Strawberry Shortcake

Before I started dinner, i started on dessert. I had these strawberries that had to be used. I had some Light Cool Whip as well, b/c I love that stuff! I mean I buy it in hordes. It was on sale from something like 99 cents. I bought 3 of them & put them in the deep freeze about a month ago, I am down to 1/2 of a container. Back to the point, I knew I had seen an easy shortcake recipe somewhere. I just couldn't remember where. On the back of a box of something...
Bisquick!

This was so simple. I should have made simple syrup first, let it cool & pour over the strawberries, but I didn't so they were a little liquidy. It worked in my favor though since the shortcakes sopped up the juice.
Delicious, refreshing & so easy for a week night treat.

2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
Sweetened sliced strawberries
Whipped topping or whipped cream

1. Heat oven to 425°F.
2. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, sugar and butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped topping. (Sweeten strawberries before making shortcakes so sugar has time to dissolve; for each quart of sliced strawberries, stir in 1/2 cup sugar.)

Awesome dinner!

I had an extremely stressful day at work. One would think with that, I would say "screw dinner! We are going out!" But not me. I knew if I could just spend an hour or two in the kitchen, I would feel a ton better.
I had a bunch of strawberries, so I started making dessert. Something I rarely ever do at our house. I'll post that in a bit.
I had these chicken cakes tagged for awhile & since I had everything on hand at home, I decided to make them & Pioneer Woman's Crashed Hot Potatoes. Why I picked a recipe I had never made before is beyond me, but my husband was happy dinner turned out b/c I get a little emotional(angry) when it doesn't.
From CookingLight of course.

Chicken Cakes w/ Horseradish Aioli
Ingredients
Cakes:
2 (1 1/2-ounce) slices whole wheat bread
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons canola oil

Aioli:
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt


Preparation
To prepare cakes, place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup (discard remaining breadcrumbs). Set breadcrumbs aside.
Place chicken in food processor; pulse until ground. Combine chicken, chives, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon salt, egg whites, and breadcrumbs in a medium bowl; mix well (mixture will be wet). Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add patties; cook 7 minutes on each side or until done.

To prepare aioli, combine 2 tablespoons mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with cakes.

I made some adjustments b/c we had just had Mexican Lasagna, so I didn't want something spicy. Instead I used Paul Purdhomme's Poultry Magic seasoning. The hubs & I do not particularly care for horsey sauce. I still had some sun-dried tomato aioli from Viansa in the fridge so I used that.

For the crash potatoes, I let the hubs go out to the garden & pick his herbs of choice. We had some dill ones, some rosemary & some sage ones. Yummy!

A Staple

I almost didnt believe my eyes. I have not posted Mexican Lasagna! This is one of my husband's favorite meals! I ask him what he wants for dinner & his answer is either "Biscuits & Gravy" or " Mexican Lasagna". I believe I made this one of the first nights I made dinner for him. Its a RR recipe and so easily adaptable. I have seen people make mexican lasagna, but they use lasagna noodles. That is why I love this recipe!

Here is the original recipe
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

Now my edits consist of the following:
I will use ground turkey or ground beef
I use about a 1/2 cup of taco sauce & then a can of drained ro-tel.
I use white corn or regular corn tortillas.
And, I always use more cheese than it calls for.
You could mix in some olives as well.

Back In Action!

Just as I vow to visit the gym 3 times a week I vow to update my blog at least twice a week, I don't want to be too ambitious this summer ;)
This salad is based off a recipe I received from my friend Sarah. The hubs & i do not eat enough fruit. I thought maybe if I snuck them into a salad he would be more obliged to eat them. He does love my summer spinach & strawberry salad.
Its an apple-cheddar tossed salad.

Ingredients
4 cups torn mixed salad greens--> I only had spinach
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon chopped red apple
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon cubed Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, toasted --> I decided to candy these.
HONEY DRESSING:
1/4 cup and 1 teaspoon honey
2-1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, apple, cheese and walnuts. In a blender or food
processor, combine the first eight dressing ingredients. While processing, gradually add oil in a
steady stream. Serve with salad.

*I was not in the mood to make the salad dressing so I just used my blush vinaigrette. This was delicious! Look at how colorful it is!


I'll be making it again for sure.

Radish Slaw

From my previous post about our radish, I needed to come up with something to make with them. We had already done a few salads with radishes, eaten them by themselves. I needed something creative.
I found a radish slaw w/ dill dressing from cookinglight. Well as luck would have it, I have an abundance of dill in my garden!

Ingredients
4 cups shredded radishes (about 40 radishes)
2 cups finely chopped yellow bell pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper


Preparation
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle dressing over slaw; toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

This tasted like any slaw I have had in the past. I will tell you this much, it does not keep well, so only make enough for you to eat that one night.

Garden Creations!

I am going to start a new category called "Garden" it will include all the recipes I make from the produce & herbs from our garden.
To kick it off, I'll post my pestos. I recently learned you can freeze pesto- that is great news for me! I never use it all before it goes bad & I often can not think of anything else to do with my herbs.
We had tons of Italian Parsley & Cilantro. You can basically take an herb & make it into a pesto.
Off to myrecipes.com & search for "Parsley Pesto"
I went with the Parsley & Walnut Pesto since I had a nice big bag of walnuts.

Ingredients
3 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, chopped


Preparation
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.
** I ended up adding some olive oil to it to make it a bit more oily **


Next up was Cilantro Pesto


Ingredients
3 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cups fresh cilantro, lightly packed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


Preparation
Place the garlic and cilantro in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. With the processor running, slowly add the oils, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth.
Place the pesto in an airtight container and freeze for up to 4 months. To thaw, microwave on low for 2 to 3 minutes.

So now I can make Cilantro pesto pizza, or Mixed Grill w/Cilantro Pesto, and I just came across a recipe for Roasted chicken w/ mint-cilantro pesto. I sure do have some mint in the garden...

Just call me slacker

Yep that's me! Slacking away here. I recently started telecommuting 2 days a week. You would think this means more time at home to cook & bake right? Not so much. I work more at home than do when I am at work!

I also have been in a rut of cooking/recipes/etc... I just can not find things that excite me anymore. Probably b/c I hate going to the grocery store & spending money. I wish my darn garden would be producing all its goodies but no, its just not ready yet.

I have done some cooking. Mostly not new things but I haven't posted them on here, so they are new to you :)
First up, chicken phillies. Yum! This is so easy, but caramelizing the onions takes awhile.

Ingredients
chicken breasts, sliced thinly
sweet onion, sliced thinly
unsalted butter, about 3 Tbsp
green peppers, about 1 to 1 1/2 sliced thinly
sliced mushrooms
provolone cheese slices
French or Hoagie rolls

In a saute pan, melt the butter. Add onions & cover. Cook for about 30-40 mins on low heat until onions begin to caramelize.
Remove onions from pan, set aside.
Add chicken to pan & saute until cooked through. Remove & set aside
Add a bit more butter to the pan, just enough to coat. Add mushrooms, saute, remove & set aside. Do the same with the peppers.
**I don't cook these all together b/c they take different lengths of time to cook. **
Turn over on to about 450F. Coat a cookie sheet with foil.
Assemble sandwiches, chicken, onions, mushrooms & peppers. Top with provolone cheese. Place sandwich, open-faced in oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.