Just A Quick Broil

If you are looking for a quick meal that actually tastes good, this is it. A pork tenderloin is broiled on top of a bed of snow peas, red peppers, carrots and scallions. The tenderloin gets a little help from a drizzle of honey and the meal comes together with a soy sauce glaze.

I've been on maternity leave for a little over a month now and I have successfully made it through all my Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazines. I cut out the recipes I've either made or would like to make and put them in a binder. So much neater than the millions of magazines I had tucked in every nook and cranny in my kitchen. This recipe came from one of those magazines. I made it because it looked easy and was quite surprised with how good it turned out. I will definitely make this again. You can find the complete recipe HERE.

Turkey Tetrazzini

To make use of some of our left over Thanksgiving turkey we decided to make some delicious Turkey Tetrazzini. I say "we" but it was really the man of the house who made this dish! My Nana used to make turkey tetrazzini all the time, I swear she'd roast a whole turkey just to make tetrazzini. She used spaghetti, but Emeril's recipe called for egg noodles. This dish wasn't exactly like Nana's, but it was definitely tasty!

Start by sauteing the red bell pepper and onions in butter in a large dutch oven. Add garlic, mushrooms, Essence, and thyme. Cook until mushrooms are soft...about 6 minutes. This part smelled great!

Sprinkle with flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add wine and chicken stock and cook stirring until smooth, about 2 more minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

After the sauce has thickened add the cooked egg noodles, turkey, parsley, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Stir until mixed. Transfer to a buttered baking dish. And here comes my favorite part....

Cover the whole thing in crushed potato chips (for those of you who live in New England--my favorite kind of potato chips are Wachusett Brand. I really like their sour cream and onion, but we used their regular flavor here...they are small bags and are usually sold 2 for $3. Can't go wrong). Bake the whole thing uncovered at 375 for 3o minutes or until bubbly and golden brown! This was a winner at our house. We ate the entire thing! For the complete recipe, click HERE.

Cowboy Spaghetti

This is a Rachael Ray recipe, that believe it or not, I had never made before having it at a friend's house for dinner. We instantly loved this dish and had to make it at home. The spaghetti is tossed in a sauce with ground meat, fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, onion, hot sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, and tomato sauce. To finish the dish toss with crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese and scallions.

The sauce has a nice flavor, different from your traditional spaghetti sauce. And, as you know, anything tastes better with bacon! We used Pastene brand spaghetti and if you've never tried the Pastene line of pastas, you need to. So worth the little extra money. I highly recommend making this dish. Our almost two year old loved it...so you know it's good. You can find the recipe in its entirety HERE.

Chicken Chili

Last weekend's dinner was another Ina favorite; her Chicken Chili. Once we found and tried this recipe a few years back, it has become a staple in our house once the weather starts to get a little cooler. This chili is lighter than its meat and beans counterpart, so have an extra helping!

Onions are sauteed, then added to them is garlic, red and yellow peppers, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, crushed plum tomatoes, and basil. This simmers for about 30 minutes then baked, shredded chicken is added and simmered for 20 minutes. It comes together easily and makes enough for company...

...or for left overs the next night! We enjoyed ours topped with sour cream and shredded cheddar. If you haven't made this recipe yet, you really should. A+ Ina!

Happy Halloween

Well, the day is finally here....Halloween! We did a costume run though last night (you can see the jammies sticking out the bottom). The "baby" is 21 months old and is a bat this year. I must have taken 10 pictures and most of them were of him crying because he thinks he's ready to use the camera...silly man! Hopefully he scores mommy and daddy some good candy tonight!

And for food....this dish is from Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals cookbook. It's called Sesame Ginger Pork with Soba Noodles and it's delicious and quick to prepare. It calls for soba noodles but I use whole wheat spaghetti instead and have had great results. I also double the water chestnuts because I like them. Everything else is pretty much the same. So, if you like pork, ginger, sesame, soy sauce and noodles...this dish is for you!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Last week while reading Prudy's blog Prudence Pennywise (as I'm sure many of you read as well) I was inspired to make her Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Chicken. I have said this before, and I'll say it again, I'm always looking for easy to prep recipes during nap time, that still taste great and aren't cold by the time the husband gets home. After running to soccer then the grocery store I was able to whip this up in no time. Thanks, Prudy! This recipe is a winner.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Chicken (tacos) from Prudence Pennywise. You can find Prudy's exact recipe HERE, as well as check out her mouth watering photos. For my measurements see below:

3lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

Two cans petite diced tomatoes in their juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon (eyeball) crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon (eyeball) cumin

1/2 teaspoon (eyeball) chili powder

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on bottom and season with pepper. Stir in tomatoes, brown sugar and spices. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high4-6 hours.

I served ours taco style with corn tortillas and all the taco fixings. I've made enough chicken to use in several other dishes for the remainder of the week.

So, thanks again Prudy for another fantastic dish. This one will be a keeper at my house!

BB; Vegetable Pot Pie

Last week's Barefoot Bloggers Challenge was Ina's Vegetable Pot Pie chosen by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. This was a perfect choice. When I originally saw this recipe in my cookbook I was a bit apprehensive because I'm not a fennel or asparagus fan. But, after deciding to give this a go, a few substitutions later, we had the perfect Sunday lunch.

Our filling consisted of the following right from Ina's recipe, potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, pearl onions and sliced onion. We chose to omit the fennel and substituted green beans for the asparagus. We also left out the Pernod, used MUCH less butter and fat free half and half in replace of the cream. The end result....a perfectly golden delicious pot pie...and it didn't even need the meat! Thanks Deb, for choosing such a great recipe.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

Here I go again, posting another half eaten picture, and come to think of it, this picture is horrible. It doesn't do justice to this wonderful (and easy) soup. This Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup comes from the Cooking Light Magazine and we've made this at least ten times. With the temps dropping to almost freezing in these parts nothing warms you up at night like a nice bowl of homemade soup.

This soup is a take on the classic, using a rotisserie chicken (if you don't have left overs), carrots, celery, onion and egg noodles. A little evaporated milk is added at the end to boost the creaminess. This makes for great lunches--so I always make extra. Be sure to serve with some nice crusty bread. You can find the recipe in it's entirety here.

Slow Cooker Tex Mex Chicken

This has got to be one of the easiest meals to prepare and the results are fantastic. This recipe comes from the Everyday Food Magazine by Martha Stewart and we've made this several times. I am constantly looking for quick meals I can prepare during "nap" time that will hold until the husband gets home at night. This one does the trick.

All you have to do is mix dry beans with a jar of salsa, a few chipotle chiles (I like to add a little extra of the smoky sauce), flour and a cup of water in the bottom of your slow cooker. Then arrange boneless, skinless chicken thighs on top. On top of chicken dump chopped onion, and red pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. That's it! Dinner in a snap! You can find the entire recipe here, in case you didn't like my "mix this", "dump this" version.

I served mine with low fat sour cream on top, but I bet this would made a great nacho topping!

Real Spaghetti and Meatballs

A friend of mine recently had a new baby girl so we decided to make them a big batch of the Barefoot Contessa's Real Spaghetti and Meatballs, because if anyone knows, new baby means zero time for cooking. We of course, couldn't make Kim a batch of meatballs without making a batch for ourselves. Being married to an Italian man, I've had my fare share of meatballs, but this recipe has won our hearts and we've been using this recipe only for a few years now.

The only substitution we make is with the bread crumbs. It calls for 1 cup of white bread crumbs, we use Panko instead. I find the Panko lead to a moister ball.

So, if you haven't made these meatballs yet, you need to. We've made them in various sizes for spaghetti and meatballs, appetizers or for sub sandwiches. My almost 2 year old couldn't stop walking around the house saying "meatball" all week. He'll be sad to find out I ate the last two while he was taking a nap!

Enjoy!

My New Favorite Salad

Last weekend we went to a family birthday party and were instructed to bring a salad. I feel like I'm always making the same type of salad, and this one is really no different, but was so good we had it again this week for dinner.

It's very simple...lettuce (I used a spring mix), chopped walnuts, cubed sharp cheddar (VT preferably--only because that's where I grew up), sliced green apple (to keep the apple from turning brown squeeze a little lemon juice on top), shredded chicken and the best part....drum roll please....crumbled bacon with a few shallots thrown in the grease at the last minute! Yum!

I could eat this salad every day. I'm sure everybody has a variation of the same salad, but thought I'd share this one anyway. I didn't make the dressing homemade but opted for this Newman's Own variety...Raspberry & Walnut Vinaigrette. The dressing is wonderful, I highly recommend.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

The most recent issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine is full of great fall recipes. I chose to make the slow cooker pot roast first. This recipe was a cinch. The vegetables (I added potatoes to the veggie list) are layered on the bottom of the crock pot, the meat placed on top, a drizzle of Worcestershire Sauce and that's about it. Let it cook for 6 hours and ta-da, dinner is served. It's done nothing but rain in New England for the last 4 days so this--make your house smell good all day--dinner was perfect. The recipe can be found HERE, and I would highly recommend making this!

BB; Grown Up Mac and Cheese

This week's Barefoot Bloggers challenge was the Barefoot Contessa's Grown Up Mac and Cheese chosen by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl. I am a self professed cheese lover, and this mac and cheese was good (I had to omit the blue cheese) but I don't feel like it really stood out as I was hoping it would. The bacon added a nice touch though. So, don't get me wrong, this is a good recipe, just not a gold medal winner. You can find the complete recipe HERE.
First you start by cooking the bacon in the oven. This is a mess free way to cook bacon--no messy splatter on the stove. While the bacon is cooking, boil the pasta and make the rue.

Add the warm milk, cheeses (cheddar and Gruyere--I omitted the blue cheese due to pregnancy), salt, pepper, nutmeg, crumbled bacon and pasta. Give a good stir.

Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and top with bread crumbs and fresh basil. This recipe calls for making two individual size dishes, but for the sake of left overs (I can't believe I'm saying this) I doubled the recipe and used a large casserole dish. I also forgot to buy white bread so I used Panko bread crumbs mixed with the basil. They added a nice crunch.

Like I said, this was a good recipe and I would recommend making it, the bacon added a nice smoky depth. All mac and cheese wins in my book. Enjoy.

Beef and Broccoli

Tonight's dinner was beef and broccoli from the Weight Watchers Take Out Tonight cookbook. Several months ago we did Weight Watchers and both had good results. We've stopped "counting points" per say but like to still throw in a WW meal every now and then. This cookbook is full of fan favorites. The beef and broccoli comes together quite quickly and tastes a lot like the Chinese Food restaurant version, although a lot healthier. We served ours over brown rice.

3/4 lb beef top round, trimmed of fat and cut into thin strips
2 T cornstarch
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
2 T oyster sauce
2 T honey
2 T reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T dry sherry
1 lb broccoli cut into florets (4 cups)
2 t canola oil
1 T minced peeled fresh ginger (we used pickled ginger because that was all we had on hand)
3 garlic cloves mined

1. Combine beef with 1 T cornstarch; toss well to coat and set aside. Combine the remaining 1 T cornstarch, broth, oyster sauce, honey, soy sauce, and sherry in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add the broccoli and cook until crisp tender; 3-4 minutes, drain. (We transferred the broccoli to a cold water bath to retain its green color).

3. Heat a nonstick wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in the oil, then add the beef. Stir-fry until just cooked through, 3-4 minutes; transfer to a plate.

4. Add the ginger and garlic to the wok and stir-fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Add the beef and broccoli and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Serve with brown rice and enjoy! This was the first time we've made this recipe but because of its ease and great result we'll add it to the dinner rotation.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Tonight's dinner was a quick, easy buffalo chicken salad courtesy of Rachael Ray. I like Rachael's recipes, but never find them to be truly 30 minute meals...it always take me MUCH longer. Anyway, this recipe is true to its 30 minutes. The chicken gets a quick saute in butter and olive oil, who doesn't love butter? It's then tossed with buffalo sauce, we used Franks Red Hot. The salad is romaine, shredded carrots and chopped celery in ranch dressing. It calls for crumbled blue cheese, but I forgot to buy that....it was still good without! I highly recommend this salad for a quick meal. You can find the recipe HERE.

Kid Friendly Meal

I'm a little late in posting this meal, but last week we made one of my favorites, Mac N Cheese and served it along side Oven Fried Chicken. This meal reminds me of one of those all you can eat buffets! Mac N Cheese has always been one of my favorite comfort meals and I usually make my mother's recipe but am always up for trying new things. I've made the Barefoot Contessa version several times, but this one comes from Tyler Florence.
I liked this recipe because it called for heating the milk with onion, cloves, garlic, bay leaves, mustard and thyme. That really smelled great on my stove! I will be adding this version to my recipe box. You can find the recipe HERE.

We choose to make the Barefoot Contessa Oven Fried Chicken (recipe HERE) to serve along side the mac n cheese. I am always making Ina Garten meals, however, this recipe was not one of my favorites. The chicken looks beautiful, however it was lacking in the flavor department. The breading was flavorful, and the chicken moist, but overall I found it to be a bit bland. This was our first attempt at oven fried chicken so perhaps next time we'll season the chicken (under the skin) prior to cooking.
We did enjoy this meal like we were kids! Something about fried chicken and macaroni and cheese....just makes you smile!

Beef Goulash

Last night we had Beef Goulash from the Cooking Light Magazine. It was kind of a dismal rainy day in New England so rather than tending the grill with an umbrella we went for a meal that was made on the stove top and made the whole house smell good. We served it with egg noodles and a nice crusty bread. Even the littlest eater was a member of the clean plate club.

You can find the recipe on CookingLight.com or here Roasted Tomato-Beef Goulash:

Here we have all the ingredients ready to go....beef, onions, garlic,fire roasted tomatoes (they're key), carrots, celery, salt, pepper. The recipe calls for caraway seeds but I'm not a fan so we omitted them.
Here the meat is nicely browned in the pan. I love how it caramelizes on the edge of the pan!


Here is everything in the pan. Once everything is combined it simmers on the stove for an hour and a half, and that's where the house really starts to smell great.

And the finished product. The goulash is served atop a bed of egg noodles. It was delicious, the meat was tender and perfectly cooked. The fire roasted tomatoes were a nice "smokey" touch. We would definitely make this recipe again. And best of all, it's a "Light" recipe! Eat up.

Take Out Made In

Tonight's dinner was Chinese Barbecued Pork served with spicy broccoli and brown rice. A few months ago the husband and I decided to do Weight Watchers so we could both shed the rest of the "baby" weight. With the baby almost 17 months, it was time. Anyway, we bought a Weight Watchers cookbook called Take-Out Tonight. It is full of easy recipes to make at home that are a LOT healthier than what you might order at a restaurant and really take very little time to prepare...which in our house is a must!

So, for the pork (from the WW Take-Out Tonight cookbook):

Marinade a 1lb trimmed pork tenderloin for 6-24 hours in a zip lock bag in the fridge. Roast on a greased roasting pan fitted with rack in a 450 degree oven for 25-27 or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

To make the marinade combine 2T honey, 2T hoisin sauce, 2T sake or other white wine, 2t oyster sauce, 2t reduced sodium soy sauce, and 1t sesame oil. I don't have a picture of the meat marinading because it just kind of looked weird.

Here's the broccoli I made prior to cooking. I steamed it in a wok with a little water, a few drops of sesame oil, a tablespoon or so of soy sauce, a shake of sesame seeds and a shake of red pepper flakes. I covered the pan until they were crisp tender.

And here's the end result. The pork with broccoli and brown rice, which I also added a little soy sauce to. Soy sauce is so good, too bad it's so salty!

Tonight's dessert is a chocolate skinny cow. My favorite part is the chocolate filled cone...the little chunk of chocolate at the bottom, yum!