Thursday, January 28, 2010

I have been really busy lately and I am falling behind on posting on my cooking blog. Havent made anything new lately. We have had the Chicken in Mushroom Sauce 2 or 3 times because Scott is in love with it. We had bbq ribs the other day.

I have gotten back to taking Zumba classes 2 to 3 nights a week which means I havent really been cooking anything spectacular.

I hope everyone is well!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce

I found this recipe on eatingwell.com website and it is wonderful. I can not stress how good it is. Scott raved about it and said it might be the best thing I have ever made and I have made a lot of stuff. It is nice and healthy too which is a huge plus for me. I hope everyone enjoys it!


Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/mushroom_cream_chicken.html

From EatingWell: March/April 2008
The secret to a good cream sauce is always the same: not too much cream or it can be overpowering, masking the more delicate flavors. Here it contains a bountiful amount of mushrooms and is served over chicken breasts.

2 servings | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
•2 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and tenders removed (see Tip)
•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon canola oil
•1 medium shallot, minced
•1 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
•2 tablespoons dry vermouth, or dry white wine
•1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
•2 tablespoons heavy cream
•2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, or scallion greens
Preparation
1.Season chicken with pepper and salt on both sides.
2.Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice and adjusting the heat to prevent burning, until brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
3.Add shallot to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in vermouth (or wine); simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cream and chives (or scallions); return to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
Nutrition
Per serving : 275 Calories; 15 g Fat; 5 g Sat; 7 g Mono; 84 mg Cholesterol; 5 g Carbohydrates; 25 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 373 mg Sodium; 370 mg Potassium

Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 2 fat

January 12, 2010

We had bbq ribs with leftover mashed potatoes, green beans and honey cornbread for dinner. For the bbq ribs I always use spare ribs. I just think they taste better. I then throw the ribs in the crockpot in the morning on low, pour a box of beef broth on them and a bottle of Famous Dave's bbq sauce. I let it cook on low all day until I get home from work and then they are wonderful. Alex will eat these until she makes herself sick.

We love the honey cornbread recipe that I found from the Neely's on Foodnetwork about a year ago. This recipe is wonderful is not like your normal dry cornbread.


Honey Cornbread Muffins
Recipe courtesy The Neelys
Prep Time: 10 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 15 min Level:
Easy Serves:
12 muffins Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
Special equipment: paper muffin cups and a 12-cup muffin tin
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

January 11, 2010

I am behind on posting recipes. On Monday, January 11, 2010, we had meatloaf with cheesy mashed potatoes and fresh greens for dinner. I always use a Paula Deen recipe that I found a year or so ago for my meatloaf. It is absolutely awesome and everyone always wants the recipe. I hope you enjoy!


Old-fashioned Meat Loaf- A.K.A "Basic" Meat Loaf
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Prep Time: 10 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min Level:
Easy Serves:
4 servings Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.


Topping:
Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Spicy Chicken Roll Ups

For dinner this evening we had Spicy Chicken Roll Ups that I found on the kraft.com website. This was a awesome. It was like having lasagna. It wasn't hard to make at all. I used whole wheat lasagna noodles and cooked them. Used a rotisserie chicken from Krogers. If you don't like things spicy use less red pepper. I used the whole teaspoon but when I make them again I will cut back a little bit on the red pepper if Alex is here.
I was able to get 10 roll ups. I probably stuffed a couple of them with too much chicken mixture and I might not have gotten all of the chicken of of the rotisserie chicken.

I hope you enjoy it!

Spicy Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
2 cups KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 eggs, beaten
12 lasagna noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

MIX first 3 ingredients; combine 1/2 cup with chicken, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and eggs. Spread 1/4 cup onto each noodle; roll up.

SPREAD 1/2 cup of the remaining sauce mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with lasagna rolls (seam-sides down), remaining sauce mixture and mozzarella.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

White Chicken Chili

We volunteered today at the soup kitchen that our church participates in once a month so for dinner I wanted something quick and easy that I did not have to stand in the kitchen for a long time making. I had everything for white chicken chili so I made a batch of that. I found this recipe last year on a cooking board that I frequent. We really like this recipe. Since Alex would be eating it, I didnt put the whole can of green chiles in because I was not sure if she would like them. Dinner was a hit for everyone. I hope you enjoy!

White Chili
Sharon --GatorGrrrl

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro (or 1 tbsp fresh)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 can (4.5 ounces) chopped green chiles
1 can (19 ounces) white kidney beans (cannellini)

Topping
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)
2 sliced green onions (optional)
2 cups tortilla chips


Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken cubes and onions; cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring. Stir in chicken broth, chiles and spices. Simmer over low heat 15 minutes.

Stir in beans and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. To serve, put some tortillas in a bowl, top with chili and top with cheese and sliced green onions, if desired.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Beef Bourguignon

For dinner this evening I wanted to make a beef bourguignon recipe that I saw in my Juilia Child's cookbook titled Master of French Cooking but I did not have all of the ingredients so I did a quick search and ended up taking 3 or 4 different recipes in order to make the following recipe. This was a spectacular dish and I will be definitely making it again. I was told that this is in the top 10 of dishes that I have made.

This dish can be made in the crcockpot cooked on low for 8 to 9 hours or could be cooked on the stove for a couple of hours until the beef stew is tender.

I served this with mashed potatoes and fresh greens with a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread.

Beef Bourguignon

3 pounds of beef stew
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of carrots (you can use baby or cut up your own)
1 sliced onion
8 oz container of mushrooms
6 slices of smoked bacon, cut up
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of peper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 to 2 cups of red wine depending on if you like the taste of wine in your food
2 cups or more of beef broth...enough to cover up the meat
flour or cornstarch to use to thicken up the broth

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil in bottom of crockpot. Place onions and mushrooms and half of the sliced bacon, beef stew, carrots and remaining bacon, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and the seasonings. Pour in the wine and then the beef broth. Make sure you pour enough beef broth in to cover the beef. Cook on low 8 to 9 hours until tender or 4 to 5 hours. 30 minutes before serving mix flour or cornstarch in to thicken up the broth.

I hope you enjoy!