One Pan Chicken and Potato Bake

This dish is so simple and so yummy! It's a great, portable meal for when you are taking someone dinner.

One Pan Chicken and Potato Bake

-1 - 1 1/2 lbs chicken, cut into strips or pieces (whatever you prefer)

-1 - 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cut into thin wedges

-1/2 cup kraft zesty italian dressing

-1/4 cup parmesan cheese

-1/2 tsp. italian seasoning (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken and potatoes in 13x9" baking dish. Top with dressing. Sprinkle with cheese and seasoning. Cover and bake 1 hour or until chicken is done, removing foil after 30 minutes.

Health(ier) Recipe #3 - Thai Coconut Curry

Here's a yummy, healthy dish with a different flair. Choose what type of meat you want to use: chicken, shrimp, etc.

Thai Coconut Curry

-1 tsp oil

-4 scallions, whites and greens separated, chopped

-1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-6 oz coconut milk

-2 tsp fish sauce(** if using shrimp, otherwise try adding just 2 tsp of chicken stock or mix it up by adding a little pineapple juice)

-1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

-1 lb meat of your choice, cut into strips (unless its shrimp)

- jasmine rice

-salt to taste

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Add scallion whites and red curry paste and sauté one minute. Add meat and garlic, season with salt and cook about 5-6 minutes. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and mix well. Simmer about 3-4 minutes, until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat, mix in scallion greens and cilantro. Serve over jasmine rice.

*You can increase the sauce amount and add fruit/vegetables (pineapple, carrots, potatoes, celery, pepper, etc.) to make a complete meal.

Health(ier) Recipe #2 - Grilled Lemon-Herb Pork Chops

Pork - the other white meat, right? :) It's full of vitamins and generally pretty lean (especially pork chops). It's also lower in saturated fat than most cuts of beef. Just make sure you cook it fully.

This recipe is easy to make and tastes absolutely heavenly off the grill. But you must barbecue it to get the awesome flavor- the combination of the lemon and herbs along with the smoky grill taste is perfection. We made this in the oven once when we couldn't grill and it was BLAH! You couldn't soak it in enough A1. :)

Grilled Lemon-Herb Pork Chops

Serves 6

• -1/4 cup lemon juice
• -2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• -4 cloves garlic, minced
• -1 teaspoon salt
• -1/4 teaspoon (heaping) dried oregano
• -1/4 teaspoon pepper
• -boneless pork loin chops

In large ziploc bag, combine all but chops. Then place chops in bag, seal and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Turn bag frequently.

Preheat grill for high heat. Remove chops from bag and transfer remaining marinade to a saucepan. Bring marinade to a boil, remove from heat, and set aside.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill pork chops for 5-7 minutes per side, basting frequently with boiled marinade, until done.

Health(ier) Eating Solutions: Substitutes for Cream Soups

Here are a couple of different substitutes for cream soups. Like I mentioned earlier, I am not a fanatical health nut, so I will still use cream soups occasionally because let's face it - they are good for food storage and easy when you are really pressed for time. But, I tend to go through them a little too quickly for my food storage, so I alternate using these healthier substitutes and an occasional can of soup to rotate through my food storage.

Substitute #1 - Cream Soup Mix

Although this substitute is healthier than traditional cream soups, it still uses bouillon granules and therefore still has extra sodium and MSG. But, the bouillon makes is versatile and convenient. The dry mix can be made and stored and kept on hand when you need it.

-2 cups dry milk powder

-1/4 cup chicken bouillon granules

-1/2 tsp dried thyme

-1/4 tsp black pepper

-3/4 cup cornstarch

-1/2 tsp dried basil

-1 tsp. onion powder (optional)

Combine all and mix well. Store in air tight container. Yield 3 cups.

For condensed soup substitute:

Blend 1/3 cup mix and 1 1/4 cup water in sauce pan until smooth. Heat, stirring occasionally until thickens. Cool. Use as a substitute for 10 3/4 can of soup. For cream of celery, add celery flakes. For cream of mushroom, add chopped or sliced mushrooms.

Substitute #2 - Kristi's Lower Fat Cream Soup Substitute

This substitute cuts down some of the fat of cream soups and you can eliminate the MSG, too if you watch what chicken broth you buy.

- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milk
- salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; keep stirring until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the chicken broth and milk, a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth. Return to heat. Bring sauce to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed to taste.

Use in casseroles in place of condensed cream soups.

Substitute #3 - Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup Substitute

This recipe cuts out the bouillon granules and therefore cuts the sodium and MSG, too.

-1 cup water

-1/2 cup chopped onions

-1 clove garlic, crushed

-1-2 T olive oil

-2 cups chopped or sliced mushrooms

-1 TBSP corn flour

-some Worcestshire sauce or mustard, to taste (optional)

-salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil on medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, and mushrooms. In a mixing bowl, add water and flour and beat until it thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. Add more flour if needed. Add the mixture to the onions, little by little so it doesn't get lumpy. Keep stirring. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Health(ier) Recipe #1 -Honey-Soy Broiled Salmon a.k.a. Heaven for Dinner!!

Salmon is loaded with good stuff for you - lots of good omega-3's, tons of vitamin D, etc. And it is out of this world delicious. Mmmm... I don't know that I've ever met a salmon that I didn't like. :) (Deal with it Amy and Ryan :) - you don't know what you're missing!) This particular recipe is phenomenal! It tasted like something you'd get at a restaurant.

Honey-Soy Broiled Salmon

(I forgot - again- to take a picture, so this one is shamelessly lifted off the food network. :))

-1 scallion, minced

-2 T soy sauce

-1 T rice vinegar

-1 T honey

-1 T minced fresh ginger

-1 lb. salmon fillet (cut into 4 portions)

-1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (see below)

Whisk scallion, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and ginger in a medium bowl until the honey is dissolved. Place salmon in a sealable plastic bag, add 3 T of the sauce and refrigerate, let marinate for 15 minutes (no longer or the salmon will fall apart). Reserve the remaining sauce.

Preheat broiler. Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Transfer salmon to pan and discard marinade. Broil the salmon 4-6 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 6-10 minutes. Drizzle with the reserved sauce and garnish with sesame seeds.

The Food Network suggests making it a meal with brown rice and sauteed red peppers and zucchini slices.

To toast sesame seeds: cook in a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2-4 minutes.

***We forgot to reserve any marinade and so just baked it in the marinade (about 390 degrees), rather than broiling it. It was SO good - very tender and flavorful.

Poppy Seed Bread

I bet you all thought I would never post on here. Ever. SURPRISE! Not so healthy... but still good. This is the recipe we got from the Castle Creek Inn which I served at our coupon class Saturday.

Bread:
3 cups Flour
2 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 1/8 cups Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1 1/2 tsp Butter Flavoring

Glaze:
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Orange Juice
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Mix altogether. Pour into 2 bread pans, muffin tins, or a bunt cake pan (greased). Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Muffins cook faster. Pour glaze over warm bread. Serve with fresh strawberries for most satisfied eaters:).

Health(ier) Eating Tips for Christy

So, in answer to Christy's request, I'm going to post some health(ier) recipes, tips, etc. this week.

Let me preface all this first by saying:

I consider myself somewhere middle of the road when it comes to cooking healthy foods. Anyone who is really fanatical about health foods would throw their head back laughing at me calling just about anything that I make "healthy".

But, I try to follow some general healthy food eating principles in cooking for my family:

*Cut the meat- I LOVE meat, but we try to really cut back on our portions. Any sort of pasta/stir-fry/rice dish - we split one chicken breast between the three of us (that eat real food) and up the vegetable amount to fill us up. We try to go like 85 or 90% vegetables and rice and 15 or 10% meat. So we just get a taste of meat, but it's not the main dish. Same thing when we have a meat "main-dish" meal (like tomato-herb grilled chicken), we split one chicken breast between us and then have lots of other vegetables/fruit/rice with it. Occasionally (like when we have salmon) we splurge and ramp up the meat, but the majority of the time, I try to cook with little meat.

*Cut the carbs - I also LOVE carbs (crackers, bread, etc.), so I'm constantly fighting a battle of moderation against them. I try to cut back excess carbs from our dinners like rolls, biscuits, garlic bread, jello side dishes, etc. Ramp up your vegetables and fruits rather than making rolls with your meals. And never double carb it up (i.e. potatoes and rolls in the same meal).

*Unclutter your vegetables - We eat mostly "raw" vegetables with our meals. By "raw" I don't mean uncooked, but I mean not adding butter, cream cheese, milk, sour cream, mayo, and other (nasty ;)) creamy things. We eat plain steamed potatoes, carrots, green beans, yams, broccoli, etc. Leave creamy (read: fatty) things like mashed potatoes, cheesy vegetable dishes, and funeral potatoes for the once in a great while special meals (once or maybe twice a month at most). Instead of adding butter on your vegetables, try lemon juice. It sounds strange, but it is DIVINE!!

*Cut the butter- Often, in recipes that use butter (cooking- not baking), I just add less butter to make things a little healthier.

*Substitute - Use substitutes for basics like "cream" soups (cream of chicken, cream of mushroom) that are fatty and loaded with MSG. I'll post more on this one in a few days.

*Use real foods in moderation - (Cousin) Anna said this and I thought it was pretty profound and smart! She talked about staying away from "diet foods" and fake foods - "low fat", "sugar-free", margarine, etc. It was quite a while ago that I read this, so I may not be quoting everything perfectly, but I believe she said that her basic philosophy was that if people were eating it a hundred years ago, you're good. Don't go for engineered, fake foods. Just eat real, whole foods in moderation. Like use butter rather than margarine because it's real. Just use butter in moderation.

So, there's a few things to try. Anyone else have tips they use to eat cook healthier?

Tip: How to make sticky rice

Well, I'm actually kind of stealing this from Christy because she is the one who finally taught me who to do this - much to Eric's relief and delight. No more dry rice for us. You all are much smarter than me, so you probably already knew this. But, just in case someone out there is in the dark like I was- here you go:

Add extra water.

That's it. :) I felt sheepish when I found out that's all you have to do. In my rice cooker, if I'm putting in a scoop and a half of rice, I fill it with water up to the "2 1/4" line. Does that makes sense. It cooks as usual, although I let it sit with the lid on and steam for longer while I finish the rest of my dinner preparations. Yum!

Coconut Shrimp

(The oil was a little hot to begin with, but they weren't burned so they still tasted good. I did some without coconut for Danny--but he liked the coconut ones better!!)

I made these two days ago for dinner and they were AWESOME. The only thing I might do differently is to butterfly the shrimp. You can google how to do that.

1 egg
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup beer (I used Coke, but you could use Sprite as well)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup flour
2 cups shredded or flaked coconut (shredded will get more on because it is longer)
24 shrimp with tails on(totally estimated here--we could have made probably half as much more with the amount of batter.
3 cups oil for frying

Combine egg, 1/2 cup flour, COKE, and baking powder.
Place 1/4 cup flour and coconut in separate bowls.
Hold shrimp by tails and cover in flour, shaking off excess, dip in batter letting the excess drip off, and press into the coconut until coated well. Place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (I think this is to set the batter so it isn't as runny).
When oil is heated to 350 degrees (medium), fry the shrimp turning once for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and put on paper towel to drain. Serve warm.

I didn't have a sauce handy (because this was kind-of spur of the moment), so I mixed these things and got a pretty good dipping sauce. No idea on the measurements though--you will have to do it to taste. It comes out a little runny.

mayo
cinnamon
nutmeg
cayenne pepper
salt
honey
pineapple juice

I know--sounds odd--but it seemed to work.

Pumpkin Waffles and Buttermilk Syrup

I have been shamed, and now I am repenting.
I don't have any pictures because there is no canned pumpkin in ANY stores here--apparently the crop last year was destroyed by rain so pumpkin will be scarce this year. Buy LOTS if it goes on sale!

Pumpkin Waffles
--From Whitney Steck

Mix:
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Then add:
4 egg yolks (save the whites)
1 cup pumpkin
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cups melted margarine (not butter)

Then:
beat 4 egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Cook on waffle iron. They will not get as crispy as normal waffles, but will brown slightly. Totally good reheated from the fridge if you have leftovers (or frozen and reheated as well).

Buttermilk Syrup

In a pan larger than you think you will need (this sometimes gets REALLY bubbly), bring to boil:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon corn syrup

Remove from heat and then add:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir until it settles.

It will keep in the fridge just like regular syrup.

Never say die!

Alright ladies, consider this your official bum-whooping. :)

Before Kristi moved to Florida, she and I had a little chat and decided that we weren't going to let this blog die. The agreement was that I would do my best to post some dinner entrees and she would post all her breakfasts of goodness recipes. (I smile just thinking about those pumpkin pancakes!)

I was going to try and start posting pictures with my recipes, but last night when I made the recipe that I'm going to post, I totally forgot. That might have had something to do with the fact that it was 8:45pm and I was just starting dinner (!) and because I had been wearing Lily in the backpack for like the past 3 hours straight and I was losing my mind due to fatigue and muscle strain. ;)

Pictures aren't required, but recipes/cooking tips, etc are. So get to it.

***************************

Here is the recipe for the Chicken and Vegetable Summer Stir-Fry we had last night. Originally, I didn't know exactly what I was going to make for dinner last night, but I had chicken thawed. And we had a bunch of vegetables from the garden sitting in our fridge that needed to be used - corn, bell peppers, tomatoes. I also had carrots in the fridge. Voila! Slice the vegetables and start the rice before you begin cooking and this is a pretty simple meal to put together.

Chicken and Vegetable Summer Stir-fry

-1 T vegetable oil

-2-3 cloves minced garlic

-1 T minced fresh ginger (I didn't have any fresh ginger on hand and used dried ginger powder)

-1 lb chicken, cut into strips

-1 medium onion, diced

-2 cups shredded or sliced carrots

-1 large green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into small strips

-2 ears of corn, with kernels shaved off

-1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

*** you can get creative and adapt this to your tastes/what you have in the fridge by substituting different vegetables: broccoli, sugar snap peas, red pepper, zucchini, etc.

-1/4 cup soy sauce

-2 tsp. corn starch

-1 cup chicken broth

Heat oil in wok or large skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add chicken and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add onions, carrots, and peppers and cook 1 minute. Add corn (or other vegetables, but not tomatoes yet!) and cook 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook 2 minutes, until vegetables are crisp tender.

Dissolve corn starch in chicken broth in a small bowl and then add to pan. Simmer two minutes, until sauce thickens. Add tomatoes just before removing from pan to bowl. Serve over rice.