My Craigslist Table Redo Update....

Remember my Craigslist table I found for a whopping $60?  Well, it's time for the unveiling! First let me say, I have never taken on a project like this before and was a little worried that I had bitten off more than I could chew, but that was all for nothing. This project was pretty easy and with the help of my amazing husband, super quick to do. In fact it only took us half of Saturday and part of Sunday to complete. The longest part of the project was waiting for the poly to dry and cure so we could finally eat on our new table.

The day we picked up our Craigslist find we headed straight to Lowes. I was searching for a reasonably priced sander, not wanting to spend over $30.00, but there were none to be had. So instead I picked up the rest of my supplies, stain, paint, poly, deglosser, and disposable gloves. After we left Lowes we headed to Walmart since it was close, I found a 1/3" Black and Decker sander for $19.99! With the sander we also picked up some sandpaper and headed home to get right to work.

We hauled our table out to the balcony and started to sand her down. I was very surprised it only took us one hour to sand down the top of the table with a 60 grit sandpaper. After we cut through the poly coating and got down to the bare wood, we went over it with a finer grade, 150. That took us another 30 minutes.

To give you an idea of what the table top looked like before:

Mid-sanding

Sanded and ready to go

After we sanded we gave her a good wipe down to make sure all of the saw dust was off. After letting the wood dry completely we started to stain. I like the look of a darker stain with the black legs so we choose Winwax Special Walnut 224. We applied one coat of the stain and the wood just soaked it up. We let that sit 8 minutes and wiped it off and applied another coat, this time leaving it to sit 15 minutes. Wiped that down and achieved the exact color I was going for.

Just a quick note, this stain will look totally different if using another wood.  We used this on our old table we plan to sell on Craigslist and it came up much darker.


Table top completed we moved on to the legs and base. Since I love a farmhouse table I decided I wasn't going to sand down or fill in the nicks, I loved them just the way they were. Instead we bought a product I read about called Klean Strip liquid sandpaper. It roughs up the surface so the paint will stick. I choose not to prime, the reason I choose not to prime was I want the table to naturally distress overtime. This may have been a mistake, only time will tell. We choose Valspar Satin Black latex enamel paint. It took only took 2 coats of paint and we let each coat fully dry before applying the next.

After we stained and painted it was time to poly the table. I gave the table a quick wipe down with a dry lint free cloth to make sure there wasn't any dust that would mess up the poly. For this we chose Minwax fast drying polyurethane satin finish. We applied 3 coats of the poly because we plan to eat off of the table and I wanted to make sure the table wouldn't have any water marks. When we finished all the coats we let the table cure for 7 full days to ensure it was ready to stand up to my families abuse.

Finally after a week of waiting, she was ready for us to sit down and enjoy a family meal.
Isn't she lovely?

My table and chair transformation is not quite complete, and this isn't her permanent home, but I couldn't wait to share how the table turned out.  It's amazing what a little paint, a weekend and some elbow grease can do!


Breakin' it all down:

$60 table from Craigslist
$20 sander
$ 4 in sandpaper
$ 6 Klean Strip Liquid Sandpaper
$ 6 Paint
$ 9 Minwax 1/2 Pint Polycrylic Protective Finish Semi-Gloss
$ 7 Minwax Quart Wood Finish
$ 2 disposable gloves

One "new to me" family table, priceless. :}

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Refinishing my Craigslist table.

I've had a couple people ask where I've been, so I thought I'd pop on here with an update. My daughter wants to know why I am going to blog about Craigslist on my recipe blog, so I told her, you need to eat somewhere right? Recipes, cooking, eating, dining room table, it all fits here. :}

So here I am again with the apologies for neglecting this blog. My reasons are good ones tho, I promise. The summer is here and I've found that my apartment's air conditioner can't keep up with the heat of the day. We live on the top floor and the insulation here is terrible. So, at 4 PM it's 80 degrees in here and if I cook something it heats up even more. I thought living in a newly constructed complex we wouldn't have these problems, but I was wrong. Guess this place wasn't constructed properly.

Lucky for me we are moving in August. Tampa baby, can't wait! The new place will be shaded from the afternoon sun and the AC unit is larger so I won't have these problems. In the meantime, I have been making meals that require little or no cooking. Salads, sandwiches, meals from the freezer like pulled pork and meatballs in marinara I can just re-heat in the crockpot. I am also trying to clean out my pantry and freezer so there is less to move.

So where have I been since I haven't been in the kitchen? I have been lost in Craigslist Land. I will admit it, I am addicted to Craigslist. Since finding blogs where I have read what people are doing with Thrift store and Craigslist finds, I have become obsessed with finding my own treasures and breathing new life into them.

Last year when we moved from Pennsylvania, we wanted to travel as light as we could, figuring we would replace furniture when we moved here. Our large dining room table was the first to go. We had a table that seated 10-12 people that would never fit in our new place. We also had a little table that my daughters used in their bedroom that would seat 4. We figured leave the larger table, take the smaller, we'll get a new one later. Well, one year later and we still use that little 4 seater, and their are five of us living here. Hubby and I eat in the kitchen breakfast bar while the kids eat at the table.

Spending $1,000 for the dining room I want, just isn't in our budget right now. We also knew that we would be moving from where we are in a year so I wanted to wait and see what size dining room we would have at our new place. Now that I have found our new place, and I know the measurements of the room, I decided to hit Craigslist to find the perfect table.

I "lerve" a farmhouse table. I know I live in Florida, far away from the farm in PA, but my taste remains the same. I had to have a farmhouse table. I am not a fan of formal anything. I love furniture that invites you to sit down. A big chunky piece of wood that your family can beat up and it only adds character, that's what I am after.

To go with that table I also wanted windsor chairs. Anyone looking for dining room furniture knows that a good quality windsor chair will cost you well over $100 per chair. In fact, the cheapest I found was $130. Now I'm not talking about the cheaper quality chairs you buy at Walmart, I mean a good quality sturdy chair. After hitting Craigslist for a month, I thought I would never find what I was looking for. Maybe if I still lived in PA it would be easier to find a farmhouse table and windsor chairs, here in Florida not so much.

Everyday I pop on Craigslist to see what is up for sale. I check the three areas that are within 2 hours of my home. Finding windsor chairs of cheaper quality was easy, finding good quality chairs was next to impossible. Finally after three weeks I found someone selling her windsor chairs, and not only were they windsor chairs, but they were captain's at that. I quickly snatched them up, 4 chairs for $100, unbelievably great deal! I can't even buy 1 for that amount.  I know I need 2 more, and I continue to look for them, if I can't find two more I will look for some ladderbacks I think.

So here they are, not exactly the color I wanted, but I can work with them:

Sorry for the dark picture, it's very overcast here.  Now that I had the chairs, I needed a table to go with them.  The hunt was on.  The table was harder for me to find since I had a vision in my head of what I wanted:

This is sort of what I am going for, but I want the chairs to be one solid color and the table top to be a bit darker.  Tables are easy to find on Craigslist.  One that looks like a farmhouse table, with a leaf extension that can seat six, a bit harder here.  It took me 2 weeks longer to find the table I wanted.  But the wait was worth it, the table is exactly what I wanted and it was only $60!!!!   The table definitely needed work but for $60.00 I'm willing to do it.

So here is the table I found:

What you can't see in the picture is the scratches and the red stain on the top, or the uneven colors in the finish.  What you can see is the chairs.  She was asking $100, but I wasn't digging the chairs and I already had my windsors, so she knocked it down to $60.00.  Perfect size, comes with a leaf, looks like a farmhouse table, and it was $60.00!!!!  My obsession paid off.  I can't wait to get started.

Don't they look perfect together?  I know it is to big for this space, but our new dining room is configured differently, and this table's new home will be on our patio until we refinish her and make her shine.

I have big plans for this table.......BIG plans.  Just you wait and see.

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Crispy Fried Chicken

Okay I admit it, I have never fried a chicken in my life, except for wings, I'm an expert at that, if I do say so myself.  The other day my hubby and I were watching Cooks Country, love that show, and they made fried chicken.  My hubby turned to me and said, "mmmm, that looks good, you could do that next week right?"  Ummm, yeah, sure I can do it.  But there was a problem, I've never done it before, lucky for me Cooks Country takes all the guess work out of it, so I felt pretty confident.

In two months my family and I are moving to Tampa, so I am being very economical these days in my choices for meals.  By economical I mean cheap and chicken legs are cheap, especially at $0.89 per pound.  Not only are they cheap, they are tasty, and my kids love 'em.  So onto the menu the fried chicken went.

Cooks Country uses the same method for getting their chicken crispy as The Pioneer Woman does, using a little buttermilk in the flour to get the craggy crispy coating.  It really works well.  This chicken came out juicy and crispy.  I was surprised at how easy it was to fry chicken.

The recipe worked perfectly and I doubt I will search out another.  I will however add my own spices, but this method is the one I will use from now on.  I did tweak it a bit by adding a few more ingredients to the marinade, and next time I will let the chicken sit longer in the marinade as I felt it didn't pick up enough flavor.  I do an oven fried chicken recipe that sits overnight and that chicken comes out very flavorful.  All in all, a solid recipe that my family loved.  One side note, if you are doing a lot of chicken like I did (4 pounds of legs) use separate pans.  I fried one batch and then used that same oil to fry another, and the chicken came out darker than the first batch.  I don't recommend this. :}

On to the recipe:

Start by marinading your chicken a buttermilk salt bath.  I added garlic, hot sauce, and Dijon mustard to mine.

Next add a little buttermilk to the flour mixture, it will look like small pea sized crumbs.  I tried to get a close up, but they didn't come out to well.

Flour the chicken and place on a wire rack set of a sheet pan until you are ready fry.

Put about 4 -5 cups of your fat of choice into a dutch oven, they recommended shortening or peanut oil.  I used peanut oil since we don't have any allergies to it in our family.  They said avoid canola because it gave "off flavors" to the chicken.  Use whatcha like.

 Now imagine you see a great shot of the chicken frying in the pan, mine was accidentally deleted.  After the 8-10 minutes on one side, flip the chicken and fry 6-8 minutes longer.  I used some pretty monster sized chicken legs and they took 10 minutes on the first side and 8 on the other.  They were perfectly cooked.

Transfer to a paper towel to cool at least 5 minutes, serve and enjoy that crispy chicken deliciousness.  Mmmmm, lip smackin' finger lickin' good chicken.

                       Extra-Crunchy Fried Chicken
Marinade

2        cups  buttermilk -- divided

2        tablespoons  table salt or 4 tablespoons kosher salt

My additions:

2        tablespoons Dijon mustard

2       cloves garlic, smashed

2       teaspoon hot sauce, I use Crystal

1       roasting chickens -- (3 1/2 lb) cut in 8 pieces (I used 4lbs legs)

3       cups  all-purpose flour

3/4    teaspoon  dried thyme

1/2    teaspoon  ground black pepper

1/4    teaspoon  garlic powder (I added 1/2 teaspoon)

2       teaspoons  baking powder

1       teaspoon paprika (my addition)

Remove 6 tbsp buttermilk and set aside. To remaining buttermilk, add salt and whisk until dissolved.   Add mustard, hot sauce, and garlic, stir to combine.  Cut chicken in 8 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, cut each breast in half). Place chicken in a gallon size freezer bag and submerge the chicken in buttermilk brine. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, thyme, pepper, garlic powder, paprika if using, and baking powder. Add reserved buttermilk and toss with fingertips to form pea-sized crumbs.

Drain chicken and transfer to breading, 2 pieces at a time. If you used the garlic in your marinade remove make sure it isn't on the chicken when you flour it.  Pack breading onto chicken firmly.  The more breading the crunchier the chicken.

Heat 4-5 cups vegetable shortening or peanut oil to 375°F It should be about 3/4" deep in the pot. Place chicken into hot fat, skin side down. The temperature will drop to about 300°F; maintain the temperature at 310-315°F Cover pot and cook 8-10 minutes; check chicken after 4 minutes to ensure even browning, and move pieces around if needed. After 8-10 minutes, turn pieces over; cook another 6-8 minutes until the second side is also golden brown.

Remove chicken and drain on paper towels. Allow to drain and cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

From "Cook's Country by America's Test Kitchen," episode 106, "All-American Picnic."

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Crockpot Pulled Pork Braised In Cola. Yum.

Yes, it is another pulled pork recipe in a short amount of time, and yes it is another pork recipe right after another. I can't help it, I love pork, I love BBQ, I love easy, ........oh and I love a bah-gain. This pork was a bargain. I bought a 7 pound roast for a little over 12 bucks the other day.  I'll get 3 meals out of it, so yes that is a great bargain!

I cut the roast up into 3 roasts for my family.  I already showed you what I did with the first roast, roasted pork loin with rosemary and balsamic vinegar, well this is the second, and third since I did a double batch.  Which was supposed to be frozen for later use,  but of course it is almost gone, my GP's devoured it.  I can't complain, the GP's really love this pork.  Nothing makes me happier than my family enjoying a meal I've made for them.

Since I was using a pork loin, a long and slow cook in the oven is out, it's just to lean. I usually do my pork loin in the crockpot with kraut, and it comes out perfect and almost pulled, so I figured what the heck, just pop it in the crock. So that's what I did.

My roast is a little over 2 lbs, I want to say 2 1/4 lbs. I know from experience with the pork and kraut not to let it go too long, so I only cooked mine on low for 5 hours. Here's how I started it.

First I seasoned the roast up with my favorite BBQ rub. Notice I really put a nice coating on.

Then I sliced up a large onion, feel free to use what you like, I'm using a Vidallia.

Place the all but a few of the slices of onion in the bottom of the crock and lay the pork on top.  Separate the onion into rings and lay those on top of the pork roast.  You can dice the onion if you like so you can blend it into your sauce later, but a couple of my GP's hate onions, and it drives me bananas when I see them picking through their food to get them out.  Instead I sliced them a bit thicker and left them whole so they could be taken out later and added to mine and my husbands sandwiches later.  They even still had a texture to them and weren't complete mush, which I like.

After the onions pour 1 cup of Coke, Cherry Coke, or Rootbeer over the roast, and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar.  Cover, turn on low, and let the aroma of yummy porkie-ness fill your home.  Cook for 5 hours, or check to see that a fork slides in and out of the pork easily, if it does you are good to go!

Remove the pork to a plate, bowl, what ever you like, to pull it.  This is what is should look like after the 5 hours.  Shreds up beautifully.  Pour the juices from the crockpot into a large measuring cup, it filled my 2 cup.  Place the shredded pork back in the crockpot.  Mix up 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup of the juices from the pork.  Add some vinegar to cut the sweetness.  Pour the sauce over the pork and mix it gently.  If your pork isn't wet enough for your liking, add more juices, if it isn't BBQ-ey enough for your liking, yes that is a made up word, add more sauce.  I find the ratio of 1 cup BBQ sauce to 1/2 cup juice was just right for us.  And judging by the two sandwiches my tween daughter ate, who normally eats like a bird, I'd say this was a hit.  Not to mention they also ate what was supposed to be frozen for a future meal.  But hey, I'm not complaining.  Having a meal that they go crazy for makes me happy.  And when Momma's happy, everyones happy.

Okay so don't hate me for this, but I don't have a picture of the plated pork sandwich.  I know, I know, I am so terrible at this.  But close your eyes and imagine this beautiful pork on a toasted bun, with a steamed ear of sweet corn, and a side of creamy slaw.  It would look a lot like this:

So please forgive me just this twice, third, or fifth time for being totally unprepared and bad at this blogging stuff.  I promise you, the pork is worth it!  It may not win you an award at the next BBQ championship, but sure as heck will satisfy your hungry family.

Now, make this:

Crockpot Pulled Pork Braised in  Cola

Rub:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
The Roast:
2 lbs - 3 lbs boneless pork loin
1 large onion, peeled
1 cup Coke A Cola (or any cola, cherry cola, rootbeer you like)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
The Sauce:
1 Cup BBQ sauce (homemade or your favorite brand, I used KC Masterpiece)
1/2 Cup drippings from roast
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

In a small bowl, combine ingredients for the rub. Liberally season the pork roast all over with the rub. You may have extra left over, I save it for later use in an empty spice jar.

Slice onion in half crosswise, then those slices in half again so that you have 4 large pieces, or dice it if you prefer. Separate the onion into rings. Lay almost all of the onion in the bottom of the crockpot, leaving a few rings for the top. Place roast on top of the onions and lay the rest of the onion on top of the roast. Pour cola and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar over roast. Cover, turn on low, and cook for 5 hours. After 5 hours check to see if a fork slides into and out of the pork easily. If it does you are ready to shred, if not check it again in 30 minutes.

When the roast is ready, remove it from the crockpot. Pour out the juices into a large measuring cup or bowl. Set aside. Remove onion from crockpot. Either use them to top sandwiches, or slice them up and add them later to the shredded pork.

Using two forks, shred pork and return it to the crockpot. Mix 1 cup of BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup of juices, and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar. Pour over the shredded pork and toss gently to coat the pork. If it isn’t wet enough, add a little more juice, if you like it thicker, add more BBQ sauce. Serve and enjoy!

A 2lb pork roast will feed a family of four nicely, 3lbs should feed a family of 6.

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Roasted Pork Loin With Rosemary-Balsamic Glaze. Memories of my father.

I grew up in Pennsylvania. Shortly after graduating high school I decided to pack up and move to Florida. I lived in Florida for 7 years before meeting my husband. I remember our first trip to Pennsylvania when we brought our new daughter home to meet her Oma and Opa. We stayed with my father on his farm. I remember the first dinner he made us, it was a pork loin glazed with a rosemary, garlic, balsamic vinegar glaze, and it was delicious. I remember walking into a house full of smoke, asking what he was making and why he was burning it. He corrected me and told me he was not burning it, he was searing it.

I also remember all of this because it was the first time my father and I talked about cooking and recipes. I was still pretty young and my idea of cooking was using Reynolds plastic oven bags for my roasts or jazzing up Prego. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But I was eager to move up, so I was happy to watch him and learn from him. It started my love of cooking. I remember asking him how to make it and being anxious to get home and give it a try. This was the first roast other than an eye roast out of a Reynolds bag I made and it turned out just as delicious as his. It gave me confidence in the kitchen that with a solid recipe and a little instruction, I could make great things. :}

From then on I began watching PBS cooking shows and Food Network religiously. I think I had a subscription to every food magazine I could get my hands on. I was learning as much as I could so one day I could impress him. Now he and I talk about food all the time, share recipes, and he even gives me the occasional call for advice on a recipe. It is true, food does bring families together.

The recipe comes from Caprial Pence.  I believe she had a cooking show on PBS and that is where he saw the recipe.  This is my favorite recipe for pork loin. Not tenderloin, just the loin. This cut of meat may not be as tender, but when prepared in this way, it comes out moist and juicy. Sliced thinly, it was perfect the next day for sandwiches my father made for lunch.

Now that all that reminiscing is out of the way, on with the recipe.  I didn't capture a picture of making the glaze, or the veggies on the plate, what can I say, I'm new to this.  I keep forgetting things.  I'm trying to get better, I really am.

First you season up the roast with salt and pepper, make sure you really season it up as it's a thick piece of meat.  After you season the roast, I set it aside and make the glaze.  When the glaze is finished put a nice sear on your roast.

This is after 3 minutes per side, I thought the color was dark enough and my kitchen was smoked up enough so I stopped after the 3 minutes per side.  You will smoke up your house with this recipe, unless you have a super duper exhaust fan, which I do not.

After the sear, glaze that meat baby.  Really give it a nice coating.  You'll roast the pork for 15 minutes and then glaze it again.  Depending on the size of your roast, your oven, ect, ect, ......15-20 minutes later, zee roast, she is done.

Perfect every time.  I like my pork with just a tiny bit of pink in the middle.  Now just imagine there was some beautiful garlicky green beans on this plate, and ignore my lack of plating skills.  Thank you Caprial Pence for such delicious recipe, and thank you Dad for sharing it with me.


Roasted Pork Loin With Rosemary-Balsamic Glaze

2   cloves  garlic -- chopped
2   teaspoons  chopped fresh rosemary (I've also used thyme)
1/4 cup  brown sugar
3/4 cup  balsamic vinegar
3   pound  boneless pork loin (mine was a bit under 3lbs, more like 2.75 lbs)
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1   tablespoon  extra virgin olive oil (canola oil works here too)


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Make the glaze:
Combine the garlic, rosemary, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over high heat.  Bring just to a boil, then turn heat to low and cook 5 minutes, until the brown sugar has dissolved. Set glaze aside.

Season the pork loin well with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a very large ovenproof saute pan over high heat until smoking hot. Add the pork and sear well, about 5 minutes per side.

Brush the pork liberally with the glaze, and set the pan in the oven. You can also transfer the pork to a baking dish if you don't have an oven proof pan.

Roast the pork loin for 15 minutes, brush with more glaze, and continue roasting 15 to 20 minutes longer for medium doneness.  I pulled mine out of the oven at 20 minutes and a temp of 145 degrees F.  Tented it for 10 minutes and it was perfect.  Make sure to let sit about 10 minutes before slicing. Slice very thin.

Adapted Recipe By :Caprial Pence

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One meatball, two sauces.

I love meatballs. Fresh, homemade meatballs. Not the frozen processed plastic golf balls you get at sub shops and cheaper Italian restaurants. I also love that they are easy to throw together, all the GP's love them, and they are dirt cheap to make.

Recently my husband found out he will be working in Tampa for the next couple of years, which means we will pack up and move again this summer. This way he can be closer to work, and we can have better schools for our children. Win, win. A move, plus summer time means our budget will be tight for the next few months, so I just love when I can find cheap eats that still taste delish.

That is where meatballs come in. Ground beef is always cheap and can be used in so many ways. My favorite is a good juicy hamburger fresh from the grill. But, I don't have one at the moment, and no way in heck am I using the community grill at our complex. It's rusted, sitting uncovered under a tree where birds nest, and I've seen my fair share of their presents left behind on it. It baffles my mind that people actually use that grill.

So burgers are out, but one of these days I will break down and purchase a cast iron grill pan so I can do them on the stove top. Especially since when we move I will finally have a gas stove. Which I am super excited about!!! Until then, I'll make meatballs.

I have yet another recipe I wanted to try from The Pioneer Woman for her BBQ Meatballs, but when my husband heard meatballs that I wasn't putting in marinara, he asked me to make his favorite Honey Garlic Meatballs.

I usually make them New Years Eve. My family likes to do a buffet of appetizers that we nosh on all night. The meatballs are always gone first. The recipe I used for the meatballs was a Cooking Light recipe for Beef Meatballs but I was out of eggs and Ree's doesn't use eggs so I went with hers.

I have to say I had mixed feelings about the final result. I only cooked mine for 30 minutes and they could have gone 5 minutes less. I did however love the method of rolling them in flour and briefly browning on top of the stove and that tangy BBQ sauce that covered them. Usually I just bake them meatballs in a hot oven and glaze them in the honey garlic sauce, but this time I did like Ree and poured it over top and baked. They were so tasty. But again, they were a bit over cooked and needed a bit of garlic to give them some umph for me.

All in all, the recipe is easy, cheap, and quick to come together. I think adding a bit of garlic and cutting back on the baking to 25 minutes would give me a much tastier ball - o -meat. Either way, you can't go wrong, my GP's gobbled up the honey garlic before the BBQ. Can't say I blame them, they were my favorite too!

I served them over jasmine rice because that is what I had on hand. Ree suggests egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty French bread. The honey garlic meatballs are great little party appetizers too. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have egg so I used Ree's meatball recipe for the browning and baking but I'm giving the original recipe for how I make them.
Let's get cooking......

After you mix up the meatballs you pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes, then roll them in flour.

Then fry baby fry, or is it saute baby saute? Or brown baby brown?

Then pop them into a baking dish.

Then give em' some sauce and pop them in the oven.

Check them at 25 minutes.....mmmmm, look at those babies. Resist the urge to pop one in your mouth, those suckers are HOT!!!

And serve anyway you like, over rice, mashed taters, as a sandwich, or just by themselves. Just make them.

I'm giving both original recipes, but feel free to mix it up and use Ree's recipe for meatballs with the honey garlic sauce, you won't be disappointed.

BBQ Meatballs


FOR MEATBALLS
1 1/2 pound Ground Beef (I used 2 pds)
3/4 cups Oats (I used 1 cup of quick oats)
1 cup Milk (I used a bit more I think 1 1/4)
3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion (I used 4)
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt (I used 2)
Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste
FOR COOKING MEATBALLS
1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating For Frozen Meatballs)
Canola Oil
FOR SAUCE (I  cut this in half since I was making half a batch of honey garlic)
1 cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion
1 dash Tabasco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.
After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.
Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.
Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (I cooked mine for 30 and probably would only go 25 next time, maybe my oven is hotter?)


Honey Garlic Meatballs 

1 1/2 pounds ground round
1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 garlic cloves, finely minced, pressed, or grated on a microplane zester
Cooking spray
Sauce:
2 Tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use Lite)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine the ground round, parm cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, tomato sauce, mustard, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and 2 cloves of minced garlic in a bowl and mix well.

Prepare a broiler pan by coating with cooking spray. Shape mixture into 30 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until done. Drain the grease and set them aside.

While meatballs cook make your sauce.

Melt butter in saucepan and saute garlic until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add ketchup, honey and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer five minutes. Add meatballs to sauce. Return to a boil and simmer uncovered 5 until sauce glazes meatballs.


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No I'm not dead, I'm making chicken fingers.......

I'm alive. Sorry I've been so neglectful of this blog, I promise to bring you more tasty goodness, just stick with me here. I also apologize for this pretty crappy pics I am posting today. My apartment did have much natural light and my pictures came out a bit blurry. What can I say? I'm a work in progress.

Now that that's out of the way........Last night I had a craving for chicken fingers. Crunchy, moist, tasty, chicken fingers slathered in honey mustard. The Pioneer Woman has a post on her blog I've been wanting to try for a long time so I gave them a go, adding my own touches of course. I just can't leave anything alone. She has a step by step photo instruction, you should check it out.    She's my blog idol.

In her recipe she starts with just buttermilk, I seasoned mine and let my chicken go for a longer time in their buttermilk bath. Glad I did, these babies were moist and so full of flavor. Now this may not be the healthiest of dinners, but life is short, I'd rather enjoy it eating what I like.

My GP's went crazy over these. I used 1/4 cup of buttermilk because my little ones don't like when chicken fingers are too crunchy. I also cut my honey mustard with regular mustard to keep the heat low. My kids are not chili heads. If you prefer more heat use all whole grain dijon mustard.

Oh and I'm sorry about my awful plating, and about the honey mustard not being in the picture with the chicken, but I'm lucky I got a picture period. I poured my sauce in the pitcher took a quick photo in case something happened to it. Glad I did. As I finished frying up the strips, fed the GP's and turned around to plate my fingers for the picture, half my sauce was gone. Oh well, I can't be upset, I guess they really like it and that is the point right?

Homemade Chicken Strips

2 lbs Chicken Breasts, Cut Into Strips (sometimes Called "tenders" Or "strips")
1 cup Buttermilk
2 tablespoon dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, smashed so you can remove them easily
2 teaspoons hot sauce, I use Crystal use whatcha like
1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Lawry's Seasoning Salt (or Spices Of Your Choosing) *I choose my own, 2 tsp paprika, 2 tsp salt, fresh ground black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder*
Vegetable Oil
Honey Mustard Sauce
1 cup good mayo (I always use Hellman's)
1/4 cup of honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 tablespoons whole grain course ground mustard (or more to taste depending on how hot you want it. Feel free to use spicy brown, dijon, or even sweet hot mustard)



Peel and smash garlic cloves, add them in a bowl large enough to submerge the chicken strips in. Add buttermilk, dijon, and hot sauce, stir and add chicken. Cover chicken and pop in the frig for a few hours. I let mine go 4 hours, you could even leave them overnight for more flavor. Pioneer Woman leaves her's in plain buttermilk for 15-20 minutes. Do watcha like.


In another bowl combine about 1 ½ cups flour and 2 to 3 teaspoons of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or other seasonings if you prefer). Mix this together well. Next, add about ¼ to ½ cup of buttermilk into the flour mixture and stir lightly with a fork as you add it. I used 1/4 because I didn't want them to crunchy.

Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low to medium heat.

Remove a few of the buttermilk-soaked strips and place them in the flour mixture, turning them over to coat them thoroughly. Place them on a plate. Continue coating chicken strips until they are all ready to cook.  Leave those garlic cloves behind.  They were just for flavor.

When the oil is sufficiently heated, begin cooking the strips a few at a time. Cook them for about a minute and a half or so on each side. When golden and crispy, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate. *I removed them to a rack set over paper towels so they didn't get soggy bottom. No one likes a soggy bottom. Oh and sprinkle those babies with a bit of salt as soon as they come out of the hot oil. Serve with your favorite sauce. Mine is honey mustard and here is how you make it:


Combine mayo, mustard, and honey, mix well and use right away or put it in a covered container and pop it in the frig.  Simple right?


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