Pretzel Dogs

Let's talk hot dogs.  Pretty much all kids love them, right? Mine would probably eat them every day if I allowed it.  I loved them as a kid, too.  In fact, I recall eating them cold and straight out of the package as a snack.  Um, gross.  I know.  Hot dogs aren't generally something that call out to me these days.  I eat them when there is a fire and s'mores involved, but given a choice I  pretty much always choose a burger over a dog.  But these pretzel dogs? These are a whole different story and I need these in my life.  I think you just might, too.  

These babies have been making regular appearances at our dinner table for the last three years.  Each time I make these I am reminded of my awesome mom and the fun after-school snacks she made for us as kids.  She is adventurous in the kitchen and has never been afraid to try anything new, so we got lots of fun and delicious things to eat as a result of her experimenting.  Soft pretzels were probably my favorite on that list.  Whenever I walked the in the door and smelled them I thought she was the coolest mom ever.  I still do.  Now my kids love to help me “roll out the snakes” and make these pretzel dogs.  It is one of their favorite dinners and I feel like I cool mom when I make them.

Traditionally, soft pretzels are boiled in a baking soda bath before baking, but one day I was feeling lazy and decided I would try to skip that step to save some time and dirty dishes.  I was so happy with the results because it turned this recipe into a realistic dinner that didn’t make a huge mess or require a ton of time.  I found that if you dissolve the baking soda in super hot water and dunk each pretzel dog you still get the distinct tangy pretzel flavor without the extra hassle. Unnecessary dishes are the worst.  

I’m a mustard lover and love to dunk these in regular ol’ yellow mustard and ketchup.  The hubs is a dijon kinda guy and the kids usually go for just ketchup.  Regardless of dipping preferences, these pretzel dogs get gobbled up quickly every time I make them and some kind of battle over the leftovers is usually involved.

While we're talking hot dogs, I have to tell you that I discovered some super yummy hot dogs this week.  Usually I buy Nathan's or Hebrew National.  But I bought these on a whim and they kinda blew me away.  Park's Finest Ballpark Beef franks.  We tried the "Signature Seasoned" flavor and my hubby even commented that they were really good and well seasoned.  Huge bonus: made with 100% beef, no nitrates or nitrities, and no artificial preservatives.  This isn't an ad and I'm not getting paid to say this, I just love you and felt like you should know. 

 - Leesh

Pretzel Dogs

Printable Version

Ingredients:

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1 ½ cups warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon instant yeast

4 ½ cups All Purpose Flour, give or take a few tablespoons

2 teaspoons Salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups hot water

¼ cup baking soda

Coarse salt for sprinkling

12 hot dogs *see note below

Directions:

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In the bowl of a mixer, add 1 1/2 cups warm water, sugar, and instant yeast. To that mixture add the oil, salt, and 3 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix on low until all the flour is incorporated. Once flour is incorporated, begin adding the remaining cup a couple of tablespoons at a time until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should begin to form a ball around the dough hook. Knead for about 5 minutes. You should have a fairly stiff, pliable dough--not dry. Cover with a lid and let rise at room temperature for about an hour or until doubled in size. (You can speed this up by putting your dough in a warmer spot.)

Preheat oven to 425. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone liners, foil, or parchment. If using foil or parchment, grease it or your pretzels will stick!

In a small loaf pan, combine 2 cups of hot water (as hot as it comes from the tap is fine) and baking soda. Allow it to sit and dissolve while you roll out the dough. Remove hot dogs from package and pat them dry with a paper towel. This will help the dough stick to the hot dog better. Divide dough into 12 equal portions. On a clean and lightly greased work surface, roll the dough out into a rope about 24 inches long--you may want yours longer or shorter depending on how long your hot dogs are. Tightly wrap a pretzel rope around each hot dog pinching the end to help it stay in place. I like to let the ends peek out. Dunk each hot dog in the baking soda solution and set it on a cooling rack to drip. While they are wet, sprinkle with coarse salt. Once all the hot dogs have been dunked, transfer them to the baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until they have a nice color and the hot dogs are heated all the way through. Serve immediately with ketchup and your favorite mustard for dipping.

Notes:

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Most hot dogs come in packages of 8--so I usually only make 8 pretzel dogs and then make 3 or 4 plain soft pretzels with the remaining dough in this recipe.

Recipe Source:

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Inspired by and adapted from Joy the Baker
Originally posted on landeelu.com

Aloha Chicken Salad

It's still technically spring, but it feels like summertime.  During the summer, I love finding meals I can make without turning on the oven. We have A/C so I still do use the oven when I want/need to, but I love an easy meal I can whip up without heating up the house. Is anyone else with me on that?  

This chicken salad is just that.  I even made the soft wrap bread and guess what, no oven for that either (recipe for the soft wrap bread here).  Double win!  You can also serve this just plain, in a pita pocket or on a buttery croissant roll.

My mother-in-law made a recipe book for me (I've mentioned before) before my husband and I got married with lots of favorite recipes from their family. I've come to love so many of them and 8 years later, still haven't tried them all.  This recipe was one from here book, it was one that my sister-in-law shared with the family.  It's super yummy and there is no wonder why it keeps getting shared.  

I hope you'll have time to enjoy it this summer! 

-Lu

Aloha Chicken Salad

Printable Version {Click Here}

Ingredients:

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For the Salad:

¼ cup canola oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 clove garlic or ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 chicken breasts

4 cups fresh pineapple, diced

¾ cup celery, chopped

½ cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

¾ cup pecans, toasted

2 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)

1 small can mandarin oranges, drained (juice reserved)

Dressing:

½ cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon chicken base or 1 chicken bullion cube

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons mandarin orange juice

Directions:

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Combine oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper in a bag or shallow container, add chicken and turn to coat - let marinate for 4-12 hours.  Grill on BBQ until chicken is cooked through.  Dice the chicken and add it to a large mixing bowl. If you prefer not to grill the chicken, just shred 3 cups of chicken.

Add chopped pineapple, celery, coconut, green onion (reserving the oranges to toss last) to the mixing bowl with the chicken.

In a separate small bowl, combine the mayo, chicken base/bouillon (stir til smooth - no lumps), add in nutmeg and orange juice.  Pour dressing over the salad and toss to coat.  Then gently fold in the mandarin oranges, they are more delicate so you add them last so they don't break up too much.

Serve as is or in soft wrap bread or pita bread.

Enjoy!

Notes:

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If you don't want to use grilled chicken you can sub in shredded chicken.  If you use shredded chicken you can skip the first 6 ingredients which are part of the marinade.

Also, I like my salads not overly dressed, so if you love dressing you might want to double or 1 ½ the dressing recipe.

Recipe Source:

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Originally posted on Dessert Now, Dinner Later. This recipe was adapted from a recipe given to me by my sister-in-law, Jayna M., who got it from a friend.

Avocado Sandwich

Any other avocado lovers out there? I loooove avocados! I think I hated them til I was about 23 or 24 and then I discovered what real guacamole tasted like (not the fake stuff you buy in a tub with preservatives and garbage) and I have never been able to turn back.  I try to keep them on hand for this yummy avocado sandwich I'm sharing with you today and also for guacamole, bean dip (which FYI is not required to be made to look like a spiderweb), etc.

A few weeks ago our local Sprouts had avocados 3/$1, which was a steal, so I bought 9. And don't you worry, we put them to good use and ate them all up before they could go bad. I had this sandwich multiple times that week. 

My friend Becky, introduced me to this sandwich one day when we met them at their pool.  It's so simple to make. It's good for you and tastes delicious.  I love that!  You simply toast some bread, butter it, top it with whatever cheese you want, some sliced avocado, salt/pepper, lime juice, and your choice of spinach, lettuce or sunflower sprouts (which add an incredible nutty flavor).  You can make it in 2 minutes or so and it just hits the spot for me any afternoon.

I hope you'll love it as much as I do. 

-Lu

Avocado Sandwich

Printable Version {Click Here}  

Yield: 1 Sandwich

Ingredients:

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2 slices bread, toasted & buttered

1-2 slices cheese (any kind, I usually use Colby, Monterey Jack or Provolone)

1 small avocado, sliced

sea salt & pepper, sprinkled to taste

½ lime, juiced

Spinach, lettuce or sunflower sprouts

Directions:

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Toast two peice of sandwich bread and butter the sides that will be inside the sandwich. Top one of the buttered sides with cheese, and sliced avocado (I use ½-1 avocado), sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper to taste, and drizzle with lime juice.  Top with spinach, lettuce or sunflower sprouts (I love the nutty flavor from the sunflower sprouts) and the remaining piece of toasted bread.  

Enjoy!

Recipe Source:

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From my good friend, Becky Nelson.

Ham & Potato Blender Quiche

If you've been following our blog since the beginning, then you might remember the Crustless Blender Quiche I posted back in 2011 (back when my picture taking skills were very lacking to say the least).  I wasn't really well acquainted with quiche until I married my husband.  And since this blender quiche has been in the family for quite some time it was one of the recipes that was in the recipe book I got from his mom and my bridal shower. I had asked her to write down all of their family favorite recipes when we were engaged so I could learn to make them.  I love having this book!  

Here is the cute book she gave me with several family favorite recipes. It's been the best gift to have so many favorites of the family written down. We enjoy a lot of them on a fairly regular basis.  The quiche is no exception. 

Recently I've been experimenting with different flavors for the quiche - and I've found two favorites. So this recipes varies slightly from the original quiche.  This quiche has mashed potatoes and ham in it.  It's still just as simple to make. 

You start by greasing a baking dish and sprinkling in some diced ham, green onion and some grated cheese. 

Then you top it with a mixture that of blended eggs, milk, salt, pepper, optional seasonings, chicken broth, flour and baking powder (or you can use a hand mixer if you don't have a blender). 

Bake it for about 45-55 minutes until it's golden on top and the egg mixture is cooked through, and serve it up.  {Printable Recipe below}

This is something we generally enjoy for dinner. But it would be equally as good for lunch or brunch! 

Enjoy!

I'd also like to thank Patience Brewster (unique Christmas ornament designer), who posted about the roots to our recipes.  I really enjoyed the read.  This post has inspired me to share lots of other family staples and we have been enjoying for years.  I love connecting our family history to the food we eat. After all, food is what keeps us alive and going and is a huge part of family life and getting together, so I love these old time recipes that we can keep enjoying through the generations! 

Ham & Potato Blender Quiche

Printable Version {Click Here}

Ingredients:

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1 ½ cups ham, diced

2 green onions, chopped

½ - 1 cup cheese, grated (Colby or cheddar)

¾ cup mashed potatoes

1 cup milk

½ cup chicken broth

½ teaspoon salt/garlic salt

5 eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ cup water

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash (optional)

Directions:

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grease a 1 ½ to 2 quart size baking dish (9x9 should work great too) with spray grease or butter. Sprinkle diced ham, green onion and cheese evenly over the bottom of the dish.

3. in a 6 cup+ blender (you can also use a hand-mixer and bowl if you don’t have a blender) combine milk, mashed potato, chicken broth, salt, eggs, flour, baking powder, water, pepper and Mrs. Dash or other seasoning of choice.  Blend on high until mixed well.

4. Immediately pour blended mixture over the ham/onion/cheese in the baking dish. (if you don’t the mixture kind of separates, so if you wait a minute or two give it a quick pulse in the blender to incorporate it.

5. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden on top and you can stick a toothpick or chopstick in to see if the egg mixture is cooked. Let it cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source:

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A Leesh & Lu original, by Lu (inspired by my mother-in-law’s quiche recipe). Originally posted on landeelu.com

Chicken Pesto Pasta

  

Are you a pesto person?  It seems that there are only lovers and haters and not many in-betweeners.  I'm definitely a lover.  I love it on garlic toast, pizza, spread on sandwiches or stirred into pasta.   This dish is a favorite and is so quick to make.  It's also a perfect dinner as the weather warms up because you don't have to turn the oven on and heat up your whole house.  

This dish is stupidly simple and comes together in no time at all–especially if you already have cooked chicken on hand.  It’s sophisticated enough to serve to dinner guests, but familiar enough to please little ones.  If you happen to have leftovers, they are delicious eaten warm or cold. 3 hoorays for versatile, quick, family-pleasing meals!

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Printable Version

Ingredients:

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1 pound angel hair pasta

2 cups cooked, diced or shredded chicken

½ -¾ cup prepared basil pesto (see note)

½ cup feta cheese crumbles

2-3 roma tomatoes, diced

Grated asiago or parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:

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Break pasta in half and cook according to package directions. Using tongs, toss chicken, pesto, feta cheese, tomatoes, and hot cooked noodles together until well combined and evenly distributed. Serve immediately topping each serving with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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Notes:

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I like to get by pesto at Sam’s club in the refrigerated section by the cheeses and salsa.  It comes in a giant jar and ounce for ounce is a lot cheaper than buying the shelf-stable stuff on the pasta aisle at the grocery store.  I usually freeze it in 1 cup increments and pull it out of the freezer the morning I plan to use it.

Recipe Source:

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Leesh and Lu Original--by Alycia

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken {Moist & Tender}

Disclaimer: If you are one of the people that despise the word "moist", then you may want to skip this post altogether.  ;) I had a friend once tell me that she couldn't stand the word.  I thought she was just weird, but one day I realized that it's a real thing.  People really hate the "m" word.  Anyway, if you want to know how to cook non-dry, hydrated chicken breasts, then stick around.  If you can't stand the word just leave and come back another day.

I don't know about you, but I have several recipes that I need shredded chicken for.  After a few years of getting dry chicken every time I put it in the slow cooker, I finally found a way to make it moist, so it actually shreds easily with two forks and tastes good because it's not all dry and touch.  Before I would always get tough, dry chicken that was nearly impossible to shred - and made me want to say lots of bad words! I won't name those for you.

Another great thing about this chicken is you can do a big batch - as much as will fit in your slow cooker. Leesh often does up to 6 pounds and then freezes about 2 cups in each freezer bag and freezes it for easy and quick use for later. It makes quick dinners that much easier when you are short on time. 

This method has proven to Leesh and me to be easy to make, easy to shred, and perfect to use in our favorite chicken dishes.  In fact there are 2 ways. An easy way and an even easier way. 

So here it is: 

STEP 1

Salt (and pepper!) your chicken, both sides.  

There is a chemistry thing with salt and protein. 

If you salt it beforehand it helps it not be so tough and dry. 

STEP 2

(optional - but highly recommended for a better flavor.  

I know, it will dirty another pan, but it's worth it!) 

Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a hot skillet and cook the chicken for a couple minutes on each side until you get a nice sear. 

STEP 3

Place chicken in a slow cooker with about 1/4 cup of water per pound of chicken. If you skipped the searing step, then drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil per pound of chicken over the chicken. Cover with the lid and let it cook on low for 4-6 hour or on high for 2-3 (depending on your crock-pot it might need more or less time). 

 

STEP 4

To make sure the chicken is done, test it with a meat thermometer and make sure it reaches 165 degrees F. Once it's reached temperature you can turn it off or to warm depending on how soon you plan to use it. I don't like to let it over cook.  

STEP 5

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board and allow to rest for 5 minutes.  With two forks pull the meat apart until it's as shredded as you like.  Or be a rebel and use a knife to cut it into small pieces.  Whatev. (Sometimes I even put it in my Bosch with my cookie paddles and shred it really quick - and I have a pretty tough hand mixer that will shred it if I place it in a big bowl and turn it on medium to high).

Now you can add your shredded chicken to your favorite meals calling for cooked chicken. It's easy, it's simple, and the meat should shred nicely. Now my kids don't have to learn curse words from me!  Enjoy! 

See below for a printable version of the recipe  -  this includes a few more notes and tips. 

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Printable Version {Click Here}

Ingredients:

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1 pound chicken

Salt & pepper to sprinkle

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Notes:

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If you want to do a big batch of this shredded chicken you can do as much as you can fit in your slow cooker. Leesh likes to do about 6 pounds and then freeze about two cups of it in a freezer bag for quick and easy use.  

You can use as much chicken as will fit in your slow cooker.  Just use ¼ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil per pound of meat (skip the oil if you sear it -see below).

Directions:

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1. Salt and pepper chicken on both sides.  

2. (optional but recommended) Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a hot skillet and cook the chicken for a couple minutes on each side until you get a nice sear.

3. Place the chicken in the slow cooker with about ¼ cup of water per poud of chicken that you are doing.  If you skipped the searing drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil per pound of chicken over the chicken and cover with the lid.

4. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 (time may vary depending on your slow cooker).  Check temperature to make sure it reaches 165 degrees F.  I try not to over cook my chicken so it’s not dry and tough.  

5.Remove chicken from the slow cooker, reserving the liquid, and place it on a cutting board, let it rest for 5 minutes. Shred with two forks by pulling the meat apart. Or cut with a knife or use cookie paddles in Bosch or other stand mixer.   Add as much liquid as you think is necessary back to the meat - this helps it stay moist in whatever dish you are making.  

6. Add it to any meal calling for cooked chicken.

Recipe Source:

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A Leesh & Lu original

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