Pan Seared Chicken Breasts

Sometimes even I, Molly 'Crocker', am not confident in a basic cooking methods and go looking for a tutorial so I don't mess up a meal!  After thinking about this recently, I thought I would share one of my favorite cooking "basics" with you all over here.  If you are ever in need of a yummy, tender, chicken breast for a salad, pasta, sandwich, etc; here's how you can get it!

Enjoy!

Pan Seared Chicken Breasts

1.  Dry off chicken breasts with paper towel.
2.  Rub both sides of the chicken breasts with approximately 1 Tbsp of olive oil.  Season both sides with your desired seasonings or pre-mixed seasoning. (seasoning suggestions: salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, basil, rosemary)
3.  Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
4.  Place chicken breasts in skillet and cook for 8 minutes (resist the urge to flip or mess with the chicken much) - chicken will start to easily move in pan and edges will be opaque.
5. Flip chicken over, cover pan, and lower heat to medium/low.  Cook for another 10 minutes.
6.  Turn heat off and let chicken rest in pan or covered dish for 5-10 minutes (or until the rest of your food is ready).
7. Serve and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Ever remember at 10 pm that you needed to make a pan of bars for the next day?  Maybe for your child's class or a potluck?  Yeah, me either! ;)

This is more a "tip" than a recipe, but if you keep these 2 simple things in your pantry - you'll be ready the next time hectic schedules and life get the best of your memory.  Heck your 10-year-old  or husband could probably whip these up for you too!

So, what do you need in your cupboard...2 Betty Crocker cookie mixes (peanut butter and oatmeal) and some chocolate chips, M&M's, nuts, or whatever your heart pleases.

(And yes, you are seeing empty packaging...I may or may not have had to whip up a batch before I could take a picture of them new.)

And then you end up with these yummy, chewy, EASY bars!!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

1 Pkg Peanut Butter Cookie Mix
1 Pkg Oatmeal Cookie Mix
2 Cups Chips, M&M's, etc
1/3 Cup + 1 Tbsp Oil
3 Tbsp Water
2 Eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix together all ingredients until well combined, stir in chips.  Spread mixture evenly into ungreased 9"x13" pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top.  Let cool for at least 15-20 minutes before cutting.

Tip: How to Make Your Own Buttermilk/Sour Milk

Have a recipe that calls for buttermilk or sour milk and you don't have any in the fridge?

You can easily make your own by taking 1 cup of milk (preferably whole milk) and adding 1 Tbsp vinegar - let sit for 5 minutes.  Woolah - sour milk!

Hard-Boiled Eggs

With Easter only a day away and many of you probably prepping to dye a bunch of eggs - I thought I'd share my steps to achieve the "perfect" boiled egg.  Awhile back I discovered this method in my searches to stop demolishing eggs when I tried to peel them.

In a sauce-pan, cover the eggs with cold water - just to the very top of the eggs.  Cook on high until they reach a medium-rapid boil - immediately set your timer at 9 minutes and turn the burner down to medium/high.  When the timer goes off, immediately remove eggs from heat and run cold water over them.  While running cold water over them, you can rock the pot back and forth, letting the eggs hit the sides, to loosen the egg from the shell (I skipped this step for my eggs I was going to dye to keep from cracking the shells).  Leave the eggs in cool pan, covered in water on counter for a hour or so.  Drain water and peel.

Pretty aren't they?!  Enjoy!

Tip:  use "old" eggs (usually around a week-old), as they seem to peel better.

Tip: Mashing Bananas

I know there are a lot of people when they need ripe, mashed bananas for a recipe just throw them in with the mix whole and let their beater do the "mashing."  I used to be one of those people, but let me tell you there is a difference between mashing them and then putting them in the mix compared to just letting your mixer do the "mashing."

All you want to do is peel your bananas - put on a dinner plate, cutting board, etc and then use a fork to mash.  Because the bananas will already be pretty ripe, you'll really only need to go over them once with the fork.  Easy peasy and believe me, you'll notice a difference in your batter! :)

Happy Baking!