One Pan Garlic Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Potatoes

I've been trying a lot of new recipes during Minnesota's stay-at-home order. This one was one that I saw on my Facebook feed and it led to The Slow Roasted Italian.

It was very easy to make and had a lot of flavor. Instead of the sweet potatoes, I used white potatoes since I'm trying to use what I have on hand rather than go to the grocery store. I also didn't use smoked paprika. I've tried that spike before and don't care for it. So, I used plain paprika. This is a recipe that I would make again since everyone liked it.

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 3/4"-1" cubes (I used white potatoes)
1 pound small Brussels sprouts, (if they are bigger, cut them in half)
1 medium red onion, cut into slices (I used a yellow onion since I didn't have a red onion)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 teaspoons New Mexico chili powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika (I used regular paprika)
6 cloves garlic, minced
optional garnish: Parsley, chopped (I didn't use this)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, for quick clean up. Place the baking sheet into the oven to preheat the pan with the oven; this will help the vegetables caramelize faster.

In a medium bowl combine 2 tablespoons olive oil with the honey, mustard, chili powder, paprika, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Whisk to combine. Add chicken and toss to coat. Set aside.

Add sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, onion, and garlic to the preheated sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Toss vegetables with a spoon, until coated well.

Clear a space for chicken breasts around the pan. Place coated chicken breasts on the baking sheet. Spoon the remaining honey mustard marinade over the chicken. Wiggle the pan until the vegetables are in a single layer.

Bake 30-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are fork tender. Set oven to broil high for 2 minutes or until the edges of the vegetables begin to brown. (Note: I didn't broil the dinner. I think I would next time.)

Serve and enjoy!

Lit'l Smokies Smoked Sausage Holiday Appetizer Wreath

It's Pigs in a Blanket Day on April 24th. Seriously. I had no idea until a picture came across my Facebook feed. Had some Lit'l Smokies Smoked Sausages and crescent dough rolls in the refrigerator, so I thought I'd make the Lit'l Smokies Smoked Sausage Holiday Appetizer Wreath recipe that was on the Hillshire Farm site.

Since it wasn't around Christmas, I made a modification of the wreath. I didn't make the sauce, but included in the recipe below just in case we make it again.

Everyone liked the recipe. My only challenge with it is that the dough on the bottom of some of the sausages was soggy. I'm not sure if it was because of the sausages and the fat from them or if they were underdone. I don't think it's the latter because the crescent roll dough was nicely browned on the top.

At any rate, this is the recipe:

Ingredients

32 Lit'l Smokies Smoked Sausage
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 can (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent dough rolls

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Open package of Lit’l Smokies and drain off any liquid.

Combine cranberry sauce and barbecue sauce in a small saucepan; heat over low heat stirring until smooth and hot.

Unroll dough, separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. With a knife or pizza cutter cut each rectangle lengthwise into 8 strips making a total of 32 strips. Wrap one strip of dough around each Lit’l Smokie. Place crescent wrapped sausages with sides touching on ungreased cookie sheet or round baking stone in a circle forming a wreath shape.

Bake for 11-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly. Carefully remove wreath onto serving platter, if desired. Garnish wreath with bell pepper strips to form a bow and cherry tomato halves and rosemary sprigs for ornaments, if desired. Serve with cranberry-barbecue sauce mixture.

More Window Stars for Easter

I made some more window stars since I'm finding I have a bit more time because of the stay-at-home order in Minnesota. It has been fun to try some new patterns that I've pinned on my Pinterest board.

This is a closer look at the left side of the window:

This is a closer look at the right side of the window:

The first window star that I tried was a pin that led to an image.

I used 3"x5" paper because I couldn't figure out the size from just looking at the image. Maybe trying a larger square would create the star - perhaps a 4" or 5" square. My version, in pink, looks different than the yellow star, but that's fine. I'm happy with it.

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Next, I made a purple star from a pin that led to Meinesvenja:

I used 3"x3" square paper for this window star and it came out just as the image above.

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Next, I made a gold star using the pattern below. It came from a pin that led to Origami Maniacs.

This is my version of the window star:

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I found another pattern I liked on Pinterest that led to Origami Maniacs.

It didn't turn out exactly like the instructions. It's kind of difficult without knowing the paper size since even something that's off by 1/4" or 1/2" can substantially change the way the final window star looks. 

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I've had my eye on this pattern for a while because the points are different at the tips than other stars I've made. Since it's Spring and almost Easter, I chose lime-green paper for this 16-point star. The pattern is from Deschdanja.

This is my version:

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Last, I tried this pattern. The pin doesn't lead to an image, so I just followed the directions on the left side of the image. It does not even come close to the image on the right. If I had looked closer at the directions, I would have noticed that before starting.

What's interesting is that when folding the points, they end up much smaller at the center so instead of 8 points, 16 points are needed to make the window star.

Even though the window star didn't come out even close to the image of the red star, it's fine. I still have a pretty star for our Spring/Easter window.