Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

For the past few weeks, my favorite dinners have been grilled chicken. It's so easy to make a marinade in the morning, let it sit in the fridge all day, and then when Kyle gets home, he throws it on the grill. Yum! Easy and clean. It's so flavorful and it will make people think you are an awesome chef, when really it's not hard at all!

This recipe comes from my mom's family. And I remember being confused when my mom would say she was making satay and then I would see grilled chicken... Because I assumed she was saying "Sauté." I really need to see things written down, or I don't know what's going on! So I do remember having it when I was younger, but more recently, it's a staple that my Aunt Sue always makes when their family goes to Lake Powell--it's one of their family favorites. Now I finally got my hands on the recipe and it's awesome! I tweaked it a tiny bit because Winco doesn't have all the ingredients...And it turned out so so delicious. Also, the peanut sauce is pretty involved, so I will include an easier version. But if you have time, definitely make the regular peanut sauce because the taste is much better.

Chicken Satay

2 lbs chicken breasts cut into 1 inch squares. (Can do tenders as well if you don't want to do kabob style)

 1 T curry powder

1/4 t red pepper flakes (optional)

1/4 C vegetable oil

1/4 soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T sugar

Place chicken in Large Ziplock bag. Combine all marinade ingredients and pour over chicken. Place chicken in fridge for 4-6 hours turning over halfway through.

Preheat grill to a high heat, then place chicken on grill. Reduce heat to medium and grill for 10-12 minutes(or until internal temp reaches 165), turning halfway through. 

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 C peanuts, finely ground
• 1 white onion, pureed (I put mine in the blender...wear goggles! My eyes were stinging for like an hour haha)
• 2-3 t red pepper flakes, to taste (also optional if you don't want it spicy)
• 2 t vegetable oil
• 2 t coriander
• 1 t cumin
• 1/2 can cream of coconut
• 3 T brown sugar
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T soy sauce

Instructions:

1. Cook onion and red pepper flakes in vegetable oil for 6-8 minutes.
2. Add ground peanuts, coriander, cumin, cream of coconut, brown sugar, lemon juice, and soy sauce.
3. Cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes or until thickened.

Easy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 T creamy peanut butter
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T lime or lemon juice
• 2 t brown sugar
• 2 t chili garlic sauce, or more, to taste
• 1/8 t ground ginger

Instructions:

1. Whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, and ginger in a small bowl.
2. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons of water until desired consistency is reached. Pour over grilled chicken.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese must be my favorite food of all time! Whenever we have a barbecue, I always love the side dishes the most and the homemade mac and cheese is definitely the best of all. I like to order mac and cheese at restaurants and compare to see which is the best, and I used to love some of the restaurant styles the most. But now, I'm all about this recipe. It's super easy, takes only a few minutes longer to make this than the yucky box style, and the kids will love it! If you do the baked version, it will obviously take longer... but worth it!!

I always feel so satisfied when my kids enjoy something that I made. They are getting into the picky stages, and Harper often comes into the kitchen with her nose plugged when I'm cooking, and says, "this food is stinky!"And I know this is just mac and cheese and almost every kid loves it, but Harper is usually even picky about a breadcrumb topping! So luckily she liked this one. And it makes me feel better to feed my girls something homemade rather than corn dogs all the time!

A few things to consider when making homemade mac n cheese:

1. You should use block cheese and shred it instead of buying pre-shredded. The pre-shredded just doesn't melt right and can give your cheese sauce a gritty texture.
2. Use sharp cheddar for a much better flavor. Mild or medium cheddar doesn't end up having a cheesy enough taste. I also use Gruyere in this recipe to deepen the flavor and make it seem fancy :) My mom often uses Pepperjack, and you can definitely use whatever cheeses are your favorite, but the Gruyere and sharp cheddar gives my favorite comfort food mac and cheese flavor.
3. If you bake your mac and cheese with the crumb topping, then undercook your pasta by about one minute so the pasta will stay firm after being baked. No one wants a mushy mac!

Ingredients

• 16 oz large macaroni noodles (Cavatappi noodles are my very favorite, but they can be hard to find. Get them if you can! Penne or other tube pastas work great.)
• 6  T salted butter
• 1/3 C all-purpose flour
• 3 C milk (whole is best
• 1 C heavy cream
• 4 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 C Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 C panko bread crumbs
• 4 T butter, melted
• 1/2 C parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1/4 t paprika
• 1/8 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray a 13x9 baking pan or large casserole dish and set aside.
2. Boil pasta 1 minute shy of package directions. Drain, then set aside. You can drizzle a small amount of olive oil on your pasta to keep it from sticking. If you are not going to bake the mac n cheese with the crumb topping, then cook according to package directions
3. Combine the two cheeses in a bowl. Set aside
4. In a medium or large pot, melt butter.
5. Over medium heat, whisk in flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
6. Gradually whisk in cold milk and heavy cream until the sauce is smooth and thick. About 2-3 minutes
7. Whisk in 2 cups of cheese until smooth. Whisk in another 2 cups of cheese until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper
8. Stir in drained pasta. Mix until all the noodles are coated in the cheese sauce.
9. Pour the macaroni mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 2 cups of cheese, and lightly stir the cheese into the noodles so it sinks down in a bit rather than sitting on top.
10. In a small bowl, mix together the panko, butter, parmesan cheese, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until combined. Sprinkle over the top of the mac n cheese.
11. Bake in the oven for 15 or minutes until bubbly. Finish off with 2 minutes under the broiler to get a nice golden color on your topping. Enjoy!

LBJ’s Champion Chocolate Chip Cookie

My little brother got married! Yay! He got married in Texas in June, and then last night we had the Utah Reception. If you know my mom, then you know that she knows how to put on a party! It was so beautiful and we are so grateful for all the wonderful friends and family members that helped to put on such a beautiful event.

My main assignment was the “favors.” The bride and groom had their first date at a cookie place, and they asked that cookies be served at the reception in some way. So they became the favor! I worked on my cookie recipe for a few months and, guys, this is it. The end-all be-all, best ever, champion chocolate chip cookie!!

As I was testing and developing this recipe I was continually frustrated with the consistency of the dough. I read through other blogs of people that referred to themselves as a “cookie master” or “cookie queen,” I tried their recipes, and they all flopped!! Then I finally figured out my main issue: I’m baking in Utah. High altitude. Baking at high altitude IS different, and that’s what’s helped me come up with this recipe.

The next trick was finding the perfect chocolate chip. So I’m a huge fan of Crumbl, Chip, and basically all the trendy cookie places that have grown popular. But I take issue with the milk chocolate chip. I think that the sweetness of the cookie needs to be balanced with a semi-sweet chocolate chip rather than milk chocolate. If milk chocolate is your thing, then go for it. (It just won’t be as good ;)) What I DO like about Crumbl and Chip’s milk chocolate chip cookie is that the chocolate chips are so big! I’ve found that the larger chip makes a much prettier cookie when it is baked. The trouble is: a large semi-sweet chip is hard to find. But we found a huge bag of Guittard large semi-sweets at Orson Gygi! I have now been converted to Guittard over the regular big Costco bag of Nestle chips that I’ve been buying all along. It was pretty surprising how much better the Guittard cookie was over the Nestle. And I had other people help taste all of the cookies and they agreed!! So now you know I try not force my opinions on you, because other people helped me!

And finally, in regard to the appearance of the cookie, I have two more tips. 1: a convection oven is key. The convection cookies were waaaay prettier. But I don’t have a convection oven, so I used my aunt’s house. And that won’t always be convenient so luckily the cookies in the regular oven tasted just as good, just weren’t quite so beautiful. The picture above shows convection cookies. And 2: the dough should be chilled. If you hate chilling your cookie dough and can’t stand to wait, then skip it. This is mostly about appearance (the cookie will spread more and not stay as thick), but will affect your cooking time as well so watch them closely when baking!

Ingredients

• 3 C all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 C (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature *if you use unsalted butter, then increase your salt to 1 teaspoon
• 1 C light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 T vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Combine flour, baking soda, salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined. Scrape the paddle and sides of bowl as necessary.
3. Add eggs and vanilla to butter mixture. Mix on low speed until the eggs are combined into the mixture, but do not over mix.
4. Pour in half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined.
5. Add in the rest of the flour, and beat until just combined. Do not over-mix.
6. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Fold in chocolate chips. You do not want to beat the chocolate chips in the stand mixer because the chips will break apart.
7. Scoop dough with a 1/2  C measuring cup, then pull the dough ball apart to make 1/4 C size dough balls. Yes, you can use a 1/4 C scoop, but I like how the cookie turns out when it has the rough edge from being pulled apart. Do not round the dough into a ball. Slightly press in the sides of the dough to make the dough balls tall rather than round. This helps the cookie to stay thick.
8. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. For the wedding, I made the dough beforehand and put it in the freezer for almost two weeks before baking and they turned out perfectly. I just let the dough defrost in the fridge for a day before baking, so they stayed chilled but not frozen.
9. Preheat convection oven 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place 6 cookie dough balls on a sheet pan lined with a Silpat and bake for 12-14 minutes. With a convection oven, you shouldn't need to rotate the pan, but I still did because I was really babysitting these cookies. Normally I wouldn't, but this was for a wedding!
**in a non convection oven, preheat to 325 and bake for 16 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.
10. Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. And of course, they are best enjoyed warm with a glass of milk! This recipe makes 18 large cookies.

Let me know if you loved this recipe!

**FYI: Kyle told me that I should not make this recipe public. He thinks it should be my little secret! So consider yourselves lucky! And if you make them, let people know where you got this recipe!

Spam Fried Rice

For Valentine's Day this year, we went out to eat at Kobe Teppenyaki in Ogden. Teppenyaki places are really fun, and this time we had an especially fun chef, so it made it even better! So since I new we were going to be eating a big meal, I didn't eat much throughout the day. Anybody else do this? Look forward to your dinner all day long? Well that's totally me! So anyway, I was starving by the time we got there and the first thing that was finished was the fried rice. I dug into that little bowl of rice so fast, and I realized how overrated fried rice can be! It was delicious!

So then, of course, I had to make it at home and make it even better :)

I decided there are a few things that are very important to making a great pan of fried rice. First, use butter instead of oil. That's what they used at the teppenyaki restaurant and it's because its tastes way better! The next is to use lots of vegetables. I used onion, peas, and carrots, but you can add other favorites! Some other flavor boosters I add in are toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce. I hadn't used oyster sauce before, but I used a very small amount when coming up with this recipe and it seriously adds so much! It doesn't taste like oysters, I promise! It's just a nice subtle flavor that brings everything together. And last, I like to add SPAM! It adds such a nice salty flavor which really completes the dish.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 can of Spam, diced
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup peas
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 4 cups cooked and then chilled rice
• 2-3 green onions, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon butter until melted and sizzling, but not brown. Add eggs over the butter and stir, scrambling the eggs. When cooked through, remove egg from pan and set aside.
2. Add the rest of the butter to the pan and heat over medium heat until sizzling again. Add in the spam, carrots, peas, onion, and garlic. Cook for about 6-8 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
3. Add in the rice, green onions, oyster sauce, and soy sauce stir for 2-3 minutes to heat/fry the rice and mix the sauces together. 
4. Add in the eggs and combine.
5. Remove from heat. Add in toasted sesame oil and stir. Serve and enjoy!

Try out this recipe with my Orange chicken!

Orange Chicken

Orange chicken is probably one of the most popular Chinese takeout dishes there is! We love it here at my house, but we don't have any great places to get delicious take-out Chinese anywhere close by. So I make Asian dishes pretty often! Last night we decided to have an "Orange Chicken Showdown" to see which version we like best: fried or baked. I was pretty sure how this was going to go. What isn't better when it's fried, right?! But to my surprise, the baked version held its own and Kyle and I both decided that it probably wasn't worth the hassle of frying since the baked version turned out so yummy! Here's the finished product: fried on the left and baked on the right.

I thought baked version even turned out a little bit prettier! Now don't get me wrong, the fried orange chicken was delicious! But I expected it to be WAY better than the baked, and they were just about equal. I'll include the ingredients/instructions for both versions on this post.

I'm usually pretty intimidated by frying, but it's really not bad!! And did you know fry oil can be reused?? Just strain it through a fine mesh strainer to get out all the particles left over and then it can be reused about 3 times! This means doughnuts coming soon! 

Thanks to Kyle for doing so much to take care of our girlies while I was in the kitchen for hours working on this experiment :)

Orange Chicken (Baked)

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups Panko crumbs
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken pieces.
3. Put the flour into a resealable bag. Add the chicken, seal, then shake until coated.
4. In a small bowl, mix the eggs. 
5. In a separate small bowl, put the Panko crumbs.
6. Cover the chicken in the eggs, then in the Panko crumbs, then place on prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cover in Orange Sauce. (Orange Sauce recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Orange Chicken (Fried)

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken. 
2. Mix eggs in shallow bowl.
3. Mix flour and cornstarch in a separate small bowl.
4. Dip chicken in eggs, then coat in flour mixture.
5. Fill a heavy pot with enough oil to be about 3 inches high and heat to 350 degrees.
6. Fry chicken in batches about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from oil and let drain on a paper towel lined plate.
7. Cover in Orange sauce. (Below)

Orange Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups orange juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2-1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like).
• Orange zest from 1/2 an orange (can be omitted if you want less of a citrus flavor).
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan, add orange juice, sugar, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, hoisin, rice vinegar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes and whisk all together.  Heat over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
2. Whisk cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Add to orange sauce and whisk together. Then continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes until sauce thickens. 
3. Remove from heat and add orange sauce (if using)
4. Toss over cooked chicken, and serve with white rice, brown rice, or fried rice! (Check out my recipe for Spam Fried Rice. So delicious!)

Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars

In elementary school, I used to ask my mom to give me a quarter that I could use to buy a peanut butter bar in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Maybe it was two quarters? They were individually wrapped in a little bag, and I LOVED them! And some things you just don't grow out of... I still love peanut butter bars so so much.

My mom made this incredible copycat lunch lady peanut butter bar recipe, and we'd have it pretty often. It's perfect for any gathering because it makes a ton and it's a crowd pleaser! I'm so excited to share this recipe because every time I make it, someone asks for the recipe!

Something I really like about this recipe compared to other peanut butter bars is that there isn't any peanut butter in the cookie base. It's only spread on top of the cookie, then chocolate on top of that, so I feel like the peanut butter isn't overpowering. 

Ingredients:

For the bars:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 3/4 cups oats
• 3/4 cup peanut butter

For the chocolate frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Add in flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined, then add in the oats.
4. Push the dough out onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (No Silpat either) I usually just take off my rings and use my hands for this part. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. I most recently baked mine for 20-22 minutes
5. Spread the peanut butter on the cookie while still warm (about 5-10 minutes after being removed from the oven).
6. Once cooled, add the cube of butter, cocoa powder, and milk to a small saucepan and whisk together. Slowly bring to boil over medium heat. If you use too high of heat or boil it too fast, the cocoa can lump together and the butter can separate. Once it boils, remove from heat.
7. Put the chocolate mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the vanilla.
8. Using a hand mixer, gradually add in the powdered sugar (about 1 cup at a time). This frosting is not thick, and will seem a bit runny, but if you want it to be more firm, add more powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
9. Spread frosting on top of the peanut butter. I like a nice thick layer of frosting, but still usually end up with about 1/4 cup of extra frosting. If you want your chocolate layer thinner, just use less of the frosting.
10. Cut into bars and enjoy!

LBJ's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have an addiction to chocolate chip cookies. And my family never wants me to make different desserts! Kyle only ever wants chocolate chip cookies, and Harper doesn't think a cookie is a cookie unless it has chocolate chips! Definitely my daughter!

...So I've been searching for the perfect recipe for a while. I used to always use the Nestle Tollhouse recipe that is on the back of the bag, but the cookies would turn out flat. So I've tried a lot of different recipes and learned a few tips and tricks to come up with my own. I might tweak it a bit someday in the future, but for now it's my go-to.

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, plus extra for adding to dough balls 

Instructions: (Makes 3 dozen cookies)

1. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cornstarch in a bowl. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix butter, sugars, and vanilla until just combined. Do not overmix.
3. Add in eggs one at a time. Mix together until just combined.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. When the dough comes together, stop mixing.
5. Add chocolate chips. Stir in with spatula or wooden spoon. If you mix chocolate chips in the stand mixer, they can break apart, and your dough will likely get overmixed. 
6. Using a cookie scooper, scoop dough onto cookie sheet. I use a scooper that is about the size of 2 tablespoons. You want to just lightly scoop it, don't pack the dough in. If you are just using your hands, try to do the same and not compress the dough. I scoop out all my dough onto a cookie sheet, then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. If your dough is already scooped when you put it in the fridge, then it doesn't have to chill as long! 
7. After the dough balls are formed, I like to gently press in a few extra chocolate chips to make the cookies a little bit prettier. You can also add more chips right when the cookies are taken out of the oven to get the same effect.
   
8. When your dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees and let the dough sit out while the oven preheats. Place 12 cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet that has parchment paper or a Silpat. (Don't grease the cookie sheet-- a cookie butters its own bottom!)
9. Cook for 12-15 minutes. My cookies were just right at 13 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. And of course, they're best served warm with a cold glass of milk! Enjoy :) 

Logan's Cookie Tips:

• Semi-sweet chips. In my opinion, milk chocolate has no business in a cookie... There's a lot of trendy cookie shops going up lately and they all sell milk chocolate chip cookies. Obviously they are popular, and they sell a ton, but for me it's way too sweet. If you really really prefer milk chocolate, you can swap it out. But my version is semi-sweet. 
• Butter only! And you want it to be just a bit firmer than room temperature.
• Add cornstarch. Cornstarch helps your cookies stay chewy. Mmm!
• Chill the dough. I know this is annoying when all you want is to eat a cookie! But it's worth it. It helps keep the dough from spreading too much and flattening out.
• Don't overdo it! Two of the biggest mistakes of cookie making are overbaking and overmixing. You want to take the cookies out of the oven when the edges are barely darker than the middle. They may seem underdone, but just trust me! And each time you mix the batter, you want to stop when the ingredients are just combined so that the cookie will stay chewy.