French Toast

In celebration of my upcoming trip to France, I decided to make French Toast with carmelized bananas on top in my new all-clad French skillet after church on Sunday. I am very excited to announce that I am attending a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 2 weekends. Also, I will be touring the school in the event I ever win the lottery, become a chef, and open a French pastry bakery in a large city in the US (dream!).

Mexican Chicken and Saffron Rice

I wanted to clear out my pantry, which seems to be a reoccuring them lately. I used my blender and combined a can of green chilies, a can of tomatoes, 1/2 can of black beans, 2 garlic cloves, cumin, corriander, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I made a sauce and set it aside.

I olive oiled a casserole dish and added 3 large chicken breasts. I topped them with about 3/4 of the sauce. Then I baked it at 400 for 50 minutes.

While baking, I made saffron rice. Also, I used the remainder can of black beans with the 1/4 sauce and heated on the stove until warm.

This made 4 servings. I approve!

Chicken with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes

My parents, brother, and sister are visiting for the weekend and I wanted to make a large dinner that wasn't too stressful so I invented my own recipe. I bought a large pack of chicken thighs and cooked with the an entire jar of artichoke hearts, a bag of sun dried tomatoes, dried basil, dried thyme, and olive oil. I also cubed russet potatoes and roasted them with fresh rosemary (from my garden), sea salt, and olive oil. On the side I served a head of romaine lettuce. I garnished the placed with pickled peppers.

The chicken was extremely juicy and delicious! My picky brother ate it so I know it was good.

Pumpkin Belgium Waffles

Saturday morning isn't complete with a tall mug of coffee and a home cooked breakfast at home. I have 2 cans of pumpkin left over from Thanksgiving in my pantry so I decided to use it.

I used my Belgium waffle maker and combined waffle mix with half a can of pumpkin. Yumm it was delicious. I topped the waffle with sliced banana.

I also made scrambled eggs with spinach and cheddar cheese.