Kielbasa and Potatoes

I came home tonight and did not feel like cooking.  However, I was home relatively early and wanted to make something.  When I get home early enough, I want a meal.  I decided that from here on out, Thursdays will be a slow-cooker night.  I have enough time to prep before I leave for work/school and it can be ready as soon as I walk in the door!

This recipe is the true definition of a "meat and potatoes" meal.  Ron really enjoyed it.  It was extremely quick and easy to prepare.  It was hearty and good!  I served with some broccoli (for myself) and some grain bread.

Kielbasa and Potatoes
adapted from Life's Ambrosia

Yield:  2 hearty, hearty servings (or 2 servings with leftovers)
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, diced
• fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1 pound turkey kielbasa, cut in half at the curve and then sliced

Directions 

1. In a large skillet heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. 
2. Once butter has melted add potatoes. 
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
4. Allow to cook for 4-5 minutes without stirring.
5. Stir after 5 minutes. 
6. Cook another 5 minutes.
7. Stir.
8. Stir in onions. 
9. Cook 3 minutes. 
10. Stir in kielbasa. 
11. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes or until sausage is warmed through and pieces begin to brown.
12. Serve hot.

Note: If you use beef kielbasa cut the amount of butter and oil slightly or the dish may turn out a little greasy.! 

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

Back from a WONDERFUL trip to Disney World w/ Ron, Mom and Dad.  I was very content and only had a few minor food mishaps :)

In Orlando, Ron and I ate at a Blues restaurant.  We shared some gumbo and he requested it for when we got home.  However, I was too tired to deal with a roux the day we got back home so I opted for a slow-cooker jambalaya recipe.  This is a great go-to recipe that takes minimal time to prepare and is delicious.  I served with some slices from a hearty seed and grain boule and a mixture of some ready rice (Cajun style and brown) that took about 90 seconds to make.  I followed the recipe to a T, but I think I added 12 oz of sausage to make up for all of the veggies I added.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya
adapted from Food Network.com
Yield:  4 servings
Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, diced
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 pound frozen peeled and cooked shrimp, thawed
• 2 cups cooked rice

Directions

1. In a slow cooker, combine chicken, sausage, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, and chicken broth. Stir in oregano, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, bay leaves, and thyme.
2. Cover, and cook on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. 
3. Stir in the thawed shrimp, cover and cook until the shrimp is heated through, about 5 minutes. 
4. Discard bay leaves and spoon mixture over cooked rice.

Chicken Breast Roasted on Tomatoes and Eggplant with Oregano

Did Ron eat the eggplant or tomato?  No.
Did I?  Yes, I ate two servings.
Did we both enjoy the meal?  Very much so!
= A success.


I'm trying to use foods that I don't often eat.  Today's experiment was with eggplant.  I will be making this recipe again.  It was very easy, very light and very tasty!  I served with some mashed potatoes and some light garlic toast.

Chicken Breast Roasted on Tomatoes and Eggplant with Oregano
adapted from Once Upon a Plate
Yield:  4 servings.
Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 3 Roma, or other ripe tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon fresh oregano leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried, crumbled)
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper (coarse grind)
• 4 chicken breast fillets
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350* (F)
2. Line shallow rimmed baking pan with a silpat liner or parchment paper (for easy clean-up.)
3. Thickly slice eggplant (one slice for each chicken breast), place on lined baking pan, top with sliced tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper.
4. Arrange chicken breasts on top of each eggplant/tomato stack. (Brush on or spray lightly with olive oil.)
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle each evenly with the mozzarella and parmesan.
6. Continue baking until chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbling and lightly browned. This will depend upon thickness of the chicken breasts. The average size breasts I used required an additional 25 to 30 minutes baking time. 
1. (Test with instant thermometer to make sure chicken is cooked through, and has reached an internal temperature of at least 165* (F) .)
7. Garnish with additional fresh oregano or parsley if desired.  Serve w/ some vegetables, mashed potatoes and light garlic toast and enjoy! 

"Healthy" Chicken Enchiladas

I made these on New Year's Day.  Normally, I would've eaten pork and sauerkraut.  However, last year I made pork and sauerkraut and did not have a lucky year (at least not in terms of overall mood and athletics) so I chose to embark on a different path this year.  I was stumped on what to make but Ron said "how about chicken enchiladas?"

It is a very, VERY rare occasion for Ron to actually suggest something for dinner.  Normally the conversation goes like this:
Me - "What do you want for dinner tonight?"
Ron - "I don't care."
Me - "You have no suggestions?"
Ron - "I'll probably just have cereal."
Me - "We're out of milk.  I guess I'll have to go to the store to buy you some."

Then, I go to the store and end up spending $50 for a carton of milk.  But, usually I come away with enough ingredients to make something for dinner and he eats it.  However, it's still a battle to get him to talk about what he wants.  Considering I'm trying to experience new foods, this is often frustrating because I can only come up with so many "Ron-friendly" foods that I will also enjoy.

So, I was very excited to hear him make a suggestion and I was definitely not going to turn it down.  Ironically, I had most of the ingredients for this recipe.  The only thing I needed were the corn tortillas.  Fortunately, the trip to the SuperTarget only cost me $12 (despite the corn tortillas costing $2).  This was impressive and I am proud of myself.

I've never had enchiladas before.  Anything smothered with cheese doesn't appeal to me.  Then I realized that I could control the cheese portion.  I'm not sure why these enchiladas are deemed "healthier" but I followed the recipe pretty closely.  I did not use nearly as much cheese as included in the recipe, but they still turned out very good.  I changed the way the chicken was prepared by cooking it over the stove and then shredding it.  So, I did not cook my chicken in the sauce.  They still turned out pretty flavorful.  My only complaint was the Mission corn tortillas I used kept falling apart as I rolled them.  Note to self: don't buy the "extra thin" kind.

Healthy Chicken Enchiladas
adapted from My Cooking Quest
Yield:  12 tortillas (if rolled appropriately), serves 6 but Ron ate 10, lol.
Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• Kosher salt
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 28-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I cooked over stove then shredded)
  
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 10 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (or Taco cheese)
  
• 1 (4-ounce) can pickled jalapeno chiles, drained and chopped (or green chiles)
  
• ½ cup minced fresh cilantro leaves (I did not use)
  
• 12 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas
• Vegetable oil spray
• 1 lime, cut into wedges and sour cream (for serving) (I did not use)

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  
2. Heat oil over medium heat, add the onion and ½ teaspoon salt in a large saucepan. 
3. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onion has softened, eight to ten minutes.
4. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Stir in the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. 
6. Cook until the sauce has slightly thickened, about five minutes.
7. **Nestle the chicken into the sauce.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the thickest part registers 160 degrees on the instant read thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes.  Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
1. I omitted step #7.  I put 3 pieces of chicken breasts in a pot covered with water and cooked in boiling water for about 45 minutes.  Once cooked, I shredded the chicken with two forks and went ahead with step #8.  It worked well.
   
8. Toss together the shredded chicken, ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, one cup of the cheddar, jalapenos, and cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Stack the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on high until warm and pliable, 45 seconds. Spread the warm tortillas out over a clean work surface. 
10. Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla. 
11. Tightly roll each tortilla around the filling and lay them seam-side down in a 13×9-inch baking dish.
12. Lightly spray the tops of the enchiladas with vegetable oil spray. 
13. Pour one cup of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas to cover them thoroughly.
14. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar over the enchiladas. 
15. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake until the enchiladas are heated through, 20 to 25 minutes.
16. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese browns, about five minutes longer.
17. Place extra sauce, lime wedges and sour cream on table along with the hot enchiladas.

Lemon Chickpea Pasta w/ Chicken

Contrary to my food blog, I do cook and make healthy meals.  I just enjoy a little bit of sugar every now and then :)

This was such an easy recipe to make up and turned out so well.  However, I do plan to make it in the future and add some changes to boost the flavor.  In my dish, I did not include the capers that were in the original recipe.  I think these would have added a really good flavor.  I kept sprinkling hot pepper flakes on my pasta (which worked just fine) but I had a light-bulb go off while eating it.  Next time, I plan to add some cooked spinach & substitute roasted red pepper feta cheese for the Parmesan cheese.  I'll report back with details (though I've included where I'd make the changes) because I think this would taste incredible.  Otherwise, this recipe is good as it is with some bread and a side salad.  I laid my pasta on some spinach leaves and it worked well.

Lemony Chickpea Pasta w/ Chicken
adapted from eat.repeat
Ingredients

• 1/2 lb small pasta like orecchiette or mini penne (I used 1/2 a box of whole wheat pasta shells)
• 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1/2 lemon juiced and zested (I used 1 whole lemon)
  
• 4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
• 3 tablespoons hot pasta water
  
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce or red pepper flakes
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up into small cubes (I bought from prepared food section to save time)
  
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, grated plus extra for serving
• salt + pepper to taste
  

Directions

1. Cook the pasta in salted, boiling water according to manufacturer directions. 
2. In a large bowl mix lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, capers (if using), hot sauce/peppers and chicken.  (Add the cooked spinach - probably 1/2 of a small box of frozen/thawed/drained.)
   
3. Add the chickpeas and stir to coat. 
4. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the hot water.
5. Add the pasta to the chickpeas mixture, stir in the cheese (would probably add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the feta), while adding the pasta water as you mix. 
6. Season with salt and pepper. 
7. Add more lemon juice/hot sauce to your liking.
8. Serve with extra Cheese.

Dark Chocolate Reese's Pieces PB Cookies

I also made some cookies up (and a Neujahrspretzel but who's counting?) for the gathering.  Despte the crazy cookie madness that was last week w/ Christmas, I still feel compelled to bake up cookies when I get inspired.  I was standing at the grocery store and saw bags of Dark Chocolate Reese's Pieces and Dark Chocolate mini-mint sized york peppermint patties.  I got to thinking.  I searched for the best PB and M&M recipe I could find.  I came up with some slight changes of my own, but the main recipe was from here.

Dark Chocolate Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from Une Gamine dans la Cuisine who adapted from Blog Chef
Yield:  For full recipe, probably about 40 cookies with a large cookie scoop (I halved and got 20).  Measurements in recipe below are for the full recipe.
Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp. of baking soda 
• 1 tsp. of baking powder 
• 1 tsp. of salt ( I used 2 tsp. of sea salt  - makes the cookies taste unbelievable)
• 1/2 cup of room temp. butter
• 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening (I used butter flavored shortening because it was all that I had)
  
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1 cup of packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of Dark Chocolate Reese's Pieces (or Dark chocolate M & M's, or milk chocolate)
• 1/2 cup of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening together. 
3. Add the peanut butter and beat until smooth. 
4. Add both sugars and continue to beat until everything is well incorporated. 
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
6. Add the vanilla extract and beat to blend. 
7. Using a large wooden spoon or your hands, add the flour a little bit at a time until there are no white streaks. 
8. Stir in the Reese's Pieces or M&M's & Chocolate (if using) until they are evenly dispersed through out the batter. 
9. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
10. Preheat the oven to 350F. 
11. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 
12. Scoop out rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough (I used my large cookie scoop) and place each cookie about 2 inches apart. 
13. If you want, you can make a criss cross pattern with a lightly floured fork. 
14. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. If you prefer crispy cookies, increase the time to 11-12 minutes.  (Mine were slightly larger and took about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.)
    
15. Allow the sheets to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cookies.

CAUTION:  These cookies are amazing.  Then again, I've never really had any problems eating any type of cookie.  The sea salt, dark chocolate and PB combo is to die for.  You must eat one with a cold glass of milk!

S'mores Bars

Oh.  Wow.  These were absolutely incredible.  I had the s'mores recipe bookmarked (from my favorite blog) for a while and was excited to make them up for NYE.  Glen and Sarah came over and they love trying out my baked goods.  The s'mores bars took literally about 10 minutes to make (not counting the 4 hours to set) and were incredible.  My only complaint?  Eat over a plate or napkin.  Otherwise, you will be cleaning up graham cracker crumbs all night!

S'mores Bars
adapted from Annie's Eats (link above) who adapted from Williams Sonoma
Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 6 whole graham crackers (or 1 cup pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs)
  
• ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
• 2 whole graham crackers or 1 cup mini-graham cracker shapes
  

Directions

1. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with aluminum foil so that the foil hangs over the sides.
2. Grease the foil with butter or Baking cooking spray.
3. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the 3 tablespoons butter. 
4. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Put the 6 whole graham crackers into a zippered plastic bag. 
6. Press out the air and seal the bag. 
7. Using a rolling pin or your hands, crush the cookies to make tiny crumbs. You should have about 1 cup. (Alternatively, use your food processor to crush the cookies into crumbs.) (I use the pre-crushed grahams; much easier.)
   
8. Add the crumbs to the melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until blended. 
9. Scrape the crumbs into the baking pan.
10. Lay a piece of plastic wrap loosely over the crumbs. 
11. Use your hand over the plastic wrap to spread the crumbs to coat the bottom of the pan.
12. Press down firmly to make a solid even layer.
13. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the condensed milk and chocolate chips. 
14. Heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
15. Remove from heat. 
16. Stir in vanilla and salt until blended. 
17. Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust and spread evenly with the spoon.
18. Scatter the marshmallows evenly over the chocolate filling and press them in gently. 
19. Break the 2 whole graham crackers into little pieces and stick the broken crackers or mini-cracker shapes into the filling among the marshmallows.
20. Cover and refrigerate the bars until they are firm, about 4 hours. 
21. To serve, lift the foil from the pan and set the smore square on a cutting board. Peel the foil away from the sides and cut the square into rectangles. 
22. Keep refrigerated until just before serving.  Yield:  12 servings.