life, our tiny guest kept us entertained with her chatter, stories and songs. The house seems so quiet and empty without her.

The weather was perfect for a quick trip to Port Huron & the Blue Water Bridge.

The little girl had fun counting Canadian Geese.

We nicknamed her Miss Spotify because she's so good at spotting ships and yellow cars! This was taken at Freighters' restaurant which is located on the St. Clair river, overlooking Blue Water Bridge.  She spotted 2 ships that sailed right by the window.

Her hand turkey was added to our refrigerator art wall (bottom right corner), along with various and sundry other pieces of artwork. She's promised to return soon and we're looking forward to that!

Mayz' Taco Salad

Mayz spent the evening with us last week and on the way home I asked him, 'What is the most interesting thing you ate since we last saw you?' and he thought about it for a while and replied, 'Taco Salad!' With a vigorous nod of his head he said, 'It was very good!' He had it at home, his Mama made it and he gave me a list of everything in it. What he liked best about the Taco Salad were the Nachos that were crushed and mixed in with everything else.

This recipe is dedicated to Mayz, who is GrandBoy #2, age 6.

Bachu's Tuna Fish Fried Rice

Bachu is my youngest brother and the youngest sibling in our family.  I was speaking to him over the telephone recently and he was in the process of fixing dinner for his two teenagers. He sent me a picture of this fried rice and described each step while he was making it. Hope I got it right. It's always easier to cook fried rice with day-old rice, so any time we go to a Chinese restaurant, we bring home the rice and freeze it until I'm ready to make a fried rice. I prefer to mix all the sauce ingredients into the rice, breaking up the lumps at the same time. This ensures that each grain of rice is coated with the sauce and means less stirring later which could turn the rice into mush. Notice there is no mention of salt anywhere in this recipe. That's because the tuna fish, soya sauce and fish sauce are salty enough.

Easy Meatball Rolls

Just Baked Meatball Rolls

Cross-section of a Roll

Meatballs & cheese wrapped in garlic bread. The frozen meatballs need not be thawed before assembling. They were simply delicious and the meatball inside the roll was soft and juicy.


Adapted from a Pillsbury recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Today being Thursday, is GrandBoy’s day. GrandBoy #2 who is 5 years old, will be visiting us and preparing something appealing for him is a big concern. I thought of individual chicken pot pies, but the thought of fiddling with puff pastry and individual bowls of stuff was pretty daunting. Here is the result of simplifying the entire process – a casserole of chicken pot pie ingredients topped with cracker crumbs.  Hope he likes it!

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Servings: 16

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Baking Time: 13 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tubes Pillsbury Crescent Rolls for small rolls (4 tubes for large rolls)

1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Remove dough from tubes and roll out by hand.
3. For large rolls, separate two triangles of dough, place long sides perpendicular to work surface, overlap sides and seal. For small rolls, use one triangle.
4. Starting at bottom edge, roll up towards the point.
5. Form a circle by gently pulling the two ends down.
6. Tuck one point under and the other under and through the center.
7. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
8. Form the remaining rolls as described above.
9. Brush rolls with beaten egg and bake at 325°F for 11-13 minutes until golden.