Lemon Oregano Chicken

We are not big red-meat eaters in our house, so we end up eating a LOT of chicken. Pair that with a couple of finicky eaters and I am perpetually searching for new ways to prepare chicken. I came up with this recipe and it was a crowd-pleaser!

LEMON OREGANO CHICKEN

Ingredients:

• 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth
• 1 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 3 T Butter

Directions:

• Flatten chicken breasts to desired thickness. 
• Mix garlic powder, pepper, salt, and 1 tsp oregano in a baggie. 
• Sprinkle mixture generously onto both sides of chicken. You won't need all of the spice mixture, so keep remaining spice mixture in baggie for next time you make this recipe.
• Melt butter in skillet and add chicken.
• Cook chicken until both sides are nice and browned.
• Reduce heat to low and move chicken to plate.
• Mix chicken broth with juice of half a lemon and corn starch.
• Pour broth mixture into pan and stir around to loosen brown bits from bottom. Bring to a boil until it begins to thicken. Reduce heat.
• Add chicken back to pan and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of oregano over top. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken cooked through.
• If you want it to look fancy, garnish with a lemon slice. 
• Enjoy!

BON APPETIT!
-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Valentine Stained Glass Cookie Pops

I know as a Desperate "Craft"wife, I should be coming up with all kinds of cutesy Valentine crafts, but with my insatiable sweet tooth, all I can think of are Valentine treats! Fortunately I have my son's Kindergarten class and several neighbors who are happy to take the goodies off my hands so they don't end up in my belly. First up......Valentine Stained Glass Cookie Pops!

What You Need:

• Your favorite sugar cookie recipe (I always use this one: Best Rolled Sugar Cookies )
• Red colored hard candies - crushed (I used 1 bag of Wild Cherry Lifesavers and crushed them up in my Magic Bullet).  You can use red Jolly Ranchers too.
• Your favorite icing (my favorite is Sugar Cookie Icing, but with vanilla extract instead of almond)
• Heart shaped cookie cutters in 2 sizes
• Lollipop Sticks
• Parchment Paper

How You Make them:

• Prepare and thoroughly chill sugar cookie dough.
• Roll out dough and cut heart shape using larger cookie cutter. Use the smaller heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out the inside and remove (or just bake the mini heart separately).
• Place heart cookie onto PARCHMENT-LINED cookie sheet (I cannot stress the importance of using parchment paper enough!). 
• Use a small spoon to fill center of cookie with crushed red candies.

• Place lollipop stick under bottom of heart so cookie will bake around it.
• Bake according to cookie recipe directions.
• Remove from oven. You may want to use a toothpick to push the melted candy all the way to the edges if it didn't get there or to pop any air bubbles that may have formed.
• Leave cookies on the cookie sheet to cool, allowing melted candy to harden.
• Once cool, frost as desired!

Have a Sweet Valentine's Day!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
www.whipperberry.com
http://twosucculentsisters.blogspot.com/

Target Gift Card GIVEAWAY

So excited to be part of this amazing GIVEAWAY! 

I've partnered with Beth from Through the Eyes of the Mrs. and several other ladies to offer a $125 gift card to Target! I think it is safe to say we all love Target! It is my "go-to" store for everything including clothes, toys, groceries, electronics, etc. and if I wasn't a sponsor, I would so be entering this! 

Be sure to check out all the great bloggers who are sponsoring this giveaway and GOOD LUCK!!!

Shine On Fridays and a GIVEAWAY!

I am really excited to be co-hosting Shine On Friday today with Amy from One Artsy Mama and Kara from Happy Go Lucky. It is one of my favorite linky parties of the week! There are sure to be some amazing projects linked up.

This is the first party I have co-hosted and to celebrate I am giving away a set of 2 Hand Stamped Aluminum Rings to one lucky reader!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Now let's show off our creations and oooh and aaah over the amazing projects posted. I am always inspired by the creativity of others and hope you will be too!


<center> <a href="http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/"><img alt="One Artsy Mama" src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc86/dancers4life/shine3.png"/></a><center> </center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <br /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you'd like to join the Party:</span></strong><br /> <ul> <li><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Link up crafts, recipes, home decor, etc.</span></span></strong></li> <li><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Follow all 3 co-hostesses - <a href="http://www.oneartsymama.com/" target="_blank">One Artsy Mama</a>,  <a href="http://www.happygoluckyblog.com/" target="_blank">Happy Go Lucky</a>, <a href="http://www.thedesperatecraftwives.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Desperate Craftwives</a></span></span></strong></li> <li><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Grab a party button and put it somewhere on your blog</span></span></strong></li> <li><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Be sure to visit others and share the love!</span></span></strong></li> </ul> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking up your photos gives us permission to use them in features on our blogs and Facebook pages.</span><br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"> </div> <div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div> <br /> <!-- start InLinkz script --> <script type="text/javascript"> document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src=http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=231818&' + new Date().getTime() + '"><\/script>');</script> <!-- end InLinkz script --> If you'd like to join the party:

• Please follow your 3 co-hosts: One Artsy Mama, Happy Go Lucky, Desperate Craftwives
• Link up crafts, recipes, home decor, etc.
• Be sure to visit others and share the love! Nobody likes to stand alone in the corner at a party!

Healthy Baked Chicken Fingers

One of my goals this year is to make sure we have peaceful family dinners where both kids stay in their seats and eat whatever I serve (good luck, right?!). 

A typical family dinner up until now involves my 2 1/2 year old running laps around the kitchen island and my 5 year old whining that he doesn't want to eat what I've made and asking me about different scenarios: "What will you do if I take a bite and throw up everywhere?" "Would you be sad if I ate this meal and it was so gross that I fainted and hit my head really hard on the ground and started bleeding everywhere?""If I take one bite, will you give me dessert and buy me a Furby?". You get the idea. 

I have attempted this before, but my patience runs out after a few days and I give up and turn back into a short order cook. But NOT THIS TIME!  I am trying to make meals that are healthy, but the kids will still be willing to eat. We are about a week in and things are going pretty well (knock on wood). One of the most well-received main courses was this recipe for healthy, baked chicken fingers.

BAKED CHICKEN FINGERS

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut into chicken finger shapes) or Chicken Tenderloins
• 1 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• 1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
• 1 T Parsley
• 1/2 T Oregano
• 1/3 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/3 tsp Salt
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 T Dijon Mustard
• Optional: you can also add crushed almonds or pecans to bread crumb mixture

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Line baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
• Mix together milk and dijon mustard in a bowl and set aside.
• Mix remaining ingredients (except chicken) in another bowl or shallow dish.
• Dip chicken pieces in milk mixture, then roll in bread crumb mixture.
• Place coated chicken pieces onto foil-lined baking sheet.
• Bake at 450 for approximately 20 minutes, or until chicken fully cooked and no longer pink in the center.

Bon Appetit!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.whipperberry.com

Top 5 of 2012

Happy New Year! 2012 was a great year for Desperate Craftwives, so THANK YOU to all my followers! I've gone far beyond my goal of 200,000 page views and went from a handful of Facebook followers to over 750! The holidays were a busy time for my Etsy shop too and I have almost reached the milestone of my first 100 sales!

The holidays were a fun & busy time, but didn't leave too much time for crafting, so figured I would jump on the "Top Posts of 2012" bandwagon!

Here they are:

1. Mini Muffin Gift Box

2.She's Ready to POP! Baby Shower Favors

3.Salt Dough Easter Egg Garland

4. The Best Zucchini Bread Ever

5.Teacher Appreciation Dinner & A Movie

I have lots of ideas for projects in 2013 and I know this will be another great year! Stay tuned......

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.whipperberry.com