My Saturday in the Kitchen
Disclaimer: I am going to be no-shame honest on this blog- that is what I told myself going into this- and I am standing by this. I mean, those are the blogs I love the read to most- the God awful too close to home is-she-reading-my-mind kind of blogs. That is the kind of experience and solace I want you to feel and experience here at Meanwhile Moon Mama. I will never sugar coat things for you. I will be that friend that we all wish we had. I could have used a friend like me way back when and so I want to be that for you, for myself, for all of us really. So on that note, I have recently begun cooking like really actually not just follow-the-box instructions but actually recipe cooking just as of recently. Like, since #1 began to eat solids. So like a year now, or less. I know, I know. I feel all your judgement. Thanks. In my defense, if you will allow, I grew up with a father who traveled 90% of the time and was therefore never home and a mother who did not like to cook so therefore chose not to. And in her defense, I'll say that she grew up incredibly poor and so eating out-even fast-food was a luxury and so when she married my dad and money was no longer a worry for her she basically kind of always chose to eat out. So my brother and I ate out too. And my Dad wasn't home and didn't really care about that sort of thing...
So I did not "grow up in the kitchen" as I hear so many others say. I do not have fond memories of my mother or anyone else for that matter (I don't really have a family, I sarcastically call myself an orphan which is a half-truth, more on that another time...) in or around the kitchen. I do not have hand-me-down recipes from my great-aunt or any other family member (because I don't really have a family...) . I have to measure everything and use recipes. I have to check and re-check everything when I cook and then google it to be sure because it is all new to me (like what is a broiler? and when do you use it?) I hated eating out all the time as a kid. I remember being asked to bring our parents favorite recipe for a class cookbook fundraiser in 6th grade and asking my Mom for one of her recipes and her shyly, embarrassingly, telling me that she did not have one to give me and asking a neighbor for one for me to use. I knew when I had kids I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to be the mom in movies and on TV that baked cookies for her kids after school and made big family dinners, especially on Sundays. The kind of mom who went all out on holidays, because my mom barely put out a few decorations and complained that being an inconvenience and a lot of trouble for nothing. So I am proud of myself for all of my recipes that I have found, altered, added to, or invented. I literally started at the bottom, with no background to basis in the kitchen to pull from. So here are a some ridiculously easy, fast, and most important delish recipes for you to try. Because Lord knows, If I can make these anyone can. From my family to yours- Bon Appétit! 2 Ingredient Baked BBQ Chicken
And, yes. You read that right. This recipe uses only TWO INGREDIENTS – barbecue sauce and chicken (plus a little olive oil, salt, and pepper) – to make the crispiest, most perfectly glazed, sweet, sticky, and tender barbecue baked chicken you will ever have.
Now for the special trick to make the thickest glaze possible in your oven. When grilling chicken, it is usually basted frequently with sauce throughout the cooking process. The same technique is used for this recipe: after initially baking for 25 minutes, the chicken is basted in sauce, cooked for another 7 minutes at a higher temperature, basted in sauce, cooked for another 7 minutes, basted in MORE sauce, and cooked for another 7 minutes or until it’s done.
The three layer baste is what works magic here- with each layer, the sauce thickens and adheres to the chicken, and by the time you are done with the third layer you have created a thick, glorious glaze of barbecue sauce atop the perfectly crispy skin. YUM.
(from Bowl of Delicious Blog here)
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
My husband loves oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so I had to make these just right to fulfill his sweet-tooth cravings-
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
3/4 cupcakes brown sugar
6 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt (or less)
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
*Special note-I recommend bringing all dairy to room temp before baking
*yields 18 cookies
Instructions:
Mix sugars, vanilla, and softened butter -
Mix with electric mixer until blended well-
Add in egg, add in flour, baking powder, salt -Mix
Add in oats & chocolate chips- Mix
Roll into small balls-
Bake at 350 for 16 minutes
Enjoy!
(adapted from Oh My Sugar High)
:::meanwhile moon mamas::::
If you try a recipe from above, or have a one to recommend to me, leave a comment below!
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