Delicious Summertime Dinner: Chicken Club Sandwhiches and Corn Salad

The secret to great food pictures contines to elude me =)

With the changes of seasons, our lives change as well. Sheets, clothes, smoke alarm batteries, shoes, hairstyles, even scented candles seem to be a reflection of the weather outside. Just like a "Clean Cotton" candle suits summer better than a musky cinnamon, we don't usually crave a piping hot pot roast on the hottest days of August. The dinner pictured above hit the summer craving spot perfectly.

I made this chicken recipe. I used Monterrey jack cheese instead of cheddar, and then I plopped them on a toasted bun with lettuce and tomato (and mayo for me, but no one else in the hohousehold!). As we've learned from experience, wrap these sandwiches up in foil to take them to-go (or to just wait for the rest of dinner to be ready), and the few minutes spent warming and meshing in the foil seem to cultivate wonderful yumminess. Or just eat them right away. Whatever.

For the corn salad (which I know, sounds weird but just trust me... I love this corn salad. I make it giant batches and fill half of my plate with it. I really really like it a LOT) I make a variation of this recipe. My changes: I don't use any hot peppers (because I want other people in the family besides myself to like it) but instead I throw in a bit of chopped green pepper (which I roast with the corn) and red onion, which I stir in raw. And I've personally never run into shredded coconut that was NOT sweetened, so I just use the regular sweet stuff. Sounds strange, I agree. But if people married salads, I marry this one.

Let me know if you try either one, but ya better hurry: Summer is rapidly coming to it's end! {Sadness perices my heart.}

☺

Love,

Fajitas with homemade salsa and guac

My house smells like a Mexican restaurant right now. And I like it.

Being born and bred in Southern California, in an area where "wedos" were in the minority, I am physically required to consume food of Mexican origin at least 3 times a month or my big toes shrivel and my left rotary cuff twitches. My husband has the same condition regarding pizza.

In case you are lost right now, "wedo" (or the feminine "weda") is a derogatory term us white folk were called. It's okay. I've accepted the fact that I am white. I no longer try to wear deep brown lipstick. And I've burned all pictures of that phase.

As for my toes shriveling and my rotary cuff twitching, it's personal. You don't want to hear any more.

Back to my Tex-Mex, spicy food addiction.

I love NY. Mostly. But it does have it's flaws. For one thing, a church pot luck in my region consists of pasta, sausage and peppers, more pasta, greens, pasta salad and something half of you will not recognize and shouldn't bother with anyway: tomato pie. Tomato pie is a local favorite, and is basically a pizza that the cook got tired half way through making and called it quits before adding pepperoni or final baking. Sounds bad, right? It is.

As any good California girl knows, a church pot lunch SHOULD contain carne asada, chili quillas, and sub sandwiches. (Hey, every pot luck, regardless of ethnic preferences, should have subs!)

So in the interest of my toes and shoulders, I make dinners containing tortillas, chili powder, and cilantro often.

I love cilantro. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. If marrying herbs were legal, I'd marry cilantro. I might date basil, because it's pretty good too. But definitely would make it official with cilantro.

Tonight's menu:

Steak fajitas with homemade salsa and guacamole.




Steak, lettuce, peppers, onion, salsa & fresh cilantro on flour tortilla = party in my tum tum



Early in the day... btw, starting dinner early in the dinner is pretty much always a good idea. Make sure the meat is defrosted, marinate it, chop veggies, pre-cook what you can, etc. Makes that stressful time between 4:30 and 5:30 pm, when the kids are up from naps and grouchy, the hubby is just coming home (and wants a glass of cold water and a smooth from his honey), the baby is hungry.... all that chaos! Makes that much more manageable if dinner is already off to a good start.

Anyway, early in the day, I put a chuck steak (about an inch thick... of course flank steak or any better cut of meat would be awesome, but I just used what I had) into a plastic bag with the following:

2 Tbs. lemon juice

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. crushed cherry pepper (that jarred stuff I love so much and elaborated on here)

I totally just made that little marinade up... anything with some sort of acid (lemon juice or vinegar of any kind, even Italian dressing from a bottle) along with the flavors of your desire with do the trick. I might try cumin, soy sauce, or just a pre-mixed Mexican spice blend.

With the meat getting happy in the fridge, I made salsa using this SUPER EASY recipe. I had all but given up on homemade salsa. Because NY's other major flaw is that tomatoes here are not that great. And they're not that cheap. So when buying tomatoes you're taking a gamble: when you cut into it, will it be red all the way through, or that nasty white mealy business? It's a gamble I've lost too many times. In the list of things I miss about California, after family and the weather, is fruit stands. We would buy the biggest, juiciest, reddest tomatoes from some dude selling produce from under a tent on the side of the road. They were so yummy, you could shake on some salt and eat it like you would an apple. Anyway, the recipe I used today calls for canned tomatoes, and as sad as it is to say this, canned worked much better than fresh in my salsa today.

I set some salsa aside and mixed into 2 mashed avocados and called it guacamole. I don't know if that is actually how you make guac, but it works for me.

Those both are best when refrigerated a while to mix and mingle and let all the ingredients get to know each other better.

Then, all that's left to do is cook the meat, caramelize some onions and peppers, and serve with tortillas, lettuce, cheese, salsa and quac. Sour cream? Yes that too. Spanish rice? Absolutely. Corn? Hey, good idea! Olives? Well, all right, if you want to go ahead but I'm not.

I cooked my chuck steak in a skillet. A grill would have been wonderful, but sadly, we don't own one. Booooooo. I think next time I have a cheaper cut of meat and want to make this, I'll slow cook it and shred it. But pan searing about 5 minutes on each side, then slicing worked pretty well tonight. When the meat was removed from the pan and covered with foil, I threw the onions and peppers in. When they were done to my satisfaction, I sliced the meat and set it on top on the cooked veggies.



The Right Way (ie. Kayte's Way) he he he

Then you set it all the table and let everyone make their own, to their own liking. A handy tip I think I learned from my sister in law, Tara, is to warm the flour tortillas in up in a microwave. First wrap them up in a damp paper towel and zap 'em for 15 seconds. So easy.




Seth's magic mix - steak, lettuce, nacho cheese, salsa

  

Maddie's "Purist" Fajita- Just meat and hot sauce



So there you have it: everything you never cared to know about what we had for dinner tonight. ☺

Love,

Pork Fillet, Stuffed and Wrapped

Mighty good dinner

 We all have our different approaches to grocery shopping and menu planning. I suppose it's just a matter of finding what works best for you. Your resources, as well as your priorities, whether budget or convenience or health is most important to you, surely all play a part in what method one employs. For me, this is how I roll:

Every week, I buy the foods that are cheap, either with coupons or sales or both. I fill in the rest (milk, produce, etc.) at Aldi's. Then I look in my cupboards and freezers and plan what to do with all of it. My primary reason is obviously to save money, but there are other advantages, namely variety.

Typically, different foods go one sale from week to week. If ground beef is on sale this week, it probably won't be next week. Therefore, switching up our menu repertoire is automatic.

I had a few pork fillets in my freezer from a good sale a little while ago. Normally, I would just season, or maybe marinade and bake. Easy and good. But I happen to have a copy of one of Julia Child's cookbooks right now, borrowed from the library. Reading all these fancy gourmet recipes left me longing for a little more flare in tonight's dinner.Though not following the recipe at all, I stole ideas from the beef wellington mentioned in The Art of Mastering French Cooking, Volume 2,

I had two short pork fillets, which I slit open longways and pounded thin so I could stuff. I do this often with chicken breast. Using wax paper to prevent guts from splattering all over my kitchen, I whack the fillet to a uniform thickness. I seasoned it with McCormick Montreal steak seasoning, which is a peppery spicy flavor. Salt, Pepper, Dried red pepper flakes... you get the idea. Then I plopped about 1/3 cup of stuffing:

Stuffing (I really don't measure but I'll estimate as best as I can):
1/4 c. each chopped onion, bell pepper, carrot
salt and pepper
1/3 c. parm cheese
1/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c. broth (I used beef.... is it against the law to use beef broth in a pork dish?)

In a skillet, I melted about a Tbs. butter, and added about a Tbs. of olive oil. Over med. heat, saute the veggies a few minutes, then add bread crumbs and broth. This create a mushy stuffing. After cooking bread crumbs and broth a few minutes, your veggies are pretty tender. Add cheese, stir and turn off heat. Let cool to handling temp. while you get violent on your meat.

Roll the pork around the stuffing and secure either with kitchen string (easiest) or toothpicks. Keep track of how many toothpicks you use so you don't kill someone!

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season the tops. I used paprika, 'cause I like it. You use what seasonings you like.

I had done the previous steps in the morning so I put my fillets in a baking dish, covered and refrigerated. At least an hour before dinner time, put it in a 375 oven for 35-40 minutes. (I let mine sit at room temp. for a little while before cooking.)

At least 2 and a half hours before dinner time, make a simple pastry dough. You need the extra time so the dough can rest in the fridge for a good hour or two before being rolled out.

Julia Child's Pastry Dough:
3 1/2 c. flour
2 sticks chilled butter, unsalted
6 Tbs. chilled shortening
1 egg plus ice water to equal 1 c.
2. tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar

Cut butter into 1/4 in. pieces. Mix butter and shortening into flour on moderate speed until it looks like course meal. Take care that the butter doesn't get warm. If the kitchen is warm or it starts to melt at all, refrigerate for a while and resume later. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Mix into flour mixture only until incorporated. As soon as dough clogs blades, remove onto wax paper. Form a dome, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2 hrs or more. May be frozen at this point as well.

After the stuffed pork is cooked (you don't want to wrap it until it is already safe to eat) and the kitchen string or toothpicks have been removed, remove pastry from fridge and roll half of it to cover the fillets. The other half will make a great pie shell later in the week. =) The half I used for tonight was rolled into a big oval, cut down the middle and one half was used for each fillet. My fillets had been cooked and sitting on the counter for about 10 minutes so they were warm but I could handle them without burning my fingers. Wrap the pork fillet in pastry, brush with egg wash and bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.

Let them rest for a few minutes until your husband gets off the phone with the IRS and then carve with an electric knife and dig in. =)

I doubt any one will closely follow this non-recipe recipe, but maybe it will give you an idea of your own. Look at what you've got on hand and think of a new way to put it together. I'm pretty sure everything tastes wonderful and looks divine when wrapped in pastry.

And, since I referenced good ol' Julia Child, I am suddenly and unexpectedly, a devoted fan. I never saw her shows and was never interested in her books but after cracking it open, I'm hooked. I actually have no desire to learn French cuisine, but Mastering the Art of French Cooking is so much more than a collection of French recipes. It's a book teaching techniques and methods of cooking. The objective was that a regular American house wife would be able to confidently prepare anything, with the knowledge to swap out ingredients to suit her tastes and resources. So despite the fact that truffles will not be found in my kitchen and tripe will never be a dish I serve (or eat... ever) I'm really learning a lot reading through the book. Volume 1 was checked out of the library so I settled for Volume 2.... I'm eager to get my hands on the first! I do need to put butter on my shopping list first....


Love,
 

Roasted Chicken: The dinner that keeps on givin'

And now it's that time (again) where Kayte pretends like everyone cares what I feed my family. ☺

Cooking from scratch sounds really hard to some people. But, the benefits- healthier, cheaper, tastier- are worth the effort. Whenever possible, I try to cook a BIG batch when I do from scratch cooking. Why not? It isn't much more work at the time and will save lots of work later on. Thank goodness for freezers! ☺

A few years ago, I kept noticing whole chickens going on sale for 88 cents a pound. I passed it by, simply because I didn't really know what I would do with the thing if I did buy it! Finally, when it came on sale again, I decided it was time to learn how to roast a whole chicken. And if I'm gonna roast one, I might as well roast two! Last week, I bought these whole chickens for 77 cents a pound. Digging through the pile for the biggest ones, I bought one for $4.74 and one for $3.73. I plan to make the most of that $8.46...

Chicken Marinade:
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 soy sauce
1/2 lemon juice (save the lemons)
Whisk together.... (look at me- doing fancy sequence shots like a cool blogger... instead of the negligent blogger I actually am ☺)

Unpackage, rinse and pat dry the cute little birds. They are kinda cute, right? Even though they are dead. Resist the urge to name them. It'll make it awkard when you're eating them.☺ Into each bird's cavity, I stuffed the 4 lemon halves that I previously juiced, along with some poultry seasoning. Over the skin, I sprinkle sea salt and cracked pepper, then pour the marinade over, followed by a sprinkle of poultry seasoning. Into the larger of the the two, I inserted a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. I set my thermometer to alarm when it reaches 180 degrees, which will take about 2 hrs.

Before setting the chickens into a 450 degree oven, I cover with foil, trying to create a tent to trap steam but without directly touching the chickens. Its easy on the bird with the thermometer in it... it serves as something to stick the foil to. It's harder on the other. After several frustrating minutes trying to create a tent on the second, I give up. Once you've got them looking nice and UFO-ish, put 'em in to bake. ☺ This is easy, right?

Now somehow my sequence shots went awry. Hmmm.... well the top picture shows them fresh out of the oven. Here, obviously, I carved out what my family would eat for dinner. We actually had leftovers from this serving plate, but wanted to be sure to have everyone's favorite peices.

So this is super easy so far.... the real work is after dinner. While we eat our moist and flavorful chicken (and sides), the remaining chicken cools off. Then I (with my hands) pull off every scrap of meat on those chickens. It is not glamorous. It's not gross either. Put on some happy music. It makes the whole thing better. ☺ And try to refrain from nibbling on chicken as you work. (Ok so maybe I did sample a little...)

What you end up with is a pile of delicious meat, a pile of skin/cartildge/unidentifiable chicken gunk.... and bones. The bones go into a BIG stock pot, along with some onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, sea salt and cracked pepper. Fill pot (almost) with water. Bring it to a boil, then simmer for several hours. (I let mine go for 4 hours).

The beautiful meat gets pulled or cut into smaller chunks and packaged for future use. I put 1 tupperware in the fridge for the next evening's dinner (enchiladas!!!) and 2 bags into the freezer for super easy meals in the next couple of weeks. So many meals require cooked chicken; having it handy and ready to use is fantastic. Plus this chicken has been raosted on the bone so it's so moist and gooooooood.

And here is the waste pile. Maybe I am freakishly frugal but it makes me happy to see such a small amount not be usable.

After the broth simmers for hours and hours, allow it to cool. For me, it was bedtime, so I strained the broth into pitchers and put in the fridge. The next morning, I skimmed the fat off and poured into ice cube trays.

After freezing, I popped them into freezer bags. Here are 182 broth cubes. 2 cubes = 1/4 cup. So this is almost 23 cups of broth. Broth that I don't have to buy. Broth I don't have to figure out what to do with the rest of the can, or worry about the carton not being used before going bad. Broth that will defrost quickly. Broth that is healthy.

I think 4 meals main ingredient, plus loads of broth is worth a little time. It really isn't hard. And it really did taste great!

I'm looking for more ways to cook from scratch. Any good recipes/ideas, friends?

Love,

Enchiladas, with Spanish rice!

We ♥ enchiladas.

Easy, doesn't take too long and a great way to redress leftovers. Here's what I do:

10 fajita size tortillas (I used 8, and then 3 low carb tortillas for my mom... the low carb ones are a little smaller)
1 big can enchilada sauce
1 small can re fried beans
A little over 2 cups cooked chicken (or beef....leftover pop roast? Shred it up!)
Cheese, salsa, taco sauce, olives, sour cream.... the possibilities are endless.

Since I like to make Spanish rice with this, I start soaking the tortillas in a pie pan filled with the enchilada sauce as I brown up 1/4 c. chopped onion, 1 tsp. minced garlic and 1 cup of rice in a bit of olive oil. Once the rice is golden brown, I add 1 small can tomato sauce, 1 and a half cups chicken broth (I just use the tomato sauce can to measure), about 1/2 tsp. chili powder and a bit of pepper. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, remove one tortilla from sauce at a time. Smear with re fried beans... I know, they are cold and straight out of the can. Ew. But it's all going to work out fine in the end. Top beans with a small handful of chicken, then cheese, and salsa.

It can get a little messy. But it's going to be fine, I promise. And let me just insert here that salsa should come from the produce department, folks. I'm a salsa snob.

After putting in your desired filling ingredients, fold the top and bottom down and then roll the whole kit and caboodle up. Place seam side down in your baking dish (I used 10x14). Once all your enchiladas are assembled, whisk in 1/2 c. of sour cream into the remaining enchilada sauce. Go ahead and mix it right in the pie pan. It will work. ☺ Then pour that creamy goodness over all your enchiladas. If you are one of those people who don't believe in TOO much cheese, you can sprinkle cheese on top. (And olives, or basically whatever you want.) I used to cheese to mark my Mom's low carb enchiladas.

Bake at 425 for 25 - 30 minutes. I usually cover with foil, but I was out, and guess what? It turned out just fine. ☺

By now, your Spanish rice is cooked, your table is set (hopefully), your kids are hungry, your baby is crying, the phone is ringing.... must be dinner time. ☺

Love,

My Brain Binder

I have surgically removed my brain and imported it into this 3-ring binder. Well, maybe I stopped just short of surgery. Truth is, I feel very scatter brained these days. Keeping up with household responsibilities as well as all the wonderful, exciting things at church has been leaving me overwhelmed and frankly, tired. And the result has been disorganization. Disorganization rears it's ugly head in a few areas of life here and there, and usually a little time devoted to setting things in order remedies the situation without much harm. But when a mama is disorganized about getting food on the table come dinner time, well that is a serious problem, in need of serious attention. When I entitled my dinner recipe section of this blog, "What's for dinner?" I had no idea how prophetic I was! So in an effort to not feed my family boxed macaroni and cheese every other night for dinner, I have a binder that is now serving as my brain until such a time as my brain can function adequately without it. Maybe when my last youngin' leaves the nest....

My poor photos leave me no choice but to explain what every tab is for. The thick plastic dividers with pockets are labeled: Menu, P.C. (stands for "Price Chopper", my local grocery store), Rite Aid, Target, Toiletries, Baby, Household, Grocery.

Under the Menu tab, is...you guess it... my dinner menu. I also typed a list of family favorites, of which I came up with 25. That leaves a few nights a month to try something from my "wanting to try" stack of recipes in a different binder... my longtime used recipe binder. As I filled in my plans for dinner for the next couple of weeks, I made a list of items I need for the store. I keep extra paper for such lists in this area of the binder.

Under the individual store tabs, I keep the store ad, store coupons and manufacturer's coupons I plan to use at the store (because they are offering that item on sale). I also have RiteAid's coupon policy, for handy reference when a inexperienced cashier doesn't know what to do with me and all my coupons. ☺

After the store tabs, begins my coupons. After the category of "household", I created subcategories using these cute tabs (I found mine for 50 cents on clearance at Staples) such as "air fresheners", "laundry", etc. I stuck the tabs directly onto the plastic covers that contain my coupons. Above, I used 4x6 photo sized plastic sheets.

Here, I used trading card sized plastic protectors. It certainly is easy to find exactly what coupon I need and sized perfectly for this category: "baking", under "Grocery".

One of the reasons I switched to a binder as opposed to the expandable little coupon clutch is that I am tired of cutting out every single coupon. So I now will just cut the coupons I am fairly sure I use, and leave the "maybe's" or "not likely's but will hang onto it just in case a sale allows me to get it free" coupons uncut and store in full sheet covers.

And in the back pocket, gift certificates and restaurant coupons.

In the very front, is my to-do list, bills I need to care for, etc.

So there ya have it. I always suspected my brain was pink and black plaid and now I know for sure that it is.

Love,

Coupon Cookin'

Santa Fe Chicken Skillet. Yum.

I can NOT take credit for this recipe at all, since it was on the package of the Philadelphia cooking creme, minus a few ingredients I did not have.

I was not planning on this tonight... I had defrosted the chicken tenderloins to bread and bake, but when Maddie began to feel yucky, and it was clear she only felt up to eating toast for dinner, I decided to take make something cheesy and dairy laden for the rest of us, since I've been trying to cut dairy from Maddie's diet to help her asthma.

PS. Maddie is feeling better now. Phew. This mama is ready to be done with this year's horrific cold/flu season.

Sometimes, when coupon shopping, I've done all my shopping... I've gotten lots of stuff but NO MEALS. Ya can't eat deodorant, even if it was free. ☺But with some planning, and creativity in putting different items together, we've been enjoying some delicious dinners. I know there are many different ways to plan weekly meals.... what works for me is just planning 5 meals at a time. I get the weekends off. ☺Well, mostly... I'm also always glad when I make a double batch of one night's dinner, and put half in the freezer for a week or so later.

Last night, I made baked salmon that was TASTY. Aldis has frozen fish of several varieties for about $3.50 for 4 fillets. I defrosted the salmon and put it into a large baking dish. To 1/4 c. of brown sugar I added a few of my favorite spices: ginger, paprika, a spicy steak rub, salt, and some cracked pepper. The mixture was sprinkled over the salmon, then dotted with a bit of margarine. Baked uncovered for 20 minutes. Easy and soooo good. I really want my kids to grow up eating fish. It's so healthy, and so easy and fast to prepare. And $3.50 for the main dish? That's a good price!

Tonight's dinner was also easy and fast... and cheap.

$2.45 for 1 pk. (1.2 lbs.) of chicken tenderloins (When all chicken packages were 40% off a few weeks ago, I threw several in my freezer)

$.50 for 1 lb. box of Rozini rigatoni (also a sale that I stocked up on..)

FREE (with coupon) for 1 tub Philadelphia cooking creme

Plus veggies: onion, green pepper, corn. Not sure the cost.

1/2 c. Monterrey jack cheese. Not sure on the cost either, but I'm going to say $.50 if I normally pay $2 for a pound of cheese.

So I think I can safely say I payed about $4-$5 on the whole dinner, and we had plenty. A nice portion for lunch tomorrow is sitting in the fridge still.

In a large skillet, I cooked the chicken (cut up into bite size pieces) and diced onion and green pepper in a bit of margarine. Once the chicken was cooked through, I added the cooking creme and frozen corn (1 c.). (I would have liked to add cherry tomatoes, but sadly, I was out.) Heated all the through, then stirred into the cooked pasta. I transferred the whole thing to a serving dish and sprinkled with cheese. Viola. Easy, right? Good? Yes.


Love,

Whole wheat options

We have always used whole wheat bread at our house, except for the occasional loaf of homemade bread I make using this easy recipe. The majority of the time, we eat store bought 100% whole wheat bread. It's one of the good habits I picked up from my mother. Growing up, we always ate wheat bread, skim milk and never had soda in the house. I do really like Diet Pepsi, BUT it's a "treat" when I go out; never kept at home.



Anyway, I have been reluctant to go whole wheat in other areas: pasta, rice, tortillas. And I'm still sticking with my regular pasta... it's just sooo much cheaper (I bought 10 boxes last week for 50 cents each!). When my mom eats dinner with us, I use a low carb pasta -Dreamfields brand- because she is diabetic. The Dreamfields really does taste just like regular pasta... but costs about 3 times as much. In the past, however, whole grain rice and tortillas just didn't taste very good to me (or my family).

Recently, I purchased 100% whole grain brown rice (Uncle Ben's is the brand I like) and 100% whole wheat tortillas and have actually liked them so much, I'm officially making the switch! What I have discovered is that whole wheat varieties need a little something extra. So here are two ideas that work for us, and I thought may be useful to others who want the health benefit of whole wheat but don't like the flavor.

Brown Rice Pilaf

I LOVE this. So yummy. I make big batches because it makes a great lunch the next day. Add some chunks of chicken and you've got yourself a healthy, easy, one pot supper!

Are we all okay with "non-recipe" recipes? I have no exact measurements for you. BUT I did do sequence photos! Look at me, gettin' all fancy! Okay I actually just have 2 sequence pictures and one very bad finished product picture. I sorta forget to get my picture until we had eaten half of it already!

Anyway, I saute some veggies: onion, carrot, red and green pepper, minced garlic... but you do your favorites (mushrooms and broccoli would be great to me but not to Seth) in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. You can make your rice as heavy or light on the veggies as you prefer. I say the more the merrier!

When the veggies begin to get tender (just a few minutes on medium heat), add your rice. I put in 1 1/2 c. rice. As long as you have double the liquid as rice, you make as much as you want. Because brown rice needs that extra help to be yummy, I used half chicken broth and half water for my 3 cups of liquid. And then I season it liberally. Cracked pepper, salt, chili powder.... you can do whatever you like. An Italian seasoning mix works good, too.
The difference between cooking brown rice verses white rice is longer cook time. So this needs to be brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

We love this. It's filling and healthy and cheap. Can't beat that! So give brown rice a try; just season it a whole lot!

Whole Wheat Tacos

My other adventure in whole grain was with tortillas. I'm from California. I love Mexican inspired foods. Now, I live in a an area of the country where if it ain't Italian, people don't even know what you're talking about. ☺ I say guacamole and the kids in our youth group scrunch up their noses at me. I went to a "Mexican" restaurant here and ordered horchata and they had no idea what I was saying. In a Mexican restaurant.... they didn't have a Mexican drink. They'd never even heard of it.

We're not California anymore, Toto.

Anyway, I have had to learn how to cook a few favorites. I can't seem to make chili quillas, so if anyone wants to teach me or, or better yet just make some and bring them to my house, I'd greatly appreciate it. ☺

All of that was just to say that while some people may not care a hoot about tortillas... I do. And I wanted to eat healthier wheat versions so I gave them a try. They really aren't bad all by their lonesome. Some wheat products are way different than their white flour counterparts but surprisingly, tortillas are a good thing to branch into whole wheat because they are pretty good.

I made taco cups with mine by cutting slits as so:

Lightly brush them with olive oil (or whatever oil you want) and push them into a muffin tin. On Christmas, I made mini tacos for an appetizer using a mini muffin tin and bigger tortillas cut into fourths, then slit. For the regular muffin tin, these tortillas were fajita or taco size.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. These were filled with taco seasoned chicken but you can use your favorite taco fillings.

Of course I had to go and corrupt the nice healthy whole wheat tortillas with a big glob of sour cream. I wouldn't want to be accused of being a health nut. ☺

Love,

Chicken Tetrazzini ~ Budget Friendly

My sister in law, Suzanne gave me this easy recipe a few years ago and it's become one of my staple stand by dinners. I'll give you the basic recipe as was given to me, but the beauty of this recipe is it's versatility.

Versatility = use what you've got. dress up left overs. save money. stretch a small amount of chicken. waste less. reign as queen of your kitchen.

1 pkg. (7oz.) spaghetti, broken in half (never in my life have I personally met a 7 oz. pkg. of spaghetti... so I use half a typical 1 lb. box... and you can use ziti, rotini, whatever)

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a 2 quart sauce pan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth & bubbly. Add cream and broth, heat to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Drain Spaghetti. Stir spaghetti and chicken into sauce. Pour into ungreased 2 quart casserole. Sprinkle with cheese and bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes, or until bubbly in center.

Gourmet, it is not. But cheap it can definitely be, and (at least around here) it's very kid approved. Whenever I bake chicken breast or boil a whole chicken, I save cut up, cooked chicken in my freezer for recipes like this, calling for "cubed cooked chicken". For tonight's dinner, I just defrosted one breaded baked chicken breast which was leftover from last week. The breading tasted just fine (I may even prefer it!) in the tetrazzini. My heavy cream and broth were also remnants from other recipes I recently made. After a few experiments, I've discovered that we like to add extra seasoning along with the salt and pepper. I add a bit of garlic powder and Italian seasoning mix. And I also have learned that our family does not like the full 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. We probably use half of that. And sometimes, I completely leave the cheese off and use bread crumbs to sprinkle on top... you could try crushed potato chips or Ritz crackers. The given recipe makes a perfect amount for our family of 4.75 people. ;) So if yours is larger, you will need to double it.

Let me know if you try it and what spin you put on it yourself!

Love,

Chicken Parm

Simple, fairly easy and a hit with each member of my family: Chicken Parm.

I always thought of Chicken Parm as a somewhat fancy dinner since it's featured on many a restaurant menu. But a couple of years ago I realized that there really is not much much to it! So here is the way I make mine. By the way, this picture doesn't look very appetizing to me. It really did look so much better in real life! Kayte = no good at taking pictures of food.

For my little family, three medium chicken breasts does the job. I used a whole pound of pasta and have a couple days worth of leftovers, which the girls gobble up with glee.

If the chicken breasts are really fat, or uneven in thickness, you should pound them out to an even thickness so it cooks evenly, without dry ends or raw insides. YUCK! Put them between two pieces of wax paper before beating the day lights out of them with a mallet.

Then I get 3 bowls/dishes prepared:

Bowl 1:
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1. tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
I never measure, just whatever looks good!

Bowl 2:
2 eggs, whisked

Bowl 3:
Shredded or Grated Parmesan cheese

Pour a couple of Tbs. of olive oil (don't ya feel so little "Miss Healthy Pants" when you cook with olive oil?) in a skillet and get it hot. We want to hear a sizzle when we put the chicken in.

Dredge each chicken breast in flour, then egg, then cheese. I smash the cheese in to get as much on as possible. 'Cause it's good that way.

Put the chicken breast in the hot olive oil and cook, undisturbed for a few minutes. They should get really brown. The point is not to cook through because they go in the oven next. It's just to get the coating somewhat crispy and it sort of seals the juiciness of the chicken inside for the baking process. There may be a fancy culinary term that I just don't know. All I know is that the first couple of years I was married, my chicken was either raw or super dry. When I finally tried the whole coating, frying THEN baking thing, it was one of the best days of my life. Angels started singing the hallelujah chorus, birds landed on my window sill and started singing with them and my roof opened up to allow rays of glorious sun to radiate my kitchen.

Or maybe Seth just complemented the chicken. One of the two happened.

When both sides are very brown, pop them in a 375 oven on a 13x9 in. baking dish for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Bigger chicken breast need more, smaller need less. Duh.

Meanwhile, cook some pasta (I used spaghetti this week because I was feeling boring and uncreative but you can use whatever you like. I think I actually prefer angle hair or thin spaghetti.) and heat up some sauce. I have yet to perfect pasta sauce so if you've got a fool proof recipe for good sauce, I'd love to try it!! My mother in law makes great sauce, in my opinion, but I just can't get it right. She's a non-measuring cook and I think she does it different every time but it somehow always turns out good.


When the chicken breasts are cooked, you could just eat them like that and call it a day. Who needs an extra dirty dish. But if your children are like mine and think that every meal must include something in which to dip something else, which in this case is Italian bread and sauce from the pasta, then you must keep going.

Drain the pasta, pour onto the 13x9 inch pan (I've removed the chicken for a moment onto a plate... the same plate that I'll eat dinner from because I'm anti-extra dish) and mix with some sauce. Place the chicken on top of the whole mess and top with a little more sauce. Then sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on top. Then cave in and give the begging toddler (and husband) an extra piece of cheese. Put it all back into the oven to allow to cheese to melt. This is when I set the table, corral the toddler into her high chair, cut bread, throw a load from the washer into the dryer, put dirty dishes into the dish washer and solve world hunger. It's a very long and productive 5 minutes. The we sit down, Maddie prays for 5 minutes, Seth prays for 5 seconds, Eden says two "Amens" and we eat. And then I get up to get the drinks I forgot earlier.

** Alternately, you could omit using the oven and simply pour you sauce over the chicken and turn to heat down to simmer for the 15 or so minutes to cook the chicken through. I personally like finishing as many meals as possible in the oven because, well, what would happen to the world if I didn't have that time to accomplish so much? ;)

Love,