Football Food... Sticky Spicy Drumsticks

So I don't know about you - but I love the quality of food at Whole Foods but not the price.  So I try and get whatever meats they have on sale to help a bit.  This week they had these beautiful drumsticks on sale and I couldn't pass them up!

So what to make... I love chicken and how versatile it is and really can take on whatever flavors you are in the mood for.  So today it was sweet and spicy - I love those two flavors together.  So I searched my pantry and came up with this quick marinade.  It was easy to make, and I had everything on hand - I will definitely be making this one again!

Sticky Spicy Drumsticks

Ingredients:

4 lbs. of Chicken Drumsticks
1/2 C. Honey + 2 T. 
2 T. Soy sauce (I like the low sodium)
2 T Hot Sauce (Sriracha is preferred)
1T. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 t. Minced garlic
Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients and add to a large Ziploc bag.  

Pat your drumsticks dry and generously salt and pepper them.  Add the drumsticks to the bag and make sure that your marinade is covering all of your chicken.  Let them marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge.  I let mine go for 4 hours and they really tasted yummy!

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Transfer your chicken and marinade into a large roasting pan or baking dish with high sides.  Brush your drumsticks with the remaining honey and season with salt and pepper.  

Bake the chicken, basting it often with the juices of the pan until it is well browned and the sauce looks nice and sticky.  Mine took 40 minutes, you can use a thermometer and make sure it is 165 degrees.

Serve the chicken on a platter and drizzle with the sauce - it was amazing!!

I will make these again for the next Pats game - I think this marinade would be great on wings too!

Enjoy!

Our Family's Stuffing Recipe

So... as adventurous as I like to be in the kitchen - there are a few things that need to stay traditional.  For me, one of those recipes is my mom's stuffing for Thanksgiving.  It is so delicious and so easy and everyone loves it.  Every time I host Thanksgiving - making the stuffing is my favorite part.  My mom and I do it together and it a tradition that I never want to change.

There is a lot of controversy out there about stuffing your turkey - you shouldn't because it isn't able to cook fully - or bacteria can form - but I am here to tell you that we stuff that bird as much as we can - and then cook the rest on the side in a casserole dish.  You know what goes first?  The bird's stuffing.  It just tastes SO much better... so do as you wish - but this recipe works both in the turkey and out.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

My Momma's Stuffing

Ingredients:

2 12oz. Bags of cubed herb stuffing (I like Pepperidge Farm)

4 T. Salted Butter

2 12oz. Jimmy Dean Premium Pork Regular Sausage, defrosted

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

5 apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

4 cups of turkey broth (if you cannot find turkey, chicken is fine)

1 T. poultry seasoning

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Brown sausage in a large dutch oven.  Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add butter to the dutch oven and sauté the onions and celery until translucent.  Add apples and cook for 5 minutes.  Add back in the sausage and mix well.  Turn off heat and add one bag of stuffing with 2 cups of broth. Mix until everything is well incorporated.  Add the second bag and the rest of the broth and mix again.  

I like to make up the stuffing the night before and store it in the fridge until I am ready to stuff my bird.  

Here is a picture of Thomas the Turkey from last year ready to be served.  I hope you all have a very happy holiday with your families :)

Apple-Doodle Cobbler

While cruising through Pinterest for new Thanksgiving dessert ideas, I came across a recipe for an Apple Cobbler made with a Snickerdoodle topping - genius!  I loved the idea - but it was missing a few things that are needed to be a successful dessert in my house so I decided to alter it a little bit and try it out for tomorrow.  I swapped out the Snickerdoodle top to a recipe I have been using for years and then added some lemon juice to the apples (keeps them from browning and adds a little citrus kick).  Last but not least I decided to add a crumb topping... I looooove crumb toppings and a little extra butter never hurt anyone ;) Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple-Doodle Cobbler

Ingredients:

Cookie Ingredients (you can also use store bought or any recipe you love - this is my all-time favorite!)

       ¾ cup granulated sugar

       2/3 cup light brown sugar

       ½ cup butter, softened

       1 t. vanilla extract

       1 large egg

       1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)

       1 t. baking powder

       ½ t. ground cinnamon

       ¼ t. salt

       1/3 C granulated sugar

       1 ½ t. ground cinnamon

  Apple ingredients

                8C apples (roughly 6-8 apples depending on their size)

                   ¼ cup brown sugar

                   ½ t. cinnamon

  Crumb Topping

                    3 T. Flour

                  1 T. Sugar

                  dash of Salt

                 1 T. Butter at room temperature

  Directions:

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg.

  Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat just until combined. Put the cooking mixture in the fridge to chill.  Add 1/3 Cup of Sugar and 1 ½ t. of cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

  While the dough is chilling, add the brown sugar and ½ t. of cinnamon to a large bowl.  Peel, core and slice up your apples and add them to the brown sugar mixture making sure they are completely covered.  Add the covered apples to an butter greased 8x8 baking dish.

  Take the chilled dough out of the fridge and make 1 inch balls.  Roll each ball in the sugar and cinnamon mix and add on top of the apple mixture – slightly flattening the balls. 

  For crunch topping, combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of cobbler. 

  

   Bake for 45-55 minutes – when the apples are tender and the topping is a nice golden brown.  Let cool and serve with vanilla ice cream  - YUM!

My First Blog...

So I love to cook... I mean I realllly love it. It makes me happy to feed the people I love and it always puts me in a good mood. My friends always tell me I have a knack for finding the best recipes on the internet and I am always up for trying something new - so here we go! 

So it is Thanksgiving - and this is my holiday to host! I like to keep things very traditional but I ALWAYS try at least one new recipe. This year - I am trying two new desserts: a Snicker-doodle Apple Cobbler I found on Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest) and an Apple Snickers Bar Salad. I will be altering them both to fit my tastes and posting pics later :) 

With Thanksgiving knocking on my door, I wanted an easy dinner tonight and my husband has been begging me to make Beef Stew (which I typically am not a fan of). So I took a basic recipe and made it more... me. Here is what I came up with! Thanks for reading along with me - I am excited to share my food journey with you! 

Not Your Momma's Beef Stew 

Ingredients: 
2 Lbs. Stew Beef (cubed) 
2 T. Canola Oil 
1 Medium Onion 
2 Garlic Cloves (peeled) 
2 Cups Beef Broth 
1 Cup Red Wine 
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce 
 1 T. Sugar 
1 t. Paprika 
1/2 t. Thyme 
1/2 t. Rosemary 
1/4 t. Sea Salt 
1/4 t. Pepper 
1/4 t. Allspice 
 2 Bay Leaves 
3 Large Russet Potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes) 
4 Large Carrots (peeled and chopped) 
2 Celery Ribs (chopped) 
2 T. Wondra Flour 

Directions: 
Heat up a large Dutch Oven over Medium High Heat and add oil. Once the oil starts to smoke a little add the meat and brown on all sides. Take out the browned beef with a slotted spoon. Add broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, sea salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, allspice, thyme, and rosemary. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.Add your potatoes, carrots, and celery and bring back up to a boil. Once boiling bring back down to a simmer for another hour or so. Remove 2 cups of the liquid and add the 2 Wondra Flour - whisk and add back into the stew for another 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and Voila! Beef Stew even I love :) Let's be honest here - if you put red wine in something... I will like it. Here is a picture of my finished product - the hubby loved it too!

Not Your Momma's Beef Stew