What's for Dinner - Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice

Today's (8-27-11) cooking adventure for us began with the question.."what should we take to the family reunion for potluck?"  After mulling it around for awhile we decided we should take a main dish.. After much deliberation (about five min.) we decided to whip up a little dutch oven dish that's always a hit and feeds quite a few people. We got it from a scoutmaster who cooked for the masses and gave it to Glen when he was doing his "tour de scout master" duty in the 90's and we've been making it ever since. Camp outs up American Fork Canyon and trips to Bear Lake, just thinking about this recipe makes me want to go...real bad! Now don't tune out if you aren't into dutch oven cooking, because I have made some changes for those who aren't into charcoal and lighter fluid...

First you want to start with a 14 inch cast iron dutch oven pot. I cook mine in the oven and Glen cooks his outside with charcoal (yes, you can put a dutch oven directly in the oven...If you don't have the heating element on the bottom of your oven, just take out the racks and put it right on the bottom. If you have the old school heating element, go ahead and cook it on the bottom rack...it's quite heavy though)  Glen cooks on the campouts, I cook in the kitchen, but somehow, I always do the prep (probably because I have all the great tools...).

Spray it  well with non-stick (even if you have a well seasoned dutch oven...this stuff will stick) cooking spray.

Slice 5-6 medium potatoes and 4-5 carrots (about 1/4 inch thick or just under)
Chop 1 small white or yellow onion - with the Pampered Chef Chopper of course...
about 3 lbs of chicken tenders (can use fresh or frozen) I just put in as many as the pot will hold lol.
mix together with 2  10 oz cans of cream of chicken soup and 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
2 cups of instant rice

bake at 350 for about an hour and a half (14 coals on the top and 7 coals on the bottom for you traditional dutch oven enthusiasts) - stir every half hour - It's done when the chicken is cooked (no pink) and the veggies are tender..

A few notes...If you aren't feeding an army and do not want to dutch oven, cut the recipe down and cook it in a 9 x 13 baker covered with tin foil...Then it's just yummy chicken & rice.

Well, sorry it's not more "gourmet" but all of you should know by now that, that is just not how I roll.

It's Been Awhile

Yes, it's been awhile since the last update. So much has been going on that it's hard to find time to update, but alas, here we are. The last weeks have been filled with a ton of stuff. Three weeks ago we had to put our sweet puppy down. It threw us all for a loop that we are still trying to recover from. We miss her so much.. We have also been trying to wrap up our big fundraiser for the American Cancer Society with our West Jordan Relay for Life event, which was held this weekend...We are happy to report that as a group we raised almost $30000, with our little Cancer Crusher team raising $5700.00 of that. Wow was it a lot of work but it was worth it. We froze out fannies off Friday night, but we somehow made it through the night. We go through the night to raise cancer awareness because Cancer Never Sleeps. Trying to keep people on the track all night and all the activities... (pie eating contests, derby racing, survivor dinner, limbo contest and some people singing that really shouldn't have with the fire dancers and awesome hawaiian band that was the bomb.) I would highly encourage you to get some friends together and form a team for next year. It is such a good cause and well worth the time.

Glen has been stuck doing the roofing project from hell, but I think it is finally coming to an end...He has been helping his nephew do his sisters' roof and man has it been a big job. He has blisters on his toes from being on a slant for so long... with all of this going on, we haven't had much time for cooking. We are so wiped out after last week that we are taking it easy today for dinner...Sometimes the meals that are the simplest are the best...Today's menu:

Bowtie pasta with Creamy Pesto sauce (with pine nuts and parmesan cheese), Fresh salad and garlic toast...

Let me first explain how we came to want this recipe...Back in 2002 when Glen and I went to Italy, we ate at this darling little restaurant on Piazza Navonna (pretty sure I spelled that wrong). They called it Butterfly pasta with creamy pesto. It was so yummy. We spent the better part of the next two years searching for a good creamy pesto recipe. Glen even spent 30.00 on Lydia's italian cookbook. All to no avail. Then one day I'm sauntering (and yes that is why Nicole hates going grocery shopping with me) through the grocery store and stumble across the pasta sauces from Knorr (green pouches of mixes, usually in the pasta isle) and there it is...Creamy pesto sauce. You mix it with milk and olive oil and to our surprise it is very much like the real thing in Italy. So now when we need a simple meal, this is where we turn. I do add my own pine nuts to the sauce and top it with fresh parmesan. It really is a very good meal, that is a hit with everyone and doesn't wipe out the cook either...

Thanks for following our blog...If you like it, share it with a friend and feel free to add your own simple recipes in the comment section. We all need to do more home cooking (even if it's not made from scratch). Until next time...

7-16-11

Wow...what a couple of weeks we have had. Not much time for cooking because we were busy with life. I bet most of you can relate. For the 4th of July we had a great time with our kids and family. Spent a lot of time in the pool with my mom and Walt and kids. Grandbaby Connor went in and was kind of freaked out at first, but with patience from his daddy who sat on the step and played with him, he eventually chilled out and started splashing and having fun..Of course we had to light off some fireworks and I'm excited to say that the new law in Utah totally rocks...Basically it's like lighting off several artillery shells at once. Our favorite was the "Whoa Daddy". It shook the whole neighborhood. If you like that kind of thing I guess and we do... I have friends who aren't fans at all and Connor wasn't a big fan either...I really hope he grows to like them because he is from a family of pyro-maniacs.

Glen had some mechanical problems with the van (or the tongan cruising vessel as I lovingly call it..yes, it's one THOSE vans. Big ole captains chairs, bed in the back, airplane style running lights down the center of the interior...I love the van, but the rest of the family wants to drive it off a cliff...)
It sprung a leak in the cooling system so he replaced the hoses. He is so great with things like that. I'm happy to say that our son Jeff follows in his footsteps.

It was also my annual trip to Chicago for the pampered chef national conference. All in all it was great. Over 50 new products were announced to the over 5000 consultants who attended. We stayed at the Sheraton by the river and Navy Pier this year. It was great because we were so close to all the great food options. Had to go to Portillo's twice for Chicago Dogs and shakes..and our annual trek to the Grand Lux was heaven, Bubba Gump's and it wouldn't be a trip to Chicago without pizza. This year we did Gino's East..Yum! Hopefully next year we will have a few more consultants make the commitment to come with us, because the training was exceptional this year. Usually once they get home, their income will double, so it's really worth the cost.

Today we have a little family reunion with my mom's family. I'm really excited because we don't see them very often at all. We are pot-lucking the dinner so it's sure to be good. I am bringing my sloppy joes because they are yummy and I know I will like them..lol...I usually eyeball the recipe but I will try to nail it down and list it here for you. They really are the best I've ever had. I got the recipe from my sister in law Lynette over 30 years ago. The difference is the brown sugar and tomato soup with ketchup instead of just one or the other...I usually am cooking for a crowd, so it makes a lot. Enjoy it and feel free to share.  Remember what Paula says...try it first with the actual recipe, then experiment and make it your own...Have a great week!

Yummy Sloppy Joes

4 lbs lean ground beef, browned (drain and rinse with hot water) with onion and green pepper
1 small onion - chopped
1 green pepper - chopped (or less if you want)

After rinsing, return to pan (make sure it's a large skillet or large sauce pan-I use my 8 qt stock pot to combine it all) and add the following and heat through.

1 large can tomato soup (or three cans small)
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup of ketchup
1 cup of brown sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)

Heat it through, put it on a bun and enjoy!