Harrell's Haven

May 8, 2012

Fingerlicking Good Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

What a delicious recipe! My whole family enjoyed this recipe. We had it for dinner and then for lunch on the second day. For lunch, we cut the chicken up and made sandwiches. I found the recipe on Pinterest, but added some things to make it my own. I used chicken thighs for this recipe, but you can use boneless chicken, chicken tenders, or even chicken wings. If you are trying to eat healthy on a budget, this recipe has about 160 calories and cost about $10.00 to make. This is one recipe that will for sure stay in the recipe collection. Happy cooking and eating everyone!

Recipe: Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 Chicken Breasts (Again mine were not boneless)
4 garlic cloves- minced (The Pampered Chef garlic press is excellent for mincing garlic)
4 tablespoons of brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
3 teaspoons of olive oil or canola oil
Seasoning: Season All, a dash of garlic powder, black pepper, and paprika
1 tablespoon of butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a baking dish. Season chicken with seasonings listed above. In a small saute pan, saute the garlic with the oil until tender.

2. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar and the tablespoon of butter. Then place the chicken in the baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.

3. Bake chicken uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

4. Serve with a vegetable or some mashed potatoes. The gravy is great over mash potatoes or rice.

May 5, 2012

Dr. Pepper Pork Chops

I saw this recipe on pinterest and just knew I had to try it. I added a few more ingredients and cooked it a different way, but it still came out great. This is a meal I would make again. Happy cooking and eating everyone!

Recipe: Dr. Pepper Pork Chop

Ingredients:

6-8 pork chops

1 12oz can Dr. Pepper

12 oz ketchup

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Seasoning: Garlic Powder, Season All, Black Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash your meat. Pat dry with a paper towel. Season meat with seasonings listed above.

2. If you have a crock pot, place all ingredients in the crock pot, and cook on low for 6 hours or until the pork chops are cooked through. Remove the chops and whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour to thicken the sauce into a gravy.

3. If you do not have a crock pot, you can cook your pork chops the way I did. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large baking dish, add the dr. pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup. Then add your meat into the mixture. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for another 30 minutes. Make sure to check on it every ten minutes and baste it with the gravy.

4. Serve over rice.

May 1, 2012

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

The 2012 Teacher Appreciation Days are May 7th-May 11th. Some of you may be wondering what to get for your child's teacher or for your teacher is you are in school. As a teacher, I can't tell you how much it meant to receive tokens of appreciation. Our job as teachers is not only to educate students, but also to encourage and provide support to families! Teacher appreciation week shows that all of our handwork throughout the school year is acknowledged.

Gifts can come in all different shapes and sizes (it's that thought that counts). Some of my favorite gifts were books, handwritten poems/cards, gift cards and edible gifts. This past week as I have been pinning on Pinterest and updating my Pampered Chef website. I found some really creative and cool gift ideas. Hopefully one of these work for you!

Gift Idea #1: Pampered Chef- Some teachers have families at home too. A nice gift giving set would be a nice, practical gift. Click on the link below to see gift sets. If you are interested, please contact me!

http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/category_details.tpc?code=GS&id=73&parentCatId=73&parentId=

Gift Idea #2: Teacher Survivor Kit- This is a really cute gift idea. You basically fill a tackle box or a sewing box full of stuff teachers need on a daily basis (paper clips, staples, CHOCOLATE, etc. You can decorate the front of the box with the teachers name or however you want. It's inexpensive and also something practical. Visit this website for more details: http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/04/box-of-teacher-goodies.html

Gift Idea #3: Summer Survival Kit- Teachers look forward to summer break just as much as the kids do. How about helping them get a jump start on summer by creating this cool gift. All you do is get a towel in their favorite color, some candy, magazines or a book to read at the pool or beach, maybe sunscreen and flip flops. Then wrap it all up in a pretty bow and you are all set. You can get all of this stuff for under $10.00. Visit the following website for more information.

http://www.therachelberryblog.com/2008/06/teacher-thank-you-gifts.html

Gift Idea #4: Starbucks Gift Card- I am not big into Starbucks, but I know a lot of teachers who LOVE it. Here is a cute idea: Get a clean cup and stuff it with brown tissue paper and white tissue paper. Add the gift card inside the cup. Add a tag that states, “Thanks a Latte!”

Gift Idea #5: Flowers- This is one of the cutest flower ideas I have seen. You just get a black flower pot, yellow construction paper, and a white sharpie. It's simple and really creative.

Gift Idea #6: M&M Candy Jar with Poem- This is a great edible gift idea and it's sweet (figuratively and literally). Get a mason jar, fill it with M&M's (peanut and plain). Add the M&M poem (below) and decorate the jar how you would like.