Girls' Night

My sister came up for the weekend to hang out and do some shopping. Knowing that Mexican food is her favorite type of food, I decide to make some chicken tacos for dinner the other night. We totally pigged out on chips and salsa and had a lot of fun just laughing and talking. The tacos turned out really good and I made some simple black beans to go along with them. It was such a fun night just hanging out with my sis.

Chicken Tacos

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
3/4 cup water or chicken broth
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 flour tortillas

Begin by sauteeing the onion in a skillet with the olive oil for about 3-5 min. Next, add the cooked chicken and taco seasoning. Add the broth or water and stir. Let heat through about 5 minutes. Serve on warmed tortillas with your favorite toppings (lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, sour cream, beans etc)

Time to Catch Up

I've been a little lax with cooking lately which ultimately is the reason for my lack of blog posts. But, now it's time to catch up. After a short hiatus, I'm back in the kitchen and this is the first of a few new recipes I've tried recently! Now, as I've mentioned before, my husband isn't a real big fan of veggies. His idea of getting his veggies is a side of fries with his burger. Surprisingly, I have found that he will eat spinach though. After discovering this I have tried to think of 100 ways to incorporate spinach into our meals so that at least he gets one green leafy vegetable during the week. So I had some baby spinach in the fridge and my favorite cheese, feta, so I figured I would combine these to make a stuffing for some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It turned out to be very good and we both really enjoyed it.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups baby spinach, washed and dried
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 large clove garlic
1 egg
pinch of salt and pepper

Begin by preheating the oven to 375. Then, make a pocket in the side of each chicken breast using a small paring knife. Don't cut all the way through though. In a food processor, combine baby spinach, feta, garlic, egg, salt and pepper. Carefully spoon the spinach mixture into the pocket you cut into each chicken breast. Salt and pepper the tops of the chicken breasts. From here, you can sear the chicken breasts in a skillet and then transfer to the oven to finish baking for about 20-25 min or just pop the chicken right into the oven to bake.

Garlic Fries and Greek Dressing

Since the new year has started, I've been trying to find some healthier recipes online. I ran across this one by Ellie Krieger today on the Food Network website. I make roasted potatoes all the time, usually with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder or italian seasoning. But this recipe calls for minced garlic. So I decided to make these fries tonight to go with the chicken and green beans I was already making. These are definitely better than my regular roasted potatoes. The slightly crunchy bits of garlic are a nice surprise when you bite into the fries.

Garlic "Fries"

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 large baking potatoes, 12 ounces each
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (I used 1 tsp dried parsley since I didn't have fresh on hand.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat the garlic and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain the garlic from the oil with a small mesh strainer. Set both garlic and oil aside.

Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch sticks. In a large bowl, toss the oil, potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the potatoes onto it in a single layer. Bake until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes.

Remove potatoes from the tray with a metal spatula. Toss with parsley, reserved garlic, and additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

I also had some greek dressing in the fridge that I made the other day. I found the recipe in a cookbook I received for Christmas, Christmas with Paula Deen. I thought it would be great as a marinade for chicken breasts also. I marinated the chicken for about an hour in the dressing and then pan seared it for a few minutes in a skillet with some olive oil. Then I finished cooking it in the oven for about 15 minutes. It turned out so good!! I highly recommend this dressing for a salad or as a marinade. It was delicious both ways.

Greek Salad Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sugar (I added a bit more because the lemon juice was a little too acidic)

Place all ingredients in a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Store in the refrigerator. When ready to use, allow the dressing to come to room temperature and shake well. Makes a little more than 1 cup.

Pesto Presto!

Ok, yeah I know that's a cheesy title, but that's what came to mind so that's what I went with. I haven't been very inspired in the dinner department lately. I think I was trying so many new recipes all at once that I sort of had recipe overload. So lately I've been making easy meals with staple items in my pantry. Tonight was no different. I had some pesto in the fridge that needed using up so I thought what goes better with pesto than pasta and chicken. Plus, my husband is always up for pasta so I knew I'd get no complaints from him. It took no time to make and was really delicious.

Pesto Pasta with Chicken

2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
2 cups dry pasta (I used farfalle but any pasta would work)
1/4 cup chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp pesto
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Begin by heating the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to the pan. While chicken is cooking boil the pasta and drain. Once the chicken is done, add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze it. Make sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan for flavor. Add the pasta to the pan. Stir in the pesto, coating the pasta and chicken. Top with grated parmesan cheese if desired.

Let's just call it "Chicken Elly"

On my quest to avoid the grocery store until the end of the week, I pulled out my last two boneless skinless chicken breasts to defrost this morning. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them but I was determined to use what I had on hand. I figured I'd come up with something fabulous by dinner time. While I was at work today, I remembered hearing a buzz about a chicken recipe on Elly's blog. A lot of people had made it from a cooking board that I frequent. In fact, so many people have made it, it's being called "chicken Elly". So I looked it up and decided that's what I'd make tonight. It was really easy using basic ingredients that I always have on hand. I followed it exactly except for the fact that I used chicken breasts and she made this with leg quarters. I also used skin on red potatoes. It was great! So Elly, how does it feel to be famous? ; )

How I made it:
(I'm copying this straight from Elly's post) : )

First, peel and quarter (or eighth) the potatoes (I use 2 small or medium russets). Then, add some extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a lemon to a baking dish. Add the potatoes and the chicken leg quarters to the baking dish, and turn them around to coat them with the EVOO (sorry) and lemon juice. Then, add salt, pepper and dried oregano to the chicken and potatoes. Flip them, and salt, pepper & oregano the other sides. Add about 1/3 cup of chicken broth to the pan (so it just covers the bottom of the pan, about 1/4" or so standing). Squeeze the rest of the lemon over the whole thing. Bake it for about an hour at 400*. Check on it 1-2 times to add chicken broth as necessary or baste the chicken with the juices.

Chicken Parmesan and Buttery Garlic Croutons

One of our favorite Italian dishes is chicken parmesan. It's such a simple and comforting dish, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand to make it. It always turns out so delicious that I ask myself why I don't make it more often. We had this tonight for dinner with some spaghetti and a salad. Dinner was ready in under 30 minutes. Can't beat that.

Chicken Parmesan

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 cup italian style bread crumbs (I made my own but you could buy them)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Set up three shallow bowls; one with the parmesan cheese, one with the eggs, and one with the bread crumbs. Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken breasts. Dip one chicken breast in the parmesan and pat to coat it with the cheese. Then dip it in the egg and then the bread crumbs. Be sure to coat it well. Do this for the other remaining chicken breasts and place them in a baking dish. Bake for 20-25 min until chicken is no longer pink. Broil on each side 2 min for a crispier crust.

Serve with your favorite pasta and marinara sauce. Top with additional parmesan if desired.


I also made some homemade croutons tonight to go on my salad. I had some leftover dinner rolls so this was a good way to use those up. So simple and so good!

Buttery Garlic Croutons

4-5 small dinner rolls (this could be made with regular bread as well)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder(you could also use minced garlic but remove it from the melted butter before placing the bread cubes in the pan so it doesn't burn)

Cut the bread into 1"cubes. Heat a pan over medium heat and add butter. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic powder and the bread cubes. Toss the bread around or turn with a spoon every couple of minutes to brown on each side. Once brown and crispy, place the croutons on a plate with a paper towel to drain any excess butter. Allow them to cool and serve on your favorite salad.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I've been a little under the weather for the past couple days. And by a little I mean a lot. For the past few days I've been completely and utterly miserable. I haven't felt like cooking or doing much of anything. Today I finally started to feel a tad bit better. Well wouldn't you know my husband is starting to feel sick now. Since I was on my own for dinner tonight, I decided I felt up to making us some chicken noodle soup. I made it pretty much the same way I made my chicken and rice soup but added a few more veggies and of course noodles instead of rice. Hopefully a couple bowls of this will have us both feeling better in no time.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
5-6 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp thyme
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 large onion, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 1/2-2 cups egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

Begin by boiling the chicken breasts in a large pot with water and chicken stock. Once the chicken is done, remove from the pot and set aside. Place vegetables, thyme, and chicken bouillon in the pot and simmer for 8-10 min until vegetables start to get tender. Shred the chicken with two forks and return it to the pot. Add the noodles and let simmer about 8 min until the noodles are done. Add more water as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Pot Pie

Today was my day off and I got a lot accomplished. I cleaned all three of my bathrooms, dusted, vacuumed, and did a ton of laundry. When I finally sat down and the cleaning rush wore off, I started to feel not so good. I've been fighting a little cold for a couple weeks now and I think it's finally catching up with me. I had planned on making chicken pot pie for dinner tonight but wasn't sure if I was up to it. My husband offered to go and pick up something for dinner, but I finally mustered up the energy to get in the kitchen. I figured some warm chicken pot pie would help me feel better and also be good for leftovers this week. While I was cooking dinner, my husband did go to the store and get me some medicine and orange juice. Hopefully with a little chicken pot pie and medication in me, I'll be feeling better tomorrow. Thankfully, my chicken pot pie turned out better than the one I made a couple weeks ago.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or broth)
1 cup water
1 cup milk, warmed
3 Tbsp butter
2-3 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 large red potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup green beans- fresh, frozen, or canned
salt and pepper to taste

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375. In a large pot, add potatoes, onions, celery, carrots, green beans, broth and water. Let simmer for 7-10 min or until vegetables start to get tender. Add in butter and warm milk and stir. Add flour and whisk. Let simmer for a couple minutes until sauce starts to thicken. Add in chicken and salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture into a baking dish. Prepare the crust by stirring flour, milk and butter together. Pour over the chicken and vegetable mixture. Bake for 35-45 min, until crust is golden brown and mixture is bubbly.

Soup for the Soul

You know how sometimes you just get a craving for something and you just have to have it? Well that's what happened to me last week. I don't know what triggered it. Maybe it was the chilly weather we're having or this little cold I've been fighting off for a couple weeks now. Whatever it was, I was really craving chicken and rice soup. It's funny because I don't usually like chicken soup either. I started looking at recipes online and then just pretty much made up my own based on the things I wanted in my soup. It turned out to be a very good and filling soup. We had this tonight for dinner with the rolls in my previous post.

Chicken and Rice Soup

2 chicken breasts, trimmed
5 cups water
1 cup chicken stock (you could use broth instead)
1 tsp thyme
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 large onion, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 cup celery, finely chopped (I'm not a huge fan of celery so you could add more)
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
3/4 cup long grain white rice, uncooked
salt and pepper to taste

Begin by boiling the chicken breasts in a large pot with water and chicken stock. Once the chicken is done, remove from the pot and set aside. Place vegetables, thyme, and chicken bouillon in the pot and simmer for 15-20 until vegetables are tender. Shred the chicken with two forks and return it to the pot. Add the rice and let simmer about 20 min until the rice is done. Add more water as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If only it tasted as good as it looks!

I have been dying to try Paula Deen's Lady and Sons Chicken Pot Pie for a while now. When we were in Savannah, GA this past April, we actually ate at the Lady and Sons restaurant. I didn't get the chicken pot pie there, but I saw several people order it and remember thinking it looked so good. I was very happy when I found the recipe for it on foodnetwork.com. So I finally decided to try it tonight. I followed the recipe exactly, except I cooked it longer than it said to at the end to make sure if was heated through. When I took my first bite, all I could say was "yuck!". It was just too bland and the flavor wasn't all that great either. But I decided to post it anyway to show that not every dinner or recipe always turns out the way you hoped it would. I think it's a very pretty chicken pot pie, but I think I'll stick to my regular old chicken pot pie in the future. Who knows, maybe it was something I did or didn't do. Someone else might have more luck with it than I did. : P


My cooking ventures today weren't a total bust though. I made my own chicken stock for the first time ever. Here's how I made it.

Chicken Stock

1 roasted chicken carcass (bones), skin and meat removed
1-1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 1/2 cups carrots, cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 an onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
water, enough to cover all other ingredients

Place first six ingredients in a large stock pot and cover with water and chicken broth. Simmer over low heat for about 3 hrs or so. Strain liquid into a bowl and skim fat off the surface. Place pre-measured amounts in individual containers to freeze for easy use in later recipes.

*I froze mine in 1 cup portions. I got about 9-10 cups of stock.

Real Comfort Food

Tonight's dinner was a huge success for me. I had never made a whole roasted chicken. To be honest, it has always scared me a little. But it really wasn't hard at all. I will admit, when I first took this whole chicken out of the package, it really creeped me out. I can handle boneless, skinless chicken breasts and any other meat, but something about a whole raw chicken is a little icky to me. But I love roasted chicken so I quickly got past that and prepped my chicken. My other worry was how long to cook a whole chicken. I read so many different recipes and finally decided on how I would cook it. I gave my husband specific instructions on when to put the chicken in and at what temp when he got home and crossed my fingers that it would turn out.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised. My house smelled great and the chicken looked so good! So I whipped up a couple easy sides and dinner was ready. I think I got 2 thumbs up from my husband.

On the menu tonight: garlic and lemon roasted chicken, wild rice, peas, and baked apples.

Garlic and Lemon Roasted Chicken

whole chicken (mine was 5lbs)
4-5 small garlic cloves, peeled, whole
3/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper, mixed together in a bowl (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 stick butter, cut into 1/4" slices (1/4 cup)

Begin by washing the chicken and patting it dry. Place chicken in a roasting pan. Rub a little of the salt and pepper on the inside cavity of the chicken. Place garlic cloves inside. Place a few slices of the butter inside the chicken as well. Rub remaining butter, salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken making sure to coat wings and legs, too. Pour lemon juice over the chicken. Bake at 375 degrees, 20 min per pound. Baste chicken with pan juices every so often. (I roasted mine for about 2 hrs-20 min longer than it really needed just to be sure
; P )


The baked apples I made as sort of an afterthought tonight. I had wanted to make a wild rice, apple, and pecan stuffing for the chicken but then remembered I used the last of my chopped pecans the other day. I wanted to do something with apples anyway so I made some simple baked apples.


Baked Apples (for 2)

1 large apple, cut into 1" chunks (I used Gala because that's what I had)
1/4 stick of butter, cut into 1/4" slices
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Spray ramekins with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Place apples in the bottom of each ramekin. In a bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the apples. Place 3 slices of butter on top of each dish. Bake at 375 for 15-20 min until apples are tender.

Chicken Enchiladas with Chili Gravy

I finally got around to making enchiladas tonight. This is actually the first time I've made them and they turned out very good. I've had a recipe for chili gravy saved for a long time now and decided to use that as the sauce for the enchiladas. I have no clue where I got the recipe, but I think it was from someone's blog. If anyone knows whose it could be, please let me know! Anyway, we had these tonight with seasoned brown rice. It was all very delicious, although not very healthy.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 a green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chili gravy (recipe follows)
4 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peppers and cook for about 5 min. Add shredded chicken and stir. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Remove from pan and set aside. Using the same pan, make the chili gravy as follows.

Chili Gravy

Ingredients:
1/4 cup lard (I used vegetable oil)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp powdered garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred if it’s available)
2 T chile powder (either homemade or a dark brand such as Gebhardt’s or Whole Foods)
2 cups chicken broth (or water) (I used half water, half chicken broth)

Method:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux.
Add all the dry ingredients and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients.
Add chicken broth or water, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens.
Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes. Add water to adjust the thickness. Makes 2 cups.

Once the chili gravy is done, add 1/2 a cup to the chicken mixture and stir. Spoon the chicken mixture into the flour tortilla shells and roll up. Spread another half cup of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and place the rolled tortillas in the dish. Top with the remaining cup of sauce and shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 min.

Original Source: Homesick Texan
(I finally found out where this recipe came from!)

Balsamic Chicken

I'm revisiting some recipes I've made before and saved under my favorites. This is one I tried many months ago and since I've been making so many new recipes, I hadn't gotten back around to making it. I thought it would be a nice change so I put it on this week's menu. I adapted Giada's recipe to use boneless skinless chicken breasts since we don't really eat drumettes. It's simple to make and very tasty. We had this tonight with brown rice and steamed green beans.

Here's the recipe as I made it.


Balsamic Chicken

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
5 garlic cloves, halved
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into thin strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley



Combine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic cloves, in a large, re-sealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until it is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 15 min (7 1/2 min per side).

Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.

Use a pastry brush to brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken. Place the chicken on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Original Source: foodnetwork.com

Dinner in a hurry

I found out at the last minute today that we would be having my husband's family over for lunch tomorrow. And while they will be bringing the main course and sides, I volunteered to do a salad and dessert. Of course, for a person like me that loves to bake, a cake or pie from the store won't do, so that meant I would be spending tonight with my apron and mixer. With that on my mind, I did not want a complicated dinner. So I thought some pasta and fresh veggies would be good, and I figured I'd add some chicken too, for good measure. This pasta was done in under 20 minutes and was very delicious. I will definitely be making this again for those nights when I'm pressed for time. This made enough for the two of us with a little leftover.

Fettucine with spinach, tomatoes, and chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/3 of a 16 oz box of fettucine (most any pasta would work)
1 1/2 cups baby spinach, washed
1 small tomato, cut into chunks
1/2 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Begin boiling the water for the pasta. Add pasta to salted water and boil for about 8 min or until al dente. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl with spinach. (The heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach down a little.) Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium/high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to the pan. Cook for about 10 min or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet and add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan along with the butter. When the butter is melted, add the chopped garlic. Saute for 2-3 min to cook the garlic. Pour garlic butter over the pasta and spinach and toss in the chicken and chopped tomato. Toss to combine all the ingredients. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

*a squirt of lemon juice right before serving would be good on this, too

More with Chicken...

Here's yet another yummy dinner idea that came about as I was perusing some of my favorite food blogs. I saw a recipe on Joelen's blog for Giada's garlic and citrus chicken and thought the flavor combo sounded good. I didn't have a whole chicken to make the recipe exactly as it stated so I decided to turn it into a marinade for boneless skinless chicken breasts and grill them instead. They turned out really great! The citrus in the marinade really came through in the flavor of the chicken and also caramelized nicely to create a golden brown "crust" as it grilled. We had these for dinner tonight with roasted red potatoes and green beans steamed with garlic cloves.

Here's how I made the marinade

1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano

Place chicken breasts (I did 2) in a bowl. Combine juices and chicken broth and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle the top of the chicken with oregano and garlic. Refrigerate, covered, for a couple hours or over night, turning chicken in the marinade periodically. Remove from marinade and grill or bake until done.

Adventures with Wonton Wrappers

So here's one more thing I can mark off my list to try-cooking with wonton wrappers. I've always been afraid to use them because for some strange reason I thought they would be difficult to work with. They really weren't though. I figured they had to be easier than making my own pasta dough. It was a little time consuming filling each ravioli but once that was done they cooked up quickly. My husband and I both thought they worked out really well for this dish. I bought them specifically to make this ravioli but can't wait to try them in other dishes!

Three Cheese Ravioli with Chicken and Spinach

1 cup shredded chicken (I had some left over chicken in the fridge that had been baked with garlic.)
3 cups baby spinach, finely chopped
2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp parsley flakes or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1 beaten egg
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 package wonton wrappers

Combine the first nine ingredients in a bowl for the filling. Lay wonton wrappers out on a dry surface. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of each wonton skin. Using your fingers or a brush, moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper with water. Place another wonton wrapper on top and press the edges all around to seal, pushing the air out around the filling as you go. Repeat to make desired number of ravioli. Working in batches, place ravioli in a pot of boiling, salted water and boil for about 2 min. Remove and drain off excess water. Be careful not to overcook these as they cook very quickly. Serve the ravioli with your favorite marinara sauce.

*This recipe makes a lot of filling. It can be frozen by itself or you can make additional ravioli and freeze those. The unused wonton wrappers can be frozen too.

Basil Pesto Chicken

My husband says I never make the same thing twice which is really not true. I do try to mix it up and try at least a couple new recipes every week so it may seem like I never make the same thing twice to him. Tonight I proved him wrong. When he was plating his chicken at dinner he asked "haven't we had this before?," as if he couldn't believe I would actually make it a second time. The truth is, we've had this probably 3 or 4 times before. It's just been a while. It's a simple recipe with lots of flavor from the garlic and pesto. A nice change from boring old chicken.

I originally came up with this when I saw a recipe somewhere online for pesto chicken rolls. The recipe seemed a little bland to me so I took the idea and just changed it up a bit. We had this tonight with my garlic mashed potatoes and a garden salad.


Basil Pesto Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp italian seasoning
2-4 tsp prepared basil pesto (either homemade or jarred)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly salt and pepper each chicken breast. Sprinkle chicken breasts with italian seasoning. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic and cook 1-2 min. Add chicken to the hot skillet. Sear on each side to add color as well as seal in the juices of the chicken. Place chicken breasts in a baking dish. Top each piece of chicken with 1-2 tsp of pesto, depending on the size of each chicken breast. Top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese each and place in the oven. Bake for about 25 min or until juices run clear.

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

I saw this recipe on Cooking Light a few weeks ago and it looked so good to me. But as soon as I read "zucchini" my first thought was "my husband won't eat it." He's not a vegetable person at all. If it's not a potato or corn he probably doesn't want it. I decided to make it anyway, hoping he would like it. After all, zucchini is such a mild tasting vegetable. When dinner was ready tonight, my husband's first question was "what's in it?" When I started rattling off ingredients, he automatically gave me a look when I said zucchini, as I expected. But he gave it a try and said he actually liked it even though he thought he wouldn't. That just goes to show you should always try something before assuming you don't like it. I happened to love this recipe. It was easy and a very tasty combination of flavors. It's a keeper for me!


Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil (I used olive oil)
12 ounces chicken breast tenders
1 cup chopped red onion (about 1)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
1 cup chopped zucchini (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup green salsa (I used 1/2 cup red salsa)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided (Omitted, not a fan of cilantro)
4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas (I used 2 10" tortillas)
Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used mexican cheese)

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over chicken. Add chicken to pan; sauté for 3 minutes. Add onion, corn, and zucchini to pan; sauté for 2 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in salsa and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently.

Working with 2 tortillas at a time, arrange tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet; lightly coat tortillas with cooking spray. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Spoon about 3/4 cup chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla; sprinkle each serving with 1/4 cup cheese. Broil an additional 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese. Sprinkle each serving with about 3/4 teaspoon of remaining cilantro. Serve immediately.

Yield

4 servings

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 398(30% from fat); FAT 13.1g (sat 5.9g,mono 4.1g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 32.5g; CHOLESTEROL 75mg; CALCIUM 236mg; SODIUM 799mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 36.7g



Original Source: Cooking Light

Bustin' Out the George Foreman

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've used our George Foreman grill. Someone gave it to my husband before we got married almost 3 yrs ago. Since we moved in our house it's been shoved in the back of a bottom cabinet in my kitchen collecting dust along with all the other random small appliances I have and don't use like our milkshake maker. Well I finally found a use for the old Foreman grill tonight. I had some leftover grilled chicken from a couple nights ago when I attempted, unsuccessfully, to make chicken alfredo. The alfredo part turned out just awful but the grilled chicken was actually very good so I managed to salvage part of that dinner. Anyway, I also had half a loaf of Italian bread leftover as well. I decided grilled chicken paninis might be a good way to use up those two things. Since I don't have a panini press, I thought the George Foreman might do a good job. It worked quite well actually. The bread toasted very nicely and the cheese got all melty and gooey. It turned out to be a really good dinner. I made some oven fries to go along with our paninis too.

Here's how I made the paninis.


Grilled Chicken Paninis with Smoked Ham, Provolone, and Honey Mustard

1 chicken breast, grilled and cut into slices (I had seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder when I grilled them)
2 slices smoked ham
4 pieces provolone cheese (swiss would be great on this too)
4 pieces day old Italian bread, about 1/2" thick
2 Tbsp honey mustard (recipe follows)
a couple pats of butter

Honey Mustard

1/3 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
6 dashes worcestershire sauce

Whisk to combine.

Begin by spreading a little of the honey mustard on one piece of the Italian bread. Layer one piece of cheese, 1/2 of the grilled chicken, one piece of ham, and another piece of cheese on the bread. Spread more honey mustard on a second piece of bread and place on top of the layers of meat and cheese. Butter both pieces of bread on the outside and place in the grill, panini press, or on your stove top griddle. When both sides are toasted and the cheese is melted, remove from the grill. Repeat to make another sandwich. Cut on a diagonal and serve warm.

Dinner for One

When my husband isn't home for dinner I like to make foods that he normally won't eat. I had some leftover shredded chicken in the fridge and thought chicken salad might be good for dinner tonight. I was going to just have it on toasted wheat bread but then remembered I had some tortilla shells in the cabinet. So I made a wrap with lettuce and sliced tomato. It was very tasty and the best part is I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Chicken Salad

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken
1/4 cup lite mayo
1 1/2 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (I only use the whites)
1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve immediately or chill before serving.

*Other ingredient ideas: chopped grapes, raisins, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, onion, apple