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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: A new-to-me chicken recipe and an oldie but goodie

23 May

This meal was new to us, and we all gave it thumbs up. I’d definitely have it again.

For the past few months, my local paper has been featuring my blog’s recipes on their Facebook Page each Wednesday in a feature called “What’s for Dinner Wednesday,” so I have been trying to coordinate my blogging schedule to coincide with that feature by showing a dinner recipe each Wednesday.

Today, you’ll get a bonus, two recipes in one post.

The recipe in the photo to the left is one that was new to us, but I was inspired by an old recipe I used to make, one that was given to me by the math coach I used to work with in New Jersey when I taught there. It was a one-dish chicken and rice recipe. It called for cream of mushroom soup and rice. We used to make it a lot.

I wanted to make something similar to that, but not a baked casserole, so I searched for recipes using Cream of Mushroom Soup and Chicken until I found one here that was sauteed, and that’s the one we used and the one that is shown in the photo here. I wanted to be able to use brown rice with it, and be able to serve the rice “on the side” if someone didn’t want it all together, even though in this particular instance I do actually let my foods touch by putting the chicken on the rice.

I know, that’s big for me.

What I’ve decided to do is feature both recipes here and you can choose to make the one you’d like to make.

Enjoy!

ONE DISH CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup rice (not minute rice)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

boneless chicken breasts

DIRECTIONS

Combine soup, water and uncooked rice in layers with the boneless chicken on top, in a casserole dish.

Sprinkle with paprika and pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

**********************************************************************************************************************

This recipe is a great new addition to our family’s menu.

BIG OVEN CREAM OF MUSHROOM CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 cup mushrooms (we had none so I skipped this part)

4 medium skinless/boneless breasts (I used tenders)

1 ten ounce can cream of mushroom soup

2 dashes salt

2 dashes pepper

cooked rice (I used Aldi’s Instant Brown Rice)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a medium skillet.

Add chicken and brown both sides for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add can of cream of mushroom soup (Do not add water).

Stir until chicken and mushrooms are well coated.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink), stirring once or twice.

This dish is best served over rice.

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Grandma Grello’s Green Bean Marinade

22 May

Marinated green beans are great for cookouts and great to bring to a party. This is one of our favorite summer “regulars.”

Grandma Grello’s birthday is this week. There’s a story surrounding her birthday where she was born on one day but it didn’t get recorded for a few days, making the date on her birth certificate different than the date that she was actually born. This makes her birthday date a little sketchy, but we always celebrate it some time this week. In honor of that, I thought I’d share her Green Bean Marinade recipe with you today. Summer is here and we’ve already made this once, one time of many over the upcoming months.

One thing we’ve discovered, is that if you want to, when you’re done marinating the green beans, you can re-use the marinade to marinate broccoli, which is also very good.

Last time I made this, Caroline picked the beans, minced the garlic and pretty much did the entire recipe herself with my supervision, so it’s a good recipe for kids who like to help in the kitchen, as mine do, and I love the idea of passing along family recipes to my kids at a young age, so that when they’re old enough to do their own cooking, they’ll have all their favorite recipes on hand and they will have made them, too.

GRAM GRELLO’S GREEN BEAN MARINADE

Caroline made most of this recipe by herself last time around. Her garlic was so perfectly minced, I thought Grandpa Grello had come back and done it himself, as he was always known for the most perfectly cut ingredients when he cooked.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound clean, snapped fresh green beans, the ends picked

1/3 cup blend of olive oil and vegetable (or canola) oil

1/4 cup white vinegar or cider vinegar (we use white mostly)

salt

pepper

parsley

garlic

Caroline has the marinade ready and awaiting the cooked beans.

DIRECTIONS

Bring salted water to a boil in 2 qt. sauce pan.

Drop in beans.

Bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes uncovered.

Remove with a slotted spoon (apparently this step is the most important. Spoon must be slotted.)

Don’t drain or rinse and place beans into the bowl that has the marinade.

Marinate in the fridge for several hours.

Remove garlic and serve. (We never remove the garlic.)

Wings, roasted potatoes and marinated green beans; a simple summertime meal.

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On the side please

17 May

There’s something for everyone in this easy side dish.

Time for dinner: chicken. With rice. And a side.

Ugh. What to make “on the side” this time?

There’s green beans, asparagus, green beans, asparagus, corn, green beans…..

Okay our sides are not *quite* that routine, but almost. Throw in some cauliflower or broccoli on that list and that makes up our usual list of “on the side” veggies to go on our plates at dinnertime. Not everyone likes corn, not everyone likes peas or spinach so we only rarely have those, but they’re on the list every once in a while too.

Ugh.

I get tired of the same old thing.

On occasion though, I throw this one into the mix: carrrots/apples/craisins sauteed with honey, brown sugar, and butter. Sometimes I even put a squirt of maple syrup in there. Why not?

Now you know why it’s only on occasion. It’s a veggie and look: it’s dessert! Sort of.

It’s not something you can have every night obviously, and even if it didn’t have all those yummy ingredients in with the fruits and veggies, even this would get boring after a while too.

The thing I like about this one (other than the brown sugar and butter and honey) is that some people LOVE the carrots, and others LOVE the apples and craisins. There’s a lot of “I’ll eat your craisins” and “Can I have your apples?” going on at the table when I serve this on the side.

Although this is not a recipe, per se, it is a recommendation for a side dish which I’m passing along to you today. Give it a try and see how your family likes it!

My occasional side dish shown here with rice pilaf and marinated pork tenderloin.

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Alfredo Sauce for a dinner of your choice

16 May

Remember Karen’s Cookbook?

Remember a while back when I mentioned that my college roommate, Karen, had given me a handmade cookbook when we graduated? Well, if you don’t remember that post, you can read it again here with a recipe and again with another recipe from it here as well.

Since pulling out that cookbook again a few months ago, I have been reminded of all the recipes that are in it, and I’ve been making them again, one at a time. Last week was one of those times, and this time around, I made her Alfredo Sauce recipe.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love recipes where my family members can eat what they like from the meal or leave what they don’t like, and a recipe with sauce provides that same opportunity. They can have their meal either with the sauce or without. They can have it “on top of” or “on the side.”

It works out perfectly for us.

This Alfredo Sauce recipe was one that I remember making a long time ago and using over pasta, but it’s also good over chicken and over cauliflower or broccoli. Last week when I made it, we had pan fried chicken with rice pilaf and cauliflower, and I have to say, all five of us liked the sauce!! My kids started out putting it “on the side,” but ended up dipping everything into it as they realized how much they liked it. I was so pleased.

Karen’s recipe is simple and delicious, and I’m sharing it with you today. I apologize that I forgot to take a photo before we ate it! Sometimes, I just eat and forget to play paparazzi with my meal and this was one of those times.

ALFREDO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 tsp. flour

1/2 tsp. pepper (I would skip this, personally, next time, or use less. I don’t love pepper.)

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup shredded parm. cheese (I used regular grated parm.)

1 tbl. parsley (I skipped it. Green Stuff throws my kids right off sometimes, and they won’t try something just because of that.)

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter.

Stir in flour and pepper.

Gradually add half and half.

Stir frequently.

Add cheese and stir until melted.

Serve with pasta and broccoli (or chicken or whatever you want!)

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Mother’s Week Day 3: Crustless Tomato Ricotta Pie (Vegetarian)

9 May

This is a perfect recipe for a weekend meal, breakfast for dinner or a brunch!

Today’s recipe is one I’ve never made and never eaten! However, it was recently made for my parents by my brother’s mother-in-law, Marianne, for New Years Brunch, and my mom raved about it so much that I asked Marianne for the recipe. My mom also loved it so much that she took a picture of it (see, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, she’s a blogger at heart, too!) I thought it’d make a yummy “Breakfast for Dinner” meal or a great addition to any weekend brunch.

Marianne got the recipe from Good Housekeeping, which is one of my all-time favorite magazines, so I’m not surprised it was so delicious! I love anything with ricotta cheese and anything with tomatoes, so this is on my list of things to make, but I haven’t made it yet. I couldn’t let the week go by however, without passing it along to you anyway. It’s perfect for our Mother’s Week celebration!

When Marianne sent me the link to the recipe, she also sent me some tips and techniques she’s used when making this in the past:

I have a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet that I preheat in the oven. When I add the mixture to the pre-heated pan and put it in the oven, it does not stick, cuts and comes out clean at serving. Another thing: I do not use the mint. Imagine how that would change the flavor that your mother and I like!

With that being said, here is the recipe!
Thank you Marianne and Happy Mother’s Week to you!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 container(s) (15-ounce) part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup(s) freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon(s) coarsely ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup(s) low-fat (1%) milk
  • 1 tablespoon(s) cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup(s) (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup(s) (loosely packed) fresh mint leaves, chopped **see note in italics above**
  • 1 pound(s) ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In large bowl, whisk ricotta, eggs, Romano, salt, and pepper until blended.
  2. In measuring cup, stir milk and cornstarch until smooth; whisk into cheese mixture. Stir in basil and mint.
  3. Pour mixture into nonstick 10-inch skillet with oven-safe handle. Arrange tomatoes on top, overlapping slices if necessary. Bake pie 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned and set around edge and center is puffed. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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The proof is in….the powdered cheese packet

3 May

A double batch, even!

A few weeks back I did a blog post about the convenience of using the Knorr sauce mix packets and I mentioned that yes, even I make hot dogs and mac & cheese, and that I actually love hot dogs with mac & cheese. I promised to prove it to you by taking a photo of my meal the next time we had that for dinner.

Well, today’s the day.

Dinner!

We had the meal this week for dinner and I did remember to take a picture. Here is my dinner table ready for one of the easiest dinners ever. You’ll notice though, I assuage my guilt by putting out a big veggie tray to go along with the mac & cheese and hot dogs. This particular tray had fresh green beans on it, which my kids love, but by the time I took the dinner table photo the beans were gone. They were there though.

So there you have it.

Hot dogs, mac & cheese and veggies. My house. Dinner.

I love hot dogs grilled on the stove top griddle!

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New dinner recipe: Butter Cream Chicken

2 May

This was a new recipe for us, and the entire family liked it!

I’m going to apologize right off the bat here: although I know that this recipe came from a blog called Jamie Cooks It Up, I have no idea how I happened upon the recipe, so I apologize to whomever found it first and passed it on to me.

It was delicious.

Very rarely do we have a meal that absolutely everyone likes. There’s just too many varying tastes in our house. However, this one, everyone liked it, even Alex. That’s saying a lot.

That all being said, it’s probably not the healthiest recipe, so kind of like my Chicken a la King recipe, it’s best had on occasion only.  I served ours with Rice Pilaf and my new favorite way to make asparagus: roasted. The sauce was so good though, I even put it on my rice. I would’ve put it on just about anything I could find, I liked it that much.

Here for you now, is Jamie’s recipe. Any modifications I chose to do are in parenthesis. The rest is as she wrote it.

Time: 30 minutes start to finish  (It did take me slightly longer on my first try. Like, 30 minutes longer.)
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Simple ingredients!

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken breasts (I used a bunch of tenders)
1 1/2 sleeves Ritz Cracker, ground into crumbs
Olive Oil
1 C chicken broth
4 T butter
1 C  + 2 T half and half, divided
1/2 t thyme, dried
2 T cornstarch
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
 
1. Cut your chicken up into chunks with some kitchen scissors. I usually cut each breast into thirds or sometimes fourths depending on the size of the breast. (*Because I used tenders I did not have to do steps one and two.)
2. Place your chicken into a gallon sized ziploc bag and seal the bag. Pound the chicken flat with a meat mallet. 
3. Grind the Ritz Crackers into crumbs in a small food processor. (*I put them in a ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush them up. Then I put the chicken right into the bag to coat with crumbs.) Place them in a shallow pan, I find a loaf pan to work best for this step. 
4. Press each chicken piece into the crumbs, being sure to coat both sides generously. Place each coated chicken piece on a plate. “Don’t they look lovely, June. Love the feathers.”…name that movie, anyone?
5. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once it is good and hot, pour about 5 tablespoons Olive Oil into your pan. 
6. Let your oil heat up just for 30 seconds or so, and then put the chicken carefully in the pan. Don’t crowd it now. You’ll need to cook the chicken in two batches. 
7. Let the chicken cook until it’s nice and golden brown on the bottom, should take about 3-4 minutes. Turn each piece with a fork and allow it to cook on the other side. The chicken is done when it’s no longer pink inside. 
8. Remove the chicken to a separate plate and cook your second batch of chicken, adding another few tablespoons of oil to the pan before you add the chicken.
9. Once you have cooked all of the chicken you’ll have some beautiful crispy treasures left in the pan. Add 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup chicken broth to the pan allowing the butter to melt. Whisk the mixture around a bit, scraping the bottom of the pan to break the crispy pieces loose.
10. Add 1 cup half and half and 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme. Whisk it around to incorporate and allow it to come to a boil. 
11. Into a small bowl pour 2 tablespoons half and half and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir it around until smooth.
12. Pour the cornstarch mixture into your pan and stir it with a whisk. Allow it to return to a boil…as it heats it will thicken into a nice smooth sauce of wonder and bliss…here comes your kiss. 🙂
13. Remove it from the heat, give it a taste and add a bit of salt and pepper to you liking. 
14. Serve it over the crispy chicken and enjoy!

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Ragu Alla Bolognese

25 Apr

A couple of years back, a new extra-special meal was introduced at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

When my kids sleep over at their Grandma and Grandpa’s house they always return with tales of all the yummy things they got to eat while they were there, and although we eat pretty well over here too, they always seem to have that extra special something at their house that makes my mouth water. It makes me want to sleep over too. Maybe next time instead of dropping off, I’ll just hang out and see if anyone notices the extra mouth to feed.

A couple of years back, they started returning with tales of a new dish they’d had and loved: Pasta Bolognese. Elizabeth especially loved it and whenever anyone asked her what her favorite meal was, she’d say “Spaghetti Bolognese.” She’d constantly request the meal at home, but the only problem was, I didn’t have “the” recipe for it and I knew it was a pretty involved recipe. The last thing I wanted was to go through all the work with the wrong recipe only to have her say, “It’s good but it’s not as good….”

Until recently we didn't even have the coveted recipe for the Pasta Bolognese, much to Elizabeth's dismay.

Recently she had to submit her favorite recipe for a troop cookbook for Girl Scouts. Her first choice: Spaghetti Bolognese. I still didn’t have it. Her second choice: Spaghetti with Lobster Sauce, also a recipe I didn’t have. Her final answer: Grandma Rose’s Famous Tuna and Spaghetti. BINGO! Finally, a recipe I had! After hearing my tale of recipe woe, my mom gave me the recipe for the Bolognese Sauce they make.

One recent rainy Sunday we decided to try it out. Don’s Kitchen opened up and he went to town cooking up the recipe. The recipe itself is one my mom got from a family friend. It turned out wonderfully! We used just one part of how much it made so we froze three batches: two for our family and one for company.

Thankfully, when we asked Elizabeth for the verdict on how it came out, she said, “It’s perfect.”

Whew…

Price Rite had everything we needed to make an affordable Pasta Bolgonese meal for our last April Vacation dinner.

Ragu alla Bolognese
INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1/2 of a large onion

1 and 1/2lb lean ground hamburger (or you can use a mix of beef, pork and veal. We used just hamburger our first time.)

3/4 stick butter

2 cans kitchen ready tomatoes (28 oz.)

2 cans beef broth, 2 cans water

6 TBS. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1/2 cup red wine

The longest part of this recipe is just the simmering. The rest cooks up fast and easy.

DIRECTIONS

Dice celery, carrots and onion very fine. (Don used the food processor.)

Brown lean meat in butter and oil. Add vegetables to meat.

Put tomatoes through the blender. Add to mixture.

Add beef broth and water, salt and pepper.

Allow sauce to come to a boil and then simmer on low heat for two hours uncovered or more.

You can skim oil off the top when done.

Option: you can add heavy cream or half and half at the end if desired, for more of a pink vodka sauce.

Makes 5 meals for two with two pounds of meat.

Does that not make your mouth water?? You know what? It was even better the second day!

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Balsamic Glazed Salmon

18 Apr

This sauce was great over salmon, and later over chicken!

I love seafood, but recently I discovered that I’d developed a shellfish allergy. Therefore, there’s only certain seafood that I can actually eat. Thankfully, salmon is one of them. I love salmon. Usually I make it with hollandaise sauce over it and the last time I did, that went over well with everyone. However, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to serve things so when the Allrecipe.com Daily Recipe came for Balsamic Glazed Salmon, I had to try it. I love balsamic vinegar.

The recipe was easy and fast, and I served the sauce “on the side” so that if someone didn’t want sauce they didn’t have to have it. We had some sauce leftover and Don thought it’d be good on chicken so we saved it for another night. Sure enough, a few days later we served it on the side again, this time with some chicken breasts and it was just as good.

Here’s the recipe from Allrecipes.com

BALSAMIC GLAZED SALMON

Simple ingredients....and the chance to use my microplane zester!

INGREDIENTS

8 three ounce fillets of salmon about 3/4″ thick (I used five fillets since there’s five of us).

Freshly ground black pepper (or the kind in the jar)

3 tablespoons olive oil

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

4 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

orange slices for garnish (we didn’t do that)


Grating one medium sized orange all the way around with the microplane zester was just enough for the amount of orange peel needed in the recipe.

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the salmon in an 11×8″ shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

2. Stir the cornstarch, broth, vinegar, brown sugar, orange juice and orange peel in a two quart sauce pan over high heat to a boil. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.

3. Place the salmon on a serving platter and serve with the sauce. Garnish with the orange slices.

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Spinach Salad with Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing

17 Apr

This salad is great for summertime!

Summer has arrived early around here, and we’ve been doing all of our usual summertime things early too! That includes some of what we’ve been eating as well.

A long time ago, before we had kids, I found a recipe for Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing and Salad. I know it is from a long time ago because I have it written in the back of the cookbook that my college roommate gave to me, and I used to make it all the time before we had kids but I hadn’t made it in years and years. Recently we were planning out our meals and my husband said, “Didn’t we used to make a strawberry spinach salad a long time ago?”

Yes, yes we did, and the recipe was right where I remembered it was.

The recipe for the salad itself is simple: strawberries and fresh spinach leaves (or you can use Romaine or Boston Lettuce instead of spinach).

The recipe for the dressing is below. I also know my friend Donna makes a similar salad also, so when I find out her recipe for dressing, if it’s any different I’ll post hers at a later date as well.

STRAWBERRY POPPYSEED DRESSING
INGREDIENTS

2 Teaspoons Honey

1/4 cup lowfat strawberry yogurt (I always do a cup of yogurt and increase the other ingredients accordingly.)

1/4 tsp. poppyseeds

1 cup sliced strawberries (or as many as you want.)

Chopped pecans (optional and we don’t use them.)

I serve the dressing on the side so that people can take as much or as little as they want. If you don't have poppyseeds, they're not crucial to the recipe, but they do add a little special something to the salad and the overall presentation.

DIRECTIONS

Mix first three ingredients for dressing.

Arrange salad on a plate.

Top with sliced strawberries.

Drizzle dressing over the top.

Add chopped pecans if desired.

This salad makes a great dish to bring to a summertime BBQ or party!

ENJOY!

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