Parmesan Dijon Chicken

Source: Best of Betty Crocker 2010 ... with a couple of tweaks by me
(you can download a free copy here)

Ingredients:
1/8 cup butter, melted
2+ tablespoons Dijon mustard (I didn't have any Dijon, so I used some honey mustard instead, which coincidentally, I didn't have either, but I whipped some up using the "bonus" recipe below)
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/8 cup parmesan cheese
4 chicken tenders

Directions:
Heat oven to 375F. Mix butter and mustard in a shallow dish until well mixed. Mix bread crumbs and cheese in a ziplock baggie (or I just used a little bowl and it worked great). Dip one piece of chicken at a time into mustard mixture, coating all sides. Then coat in bread crumbs. Place chicken in single layer in an ungreased pan. Bake uncovered 20 to 30 minutes, until the juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

Notes:
One of my new years goals (I prefer 'goal' over 'resolution') is to make a new recipe every week and then blog about it. So, here goes. Week 1 down, 51 to go. :)

This recipe came together quite simply and quickly and turned out surprisingly delicious. You can scale the ingredients as you see fit. I still had about half the bread crumbs/parmesan cheese mixture left over after my dipping. But I ran out of the butter/mustard mixture after about 2 1/2 chicken tenders, so I just dipped the remaining 1 1/2 tenders in straight mustard. Couldn't tell a difference myself, so next time I'll probably just skip the butter part. Also, I used frozen tenders right from the freezer, so the cook time was a toward the longer side of 30 minutes. But since they were "tender" size, they cooked pretty quickly anyway. Had the last tender for leftovers today with a bit of the leftover mustard as a dipping sauce and it was quite a delightful little lunch.


Bonus recipe: Honey Mustard

Source: The amazing internet!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon black pepper (I usually use 1/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon garlic salt (I usually use 1/4 teaspoon)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mix until thickened, increase ingredient to taste, refrigerate before serving. Miracle whip can be used in place of the mayonnaise and white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can be used in place of the lemon juice.

Notes:
I substituted Miracle Whip for mayo because that's what I had. I only put maybe half or less of the suggested pepper and garlic salt and it was plenty. Gregg loves this stuff ... adds a nice zip to our previously boring egg salad sandwiches!

Egg Nog

Source: Our good friend, Brad Harrison

Ingredients:
1 gallon milk
1 quart whipping cream
1 dozen eggs
2.5 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1.5 tablespoons nutmeg

Directions:
Heat milk and cream in a large pot on stove - mix everything else separately in a blender. Add blended mixture to warm milk. Allow to get HOT, but not boiling, stirring constantly.

Notes: This egg nog is SO GOOD. We haven't made it ourselves yet, but enjoy a tall, cold glass every time we visit the Harrisons (they keep a constant supply stocked in their fridge throughout the holiday season).

Swedish Meatballs

Source: The Farrer Family

Servings: 6-8 (3-4 meatballs per person)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour


Ingredients:
Meatballs:
2 lbs ground beef
1 cup rolled oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup milk

Sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp mustard
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine all sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until bubble. Combine all meatball ingredients, roll into 1" balls, place in glass baking dish in a single layer, cover with sauce. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, covered with aluminum foil. Serve over rice.

Comments:
Yet another Farrer family favorite. The sauce is very unique - almost a blend of BBQ and sweet and sour sauces. I usually simplify by using frozen meatballs and not heating the sauce before pouring into the baking dish. (Doing so turns this into a 5-10 minute meal!)

Danish Pancakes

Source: The Farrer Family

Servings: 4-6 medium pancakes (or 2-3 large pancakes)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes (each pancake taking about 5 minutes)

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg

Directions:
Blend ingredients together until batter is thin and smooth. Pour a small amount of the batter into a hot, buttered frying pan - covering the surface of the frying pan with a thin layer of batter by tilting and turning the pan while pouring. Cook over medium-high heat until pancake is cooked through (about 2-3 minutes) and the underside is golden; flip over once and cook for additional 1-2 minutes until other side is golden.

Spread with desired filling and roll to serve.

Comments:
This is one of my favorite Farrer family recipes! We eat them at least once a week for breakfast or dinner - at least tripling the recipe. The pancakes are very similar to the Blanchard's famous Swedish Pancakes, but much thinner and more egg-y. Bret and his brothers traditionally serve the pancakes spread with butter and sprinkled with granulated sugar. To incorporate more nutrition into the meal, I like to prepare them with cottage cheese, yogurt, and/or fruit. We've also enjoyed them as a dessert filled with cream cheese, nutella, frosting, and/or fruit syrups.

Jumbleberry Pie

Source: Me - combining bits and pieces of various Jumbleberry Pie recipes I found via Google

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 15 minutes (excluding pie crust preparation)

Cook Time: 60 minutes 

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 unbaked pie crust
6 cups mixed berries (I used a frozen raspberry, blueberry, blackberry blend from Costco)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup half and half

Directions:
Mix berries, cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon together in large mixing bowl. Pour mixture into bottom pie crust. If using a top crust, dot surface of berries with diced butter. Place top crust and seal edges. Cut 3-5 small ventilation slits in crust, brush with half and half, then sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake at 425F for 20 minutes, then reduce heat for 375F and bake for additional 35-40 minutes.

Comments: This pie (that I made for Thanksgiving) was so easy and so delicious! Next time, I'll use a top and bottom crust and use closer to 1/2 cup of cornstarch to thicken the juices. I would suggest baking the night before your event to give it plenty of time to thicken. Most importantly, this MUST be served with vanilla ice cream! :)

Homemade Clif Bars

Source: original recipe comes from here but we’ve made some adjustments

1 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal – this stuff is basically amazing)
1/4 cup finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc … we even tried dried pineapple and it was delish)
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts or seeds (I hear pepitas (which are pumpkin seeds) are great, but we’ve never actually added nuts or seeds)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup brown rice syrup (that’s what the recipe calls for, but we just use the regular Western Family maple or “rich & buttery” syrup stuff that you put on pancakes)
1/2 cup nut butter (WF creamy PB works just great)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, nuts and cinnamon in a large bowl. Combine the syrup and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and well-blended (alternatively microwave in small microwave-safe bowl 30-60 seconds until melted). Stir in vanilla until blended. Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated. Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper (really tamp it down … Gregg even uses his handy-dandy French-style rolling pin from Ram Kitchen to really mash it in). Chill at least 30 minutes in fridge to help it set. Cut into 12 bars. Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

*Note, you can triple the recipe and it fits perfectly into a jelly roll pan. Cut it into 25 bars for about 200 calories per bar (he did the math).

Blanchard Note: Back when Gregg was training for LOTOJA (the bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole – you may have heard of it?) last year he did a lot of biking around the valley to train for such an adventure. A lot of biking results in a lot of calories burned, and he discovered this handy recipe for homemade clif bars (an energy bar that normally costs something close to $1.30 per bar) that are super tasty and a whole lot cheaper. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Apple Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

AKA "Reindeer Cookie Bars" -- I guess because Reindeer eat oats and apples? :)
Source: my mom, Peggy Elwood

½ cup butter
2 eggs
½ cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups oats
2-3 cups flour
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
(optional) shredded coconut and/or chopped walnuts, to taste -- I just kind of dump some in

Heat oven to 375. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, butter, shortening and eggs in large mixing bowl. Add salt, vanilla, baking soda and cinnamon. Add oats and mix. Add flour and mix. Then stir in chocolate chips, apple, coconut, and walnuts. Spread in 12 inch rimmed pizza pan (or cookie sheet with rim) and bake for 12-20 minutes. (Last time I cooked them long enough that they almost seem too dry, but when I cut them up and kept them in a tupperware container for a few days, they turned out perfect.)

Kim's note: These little morsels of goodness are my all-time favorite cookie to make and to eat. Hands down. Why, you ask? I will tell you why. First, they are delicious. (That is why I love to eat them.) Second, they only require forming and cooking one giant cookie. None of this batch after batch stuff. Spread it all in one pan and bake only once. That's my kind of cookie. :)