Cajun Chicken Pasta

I don't get every recipe I make from Allrecipes.com or Kraft.com or from my Mother-in-law, although most of them I do. Every once in a while I'll find them in an advertisement for a particular item. For example, this recipe for Cajun Chicken Pasta came from a Sargento cheese ad, although I've made it without their cheese.

Not every recipe I try is a winner and then some are and I mess them up. This is one of those recipes. I first prepared this recipe back in...I can't remember and it really doesn't matter. It's been a while and I liked it the first time so I decided to make it again.

After cooking the pasta and cooking the chicken, I remembered that the last time I made it I felt like the amount of cajun seasoning the recipe called for didn't seem like enough, so I decided I'd double it. OOPS! Not a good idea on a couple of levels. First, deciding to double it was crazy. Maybe a tad more would've helped. Second, instead of adding a total of 4 TEAspoons, I used 4 TABLEspoons. Ya see my problem?

After preparing it almost according to the instructions and plating it up, photographing it and making sure it was still hot enough to be served, the family sat down to eat. BTW, I made myself a batch without chicken.

O.M.G. AWFUL! The salt content was enough to make your tongue fall off. I was wiping sauce off the pasta and trying to make it edible. My husband was so hungry he ate it even though he thought the salt was too much too. And, my son, who we're trying to get to eat new things, was told it was a PB&J night. I wouldn't let him near the stuff.

So...I will make this again after we have the sodium flushed from our bodies and next time I will follow the recipe exactly and if there's not enough seasoning, I'll just sprinkle a little on top.

Since I've made this before, I will recommend it, but I will not be adapting this recipe anytime soon!

http://www.sargento.com/recipes/1260/cajun-chicken-pasta/

Fish Tacos

My husband really likes Tilapia so I've been looking for recipes that I think he might enjoy. I came across this recipe in Parade Magazine back in late 2009. It looked easy enough to make so I've finally decided to give it a try. I decided to use regular tortillas instead of the whole grain tortillas we always use. I diced up roma tomatoes, fresh cilantro and red onion. I mixed the salsa and sour cream to make a zesty sauce and I completed the meal by brushing the fish with a little EVOO and S&P and tossing it in the pan. Wow! It's really just that easy. After the fish came out of the pan, I drizzled fresh lime juice on it, then let it rest for a few minutes before flaking. Does fish even have to rest?

The result, as reviewed by my husband, was fantastic...minus one thing...it wasn't very hot. I have found an issue with blogging. I plate up dinner and then spend time photographing it, then I serve it. Oops! After putting effort into making a nice tasting, visually appealing meal, the effort is practically wasted if it's not served at the ideal temperature. I won't make that mistake again! Thankfully it was good enough that he ate everything that I prepared. I even made a couple with no fish (being a vegetarian and all) and it was so good! Everything was fresh and the flavors worked so well together. I'll make it again and skip the camera work.

Ingredients:
8 - 6" flour tortillas
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
S&P
3 - 8oz fish fillets (tilapia, haddock, flounder)
2 tbs EVOO
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 ripe roma plum or beefsteak tomatoes, diced
2 cups red cabbage, finely shredded (optional)
fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 300F. Stack the tortillas on top of each other and wrap in foil. Place in oven while you prepare the fish.
2. Whisk together sour cream and salsa in a small bowl; season with S&P. Cover and refrigerate.
3. Heat a grill pan or nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Brush the fish on both sides with oil and season with S&P. Cook the fish until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate; drizzle with lime juice. Let rest for 5 minutes. Using a fork, flake the fish into large pieces.
4. To serve: Put some fish in the center of the tortilla and top with onion, tomatoes, and cabbage, then drizzle with sou-cream sauce and cilantro leaves.

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip

I continue on my journey of planning our our dinners a month-at-a-time, while actually making recipes I keep collecting. I decided to try something that I know, if I was still a meat-eater, that I'd love. French Dip with warm au jus.

I adapted a recipe from Allrecipes.com, using other people's comments to make my French Dip the best it could be. But first, I had to figure out which cut of meat to use. The recipe calls for rump roast, but many people also used chuck roast or sirloin tip. I enjoy reading people's comments, but figuring out what to add to my shopping list meant doing a little homework.

Rump roast and and chuck roast are very flavorful and tender, while sirloin tip is less fatty. I decided to look for sirloin tip because I knew it would be tender in the crock pot. Alas, I was unable to find it and bought a chuck roast instead.

The end result was my kitchen smelled fantastic all day and my family loved it (served it to four people). They all said it was worth making again, except my son who isn't a red meat fan yet.

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds chuck roast
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth or consomme
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle DARK beer
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 6 French rolls
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Trim excess fat from the chuck roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup, beer and spices. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
2. About 30 minutes before serving, cut the meat then placed it back into the juices to cook a little bit more.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
5. Slice the meat on the diagonal, and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping.

Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken

Using the crock pot is so easy with just a little bit of planning (making sure you have all of the ingredients and getting it started on time). I love cooking with the crock pot because dinner is virtually taken care of by late morning. If I worked full-time I'd probably be on the look out for recipes that take 10 hours to cook. But since I don't, a 5-7 hour cooking time works for me.

I'm always a bit weary about cooking chicken in the slow-cooker because I've read so many recipe reviews where people comment that the chicken was over cooked, usually in a "beyond shredded" way vs. a dry way. But I decided to give this one a shot since I had plenty of bell peppers on hand and some cilantro to use.

I slightly adapted a Kraft website recipe...

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch-wide strips 2 Tbsp. (1/2 of 1-1/4-oz. pkg.) Taco Seasoning Mix 2 Tbsp. flour 1 each green and red pepper, cut into 1-inch-wide strips 1 cup frozen corn 1 can black beans 1-1/2 cups Medium Salsa 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese TOSS chicken with taco seasoning and flour a ziploc bag then empty into slow cooker. Stir in vegetables and salsa; cover with lid. COOK on LOW 6 hours (or on HIGH 3 hours). STIR just before serving; top with shredded cheese. I served it with brown rice and garnished it with fresh cilantro. The first time I made this my husband commented that it needed a little extra kick, so I used medium salsa this time and that seemed to do the trick. My son asked for more chicken and he ate the peppers without a struggle! We're making progress!

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken with Brown Rice & Haricot Verts

As I continue on my journey of attempting to plan out dinners a month at a time, I found again, that being flexible is key. My Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken recipe was planned for February 5th. One thing lead to another and I had to reshuffle it to last night. Since the only fresh ingredient the recipe calls for is a lime, it was easy to push this one until a later date.

Besides planning a month at a time, I've become much stricter with regards to making my son eat something other than chicken nuggets. Last night was not the struggle I anticipated, but it came with bribes that I wish weren't needed.

After mixing the spices and heating up the pan, I sauteed the chicken to a perfect golden brown. It cooked a lot quicker than the recipe called for. But since I was watching it closely, disaster was avoided. As it was cooking, it smelled great and looked fantastic. I served it with brown rice cooked in a mix of water and chicken broth. And, because I've been known to get into the rut of serving a plate of fabulous beige food, I steamed some haricots verts.

My husband loved it! He liked the kick that the spices gave the chicken and the flavor of the lime (which wasn't as pronounced since I didn't get as much juice out of the lime as I had wanted). It wasn't too hot or overpowering, but flavorful. My son, after eating half an apple, declared he was hungry. When I showed him his plate, complete with rice and green beans, the whining started and the bribes began. Try a piece of chicken and I'll give you an animal cracker. It worked and he liked it and proceeded to eat all of the chicken on his plate. Next, the beans. I broke them and stuck them on the prongs of his fork. And, he ate them...for more animal crackers. And finally, the rice. He hasn't eaten rice or green beans in two years. But, the ever powerful bribe enticed him to complete every morsel on his plate. And, although I didn't like bribing him, the animal crackers are low in sugar and one day...in a galaxy far away...he won't be offered a bribe but a restful sleep on an empty stomach.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• ............................................................
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons lime juice

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and parsley. Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts.
2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side (or less if your chicken is thin). Sprinkle with 1 teaspoons garlic powder and lime juice. Cook 2-5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

Caribbean Nut-Crusted Fish

I have hundreds of recipes that I've got saved on my computer. If I'm up late at night and can't sleep, I'll browse through food blogs and recipe web sites. If I see something that I'd like to prepare someday, I'll save it. Sometimes I get adventurous and try a recipe and other times I fall into a rut and make the same dishes over and over and over again.

This month I decided to take a blank calendar and come up with a plan for dinner for every night of the month. I've tried doing this a week at a time, but I'm really inconsistent about doing it and then I lose my coordination between the menu, my grocery list and the execution.

So, this month I took about 45 minutes and filled out the calendar with meals, including nights for left-overs and a night out (or 3). During this time I also put a week-by-week shopping list together. I took an extra minute to plan how not to waste some items, like cilantro. Using 2 tablespoons in a recipe and having the rest of the bunch left over usually means it'll go bad - at least at my house. So, I grouped certain recipes based on ingredients I knew I'd need to use before they went bad.

Now it's February15th. I've had to make quite a few adjustments to my dinner calendar. I didn't account for the Super Bowl and that menu. Then we went bowling one night so I moved that night's dinner to another night. And one night, even after so much careful planning, I forgot an essential ingredient and it was getting too late to go to the grocery store. I learned a lesson though...ALWAYS have a frozen back-up on hand! This came in handy for this occasion and it'll come in handy for the night that I really am not up for cooking.

On with the Caribbean Nut-Crusted Fish. This recipe comes from my ever faithful Kraft website. I know it's good to eat fish - for those that eat fish. So, to follow my dinner calendar I've got one fish meal a week.

After mixing together the chopped nuts, fresh cilantro, minced garlic, peanut oil and lime zest I was almost ready to eat the topping! It looked and smelled terrific. The recipe called for covering the fish (I used tilapia) in lime juice and then coating with the topping. Then, it called for baking it for 10-12 minutes at 350F. On the packaging for the fish however, the cooking instructions call for baking it at 400F for 30-35 minutes. My husband suggested I follow the packaging. I decided to jump online and read the recipe reviews. Out of 20 reviews, no one said that it needed more time or that it was undercooked. So, following the recipe I go, I go.

After 12 minutes I attempted to see if the fish was flaky by ever so slightly taking a fork to it. I was trying to be so careful so that testing it wouldn't mess up the subject of my photo..I mean, my husband's dinner. It looked good to go so I plated it and spent about 10-ish minutes trying to photograph it with my new camera. My house has such crappy lighting that I find the task frustrating. But I took a suitable photo and determined that the food was probably almost cold by then. I popped the whole thing back in the oven for about 5 minutes on low heat.

After all was said and done, my husband really liked it! He likes having saucy dishes and this one wasn't saucy, but he really enjoyed it and said he'd enjoy having it again. Success!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/caribbean-nut-crusted-fish-90666.aspx

Potato Bites

The Super Bowl. What images does that conjure up in your mind? Party. Football. Commercials. Food. Lots and lots of food.

This year, for Super Bowl XLV, we had neighbors over with their children to watch the big game. We typically go to a party, but this year Super Bowl Sunday fell on a night that just happened to be my night to pick up "the Panera donations". Meaning, where ever I was watching the game, I'd have to drop everything and leave at 7:30 PM. That's a whole other story.

So, with menu planning on my mind, I visited the Kraft Food website and found a recipe for Potato Bites. This recipe seemed a lot easier to make then potato skins. There were only 3 reviews on the site at the time and the only real comment regarding the preparation was "it's messy to make". Thanks. Rolling mashed potatoes into balls sounded "clean" to me.

So boil, mash, scoop, stuff and roll. I did it 24 times, just like the recipe called for. These balls were huge and looked good. (Jokes were made about this while people tried them). After baking for about 15 minutes, I served them. They turned out really well, but could've used more time in the oven since the cheese was still more chunk then a melty, gooey center. Yeah, melty is not a real word. I know.

We have some left over so it'll be interesting to see how well they reheat.

Enjoy!
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/velveeta-potato-bites-121401.aspx