September 16
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged chicken, one-bowl
We made this dish after drooling over the recipe on Cooking With Court, and we definitely weren’t disappointed.
This is comfort food, to say the least. It was warm, creamy, and full of flavor. The best part? Slow-cooker! Throw the ingredients together in the morning, and the dish will be warm and ready for you almost as soon as you walk in the door after work.
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small chunks
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/4 cup carrot, finely diced
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 cups water
2 10-oz packages refrigerated biscuits
Combine all ingredients except biscuits in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours*. 30 minutes before serving, tear biscuit dough into 1-inch pieces. Add to crock pot; stirring gently. Cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 30 minutes or until biscuits are fluffed up and cooked through.
*We let ours cook for longer without any problems.
Photo does not do it justice!
August 22
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged beef, mexican/spanish, sandwiches
These sandwiches are perfect if you’re looking for a meal with minimum time and effort and maximum taste.
This recipe, originally from Robin Miller of the Food Network, was super easy and yummy. We made a few small improvements, though. Here’s our version:
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion, cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces sliced roast beef, cut into strips
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 4-oz can diced green chiles (undrained)
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and ground black pepper
6 sandwich rolls, halved
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté 3 minutes, until soft. Add roast beef and saute, stirring frequently, 3 to 5 minutes until browned on all sides. Add tomatoes, jalapeños, lime juice, and cumin and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes to heat through and reduce slightly.
Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon onto sliced rolls, including plenty of sauce.
August 13
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged dessert, quick & easy
This is a simple dessert that looks really pretty and tastes even better. It’s perfect to bring to a party or potluck. We brought it to a family holiday dinner and it went over really well. The best part is that it’s so easy… I even gave the recipe to a girlfriend of mine who totally can’t cook, with full confidence she could pull it off. Ha ha! 
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 3-oz package chocolate pudding
1 8-oz tub whipped cream
16 Oreos
1 1/2 cups cherry pie filling
Pour milk into a large bowl. Add pudding mix and whisk for 2 minutes or until well-blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped cream.
Cut remaining 5 cookies in half and place on top of dessert. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Coarsely chop 11 cookies and stir into the pudding. Spoon half of the pudding into a 2-quart serving bowl. On top of the pudding mixture, layer 1 cup whipped cream, 1 cup pie filling, remaining pudding, remaining whipped cream, and remaining pie filling.
*Original recipe and photo courtesy supertarget.com.
August 4
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged beef, burgers, quick & easy
This is a Rachael Ray recipe that my husband found and made for the two of us and his mother. It was our first experience making an inside-out burger… and a blue cheese burger for that matter! But we liked them so much we’ve been telling everyone about them. Can’t wait to try the technique with other mixtures!
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 oz cream cheese
2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp butter
4 hamburger buns
In a small bowl, use a fork to mash together the blue cheese and cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the parsley. Divide the mixture into four disks about 1 1/2 inches across. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, season the beef with salt and pepper and mix well. Form into four equally sized patties about 3/4 inch thick.
Form a deep cavity in the center of each beef patty. Place a cheese disk in each cavity and pull the meat together to completely cover the cheese.
In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the burgers and cook about four minutes on each side for medium. Serve on the buns with your choice of condiments and veggies.
July 3
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged one-bowl, pasta, shrimp
The combination of shrimp and pasta with the fresh fruits and veggies makes this dish perfect for a summer evening. The spice might surprise you at first, but it pairs well with the citrus flavor.
The original recipe claims to serve four, but we ended up with enough for six decent-sized dinners. (How often does a recipe make more servings than it says it will?)
12 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 ounces (4 cups) dried penne pasta
1 tsp finely shredded orange peel
2 oranges
orange juice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 red or green sweet pepper, cut into 3/4-inch squares
1 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups fresh pea pods, trimmed and halved diagonally
Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.
Meanwhile, peel the two oranges. Section them over a bowl, catching the juice; set oranges aside. Add enough orange juice to the bowl to total 1/2 cup. Add orange peel, 1/2 cup water, cornstarch, bouillon, sesame oil, salt, and ground red pepper; set aside.
In a large skillet, cook sweet pepper in hot oil over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove sweet pepper from skillet. Add shrimp to skillet; cook and stir about 2 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque. Remove shrimp from skillet.
Stir orange juice mixture; add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return shrimp and pepper to skillet; stir in pea pods. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Gently stir in orange sections. Gently toss shrimp mixture with pasta and serve.
My only recommendation for altering the recipe is to cut the oranges smaller. It makes it easier to eat and spreads the flavor around a bit more. (Careful, though, or they may fall apart as you stir them into the pasta.)
Recipe courtesy Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book
June 29
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged FAVORITE, one-bowl, pasta, quick & easy
An amazing dish I had at a local restaurant inspired me to try making gnocchi for the first time. I’d seen it in the store and heard it talked about on The Food Network, but this was my first shot at making it.
Turns out that potato gnocchi (pronounced nyō’kē) is not only SO GOOD, it’s also super quick and easy to make. This recipe* is a great way to get started making (or in our case, eating!) gnocchi.
1 18-ounce package potato gnocchi
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup diced zucchini
1/2 cup chopped sweet yellow pepper
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1 cup chopped tomatoes
Cook gnocchi according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the zucchini and yellow pepper in oil until crisp-tender. Drain gnocchi; add gnocchi and pesto to skillet. Gently stir until well coated. Stir in tomatoes. Sprinkle with pine nuts if desired.
*posted by the Taste of Home Test Kitchen on Allrecipes.com
June 25
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged asian, chicken
Mandarin Chicken was actually my first exposure to orange marmalade, but WOW… what a great way to try it!
This recipe is from Food That Says Welcome by Barbara Smith (mother of artist Michael W. Smith). I love the idea behind the book: “Simple recipes to spark the spirit of hospitality.” I would certainly make this dish for company.
The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but the Mandarin Chicken was wonderful. Just the right amount of sweetness and a bit of crunch from the almonds. Great tasting, and pretty good for ya, too!
1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup orange marmalade
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dry mustard
1 11-oz can mandarin oranges
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
rice
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Combine marmalade, cornstarch, lemon juice, and mustard in a small bowl, stirring mixture well with a whisk. Gently stir in oranges. Add mixture to skillet. Cover and cook 6 minutes on medium heat or until sauce slightly thickens. Spoon over chicken and sprinkle with almonds. Serve with rice.
June 19
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged bread
What makes this bread recipe so great is not what it is… I mean, anyone can make banana bread!
I kindof stumbled into this by accident. I ran out of bananas mid-recipe one day and had to improvise. What resulted was a bread SO moist and tasty that I love to share it with everyone.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup chopped nuts (if desired)
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, bananas, applesauce, and nuts until well blended. Add banana mixture to flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into creased 9×5 loaf pan.
Bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until a tootpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Led bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
June 14
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged asian, chicken, grilling
It’s grilling season. Hooray!
Grilling season can be a bit hard to navigate for the diet-conscious, with all the burgers and brats. This recipe, though, is both tasty AND good for your body. A mix of chicken, veggies, and pineapple, these kabobs are bursting with flavor, due in large part to… you guessed it… the delicious five spice.
Note: We found that these cooked way more evenly on our indoor grill, so you might try that. (And, hey! That way, you can make them all year ’round!)
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp five spice powder
dash ground ginger
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or thighs
1 cup (8-oz can) fresh pineapple chunks
1 medium green sweet pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium red sweet pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups hot cooked rice
For glaze, in small bowl combine orange juice concentrate, honey, soy sauce, five spice powder, and ginger. Set aside.
Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. On 6 long metal skewers, alternately thread chicken, pineapple, green sweet pepper, and red sweet pepper, leaving a 1/4-inch space between pieces.
Charcoal grill: Grill kabobs on rack directly over medium coals, uncovered for 12 to 14 minutes or until no long pink, turning and brushing with glaze up to the last 5 minutes of grilling.
Gas Grill: Preheat grill; reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on rack over heat. Cover and grill as above.
Serve with hot cooked rice.
Recipe courtesy Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book
June 11
· Filed under Recipes · Tagged pasta
So… can you figure out what’s in this recipe? Ha!
The Lemon Cream-Sauced pasta, et al. is from my beloved red-checkered cookbook (a.k.a Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book). This dish is light and fresh enough to be eaten on a summer evening, yet still has the creamy buttery taste we all crave.
I’m posting the recipe as written in the cookbook, but I substituted a yellow summer squash (cut into about twelve pieces) for the baby squash.
8 ounces dry mafalda or rotini
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
8 baby sunburst squash and/or patty pan squash, halved (4 oz)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; keep warm.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook asparagus, sqash, and garlic in hot butter for 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Remove vegetables from skillet with a slotted spoon. Add to pasta.
Combine whipping cream and lemon peel in skillet; bring to boiling. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes or until reduced to 1/3 cup. To serve, pour cream mixture over pasta mixture; stir gently to coat.
