Monday Meals: Greek Chicken

This is what last week Thursday in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen looked like: Rebecca quizzing Sawyer on her fridge facts while tying soccer cleat laces, and Kevin cutting the grass that resembled a wild prairie; and not a residential backyard. There was dinner left in the fridge with simple cooking instructions as Rebecca took Sawyer to soccer practice. It was a long, stupid, stressful day that ended with the entire family seated around the dinner table enjoying a meal together. It's the little things, right?

FYI: our backyard still looks bad, but less like the prairie it did last week. Baby steps.

So, the most important question: what did we have for dinner? Greek Chicken. It's one of our recent recipe finds, and new favorites. It's easy to throw together, minimal ingredients and DELICIOUS! If you're tired of the same old, same old chicken breasts; this is a fresh, tasty recipe to try. 

Greek Chicken
Recipe courtesy of: The Pinning Mama

INGREDIENTS

3-4 chicken breasts
2 Roma tomatoes
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
2-3 green onions
1 Tbsp Greek seasoning (We used Hidden Valley)
¾ Cup Feta cheese
¼ Cup olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Dice the tomatoes, artichokes, and green onions.
Combine the chopped veggies in a bowl with ½ cup feta, olive oil, and greek seasoning and mix well to combine the flavors.

Lay your chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with baking spray.
Spread the veggie mixture over top of the chicken breasts evenly and sprinkle the remaining feta cheese over the top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350?F for 40-50 minutes or until the chicken is done and the juices run clear.

The original recipe recommended serving the chicken over rice or pita bread, but it was perfect just the way it was. We even considered serving it on top of a pizza crust for Friday night dinner. 

Next time you find yourself with chicken breast boredom, you'll have the perfect recipe to try out!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Friday Fun: Beef Tomato Stewp

Spring in Wisconsin goes a little something like this:

Cold
Cold 
Cold and Rain
Sunshine and Warmth
Cold 
Cold 
Cold & Rain

UGH!!! Is it too much to ask for to have more than one day of sunshine and warmth? Sawyer wants to play in the yard without three layers of clothes, our grass needs to be cut, and the dogs need to be groomed. That last one has nothing to do with spring; it's just a reminder to call the groomers this week.

The only silver lining is that we're still enjoying lots of hearty soups and stews; because we need food to stick to our bones. So much for working on our summer bodies! This past week we tried a delicious, hearty one-pot meal that warmed us up, and got dinner on the table in half an hour. 

The meal was originally described as a "soup" but by the time it cooked down, it was more of a stew. So we've dubbed this one a "stewp". If you're looking for a thinner broth, feel free to add more broth when you add the noodles to the recipe. Also, this would be a great meal to customize and add vegetables to: peppers, mushrooms, or celery and carrots would all be great additions.

Beef Tomato Stewp
Recipe courtesy of: Mantitlement

Ingredients
¾ lb. ground beef
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 (23.5) oz jar of pasta sauce
4 cups of chicken stock
½ cup of cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups elbow macaroni or short-tubed pasta
¼ cup fresh chopped basil, divided

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion softens.

Add the ground beef to the onions, breaking up with a spoon and cook until no longer pink, then add the minced garlic and stir.

Next add the salt, pepper and oregano to the beef and stir to combine.
Now you can pour in the chicken stock and the pasta sauce, scraping the bottom of the pot as you stir.

Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Whisk in the cream cheese until it;s all mixed in and then add ½ of the fresh basil.
Pour in the pasta, stir and let cook for another 10 minutes with the lid on.
Spoon into bowls and garnish with the leftover basil.

This was an easy weeknight dinner to throw together, and made enough for lunch the next day. Fingers crossed we can start enjoying some of our favorite summertime recipes soon!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: Going Bananas

A few weeks ago, the Wisconsin Test Kitchen was out grocery shopping; and found bananas on sale for 49 cents a pound. Needless to say, we STOCKED UP. Between smoothies, muffins and just eating them plain: we go through an absurd amount of bananas in our house.

However, perhaps purchasing 3 large bunches of bananas was a bit excessive. So, we went into baking and freezing of muffin mode (remember last week's blog?). But during all our shopping; we forgot to stock up on flour and sugar for Muffin Madness. Oops. 

Thanks to Pinterest, we quickly found a recipe for banana muffins that used oat flour (quick cooking oats ground up in the food processor), and no sugar. Done! Next thing we knew, we had two dozen muffins cooling, and the banana surplus was finally gone. Thanks, Pinterest!

Banana Oat Muffins
Recipe courtesy of: Chelsea's Messy Apron

INGREDIENTS
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup (~2 bananas) ripe mashed bananas
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 and 1/2 cups oat flour (blended oats)
2/3 cup quick oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a muffin tin and set aside. Do not use muffin liners as these muffins will stick to the liners.

In a large bowl, beat together the Greek yogurt and the bananas. Make sure your bananas were ripe and are well mashed to avoid large banana chunks. Beat in the eggs, vanilla extract, and brown sugar.

Meanwhile in a blender or food processor blend quick oats or old fashioned oats to form a flour consistency. Make sure to measure the oat flour AFTER it has been blended and not before.

In a separate bowl, stir together the oat flour, the quick oats (MUST be quick oats not steel cut or old fashioned), cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Over mixing will result in dense muffins. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cavities. These muffins don't rise too much so use all the batter in the 12 cavities.
Bake for 17-20 minutes. Remove and allow to slightly cool and then pull them out of the muffin pan onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Store these muffins in an airtight container or bag in the fridge (warm in the microwave before eating) and enjoy or freeze within 3 days.

The muffins turned out awesome: the oatmeal made them hearty, and the chocolate added a nice pop of sweetness. It was an excellent use of the last bananas we had; but we're really hoping not to see any more sales going forward...

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Friday Fun: Cool Dads Hit the Road!

Recently Doug in the Arkansas Test Kitchen traveled to Atlanta for work training. While he was there, he had the opportunity to try some new restaurants; and wanted to share his experience with us! If you're planning on hitting the A-T-L anytime soon, check out Doug's blog post below!

Here at Cool Dads Cook, we share easy-to-cook recipes that any dad or mom can prepare. However, what about vacation time? Summer is on its way; and we know a lot of families have fun vacations planned. We love to try new and local establishments while on the road. But instead of eating at chain restaurants all the time- we wanted to focus on local flavor and even more importantly- local beer!

My first night in Atlanta, I had to have a nice juicy steak from Outback. Hey! The company had given me $50.00 for supper; so I had to try to use it!  However the next day I went to the hotel concierge to ask where I could have a great dinner, and maybe even a beer. Cool Dads Travel Tip: always talk to your hotel staff- they can steer you to the best restaurants that are not overly “touristy” places to eat.

The hotel staff directed me to Harvest Moon Cafe; where I had one of the best stuffed pork chops ever; and there was a microbrewery next door! 

My third night out, I ventured over to Brewhouse Music and Grill where I tried a burger sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches. They called it The Widowmaker. 

One of my favorite microbrewed beers is from Terrapin Brewery. It's hard to find Terrapin in Arkansas, so you can imagine my joy when I found it at the Terrapin Tap House in the Atlanta Airport! 

Atlanta was a blast: I met some great co-workers, I learned a lot in training and I even made time for food and drinks. I was glad I tried some new places, and supported local businesses. We encourage all our readers to head off the beaten path while traveling, and try something new and different.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Monday Meals: Apple Barbecue Pork Chops

Every once in a while, we stumble across a recipe SO GOOD, that both Test Kitchens need to try it. That happened last week. Doug found a pork chop recipe, and texted the Wisconsin Test Kitchen telling them how amazing it was. Two days later, the Wisconsin Test Kitchen had it for dinner. This doesn't happen often, so when it does- take our delicious advice!! Make this recipe for dinner this week!

Apple Barbecue Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy of: A Clean Bake

Ingredients
2 large tart apples (we used Granny Smith)
1 medium onion
4 large thick cut pork chops
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup water

Instructions

Thinly slice your apples and onions and transfer them to the crockpot. Toss them together gently to combine and spread the mixture to cover the base of the bowl.

Place the pork chops on top of the apple and onion mixture, spacing them evenly apart from one another.

In a small bowl, whisk together the barbecue sauce and water (we added extra sauce). 

Pour the runny sauce over the pork chops, making sure each one is evenly coated.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or until the juices run clear.
Serve immediately.

This was one of the easiest dinners to throw together, we started the crock pot before we left for soccer practice, and by the time we got home (and were frozen solid, since spring has decided to skip Wisconsin all together!); we had a delicious warm dinner. 

Add this meal to your weeknight dinner rotation- we promise you won't be disappointed!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Friday Fun: Under Pressure (Cooker)

Cool Dads love nothing more than a new kitchen gadget to play with. A few months back, the Wisconsin Test Kitchen was gifted with a pressure cooker to try making homemade chicken stock. Seriously: the amount of money we spend on chicken stock every two weeks at the grocery store is ridiculous. It's time to learn to make our own. 

But, the poor pressure cooker has sat in the basement unused for months. Until last week! Kevin came home from work with five pounds of beautiful beef short ribs, and we needed to find a way to cook them quickly. Pressure cooker to the rescue! It just so happened our pressure cooker cookbook had a recipe for short ribs, and we had all the ingredients. That almost never happens. It was obviously meant to be. 

If you haven't cooked with a pressure cooker before, make sure to read the instruction manual and do your homework: you don't want to blow up your kitchen. But once you determine if you're cooking on high or low pressure, you're good to. Once you get the hang of it, your pressure cooker can be the most versatile tool in your kitchen: we mentioned making stock, but you can use it for canning and preserving, and to cook thick cuts of meat quickly. Our short ribs were done in 35 minutes and were incredibly tender and juicy. We're already trying to figure out the next thing we can cook with it! Bonus points- pressure cookers are fairly inexpensive, depending on the size you want. This is the model we have:
Granite Ware Pressure Cooker

We also received a cookbook with a ton of different recipes in it:
Great Food Fast; which is where the short rib recipe came from! 

Bacon & Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

5 strips bacon
3-4lbs. bone-in short ribs, trimmed of excess fat
salt and pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup red wine
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons cornstarch, whisked into 1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

With the cooker's lid off, heat bacon on high, until nearly crisp. Remove bacon, coarsely chop, and set aside.

Sprinkle short ribs with a generous amount of salt and pepper, and add to the bacon grease in the cooker to brown on both sides. 

Add chopped bacon and remaining ingredients (except for cornstarch and butter), and securely lock the pressure cooker's lid. Set the cooker for 35 minutes on high. 

Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before performing a quick-release for any remaining pressure.

Transfer the cooked short ribs to a serving platter and set the cooker to high until the cooking liquid is simmering. Whisk the cornstarch and water mixture into the liquid and cook 2 minutes, until thickened. Stir in butter and a pinch of salt and pepper before ladling the sauce over the short ribs to serve. 

So, what say you, loyal readers? Have you cooked with pressure cookers in the past? What are some of your favorite recipes? Or, do you have a new kitchen gadget you're loving? Leave us a note in the comments section!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: Apple Pie Muffins

After months of looking, Rebecca in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen finally landed a new job! Cue the champagne bottles popping and the applause. But, it's been an interesting adjustment after having her off work for a few months. The whole family needs to start pitching in to get laundry done, the house cleaned and food prepped. 

On her last day of "sabbatical", Rebecca made four dozen muffins to keep in the freezer for easy breakfasts during the week. Both Sawyer and her cousin Penny are obsessed with Rebecca's Banana Muffins, but we thought we'd mix it up and try Apple Pie Muffins as well! The Greek yogurt adds a nice pack of protein (without the fat), and the sweet, crumbly topping on these muffins actually tastes like pie crust! All members of the Wisconsin Test Kitchen gave these muffins two big thumbs up. 

Apple Pie Muffins
Recipe courtesy of: Chelsea's Messy Apron

Ingredients

Muffins
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup peeled and chopped apple (we used Granny Smith)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Crisp cinnamon sugar topping
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons quick oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown sugar, not packed
2 and 1/4 tablespoons oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9 cavities of a muffin tin and lightly flour. Do not use muffin liners as these muffins will stick to them. Set aside.

In a large bowl, pour in the flour. Remove 1 tablespoon of the flour and return it to the flour container. Add in the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until combined.

In another bowl, mix together a large egg, Greek yogurt, olive oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Mix until well combined.

Peel and finely chop the apple. Toss with the lemon juice and discard any extra lemon juice that doesn't coat the apples. Toss with the flour mixture. (this is important to keep the apples dispersed evenly throughout the muffins).

Mix the wet and dry ingredients until JUST combined. Over-mixing yields denser muffins.

Fill up 9 muffin cavities evenly with the mixture -- each cavity will be a little over 3/4ths the way full.

In another bowl, toss together the flour, quick oats, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Pour in the olive oil and mix to combine. Add a bit more oil if too dry or a bit more flour if too wet.

Top each muffin evenly with this crisp topping.

Fill the empty cavities of the muffin tin with water to ensure even baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a fork when inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the muffins from the tin. Use a spoon to coax the muffins out after about 5-10 minutes.

Store muffins in an airtight container in the fridge. Warm in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before enjoying if desired. Muffins best enjoyed within 3 days.

YUM! These muffins might be our new favorite go-to breakfast. Whether or not they're better than the Banana Muffins is still to be determined...

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew