Baked Chicken Teriyaki

I love trying new recipes. This is part of the reason I decided to start a blog...I figure if I'm trying lots of delicious food, I might as well share the recipes that really turn out great. I don't make extravagant meals every night, but my husband does have to remind me from time to time that it is totally okay with him if I make something simple. He's so sweet...he says, "I'm just thankful that you cooked me a meal, and I'll always be happy with anything you make me." He's a keeper for sure. I am actually the one who typically isn't okay with just anything. I want to make every meal be the best meal ever. Unfortunately, that is just not realistic when you have small children to take care of. Some nights I'm really not in the mood to stand in the kitchen chopping, sauteing, mixing, and so on. And on those nights it's great to have some easy but still delicious recipes in my arsenal. This Baked Chicken Teriyaki is one of those recipes for sure. You mix up the ingredients (they are all things I typically already have on hand), pour it over chunks of chicken and bake it in the oven. Cook up some rice, and steam a vegetable and you have an easy and delicious dinner! Here's how you make it! 

Mix together a teaspoon of cornstarch and a teaspoon of water in a bowl. 

To the cornstarch mixture add in the rest of the sauce ingredients: white sugar, brown sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, orange or pineapple juice (I used pineapple this time, but either one is delicious), garlic powder, ground ginger, and black pepper. Mix it all up. 

Chop up some chicken into chunks and put it into an 8x8 square pan. I used one chicken breast and one chicken thigh because that's what I had on hand. You could use all breasts or all thighs, depending on what you like. This recipe will work for 2-4 pieces of chicken. Two fed our family of 4 with very little leftovers. If you are going to use more than 4 pieces of chicken, I would recommend doubling the sauce. 

Pour the sauce mixture over top of the chicken.

Give it a stir to make sure the chicken is completely submerged in the sauce. 

Bake this at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Then take the chicken out of the oven, give it a stir, and put it back in the oven. 

Bake the chicken for an additional 20 minutes. 

At this point the chicken is completely done, and you can go ahead and eat it at this point. I found the sauce to be a little thin for my taste, so I removed the chicken to a separate bowl. (I think next time I will try baking this at 425 degrees to see if the sauce will thicken up more on its own. I will update the recipe if needed!) 

Then I poured the sauce into a small pan and boiled it over medium-high heat until it was thick and syrupy. 

Then I poured this sauce back over the chicken, and voila! Chicken teriyaki! I think increasing the temperature might help the sauce to thicken up on its own, so that I can skip boiling it on the stove top next time, so I will definitely try that and update the recipe as needed! 

I served this with some rice and steamed broccoli, and it was delicious! And how easy is this meal?! Here's the recipe because I'm sure you're just dying to give this one a try! 

Baked Chicken Teriyaki 

Adapted from Food.com

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon water 

2 Tablespoons sugar 

2 Tablespoons brown sugar 

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons orange or pineapple juice 

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

1/8 teaspoon black pepper 

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into chunks

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

2. Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a bowl. Add in the next 8 ingredients and whisk to combine. 

3. Place chunks of chicken into an 8x8 pan. Pour sauce mixture over top of chicken and stir to combine. 

4. Bake for 20 minutes, give a stir, then bake an additional 20 minutes. 

5. If the sauce is too thin for your liking, pour the sauce into a small saucepan and boil over medium-high heat until thick and syrupy. 

6. Pour the thickened sauce back over the chicken and serve. 

Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Garlic

Today I thought I would share one of my family's most requested recipes. This one is a real winner...easy and delicious! I've been making this Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Garlic for many years. It is a relatively quick meal since it only takes 30 minutes to cook. I make this any time I see grape tomatoes on sale at the grocery store, which happens pretty regularly, so it is pretty cost effective as well. So enough introduction, let's get cooking! 

Start with two containers of grape tomatoes. The ones I usually see at the store are 10 ounces each. If you get a larger container or are using fresh ones from your garden, somewhere between 2-3 cups of tomatoes will work.

Rinse the tomatoes off to clean them and then lay them out to dry. I put paper towels down on a baking sheet and move it from side to side to roll the tomatoes around and dry them off. As with any roasted vegetables, the tomatoes should be mostly dry when they go into the oven so they will roast and not steam. 

Next you will need garlic...a lot of garlic. We are garlic lovers in my house, so there's really no such thing as too much in my opinion. The garlic gets roasted in the oven which mellows out its flavor, so if you're concerned about the large amount of garlic, don't be! It's delicious! I use anywhere from 6 to 12 cloves of garlic depending on their size. My garlic cloves were pretty big this time, so I used 8.  

Cut any very large ones in half, but you don't want them to be too small or they will burn while roasting.

Next take your clean and dry grape tomatoes and cut them in half. 

Add all of the garlic and halved tomatoes to a baking sheet. 

Then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, dried basil and/or Italian seasoning (I use both!), and red pepper flakes. I have included approximate measurements with the recipe at the bottom of this page, but I have made this so many times that I never measure anything. I simply drizzle on the oil and sprinkle on the seasonings. This recipe is very simple and difficult to mess up.

Next toss everything around on the baking sheet to mix it all up. 

Finally, put the tomato and garlic mixture in the oven and roast them for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, shaking the pan around half way through the cooking time. After I put the tomatoes in the oven, I fill a large pot with water and set it on the stove. When there are about 20 minutes left on the tomatoes, I start heating the water for the pasta. My stove is nothing fancy, so it takes some time to boil water. If yours comes to a boil more quickly, you may want to wait until there are 15 minutes left. Any short-cut pasta will work with this dish. My favorite is orecchiette, but I didn't have any this time, so I used these mini penne I got at Trader Joe's. You will need the whole 16 ounce package. 

Cook the pasta to al dente in salted water. I like to save a little of the pasta cooking water when the pasta is ready to be drained. I'll tell you what to do with that later, so just set it aside for now. Drain the pasta. I put about a 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in the pot I cooked the pasta in and then add back in the drained pasta and toss it around. This is optional, but butter makes everything better! Set this aside so you can get your tomatoes out of the oven. They should be nice and roasted at this point. 

Now this is a little extra step that is totally optional, but I find it gives the over all dish more flavor. I like to take the garlic out of the pan and smash it up with a fork in a little bowl. You can skip the next few steps if you'd like and just toss the entire tomato and garlic mixture with the pasta. 

Then I add a splash of the reserved pasta water...not much, maybe two tablespoons or so. 

Then just stir this up and you will have a sort of roasted garlic "sauce." 

Add the roasted garlic/pasta water mixture to the cooked pasta and stir it around to mix it all up. 

Then add in the roasted tomatoes. 

Then give that a stir to mix it all up. 

Now it's time to add in a good amount of Parmesan cheese and some parsley. Fresh parsley is best of course. I was out of it today, so I used dried parsley. 

And once again, give it a stir! 

And a little more cheese right on top is never a bad idea! 

Now just dish it up and serve...with more cheese on top if you'd like! 

This meal is simple and delicious...give it a try today! My children enjoy it too...my 3-year-old ate 3 helpings and was still asking for more! 

Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Garlic 
Adapted from Food.com

2 (10 ounce) packages grape tomatoes, halved 
6-12 cloves of garlic (halve larger cloves) 
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
1 teaspoon dried basil or Italian seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon of each) 
Salt and pepper, to taste 
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
1 pound short-cut pasta (such as orecchiette, penne, farfalle, etc.) 
1/2 Tablespoon butter
2 Tbsp pasta cooking water (optional, but recommended)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 Tablespoon dried parsley 

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Toss together tomatoes, garlic, oil, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes on a large baking sheet. 
3. Roast tomato mixture for 30 minutes, or until tomatoes are browned at edges and shriveled and garlic is tender. Shake the pan about half way through the cooking time. 
4. Cook pasta in salted water to al dente. 
5. Drain pasta saving 2 Tablespoons of the cooking water. Add butter and then pasta to the hot pot. 
6. If desired, mash roasted garlic and mix with cooking water. Then add to the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Otherwise just skip to the next step. 
7. Add roasted tomatoes to pasta and stir again to combine. 
8. Add in grated Parmesan and chopped or dried parsley. Stir to combine and serve with extra Parmesan on top. 

Frozen Yogurt Drops for Babies and Toddlers!

My son has always been a veggie-lover. The child has more than once requested peas and corn just to eat by themselves as a snack. As a parent who is very concerned about what my children eat, this truly brings me joy. Even today when I cook a meal, he will always eat his veggies before his protein because he prefers them. My daughter enjoyed eating veggies as a smaller baby, and there are some veggies she still enjoys. I can usually get her to eat cauliflower, any kind of roasted winter squash, sometimes sweet potatoes, and she will always eat kale chips. But quite often she will refuse to eat her vegetables at dinner, so I've had to get creative to make sure she gets veggies in her body each day. I have shared several veggie muffin and pancake recipes with you already, like spinach muffins, pumpkin muffins, spinach pancakes, and sweet potato muffins. (Zucchini muffins, carrot muffins, and beet pancakes will be coming soon!) She will also happy drink any smoothie or eat any popsicle even when it has spinach or kale in it. 

Another way I like to sneak veggies into her diet is with yogurt drops. If you spend any time on Pinterest looking at kid-friendly recipes, you've probably seen the method for making frozen yogurt drops, like this one. It's very simple and just involves putting drops of any flavor yogurt on a baking sheet, freezing them, then popping them off and storing them in a bowl in the freezer for a quick, healthy snack. I got the idea to put veggies in the yogurt drops when I had extra baby food that I needed to get rid of. The veggie yogurt drops went over so well that I still make them for her, and she will always very happily eat them! Actually, she thinks they are a treat, so sometimes I even give them to her as a treat after her dinner. (Shh! She doesn't need to know that there are hidden veggies!) 

I thought I would share how I make these yogurt drops for anyone who may also have a vegetable-wary baby or toddler. This is really more of a method than a recipe. I never measure anything, I just put some vegetable puree, some fruit puree, and some yogurt in a bowl and mix it up. You can add some honey or maple syrup to sweeten if you'd like. You can also add spices such as cinnamon for more flavor. If your mixture is too thin, you can add in some ground flax seeds or even some ground oats or baby oatmeal cereal. There is really no way to mess this up! It is a great use up for leftover baby food or any time you are left with a small amount of fruit or veggie puree that you can't think of a use for. I have pureed leftover roasted sweet potatoes to make these as well. 

Frozen Yogurt Drops

1/2 cup vegetable puree (any vegetable) 
1/4 to 1/2 cup fruit puree (any fruit puree, applesauce, or mashed banana) 
2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup yogurt (I usually use plain whole milk, but any flavor you have will work!) 

Optional add-ins: 
1-2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds or ground oatmeal 
1 Tablespoon honey* or maple syrup 

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a zip top bag and cut off a small tip as if you were making a bag to pipe icing. Make small dots of your yogurt mixture on a baking sheet or plate lined with plastic wrap. If you are making a very small batch, a plate will do, but I usually use a baking sheet. (The plastic wrap helps to keep the yogurt from sticking, and makes the whole process much easier!) Make sure your yogurt dots are not touching, or you will end up with a large sheet of yogurt. 

 Some flavor combinations that have been successful with my little one: 

1/2 cup beet puree + 1/4 to 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt 

1/2 cup butternut squash puree + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce + 2 Tbsp plain yogurt 

1/2 cup butternut squash puree + 1/4 cup peach puree + 1/4 cup plain yogurt + 2 Tbsp ground oats 

1/2 cup sweet potato puree + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce + 2 Tbsp plain yogurt + 1 Tbsp maple syrup + 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 cup carrot puree + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce + 2 Tbsp plain yogurt + 1 Tbsp honey*

*Remember do not use honey if making these for a baby under 12 months old!* 

Peach/Butternut Squash/Yogurt

Beet/Strawberry Yogurt

Carrot/Applesauce/Yogurt

They look super cute when you pop them off and add them to a bowl. Adding the vegetables gives them a nice bright color, so there is definitely no need for food coloring. 

My daughter seriously can't get enough of these. She would eat them every day! Try these with your little one. They are a perfect finger food! 

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Mini Muffins

If you have been following my blog for very long, I'm sure you've noticed how much I enjoy sneaking veggies into breakfast in things like: Spinach Mini Muffins, Spinach Pancakes, and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Mini Muffins. And I'm constantly looking for more recipes like this. Just for the record, when I say sneaking, I mean that the finished product does not taste like a vegetable, not that I go out of the way to hide it from my kids. My son has helped me make spinach mini muffins many times and he knows I use lots of fresh baby spinach when I make them, and he has also seen me make these and all of the other muffins I make and often wants to help me make them, so he sees when I am adding vegetables. 

I started finding ways to include vegetables into breakfast because my 17-month-old is sort of hit and miss when it comes to vegetables, but she will always eat a pancake or muffin. This is a way to ensure she gets some vegetables every day, so I don't have to stress as much about what she's eating on days when she refuses to eat her vegetables at other meals. I also love to include veggies in breakfast just to add some extra vegetables to the rest of our diets...because who couldn't use a few more veggies in their life? 

So today I thought I'd share yet another muffin recipe...whole wheat sweet potato mini muffins! These are delicious! This is my first time trying a sweet potato muffin, and let me tell you, it will not be my last! They remind me a little of pumpkin muffins, so if you like those, you'll probably like these! Since this is the first time I've made this recipe, I'm going to call it a work in progress and will update this recipe as needed if I make any changes when I make them again. (**Updating to say I just made these for the second time, and I have made some adjustments to the recipe to make them a bit healthier. Enjoy!**) 

This recipe does require a little bit of forethought because you will need to cook a sweet potato to get 1 cup worth of puree. My favorite way to cook sweet potatoes for puree is in the crock pot. They always come out perfect and creamy and they can cook over night while you sleep! This method only works if you are cooking 3 or more sweet potatoes. If you are only cooking one (like I did this time), you can bake it in the oven. 

I scrubbed one sweet potato, poked holes in it with a fork, and baked it in a 400 degree oven for about an hour. 

I place the sweet potato directly on the oven rack with a pan underneath to catch the sugary juices that will ooze out while it bakes. If you don't put a pan underneath this will get in the bottom of your oven and burn, and it is a pain to clean, so please put a pan under your sweet potato when it bakes! 

Start checking it around 45 minutes for doneness...it should be very soft and the skin will start to pull away from the potato. A fork should pierce easily all the way through the skin. You will need one cup of puree after it is cooked, so choose a medium to large sweet potato if you are only cooking one.  

After the potato baked, I peeled off the skin (it will come off very easily) and mashed it up with a fork. Then I refrigerated it until the next morning. If you want a perfectly smooth sweet potato puree, feel free to use a blender or food processor. I found that mashing with a fork got the sweet potato mashed enough for me, and when all of the ingredients mixed together, there weren't any large chunks of sweet potato in the muffins. 

Now we make the muffins! Start with the dry ingredients in one bowl (white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg). 

Next it's time for the wet ingredients (sweet potato puree, brown sugar, eggs, coconut oil, applesauce, milk, and vanilla). The extra milk was not included in the original recipe, but I found that the batter looked a bit dry since I used whole wheat flour. If you use all-purpose flour you may not need the milk, but use your judgment. The batter is thick, but should still be like batter and not paste-like. I reduced the sugar and oil from the original recipe as well by adding in some applesauce. I also increased the vanilla. Vanilla and applesauce help add to the sweetness, so we did not miss the 1/4 cup of brown sugar I removed! 

Now we add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix them until they are just combined. 

Then pour into greased or paper-lined mini muffin tins and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

The tops of the muffins should spring back when you touch them lightly and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. 

Like pumpkin muffins, these are actually more moist and taste better the next day, so don't be alarmed if they seem a little dry when you first bake them. A little butter on the top of the muffins goes a long way if they seem a tad dry the first day. 

I had some cinnamon-sugar butter that I put on a few of the muffins. (See the shiny ones in the above pictures?) They looked and tasted so good that I decided to butter the rest. 

They are delicious muffins, and my kids loved them! Give these a try...you won't be disappointed! 

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Mini Muffins
Adapted from: babble.com 

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup sweet potato puree*
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled (or canola oil) 
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside. 

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sweet potato puree, brown sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, milk, and vanilla. 

Add the flour mixture to the sweet potato mixture and stir just until combined. 

Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. Makes about 35 mini muffins. 

*To make the sweet potato puree, I baked one sweet potato at 400 degrees for about an hour, until it was very soft. I then peeled the skins off and mashed it up with a fork. You could also puree it in a blender (with the milk or applesauce if needed) to get a smoother consistency.