On Hiatus

Hey all, just a quick update to let you know cooking blog is on hiatus until at least mid-December. I'm in 2 master's classes this semester that are heavier than usual on the amount of reading, so creative cooking is not my forte right now.

I'd like to assure everyone that we're still eating, though it's really just a bunch of repeats from earlier blogs at this point. :)

See you at the end of the semester!

Grilled Beer Chicken with Potato Slabs

Beer in your chicken? Yeah, I was sure to get Craig's attention with this one. Found the recipe on rachaelraymag.com, apparently it was in the June/July '08 issue and I missed it!

INGREDIENTS:

-One 12 oz can or bottle beer, at room temp

-1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

-2 cloves garlic, smashed

-1 tbsp chili powder

-1 tbsp brown sugar

-2 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling

-6 chicken drumsticks

-2 baking potatoes

-olive oil (for drizzling)

-lime wedges (for serving)

DIRECTIONS:

-In a resealable plastic bag, combine the beer, butter, garlic, chili powder, brown sugar, and salt. Add the drumsticks, seal the bag and let marinate while you proceed.

-Preheat a grill or grill pan to high. Microwave the potatoes on high until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Slice the potatoes lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick. Drizzle both sides generously with olive oil.

-Transfer the chicken and potatoes to the grill. Grill the drumsticks, brushing with the beer marinade and turning occasionally, until the skin is golden and crisp and the juices run clear, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, grill the potatoes until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt. Serve the chicken and potatoes with the lime wedges.

COMMENTS:

-Okay, we made a few modifications here. First, we used chicken breasts instead of drumsticks. Also, we don't have a grill, so we put the potatoes in the oven and cooked the chicken on the stove. And the potatoes were the small red kind, not bigger baking potatoes...so we used more than 2.

-With the potatoes, we wanted to add a little more seasoning, so we sprinkled them with rosemary while baking, and put some parmesan cheese on at the end. (This is a hybrid of some potatoes we made out of my Carmella Soprano cookbook a ways back.)

-Overall, very tasty! The marinade keeps the chicken really juicy. No, it doesn't reek of beer, but the beer does give it some good flavor. (We used a golden ale that Craig brewed at home.) We served with a side salad. Yummm.

Jalapeno-Mango Shrimp

So I'm flipping through my latest issue of Rachael Ray Everyday, and I see this cool summer shrimp meal. Sounds tasty! Must try.

Unfortunately, I have to say this is the first and only time Rachael has failed me. We were not fans of this one. But here's the recipe and I have some comments at the end!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 jalapeno chile, finely seeded and chopped

-2 tablespoons EVOO

-2 teaspoons ground cumin

-Salt

-1 1/2 lbs extra large shrimp, shelled and deveined

-2 tbsp brown sugar

-Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)

-2 mangoes, cut into cubes

-1 1/2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

-6 radishes, halved and thinly sliced

-2 scallions, sliced

-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. In a large bowl, whisk together the jalapeno, olive oil, cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the shrimp and turn to coat.

Grill the shrimp until just cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side; let cool. Halve the shrimp lengthwise.

In a large bowl, dissolve the brown sugar in the lime juice. Add the mangoes, cucumbers, radishes, scallions, and cilantro; toss and season with salt. Add the shrimp and toss.

COMMENTS:

Okay, the big mistake in this meal is the CUMIN. There is nothing light and summery about it. It was way too powerful and gave everything else a yucky flavor. The mango and cucumber were quite yummy though and might be good with different seasoning. Craig was not a fan of the radishes though...I thought they were "eh".

Also, I will say I attempted this meal at a rather unfortunate time, as jalapenos and cilantro are being investigated for salmonella contamination. I ended up using a poblano pepper instead of jalapeno (Bill told me later this may not have been a great substitution), and I said "what the hey" with the cilantro and used it anyway. (The FDA cleared it later anyway...not that risky right?) We did throw the cilantro in with the shrimp for a minute though, because I felt safer with it semi-cooked. And we're all still standing...

So the moral here is...Rachael had a good concept, but it just didn't come together correctly. Not our top choice.

Grilled Pizza with Hot Sausage, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Oregano Ricotta

I wanted to use up some of the ricotta from my last dish, and I needed some ideas. Thankfully the ladies on the CT Tribe message board helped me out! This was recommended to me by Jess, via the Food Network.

I do have to say, this is a dish originally done by Bobby Flay. And I hate Bobby Flay. I mean I really hate Bobby Flay. If there was a chef I would not want to be like, it would be Bobby Flay.

But this is good anyway, so let's forget it was made by him, 'kay?

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound Italian hot sausage

1 large red onion, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

2 large yellow pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

2 large red pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 recipe favorite pizza dough, rolled into 4 (6-inch) rounds

1/2 pound grated fontina cheese

1 cup sheep's milk ricotta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Basil Vinaigrette

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat a grill.

Grill the sausage on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side. Brush onions and peppers with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the onions and peppers until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the sausage from the grill and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices. Remove the onions, separate into rings, and roughly chop. Remove the peppers and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices.

Heat grill to high. Brush dough with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and grill for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn over and grill for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the grill and place on a flat surface.

Divide the fontina cheese among the 4 pizza rounds. Divide the sausage, onions and peppers over the cheese. Place the pizza on the grill, close the cover and grill until the cheese has melted, about 3 to 4 minutes. To finish in the oven, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pizza on sheet pans and bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Mix together the ricotta, extra-virgin olive oil, and oregano in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove the pizzas from the oven and drizzle with Basil Vinaigrette. Top with dollops of the ricotta cheese mixture and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

COMMENTS:

We made a lot of edits to this one. First, as you all know, we do not have a grill. So we had to do everything with the stove/oven, but that really didn't take that much variation.

Secondly, we didn't do the 4 individual pizzas--we just did one big one. We found out early on that we could have done with way fewer red/yellow peppers as a result (as you can probably tell by the picture...). But we loaded 'em on anyway.

As usual, we skipped the onions. And I have no idea what fontina cheese is, so I bought Price Chopper Pizza Blend shredded cheese. Easy enough! And tasty. I also used a Boboli instead of making my own pizza dough.

Bobby Blah has his own recipe for basil vinagrette that he used...me, I bought the "Basil Vinagrette" salad dressing pack, mixed with oil and vinegar...beautiful and easy.

All in all, this was really good. Craig was skeptical at first because there was no pizza sauce on his pizza. But the sausage plus all the cheeses makes a really good mix, and the vinagrette isn't overpowering at all. YUM!

Fettucine Tomato Rustica

I wanted to try a little variaton on our usual pasta dish, so I got some ideas on allrecipes, bought some fun new ingredients, and got to work!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 (16 ounce) package dry fettuccini noodles
1 cup olive oil, divided
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons basil pesto
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink, and juices run clear. Set aside to cool, then slice into bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, combine remaining olive oil, pesto, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and ricotta. Mix until smooth.

In the large skillet, toss fettuccini with sauce and chicken. Cook on low heat 5 minutes, or until heated through.

COMMENTS:

For once, I did everything the directions suggested. :) While this was a quick and tasty dish, Craig and I agreed it wasn't everything the recipe made it out to be. It sounds very fancy-schmancy with all the cheeses and tomatoes and such, but it really just tastes like a basic thick, creamy fettucine dish.

Still a good one to try, and the sun dried tomatoes give good flavor--but maybe not worth all the money you'll drop on ricotta and feta!

Tomato Basil Chicken

I had some chicken. I had some fresh basil (thank you to the parentals for that). I needed to use them. Allrecipes.com to the rescue!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups olive oil for frying
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat 2 cups olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the eggs and bread crumbs in 2 separate bowls. Dip chicken in the eggs then in the bread crumbs to coat. Place chicken in the skillet, and fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, onion, and basil. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Spoon over the fried chicken to serve.

COMMENTS:

To save time, we ignored the breading option, and just grilled our chicken on the stove. Personally I think this sounds better than doing the tomato mix on breaded chicken, and it did taste really good.

Also, we used roma tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, which worked fine. I like them because they're a little easier to dice up.

I highly recommend the fresh basil! The stuff we used was right out of my parent's garden and it tasted soooo good. Enjoy!

Balsamic Tortellini

Back when we first started living together (and I couldn't cook AT ALL yet), one of our favorite easy dinner staples was tortellini with marinara sauce. We had a craving for the tortellini, but I found this recipe online to change up the flavor a bit. Courtesy of allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 slices pancetta bacon, raw

1 (9 oz.) package cheese-filled tortellini

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bacon until onion is translucent and bacon is brown; remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

-Return onion/bacon mixture to skillet and add cooked tortellini. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and heat through. Place in serving dish or bowl, sprinkle with vinegar and cheese, and serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-Not being onion fans, we skipped the onion and put in some garlic instead. We also used regular bacon instead of pancetta.

-I'll say up front, this was not my favorite. I think maybe I used a little too much balsamic vinegar? I found the taste of the vinegar to be very strong and I didn't get to enjoy the pasta/bacon at all. I think it might be a good idea to use a little less of the vinegar than the recipe called for. Tweak and tell me what works!

Asian Beef with Snow Peas

As you've probably noticed, we love our stir fry. Many of our stir fry dishes have been with chicken in the past, so I found this variation on allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 lb. beef round steak, cut into thin strips

8 oz. snow peas

DIRECTIONS:

-In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.

-Heat oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Stir fry ginger and garlic for 30 seconds. Add the steak and stir fry for 2 minutes or until evenly browned. Add the snow peas and stir fry for an additional 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick and smooth. Serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-We didn't have rice wine, so we used red wine vinegar instead--a good substitute.

-This sauce was good--I'm not a big fan of soy sauce on its own, but the other things it was mixed with made it better, and a bit spicy too.

-Next time, we might vary the veggies a bit. The snow peas were great, but I think you could also get some good flavor with green/red bell peppers, onions, etc.

Easy French Dip Sandwiches

Craig looooves French Dip when we go out to eat, so I thought I'd try some at home. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com and it was very quick and tasty!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (10.5 oz) can beef consomme

1 cup water

1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef

8 slices provolone cheese

4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Open the hoagie rolls and lay out on a baking sheet.

-Heat beef consomme and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to make a rich beef broth. Place the roast beef in the broth and warm for 3 minutes. Arrange the meat on the hoagie rolls and top each roll with 2 slices of provolone.

-Bake the sandwiches in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese just begins to melt. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the warm broth for dipping.

COMMENTS:

-I wasn't able to find any "beef consomme" at the store, so we just bought regular beef broth and heated it up...no water added. I did see a suggestion online to try to add rosemary to the beef broth, but we didn't try it. Might be a good add though!

-These came out really good, and were very fast to make. We'll be adding it to our 30-minute meal playlist. :)

Pesto Chicken and Pasta

Whenever we are having a hectic night, one of our go-to dinners is just regular pasta with jarred pesto sauce. I decided to try this one (from our Betty Crocker Chicken cookbook) because it's a slight variation on our old favorite...a bit more flavor and spice in this one, but still quick and easy.

INGREDIENTS:

-3 cups bow tie pasta

-2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey breast

-1/2 cup pesto

-1/2 cup coarsely chopped drained roasted red peppers (from 7-oz jar)

-Sliced ripe olives, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook and drain pasta as directed on package, using 3-quart saucepan. Mix hot cooked pasta, chicken, pesto, and bell peppers in same saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until hot. Garnish with olives.

COMMENTS:

-This is a quick and easy meal. The roasted red peppers add a little more spice/flavor to it, in comparison to just using regular raw red peppers.

-We didn't use the olive garnish because...sadly, we have an olive-hater in the house. (Hint: not me.) I bet it would have been good though. Note to others: if you ever cook me dinner at your house, load on the olives, cuz I can't use them at home!! (Sorry honey!!) :)

Shrimp Creole

This one got RAVE reviews from the husband. Will definitely be added to our regular dinner rotation. Very spicy, good for summer or winter, and healthy to boot! From Betty Crocker.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 pounds uncooked fresh or frozen (thawed) medium shrimp in shells

-1/4 cup margarine or butter

-3 medium onions, chopped

-2 medium green bell peppers, finely chopped

-2 medium stalks celery, finely chopped

-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

-1 cup water

-2 tsp chopped fresh parsley

-1 tsp salt

-1/8 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)

-2 bay leaves

-1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

-6 cups hot cooked rice

DIRECTIONS:

-Peel shrimp. Make a shallow cut lengthwise down back of each shrimp; wash out vein. Cover and refrigerate.

-Melt margarine in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic in margarine about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.

-Stir in water, parsley, salt, red pepper, bay leaves and tomato sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes.

-Stir in shrimp. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are pink and firm. Remove bay leaves. Serve over rice.

COMMENTS:

-Yeah, we are definitely in love with this one. You've got meat (okay, seafood), veggies, and starch. Perfect!

-As mentioned in previous entries, I never buy uncooked shrimp. I have yet to see the value of it over pre-cooked shrimp, which save me time (and ewie-gooey deveining). Highly recommended! This will not require you to simmer so long in the last step. We also used instant rice. I am all about the quick dinner.

Five-Spice Barbequed Pork Chops with Asian-Style Succotash

This is a fun new recipe from my newest Rachael Ray cookbook...something a little different to do to your pork chops!

INGREDIENTS:

4 center-cut boneless pork chops

1 tsp five-spice powder

2 tsp grill seasoning blend

4 tbsp veggie oil

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 generous handfuls of snow pea pods, coarsely chopped

2 cups frozen corn

4 scallions, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp hot sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Season the chops liberally on both sides with the five-spice powder and grill seasoning. Heat 2 tbsp of the veggie oil in a nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Cook the chops for 6 minutes on each side, then add the hoisin sauce to the pan. Heat through and turn the chops to coat in the sauce. Turn off the heat.

While the chops cook, heat the remaining 2 tbsp of oil in a second skillet over med-high heat. Add the garlic and bell peppers, cook for 2 minutes, then add the pea pds, corn, and scallions and cook for 3 minutes more. Toss the succotash with the lime juice and hot sauce to combine.

Serve the chops with succotash alongside.

COMMENTS:

First off, it's important to know that five-spice powder and hoisin sauce are both found in the Asian foods aisle of the store. Now you won't have to go on a crazy witch hunt for these things like I did at my local Price Chopper.

Overall, we were really happy with this one. We forgot to use the grill seasoning on the pork, which probably would have given it more of a "barbeque" flavor, but it was still really good. What I LOVED was the succotash. (I have no idea what the difference is though between "succotash" and "veggie stir fry".) Anyway, the hot sauce and lime juice added some good kick to the veggies. Will definitely be trying that again!

Stuffed Peppers

Okay, I admit, blog has taken an inexcuseably long hiatus. The stress of two classes (the second of which started right after the last blog entry) made creative cooking an impossibility. But, final projects have been handed in and I'm ready for action again!

We made these stuffed peppers one night when Eric and Kim came to visit. They are SO GOOD. From my Betty Crocker cookbook.

INGREDIENTS:

6 large bell peppers (any color)

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tbsp chopped onion

1 cup cooked rice

1 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper. Remove seeds and membranes, rinse peppers. Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover about 5 minutes; drain.

Cook beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in rice, salt, garlic, and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; cook until hot.

Heat oven to 350.

Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand upright in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.

Cover and bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

COMMENTS:

This meal is all about not following the directions (haha). Don't measure the sauce--put on as much as you want! Put extra in the baking dish too! Stuff those peppers full! They are better that way. Just to give you an idea...we only used 4 peppers, but made the same amount of beef mixture, and used it all.

This is a fun dinner get-together meal. We made it once pre-blogging days for my parents and it went over well then, too. Enjoy!

Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp and Basil

I wanted a shrimp dish, and this one was recommended to me by one of the ladies on the CT board of thenest.com. Exactly the type of thing I was looking for!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/4 cup olive oil

1 (8oz) package angel hair pasta

-1 tsp chopped garlic

-1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined

-2 (28 oz) cans Italian style diced tomatoes, drained

-1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup chopped parsley

-3 tbsp chopped fresh basil

-3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Bring a large pot of water to boil, and add 1 tbsp oil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Place pasta in a colander, and give it a quick rinse with cold water.

-Heat remaining olive oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic, stirring constantly, until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute. Do not let the garlic burn. Add shrimp, and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove shrimp from the skillet, and set aside.

-Stir tomatoes, wine, parsley, and basil into the skillet. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half, 8-12 minutes. Add shrimp, and continue cooking until the shrimp are heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Serve the shrimp mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

COMMENTS:

-2 big cans of diced tomatoes seemed like a lot to me, so I only bought one. While this was a good amount in the end, I can see how 2 cans would not have been too much. So if you enjoy tomatoes, do go with the whole 2 cans.

-Overall this was a pretty light and healthy meal. A nice variation on the other shrimp/pasta meals we've done in the past.

World's Best Lasagna

After making my Chicken Lasagna a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try a regular lasagna too. So I searched on allrecipes.com and decide I couldn't go wrong with something titled "World's Best Lasagna." I then made it my mission to find out if this high-and-mighty title was in fact true!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 lb sweet Italian sausage

-3/4 lb. lean ground beef

-1/2 cup minced onion

-2 cloves garlic, crushed

-1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

-2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

-2 (6.5 oz) cans canned tomato sauce

-1/2 cup water

-2 tbsp white sugar

-1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

-1/2 tsp fennel seeds

-1 tsp Italian seasoning

-1 tbsp salt

-1/4 tsp ground black pepper

-4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

-12 lasagna noodles

-16 oz ricotta cheese

-1 egg

-1/2 tsp salt

3/4 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 tsp salt.

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

-To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil; to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure foil does not touch the cheese.

-Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

COMMENTS:

-All I can say is, Wow. This person was not lying. This lasagna was amazing!! Extra cheesy and the meat sauce came out soooo good.

-A few things we did differently: left out the onions. Instead of cooking meat in a Dutch oven (we don't have one), we used a deep skillet, then moved it to a really big stockpot when we had to mix it with the sauce.

-Time saver: we used the Barilla no-cook lasagna noodles, which do not require you to boil them before going in the lasagna. You just place them (hard) in the lasagna layers and they come out cooked at the end. I have no idea how this magic works but I'm sticking with it.

-This made tons of lasagna, we had leftovers for over a week. Excellent comfort food!!

Sliders

Sliders have been a favorite of ours ever since we saw Alton Brown (from Food Network's "Good Eats") make them. They are a quick fun meal especially for the weekends!

INGREDIENTS:

-About 1 lb. ground beef

-dinner rolls

-Worcestershire sauce

-Garlic (chopped)

-American cheese slices

-Sandwich pickles

-Ketchup and mustard

DIRECTIONS:

-Mix the ground beef with Worcestershire sauce and chopped garlic. (As much as you want...sorry, we guesstimated!) Divide up the ground beef into small patties...about half the size of a normal hamburger.

-Spray a skillet with cooking spray, then grill up the burgers. About a minute before they're done, add the cheese slices on the top of each burger.

-When done, arrange each burger on a dinner roll, and top with pickles and ketchup/mustard as desired.

COMMENTS:

-Not much to comment on here. For some reason these taste better (and are more fun to make) than normal cheeseburgers. Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi

We hadn't had seafood in a while, so I did an allrecipe.com search for "shrimp" and this is what came up. Good stuff!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 cup olive oil

-2 lbs large shrimp - peeled and deveined

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 1/2 cups dry white wine

-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-5 tbsp fresh lemon juice

-1/2 cup chicken broth

-1/2 cup butter, diced

-salt and pepper to taste

-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

-In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Lightly coat the shrimp in flour. In batches, saute shrimp in oil until golden brown; each batch should take approximately 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

-Discard oil and add the wine, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, and chicken broth to the skillet. Cook over high heat until liquid has reduced by half (approximately 5 minutes). Stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat to medium, add shrimp, cook for 1 minute (until shrimp are heated). Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

COMMENTS:

-We skipped the flouring of the shrimp. This was mostly for time and convenience sake, but someone also left a comment on allrecipes that the recipe was just as good without the flouring. They did say that if you opt to flour them, only put on a very very light coating.

-Because we didn't do the flouring, and our shrimp were already peeled, deveined, and precooked (yeahhhh Price Chopper), we just heated up the shrimp a little, then took them out to do the sauce, and put them back in at the end. No draining required.

-2 things that we would do differently. First, we bought small shrimp because they were on sale. Mistake! Big shrimp would have been more filling. (We ended up snacking on carrots after dinner to compensate...haha) Second, I heated the liquid for 5 minutes like they said, and I thought the liquid reduced by half, but I think I was wrong. There was a lot more liquid at the end than I think there should have been. Hence the eating of the shrimp in bowls. Maybe we should have reduced it longer?

-Either way, the shrimp tasted very good. Next time, I'll just cook longer and buy bigger shrimp! We served the broiled broccoli and garlic that you may remember from one of our past recipes--this was a really good side dish. Enjoy!

Beef Fajitas with Spanish Rice

This delicious creation has actually been made once pre-blogging days. It was delicious then, and it was even more delicious now. The recipes (there are actually 3 here) come from my regular Betty Crocker cookbook. Please note that this recipe takes a bit of pre-planning and time coordination. This is a great fun dinner, especially if you are craving Mexican food!

Note that there are 3 recipes needed for this.

INGREDIENTS:

Fajita Marinade:

-1/4 cup veggie oil

-1/4 cup red wine vinegar

-1 tsp sugar

-1 tsp dried oregano leaves

-1 tsp chili powder

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

-1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Spanish Rice:

-2 tbsp veggie oil

-1 cup uncooked regular long grain rice

-1 medium onion, chopped

-2 1/2 cups water

-1 1/2 tsp salt

-3/4 tsp chili powder

-1/8 tsp garlic powder

-1 small green bell pepper, chopped

-1 can (8 0z) tomato sauce

Beef Fajitas:

-1 1/2 lb beef boneless top sirloin steak, 1 1/2 inches thick

-12 flour tortillas

-2 tbsp veggie oil

-2 large onions, sliced

-2 medium green or red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips

-1 jar (8 oz) picante sauce

-1 cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

-Guacamole

-3/4 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

-Start with the marinade first, the night before or morning of the meal. Mix all marinade ingredients in shallow glass or plastic dish. Add the top sirloin steak, and turn to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

-The rice and fajitas can be cooked at the same time, so I'll separate out those directions.

Spanish Rice:

-Heat oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook rice and onion in oil about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until rice is golden brown and onion is tender.

-Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender.

Beef Fajitas:

-Set oven to broil.

-Remove beef from marinade; reserve marinade. Place beef on rack in broiler pan. (Line with aluminum foil for easy clean up.) Broil beef with top about 3 inches from heat about 8 minutes or until brown. Turn; brush beef with marinade. Broil 7 to 8 minutes longer for medium-rare to medium. Discard any remaining marinade.

-While beef is broiling, heat oil in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onions and bell peppers in oil 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Cut beef across grain into very thin slices.

-For each fajita, place a few slices of beef, some of the onion mixture and Spanish Rice, 1 heaping tbsp each picante sauce and cheese, about 2 tbsp Guacamole and 1 tbsp sour cream in center of tortilla. Fold it up!

COMMENTS:

-Where to start? Well first, we've found it's easier to slice up the beef before you put it in the marinade. And don't skip the marinade. Trust me, it's worth it for the flavor!

-To cut down on time, we used instant rice. We cooked it up in just a couple minutes, then added all the ingredients and let it sit on low heat for a minute or two. Done!

-The Betty Crocker recipe actually doesn't call for the Spanish Rice as part of the fajitas--we made that up, because we skipped the onions and felt like the fajitas needed more. The rice is soooo good in the fajitas though. Definitely worth it.

-Things we also skipped on: guacamole. Oh, and I highly recommend using shredded "taco blend" cheese instead of cheddar or monterey jack!

-We first made this meal when we had a couple friends over one night. It's definitely a fun get-together meal.

-I have included pictures of both my girly fajita, and Craig's "manly" fajita. Guess which is which!

Chicken with Peppers and Artichokes

This recipe is from Betty Crocker's Best Chicken book again. I have wanted to try something with artichokes for a while so this fit the bill!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 jar (6 0z) marinated artichoke hearts

-1/3 cup white wine or white wine vinegar

-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

-2 medium red bell peppers, each cut lengthwise into fourths

-4 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup)

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

-Drain marinade from artichoke hearts; reserve. Mix reserved marinade and wine in shallow nonmetal dish or resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and bell peppers, turning to coat with marinade. Cover dish or seal bag and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

-Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Remove chicken and bell peppers from marinade; reserve marinade. Cover and grill chicken 4-6 inches from medium heat 5 minutes. Turn chicken; add bell peppers to grill. Cover and grill 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bell peppers are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

-Strain marinade. Mix marinade, artichoke hearts, onions and pepper. Heat to boiling; boil and stir 1 minute. Serve artichoke sauce with chicken and peppers.

COMMENTS:

-Most importantly, we didn't cook it the same way. Since we don't have a grill, we just cooked the chicken and peppers on a skillet. It still pretty much comes out the same way, I would imagine.

-Skipped onions as usual.

-The end result was really good! The marinade was tasty and even Craig liked it. I was taking a chance on him with this one because he's only eaten artichokes one other time, and he wasn't sure he would like them. He did end up picking out the actual artichokes, but he liked the marinade at least. If you are an artichoke fan, this is a good dish to try!

Cookie Dough Brownies

Well, my first ever solo baking experience was interesting to say the least! Yes, we laughed, we cried, and in the end, the brownies tasted delicious. And the Giants won the Super Bowl. So all was right in the world. :) But I think, like my idol Rachael Ray, I will stick mostly with cooking from now on...

INGREDIENTS:

-1 package fudge brownie mix

-1/2 cup water

-1/2 cup oil

-1 egg

-1/2 cup chocolate chips

Filling:

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

-1/4 cup sugar

-2 tbsp milk

-1 tsp vanilla

-1 cup flour

Glaze:

-1 cup chocolate chips

-1 tbsp oil

-1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of 13x9 inch pan. In large bowl, combine brownie mix, water, egg, and oil; beat 50 strokes by hand. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spread in greased pan and bake at 350 for 33-35 minutes; do not overbake! Cool completely. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; blend well.

Add flour and mix well, then spread over cooled brownies. In small bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 tbsp butter on medium for 1-2 minutes or just until chocolate is melted; stir until smooth. Carefully spoon glaze over filling and spread to cover. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, pressing down slightly. Cut into bars and store in fridge.

COMMENTS:

Tip #1: If you use your brand new shiny KitchenAid mixer to mix the butter/brown sugar/sugar mixture...do not stick your spatula in the bowl while the mixer is mixing. (Crying episode #1)

Tip #2: The chocolate for the glaze doesn't really melt in the microwave. I don't know how in the world the creator of this recipe was able to do that. I ended up with a thick, but not melty, chocolate glaze. Which, needless to say, did not spread well on top of the brownies. (Crying episode #2) Craig helped me by melting an additional 1-2 cups of chocolate chips (these are not diet brownies!) so that we could get enough glaze to cover all the brownies. Phew, crisis averted.

But as I said, in the end, these brownies were delicious. I got the idea for them from a post on thenest.com and those ladies never steer me wrong. I made them for the Super Bowl (we had a few people over) but we had tons leftover. DARN. So we've had brownies for dessert all week. :) This is definitely a good twist on your traditional brownie! Just make sure you learn from my mistakes!

Cari's Chili

Today Craig and I felt like some comfort food, because it's yucky and icy here in Albany. So I went through my bridal shower recipes again and came up with Cari's chili recipe. Good stuff! I've never made chili before and Craig was interested (read: scared) when I said I would try it, so here we go...

INGREDIENTS:

-1 lb. ground beef

-salt and pepper

-chili powder

-1 onion

-1 can of kidney beans

-2 8oz. cans of tomato sauce

-ditalini or rice (about 3 servings)

-cheese (grated or shredded)

DIRECTIONS:

-Brown the ground beef with the chopped up onion. Drain the grease from the pan.

-Add the kidney beans and tomato sauce. With each can of tomato sauce, add half a can of water.

-Add salt, epper, and chili powder to taste. (For me, this was a lot of chili powder.) Let simmer for about 1 hour on medium heat.

-When the chili is almost done, cook the ditalinis or rice. Once the chili is done, add the rice to the chili and stir. Serve with the cheese on top.

COMMENTS:

-So GOOD! We really liked this version of the ever-changing chili. I did end up adding a little bit of Frank's Red Hot as well, for some added kick.

-We skipped the onions as usual, but it was still very flavorful without.

-As for the cheese, we used a taco cheese mixture, but Craig said he thought regular cheddar cheese might be good to try next time.

-We ate up with a loaf of fresh Italian bread, and some glasses of beer. Yummmm. :)

Everybody watch out, I'm baking (yes, BAKING) tonight for the Super Bowl tomorrow. I'll let you know how this goes...GO GIANTS!

BBQ Beef with Mixed Stir-Fry

This dinner is a hybrid of a similar meal I saw on the Food Network. I was watching one of those cooking competitions that they have sometimes...this one was for BBQ beef. This one mom/daughter team came up with BBQ beef skewers with pineapple, red pepper, and cucumber. Of course they made their own sauce, and we don't have anywhere to really grill skewers, so this is what I came up with instead:

INGREDIENTS:

-1 thin-cut London broil-type steak (I wish I had a better description than that. Basically just a very lean thin cut steak, whatever you prefer.)

-1 cucumber, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

-About 1/2 a pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces

-1 red pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

-BBQ sauce of your choosing

DIRECTIONS:

-First, cut the beef into bite sized cubes. Fry it in the pan until brown...maybe 75% done.

-Add in the cucumber, red pepper, and pineapple. Cook until the beef is totally done.

-Add in enough BBQ sauce to cover everything. Take off the heat and serve.

COMMENTS:

-This was basically a simple stir fry, but I like the combo of veggies/fruits that were used. I was a little leery of the BBQ sauce with the pineapple especially, but it was really good.

-You may want to put the cucumber in a little later than everything else...it cooked faster and ended up a little softer than the pepper and pineapple.

-This is a great meal if you just want to do something quick, but don't want your average chicken stir fry meal. Enjoy! :)

Blackberry-Glazed Chicken

Happy anniversary to us! Yes, this is the K/CLamb 3 year dating anniversary. In celebration, I have a tasty lil' dish from a new cookbook that Cari gave me last weekend. It's Betty Crocker's Best Chicken cookbook. All chicken, all the time, and it has picture of every meal (which I love, I want to know if I totally screwed it up or not...). This one was a little unusual. Read on!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup blackberry jam

-1 tbsp Dijon mustard

-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 1/2 cups fresh/frozen (thawed, drained) blackberries

DIRECTIONS:

-Brush grill rack with veggie oil. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Mix jam and mustard.

-Cover and grill chicken 4 to 5 inches from medium heat 10 minutes. Turn chicken; brush with jam mixture. Cover and grill 10 to 15 minutes longer or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Serve chicken topped with blackberries.

COMMENTS:

-We didn't use a grill for ours, just a good ol' frying pan. We added the glaze when the chicken was cooked about 75% done.

-We served with a side of green beans, which was a good combo.

-The chicken was good, Craig and I both enjoyed it because it was a very different type of glaze. The jam and mustard was a little weird, but we both agreed the jam by itself would have been no good. Not sure if this will be on our list of "repeated" recipes. A good experiment, just not our favorite. I will say that the chicken and fresh blackberries tasted good together though!

Pork Chops in Spiced-Apple Pan Sauce with Roasted Broccoli Spears

Well I am certainly cookin' my little tush off this month, eh? Not bad. Tonight's recipe is in Rachael's Get Real Meals book, but I have to admit it's not one I would have normally chosen on my own. It was highly recommended by Ro, and since I have faith in the judgement of my fellow Lamb's, I went for it. With positive results!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 large head or 2 small heads broccoli

-3 garlic cloves, chopped

-Salt and pepper

-2 tbsp EVOO

-4 boneless pork loin or rib chops, 1 1/2 inches thick

-2 tbsp butter

-1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced

-2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

-1 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced

-2 pinches ground nutmeg

-1 tsp ground cinnamon

-1 cup chicken stock/broth

-handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

-the juice of 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Rachael has complicated instructions for cutting the broccoli. Basically, cut the big chunky stem off and then cut it into bite sized pieces. Easy enough. On a baking sheet, toss the broccoli spears with the garlic, salt, pepper, and a generous drizzle of EVOO. Place the broccoli in the oven and roast for 15 minutes.

-While the broccoli is roasting, preheat a large skillet over high heat with 2 tbsp of EVOO (twice around the pan). Liberally season the pork chops with salt and pepper and sear on both sides for 2 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Remove the chops from the skillet and reserve. Add the butter to the pork skillet, add the onion, thyme, sliced apple, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the onion and apples are tender. Add the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer. Add the pork chops back to the pan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes longer, or until the chops are cooked through. Add the parsley and lemon juice to the chops and stir to distribute.

-Serve the chops topped with the spiced-apple pan sauce alongside the roasted broccoli spears.

COMMENTS:

-I'll start by saying...yummy! We love the spiced apple sauce, verrry good with the pork. As for the broccoli...well, as always, I didn't use actual cloves of garlic, but the prechopped garlic you get in a jar. And the garlic was all burned within 10 minutes of roasting. So I took it out a little early. The broccoli was still pretty good, though we probably could have done with less of that burned garlic taste. Maybe sticking to the fresh cloves is a better idea?

-As always, we skipped the onion.

-I forgot the parsley and lemon at the end. Let me tell you why. "Searing" pork chops creates quite a bit of smoke/steam from the pan. Even though we had our overhead fan on, apparently our apartment's smoke detector is very sensitive. VERY SENSITIVE. So as soon as we started cooking the pork chops, one of us constantly had to run over to the smoke detector in the hallway and fan a towel in front of it so that it would stop screeching. We also had to cook with the porch door open for ventilation (mind you, 30 degrees in Albany today). Not to mention my mom called in the middle of all this to tell me her and Bill have 2nd row seats to the Huskies game tonight (woooo UConn!). So maybe you see why by the end of the cooking, I really could not have cared less about parsley and lemon.

Anywho, it was still good without it. :)

Really Creamy Fettucine Alfredo with Veggies

Tonight's recipe is a hybrid. The homemade alfredo sauce was found on allrecipes.com. I got all the stuff to make it, and then I was watching some 30-Minute Meals, and my dear Rachael made a fantastic fettucine alfredo pasta mixed with zucchini, asparagus, and green beans. So that's how we got tonight's delectible feast!

INGREDIENTS:

-8 oz. fettucine pasta

-1 8oz. package of cream cheese

-3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-1/2 cup margarine

-1/2 cup milk

-1 tsp garlic powder

-1/4 tsp dried basil

-1 pinch ground nutmeg

-half bundle of asparagus

-1 zucchini

-a handful-ish of fresh green beans

DIRECTIONS:

-Chop up the asparagus, green beans, and zucchini into bite sized pieces. Set those aside for now.

-Bring large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook for about 5 minutes. At this point, add the veggies to the pot. Cook the pasta the rest of the way through (another 5 mins or so) in the pot with the veggies. Drain.

-While the pasta is cooking...in a medium saucepan, combine cream cheese, Parmesan, margarine, milk, garlic powder, and basil, and stire over low heat until smooth and creamy (10-15 minutes).

-Toss the sauce in with the pasta/veggies until the sauce covers it all. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

COMMENTS:

-Being an alfredo fan, I was overly impressed with myself for making this sauce. I will NEVER buy jarred sauce again. This stuff is so good. Though I will warn you that when you first see all that cream cheese/butter/Parmesan in a pot, all you can think is...clogged arteries, here I come!

-The veggies were really tasty with the pasta. Just a hint: you may want to throw the zucchini in to the pot about a minute after the green beans and asparagus. Those two veggies were cooked perfect, but the zucchini was just a tad overcooked.

-I forgot the nutmeg. Not sure quite how much that would have added to the dish but...what can I say, I live on the edge. :)

Sweet and Tangy Braised Chuck Roast

Kelly's first rule of living in your own place: buy a Crock Pot!! I did not understand the wonders of the Crock Pot until Mom bought us one not long after we moved in together. At first, my reaction was, What is this newfangled contraption? But now, it is my best friend. There is nothing better than throwing a bunch of crap in a Crock Pot, letting it cook all day, and having dinner ready when you get home. Now that's what I call service!

I found this recipe while flipping through a Good Housekeeping magazine at Craig's grandparent's house. I've made it before (pre-blogging days) so this is a repeat offender!

INGREDIENTS:

-6 2-inch gingersnaps (crumbled)

-2 cups baby carrots

-2 stalks celery, chopped

-1 cup dry red wine

-2 tbsp red wine vinegar

-1/4 cup raisins

-Salt and pepper

-1 boneless beef chuck roas (2 lbs)

DIRECTIONS:

-Combine gingersnaps, carrots, celery, wine, vinegar, raisins, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in the slow cooker.

-Put roast on top of this veggie layer.

-Cook on low 8-10 hours, or high 6-6.5 hours.

COMMENTS:

-By the time you eat it, the liquid in this one is soooo good. It basically ends up like a stew, because the meat cooks so good that it falls apart. (I know it looks whole in the photo above, but as soon as we stuck a fork in it, it was in pieces.) We used a zinfandel wine that Craig made (yes, he has upgraded to wine making!), and you could taste the flavor in the liquid. Yummyyyy.

-I suggest cutting the fat off the roast before cooking. I forgot to do this and we ended up having to pick it out of the food as we ate. No big deal, just a convenience thing.

-I didn't add the raisins. Not a big raisin fan. But feel free to add them if you dare. :)

Chicken Lasagna

Tonight I delved into my lil box o' recipes that was compiled by all the guests at my bridal shower. It was fun looking through all the suggestions from everybody! I actually have no idea who submitted this one, because there was no name on it. So thank you, bridal shower guest, for this creation.

When I saw the title of the recipe, I thought this would be like traditional lasagna, but with chicken instead of beef. It wasn't until I was getting the ingredients at the store that I realized...it doesn't call for tomato sauce. Eh? I was skeptical after that, but it actually came out great. Read on!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup margarine

-1/2 cup flour

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp basil

-3 cups chicken broth

-1 egg slightly beaten

-1/2 lb cooked and drained lasagna noodles (9 noodles=3 layers)

-1/2 lb sliced mozzarella

-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken

-2 cups cottage cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-First, obviously, make sure you've cooked your chicken and lasagna noodles.

-Preheat your oven to 375. In the meantime, melt margarine in a large saucepan. Blend in flour, salt, and basil. Stir in the chicken broth and cook until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Add the chicken.

-Separately mix the cottage cheese with the beaten egg.

-Place 1/3 of the chicken mixture in a 9x13 baking pan. Now a row of noodles. Next, top it with half of the cottage cheese and half of the mozzarella. Then add another layer of noodles. Top that with the rest of the cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese, as well as another 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Next another layer of noodles. Then top it with the rest of the chicken mixture and the parmesan cheese.

-Bake in the oven for 30 minutes covered, 15 minutes uncovered. Eat!

COMMENTS:

-This is really good "comfort food". The chicken mixture is really a gravy-like sauce, but paired with the mozzarella cheese in the noodles (I strongly suggest cutting slices off a hunk of mozzarella, don't use shredded stuff...it's much more gooey and yummy), delicious.

-I substituted ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese. Hey, I'm Italian, my momma done taught me good. Something about cottage cheese in a lasagna just doesn't sit right with me.

-This is my first ever lasagna! Way to go ME!! :)

Campbell's Creamy Dijon Chicken with Rice

This handy little recipe is from allrecipes.com, which I love. I love it mostly because they have an "ingredient search", where you can just plug in an ingredient you want to use, and they tell you all the different things you can make with it. This is ideal for me, because I consistently will come across things in our cabinets that I intended to use in a meal weeks ago, but forgot. Instead of trying to remember what I wanted to use it for, I just find new ideas on allrecipes. Tonight's recipe is courtesy of my need to get rid of a can of Cream of Celery soup.

INGREDIENTS:

-1 tbsp EVOO

-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

-1 (10.75 oz) can of Cream of Celery soup (of course Campbell's recommends theirs)

-2/3 cup water

-1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard

-1/8 tsp ground black pepper

-4 cups hot cooked regular long-grain white rice

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned.

-Add soup, water, mustard, and pepper. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until done. Serve with rice.

COMMENTS:

-How's that for easy? 20 minutes or less, this one. Wanna make it easier? Use instant rice, like we did...ha.

-It tasted pretty good. Nothing exceptional, but a good quick meal for a night when you are maybe really tired from work, even more exhausted from the gym, and just want to sit around and watch CNN coverage of the primaries all night. Just as a for-instance. Go Obama!

Devilish Chicken

This is GOOD STUFF. Another from Rachael's 30 Minute Get Real Meals.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 tbsp EVOO

-2 tsp paprika

-1 tsp dry mustard or 1 tbsp spicy mustard

-Salt and pepper

-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-1 medium onion, thinly sliced

-4 garlic cloves, chopped

-1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, quartered lengthwise and cut into strips

-1 tbsp tomato paste

-1 tsp crushed hot red pepper flakes

-1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth

-a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
-In a large skillet, heat the EVOO (twice around the pan) over medium-high heat. Mix the paprika and mustard with some salt and pepper and season chicken breasts on both sides. Add the seasoned chicken to the skillet and brown on the first side for 3 minutes, flip, and then sear on the second side, 2 minutes.

-Remove the chicken and reserve on a plate under a foil tent. To the pan, add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes. Cook the veggies for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken stock to the veggies and bring it to a simmer. Add the reserved chicken back to the pan and cook for 10 minutes more, turning the chicken over every now and then.

-Remove the chicken from heat, serve with the veggies, and sprinkle with the parsley.

COMMENTS:
-Tasty! There was just enough spice in this one without it being too much. And it was very good with the peppers. (We left out onions, as always.)

-Rachael suggests serving with green beans, but we went with regular ol' salad instead.

-Rather than the whole cook 3 minutes, sear 2 minutes, then cook 10 minutes again later, here's a simpler formula for the chicken: cook it halfway through. Set it aside. Cook the veggies for the proper amount of time. Then cook the chicken the rest of the way through in the pan with the veggies. Much easier than Rachael's complicated math! :)

Pork Loin Chops with Sweet and Hot Peppers

Apologies for the long absence! The holidays and all the craziness leading up to it led to a lack of cooking (and an abundance of trips to Subway). But, we're home again from our fun travels, so I'll lay a new recipe on ya. This one's from Rachael's Get Real Meals book, which Ro inspired me to look into.

INGREDIENTS:

-4 center cut pork loin chops, 1 inch thick

-Salt and pepper

-2 tbsp EVOO

-1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced

-1 orange bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced

-4 jarred red hot Italian cherry peppers, sliced

1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock

-2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (a handful)

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp of the EVOO to the pan. Add the chops and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

-After the chops have been cooked through, transfer to a platter and cover with foil. Return the pan to heat and add the remaining tbsp of EVOO and the bell peppers. Saute the peppers, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.

-Add the hot cherry peppers and a splash of their brine to the pan, and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine or stock and scrape up the pan drippings. Arrange the peppers over the chops and sprinkle with parsley.

COMMENTS:

-First, I think Rachael is a big liar about her cooking times. I definitely was cooking longer than 10 minutes. In fact, I had a whole phone conversation with Colleen in the time I cooked the pork and the peppers.

-I used raw red Italian peppers, not jarred ones. So instead of only cooking them for a minute, I sauteed them with the rest of the peppers. Still good!

-Silly me only made 2 pork chops, but didn't divide the rest of the recipe. So I had a plethora of peppers/parsley available. (To be specific, I only used 1 yellow pepper, 1 orange, 4 small Italian peppers, and way less than a handful of parsley.) Make sure you use fewer veggies if only making it for 2!

-Overall, reactions were favorable. The spice from the red peppers was really good, I loved it. And Craig mopped his plate clean (though that may have been because I asked him to do dishes after). :)