Peachy Chicken

This recipe is like autumn in your mouth!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken breast halves
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 fresh peaches-peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

2.  Place chicken in the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  Place peach slices over chicken, then sprinkle with remaining brown sugar, ginger, cloves, and lemon juice.

3.  Bake for about 30 mins, basting often with juices until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

Grilled Chicken Pasta in a Tomato Cream Sauce

Ok folks, this one is the real deal!  I think this recipe just made it to the top of my favorites list.  It reminds me of the 5 Cheese Ziti from the Olive Garden, which is one of my life obsessions.  (Hopefully this recipe is a little healthier that that, because I recently read that the ziti at the OG has 1050 calories in it. Eek!)  As usual, I made a few adjustments.  Instead of adding fresh parsley, which I really don't care for, I added fresh rosemary, because I am growing it on my kitchen window sill.  I would definitely recommend adding the rosemary.  It made it taste soooooooo good!  Also, the sauce turned out really runny.  Next time I'm going to add cornstarch or something to thicken it up.  Also, we had some extra mushrooms in the fridge, so I added them as well, cause we love mushrooms.  Oh, one more thing, I didn't use the Montreal Seasoning it calls for because I didn't want to buy it.  You could just grill up chicken plain, or use whatever seasoning you want on it. We used some garlic and herbs and it was great!  Seriously, I love this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Montreal Steak seasoning
• 1/2 pound penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded

Directions:

Rinse chicken breasts in cold water. Layer between sheets of wax paper and pound to even thickness. Season both sides with Montreal Steak seasoning. Preheat grill for medium high heat, lightly oil grate, and grill chicken breasts on medium high heat for 6-8 mins each side. OR heat 2 tbsp butter & 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter and olive oil is nice and hot, add chicken breasts and cook 5 mins each side. Set chicken aside to cool. In a large pot, boil water with 1 tbsp salt. Add 1/2 lb penne pasta noodles and boil according to package directions. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is tender, but do not let the garlic turn brown (about 3-5 mins). Add the chicken broth to the pan and allow to reduce by half. Meanwhile, slice chicken. Once the broth has reduced, stir in tomato sauce. Add the heavy cream and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low. Chop the parsley and basil, add to sauce and mix well. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Stir well to coat. Serve pasta on plates, top with sliced chicken.

Santa Fe Chicken Pita Pizza

This recipe was soooo easy.  Like usual, I added extra ingredients because I had some that I thought would be a good addition.  I added tomatoes, green onions and corn.  Also, I used regular black beans instead of refried black beans because I read the recipe wrong, but I think I'll use it that way again.  Also, of course I did not measure anything.  I just put how much I wanted on each pita flat.  For some reason the grocery store I was at didn't sell pitas?  So I made them on these sandwich flats that they had, but the centers got soggy.  I'm definitely looking somewhere else for pitas next time.

Ingredients:

• 4 pita breads (6 inches)
• 1/2 cup refried black beans
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
• 2 tablespoons chopped green chilies
• 2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives
• 3/4 cup shredded colby-monterey jack cheese

Directions
1.  Place pita breads on an ungreased baking sheet, spead with salsa and top with beans.  Top with all the other ingredients, finishing with cheese.

2.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 mins or until the cheese is melted.

Grilled Stuffed Burritos

When Kyle first had these, he was in love.  He said they were everything he ever wanted out of a "Grilled Stuffed Burrito" from Taco Bell, but even better.  They're pretty simple too.  Just make sure that you don't get the pan too hot when you're grilling the tortillas, or they'll turn out like these.....

Also, I have a really hard time not filling the tortillas too full.  When I make them, they usually become tacos instead of burritos.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked rice

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1/2 red or green pepper, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

3/4 cup corn, cooked

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese

sour cream

Tortillas

I add other ingredients that I like in Mexican food, like tomatoes, onions or green onions.  

Directions

1. Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt.  Add remaining ingredients, except for the cheese and sour cream.  Sprinkle cheese over tortillas then dot sour cream down the center.  Arrange the chicken/rice mixture down the center.  Roll stuffed tortillas.  Arrange wraps seam side down on skillet  (med-low heat) and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 mins per side.

Mongolian Beef

The first time I had Mongolian Beef at P.F. Chang's I thought my life had changed.  It was sooo good!  Here is a recipe I've found that claims to be the recipe Mr. Chang uses.  It is pretty good!  We always add sautéed mushrooms when we make it, because when they are delish!  Also, the first time I made it, I decided to skip the "10 mins of cornstarch part" because I thought it sounded like a hassle.  The meal turned out ok, but I definitely recommend following the instructions exactly.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 lb flank steak
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 large green onions

Directions:
1.  Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/2 inch thick bite-size slices.  (Make sure its against the grain, or the meat will turn out very tough).  Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very think dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.  Let the beef sit for about 10 mins so that the cornstarch sticks..

2.  Make the sauce by heating the 2 teaspoons of oil in a medium sauce pan over medium/low heat. Don't get the oil too hot or its trouble.  Add ginger and garlic to the pan.  Stir it just a bit, and then add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.  Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2 to 3 mins or until the sauce thickens.  Remove from the heat.

3.  As the beef sits, heat up the cup of oil over medium heat in a wok (I use my skillet pan for this).  Heat the oil over medium heat until its nice and hot, but not smoking.

Add the beef to the oil and saute for just two mins, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.  You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.  Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.  After the two mins are up, use a large slotted spoon to take the meed out and onto paper towels.  Then discard the oil from the wok.  Put the pan back ove the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.  Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring..  Then add the green onions.  Cook for one more minute.  Serve over rice.

Open Faced Ranch Chicken Sandwich

This was a really simple recipe that was really good.  Of course, we halved it because there is just two of us.  I think there is a lot of room to "personalize" this recipe.  For example, the recipe calls for Ranch dressing, but we used garlic ranch dressing instead.  They have lots of different flavors of ranch these days and you could use whatever one you want to spice up this recipe.  Personally, I like Caesar dressing a lot better than Ranch, so maybe we'll try that next time.  Also, you could use different types of cheese.  You could add different toppings as well--like Bacon Bits.  Then it would be like a Chicken Bacon Ranch sub from Subway.

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded
• 2 whole green onions, sliced
• 2/3 cups Ranch Dressing (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 whole loaf of French Bread (cut a whole loaf in half lengthwise and just use one half)
• 2 whole Roma tomatoes--sliced
• 1 cup grated mozzarella or monterey jack cheese

Directions: Preheat broiler, or bring oven to 400F.  In a medium bowl, combine chicken, green onions, and enough ranch dressing to make a chicken salad (some people like very little, others prefer more dressing).  Scoop and spread onto bread.  Top with tomato slices and cheese.  Broil just until cheese is bubbly and golden.  Cut into slices and serve.  

recipe found at Tasty Kitchen

Heavenly Marinade

Kyle and I are always trying out new marinades on steaks, and this has been my favorite by far.  It can go on chicken, steak, pork or ribs.


Ingredients:

• 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 1 tsp mustard (hot, sweet, dijon, regular)
• 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/8 cup vinegar
• 1/8 cup oil
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt to taste

Mix all ingredients well and place meat in marinade.  Marinate for at least 2 hours.  I found that this recipe was for 2 steaks.

recipe found at cooks.com

Sausage and Mushroom Risotto

I have been searching for a good sausage recipe for a long time now, and this one finally hits the spot.  We loved it!  I did make quite a few changes from the original recipe--mainly because a small bag of risotto was $8.00 at the grocery store, and I thought it would work with rice.  Also, there was a lot of wine involved, which I substituted for chicken broth.  So, I'm posting my version of the recipe, but if you want the original, here it is.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sausage
• 1 package of sliced mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano (I used dried)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups rice
• Parmesan cheese (Kyle and I liked it better without cheese)

Directions:  

• In a large sauce pan, melt butter on medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 mins.  Add the rice and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until rice is soft (for me it was about 20 mins).  
• Brown the sausage on medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add the mushrooms, thyme and oregano and cook until mushrooms are tender.  Stir into the rice sauce pan, once rice is done  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to serving bowl.  Sprinkle with cheese.  

(We halved this recipe, and it still made a lot).

recipe found at simplyrecipes.com

BowTie Pasta Delish!

This has been one of my favorite pasta dishes since my freshman year of college, when one of my roommates made it for me. Its pretty simple too.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cooked chicken breasts-cut into bite size pieces
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 1 tomato-diced into pieces
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 bag of bowtie pasta

Directions:  In a large pan, melt butter.  Add garlic and cook until brown.  Add cream of chicken soup and milk. Stir until smooth.  Stir in salt, pepper, parsley, add chicken and tomatoes.  Toss with pasta.  Serve. 

Crunchy Asian Salad

This was really easy and delicious.  We kept the dressing on the side and added it individually, because we knew we'd have a lot of leftovers and we didn't want it to get soggy.  Also we added some chicken, because Kyle is a hard working man and needs some meat.  We just pan fried it up,  and put a little stir-fry sauce on it to add flavor.  It was pretty good!  I think that I'm just starting to realize the glory of cabbage.  (I will never like corn beef and cabbage).  

Ingredients
Dressing:
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1/3 cup Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Salad:
1 package of roman noodles (any flavor will do)
1 bag of coleslaw mix (the kind that has cabbage and carrots in it)
1/2 cup of sliced green onions (about 8)
1/2 cup of sliced almonds
1 medium red bell pepper
2 oranges, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped baby spinach leaves

Directions:  Mix all of the dressing ingredients together and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Set aside.  Crush up the bag of roman noodles and discard the seasoning packet.  Add the noodles and all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl and mix it up.  Add the dressing and stir.

Recipe from eatbetteramerica.com

Asparagus Linguini

We added a little cheese on top as well, but it was pretty good without it too.  This was a really simple recipe and it was really good.  The only down side was that it made our house smell really strongly of garlic.  I liked this, but I think it was to much for our baby, who was especially fussy afterwards.  

Ingredients:

1	pound fresh asparagus spears
8	ounces dried multigrain linguine pasta
1	tablespoon olive oil
4	cloves garlic, minced
1/4	teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1	package (8 oz) fresh button mushrooms, halved
1/4	cup chicken broth
1/4	teaspoon salt
2	tablespoons butter
1/4	cup shredded fresh basil
1/4	teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions:  Boil noodles according to the directions on the package.  In a sauce pan, saute the asparagus and mushrooms in the oil.  Add the garlic, salt and pepper and saute a bit.  Make sure you don't burn it.  Add the chicken broth and stir it up.  (Make sure that you scrape the bottom of the pan to get the veggie bits to add more flavor. ) Drain the linguini and add it to the veggie mixture.  Toss gently to combine.  Garnish with basil and red pepper.


recipe from eatbetteramerica.com

Blueberry Pie with Lemon Pastry

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

5 cups fresh or frozen thawed blueberries, rinsed well

Pastry:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2/3 cup shortening, cold

4 + tablespoons ice cold water

1 tablespoon cold lemon juice

Directions: In a large bowl combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice and grated peel, and blueberries. Roll out half of the pastry (recipe follows) - line a 9-inch pie pan and trim edges. Pour blueberry mixture into pie crust. Roll out remaining pastry to about 1/8 inch thick. Cover pie; trim, turn edge under and crimp. Cut a few vents in top of crust to allow steam to escape. Bake at 425° for 40 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned.

Pie Pastry:
Sift together flour and salt; blend in lemon peel. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Mix together 4 tablespoons of the water and the lemon juice. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of lemon water over the dry ingredients; mix lightly, adding just enough additional cold water to hold dough together. Divide dough into 2 portions and shape each portion into a ball. Flatten pastry balls 1 at a time, on lightly floured surface. Roll out to form a circle, rolling from center edge until dough is 1/8-inch thick.

This was the pie that I made on Pi Day. It was delicious!

Potstickers with Sweet and Sour Slaw

Potstickers

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground chicken
• 1/2-inch knob ginger, finely grated
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced, green tips reserved for garnish
• 1 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
• Few dashes Sriracha or hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 16 round wonton wrappers
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
• 1/4 cup chicken stock or water, plus more as needed

Preparation

In a mixing bowl combine the chicken, ginger, garlic,

scallion (save the green tips for garnish), 5-spice powder,

hot sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1 tablespoon soy

sauce. Cover the stack of wonton wrappers with a damp

towel and get a small bowl of water. Working with a

couple of wrappers at a time, place about 1 tablespoon

of the meat mixture in the center of the wrapper and

wet the edges by dabbing your finger in the water and

running it around the edges. Fold the wrapper over to

wrap the meat up (it’ll look like a half moon). Press on

the edges lightly to seal them and, if you like, crimp the

edges for decoration. Continue filling and shaping the

dumplings until all of the meat mixture and wrappers are used up.

Place a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat with 1

turn of the pan of oil, about 1 tablespoon. Add the dumplings,

flat side down, into the pan and sear until deep golden brown,

about 1 minute on each side. Add the stock to the pan and

quickly place the lid on. Steam the dumplings until the meat

is cooked through and most all of the liquid has been

absorbed, 3 to 4 minutes (if all of the liquid absorbs

but the potstickers aren’t done yet, add a few splashes

more liquid and continue cooking).

Sweet and Sour Slaw

Ingredients:

• • 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 head Napa Cabbage, shredded
  • 4 scallions, sliced
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce

Preparation

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons,

about 2 turns of the pan, canola oil. Sauté the Napa

cabbage, carrots and scallions until tender, about

5 minutes. While it is cooking, in a small saucepan,

mix together the sugar, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce.

Heat through, then pour onto the cabbage mixture, toss around,

and turn off the heat. Serve the Sweet and Sour slaw under

the pot stickers.

I think this is one of my new favorite meals. Its soo good. Its pretty

simple too, once you get the hang of making the potstickers. FYI,

I found the potsticker wrappers by the mushrooms in the produce

section of the store.

Also, usually when a recipe calls for fresh ginger, I just use the

powdered stuff I already have. For some reason I decided to get

the fresh stuff this time. IT CHANGED MY LIFE! I don't usually

like ginger, but this stuff was so good. You just break off however

much you want. The piece I got was about 5 times more than

I really needed, and it only cost .3 cents. I'm never going back

to dry ginger again!

Also, I know this post has some major formatting issues, but

blogger wont let me fix them. Sometimes I really hate blogger.

Raspberry Lime Juice

Ingredients

• 1/2 container of whole mint leaves
• 1 lemon, cut into slices
• 1 container of Raspberries
• 3 liters of Ginger Ale
• 2 Cups of Lime Concentrate

Mix all ingredients together in a pitcher, and serve.

I got this recipe from Macey's one week. They were giving out samples, and it was delicious!

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (If you no-likey spicy, cut it down to 1/2 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and refrigerate for one hour. Grill or cook chicken in frying pan. Discard marinade.

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped (again...leave out if you don't want it too spicy)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup cream
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for one minute. Season with cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over hot rice.

I first experienced this recipe when a friend made it for a few of us. I couldn't really appreciate it because all I could taste was my mouth lighting on fire because it was soooo spicy. I tasted a milder version of it at an Indian restaurant and fell in love with it. So here it is... when I make it I leave out the jalapeno peppers and cut back on the cayanne pepper. Also, the first time I made it I thought that it was a little too cuminy, so I cut it in half the second time I made it.