Ah! What A Sweet Husband I Have!

I had some work scheduled from 5:30-6:30 last night so the hubs said he would make dinner for us. I said, ok, I have some chicken in the fridge that needs to be used and he went on an internet search for some recipes. Now, normally the hubs makes chili, lasagna, guacamole, gravy (any type) . Not b/c he can only make that stuff, but b/c thats about the only time I allow him in the kitchen. I am sort of possessive with all my kitchen gadgets, but I will say his lasagna, guac, chili & gravies are WAY better than mine.
So, last night, he decided to make Crunchy Chicken Chunks with Thai Peanut Sauce & Spicy Noodles. Thai can be intimidating but I let him run with it.

Crunchy Chicken Chunks with Thai Peanut Sauce
courtesy of Betty Crocker

Chicken Chunks

1 1/2 cups Country® Corn Flakes cereal, crushed (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
Cooking spray

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne), if desired

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line 15x10x1-inch pan with foil. In 2-quart resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix cereal, Bisquick mix, paprika, salt and pepper until well blended. Shake about 6 chicken pieces at a time in bag until coated. Shake off any extra crumbs. Place chicken pieces in pan. Spray chicken with cooking spray.
2. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until coating is crisp and chicken is no longer pink in center.
3. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, mix all sauce ingredients. Cook over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to thicken. Serve chicken chunks with sauce.


Next up was Spicy Noodles, also from Betty
3 medium green onions
2 medium bell peppers
2 medium carrots
2 packages (5 ounces each) Japanese curly noodles or 10 ounces uncooked spaghetti
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup dry sherry or Water
1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon finely chopped gingerroot
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili puree with garlic
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1. Cut onions into 2-inch pieces; cut pieces into thin strips. Cut bell peppers into thin strips. Cut carrots into julienne strips.
2. Cook and drain noodles as directed on package. Toss noodles and oil in large bowl. Stir in onions, bell peppers and carrots.
3. Mix remaining ingredients in wok or 12-inch skillet. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add noodle mixture; toss with sauce. Heat through, stirring constantly.

**Hubs Notes** He used 1 carrot & 1 green pepper. We had Thai Noodles in the house, so he cooked those in chicken broth. I didn't have chili sauce with garlic, but I had Sricacha Hot Sauce so he used that instead.

I am pretty proud of the hubs on this one. It was a nice change in the house. Although, I had to butt in & help, I just couldn't stay away.

Snickerdoodles!!!

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

That's all I have to say. As disappointed as I was that we didn't have time to see Transformers in IMAX, these cookies made up for it.

I saw the recipe in Cooking Light, September 2007 Issue. I just don't see how these cookies/recipe is cooking light. Its basically the same as any other snickerdoodle recipe I have seen. But I really don't care, these were awesome.


Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat just until combined. Shape dough into 30 balls.

Combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small shallow dish. Roll balls in sugar mixture, and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes or until tops crack. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 99(30% from fat); FAT 3.3g (sat 2g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 0.9g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 17mg; SODIUM 59mg; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 0.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 16.9g

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

One Saturday morning, the hubs & I had the TV on while we ate breakfast. I think the show was “A Lyon in The Kitchen” but who knows, it was over a month ago. Anywho, he was making Italian Wedding Soup. The hubs was enthralled by this & said “oh you have to make this!” So I put it on the “must make Fall List”. Meatballs in a soup make him pretty excited. I like all the veggies so it’s a win/win for our household.

I found a few recipes, one from Food Network & another from Ellysaysopa, I combined them both to make my own.

Meatballs
¾- 1lb ground beef or ground turkey
about 1 cup of bread crumbs
¼ cup of Asiago Cheese
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a bowl combine bread crumbs with 2 Tbsp of water to “hydrate” the breadcrumbs. Add the remaining ingredients & mix with your hands.
Form into meatballs & place on a sprayed baking sheet.
Bake in oven for about 20 minutes

Soup
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 carrot, sliced & diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 head escarole, chopped
8 cups chicken broth
6 roma tomatoes, diced
Salt & Pepper
Small sized noodles, cooked

Heat the olive oil in a stock pot. Add onions, celery & carrot. Cook about 10 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, thyme & red pepper. Cook for an additional 3 -5 minutes.
Stir in the escarole and cook for about 2 minutes or until the escarole is wilted.
Add chicken broth & tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add meatballs & noodles to the pot.
Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.
Serve in soup bowls & sprinkle with cheese.

The meatballs were delicious! I will be making them again for spaghetti & meatballs. I really enjoyed the soup. The hubs didn’t like the escarole, but he did like everything else.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas!

Why didn't I think of this before! I was looking for some enchilada recipes b/c that's what the hubs wanted for dinner on Friday. I usually just use the recipe on the back of the enchilada sauce, but I was bored on Friday & went on a search. I went through many blogs & recipe websites & came up with this.


Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
1 can cream of chicken soup (I used Healthy Request)
1/2 cup of sour cream
about 2-2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1 can enchilada sauce
flour tortillas (I used fajita size)
shredded cheese, cheddar or Mexican mix

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix the cream of chicken soup,sour cream & about 1/4 the enchilada sauce together. Add the chicken & 1/2 of the cheese.
In baking dish, cover the bottom with enchilada sauce. Assemble the enchiladas & place in baking dish.
Cover with remaining sauce & sprinkle with cheese.
Cook for about 20 mins or until bubbly.
Top with sliced avocado.

We really enjoyed these. I had a lot leftover (big surprise) so I made an additional dish of enchiladas & froze them for later use.

Couldn't Decide: Smother & Stuffed

I bought some butterfly pork chops at the store a few weeks ago & decided I was going to smother them in a Thyme Sauce. I found a recipe on Cooking Light (of course) but then stumbled upon a few blogs who had stuffed their chops too.

So I asked the hubs, do you want them smothered or stuffed? He said "Well both of course!"

My intention was to stuff them with fontina cheese, but I used it all, I however, did have cream cheese. Since my smothering recipe called for thyme, I just mixed the cream cheese with the thyme & stuffed the pork chop. I seasoned the chop with some S&P as well.While looking for the fontina cheese, the proscuitto jumped right into my hands. What better way to use proscuitto than to wrap around the stuffed pork chop??


After browning the pork chops I placed them in the oven at 325 for about 20-30 mins. Basically until they were no longer pink.

Then I started on the smothering recipe basically from cooking light with a few changes, so I'll just retype it.
Ingredients
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth, divided
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup coarsely chopped onion

Mix 1/4 cup of broth with the milk, flour & mustard. Set aside. In a pan sprayed with Olive Oil, saute the onions, when they are golden brown, add remainder of the beef broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & slowly stir in the flour mixture. Continue to stir & simmer until thickened. Season with S&P for taste.


I served this with some long grain rice by Uncle Ben & steamed broccoli.
Overall results, it was ok. I think the chops could have used more seasonings & so could the smother. Probably garlic would have been nice. Also, I think stuffing with fontina or harvati would have been better. I was trying to go for a gooey goodness & the cream cheese didn't cut it.
But, it did take some nice photos!

My Hand at Thai

I have been meaning to make Pad Thai for quite some time. It sounds so intimidating, but many people have said its really not. I found a very simple recipe on Cooking Light for Pad Thai Shrimp.


Pad Thai Shrimp
Cooking Light 2005
Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1/4 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons hot water
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
4 cups snow peas
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts
5 lime wedges


Preparation
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain and set aside.
Combine teriyaki sauce, hot water, peanut butter, and Sriracha, stirring with a whisk.

Heat the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Add shrimp; sauté for 2 minutes or until shrimp are almost done. Add teriyaki sauce mixture, and cook for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens. Add pasta and snow peas; cook for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring well. Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts. Serve with lime wedges.

** My Notes** I used rice noodles to make it more like Pad Thai. If you want it hotter, use more of the Sriracha sauce. I was also out of cilantro so I omitted that ingredient. It was good, I haven't had restaurant Pad Thai so I don't have much to compare it to.

Chicken Valdostana & Romano Orzo

I find so many great recipes from fellow foodie Ellyhttp://ellysaysopa.vox.com/.
One of the favorite recipes in our house is Chicken Saltimbocca. My husband loves some prosciutto. So when I came across her recipe for Chicken Valdostana I knew I had to make it! I also remembered awhile back I made her Pork Milanese with Pecorino Orzo. Since I didn't have pecorino, I used a mixtures of Romano & Parmesan cheese.


Chicken Breast Valdostana
Courtesy of Elly Says Opa
2 b/s chicken breast halves
2 thin slices prosicutto
flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 thin slices fontina cheese
1/4 cup diced tomatoes, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper
2 tsp. grated romano

Preheat oven to 375.

Fit a piece of prosciutto over each chicken breast, so the slice of prosciutto is as close as possible to the size of the chicken breast. Using the back of a knife or the flat side of a mallet, pound the chicken lightly, just to get the prosciutto to adhere.

Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour.

Heat a skillet over moderate heat and add the butter and olive oil. When the butter is foaming, add the chicken, prosciutto side down.

Cook chicken for about 2 minutes before flipping and browning on other side for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken.

To the pan, add the chicken stock and wine. Cook over medium high heat until reduced by half.

Place the chicken back in the skillet and top each breast with 1 slice of fontina, 2 Tbsp. of diced tomatoes and 1 tsp. grated cheese.

Put the skillet in the oven and cook until chicken is done, about 15 minutes.


Pecorino Orzo
8 oz. orzo
2 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2.5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup pecorino or parmesan cheese

Heat butter until melted. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.

Stir in orzo and coat in the butter, toasting slightly, for a couple of minutes.

Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until done, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Off the heat, stir in the cheese.


Sorry for the dark pictures, it was pretty late by the time we ate so I didn't have any natural sunlight to brighten up the room.
This was absolutely delicious. I added some fresh, flash-fried sage to it as well for a little extra flavor. Plus this is so easy & quick to make, you can easily do this in under 30 minutes.