Chicken bites with leftover roasted chicken....

I found this recipe online today and had to try it because we love chicken tenders! So we tried it and it was delicious!

Buffalo Chicken Bites (I modified for kiddos.....took out most of the "buffalo" :) )

3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/4 to 1/2 cup hot sauce (I used about a tablespoon)
3 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3-4 cups crushed Corn Flakes

Preheat oven to 350. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine chicken, cream cheese, hot sauce and cheddar cheese. Roll a heaping tablespoon of mixture into a 1 1/2 inch ball and place onto a plate or separate baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Place flour in a shallow dish, place eggs in a second shallow dish, and the corn flakes in a third. Dip each chicken ball first in the flour, then the egg and ending with the corn flakes. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.

These were very yummy and we enjoyed them with homemade mac and cheese (Lily's favorite) and salads! Delicious! So next time you have leftover roasted chicken, shred it and give this a whirl!

Look what I brought home this week....

How good does all of that look?!!!! This week I brought home all kinds of yummy foods and have already done a little cooking with some of them that I will share with you later. I made sure to wait to take my photo this week until I had everything so what you see above is what I brought home!!!!

My family gets to enjoy cinnamon rolls and oatmeal honey bread from Sandy Boulden, blueberry pomegranate jelly and cake pops from Sullivan Farms, chicken and turkey sausage from Country Neighbors Farm, arugula and "Easter Eggs" from Blue Bell Farm, and flaxseed bread from Annie's Bread. I am so excited to enjoy all of these products and we actually started last night with our dinner.

 Dinner last night was delicious and so easy to make because I used my crockpot again! We had roasted chicken with potatoes, arugula salad, and breads from the market! Yum! I intended to photograph the chicken all together right out of the crockpot, but it was so tender when I tried to pick it up it just fell right off the bone....can't complain about that problem.

Farmers Market Chicken
1 Chicken from Country Neighbors Farm (leave it out to thaw)
1/2 of an onion sliced
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken stock (I used some that I had frozen last time I made a chicken)
3-4 potatoes chopped
2 tsp apple cider jelly from Sullivan Farms

I got my chicken on Tuesday night and left it out to thaw to use it Wednesday. Place your chicken in the crockpot. Use slightly melted butter to spread all over chicken (it doesn't take very much) and then put the rest of the butter inside the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste...I used about a tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Place jelly on top of chicken. Put sliced onion all around the chicken and then I put the frozen chicken stock right beside the chicken (if your stock is not frozen wait about an hour before you put it in). Using the frozen stock or waiting a little bit to put it in lets the onions get a little caramelized before they begin to soak. Turn crockpot on low and cover with lid. I started the chicken at about 8:30 am. Then at 1ish I added the potatoes and a little water so they were almost  covered. Then let it cook for about 5 more hours. (I am sure you could put the potatoes in first thing and it would be fine if you are going to be gone all day). Remove chicken and plate. Make sure to leave the bones in the crockpot.

Take out the potatoes and onions and top them with a little garlic salt and parsley!

If you want to make your own stock, leave bones and juices in the crockpot and turn back on to high and let it cook down for about 4 hours. Pour stock and bones through a wire strainer so you are left with only liquid. Cool and put into freezer bags. I do about a cup per bag. Freeze to enjoy later.



You can get delicious arugula from Blue Bell Farm and as I have said before on here...there is nothing better than a summer fresh salad in the middle of winter! For our arugula salad last night I topped it with sliced red onion, almonds, and golden raisins. Then I made my own vinegar and oil based dressing. I have not perfected it so I will add it when I do....Jamie from Blue Bell Farm makes a great one so I am trying to get one similar! The basic ingredients are vinegar, olive oil, honey (mine comes from Potterosa), salt and pepper. I will share this recipe once we get one perfected! If you come up with a great one please share it with us!

To complete our amazing meal I sliced up some oatmeal honey bread from Sandy Boulden and flaxseed bread from Annie's Bread! Amazing!


So if you love my dinner idea here is your shopping list for March 6th when you come to the market:

• 1 chicken from Country Neighbors Farm
• 1 bag of arugula from Blue Bell Farm
• 1 jar of apple cider jelly from Sullivan Farms
• 1 loaf of oatmeal honey bread from Sandy Boulden 
• 1 loaf of flaxseed bread from Annie's Bread

Happy shopping and happy cooking...

Winter Market...February 21st...

We had a great market last night! It was a busy night and a lot of fun. It was a really exciting night because one of our vendors opened her bakery this week in the same location that we have our winter market.

Tea Time Bakery is officially open and we all had to try some of her goodies! I tried one of her sandwiches and it was delicious. If you haven't been in to check it out...it is a must! We are so proud of Bev and all of her hard work! These are just a few of her delicious items available!





The market was hopping last night. It was so good to see all of the customers. Since Bev is also carrying Z Best Coffee in her bakery I was not selling coffee as our fundraiser this week so I got to visit more with both customers and vendors. Have I mentioned I love my job....this is an amazing group. Check out all the great things they had available this week!

Sandy Boulden had her breads and cinnamon rolls. She mills her own flour from wheat then makes all of her delicious items. She did pans of cinnamon rolls this time so there was enough for the whole family. What a great breakfast that would make! Her breads make perfect sandwiches and are great all by themselves with dinner!

 Sullivan Farms was there with a wide variety of jellies and cake pops! Just a few of the varieties of jelly available were mango peach, blueberry pomegranate, blueberry nector, jalapeno, white wine, and so many more! The cake pops this week were white cake with white icing and sprinkles.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm had lots of homemade bread and soaps, eggs, and lots of cuts of beef! If you want beef for dinner this is the place to go....sirloin steak, filet, roast, burger and more. Three seed or honey oat bread are also available. Then she had her homemade soaps, too!


We were excited to see one of our summer vendors back for the first time this winter. Jessica from Annie's Bread came with her delicious breads! Just a few of her breads were flaxseed, sunflower seed, and honey wheat. I can't wait to see what she brings next time!

Blue Bell Farm came with arugula, kale, free range multi-colored "Easter Eggs", seed bombs, organic orange marmalade and farm photo cards. Enjoying greens in the winter is such a special treat! The orange marmalade was gone in no time....get there early next time they have some.

 Country Neighbors Farm had a variety of lamb, sausage, hamburger   and chickens. Did you know that if you break down the price per ounce lamb costs less that ghirardelli chocolate? She also had a yummy recipe available for chicken and dumplings.....that is taking care of your customers.

 So if you missed the market you not only missed out on all of these good items, but also on a lot of fun! Make sure you come out to see us on March 6th for our next market!

Beef it's what's for dinner...

Last night for dinner I tried a new recipe and I think it might be a new favorite!!!! I made Italian Beef for the first time. When I am searching for a new recipe I always start with my cookbooks or allrecipes.com and search for a recipe. I look at multiple variations on the recipe and then use what I have available to make my own creation. I think this is an inherited trait because my mom rarely uses recipes or if she does she never measures anything! ;) So back to the dinner....here it is...

Italian Beef

1 Roast from Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm 

2 packets of italian dressing seasoning mix or your own mix 

1 jar of pepperoncini peppers

1 can of beer (could substitute beef broth)

Garlic salt 

3 tablespoons butter 

Get your crockpot ready! Place the beer, half the jar of pepperoncini peppers and half the juice, packets of italian mix, garlic salt to taste and mix. Put in the roast (mine was still frozen). Add the butter on top of the roast. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours. (Note: If you think ahead more than I did you could cook on low if the roast is thawed) Shred beef when it is done. Make sure to save some of the juice for dipping! I toasted mini potato rolls and we made sandwiches out of the meat!

We enjoyed these amazing sandwiches with homemade mac and cheese and salads! Yum! This meat was so tender and juicy! We had this for dinner last night with all four of us. Caleb and I enjoyed it for dinner again tonight and I will be putting the rest in the freezer to enjoy later! If you need to feed a big crew this is a super easy meal that all will enjoy! 

I am so excited for market next week! I hope you all have your shopping lists ready to try some of these yummy meals! 

Breakfast from the market....

This weekend we enjoyed a number of breakfasts from the market. Making breakfast for my family on the weekends is one of my favorite things because breakfast food is fun to make and most important because it is great family time together! We kicked off the weekend with pancakes and scrambled eggs. The eggs we used are "Easter Eggs" from Blue Bell Farms. Yum! Then on Sunday morning we enjoyed french toast strips made with bread from Sandy Boulden and more of our eggs! My kids love french toast sticks and they are so easy to make!

French toast sticks:
Slice bread into thirds to make your strips. For the four of us I use 8-10 slices of bread. For the dipping batter I use two eggs and then about a cup of milk. Add a splash of vanilla and cinnamon and sugar to taste (I have a cinnamon and sugar grinder that I got at Dent's and Dings in Fayette). Mix your batter well, heat your skillet and add butter to coat the bottom of skillet (just enough so the strips don't stick) dip the strips into batter and then put into skillet. They take a couple minutes per side....just until they are golden. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar! Lily likes to top hers with syrup while C.J. wants to use his as dipping sticks!

Today is a snowy day and I am working and I can't think of a better way to enjoy breakfast than with a couple slices of three seed bread from Nitty Gritty Dirt farm topped with apple cider jelly from Sullivan Farms and a couple cups of hot coffee!

So whether you want a quick and easy breakfast or a full family breakfast....my favorite is to enjoy it with goodies from the Farmers Market!

Let the cooking begin....

One of my favorite parts of the farmers market is cooking! I told you I would take you into my kitchen and to the dinner table so here we go. 

Our first farmers market meal was on Wednesday night and it was "Yummy Burgers". These burgers are the best and in our house they are referred to as yummy burgers by everyone! (Thank you Cathy for the heads up on this combo)

Yummy Burgers

1 lb hamburger from Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm 

1/2 container pesto from Guy and Abby 

Cheese of choice (kids love american...I personally like blue cheese crumbles from Goatsbeard)

Hamburger buns or bread of choice

Mix burger and pesto together. Form patties and grill or prepare in skillet if it is too cold for the grill! Top with your favorite cheese and toppings. Enjoy! 

Next up is one of my favorite meals and it is a very special treat in February. Fresh arugula salad! This one can be done anyway you enjoy salad, but here is how I like it! 

Arugula Salad

Fresh Arugula from Blue Bell Farms

Blue cheese and/or feta from Goatsbeard

onion

chicken (roasted earlier in the week from Country Neighbors Specialty Meats)

almonds

golden raisins

topped with honey mustard dressing

I actually have enjoyed this salad a couple times this week and will be enjoying it for lunch next week too! 

Next up is another recipe given by Cathy, but I have modified it a little. It is a great one-dish dinner! 

1 lb Turkey sausage from Country Neighbors Specialty Meats

1 can white northern beans

1 bag kale from Blue Bell Farms

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice

Brown sausage, add beans and season to taste. Then I top with a little shredded cheese. Add kale and wilt down like you would spinach. We had it with sliced bread from Sandy Boulden. It was a delicious dinner. 

We have only enjoyed about a third of what we got from the market Tuesday! So there will be more posts to come full of recipes and ideas. Enjoy your weekend and happy cooking! 

February 7th Market

Look at all the yummy food I got at the market last night. The cooler full of meat did not make it into the picture and I also got another loaf of bread at the very end of the market that is not pictured! What you do see are fresh eggs, blue cheese, pesto, mango peach jelly, three seed bread, arugula, kale, a cinnamon roll, and seed bombs for the kids for Valentine's Day! I also picked up a couple cake pops from Sullivan Farms that did not get in the picture...those are for Valentine's too! I am so excited to start cooking this week. You are going to love the recipes that are coming! 

Now that you saw what I brought home, let me take you back to the market! These are just a few of the pictures from the evening (I thought I took a lot of pictures, but I didn't have near enough so I will be taking more pictures next time!) and in my words I am taking you through the market.

Sullivan Farms was there with their jellies. If you haven't tried some of them you should! My family would only eat grape jelly until I brought home some of these. Now some of their favorites are Blueberry Pomegranate, apple cider, and mango peach! Delicious! They also brought cake pops for the first time. These looked amazing! I bought them for the kids so I haven't tried them yet, but I saw a lot of people walking around shopping and enjoying a cake pop. And they had GMO Free eggs and sold out before the market was over!


Blue Bell Farms had their "Easter Eggs". Each carton comes with three different colors of eggs. My kids love picking their egg for breakfast in the mornings or while we are baking! They also had arugula and kale! I will be making some meals with these later this week. Blue Bell Farms also brought seed bombs for the Valentine holiday. These little packages were made to look like robins nest with eggs or heart cookies! Do not eat these though!!!! They are for planting in the spring and are full of flower seeds! Happy Valentine's Day to my kids....they will get to enjoy these all summer long.

 Sandy Boulden mills her own flour from wheat for her cinnamon rolls and bread! Yum! Her cinnamon rolls come packages individually or in packages of three. Beware you will want to eat them all they are so delicious! Her bread is great for sandwiches or all by itself. I enjoy it for breakfast with a little honey on it!

Guy and Abby had a large variety of Goatsbeard cheese and pesto they were selling! If you haven't tried some of the chesse it is amazing! I will be enjoying blue cheese crumbles on lots of dishes this week.   And the pesto....quick tip.....put the pesto in with some burger when you make hamburgers! Most amazing hamburgers you will ever have....my kids call them the best burgers. It's what we are having for dinner tonight!

Country Neighbors Farm was there with her chickens, lamb and turkey sausage! Did you know that per ounce lamb is less expensive than specialty chocolate? I didn't know that until last night! I took home some turkey sausage and will be using it in a dish with the kale from Blue Bell Farms (recipe will be coming later this week). Whether
you want dinner for tonight or stock up your freezer....our meat vendors can help you!

Our other meat vendor is Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm and Cathy was there with her beef, eggs, soaps, and breads. I brought home a cooler full of meat and I am so excited...some of the cuts that I brought home includes burger (which I will be using tonight for dinner), steaks, short ribs, roast...and much more! I will also be enjoying three seed bread which is both delicious and healthy! Last market I got some of Cathy's soap for the kitchen that takes stains and smells off of your hands! Love it....no more garlic hands after cooking dinner for me!

We had a new vendor last night, Patricia Fischer and we are so excited to have her with us! Hopefully her husband will join us on the 21st too! They are making chocolates.......I mean really making chocolate by grinding their own beans and the whole process. I can't wait to sit down and talk to them so I can tell you all more about their entire process. I did get to try a few pieces and yum! It is so sweet and delicious!

Teri Linneman was there with her gluten free bread and brownies this week! Gluten free is relatively new to the market so we need to get the word out that we now have delicious gluten free baked good available. I have tried her bread and it is delicious. She sells it already sliced up for you....it doesn't get any easier than that! She has had both brownies and cakes available at different markets so you just never know what sweet goody you might be able to get along with your gluten free bread!

So that is a walk around the market! If you joined us last night you got to experience it all first hand, but if you missed it I hope this gives you an idea of how great our market is and makes you go ahead and mark your calendar for our next market which is February 21st! You don't want to miss the fun or the food! I hope you have a great week and make sure you check back as I take you into my kitchen this week!

Ready to go to market?

I don't know about you, but I am so excited for the market tonight! I was going to wait to post until after I went to market, but I just couldn't wait. I even prepared a Farmers Market dinner last night with one of Country Neighbors Specialty Meats chickens that I had in the freezer! I pulled it out to thaw Monday night and then made a delicious crock pot meal for dinner last night! This chicken was so juicy and tender plus I had everything for dinner in one dish! Less dishes for me...yea!

FM Crockpot Chicken

1 whole chicken
3-4 potatoes cut anyway you like them
1/2 onion sliced
1 apple
1 bell pepper (red, yellow or green) sliced
1/2 clove of garlic
4 tablespoons butter
Salt, pepper and garlic salt (add whatever seasonings you love)

Place potatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic and half of the butter in bottom of crockpot. Season your chicken with salt, pepper and garlic salt on the inside and out. Place remaining butter on the inside of chicken and on top. Cut up your apple and stuff it inside the chicken. Put chicken on top of veggies in crockpot. Add water until veggies are basically covered and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I can't wait to make this again when I have all fresh veggies and herbs to use! This was so easy and I just served it with some bread. My family loved it! There are four of us and I still have half of the chicken left to make another meal. I will let you know what I do. And for the first time I made my own chicken stock! So easy and I can't wait to use it in dishes in the coming weeks. I found lots of recipes for chicken stock on allrecipes.com and they were all about the same so you can pick any of those to use!

I will be taking you to the market tonight, so check back in the next couple days to see what it was all about and what other yummy dishes I will be making!

The girl and the market

I loved what the Fayette Farmers Market was all about from the first time I heard about them so when I decided to start my own business doing marketing and promotions I called them first to get involved. I started helping immediately and started attending all of the markets and taking home all of this delicious food. It had been so long since I enjoyed fresh from the garden produce on a regular basis....I was in heaven! Not to mention all of the delicious bread, cheese, and meat that is also available. Wednesday's around our house became Farmers Market dinner nights and my family loved it, too! The Fayette Farmers Market is an amazing group of people that I love working with as their Market Manager today! So now I am even more involved with the market and I am enjoying every aspect of it...from the people to the food and everything in between. It is so much fun to work with a group that I believe in with my whole heart.

The winter market is in its final two months and we are meeting on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in Market Street Floral from 4-6 pm. We have added four new vendors this winter which has been great! The vendors and what they have been having at the winter market are:

Nitty Gritty Dirt Farms - beef, bread, and homemade soaps
Sullivan Farms - jellies and eggs
Blue Bell Farms - lettuce varieties and eggs
Guy & Abby - Goatsbeard cheeses, pesto, fresh produce
Country Neighbors Specialty Meats - lamb, chickens, turkey sausage, pork sausage
Tea Time - cupcakes, cakes, pies, anything for dessert
Sandy Boulden - bread and cinnamon rolls (she mills her own flour from wheat for these goodies)
Teri Linneman - Gluten free bread and cake
The Olde Farmhouse at Collyott Farms - breads, mixes, fudge, gifts and so much more
Gene & Janet Nuse - eggs

We hope to see you all on February 7th our next market. I will be there with Z Best Coffee (locally roasted in Sturgeon, Mo) for sale by the bag or by the cup as a fundraiser for the market. So come get a cup of coffee and do a little shopping on Tuesday!