Mozzerella Chicken Skillet

Since I quit eating boxed and processed foods, this recipe has become my replacement for those deliciously handy but oh so bad for you Hamburger Helper meals. One pan, One pound goodness on a tired night? yea, I dug it. Now I have this recipe though and as many times as I've made it, I've never blogged about it. Which is unbelievable as I blog about everything!

Definately a go to meal to add to your weekday repertoire.



Mozzarella Chicken and Rice Skillet
slightly adapted from Kraftfoods.com

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 soup can of milk
2 1/2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups Minute Rice uncooked
1 cup shredded Mozzerella
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Place chicken breasts in pan, cover and cook about 8 minutes per side. Remove lid and cook an additional 1-2 minutes per side to get a nice crisp brown outside. (check to make sure chicken is cooked through especially if using large breasts).

Remove from skillet. Add soup to skillet and then fill the soup can with milk and add that to skillet. Whisk until blended. Stir in Rice and broccoli and add chicken back on top. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5-7 minutes until rice is tender. Season with Salt and Pepper. Add mozzerella and cover. Turn heat off and let set for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serve hot

Simple Corn Chowder

Many people use bacon and bacon grease as a flavoring for corn chowder, but as I am currently not stomaching meat well (including my turkey bacon) I decided to go with a more vegetarian option.

Corn chowder is a simple hearty soup that is great for a cool fall day. I served it up with a fresh crisp iceberg salad with my Ranch Style Dressing. An excellent easy meal for a week day with plenty of leftovers.

Simple Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
4 TBS Butter
7-8 Red potatoes (washed, peeled and cubed)
1 medium yellow onion (finely diced)
2 cups water
2 cans Creamed corn (if using homemade its 3 cups)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups heavy whipping cream (or half and half)

Directions:
In a large stock pot over medium heat, sauté your onion and potatoes in the butter for 4-5 minutes. Stir in water and corn. Add your salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for approx 25-30 minutes stirring 3-4 times during cooking time.

Warm the cream (I popped it in the microwave for 2 minutes) and add to the chowder about 3-4 minutes before serving.

Peach and Blueberry Sonker

I promised I would list every version and concoction of the Sonker through the summer. This one is not much different then the previous post but here it is. I am trying to clean out my freezer to make room for fresh preserves. I found a lone package of peaches frozen from last year. The package was small so not enough to do the traditional peach sonker but I mixed it with a pint of blueberries and some vanilla for a flavorful purple pie full of antioxidants and southern goodness. I can not express the simple goodness of this pie. I put this together with hardly any time while waiting for my ingredients to cook for my zucchini casserole. Both items went in the oven together. I turned the oven off when I took the casserole out and let the pie finish baking as the oven cooled down. When we were done with dinner, the pie was ready! How perfect can you get for a summer dessert?

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced peaches
1 pint blueberries
2 sticks of butter
2 cups of sugar
2 cups milk
2 cups Self Rising Flour
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In a 350 degree oven, melt butter in 9 x 13 casserole dish. When butter is melted, whisk in sugar and flour. Slowly whisk in milk and vanilla. When there are no lumps spread fruit evenly across surface. Bake for 45 minutes.

Turkey Parmesan Burgers (and oven fries)

In my quest for healthier eating I have cut out a lot of red meat. We have red meat maybe once a week if that. I tend to stick to poultry and veggies (and pasta. We all know I’m a carb loader). So anytime I see a recipe for any kind of poultry burger I have to try it! These were tasty. They cooked well and are a nice basic palate to make them your own. You could spice them up with some peppers or send them over the Italian curve with some fresh basil leaves and garlic mixed in. Due to my allergies, I’m pretty careful about spices right now. Go wild with this. I served with simple oven fries made from white potatoes, olive oil and sea salt. (slice and bake in a single layer for 20 minutes on 350, flip and bake for 20 more minutes). This makes a great light summer dinner OR a healthy lunch!


Turkey Parmesan Burgers
Ingredients:
Sliced Whole Grain Bread
Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup)
Small can of Tomato Sauce
1 lb ground turkey
½ tbs olive oil
1 small finely chopped onion
Whole-milk Mozzarella cheese (thinly sliced or shredded)

Directions:
In a food processor, blend the two end pieces of bread and parmesan to form fine crumbs. Place in large plate or pie plate.

In a large bowl combine ground turkey, onion and 2 tbs tomato sauce plus ¼ tsp salt. Mix well. Shape into 5 patties and gently coat with the bread crumb mixture.

In a George Foreman Grill (or a grill pan, frying pan etc), spray with Pam and place burgers on grill. Grill for about 4 minutes or until crusty and dark brown.

Serve on toasted bread with mayonnaise, 1 tbs of tomato sauce and a thin slice or sprinkle of mozzarella.

Twice Baked Potato and Broccoli Casserole

Sometimes the biggest mistakes can turn into new and amazing adventures in life. Tis the same with cooking. Things that don't work out like you planned can often create new and exciting dishes.

I had thawed out a small container of Eagle's Chili for Stephen and planned on making simple broccoli stuffed twice baked potatoes. For some reason even after an hour my potatoes still were not soft. They were cooked but not all the way. So when I tried to scrape out the halves, they broke apart. Frustrated, I threw everything in a casserole dish and rebaked. It actually turned out really well and the leftovers were phenomenal. Thus a new dish was born.

Twice Baked Potato and Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients:
Two cups boiled or steamed broccoli florets
2 large baking potatoes
One small carton of Sour Cream
1 cup mild shredded cheddar
1/2 stick butter
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup Panko or Seasoned Bread crumbs (optional)

Directions:
Bake Potatoes at 350 for one hour (wrapped in tinfoil). Rough Chop cooked potatoes and place in casserole dish. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently stir until thoroughly mixed. Bake for an additional 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

1st Blog Challenge Recipe: Chicken Stew

In our family, there are many recipes that bring to mind comfort and home. One of my favorite though? Cousin Tim's Chicken Stew. I'll never forget when I first had it. Everyone had been saying for years how great of a cook my cousin was and he even had a small catering company. For some reason, I had never gone to his annual Christmas Eve Chicken Stew. Then one year I did. That first buttery creamy taste of stew MELTED in my mouth and I fell in love with chicken all over again.

I never could come close to mimicking his recipe though. I didn't know the secret. When our wedding came around I could think of no better dish to serve for an outdoor Halloween/Fall wedding than Chicken Stew and Eagle's Chili. So I approached Tim about the price to make a big pot. This sweet darling of a man, made GALLONS (I'm not even sure how many but I'm pretty sure he used at least 20 chickens that's how much there was!) for my wedding as a wedding gift to me. It was fabulous and my guests RAVED about it for MONTHS. So I finally broked down and asked him (begged him and groveled along the ground, see, I'm not above these things) for the recipe. It is fabulous. We do it a tad different but the KEY is the same. So I will tell you how I do it. Play around with it but make sure you follow the first part exactly because that is the key.

Cousin Tim's Chicken Stew
Ingredients:
1 whole roasting chicken
1 large onion
1 whole garlic clove
2-3 large carrots
2 celery stalks
salt and pepper
Half and Half
1 stick of butter

Directions:
Place all of your ingredients (except Half and Half and Butter) in a crockpot. Make sure the bird is washed and dried inside and out and well seasonged with salte and pepper. Just cut your cleaned vegetables in half or quartered in the cavity of the bird. Cover with water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until bird is falling apart. Place a large collander in a large bowl and pour contents through strainer. Place the broth you collected in the bowl BACK into the crock pot. Throw butter into broth and melt. When melted, add cream until broth turns a golden cream color. SAlt and pepper liberally.

Debone meat and rough chop or shred chicken. The key here is to DISCARD the vegetables. The flavor is infused into the broth and chicken. Add the chicken back into the broth/cream mixture and THAT's IT. Serve with cornbread. You can play with the vegetable flavors that you want as well as how creamy you want your stew but this is the best simple stew you have ever had.

ENJOY!

I took pictures but as you can imagine, with my dinky camera, they didn't come out well. I will post them anyway soon. Promise.

Simple Chicken Soup

On a cold blustery winter day, there is nothing more comforting then a pot of soup, stew or chili. Many people go after bread, milk and eggs. Not me. I'm going after soup fixings. When bad weather strikes, I made a big pot of soup. If we lose power, I can heat it up on the grill and if you are stuck in a cold house, you definately want something WARM to eat, not cold sandwiches! This recipe can be done in the crock pot or on the stove. I at least start it in the crock pot.

Simple Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
4 carrots, peeled and coined
2 ribs of celergy, finely diced
1 onion, diced
1 whole chicken
1/2 pint of cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 box elbow macaroni noodles, cooked just under al dente

Directions:
Cook chicken in crock pot (covered in water) for 8-10 hours until it falls off the bone. Debone chicken and use 3/4 of the meat. (I save enough meat out to do a small dinner or make chicken salad for lunches) as this recipe will feed a family for a few days.

Use about 4-6 cups of the broth, and place all your ingredients (except cream) in a pot and simmer until noodles are finished cooking. Add cream. Serve hot.

Crock Pot Vegetable Stew

Sometimes, you aren't in the mood to cook. Seriously, the best cooks need a day off. Once you start cooking homemade dishes, you can't turn it off. Ordering Pizza or making Hamburger Helper loses appeal. Comfort food becomes home cooked dishes but when you are too tired to cook, those foods aren't so comforting anymore because they are work. I think EVERYONE should have a series of Crock Pot dishes, or premade frozen dishes that can be thrown together/thrown in the oven, with little prep work or concentration. This little gem is a slightly heartier version of a simple Vegetable Soup.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef stew/ Round steak cubed
1 can diced tomatoes undrained
3 cups water
1 large onion diced
3 celery ribs, sliced/diced
3 beef boullion cubes
2 carrots coined
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen limas

Directions:
Combine ingredients except for frozen veggies in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours on high for 6. Add vegetables, cover and cook on high for another hour and a half or until meat and vegetables are all tender.

Cajun Potato Salad

I whipped up this dish last night. It is very easy and is a meal in itself. My husband LOVED this dish and asked me to make it again. It's a little vinegary for my taste but I think the recipe has merit. I would prefer a bit more mustard and a little less vinegar to balance the flavors a bit better. (but then again, I'm a southern American who loves a good old fashioned potato salad which is mayonnaise and mustard based! LOL).

TIP: Most chef's and cook's use a Scrap Bowl or sink while they are cooking. It's much easier when you are peeling veggies, fruits or deboning meat to have something right there to put your left overs in. Whenever I'm using breads, fruits or veggies, I try to do this and send them to Dad's chickens. They LOVE scraps and I get the eggs! You can clearly see my Green Scrap bowl and my basket of beautiful fresh fruits and veggies that is my inspiration this week on my counter.

Happy Cooking!

Cajun Potato Salad
Ingredients:
2lbs small red potatoes unpeeled ( I used half red and half Idaho and peeled them because I needed to use up some potatoes that were sprouting)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2-3 green onions finely chopped/sliced
3 tbs dried parsley or 1/4 cup fresh chopped
6 tbs cider vinegar, divided (I prefer a little less)
1/2 lb precooked kielbasa sausage sliced
4 tbs olive Oil
1 tbs Dijon mustard
2 tbs chopped garlic
Pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water for 20 -30 minutes. Do not overcook or they will get mushy like mine did. Drain. Rinse with Cold water to stop the cooking process. Cool completely. Cut into 1/4 inc slices instead of dicing them for a better aesthetic look than mine had. Place in a large bowl. Add onions, parsley, and 3 tbs vinegar. Toss.
In a medium skillet, cook sausage in oil for 5-10 minutes until sausage is browned. Remove but leave oil in the pan. Add mustard, garlic, pepper and cayenne plus remaining vinegar to skillet. Bring to simmer, whisking constantly. Pour over salad; toss gently. Serve hot.