On of my favorite salads is the brussels sprouts salad from The Wedge in OKC, but it is not always on the menu. This week I decided to make my own. For the dressing I combined Dijon mustard, maple syrup and red wine vinegar. That dressing on thinly sliced raw sprouts with a few sliced sun dried tomatoes. It was perfect and I will for sure make it again. I know this isn’t an earth shattering recipe to share…but for those who like sprouts it is yummy and you should make it.

I saw this recipe for Man Pleasing Chicken on Pinterest and of course had to try it. Of course with a few changes….

• Chicken thighs- 1 package – I used 4 skinless, boneless breast
• Dijon mustard- 1/2 cup
• Maple syrup- 1/4 cup
• Rice wine vinegar- 1 tablespoon
• Fresh rosemary – GROSS – I used dried Italian seasoning instead.
• Salt and pepper

So I did basically what she did – but a few minor changes. I sprinkled the chicken with salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning.

Then coated with the mix of mustard, maple syrup and rice wine vinegar.

Halfway through cooking I thought it needed more sauce, so I made another 1/2 batch and dumped that in.

Next time I will just double it from the start and be done. I  baked at 425 for about 40 minutes, basting a few times. Next time I will line the pan with foil…it was a bitch to clean! But overall….thumbs up.

Sometimes I see cool things on Pinterest…then I see them a billion times. Somewhere around half a million and I decide I am against it. For no reason other than that I have seen it too much. I felt this way about Cauliflower Pizza. Then Bonham started buying into this healthy eating gig and wanted to mark off all the food groups, so I gave in and tried it. Bonham ate it. And asked for it the next night. And RBB ate it too. A billion Pinterest pics or not, this recipe is a keeper. I used this one by Stick a Fork In It, but used 1/2 the cheese. Make sure to grease the pan well, mine stuck.

This was a Pinterest win, but if I see any bows made of hair or if anyone hands me a peppermint tray I’m going to freak out.

It was REALLY hard for me to follow this recipe. I wanted to try it because I always need good slow cooker recipes. It was hard for me to follow because I wanted to change it to fit what I know about cooking. I wanted to brown the beef. I wanted to caramelize the onions. I wanted to use wine instead of apple juice….but I was out of wine. So I followed the recipe. I didn’t do any browning or caramelizing. I just threw it all in the cooker to see what would happen. It didn’t go well…and I ended up having to ad lib. So I started here:

• 8 sprig(s) fresh thyme,  plus 1 tsp leaves (I didn’t have fresh so I used a tbs of dried Italian seasoning)
• 1 can(s) low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup(s) apple juice
• 4 medium carrots,  cut into 1/4-in. pieces
• 2  onions,  thinly sliced
• 1.5 pound(s) lean beef stew meat,  trimmed and cut into 1/2-in. pieces
•  Kosher salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour
• 4  thick slices country bread
• 4 ounce(s) Gruyère or Swiss cheese,  grated (about 1 cup)

1. Tie a piece of thread or kitchen twine around the thyme sprigs and place them in a 5- to 6-qt slow cooker. Add the chicken broth, apple juice, carrots and onions and mix to combine.
2. Season the beef with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper; sprinkle with the flour. Add the beef and any excess flour to the slow cooker and mix to combine. Cook, covered, until the beef and vegetables are tender, 7 to 8 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high.
3. When the stew has 10 minutes left to cook, heat the broiler. Place the bread on a foil-lined broiler-proof baking sheet. Sprinkle with the cheese and remaining tsp thyme. Broil until the cheese starts to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon the stew into bowls and top with the Gruyère toasts.

I tasted it after 6 hours and I didn’t like it. It was ok. It was beef stew. It lacked the French Onion Soup quality I wanted. Excuse me for sounding like a Top Chef judge, but it lacked depth. So I did what any normal (not normal) person would do. I picked through the stew and salvages the broth, beef and carrots. I tosses all the onions. Then I sliced an onion paper thin and put it on the stove…low and slow for about 30 minutes until the onions were brown and gooey and caramelized. Then I added those into the slow cooker. Much better. Next time I would follow my instinct and caramelize the onions and brown the beef before putting them into the slow cooker.

I loved this post awhile back about getting her son to try broccoli by making it a science experiment. In line with that, we tried eggs. I want to do veggies…but baby steps. Bonham eats scrambled eggs and the whites on fried eggs. More than anything I did this just for fun. I wanted to get him into the idea of trying something in multiple forms.

The verdict:

Scrambled are his favorite. Next up are fried and as long as I cook the yoke, he said that it is ok to eat and he kind of likes it. Hard boiled came in last. The white was ok, but the yolk was a no go.

I’m thinking maybe I can get him to do carrots next. He likes them raw – if I can get him to try roasted and steamed and maybe he likes one, that might be a gateway to trying other veggies. I’ll keep you posted…that’s what blogging is all about right?