Garlic Chicken Thighs with Green Onions and Lime

Recently I did one of those searches where I could find a recipe based on ingredients I had on hand to use them up.  Miller enjoyed this so much; I thought I better put it here to save it.

Garlic Chicken Thighs with Green Onions and Lime

1 ½ lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 bunch green onions
1 head garlic, unpeeled and halved crosswise
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely grated
juice of one lime
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 c. water

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or large, high-sided skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken, skin-side down and cook until chicken is crisped and the fat has begun to render, 8 to 10 minutes.  Flip chicken, skin side up and cook until golden brown 4 to 6 minutes.  Remove chicken to a plate.  Thinly slice 2 green onions and set aside.  Add both halves garlic, cut side down into the rendered fat in Dutch oven.  Add remaining, whole green onions to pot and toss to coat in fat.  Cook until lightly blistered and brown.  Add grated garlic and stir a minute, being careful not to burn.  Add lime juice, soy sauce and water, scraping all the bits off the bottom of pot.  Add chicken back to pot and be sure to coat both sides with liquid mixture.  Bring to a simmer and partly cover.  Cook until chicken is completely cooked and sauce has reduced by ½.  Discard garlic halves and sprinkle chopped green onions over chicken before serving.

Brisket and Black Bean Chili

I cut this recipe from Southern Living recently and Jason really enjoyed it.  Brisket isn't a cheap cut of meat, so I think these same flavors could be developed with stew meat.  I asked the butcher to cut just the right size I needed instead of buying way more meat than I needed.

Brisket and Black Bean Chili

3 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 lb. beef brisket, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 (16 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5 oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1 (orange, red or yellow) bell pepper, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 1 ½  c. beef broth

Combine first 5 ingredients and toss brisket cubes in mixture until coated.  In Dutch oven, heat 2 Tbsp. oil and brown half of the brisket cubes until browned on all sides.  Remove to a plate.  Repeat with remaining oil and brisket cubes.  Remove to a plate.  Pour half a cup of beef broth in and scrape the bottom of the pot clean.  Add onions and pepper and cook until tender.  Add minced garlic and stir until fragrant.  Add beans, tomatoes, remaining broth and brisket into pot.  Simmer on low about 4 hours until brisket is tender.

This chili tasted even better the second day.

Cracker Toffee

This has been such a quick and easy food gift that I've made the past two Easters.  It can easily be made with chocolate and any other toppings you want to celebrate all the holidays.

Cracker Toffee

1 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 - 2 stacks of saltine crackers

1 (16 oz.) pkg. white almond bark

desired toppings (sprinkles, nuts, etc.)

Preheat oven to 325.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Place in a single layer the saltine crackers.  In a saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar.  Boil for about 3-5 minutes until completely combined, stirring constantly.  Pour all over the cracker layer and spread out as needed.  Bake at 325 for 8 minutes.  While baking, melt almond bark according to package directions.  Once baking time is up, spread almond bark all over the top of the crackers.  Sprinkle with sprinkles.  Allow to cool completely.  Break into pieces and package up for teachers, friends and family. 

Oreo Cake with Oreo Buttercream

This was Miller's cake request this year and it was delicious!  If you have an oreo lover in your house, this is the cake for you.

Oreo Cake

1 box white cake mix
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
1 ⅓ c. water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
2 eggs
10 oreos, crushed

Preheat oven to 325.  In a mixer, combine cake mix, flour, sugar and salt.  Add water, vegetable oil, vanilla and sour cream.  Mix well.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add crushed cookies and blend well.  Evenly distribute batter into cake pans prepared with Baker's Joy.  Bake for 16-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes then move to a wire rack to fully cool.  Top with oreo buttercream.

Oreo Buttercream

15 oreos, processed to a fine powder
1 ½ c. butter, room temperature
4 ½ c. powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
pinch of salt

Mix butter and powdered sugar until combined.  Add vanilla and heavy cream and mix well until good consistency.  Add pinch of salt and oreos and blend well.  Spread over cooled cake.

Alabama Firecrackers

This is something that I've been making for the past year and just realized I've not shared it here when I was looking for the recipe just now.  These crackers are like magic, because the oil doesn't leave the crackers soggy.  Don't know the science behind it, but these are so addictive.  Perfect little snack for any tailgate or a dressed up cracker for soups.

Alabama Firecrackers

6 sleeves saltine crackers (not off-brand)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 3/4 c. canola oil
2 tsp. dill
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Remove crackers from sleeves and line up like dominos in an air-tight container with a lid.  In a small bowl, combine oil and seasonings, stirring well.  Pour mixture evenly over crackers.  Put lid on and immediately invert container upside down.  Every half hour continue flipping right side up and upside down.  Shake ever so slightly, if necessary.  Once all the oil is absorbed, the crackers are ready to eat.  Approximately two hours.  

**I renamed these Alabama firecrackers because I saw the same recipe referred to by Southern Living as Alabama instead of Texas.  What can I say...I'm an Alabama home-r.

Favorite Graham Cracker Crust

1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/3 c. brown sugar (or 1/3 c. white sugar for less sweet)

Combine crumbs, butter and sugar.  Stir well until combined.  Spray pie plate and press crumbs into pie shell.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

*The original recipe didn't call for spraying pie plate and my crust stuck pretty bad, so I'm going to try spraying next time to keep it from sticking.

Crunchy Romaine Toss

Crunchy Romaine Toss

1 c. walnuts or pecans
1 pkg. ramen noodles, uncooked and broken into pieces (discard flavor packet)
4 Tbsp. butter
1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and cut or torn into pieces
4 green onions, chopped
1 c. Sweet & Sour Dressing (recipe below)

Brown nuts and noodles in butter; cool on paper towels.  Store in ziploc bags until ready to use.  Mix broccoli, romaine and onion in salad serving bowl.  Before serving, toss lettuce mixture and noodle mixture together with 1 c. sweet and sour dressing.  (Original recipe says start with 1 cup.  I started with ½ cup and added as needed.  I probably used about ¾ cup.)  Toss to coat well.  Serve with remaining dressing for guests to add as they prefer.

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Sweet & Sour Dressing

2/3 c. olive oil
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
salt & pepper, to taste

In a mason jar, mix all ingredients together and shake well until all ingredients are combined.  Continue to shake periodically until all (or most) of the sugar has dissolved.  Refrigerate remaining dressing.


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I recently had some friends from church over for supper and this salad was a hit.  When I first tasted the dressing by itself, I was worried that it wasn't going to be good because the dressing seemed a little too strong.  Mixed with all the other ingredients and it was delicious!  I served it alongside Sausage & Zucchini Pie and for dessert we had Nutella Pie with a graham cracker crust.