Everything I Need by Kutless

This song has been on my heart lately (I've been hearing it quite often during the little bit of time I listen to the radio). It's so beautiful... and so true. I'm so grateful to have a loving Father that will carry me through, when I can't carry myself. Sometimes knowing that is what gets me through each moment.

http://youtu.be/4DPediW-W5Y

Everything I Need by Kutless

When every step is so hard to take
And all of my hope is fading away
When life is a mountain that I can not climb
You carry me, Jesus carry me.

[Chorus]
You are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need

When every moment is more than I can take
And all of my strength is slipping away
When every breath gets harder me
You carry me, Jesus carry me 

[Chorus]

I need You
You are everything I need
I love everything about You 

[Chorus]

Baked Kale Chips

We decided to try kale chips, in an attempt to have a healthy snack option and to include more vegetables in our diet. They've turned out great each time I've made them (I've made them several times... they're addicting). You have to be careful not to overcook the kale... but it needs to be crispy (if it hasn't cooked long enough, the kale is kinda chewy, and I don't care for it). There's a fine line between done and over-done, so keep an eye on them.

Baked Kale Chips

Recipe from TheKitchn.com

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale

a few glugs of olive oil

salt

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350º.
2. Tear kale into bite-sized pieces, avoiding the tough inner stalk.
3. Rinse well in water and dry as best you can either in a spinner or on a towel.
4. Pour a few glugs of olive oil on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet and add the kale. *
5. Sprinkle with salt and toss gently to evenly distribute the oil and salt, being careful not to toss the kale out of the tray.
6. Place in oven and bake about 10-15 minutes, or until the kale is crisp.
7. Best if eaten warm but not necessary.

* I placed the kale into a mixing bowl (which I have a lid for), added some oil, closed the lid, and shook to evenly coat the kale with oil. Then I spread the kale out on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. The I sprinkled with a little salt and baked.

A variation to this recipe is to use a little garlic infused oil, or garlic salt.

Taco Seasoning

I've decided to try making some of my own seasonings... in an attempt to help remove MSG from my diet. We tried some homemade taco seasoning the other day, and it turned out pretty good! I gathered multiple recipes for the seasoning, and then used pieces from each one... so, below is the hod-podge mixture that I came up with.

This recipe is enough for 1 to 1½ lbs of ground beef or turkey (we used ground turkey). I saw somewhere that about 2 Tbsp of taco seasoning mix per pound of meat (can use more or less, depending on how spicy you'd like it to be). I'll probably end up making it "in bulk," once we try in with paprika (I'm not sure if I like paprika, so I didn't use any this time)... if I do, I'll be sure to update the post with the "bulk" recipe.

Also, Jeremy and I have been discussing whether it'd make a difference to just add the seasonings in with the ground meat, while we're browning it (rather than later adding water and the seasoning)... we might mess around with that some, too.

Taco Seasoning

© 2012 Jamie V.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1½ tsp ground cumin
(1/2 tsp paprika - optional)

Directions:

1. Mix all the spices together.
2. Brown 1 to 1½ lbs of ground beef or turkey (cook off or drain the fat off).
3. Pour about 3/4 cup of water in and add seasoning to meat. Stir to combine.
4. Cook until most of the water has cooked off (approximately 5-10 minutes).
5. Serve.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes

I made these pineapple upside-down cupcakes this weekend, and they were DELICIOUS! They were a bit labor-intensive for me (especially since I'm used to cooking cake from a box), but they were definitely worth it. I have a better "game-plan" for next time, though (I've included those changes in the directions below... hopefully that'll make things go a bit more smoothly next time).

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes
Adapted from: Disney Family Fun Magazine

Ingredients:

© 2012 Jamie V.

Batter

6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

© 2012 Jamie V.

Topping

6 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
6 maraschino cherries
1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks (can also use rings, tidbits, or crushed)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350ºF.
2. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the ingredients with a fork until they're evenly blended.
3. Place the butter and milk for the batter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Warm the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts, then transfer the mixture to a small bowl to cool.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the pine-apple topping. Into each cup of a 12-cup muffin pan, add 1/2 Tbsp of unmelted butter, then evenly sprinkle 1 Tbsp of brown sugar over the bottom. Place the pan in the oven until the butter melts, about 3 minutes.
5. Halve each maraschino cherry, then chop up / crush pineapple tidbits of chunks (or you can cut the pineapple rings into quarters). Place a cherry half, sliced side up, in the center of each cup and spoon crushed pineapple on top (or lay a pineapple quarter on each side of the cherry half). Press the fruit gently down into the butter-sugar mixture, then set the prepared pan aside.
6. (finish making the batter) In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
7. Add the flour mixture (from Step 2) to the egg mixture (a little at a time, stirring to combine). Stir until the flour is fully incorporated.
8. Add the milk-butter mixture (from Step 3 - a little at a time, stirring to combine). Stir well to combine the ingredients into a smooth batter.
9. Pour the batter into the muffin pan, dividing it evenly among all the cups.
10. Bake the cupcakes until they're lightly browned, dry around the edges, and pulling away from the pan a little, about 25 minutes.
11. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes.
12. (after allowing cupcakes to cool) Use a butter knife to carefully loosen each cupcake from the edges and bottom of the pan, then place a cookie sheet over the top. Invert the pan, turning the cupcakes out onto the cookie sheet, then transfer them back to the rack to cool completely.
13. Serve the cupcakes at room temperature.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Nutritional Information:
Per serving (one cupcake):
Calories 276
Total Fat 12 g (19% DV)
Saturated Fat 7 g (37% DV)
Cholesterol 66 mg (22% DV)
Sodium 194 mg (8% DV)
Total Carbohydrate 39 g (13% DV)
Fiber 0.5 g (2% DV)
Sugars 31 g
Protein 3 g (5% DV)
Percent daily values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Flour Tortilla Casserole

I made this based on a casserole that my mom used to make. We guessed on the measurements, but it ended up being pretty good. I forgot to take any pictures of it (the one below is from a different website, of a different casserole), but it looks similar to what ours looked like before we put it in the oven. I'll try to get some photos, next time we cook it.

Flour Tortilla Casserole

Photo from here

Ingredients:

6-8 soft taco sized flour tortillas (we used whole wheat), each cut into fourths
1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can (12.5 oz) chicken (or you could use cooked, shredded or cut up chicken)
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
less than 1/8 tsp pepper
cheese (I think we use approximately 6 oz grated cheese)

* I'd like to try it with some diced tomatoes and/or minced onions, too. I think there are quite a few ways this recipe can be changed and still be delicious (type of meat, cheese, tortillas, seasonings, etc...)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Cut flour tortillas into fourths.
3. Combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, chicken, and seasonings.
4. Spread a very thin layer of the chicken mixture along the bottom of a baking dish (we used an 8"x11.5"x2" glass baking dish).
5. Lay 1/3 of the flour tortillas (in fourths) down to make a single layer of tortillas.
6. Spoon and spread a layer of the chicken mixture.
7. Sprinkle cheese (we love cheese, so we were pretty liberal with the amount we used) over the chicken mixture.
8. Continue to layer (Steps 5 through 7) - we had 3 layers of tortillas total, ending with a layer of flour tortillas, a very thin layer of the chicken mixture, and lots of cheese.
9. Bake (uncovered) approximately 30 minutes, the cheese will all be melted and you'll see the chicken mixture bubbles some.
10. Let cool 5 minutes.
11. Serve.

Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata

I love chicken piccata, so I decided to try this recipe out. Jeremy really liked it, but I thought it was a little much. I think I'd prefer to have the pasta (with sauce) and a piece of chicken with very little seasoning OR the marinated / seasoned chicken with a plain pasta (even angel hair pasta). It may just be that I'm overly sensitive to strong flavors, so this dish is just too much for me. But, it does offer us some good options that we can change up to more of our liking.

Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata
Adapted from PlainChicken.com

* requires several hours to marinate before cooking

Ingredients:

© 2012 Jamie V..

Chicken
Juice of 1 lemon (3Tbsp)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp basil or oregano
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we had thick chicken breasts, and they were difficult to grill without getting too done on the outside - next time, I think we're going to butterfly the chicken breasts before we cook them)

Pasta
2 cups dried penne pasta
2 Tbsp butter
Juice of 2 lemons (6 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)
2 tsp dried basil
2 Tbps capers (we didn't have any capers)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Chicken

1. Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well.
2. Place chicken in a plastic container and pour marinade over chicken.
3. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
4. When ready, grill until done. (we don't have an outdoor grill, so we just used our George Foreman - I brushed a little olive oil over the grill plates just before placing the chicken on)
5. Allow chicken to rest for a few minutes and then slice into strips to serve over pasta.

Pasta

1. (while chicken is grilling) Cook pasta according to directions (10-12 minutes).
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain.
3. In same sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.
4. Whisk in garlic and lemon juice.
5. Pour in half and half (or heavy cream) and whisk until hot.
6. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Add the parmesan cheese, basil and capers, and heat until cheese is melted. Check the consistency of the sauce and add some of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary.
7. Toss in pasta.

Serve in pasta bowls with grilled chicken on top. Sprinkle with more parmesan if desired.

Chicken & Dumplings

We tried this recipe the other day, and it was DELICIOUS!!! You can follow the link to find the original recipe, but below includes the changes / adaptations that I made. We'll definitely be making this again!

UPDATE:  My husband and I have been making this recipe a lot, since we first tried it. But, I only just realized that I've been putting A LOT more dry dill into the dumplings than the recipe calls for. It calls for 2 Tbsp fresh dill -or- 3/4 tsp dried dill weed... I'd been using 2 Tbsp dried dill weed!!! Everyone we've ever made it for thought it was delicious, so we never thought anything of it. I think that 3/4 tsp is way too little, for our taste. So, I've since started using 1 Tbsp dried dill weed (I don't have to buy it quite as often now, LOL). They're still so delicious!

Also, if you have pickier eaters or someone that doesn't like or can't eat dill (and/or peas and carrots), it's so easy to just make some (or all) of the dumplings without the dill / dill weed. Just follow the recipe directions as normal from steps 1 through 6.

STEP 7: 

• All dumplings withOUT dill:

1. Simply leave the dill / dill weed out, when you're mixing the other dumpling ingredients.
2. Continue on to step 8.

• Some dumplings WITH dill & some dumplings withOUT dill:

1. Mix all of the dumpling ingredients together, EXCEPT for the dill.
2. Continue to step 8. 
3. Scoop in the number of plain dumplings that you'd like to have.
4. Stir the dill [Note: you may need to adjust the dill measurement accordingly] into the remaining dumpling mix.
5. Continue to step 9, by scooping the dill dumplings into the simmering liquid.

• If the person eating dumplings withOUT dill also does NOT like or eat peas and carrots, you can still do this dish! (believe me, it CAN be done!)

1. Once you've completed step 6, scoop some of the goop+chicken into a separate saucepan (heat at medium-low).
2. Scoop in the plain dumplings, cover, and simmer (step 9).
3. Add the dill to the remaining dumpling mix.
4. Continue on to step 8 (stir peas and carrots into the pot).
5. Continue on to step 9, now scooping the dill dumplings in.

We may also, try to see about making the dish with EXTRA gravy! We'll just see, since I'd have to figure out the added measurements for the butter and flour (since this is kind of a delicate matter that needs to be the same proportion to each other) and chicken broth...

Chicken and Dumplings

Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield Serves: 4

© 2012 Jamie V.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, cut into 1” pieces (or 1/2 to 1 cup frozen minced / diced onion, or 3 Tbsp dry minced onions)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lbs (uncooked) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2” pieces (we might cut the chicken up into smaller pieces next time)
1 package (12+ oz) frozen peas and carrots (we might use more veggies next time)
[Optional: celery (cut into pieces, mix in, when add the chicken to the pot)]

Dumplings:
3/4 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp dried dill weed -or- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill [OR can make plain dumplings withOUT dill]
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk (can use up to an additional 2 Tbsp milk, if needed)

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven (or a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid), heat butter over medium. 
2. Add onion and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft (~5min raw, ~2min frozen). 
3. Add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. 
4. Add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly; season with salt and pepper. 
5. Stir in celery into pot, if desired.
6. Nestle chicken in pot; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, make dumplings [see ABOVE for variations]: In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup flour, dill, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. With a fork, gradually stir in 1/2 cup milk to form a moist and soft batter. It should be just a little thicker than pancake batter and should easily drop from the tip of a spoon. (Add additional 2 tablespoons milk if too thick.) Set aside. 
8. Stir peas and carrots into pot. 
9. Drop batter into simmering liquid in ~10 heaping tablespoonfuls, keeping them spaced apart (dumplings will swell as they cook). Cover, and simmer until chicken is tender and dumplings are firm, 20 minutes. 
10. Serve.