Baked Chicken, Easy Mac & Creamed Spinach

This was so tasty, so easy and fast to put together.
-Amanda

Baked Chicken

1 tbsp ground sage
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup pineapple juice (lemon juice or orange juice would be good too.)
1/2 stick butter
6-8 chicken bone-in legs (or breasts)

Mix all the seasonings in a bowl. Put on chicken and rub it in well. Pour juice on top and marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Put 1/2 stick of butter in a baking dish and put it in the oven while it preheats at 375 degrees. When butter is melted, pull out the baking dish and toss the chicken in the butter. Pour juice on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Increase temperature to 425 and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until skin is nice and brown.

From Scratch Easy Mac

8 - 10 oz noodles of choice
1/2 package of cream cheese, cubed
1 cup shredded cheddar or montery jack
1/2 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)

Cook noodles. Drain most of the water out. Add noodles to the pot and add the cream cheese, cheddar and cream. Stir until everything melts and comes together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Creamed Spinach

2 slices of bacon, cut in bits
5-6 button mushrooms, sliced
8ish loose cups of baby spinach
splash of heavy cream

Saute bacon and mushrooms in a pan until bacon is crispy. Add spinach and stir until it cooks down. Add a splash of cream, salt and pepper.

Grilled Sirloin with Poblano Pesto Sauce

This dinner really hit the spot! Bold, juicy, spicy, earthy, salty and a bit sweet it hit all over the palate. Definitely worth trying out! I got the recipe/idea from watching 10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa D'Arabian on Food Network. I did not follow her pesto exactly, but took it as a launching pad for my own. One tip, taste the pesto sauce as you go, and adjust as needed. It isn't finished until it tastes good on the tasting spoon. It may need a bit more acid (lime juice) or perhaps it's too acidic and needs more olive oil... just adjust to your preferences! I served it with Sweet Potato and Beet Hash.

-Amanda

Grilled Steak with Poblano Pesto

Sirloin Steak
2 limes
salt and pepper

2 pablano peppers
3-4 tbsp fresh grated parmesan
small handful of pecans
1-2 cloves garlic
3-4 tbsp olive oil
lime juice from one lime
parsley or cilantro (I was going to add this and forgot!)
salt and pepper

Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper and the juice of one lime. Let come to room temperature. Grill about 3 minutes per side for a 1 inch steak. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Char the poblano peppers. On a gas stove you can put them directly on the burner. If you don't have a gas stove you can char them under a broiler turning every few minutes either way you go. When the skin is completely black all over, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let steam/cool down for 10 minutes or more. Peel the skin off under running water and then cut away the stem and scoop out the seeds. In a small food processor put the poblano peppers, nuts, parmesan, salt, pepper, a few tbsp of olive oil and half the lime. Pulse a few times, trying to leave it a bit chunky. Taste as you go, adding more olive oil or lime juice to balance the flavor. Chop some cilantro and add it last. Serve over hot sirloin steak.

This post was linked to The Healthy Home Economist: Monday Mania Blog Link Up.

Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

The last two weeks we've been trying to do some menu planning around here. It's not my normal way of cooking, but things have gotten so busy this summer that it really has helped to at least scratch out a semblance of a menu on a scrap of paper before heading to the grocery store. (I also rarely use a grocery list.) I just normally buy what looks good and then come home to "create." Well this week I had "stuffed bell pepper" on the menu. I normally make these with green bell peppers because they are cheaper but the red ones were on mega sale and they are so pretty. I also normally make stuffed bell peppers with rice, mushrooms and sausage. But this time I decided to make them "pizza" style. Although I did forget to add the olives which bummed me out when I remembered as we were eating! The good thing was that I had leftover stuffing. You can serve it on the side or freeze it to make a quick spaghetti dinner another night, which is what I did.
-Amanda

Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

4-5 bell peppers - look for ones with pretty flat bottoms
1 lb of hamburger meat
2-3 cloves garlic
1.5 cups of your favorite Italian seasoned tomato sauce- I had some leftover that I'd made for pizzas.
Block of mozzarella, cubed up in 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 onion
8-10 button mushrooms
basil, oregano, salt and pepper

Cut the tops off the bell peppers and scoop out the insides. Rub with oil and set either on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish.

Saute onions in a bit of bacon drippings. Let them get really good and caramelized and then remove from the skillet. Add in hamburger meat and some seasonings. Cook about halfway and then add garlic and mushrooms. When meat is almost cooked through add the tomato sauce.

Add a few cubes of mozzarella in the bottom of each bell pepper. Fill each bell pepper half way with the meat mixture. Add more mozzarella. Then fill to the top with the meat. Add a few more pieces of mozzarella to the tops of each one. Put the "lids" back on the bell peppers and cook at 375 for about an hour. Scoot the tops off and cook a bit longer until cheese browns. (We didn't have the patience for that!)

**Olives, diced (nitrate free) pepperoni or any other favorite pizza topping would be great in this!

Sausage and Cabbage Stew

I have to give credit to my friend Nicole Rice for this dish. I went over to her house the other day to pick up my latest buy from the meat buy club. (She works with a local rancher to get us grassfed beef, pasture chickens, eggs and more!)  Anyway, she was in her kitchen, like usual, and she was chopping cabbage and sausage and throwing it in a crockpot. She said she normally does the recipe in the oven, but she was trying it for the first time in a crockpot. I decided to go with the oven today, since I wanted to cook it faster than how the crockpot would do it. This also reminds me of a dish my mom made growing up. She'd do sausage and sauerkraut on the stove top. Mom's dish was more caramelized, this was more of a stew. I'm not sure what seasonings Nicole uses, I just took her method and ran with it. I loved this dish because it took less than 10 minutes to throw together. You do need to plan in advance since it needs to bake for at least an hour though.
-Amanda

Sausage and Cabbage Stew

1/2 head of cabbage
4-6 links of sausage or bratwurst
2 carrots
1 stick of butter
2-3 cups of homemade chicken stock
sprinkle of fennel
salt and pepper

Chop cabbage very fine and add to a oven proof casserole dish. (I used the stoneware baker from Pampered Chef.) Grate the carrots and add to the cabbage. Cut sausage into rounds and then brown it in a hot skillet. (You can skip the browning stage if you are in a hurry.) Add it to the cabbage. Cut the stick of butter up and place it around the casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fennel. Add the chicken stock and cover. Bake for about 45 minutes covered at 375, and then 15 more uncovered. Enjoy!

Birthday Party Playdate Meal (Chicken Satay)

I hosted a birthday party today for my twins third birthday party. We had 11 kids and 6 adults. I wanted to plan a menu that would be healthy, the kids would like and the moms would like. I decided Chicken Satay, Sugar Snap Peas, Buttered Whole Wheat Noodles and Fruit Skewers. Cupcakes for dessert. I think it was a pretty good success, all the Moms liked the food and most of the kids did too. Chicken Satay is normally grilled and served on skewers, but for this crowd I did them under the broiler. I figured kids and moms alike would love the peanut sauce poured on top!
-Amanda

Chicken Satay

(for 4-6 servings)

Chicken Marinade:
1/2 cup of yogurt or coconut milk or combo of both
1 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, grated (I had to leave this out, since one of my guests is very allergic to garlic)
salt and pepper
4-6 chicken breasts cut into thin strips

Peanut Sauce:
1 cup all natural peanut butter, smooth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp sambal (for spicy sauce)
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
hot water to thin

In a large bowl, mix chicken strips, yogurt, curry powder, garlic and salt and pepper. Cover, refrigerate and marinade for two hours. Set broiler to high. Place a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Lay strips of chicken on wrack and broil for 6-8 minutes until cooked through.

To make peanut sauce, mix ingredients in a blender or food processor, streaming in hot water to thin it out as desired.

Buttered Noodles

Cook a package of whole wheat noodles. Drain. Cube up half a stick of butter and toss. I like to add chopped parsley for vitamin C and color, but left it simple today.

Sugar Snap Peas

Saute in a bit of butter, salt and pepper.

Fruit Skewers

I used coffee stirrers instead of wood or metal skewers to make them toddler safe. Slide 4 or 5 pieces of favorite fruit on each skewer and serve.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Last Thursday, I had a playdate at my friend Angela's house. She served some delicious vegetable soup for lunch. I've been wanting more ever since I left her house! I somehow forgot to get the recipe from her, but I did remember she said two things. One: the soup was made with homemade chicken stock from the Nourishing Traditions Cookbook. And Two: the only seasonings were salt and pepper. So I recreated my version or her soup. But as it sometimes goes, mine wasn't as good as hers, because sometimes being served a warm bowl of soup made with love tastes better than what can come out of your own kitchen! Nevertheless, it was still yummy and I'm glad I made an entire pot of it!
-Amanda

Vegetable Soup

1 potato, skin on, scrubbed clean
2 large carrots
small head of broccoli
1 small onion, I used a yellow one
2 tbsp olive oil
Greens- I used about 1.5 cups frozen turnip greens, I'm pretty sure Angela's soup had kale. If you use fresh, you need a lot more since it will cook down. spinach, collard greens or chard are all good choices for this type of soup.
5 cups of homemade chicken stock

Dice onion into small pieces.Put olive oil in a medium size pot and heat medium-high. Add onion. Scrub potato and dice it into small cubes, add to pot. Scrub the carrots, I rarely peel them either. Cut lengthwise and cut into small semi-circles. Add them to the pot. Stir occasionally so potatoes don't stick. Add broccoli, greens and broth. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with a bit of grated Parmesan and serve with bread & butter.

Thai Inspired Chicken Curry Soup

So I bought this new cookbook last time I was at Half Price Books. I couldn't help it, it had a photo with EVERY single recipe. (I only buy cookbooks with lots and lots of photos!) Which would lead one to think that the recipes had been tested. Apparently I was mistaken. There was a Thai Curry soup listed that looked tasty so I thought I'd try it out. When I looked closer and saw it wanted FOUR bell peppers, I got suspicious. That is a lot of bell pepper. Then for this 5 quart soup it called for one itty bitty tsp of brown sugar. Might as well leave it out! So I took the recipe and photo as an inspiration and turned out a pretty decent soup!
-Amanda

Thai inspired Chicken Curry Soup

1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp oil
2-3 tbsp curry powder
salt/ soy sauce
3-4 carrots
2 cups shredded cabbage
zest of lime
1 cup shredded pre-cooked chicken
2 cups chicken stock (I used homemade!)
1 cup water
1 can coconut milk
juice of two limes
1 tbsp fish sauce <- I'm not too familiar with this ingredient, so I could have probably used more>
1 (um, heaping...) tbsp brown sugar
cilantro leaves would have been great, but I didn't have any
cooked rice to serve over (I used brown)

Saute diced onion and garlic and lime zest in oil, keeping onion translucent. Cut bell pepper into thin strips. Cut carrot into thin strips. Add curry powder and salt to oil and onions. Then add the carrot and bell pepper. Stir in can of coconut milk, chicken broth and water. In a small bowl mix the lime juice, fish sauce and brown sugar, stir to dissolve the sugar. Add to soup. Add cooked chicken and cabbage and simmer until cabbage is done. Serve over rice.

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

This was so good, I wish I had made double the amount. The good news is that it is seriously easy to make and it tastes just as good (well, better) than take out Garlic Shrimp. I only made two servings, but I had leftover sauce, so I'm writing down the sauce recipe as I made it and doubling the shrimp and veggies to make four servings total.

-Amanda

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

3 large cloves of garlic (at least 1 tbsp minced)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat, which worked fine)
1 can of Coconut Milk
salt
about 24 shrimp
10-12 mushrooms, I used baby bella
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1 can of baby corn, rinsed and drained
brown rice, prepared according to package directions

To make the sauce, mince up three large cloves of garlic. In a small pan, melt butter. Add the garlic. Add flour and whisk until the butter is absorbed into the flour. Pour in the can of coconut milk. (If you've never used canned coconut milk before, the solids will have floated to the top, so it won't look liquid. Pour the solid and the liquid part into the pan and it will melt fast enough.) Add salt to taste. Bring to a simmer until sauce thickens a bit. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a large skillet coated with oil, saute mushrooms, sugar snap peas and rinsed and drained baby corn. When the vegetables are tender, remove to a bowl. Add shrimp and cook until almost done. Add vegetables back in and pour over sauce. Serve with brown rice.

Taco Mini Mufins

I loved the response from my homemade chicken nuggets! Many of my friends told me they were going to try out the recipe. Please let me know how yours turn out if you do!

Today's recipe is another very toddler friendly meal idea. Although I'm going to serve this for dinner for the adults too, paired with a salad. These Taco Mini Muffins can also be made in bulk and frozen. Reheat in the toaster oven or microwave. This isn't an exact science, you can change the recipe to your preferences. Oh and I actually doubled the meat and veggies so I could have easy taco salads later this week.
-Amanda

Taco Mini Muffins

Cornbread Mix
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup applesauce
2 eggs
approx 2 cups of milk, start with slightly less and add until you get a "pancake" batter consistency.

Taco Mix
1/2 lb lean ground beef
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 small onion
1/4 cup frozen or fresh corn
1/4 cup drained black beans
1/2 red bell pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
3 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup (I used homemade)
salt & pepper to taste

Dice onion into small bits. Place oil in a skillet (I used cast iron.) When it gets hot, add onion. While the onion is cooking, dice red bell pepper. Add it to the onion, stir occasionally. When onion and bell pepper are soft, add corn and beans, heat until the corn is thawed. Remove vegetables from skillet (Or if pressed for time, cook them at the same time as the meat in a separate skillet.)

Once vegetables have been removed from the skillet, add the meat. Add the cumin, chili powder, oregano, tomato paste or ketchup, salt and pepper. Cook on medium-high heat until meat is cooked all the way through.

Add meat to the vegetables and stir.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the cornbread mix, except the milk. Add 1 1/2 cups of milk and stir. Add enough milk until you have a loose "pancake" like batter. Stir in the meat/vegetable mixture. Dish about 2 tbsp in mini muffin tins. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. If you do larger muffins, adjust your cooking time. A toothpick should come out clean and the tops of the muffins should start to brown.

Marinated Greek Steak Salad

I decided to make a salad for dinner. Usually when I do this it is a last minute meal thrown together with ingredients from my refridgerator. So grilled chicken with carrots, cucumber over iceberg lettuce is our usual "main dish" salad of choice. But I found this salad in a cookbook, appropriately named "SALADS" by Carrie Holcomb. I set out with a grocery list and a plan. This was a very good salad. My husband who said he doesn't like Greek food even liked it! That's a win!
-Amanda

Marinated Greek Steak Salad

(adapted from Salads by Carrie Holcomb)

10 oz sirloin steak, cut one inch thick
1, 7oz can of artichoke hearts
1/2 of a red onion, cut into thin rings
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin rings
1/4 cup pitted greek olives
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbps of lemon juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp oregano (or 1 tsp dried oregano)
1 tbsp anchovy paste
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large garlic clove
3 cups torn ice berg lettuce
1 cup torn spinach
 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place steak under broiler 3 inches from heat for 6 minutes. Turn steak. Broil to desired doness (6-8 minutes for medium.) Cool slightly. Cut into thin slices. Place meat in a deep bowl along with artichoke hearts, onion, olive, bell pepper and tomatoes.

Make the marinade: whisk in a medium bowl, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, anchovy paste, pepper, grated garlic. Pour marinade over meat mixture. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours, stirring occasionally.

In a large mixing bowl, combine lettuce and spinach. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
Makes 4 servings.

Corn Relish

I'm not a huge fan of chicken legs. I'm one of the crazy people that prefers white meat over dark meat. But we've been eating a lot of chicken and I was getting tired of the same type of dishes. These chicken legs went on sale and so I thought I'd change it up a bit. I marinated them in a quick homemade bar-b-q sauce. I don't have the recipe for that because I kind of just kept adding and tweaking until I liked the flavor. I used: 1 can of diced tomatoes, some grated onion, a few tbsp homemade brown sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, dried pepper flakes, vinegar, salt & pepper. I added a squirt of my homemade ketchup, and then let it simmer until thickened. Then I pureed it and marinated the chicken in half of it. The rest I reserved to serve with it. Here is the recipe for the corn relish:

Corn Relish
2-3 ears of fresh corn
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, diced small
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 springs fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1/8 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper in a skillet. When they start to get tender, add the corn. Add cumin, oregano and salt. Last remove from heat and stir in cilantro. 

One Pot Greek Chicken Bake

Sorry the photo didn't come out that great, I had really bad lighting the night I made this. I wanted to make homemade pita bread and hummus so I needed a "main" dish to go with my Greek sides. I also wanted something super easy because I figured the hummus and pita would be messy enough for one meal in the kitchen. So I came up with this one pot Greek Chicken Bake.
-Amanda

One Pot Chicken Bake

3 large chicken breasts
1.5 cups white rice
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped Kalamata Olives
3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach
zest one lemon
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

Place rice in the bottom of a baking dish. Add chicken broth, lemon zest and juice and frozen spinach, salt and pepper. Bake covered at 350º for 40 minutes. Then remove from the oven, place chicken breasts down in the rice and add the kalamata olives. Bake another 30 minutes or until rice and chicken are cooked through.

10 Minute Toddler Dinner 2

Well, this one really is only 10 minutes because it combined a bunch of leftovers that were in my refridgerator, otherwise it would have taken longer to cook. I labeled this for toddlers, but it really is delicious and comforting for an adult too.
-Amanda

Creamy Mushroom Chicken Rice

1/2 cup leftover rice
1/2 leftover cooked chicken breast, diced
2 button mushrooms, diced
3/4 cup fat free half and half (or heavy cream)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup mozzarella
dash of oregano & salt

Stir cooked rice, chicken, mushrooms together in a pot. Add the cream, butter, seasonings and cheese. Stir until cream thickens and mixture is warmed through. I added leftover green beans, canned fruit and a smoothie that didn't get finished at snacktime to round out the meal.

Thai Steak

I don't know how authentic this is, but it sure was good! I was blog surfing yesterday (just discovered an evil way to waste a bunch of time... stumbleupon.com!) Anyway, I surfed right up to NoTakeOut.com. The site really intrigued me and I as I was browsing some of the recipes this Thai Steak caught my eye. One thing that is nice about this cooking site is that it has an entire meal planned out and tells you how to cook the entire meal in order step by step. I changed a few of the amounts and ingredients, but kept most of it the same.
-Amanda

Thai Steak, Cabbage and Lime Scented Rice

1/2 green cabbage
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes, preferably organic
1 jalapeno or other chile pepper
½ cup salted peanuts
2 tbsp Curry Powder
One 15 oz. can coconut milk
2 cups jasmine or other aromatic white rice
1-1/2 lbs. flank steak
1 tbsp + 1 tsp fish sauce, split
3 tbsp sugar, split
2 tbsp olive oil

Cook rice according to package directions. Zest one lime in the rice before it boils.

In a small pot mix coconut milk, curry powder, minced chili pepper, 2 tsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp sugar. Whisk together and let it reduce on a back burner. This takes time. This is the sauce to pour over your steak and rice. (After I finished cooking the steak, I added the steak "drippings" to this pot for more flavor.)

In a large bowl whisk 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1/4 cup of fresh lime juice + zest, 3 tbsp chopped cilantro. Chop cabbage into small strips. Add to dressing you just made and toss. Add peanuts.

Salt and pepper your steak. Squeeze some lime on it if you have any leftover. Grill until cooked, about 6-8 minutes per side on a really hot grill skillet (or outside on a grill.) Cut steak against the grain. Serve with rice and coleslaw and drizzle coconut sauce ontop of steak and rice.