A Mexican Concoction

Tonight I made chicken quesadillas and topped them with black beans, sour cream, and salsa. They were delicious.

Pepper Jack Cheese
Grilled Chicken Breast
Tortillas
Margarine
Sour Cream
Salsa
Seasoned Black Beans

Here is the play by play.



Spread margarine on one side of 4 flour tortillas. Place two, margarine side down, onto a medium-high griddle and top with cheese and chicken.


Top with the other tortillas, margarine-side up, and flip (carefully) over.


While the tortillas are browning, heat the black beans. Once the quesadillas are done, serve topped with the beans, sour cream, and your favorite salsa!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

There are plenty of delicious recipes for Chicken Tortilla Soup online and in my friends' recipe books but I opted to use a mix because I had one.
I added some Simply Salsa Seasoning, a can of seasoned black beans, and some of the Grilled Chicken. I fried up my own tortilla strips (whole wheat, of course) in light vegetable oil over medium high heat in a skillet.
Top the soup with the tortilla strips and serve the soup with a dollop of sour cream.

I made quesadillas for the boys.

Either way, it was delicious!

Chopped Chicken Salad

Last summer, I got into making chopped salads and with the recent warm weather and a refrigerator that includes some baby spinach that needs to be used, I decided to whip one up tonight. As a note, when I make salads, I deconstruct them for the boys and make a plate of cut veggies, cheese, and protein - tonight, the protein was the rest of the salsa chicken from Friday night.

Here is the basic idea along with the ingredients for this Mexican flavored chopped salad.

Serves 2 with components for 2 child plates

1 Grilled Salsa Chicken Breast, chopped
1/3 C Corn
1/2 C Chopped Carrots (about 5 baby carrots)
4 Grape Tomatoes, quartered
2 Celery Stalks, chopped
1/4 C Chopped Colby Jack Cheese
2 C Chopped Baby Spinach

Toss all of the above ingredients together in a bowl.

In a separate small bowl, combine 2 T Light Ranch Dressing with 3 T Salsa Verde or your favorite tomato salsa.



Add dressing to the salad and toss to cover completely. Serve alone or with bread, chips, or crackers.

Other components that would do well would be black beans, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and tortilla strips.

Nacho Heaven

One of the very best foods in the whole wide world is Nachos. I truly believe that it unites people and is so varied in its interpretation, it can satisfy all tastes. It is universal, honestly, I believe it! Making a large plate of nachos is one of the stay-in date-night rituals in our house. Served alongside some cold beers or cocktails in front of a flick with my main squeeze...heaven!

Friday night turned into Nacho night and I broke into the stockpile of leftovers and devised this beauty:

Nacho Components:

Store-bought Tortilla Chips
Shredded and chopped Grilled Salsa Chicken (Recipe Below)
Cheese Sauce (Recipe HERE)
Refried Beans (Recipe Below)
Guacamole (Recipe HERE)
Store-bought Sour Cream
Store-bought Salsa
2 T Fresh Cilantro from my garden - chopped and optional

Grilled Salsa Chicken:
Before I froze some chicken breasts, I sprinkled them with 2 T Simply Salsa from Tastefully Simple along with 1 t Olive Oil. I covered them completely with this mixture and froze them. When they thawed, they were ready to go onto the grill. Voila! Grilled Salsa Chicken. If you don't have any Simply Salsa, you can use any seasoning mix that you like or actually toss in some jarred salsa or salsa verde...your call! If you don't have any already marinated, just marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. If your mixture has vinegar or citrus, don't marinate overnight because that acid breaks down the chicken and makes it mushy.

Refried Beans
If I had known that nachos would be among the menus for this period, I probably would have bought a jar of fat free refried beans. Well, I didn't...so, I didn't. Necessity is the mother of invention and this project has born a lot of homemade things that otherwise would have been store bought. I either make it from scratch or we go without. I decided NOT to go without this time and really wanted refried beans. I also decided to "wing" it. It turned out really good. I guess I am lucky that I stock these things in my pantry. Here is how it went down.

1 Can Light Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo (they come in a small can with a flip top)
1 t Olive Oil
1/2 t Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (you can use real garlic or garlic seasoning)

Mix all of these together and use an immersion blender to puree. It will be the consistency of hummus. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat until some of the moisture is evaporated. Serve warm.

Build a better Nacho Platter:

I always build in layers because I don't like getting to the bottom of a platter of chips to find naked chips with no topping. Spread a layer of chips, drizzle with cheese sauce and some dollops of beans. Make another layer of chips and continue with the cheese and beans but sprinkle some chicken as well. Keep going until you have all of the cheese, beans, and chicken covering many layers of nachos. Finish with rows of guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. If you have cilantro, sprinkle it on top. If not, you can skip it.

Chicken and Noodle Stir Fry

Here is a little change from the normal stir fry and it is adapted from the Sonoma Diet Cookbook so it is GOOD FOR YOU!

The original recipe called for Soba Noodles or Multigrain Spaghetti. I went with the spaghetti and used my usual Barilla Plus and it was delicious! The original recipe also called for Turkey but I used Chicken. Finally, the original recipe called for Snow Peas. My store didn't have any fresh or frozen so I opted to use cabbage instead (not to mention that it was $.39/head at my grocery store and I couldn't resist!

Without any further delay...here goes:

Chicken "Soba" Noodle Stir Fry


6 oz Dried Multigrain Spaghetti
2 t Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 C Shredded Cabbage
2 Medium Red Bell Peppers cut into strips
2 t Fresh Minced Ginger
4 Cloves of Garlic, minced (2 teaspoons minced)
4 Green Onions, bias-sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 t Extra Virgin Olive Oil
12 oz Chicken Breast cut into short strips
1/2 C Bottled Plum Sauce
1/4 t Crushed Red Pepper

Cook the pasta according to box directions.
While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok and add the cabbage, peppers, garlic and ginger.
Cook for 2 minutes and then add the onions for another minute or so. Toss regularly so that all of the veggies have a turn next to the heat. Remove the veggies to a bowl and add the chicken to the hot pan.
Add 1 more teaspoon of Olive Oil to the pan and cook the chicken until it is no longer pink. Add the Plum Sauce and Pepper and incorporate the veggies back into the pan with the chicken. Toss together to coat everything with the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss all of this together.
Serve immediately.

Almost another week of menus and recipes

I logged on to see that it has been almost another week since I posted. I apologize for not staying up-to-date but I am squeezing in some consulting work in the evenings and generally living so once dinner is digesting, I don't have time to rehash what it was. I will get you caught up here and review this week's shopping experience.

Here is how we ate:

Wednesday: Leftover Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday: Crock pot Roast, Veggies and Rice

I seasoned a roast with a jar mixture of steak seasoning and placed it into the crock pot on low for 8 hours. It was still sliceable (if that is a word) but really tender. I served it along with some brown rice, steam in bag with light sauce corn, and sauteed spinach. For dessert, I made short work of the leftover rice by cooking it with some additional milk (about 1 Cup) and 1 T Sugar. When it was getting thick, I added 1/4 C Currants and Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste. Voila! Rice Pudding.

Friday: Reading Night at my son's preschool where we had hot dogs for dinner. Later that evening, I made snacks for my husband and I including mini roast beef sandwiches, carrots with white bean dip (1 Can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, blended with Tastefully Simple Garlic, Garlic seasoning and olive oil), and clementines.

Saturday: We ate a large lunch out so for dinner, we had leftovers

Sunday: Once again, we ate lunch out and were still pretty full by dinner time but I did make crock pot soup which we will be eating from for lunches this week.

Crock Pot Soup
Combine in the crock pot and cook for 6 hours the following:
1 large Chicken Breast cut into bite sized pieces and sauteed over medium heat (or any leftover chicken you have)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 C Corn - or leftover corn
1 C Chopped Carrots
1 C Chopped Spinach
1 T Herbs De Provence
1 32oz container of Chicken Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Feel free to add any other veggies or meat that you like. When you are about 30 minutes from being ready to eat, add 1/2 C pasta to the crock pot or cook the pasta separately and add when you serve.

Monday: A late play date and a day of consulting meant hot dogs, pickles, cherry tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries for the boys and a turkey, spinach, mushroom, and cheese omelet with fruit and toast for me and the hubby. Thanks again to my friend's Chickens for the eggs. Here is how I pull together an omelet for two:

Whisk together:
5 eggs
2 T Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Saute':
1 t Margarine
1 C Chopped Mushrooms
1/2 C Frozen Chopped Spinach
1 t Garlic Seasoning
Remove to a small bowl

Heat Skillet and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour egg mixture and lightly scramble but allow the top to stay wet.
When the bottom is set and the egg doesn't drain down the pan when tilted, place the mushroom mixture along the center in a line from one side of the pan to the other.

Add 1/4 C Grated Italian Cheese Blend or your favorite shredded cheese along with
1/4 C chopped deli turkey meat.

Fold one side over the center and then fold the other side over - like you are wrapping it up. Cut it in half and serve this omelet for two!

If you prefer to just scramble it all together, you can do that too! The only rule is, don't cook the eggs until they are dry. They always continue to cook after they hit the plate and if they are done in the pan, they are overdone by the time they are in your mouth.

Chicken Pot Pie

My Chicken Pot Pie is easy as, well, pie.

2 C Chopped Chicken Breast
1 T Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 T All Purpose Flour
2 C Chicken Broth
1 t Poultry Seasoning
3 C Frozen Mixed Vegetables

Drop Biscuits:
1 2/3 C All Purpose Flour
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 t Salt
1/3 C Vegetable Oil
2/3 C Chicken Stock

Cook the chicken in the oil.
Whisk the flour, broth, and poultry seasoning in a small bowl. When the chicken is done, add the flour mixture to the pan and bring to a simmer for the "gravy" to thicken. Add the vegetables, stir well.


Pour this mixture into a round casserole dish. If you think the gravy is too thin, you can add more flour (whisk another Tablespoon of flour with 1/4 C water or chicken stock, pour it into the mixture, stir and bring to a boil). Preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare biscuit topping below.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil and chicken stock. Add the chicken stock and oil to the flour and mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Using a small icecream scoop or two spoons, dip the biscuits onto the top of the chicken mixture.

Cook in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are brown. Serve!

Gnocchi

You really must try this. It is SO easy and quick and delicious...really, try it!
This fed our family fine but I would double it if I had bigger kids or adults that really like to eat. We really like to eat but shouldn't so I only made enough to serve 3 adults and the kids split one serving.

Gnocchi (serves 3):
1 Cup Mashed Potatoes (I used the leftovers from last night but you can buy ready-made, use instant, or make some from scratch - your call)
2 Egg Yolks
1/8 t Ground Nutmeg
1/8 t Salt
1/8 t Pepper
1/2 C Flour
1/4 C Parmesan Cheese

Topping
1/4 C Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Basil (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While you are waiting for this pot to boil, you might as well make some pasta!

Combine all ingredients, except for the cheese and basil for topping. It will look like this:

Press it together and dump it onto a floured surface. I separated it into two piles and kneaded it a couple of times before rolling it into 1 to 1 1/2 inch tubes (remember making snakes with play-doh? This is the same thing).

Once you have your tubes/snakes cut them into 1 inch segments, like this:

Time to cook! To avoid overcrowding the pot, I did it in two batches. Drop the gnocchi into the pot and once they float to the top, cook them for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

Drain them and toss in your favorite pasta sauce or pesto. Top with extra cheese and chopped fresh basil, if so desired. Serve and enjoy.

I gave the boys grapes with theirs and we had a spinach salad dressed with Newman's Own Light Vinaigrette and a sprinkling of goat cheese crumbles. It was delicious!

Thai-Style Chicken Fried Rice

There are some dishes that I won't make without leftovers - soup is one of them, chili is another. This dish is one that I make whether I have leftovers or not. It is also a dish that can be adapted for the veggies and meat that you have on hand. There are several things that I find necessary in this dish or I will not make it. Those items are noted with an asterisk below.

Ingredients:
2 T Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Cooked Chicken. It can be freshly cooked, if need be or can be leftover or rotisserie.
*2 Cups Cooked and Cooled Rice - the best bet is Jasmine for its aroma.
2 Cups Fresh Snow Peas
*1 1lb Bag Asian Style Frozen Vegetables (this includes broccoli, snow peas, carrots, and water chestnuts)
*2 T Fish Sauce
*2 T Low Sodium Soy Sauce
*2 T Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Cup Red Cabbage chopped or shredded or 1 cup of bean sprouts
*2 Eggs
*1 Green Onion, chopped
1 lime, cut into segments

Process:
If you are working with cooked meat (you can use pork, beef, or chicken), this process moves really quickly. So, make sure you take care of all of the interruptions that may come up in a 10 minute span, kick the kids out of the kitchen, and let the dog out.

Heat a wok or large, high-sided skillet until it is smoking hot. Add the oil and IMMEDIATELY add the meat (if you are using meat since this can be a veggie only dish if so desired), cooked or not. If the meat it isn't cooked, cook it now! Once it is cooked, add the rice. Toss this mixture around occasionally but allow the rice to actually fry and get crispy on the bottom.

Let this cook for 1 minute before you add the fresh peas. The object is to have the fresh vegetables still be crispy but cooked so the earlier you add them, the softer they will be when you are done. Next, add the bag of frozen veggies and fold it all together. At this time, add the three sauces and stir everything together until you are sure that those delicious sauces are coating every bit of rice. Note: Even if you are tempted; don't leave out the fish sauce, it adds a depth of flavor that makes this recipe restaurant-quality. If you want it to be spicier, you can add more chili sauce or even dried chili flakes. Finally, add the cabbage and stir or toss to combine.

Reduce the heat and cover the pan for 3 or 4 minutes to allow the veggies to thaw and steam. Lift the lid and breathe in this glorious aroma...you are almost there. Create a well in the center of the rice so you are exposing a section of the pan large enough to scramble a couple of eggs in (about 3 inches in diameter). If the pan is dry, spray it with nonstick cooking spray and crack a couple of eggs into the space. After about 15 seconds, begin to scramble the eggs and continue to scramble them until they are almost done and then stir the rice into the eggs and mix it all together again.

Turn off the heat on the burner and cover the pan to allow the flavors to marry for about 10 minutes. Top with chopped green onion just before serving and serve each plate with a wedge of lime. I cannot stress how fresh this dish tastes with those onions and the lime juice. It is good without them but it is great with them. Trust me!


Alternatives and additional suggestions:
If you have it on hand or just want to play with flavors, you wouldn't go wrong if you added large chopped onion pieces, chopped garlic, grated ginger, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped fresh Thai basil, or fresh chili peppers to this dish. You can also top it with chopped peanuts. YUM, YUM, YUM!

Homemade Ravioli

Thursday night, we had crepes stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. I noted that I had held back some of the stuffing for tonight's ravioli. There was about 1/4 cup of filling that I finely chopped and added 1 cup of thawed frozen spinach. I also removed turkey sausage from the casings of 4 breakfast sausage links and browned it in a pan before adding the spinach mixture.
As easy as that, I had the filling for my homemade pasta. The other easy part was the pasta. I used eggroll wrappers (found in the produce section). For this particular recipe, I used 9 wrappers.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt.

Cut eggroll wrappers into 4 squares. You can cut through a stack of 4 or 5 at a time. For ravioli, place about 1 T of filling into the center of a square and, using your finger, spread water along the edges and top with another square, pressing from the center and removing as many air pockets as possible.

After you have 4 or 5, place into the boiling water for about 1 minute. The filling is fully cooked and the pasta only takes about a minute to cook. If you leave it longer, it may fall apart.

Option #2 is to make beggars' purses instead of ravioli. For this, use slightly less filling and line the edges with water but gather the sides up and pinch them together at the top like a little bundle.

Either way you package them, you can serve them on a plate (serving size is 4 or 5 ravioli), top with a drizzle of marinara sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Delicious!

Pantry and Refrigerator Soup (starring leftover Chicken Stroganoff)

Since I haven't made it to the store for this pay period, I decided to use the items that I had on hand to put together some Pantry and Refrigerator Soup.

I always have a large resealable container of Chicken Stock on hand and try to keep at least one packet of generic soup mix. Today, my only option was Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. I buy these types of things when they are one sale or being discontinued. They last for a long time and are a big help when it comes to making a meal without going to the store. Alas, today I am using my last container of stock and my last packet of soup mix. You will see these items on my shopping list tomorrow! Finally, my pantry always flows forth with a variety of rices. Today, I am adding Brown Basmati to the Wild Rice already in the mix.

As for the refrigerator/freezer: my best friend was visiting last week and she made a delicious Crockpot full of Chicken Stroganoff (you will see this recipe sometime in the future). It was yummy with chicken bits, chicken gravy, delicious flavorings and aromatics, and cream cheese and made for a great item to add to my Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup. I also keep a bag of frozen peas and a bag of frozen corn on hand for additions to soups and casseroles and to be eaten as side dishes too.

Please don't restrict yourself to this recipe, though it is delicious and may reappear one week in the future after a meal of Chicken Stroganoff. I want you to see what I did with what I had on hand and translate this to what you have in your pantry. If all you have in your pantry is a can of pumpkin puree and some chicken stock you will still be able to make soup (think: pumpkin puree, chicken stock, minced onion, and some milk, add some mashed potatoes if you have them to thicken it up and serve in a bread bowl - yum). I am not sure I can help if you only have cherry pie filling, though.

SO, here you go; Tonight's Pantry and Refrigerator Soup: Chicken and Rice Chowder

Ingredients:
1 32oz container of Chicken Broth.
3 Cups Water
1 packet of Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Mix
1.5 Cups Leftover Chicken Stroganoff
.5 Cup Brown Basmati Rice
1 Cup Frozen Corn
1 Cup Frozen Peas

Instructions:
Add all ingredients to a stock pot and simmer on low for 2 hours. Serve with grilled cheese on bread or inside tortillas (a.k.a. cheese quesadillas)

Note from the Mom:
My children still aren't interested in eating soup, stews, chili, or chowder despite my attempts to get them to drink with a straw or eat with fun spoons. As a result, I hold aside the peas and corn and serve them as a side to thier grilled cheese sandwiches. My little guy gets the lactose free cheese on his sandwich.