More Fast and Yummy Recipes

I have gotten some excellent comments and recipe ideas so far and will be giving them all a whirl. Thanks to everyone who has given me their ideas so far. I can't wait to try Wendy's chili and some of Suz's vegetarian ideas.

In the meantime, I'll give you the recipe for the main dish I made last night, Oven Fried Drumsticks. I liked them, but they weren't as huge a hit as I had hoped. Brendan liked them okay. Scott might have liked them better if they had crisped up more in the oven, which was my fault. I forgot to turn them while they were cooking, so the top half was crispy, but the bottom was not. It all still tasted good and I'm really happy to have leftovers for today's lunch.

I served them with green beans cooked in beef broth with onions and mac-n-cheese (from a box, but doctored up with real cheese).

Breaded and Baked Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
Recipe adapted from a Deviled Drumsticks recipe in Bon Appetit, March 2001.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon or whole grain mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp finely chopped chives or green onion greens
Salt
6 large chicken drumsticks, about 1 1/3 lbs
Olive oil
METHOD
1 Place rack on upper third of oven. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat the bottom of a shallow roasting pan or baking sheet with a thin layer of olive oil.
2 Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Mix together the breadcrumbs and minced chives in a separate medium bowl.
3 Sprinkle each drumstick with salt. One by one, dip each drumstick in the mayonnaise mixture, turning to coat. Then dip the drumstick in the breadcrumbs mixture, turning to coat. Place the drumsticks on the prepared roasting pan.
4 Bake chicken for 20-25 minutes, until just cooked through, and juices run clear (not pink) when poked with a sharp knife.
Serves 4-6.

I'll tell you where I changed the recipe.

I omitted the Worcestershire because I was out, but sprinkled in a bit of Montreal seasoning into the mustard/mayo mixture.

Instead of chives or green onions, I added paprika, oregano, and garlic powder to my breadcrumbs. And I used Smart Beat spray instead of olive oil on my pan.

I prepared the mustard/mayo blend and went ahead and coated the chicken with that, put it in a ziplock bag and put that in fridge to sit for about 4 hours before cooking.

I also went ahead and prepared the breadcrumb mixture earlier in the day and put that aside so I wouldn't have to do it during the dinner crunch.

Come time to cook, all I had to do was dip the drumsticks in my breadcrumbs and bake. I also lowered the oven temp to 350 and cooked for 50 min. because I tend to burn things at higher temps.

Hope you enjoy.

Back to School Recipes: Got Any?

School days mean we're crunched for time at both ends of the day.

I told Scott this morning that we seem to have a black hole in our house that sucks up any amount of extra time. So, I need to find some ways to save time. Specifically, I am looking for quick, easy, healthy dinner ideas.

If you send me your favorite quick and tasty dinner ideas I will post them on my blog, complete with a review of the recipe after I've made it and a link to your blog or web site. Click on my profile to find my e-mail address or post it in the comments section. And if you don't have any great recipe ideas, but your friends do, tell them and have them post their favorites.

To get things started, here's what I made for tonight's dinner. It was the first day of school for us and I wanted to be prepared for homework, hearing about Brendan's day, and just being with my kids, so I pulled out the old crockpot and made:

Garlic Chicken with Artichokes and Peppers

Ingredients
12 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (8-9 ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts
1 sweet red pepper, cut into strips
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca
2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 (1/2 teaspoon) ground black pepper
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs
Directions
1In small skillet cook garlic and onion in hot oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until tender.
2In 4 quart slow cooker combine the frozen artichoke hearts, sweet pepper, chicken broth, tapioca, rosemary, lemon peel, and black pepper. Add chicken; spoon garlic mixture over chicken.
3Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 7 hours, or on high setting for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.