Spinach Dip Stuffed Chicken Breast

Oh yeah, this is good. Ooey and gooey in the middle, crisp bacon up on top. Yummy! Next time, I'll flip them over and broil the underside too, so that both sides of bacon get crispy. I'm posting this recipe to "Traditional Tuesdays" go check them out!
-Amanda

Spinach Dip Stuffed Chicken Breast

3 large chicken breasts
6 pieces of bacon
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and strained really well
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh grated jack cheese
salt/pepper/chili powder

I brined the chicken breasts overnight, which is optional, but will help keep the breasts flavorful all the way through, tender and moist. To brine them, just cover them with water, add a splash of apple cider vinegar, a few cloves of garlic and a couple of tablespoons of salt. Cover and refrigerate. You can also make the stuffing ahead of time.

Stuffing: Mix cream cheese, sour cream, jack cheese, and spinach in a bowl. Add seasonings. Stir until everything is well incorporated.

Cut each chicken breast lengthwise in half and pound out flat with a mallet. Mound about 3 tbsp in the center of breast and then roll them closed. Secure with a toothpick. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each chicken, sealing off the ends that are open to the stuffing. Place on a rack and then over a cookie sheet or other dish. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Broil on high for 5 minutes, then flip them over and broil for 5 more minutes.

I did a simple sauce of reduced heavy cream, parmesan and chicken stock to pour over the tops of the chicken. I plan on freezing the leftovers for future meals.

Potato Börek

Oh borek!  Yum!  In Turkey börek can take on many shape, forms and fillings.  I love börek because it keeps well in the fridge, freezes well and reheats well.  I often make it for Bulent’s breakfast since he likes a hearty breakfast and he can take it out the of fridge and microwave it.   This is made from yufka but you could use savory phyllo dough. 

Pan ‘O Börek

Just one piece

 

Potato Börek

Filling

3-5  Large potatoes, boiled and smashed or broken up
2 onion, diced and sautéed
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 – 1 tsp of red pepper depending on how spicy you want it.

Moist Mix

2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup oil

Boil the potatoes then mash them or mush them into smaller pieces.  I like to have them be more chopped than mashed because then you bite into pieces of potato, which has more contrast.  In a saucepan sauté onion in oil, then add to the potatoes.  Then add the spices and mix in.   In a bowl, place the eggs, oil and milk whisk them.  Reserve 1 cup for later.
If you are using Turkish yufka (about 1 kilo) stack them on top of each other an cut them into four equal (triangular) pieces.  If you are using phyllo dough do the same thing.  You will need two sheets of thickness to make the borek.  Brush the moist mix all over the pieces of dough.  Place a small amount of the potato filling(2-3 tablespoons) on the wide side and spread evenly. Starting with the filled end roll up the dough.  The roll the cylindrical dough into a spiral shape. Repeat until you have used all the dough.  Put the spirals side by side in a greased pan.  Do not leave any room, they will not swell.  Using the reserved moist mix, pour the liquid on top and bake 35-45 minutes at 350 F.  Until they are golden brown.  Serve warm.  These freeze very well, defrost them, put them in the oven to re-crisp and they are like new!

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.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie Popsicles

I made these popsicles today for my twins. They were a huge hit! They especially loved the "clean up" fun after wards! Read here for more details!
-Amanda

Strawberry Banana Smoothie Popsicles

1 banana
6-8 strawberries
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup whole milk

Blend in a magic bullet or blender. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for a few hours. Makes about 4.

Sit back and enjoy! (Maddie and Izzie Dittlinger.)

From Scratch Chicken Nuggets

Instead of relying on high priced, processed chicken tenders, I've been making my own for my kids. I make them in bulk and then freeze them in my deep freeze still on the cookie sheets. After they are frozen I move them to a ziptop freezer storage bag and pull out a few to cook for lunch occasionally. I tend to reheat them in my toaster oven, but however you reheat prepared chicken tenders will work too. The entire batch (family size package of chicken) took me about 45 minutes of prep time (although I was cooking mashed potatoes in that time too.) They take about 25 minutes to make in addition to the prep time.
-Amanda

From Scratch Chicken Nuggets

1 large package of chicken thighs
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2-3 inches of the end of a loaf of homemade loaf of bread (or about 2.5-3 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

Chicken Thighs. I trimmed the fat from each thigh. I've done this with chicken breasts too, which I prefer (I don't like dark meat!) But the chicken thighs are a bit cheaper, the higher fat is good for the kids and they don't dry out as easily as breast meat.

I cut them into lengths and then into 1" cubes.

1 bowl of chicken thighs. I bowl of 2 eggs and milk whisked. In the last bowl I pulsed my homemade bread in my magic bullet. Then I pulsed the coconut flakes and added them to the bread crumbs. Stir in the seasonings and you are set.

Dip the chicken pieces into the egg wash and then the bread crumbs and lay out on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with oil. I put a handful of chicken in the eggs, then scooped them out, letting the egg drain away between my fingers. Then I tossed them in the bread crumbs to make it go faster. You want to dust off as much as the excess breadcrumb as you can. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Meatballs

I was going for a meatball with pene pasta and melted mozzerlla cheese bake. But I didn't have any pene and I didn't have any mozzerlla. But I did end up with some very delicious meatballs despite the fact that they were turkey. I used rigatoni, Parmesan and some jarred marinara, but the meatballs, they were the star of the show!
-Amanda

Italian Meatballs

1.5 lbs of ground turkey
1/3 of an onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 slices of bread
1 egg
2 tbsp italian seasoning
salt & pepper

If your ground turkey is frozen, defrost over night in the refridgerator. Or go very very slowly in the microwave. You do not want the edges to start to cook in the microwave or your meatballs will not turn out right. Place ground turkey in a large bowl. Grate 1/4 of an onion over the meat. Grate the garlic also. I use a microplane. Using a food processor pulse the bread into breadcrumbs. You can substitute Panko Breadcrumbs if you wish to buy premade ones. Add breadcrumbs to the bowl. Add egg and seasonings. Mix gently with your hands just until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop out balls onto a greased cookie sheet. Spray meat balls with cooking spray. Set broiler to HIGH. Place cookie sheet under broiler about 4 inches away. Cook meatballs for about 7 minutes or until brown. Flip them all over and broil the other side. If you just want the meatballs and not in the pasta dish, but them in the middle of the oven farther away from the broiler and cook for longer until cooked through.

Put the meatballs in a baking dish with cooked pasta, cheese and marinara. Return to the oven and cook through for 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way and cheese is melted. I made enough meatballs and pasta to make two casseroles. I froze the second casserole, so it just needs to be reheated through.

Chili Casserole

Finished casserole.


Spoon chili into baking dishes.

This recipe is perfectly adaptable to campfire cooking. As a matter of fact that's how I had it the first time, prepared in a huge castiron dutch oven. It was so good I didn't want to wait until the next campout to have it again, so it can be done in your home oven. Substitute ingredients as you see fit, the main idea is to make a yummy chili and top it with a yummy cornbread.

My playgroup has decided to do a meal swap. I picked this meal to make for our first swap for a couple of reasons. It's easy to make in bulk (I needed enough for 3 families), it is perfect cold weather food, and I had all the ingredients on hand! You can scale it down to suit one family meal or make it in bulk and freeze the extra casseroles!
-Amanda

Chili Casserole

Chili:
1 onion
2-3 pieces of bacon
2.5 lbs of lean ground beef
2 cans of black beans, drained
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 can of diced green chilies
4 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
salt & pepper

Cornbread: (You can also use a Cornbread Kit)
2 1/2 cups of cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded mexican cheese
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (give or take)

Dice bacon into tiny bits. Saute the bacon with diced onion and garlic. Add ground beef. Break up the beef with the end of your spoon and add seasonings: chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and mix it into the ground beef. Add drained beans and fire roasted diced tomatoes. Last, add the diced green chilies. Continue cooking over medium high heat until meat is fully cooked. Transfer over to baking dishes. I made 3, 9"x9" casseroles.

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all the ingredients for the cornbread into a big mixing bowl. Spoon wet cornbread mixture over the chili in a thin layer. Sprinkle the top with extra cheese. Bake for 25 minutes.

Chicken Spinach & Rice

Alot of times when I cook, I make things up on the fly. Other times I use an idea for a recipe and then change things as I go along. For instance tonight I wanted to make my Pantry Chicken and Rice Casserole. The problem was that I didn't have any broccoli, one of the main ingredients. So I used the basic idea for the dish and subbed in spinach and canned mushrooms for the broccoli. It was delicious and everyone pretty much cleared their plates, even my twin toddlers. I'm not posting a recipe because it's the same as the Pantry Chicken and Rice with the simple subsititution!
-Amanda

Dump Soup

My mom, Amanda's "memaw" discovered this recipe years ago. I'm not sure where she found it, some church covered dish dinner most likely. She raved about how easy it was and how dad was actually willing to eat it. I fell in love with it because it is so easy and it is made with ingredients I almost always have on hand. Mom insist it must be made with Campbell's minestrone and no other brand will do.

Last week, our first cold snap caught me by surprise. September? When did that happen? Well, fall had arrived and I found myself scrounging through the pantry looking for warming comfort food. Dump Soup it was. Today, we finished it off. The cold spell didn't even last as long as the leftovers did. Tomorrow is October? You've got to be kidding me.

Dump Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat

1 large onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

4 or 5 stems of celery diced

2 cans Campbell's minestrone soup

2 cans pinto beans

1 can ranch style beans

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted!)

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Brown ground meat with onion, garlic and celery. Dump in other ingredients. Add salt and pepper.

Add 2 soup cans of water. Simmer for 30 minutes or so to let the flavors have time to meld. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with crusty garlic bread. (Although it is great with corn bread too.)

Even better the next day.

Additional Notes:

For a richer flavor, use beef broth instead of water. The leftovers will thicken; just add water to desired consistency.

If you want to extend it - dump in more cans. Sometimes I add a can of whole kernal corn or a can of green beans. (In the above photo I had added half a can of corn and half a can of black beans left over from a taco salad the previous day.)

My Mom likes it with 2 cans of ranch style beans and some people prefer the spicy Rotel.

You can add tobasco at the table or stir in some red pepper flakes.

Chris adds japalenos. Modifications are limitless.

As written above it is approximately 130 calories per one cup serving. Change things and you'd have to recalculate.

-Karen

Pantry Chicken & Rice Casserole

This meal can be made out of things that I keep on hand in my pantry and freezer. There are ways to make it lower fat, but tonight I went all out. I guess I was craving that southern-style delicious casserole. One of my blogger friends from Australia mentioned that her husband didn't care for casseroles. That got me wondering what a traditional casserole is for Australia (I need to look that up still!) Then I started wondering what would be the iconic American casserole. I think it is very region dependent. I've heard of tator-tot casseroles from up north, and here in Texas we do a lot of Tex-Mex casseroles. But some variation of a chicken rice casserole is all South. This is my version. By the way, this is my "pantry" version. I have been known to do a "all-from-scratch" version too!

Pantry Chicken & Rice Casserole

2- 13oz cans of cooked chicken breast
1 large onion
1- 13 oz package frozen broccoli
2/3 cup + 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 cans of "cream of" soup*
2 cups white rice
4 cups + 1/4 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of bread crumbs or 3 slices of fresh bread made into crumbs
2 pats of butter (you can decide how many calories you want to add...)

*Whatever is in YOUR pantry. I used cream of mushroom and cream of chicken, but cream of celery would be a good mix too.

Make rice according to package directions, I cook mine 2 cups of rice to 4 cups of chicken broth instead of water. When I make 2 cups worth I cook it for 20 minutes instead of the 15 that my package recommends. Preheat oven to 350º.

In a skillet, saute diced onion until translucent, in one pat of butter you don't want to brown it. Add canned chicken meat. You can skip this if you are omitting the onion, but to me, sauteing the chicken makes it taste better. Add broccoli so that it starts to defrost a bit.

In a large casserole dish, add chicken, onions, broccoli. In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, both "cream of" soups, 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 2/3 cup of cheddar cheese. Add cooked rice to chicken mixture. Top with soup mixture and stir very thoroughly.

Rinse out your bowl or get a clean one. Melt your second pat of butter. Add bread crumbs and remaining 1/3 cup grated cheese. Mix with your fingers and spread across top of casserole. Bake for 45 minutes. Serves about 12.

Really great with a crisp iceberg salad on the side and ranch dressing. Also, the leftovers freeze well.
-Amanda

Amanda's Enchiladas & Mexican Rice

If you were to ask my husband what his favorite dish is that I make, 9 times out of 10 he'll say your burritos! For some reason we've always called this dish 'my burritos' but in truth they resemble big enchiladas more than a burrito. I looked it up on Wikipedia. Either way, this is a simple, filling and tasty dish. (Extras make a great freezer dish, if you can get them to the freezer without eating them all!)

Enchiladas

1- 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef or turkey
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes (I like fire roasted)
1 can of refried beans (I use fat free)
2 ears of corn (or 1 cup frozen or canned)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano (I used 2 sprigs of fresh)
2 tbsp chili powder
Any extra heat you want in the form of jalapenos, dried peppers, canned chilies, ect.
1-2 cups of Mexican cheese
2 cans of green enchilada sauce
8-10 large tortillas

Preheat oven to 375º. Peel corn ears and toss in oven on the rack. While you prepare the meat, let the corn cook. You know its done when you can pierce the kernels with a fork easily.

Sautè onions and minced garlic in a skillet. Add ground meat. Stir until almost cooked through. Add seasonings (salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder & any additional spice.) Add refried beans mix thoroughly. Partially drain the tomatoes and add them to the meat. When corn is finished, take out of the oven and let cool. With a sharp knife, carefully slice off the kernels. Stir them (or the canned/frozen corn) into the meat mixture.

In each large tortilla add about 1/2 cup 0f meat (okay, I didn't measure, it's usually two big scoops with a big serving spoon.) Roll the tortilla up and place it into a greased baking pan. Do this with the remaining tortillas. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pour the cans of enchilada sauce on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is nice and melted.

Mexican Rice

1 cup of white rice
2 cups of chicken stock
1 can of tomatoes
1/2 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can of diced chilies
1/2 tsp turmeric (you can omit this, but it gives it the nice yellow-y color)

Dice onion and sautè in a saucepan. Add garlic. Stir everything else into the saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook covered about 20 minutes. (The extra tomato juice requires it to cook a bit longer than the package directions for the rice.)

Toddler Quesadillas


For my twin toddlers, instead of a big messy burrito, I gave them small messy quesadillas instead. I took some of the meat mixture (before I added extra heat) placed it on a tortilla, added grated cheese and folded in half. I grilled them for a couple of minutes in my cast iron skillet. Served the rice and some fruit on the side. I made these for my toddlers, but I'm sure they would be a good lunch for adults too!
-Amanda

Shepherd's Pie

This is a dish that I like to make for women who have just had a baby. At least that is what John, my husband says. He told me tonight that I've made it for several New Moms and I guess he's right. Especially the reason we ate it tonight was so I could make a double batch to bring some of it to my friend, Sarah who just delivered twin boys last Sunday. She requested no red meat, so I made this version with ground turkey meat.

Shepherd's Pie

About 1lb of ground turkey meat
1 small onion
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot
1/2 bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
3 tbs flour
1 cup of chicken broth, or beef broth
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
thyme
1 cup of peas
4 good size potatoes
1/2 cup milk
2 tlbsp butter
2 tsp of Ranch Dressing Packet


Peel and cut up potatoes in two to three inch cubes. Place in a pot and cover with water. Add one clove of garlic, whole. Add salt to the water. Bring to a boil. When you can pierce potatoes easily with a fork, they are done. Drain. Set aside.

While potatoes are boiling, start browning your turkey meat in a skillet set to med-high. Make sure to break up the meat with your spoon as it browns. Chop onion, celery, carrot and bell pepper. Add to meat as it is cooking. Mince up one garlic clove. Add it to the meat as well. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Add Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle flour across meat mixture. Stir to make sure the flour gets incorporated. Add broth of your choice. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until gravy thickens. Add peas.

Take drained potatoes and put back in pot. Add milk, butter, Ranch seasoning, salt and pepper. Mash (including the garlic clove.)

Place meat mixture in a casserole (or individual ramicans, like I did.) Top with mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. This meal can freeze well.
-Amanda

Shredded Salsa Beef

Another night, another Tex-Mex meal. Seriously, I am stuck people. Actually tonight I really wasn't up for cooking anything so I pulled out a meal from my freezer that I'd made months ago. I then realized that I could not remember for the life of me what cookbook I got the recipe from. I had a mini panic attack. I absolutely LOVE this meal. I tore through several of my cookbooks trying to figure out where I had originally got the recipe. Just as I was afraid I had found it online somewhere, my eyes land on my Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer cookbook. Then I started laughing. Panic attack over. Seriously, didn't I just pull this dinner out of the freezer so I wouldn't have to cook tonight? Because I don't want to lose the recipe again, here it is. Sorry, no picture tonight, we dove right in and I forgot to snap a photo. Yes, it is that good.

Shredded Salsa Beef

1 1/2- 2lbs beef roast (chuck or round)
1 tbsp oil
1 onion
4 oz can chopped green chiles
1 cup prepared chunky style salsa
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic (I probably used 3 or 4 since I love garlic)
1/2- 1 cup water

Brown meat in a skillet in oil on both sides. Place in Crock-Pot, Add remaining ingredients and enough water to barely cover roast. Cover. Cook on low 6-8 hours, depending on crock-pot. When beef is tender, remove and shred, using two forks to pull apart. Return meat to Crock-Pot and stir to combine meat and liquid. Meat and sauce can be thickened with flour if you like. Serves 6-8.

If preparing for later, let cool. Then freeze in ziplock bag. Lay flat in your freezer. To thaw, open ziplock bag and place in a bowl. Microwave on high in 3 minute increments until warmed through.

Serving suggestions: Use as a filling for Tacos, Burritos, Quesadillas or Chalupas. I also like it on top of lettuce for a "taco" salad.

Weight Watchers:
lean roast is 3pts for 2oz