Recipes, Boating & Wine!

Happy Monday!

Sorry it’s been so long, I feel like I've been so busy lately!! To kick it off I have to say what a fabulous weekend we had! Friday night I whipped up a delicious chicken recipe for us, Saturday we went to dinner with friends and then to see the movie American Sniper (wow!) and Sunday we (finally) got out on the lake for the first time this year! It was jam packed and so fun!

Like usual, let’s begin with the beautiful Miss Lily, this was right after Mr Tan Lines came home from the dog park with her, she was one happy pup!

So on Friday I made a delicious chicken stew thing that I was in the mood for. It turned out delicious so I would highly recommend it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Chicken thighs (1-2 per person)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2  cups carrots, cut into 1/2 inch rounds

1 1/2  cups celery sticks, cut 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 1/2 cup white pearl onions, peeled and cut in half

3 cups small red skin potatoes

4 cups chicken broth (I use the low sodium kind)

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp cajun seasoning

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tbsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 can tomato sauce

2 tbsp flour

Here’s what I did:

Note* I used my dutch oven but a good deep pot will work too.

In a small bowl combine and mix the oregano, garlic powder, cajun seasoning and salt & pepper. Generously season the chicken on both sides.

Pour the olive oil into the pan and warm on medium heat. Place the chicken thighs skin side down and cook until the skins are nice and crispy. Flip and cook until the other side is nice and crispy, remove chicken from the pot and place aside.

In the same pot add the carrots, celery, green peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes and flour. Mix well. Add the chicken broth and tomato sauce. Cook and stir for 10 minutes. Add in the parsley.

Place the chicken thighs on top of everything so that the liquid doesn't quite cover them. Cook on medium for 40 minutes. I served ours over tri-colored quinoa, but rice or lentils would work great here too.

I paired our meal with this delicious Merlot I purchased for $9, enjoy!

I want to note, the pearl onions were terrible to work with. As cute as they were, they were not fun. It was my first and definitely last time using them! Removing the skin was so time consuming and difficult, next time I will use a yellow onion instead.

I also wanted to share one of my recipes that I made for the superbowl! We ended up going to our neighbors house where I took a cheese platter and my famous 7-layer dip; but I just had to try making some jalapeno poppers first!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Note* I only made enough to make about 8 poppers

4 medium sized jalapenos

1 cup softened cream cheese (I use the light kind)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 cup egg beaters

Here’s what I did:

In a bowl combine the cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Set aside.

Using gloves halve the jalapenos and remove the spine and seeds.

Using a spoon fill the jalapeno halves with the cream cheese mixture.

In two separate bowls pour the egg beaters and panko crumbs.

Roll the jalapeno in the egg wash then into the panko crumbs.

Place your poppers in single layer and bake at 350 degrees for around 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

I was expecting them to be very spicy but the cream cheese really mellows out the jalapeno, even Mr Tan Lines who does not like spicy food enjoyed them! I will definitely be making these again!

Lastly for today, here are some pictures from our boat outing this weekend! The temperature got up to 71 on Sunday so we just had to take advantage!

Getting to Party Cove was a little chilly; we were going against the wind! But once we stopped it was so incredibly nice and we had the best time relaxing in the sunshine! 

We are so lucky to live somewhere so beautiful!