Christmas Notebook

baked salmon with honey mustard glaze

January 18, 2010 – 9:16 pm

Salmon is easy to cook and delicious. Not to mention good for you! Joy, here’s the recipe you asked for. Next time I make this, I’ll take some pictures and update the post.

Baked Salmon with Honey Mustard Glaze

2 salmon fillets
2 T. honey or brown sugar or maple syrup
2 T. Dijon mustard or other mustard
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1 T. dry parsley flakes
2 T. Parmesan cheese

Here’s a picture to show the size of the fillets I use. Serves four. If you want to try the potatoes in the picture, check out this post…accordion potatoes.

Preheat oven to 400* for 10 – 15 minutes. It should be nice and hot when you put the salmon in. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. If using foil, grease it with cooking spray.

Place fillets, skin side down on the baking sheet.

Mix the honey with the mustard and spread on the salmon.

Mix remaining ingredients and sprinkle over salmon.

Bake at 400* for 12-15 minutes. Salmon is done when it is opaque and flakes easily. Over baking will dry it out.

Want to make a really fast salmon dish? Spread salmon fillets with just the honey/mustard mixture (or honey-mustard salad dressing) and bake as above. Delicious.

Pecan-crusted Salmon is another delicious salmon recipe made with mayonnaise, pecans, bread crumbs, and Parmesan.

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cooking, Recipes | Tagged cooking, recipe, salmon | Comments (0)

7 days of shooting ~ january 10 – 16

January 18, 2010 – 12:42 pm

This week’s theme on the flickr group 7 Days of Shooting was “double trouble.” The challenge was to shoot pictures of two of anything, following the daily focus.

Macro Sunday / shoot something small
Two pieces of DH’s delicious fudge

Mono Monday / black and white, sepia, monotone
Two glass cats

Abstract Tuesday
Two small metal flowers over glitter

Worn and Weathered Wednesday
A leaf and it’s shadow from our pin oak in the woods in the back yard.

SOOC Thursday / straight out of camera; no post camera processing
And, of course, I had to post a picture of the twins…

Focus Friday
Two Pawpaw blossoms

Shoot Anything Saturday
Two glass blocks

This week’s theme is “treats.” Hmm…lots of possibilities! ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in 7 Days of Shooting, photography | Tagged 7dos, photography | Comments (4)

menu plan monday ~ january 18, 2010

January 18, 2010 – 11:32 am

I’m trying some new recipes this week. I’ll let you know how we like them.

Monday
Hearty Lentil Soup

Tuesday
Bacon-Provolone Chicken Sandwiches
oven fried potato wedges
grapes

Wednesday
stuffed shells Florentine
garlic bread
green salad

Thursday
sweet mustard roast
Cauliflower and Potato Gratin
stir-fried sugar snap peas with cherry tomatoes
corn

Friday
Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday
BBQ ribs in the oven
accordion potatoes
asparagus
green salad

You’ll find more menu ideas and recipe links at Menu Plan Monday. ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Tagged menu, menu plan monday | Comments (0)

baked chicken parmesan

January 16, 2010 – 2:10 pm

Last night, I made Baked Chicken Parmesan and Baked Zucchini Sticks from the website Gina’s WW Recipes. The chicken was delicious and moist! I’m putting this on my company-worthy list. The family commented several times on what a good supper this was.

Baked Chicken Parmesan Check the link for Gina’s version. I changed a few small things.

3 or 4 large chicken breast halves [about 2.5 pounds], sliced in half horizontally, to make 6 or 8 large flat pieces
3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
cooking spray
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1 cup spaghetti or marinara sauce (homemade or store-bought)

I didn’t have spaghetti sauce on hand, so I mixed half a 29 oz. can of tomato sauce and a bit of each of the following. I didn’t actually measure…
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 T. dry onion flakes
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
freshly ground black pepper
a dash of salt.

I had plenty of sauce left over. It can be used to dip the zucchini sticks, or saved for a later meal. I’ll use it to make pizza or put it on pasta.

Preheat oven to 450°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Or line it with foil sprayed with cooking spray. Or spray the baking sheet with cooking spray. Whatever you have available. But learn to use parchment paper if you don’t use it now. Saves a ton of cleanup!

Combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle a little of the breadcrumb mixture on the baking sheet.

Spray both sides of the chicken with cooking spray, and dip into breadcrumb mixture. Place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle remaining breadcrumb mixture over the chicken.

Lightly spray chicken with cooking spray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Flip the chicken and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove from oven, spoon sauce over the chicken and top with shredded cheese.

Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

I used freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You may use the canned shredded Parmesan if that is what you have, but take my advice…get yourself a Microplane zester/grater and a block of Parmesan. Freshly grated REALLY is better. An entirely different flavor than processed shredded Parmesan.

Ready for the oven.

Baked Chicken Parmesan and Baked Zucchini Sticks, ready to serve.

Cutting zucchini for baked zucchini sticks. Choose small young zucchini that are heavy for their size.

The zucchini sticks were also good! We had them with light sour cream. A nice green salad rounded out the meal. I had planned to serve corn, also, but thought we had plenty on our plates.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Recipes | Tagged baked chicken parmesan, baked zucchini sticks, baking, chicken, cooking, recipe, zucchini | Comments (3)

macro monday ~ january 11, 2009

January 11, 2010 – 11:57 pm

The theme for Macro Monday was “paradox.” That was a hard theme! I found two quotes I like and perused my photos for something to describe them.

“I can resist anything except temptation.” Oscar Wilde

I took the candy picture last year at Easter time. I love those Snickers Eggs! :-}

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” C.S. Lewis

This little Grey Tree Frog was discovered in our garden last summer. Isn’t he cute? He’s askin’, “Wanna kiss?”

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Macro Mondays, photography | Comments (2)

baked penne with chicken

January 11, 2010 – 6:26 pm

Last week, I made Baked Penne with Chicken for supper. It was delicious! The family loves it and wants to have it again. Soon. I changed the recipe just a bit, so am including my own version here. See Ezra Pound Cake for her version, which was the base for my own dish. I took a few shortcuts and saved a pan or two. She also included sun-dried tomatoes, but we were unable to find any in town, so I had to leave them out. I’m sure the tomato would add another delicious layer to the flavor.

1 pound penne rigate
olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 ounces each), cut into 1/2″ pieces
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 T. butter or margarine
3 T. all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
1 c. shredded mozzarella
1/2 c. grated Asiogo cheese
[Recipe called for 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces), but I didn’t have any, so used the mozzarella. and Asiago as a substitute.]
1 cup finely grated Parmesan (4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat a teaspoon olive oil over medium-high. Cook chicken until opaque, less than 5 minutes. Put the chicken in the pot with the pasta.

In the same large skillet, add a teaspoon of olive oil. Saute the mushrooms and garlic until mushrooms are lightly browned. Add the mushrooms to the pasta pot. I didn’t clean the skillet before using it for the mushrooms. Use all those bits of flavor!

In the same large skillet, melt butter over medium. Add flour, whisking, cook 1 minute. Gradually add milk, whisking; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until thickened. This will be a thin white sauce. Off heat, gradually stir in mozzarella, Asiago, and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Again, I didn’t clean out the pan before starting the roux. All those bits of flavor in the bottom of the pan will only add to the overall dish.

Pour sauce over the pasta mixture and stir well. Divide the mixture between the two baking dishes. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the two dishes. Bake, uncovered, 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

All those crispy parts on top were SO delicious! ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cooking, Recipes | Comments (5)

menu plan monday ~ january 11, 2010

January 11, 2010 – 3:18 pm

I start taking down Christmas this week. Finished the laundry room and the downstairs bath. I hate to do it, but the fresh look of the room when all the holiday decorations are gone is rather inspiring. Nothing major planned for the week other than putting away decorations, so I’m trying a few new recipes with this menu. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Monday
hearty ham casserole as soup / The casserole was so good last week that we want to have it again. I thought it would make a great soup for this cold time of year.

Tuesday
tacos

Wednesday
baked chicken parmesan
baked zucchini sticks

Thursday
pork schnitzel
spaetzle
peas
corn

Friday
baked salmon with honey mustard glaze
steamed sugar snap peas
corn
steamed red potatoes
green salad

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday
oven bbq steak
baked potatoes
corn
steamed sugar snap peas
green salad

You can find more menu ideas and recipe links at Menu Plan Monday. ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Tagged menu, menu plan monday | Comments (0)

7 days of shooting ~ january 3-9

January 9, 2010 – 8:49 pm

The theme this week for the flickr group 7 Days of Shooting was “blue.” The idea is to shoot pictures depicting the theme, with a different emphasis each day. It breaks down as follows…

Macro Sunday – shoot something small.
Curling ribbon

Mono Monday – monochrome (for non-color themes, this could be black and white or sepia)
Paperweight

Abstract Tuesday – find abstraction in an object / scene
Another paperweight

Worn and Weathered Wednesday
I didn’t submit one for this…it was too cold to go outside and I couldn’t find anything interesting to shoot in the house.

SOOC Thursday – “straight out of camera”…no post processing of the photo
This is the paperweight I got the abstraction from.

Focus Friday – it’s all about the focus
This is a picture I took last spring…can’t wait for the daffs to begin blooming!

Shoot Anything Saturday – no restrictions
Another paperweight

Next week’s theme begins tomorrow. It’s “Double Trouble.” Pictures of two of anything. An opportunity to post a twins’ picture! 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in photography | Tagged photography | Comments (0)

triple chocolate mess

January 7, 2010 – 9:04 pm

I made this for the girls when they were home for the holidays. It’s a favorite. When I take it to a church dinner, I take a bucket of vanilla ice cream to serve with it. So moist and delicious! I first had this dessert when my home extension group went to The Chocolate Affair, a gourmet chocolate shop / bed & breakfast for an evening tour. They served this. Soooo good!

Wish I’d taken a better picture of it with some ice cream, but we were too busy eating it to take pictures…got this one later.

Triple Chocolate Mess

1 (18 1/2 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water
4 eggs
1 (6 ounce) bag chocolate chips
1 pint sour cream

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray.
Mix all ingredients (by hand is fine) and place in crock pot.
Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.
Try not to lift the lid.
Serve with ice cream.

Try it. You’ll like it! 🙂 ~~Rhonda