I'm Back!

For those who don't know, Jason and I were married on August 13!

It was a wonderful, beautiful and time consuming wedding. My mind was full of seating plans, dresses and decorations for the past few months. Now that things are settling down, my mind is migrating back to home cooking and relaxing dinners that compliment an evening glass of wine.  Let's jump right into tonights dinner:

With a lack of protein in the freezer, I dug right down into the bottom and found these 6 frozen drumsticks. This is a recipe that I pieced together with some produce from the garden and some pantry staples.


Drumstick Skillet
6 frozen drumsticks (defrost & remove skin)
dab of butter (olive oil would work as well if you're avoiding dairy)

fresh green beans
1 pepper (sliced)
1 tomato (sliced)

1 cup rice
2 cups water
mixture of spices (kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, ground oregano)

1. Heat butter in skillet. Brown all sides of the chicken drumsticks and set aside
2. Add vegetables, rice, water and spice to skillet. Bring to a boil.
3. Put drumsticks on top of vegetables and rice and cover. Let simmer for approx. 25 minutes.

This was a great dish! I let it cook a little too long and the rice was stuck to the bottom but the vegetables and chicken were cooked perfectly.

Here's a taste of a few of the things I've been cooking lately and will blog about in the near future:

 Sweet potato fries made in our brand new Actifry (details to come).

Jello vodka shots made for a summer BBQ party.

Honey-Mustard Lime Crock Pot Chicken

For this crockpot chicken, I did have to go and purchase the chicken drumsticks but everything else I had on hand. The ingredients are very simple and it takes 10 minutes to throw it all together. I found it on this Meal Planning website and it had already been adapted from a non-crock pot recipe on another blog:

8 chicken legs (I removed the skin as crock pot + chicken skin = slime)
1/2 cup honey mustard (or 2 tbsp honey mixed with 1/3 cup Dijon Mustard)
1 lime, juice and zest (or 3 tbsp lime juice)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker, and stir to evenly coat the chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours or until chicken is cooked all the way through. I cooked on high for about 3 and a half hours. Serve with rice (and steamed broccoli!) to spoon extra sauce on top.

In the spirit of using up some of the things in the freezer, I made a gluten-free crisp with some frozen raspberries and cranberries from our vast collection of frozen fruit.

Now this - I really don't have a recipe for! I was trying to experiment with alternative, natural sweeteners as opposed to putting brown sugar in the topping. The topping is a mixture of rice flour, quick rolled oats (gluten free variety), honey, agave nectar, chopped walnuts & 1/8cup margarine. I baked it in the oven at 350 until it smelled good. Aren't I just the best recipe writer ever??

Both of these dishes were a success! Its amazing the things you can throw together when you really start digging around in the freezer.

Its been a week!

My posts have been few and far between lately! This past week I had some more, rather unpleasant, tests on my insides. They leave me with a lack of appetite and no desire to cook - or get off the couch for that matter. I still have no positive diagnosis of celiacs disease but all signs point to gluten-free being the way to go.

So this weekend I made some muffins for Jason to take on a roadtrip to Calgary. They were loaded with gluten so I couldn't try one which kind of bothers me! He says they were good but perhaps he was just being nice? Regardless, they smelled nice. The main reason I chose these muffins was because we ran out of sugar:

Apple Whole-Wheat Muffins
1 1/2cups whole wheat flour
1/2cup all purpose flour
2 1/2tsp baking powder
3/4tsp salt
1 egg beaten
3/4cup milk
1/3cup vegetable oil
1/3cup honey
1 cup chopped apples

In the actual instructions, you mix the dry and wet in seperate bowls and then together. I just put the dry in the mixer... then all the wet. It seemed to work. The apples get folded in to finish it off. This recipe makes 12 muffins that need to be baked at 400F for 18-20 minutes.

On Saturday we went to a wedding so I figured I should make something to eat before I left. 

I'm not sure that I've fully grasped the whole polenta thing yet but I'm working on it. This time I fried the medallions in a little bit of olive oil until crispy and baked them in the oven with tomatoes, feta and basil on top. This dish is a work in progress and it's getting better and better....

This was tonights dinner. As I mentioned, Jason had a race in Calgary and he's just getting over a cold so I figured I'd make him something substantial. I'm also trying out some different gluten-free side dish options as we are hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner here on Monday. The menu consisted of Feta & Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast, Pineapple Sweet Potatoes & Brown Rice, Tomato & Basil. Here's the recipes (click on the name to see the originals, although I'm horrible at following recipes!):

Feta & Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

4 ea Chicken Breasts (I made 2)
3/4 c Feta cheese crumbled (That's alot of feta.. I didn't measure but I'm sure it was no where near that)
1 t Dried oregano or to taste (I didn't add this. I'm bad at reading recipes!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c Chicken stock
1/2 ea Lemon juice
1 tb Butter
(I mixed chopped fresh spinach in with my feta)

Instructions

1. Make stuffung by combine feta and oregano (spinach) in a bowl.
2. Create pocket in the thick end of the breast, without going through the other side. Stuff cheese evenly into the pockets. Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides
3. Heat pan at medium low before adding oil, so that the oil heats right away but does not start smoking.
4. Turn heat up to medium high and sear chicken for 6 - 7 minutes per side. Do not stir or touch until nicely browned to ensure they don't stick to the pan. Turn heat down to medium heat, cover and cook for an addition 5 - 8 minutes until chicken is cooked throughout.
5. Remove chicken from pan. Add chicken stock to pan and losen brown bit from pan to disolve into liquid. Add juice of 1/2 a lemon to pan and simmer for a minute or two. Turn head to low or off an swirl butter into sauce until disolved.
Serve chicken sliced to show off stuffing, and topped with sauce.

Pineapple Sweet Potatoes

6 sweet potatoes (I used half of 1)
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (1/3 of can)
1 cup packed brown sugar (A tablespoon perhaps?)
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves (I only had whole cloves so I just picked them out before I served it)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter one 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl to cool. Peel and quarter.
In a sauce pan, combine pineapple, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Bring to boil and reduce heat.
Arrange potatoes in a single layer in baking dish. Pour sauce over potatoes and bake for 45 minutes.

Brown Rice, Tomatoes & Basil

1 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup champagne vinegar or 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar (I had to shake out the empty sugar container so I probably didn't get this much)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 lb ripe tomato, large-diced
1 cup packed basil leaves, chopped (This would have tasted great but I only had dried!)
2 1/4 cups water


1. Bring water to boil, and add the rice and 1 tsp of the salt. Return to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Transfer the rice to a bowl.

2. Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, remaining tsp of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour over the rice. Add the tomatoes and basil. Mix well and check the seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

A few things this weekend

I'm a little behind in my blog writing but lets start with Saturday morning. It's a rare occasion that we have a fancy breakfast. If it's during the week, it would only be for someones birthday. Sometimes on the weekends though I'll wake up in a cooking mood. Yesterday was one of those rare mornings!

No fancy recipes here. Scrambled eggs full of veggies - zucchini, orange pepper, mushroom & onion. I made some crispy dill potatoes too. After much trial and error I've found *what I think* is the best method for making crispy hash-brown-like potatoes. After boiling them until they're tender, I put the potatoes in the oven with some olive oil and dill and cook them for another 15 minutes or so at 400. The secret is to use the convect setting on the oven though! It leaves the inside soft while crisping up the outside.

I "toasted" some gluten-free bread in the oven as well. It's just easier if both Jason and I are eating the same bread and using the same knife so I treated him to some amazing Udi white bread. 

My mom purchased this bread for me first and it's honestly better than any gluten-filled bread I've ever had. I'm hooked on the plain white bread which is usually not what I go for - but damn. It tastes like it was just baked. I've also tried the blueberry muffins which were awesome.

We also had chai tea!

JASON'S REVIEW: That was the best start to the day I've had in a long time. The potatoes tasted like sweet tuber heaven.
MY REVIEW: I agree with Jason.. except for the tuber part?

Now moving right along to Saturday evening. I had wanted to make skewers but the skewer sticks are temporarily missing. Instead, we used our little grill bowl to make veggies on the BBQ.
A little olive oil with salt and pepper is all I added to these vegetables.
JASON'S REVIEW: They were tasty. 
MY REVIEW: The fresh pineapple was my favorite. The salt & pepper do not ruin the flavor.

Last, but not least, this evening we had a fantastic meal. I found some gluten free butter chicken sauce that comes in a jar. It's a lite sauce as well and for some reason can't find it on the Sharwood website - but you can find it at Safeway.

I can no longer find the recipe that inspired this salad so don't give me FULL credit for it! Here's what's in it:

mixed greens
2 sliced pears
crumbled gorgonzola cheese
dried cranberries
walnut pieces

Dressing
rice vinegar
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
pepper

Again, no measurements. I hope nobody just skims over my vague recipes and refuses to try them because I never write measurements. Tell me if you do! Please? I'll try harder.

MY REVIEW: I am on such a moldy cheese kick! This was great. Rice vinegar worked very will on this salad too.

JASON'S REVIEW: He's doing laundry so I don't want to bother him anymore. He liked it! He probably thought it was tasty!

Meat & Potatoes with Vegetarian Gravy

I had a hankering for something smothered in gravy this evening. Not really a healthy hankering, but I tried to satisfy it in the most healthy way possible! To start, we had a tomato salad.

When we were in Italy and ordered a "tomato salad" it was always extremely literal... tomatoes and olive oil. For my tomato salad I whisked together a little dressing consisting of olive oil, dijon mustard, white vinegar, kosher salt, lemon juice and fresh ground black pepper.

For the main course, skinless boneless chicken breast cooked in the oven with fresh ground black pepper and a rosemary sprig on top. I made a vegetarian gravy using canned mushrooms, flour, vegetable broth (from powder), skim milk and some herbs and spices. I really can't get any more precisise than that.. I was adding things left, right and center to get the right consistency and flavour! You're going to have to do the same thing. I kept the gravy on the side because I didn't know if Jason was in a "gravy smothering everything" mood as I was. As it turns out, he was.

Note the "X" cut into the potato. This is how I always eat my baked potatoes and at a recent family BBQ, was questioned about my eclectic potato eating ways. Well - this was a little trick I picked up in kindergarten on the day we made baked potato volcano's.  You wait till the potato cools enough to touch, cut an "X" on the top and then push the sides into the middle with your fingers causing the potato (lava) to "erupt" out the center. At this point you would put lava (bacon bits), grass (chives) etc. on top of your volcano. I don't exactly know why my kindergarten class was making baked potatoes but that is one lesson that stuck.

JASON'S REVIEW: Dinner was fantastic and I wouldn't hesitate to eat it again.

MY REVIEW: Not to toot my own horn or anything, but it's meals like this that make me feel like I've actually made some progress in my cooking journey. In the beginning, the simple task of cooking a chicken breast would have required a phone call to my mom and at least half an hour of internet research. The end product would almost always be burnt as I figured that was the only sure way to know it was fully cooked. I am slowly but surely getting a "feel" for it and learning to trust myself in the kitchen. I just made vegetarian gravy from scratch without even looking at a recipe...go me!

Crispy Chicken Fingers

Today I made home-made chicken fingers with a recipe found on the internet:

Clear off the counter, follow along and enjoy these simple yet very tasty chicken fingers. Seriously... clean off the counter and make some room. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Perhaps print off a copy too so you're not constantly washing your hands so you can look at it on your iPhone. Just a thought :)

Ingredients (I halved this recipe)
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Cup Flour
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Bread Crumbs
1 Tbsp. Water
Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Paprika
6 Dashes of Hot Sauce

Method 
1. Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Slice Chicken Breasts length-wise.
3. Flavor the flour with salt and pepper.
4. Add the hot sauce to the egg wash mixture as well as a tablespoon of water.
5. Season the bread crumbs with both red pepper flakes and paprika (you can omit these spices and add your favorites).
6. Dip Chicken in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture followed by the bread crumb mixture.
Quick tip when breading. Only use one hand to dip in the flour and egg wash and once you drop the chicken piece in the bread crumbs – use your other hand to scoop the bread crumbs over the chicken, then flip the piece over. This will ensure only one hand gets all messy.
7. Once all coated and lined on a cookie sheet with parchment paper – place on the middle rack and cook until golden brown (I bought some parchment paper from costco a while ago and used it for the first time tonight. It worked perfectly. I cooked mine at 400F, flipped them after 20 and cooked them for another 10)
 


MY REVIEW: I'm so pleased with how these turned out! They looked exactly like the pictures on the original blog every step of the way. They were both crunchy and moist with a little bit of heat. I'll have to get creative with the dipping sauce next time. They were VERY easy to make.. just make sure you have lots of room for all 3 bowls and you'll be fine. No need to buy chicken nuggets ever again!


JASON'S REVIEW: The best chicken fingers I have ever put in my mouth. I thank the flying spaghetti monster every day that Laurel is such an amazing cook (I don't know what this means either!).

Chicken & Coconut Curry

I used a new ingredient this evening... Red Curry Paste. It's bizzare. It came in a little plastic container but the paste was sealed in a bag. I had to squeeze it out into the container and it's really thick but it smelled like a dream (if your dreams consist of spicy curry). Here's the recipe I used (click on it and it will be big enough to read):

MY REVIEW: This was very good... but be warned it is extremely spicy. I will be using my red curry paste in future recipes so stay tuned..

JASON'S REVIEW: It was hot hot hotttttt!

Saucy Chicken with Pasta

This isn't really chicken parmigiana... but it was inspired by the idea. Again, a recipe I put together after reading many others. It all started with a special bag of pasta:

This was another extravagant purchase from the Italian Market and it was great! I don't know if I can go back to normal pasta after all of this.

So here's a picture of the finished product before I explain how it was made:

I took two medium sized chicken breasts and dipped them first in egg white and then rolled them around in some Italian-style bread crumbs. They were cooked in a shallow pan at 400F for 30 minutes. At that time I took them out, put a little of Paul Newmans own Marinara sauce ...

... and on top of that - dried oregano flakes and parmesan. This went back in the oven for another 5 minutes. I put a little more sauce in a pot and mixed in some chopped up spinach. I let this get hot while I cooked my pasta. Once everything was ready I assembled the dish starting with pasta, pasta sauce with spinach and then the chicken breast placed neatly on top.

For dessert I thought I would get Jason one of his favorite treats - ice cream sandwiches. I felt bad as I picked them out because I couldn't even remember the last time we had them in the house and he really does love them. Upon presenting him with his special dessert, he informed me he had already eaten 3 ice cream sandwiches earlier in the day. He then proceeded to devour 2 additional ice cream sandwiches. Oh Jason.

MY REVIEW: This was good! The chicken would have been good on its own as well. It made for a lovely little presentation which kind of reminded me of Christmas with the bright red sauce and dark green spinach. All you need to add is a simple green salad and voila - dinner. I will most definitely make this again.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was good. I could have eaten another plate

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

 

With leftover rotisserie chicken from Monday, I made soup this evening. An internet search didn't really produce anything that caught my eye, so i winged (wung?) it. Here's what's in mine:

3/4cup wild rice

lots of water with some vegetable stock powder (this is what I use basically everytime a recipe calls for chicken stock by the way)

3 carrots, chopped

leftover cooked chicken, cut into small pieces

margerine

sliced mushrooms

half a yellow onion, chopped

salt & pepper

Put the stock, wild rice and salt and pepper into a large pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. While this is simmering, sautee your mushrooms and onions in about a tablespoon of butter until it starts to smell REALLY good as onions and mushrooms tend to. 

Once 40 minutes has passed, throw some chopped carrots into the pot, followed by the onion/mushroom mixture and the chopped up chicken. Let this heat for about 10 minutes (or until the sweaty guy in your basement stops riding his bike). 

MY REVIEW: Yum! I really should make soup more often. I love eating it for dinner almost as much as I love warming it up for lunch. It's such a good way to clean out your fridge and it fills the house with such a satisfying smell. We ate this soup with some olive/cheddar loaf from the Italian market and it made for a great meal.

JASON'S REVIEW: "Good soup sweetie"

Chicken in Red Wine Sauce with Nutty Mushroom Wild Rice

Again, this was yesterday but we'll pretend it was today because you probably don't want to hear about the perogies Jason made for dinner tonight. Don't get me wrong - they were delicious, but I can only write so much about boiling water!

So I found the recipe for rice in my "Company's Coming Tonight" cookbook:

Nutty Wild Rice

Ingredients
2 1/4cups prepared chicken broth
3/4cup wild rice
1tbsp butter or margerine (margerine)
2cups sliced fresh white mushrooms
1/3cup finely chopped onions
2tbsp pine nuts, toasted
2tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
pepper, to taste

Directions
Measure broth into medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add rice. Stir. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered for about 60 minutes, without stirring, until rice is tender. Drain any remaining liquid. Transfer to medium bowl. Cover to keep warm.

Melt butter in medium frying pan on medium. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until mushrooms are browned. Add to rice.

Add remaining 3 ingredients. Toss. Makes about 3 cups. Serves 4.

Chicken in Red Wine Sauce
I found the recipe for chicken on this random site. It was pretty damn simple.

Ingredients
1 yellow onion
About 3.5 pounds of chicken thighs, bone in or out (as much as you can fit in the pan)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Dried parsley flakes
Olive oil
Red wine
Chicken broth

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Coarsely chop an onion and place at bottom of 9X12 lightly greased baking pan.
Coat chicken in salt and pepper, a little garlic, and parsley. Put on top of onion and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Bake for 20 minutes.
Add ¼ cup red wine and ¼ cup chicken broth to bottom of pan and continue to bake for 40 more minutes.

MY REVIEW: I thought the chicken was too rich but I also added too much red wine. The onions look like worms and they were hard to eat. The rice was very good - lots of different textures and flavors. Pine nuts are expensive!

JASON'S REVIEW: The chicken and rice combo is very hearty and filled me right up. 10/10. 5 stars. 2 thumbs up.

Wowie Maui Chicken

I actually made this a few nights ago but we'll pretend it was tonight. This recipe came from the Looneyspoons cookbook:

Wowie Maui Chicken

Ingedients
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves cut into 1" cubes
2-1/2 cups low sodium, reduced fat chicken broth
1 can (14 ounces) pineapple tidbits in juice, undrained
1-1/2 cups uncooked long grain white or brown rice (use the kind that cooks in about 25 mins)
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup each chopped red and green peppers (i used orange only)
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tbsp each brown sugar, reduced sodium soy sauce and white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup chopped green onions (i even bought these! but forgot to put them in)


Directions
Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray. Add chicken and cook over medium high heat until no longer pink.

Add remaining ingredients except green onions. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in green onions during the last five minutes of cooking time.

For dessert, maybe have some mixed berry crisp. Click here for my recipe

MY REVIEW: This was good and easy. Make sure your saucepan is very big... mine was almost spilling over. Also - the original recipe said it makes 4 servings but it's more like 6. 2 dinners, 2 lunches and 2 more dinners.

JASON'S REVIEW: He's not here right now but I'm 100% confident he enjoyed it.

Zesty Chicken Tortilla Bake

I took this neat little package out of the freezer last night:

I found this recipe for 'Zesty Chicken Tortilla Bake' on the Kraft website:

Ingredients
1/2 cup MIRACLE WHIP Dressing (or hellmans 1/2 fat)
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk (i used skim)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided (or save-on brand 1/2 fat cheddar, and I didn't use nearly this much cheese)
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked, cut into bite-size pieces (i used left over shredded chicken)
1/2 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa (i'm pretty sure any salsa would work....)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (i didn't have any)
16 flour tortillas (6 inch)
 
Directions
MIX dressing and flour in medium saucepan with whisk until well blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to boil on medium heat, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened. Add 1 cup cheese; cook until melted, stirring constantly. Reserve 1 cup sauce.

STIR chicken, salsa and parsley into remaining sauce; spoon 1/3 cup down center of each tortilla. Roll up. Place 8 roll-ups, seam-sides down, in each of 2 (13x9-inch) baking dishes sprayed with cooking spray; top with reserved sauce and remaining cheese.

BAKE 25 min. at 375 or until heated through (Or do what I did - put them in pans, cover with aluminum foil and seal in a freezer bag. Remember to label what's in there or you'll forget! Take it out the night before and defrost in the fridge. It took about 40 minutes total on 375 and I took the cover off for the last 10 to brown the cheese).

JASON'S REVIEW: It tasted really good and it hit the spot. My taste buds danced and sang and danced and sang etc. (Oh Jason.)

MY REVIEW: This was good! Perfect with a salad and pretty easy to (pre)make. Also, it's a good use for left over chicken.  Kraft has some great recipes... and you don't even need to follow all their brand name ingredient suggestions!! It will still work!

2 Part Chicken Soup

We've been living off Thanksgiving leftovers this week! I was left with a chicken carcass and some chicken meat last night so I decided to make chicken soup. I don't know why I have never thought of making chicken stock in the crock pot, but that's what I had simmering over night. Some useful informaton on this subject can be found here. I just threw the bones in with some rosemary, oregano, peppercorns and bay leaves. I also cut up a bit of onion for flavor. I left that to cook over night on low (from 10pm-7am). In the morning, I strained the stock and put it in the fridge - Part 1 complete.

Part 2 - Very basic chicken soup. Sauteed some carrots, onion and celery in a big pot with a spritz of olive oil. To that, I added my stock, some water and the little cooked chicken bits I had left over. I also threw in some rice! I let it cook...until we were ready to eat it. Maybe half an hour? Maybe more.

Now USUALLY when I take pictures, I clear away all the bike paraphernalia. This evening, I thought it important that you see how we usually eat. You'll notice my soup amidst the pit pass, gloves, water bottle, spare tube, pump and helmet light! Oh that red bag is also full of water bottles. Somewhere in there is a container of safety pins (for attaching your race number of course), about 4 race numbers, a random bike part and a toque (fresh with sweat). Honestly, this stuff never leaves the table. We usually eat on the couch but the soup was really hot.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was good. Rice is nice.

MY REVIEW: Rice expands! 2 cups not necessary. Thick and filling though.

In other, unrelated news, I decided that I should make an online portfolio for my design work. I'm very pleased with myself as I haven't made a website for about 5 years. You can check it out here if you'd like. It's still a work in progress but the main stuff is up.

ALSO - If you're counting down the days like I am, it starts in 3 days!! 

Chicken and Orzo

So I noticed a particularly boring (for you) trend in my cooking lately. I have been using my own blog as a source for recipes. It may look like I haven't been cooking at all recently, but really I've just been coming on here to find something I can make for dinner!

To jump start the search for some new recipes, I asked Jason what he would like to eat for dinner this week. Anything. The most exotic thing he's always wanted to try. I told him to imagine he was at a fancy restaurant and could have anything he wanted. His response? Pasta. As I couldn't come up with anything better on my own, I went to the library and took out Company's Coming 'Low Fat Pasta'.

This evening, I tried Chicken And Orzo:

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced paper thin (I used 2 and I don't think I have the proper equipment to cut raw chicken PAPER thin but I did my best without another trip to the emergency room)

2 garlic cloves, minced (I didn't have any! I sprinkled a bit of garlic powder in the mix though)

1tsp olive oil

284mL condensed chicken broth (I just sprinkled some chicken broth powder I have in some water)

1cup water

1tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 medium carrot, cut julienne

1cup uncooked orzo

1 small zucchini, cut julienne

1 medium red pepper, sliced (You know how I feel about red peppers. I used orange instead)

Stir fry chicken and garlic in oil in large nin-stick skillet or wok for 5 minutes until chicken is almost cooked. Add next 5 ingredients. Cover. Simmer for 10 minutes Stir in zucchini and red (orange) pepper. Cover. Cook for 5 minutes until pasta is tender and liquid is absorbed.

JASON'S REVIEW: It tickled from my tummy down to my toes (??). It was also tasty.

MY REVIEW: This was great! Made just enough for 2 lunches and 2 dinners. Would make it again.

Crockpot Chicken Curry

As always, my crock-pot creation does not look pretty! I found this highly rated recipe on the KRAFT website:

 

10 chicken thighs, skins removed (I used 6 and it was enough for 2 dinners and 2 lunches)

1 jar  (16 oz.)  Chunky Salsa

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbsp.  curry powder

1 cup Fat Free Sour Cream 

I added half a can of chickpeas too!

 

PLACE chicken in slow cooker. Combine salsa, onions and curry powder (chickpeas); pour over chicken. Cover with lid.
COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 5 hours).
REMOVE chicken to serving platter; cover to keep warm. Add sour cream to slow cooker; stir until well blended. Serve over the chicken. (This step was done a little differently.... I always find chicken breaks apart in the slow cooker no matter what I do. Instead of trying to take it out, I just stirred the sour cream in with everything. It worked out just fine - there just wasn't any huge chunks of chicken)

JASON'S REVIEW: He's not home but he liked it.

MY REVIEW: This was very good and I would probably make it again. It's the most curry powder I've ever used in one recipe but the flavor was not too strong. We had it with nan bread and salad tonight but for lunches I made up some rice to go along with it. I always really hate warming up curry in the microwave at work because everyone says the taste lingers in there but THAT'S TOO BAD.
 

Chicken... Smash?

I don't know what to call this and I don't know where it came from. I do remember when I first made this though. It was right inbetween Christmas and New Years Eve last year because I remember being in Canmore, talking about this meal, and wishing we brought the leftovers. It was found on the internet somewhere but I just have it written out on a piece of paper. If I could give credit to the wonderful creator of this recipe, I would! It's a great way to use leftover chicken, or even cooked chicken in the freezer, which is what I did tonight. Here's the recipe:

2 chicken breasts cubes (I used some frozen chicken pieces in the freezer, approx. 2 cups?)
4 cups cooked rice
1/3cup white wine (plus a glass to drink)
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
black pepper
garlic salt (i used powder)
poultry seasoning (epicure!)

*see notes for variations

Brown chicken in large pan. Add in cooked rice and "fry" together. Season with black pepper, garlic salt and poultry seasoning. Add in wine, letting it cook off. Add soup and heat through. *Add in varations if desired and heat through. Serve warm.

*The creator of this recipe saud they used shredded cheese and mushrooms at this point but really any variety of vegetables would work. I chose to use some frozen brocoli, carrot and cauliflower mix I had plus a few bits of cheese.

JASON'S REVIEW: Jason is currently riding his bike but I know he will eat this and enjoy this. I will post again if for SOME REASON he doesn't.

MY REVIEW: This was very filling and tasty. It doesn't look pretty but it delivers in taste. Lots and lots of leftovers for lunch tomorrow too, which I love.

Catch Up!

I have been cooking, just not posting! Here's some stuff from the last few days:

An easy way to make cupcakes:
1. Get a boxed cake mix
2. Make it in some cupcake tins
3. Get a container of icing
4. Melt it and dip your cupcakes in.

The lazy (wo)mans cupcake! I found step 1 and 3 to be most challenging as I actually had to leave the house.

Jason had a race on Sunday, so that meant pasta on Saturday night. Nothing fancy... just some chickpeas, spinach and tomatoes in a sauce.

This evening I made some blackened chicken spinach salad. It was a combination of some Companys Company recipes as the orginal recipe was for blackened chicken ceasar salad.

BLACKENED CHICKEN
1 tbsp Cooking oil

Boneless, skinless chicken breast 2 lbs. halves, cut into 3/4 inch (2 cm) pieces (I used 2 breasts)
2 tbsp Ketchup

1 tbsp Paprika

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Onion powder

1/2 tsp Ground thyme

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Heat wok or large frying pan on medium-high until very hot. Add cooking oil. Add chicken. Stir-fry for 6 to 7 minutes until chicken turns white.  Add next 8 ingredients. Stir-fry for 8 to 10 minutes until chicken is no longer  pink inside. Remove from heat.

This is when I strayed from the recipe. I used a whole bag of spinach (to insure left-overs), and made a variation of another dressing recipe found in the Company's Coming 'Most Loved Salad' cook book.

I mixed about 2 tbps of olive oil with about 1tbsp of balsamic vinegar. I put approx 1tsp sugar and a sprinkle of both paprika and onion powder into the dressing as well and poured over the spinach. Since we were just having this salad for dinner, I hard boiled 2 eggs to add to the mix for a little more substance!

I put the chicken on top the spinach and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. This was probably the first time I've made an actual dinner salad!

JASON'S REVIEW: He is outside washing his bike but I know he liked it because he went back for more.

MY REVIEW: This was really good! The chicken was so flavorful and the dressing went really well with it. I'd definitely make this again.

Grilled Chicken Breast & Foil Pack Potatoes on the BBQ

 

The chicken chest was marinated in a little bit of olive oil, 1/2tsp thyme, 1/2tsp rosemary, 1/2tsp oregano, 2 crushed garlic cloves and fresh ground pepper. It sat covered in the fridge for about an hour before going on the grill.

 

Joining it on the grill were Jason's (now) famous scalloped potatoes, fresh from the garden. He cut them up really thin, and flattened them out on a piece of aluminum foil that had been lightly sprayed with olive oil.

On top of that, he put a dot of butter, some freshly ground black pepper and his secret weapon....

 

It's a seasoning salt that is made in the North West Territories. I'm not sure where you can get it here but if you do ever see it, you should probably buy it because it's tasty. 

 

There's a reason I'm not mentioning the asparagus recipe.... it was gross. Continue cooking asparagus as you always did because it will probably taste 10x better than this. After we had consumed some asparagus, we noticed the lemon juice used in the recipe had expired in 2006. Perhaps that played a role in the disgusting flavor? Who's to say...

 

JASON'S REVIEW: He is busy doing the laundry so I don't want to interupt. He finished everything on his plate, INCLUDING the asparagus! He liked it.

 

MY REVIEW: The chicken was good and the potatoes smelled like McDonalds. This was really  filling and will continue to be really filling in my lunch tomorrow.

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti With Sausage & Chard

Found this recipe on RecipeZaar and changed it up a bit:

Whole-Wheat Penne With Sausage, Chard, and Artichoke Hearts

* coarse salt and black pepper
* 12 ounces whole wheat penne (I only had whole what spaghetti... pasta is pasta I figure)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil (I use my spray bottle so less than 2tbsp)
* 3/4 lb chicken sausage, removed from casing (1 1/2 spicy chicken sausages from the Italian Market)
* 1 (9 ounce) box frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (I wish we had some...)
* 1 lb swiss chard, cleaned stems and leaves separated and chopped
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/3 cup sun-dried tomato, sliced
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (about 2 ounces)
* 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaf (I used dried)
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking sausage into pieces, until cooked through and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Add remaining oil, chard stems, artichoke hearts, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook until chard stems soften slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chard leaves and cook, stirring, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Add pasta to boiling water; cook until 2 minutes short of al dente. Add sun-dried tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta; return to pot.

4. Pour half of reserved pasta water into a small bowl. Add tomato paste and whisk to combine. Add tomato paste mixture, sausage mixture, Parmesan, basil, and red pepper flakes to pasta in pot. Toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

For dessert..... Jason walked to Mac's and got me one of these....

... and a scratch ticket! I love love love oreo ice cream / cookies and cream but had never had one of these. It was VERY good. I didn't win anything on the scratch ticket though.

JASON'S REVIEW: Nothing so tasty has ever touched my lips before (I told him nobody takes these seriously anymore)

MY REVIEW: Although I followed the instructions very closely, the chard stems were still pretty hard. Other than that, it was good. Make sure to cut your sun dried tomatoes REALLY small because a huge hunk of that is pretty nasty/salty. Since I had to open a new can of tomato paste to snag a tablespoon, I put the rest of the can in the freezer. I wonder how that will work out?

I also took this evening to pre-cook some chicken and freeze it for camping on the weekend. Jason and I are both SUPER paranoid about chicken and usually spend about 2 hours burning our dinner over the fire before we feel comfortable eating it. I don't know why I never thought of this before! I cooked up some diced chicken breast so we could have chicken curry and also the rest of the chicken sausage for a vegetable stew. 
 

Don't be looking forward to a new post tomorrow as it is my $1500, 3 hour dentist appointment. I am not looking forward to that..... HOWEVER, if you like big fancy cakes, be sure to check back on Wednesday!