It don't get more realistic than this...

Tonight we had hamburger helper - oh yeah you heard me right - little miss cook made dinner from a box! Aside from being overly salty for me, it was tasty and quick and filling. And the one cup serving was more than enough for me with the fresh asparagus - I mean come on we had to class up the HH some how.

Chicken with Currant-Pine Nut Risotto

This is a WW recipe - I started back on program this week so I'm trying to make point conscious meals.

This was a little long to make but so worth it with the taste of the meal.

Ingredients
3 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 T olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine or sherry
1/4 cup currants - we used golen raisin instead
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. salt
4 lemon wedges

1. Prepare the risotto by bringing the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat and keep at a simmer.
2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. add the onion and cook, stirring until soft - 3-5 minutes. Add the rice and cook untily lightly toasted about 3 minutes.
3. Add the wine and half cup of the stock to the rice mixture. Cook, stirring until the liquid is absorbed then add another half cup of the liquid. continue with this until all of the liquid is used and absorbed. about 25 minutes. Stir in pine nuts, currants, parsley and pepper.
4. Sprinkle chicken with lemon zsest and salt. Spray a nonstick skillet with pam and set over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned and just cooked through - about 5 minutes on each side. We sliced the chicken into thin strips instead of using the whole breasts so it would cook faster.
Serve with lemon wedge and spritz the lemon on the risotto and chicken.

1 chicken breast and 1 cup of risotto is 10 WW points.
486 calories
12 g fat
2 g sat. fat
62 mg cholesterol
403 mg of sodium
60g carbs
3 g fiber
33 g protein

Dorrito Chicken

We made this the other week for dinner and it was out of this world tasty! I got the recipe from Southern Living's Easy Weeknight Favorites, but they called it Nacho Chicken, we liked Dorito Chicken.

I made some adaptations and I'm posting the recipe as I made it.

1 Egg + 1 T water

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup crushed baked Doritos - I put them in the mini chopper

Spray a baking pan with pam

Preheat oven to 350

Dip chicken in Egg wash and coat in Doritos

Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

It didn't taste like you were eating Doritos, it just tasted nacho cheesy.

I bet this would make great chicken fingers!

Baked Macaroni with Spinach

I found this on myrecipes.com - I love this site, it's pulling all recipes from the conde nast publications. Adam and I made this together last night, it was a little labor intensive, but was so worth it.

Baked Macaroni with Spinach

Ingredients

8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked object
1 teaspoon vegetable oil object - I omitted this
1 pound broccoli, cut into flowerets
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided - we omitted this
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons butter or margarine - we omitted this for Pam
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 (8-ounce) packages mushrooms, quartered
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp white Cheddar cheese, divided - I added a little extra cheese for the top.
1 cup whipping cream - I tried to use light but couldn't find it.
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation
Toss macaroni with vegetable oil in a large bowl. (again we skipped this - I sprayed the pan with Pam instead)
Cook broccoli with 1 teaspoon salt in boiling water to cover 2 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain. Add broccoli and spinach to macaroni in bowl.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; add onion, and sauté until tender. Add mushrooms; cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle with flour, stirring until blended. Gradually stir in milk; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 15 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, whipping cream, pepper, and nutmeg, stirring until cheese melts. Stir into macaroni mixture; spoon into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until set.

Yield
8 to 10 servings - we used 6 servings.

This was incredible, we served it with a caprese salad that we enjoyed while it was baking. One serving really was enough.

Product Rave!

My friend hosted a Tastefully Simple party the other week and I decided to go - I mean yes I sold the stuff but never experienced a party. The girl doing the party was my friend Alicia who took over my business from me.

Well, I knew I couldn't buy too much - we still have a basement full of samples, so adam and I agreed only NEW products that were good.

OH MY GOD the Tangy Thai Peanut Sauce is KILLER! The bottle is almost gone and we just opened it this week - thank gosh we have a second! If you like Peanut Sauce on chicken, pork, noodles, this is incredible!

You can order from my friend alicia at
http://www.tastefullysimple.com/Cultures/en-US/default.htm

Warm Potato and Sausage Salad

From Southern Living's Easy Weeknight Favorites.

I've been dying to make this for a long time and finally bit the bullet. Adam and I loved it, we raved about it all night, and I had some of the leftovers for breakfast this morning. This is so going to be our new way of eating sausage and potatoes.


3 pounds of potatoes - I used red and sweet mixed
1 pound of keilbasa - we used Turkey
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 T dijon Mustard
1/2 cup kosher dill pickle relish (we didn't have any so I just diced up some kosher pickles)
4 green onions sliced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves chopped
salt and pepper to taste (I only salted the water for boiling and I used about 1 T of cracked black pepper in the dressing)

Peel sweet potatoes and dice all potatoes and boil in salted water until just tender. Drain and place in bowl.

Slice sausage and heat in skillet until brown and warm.

In a large mixing cup mix the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, pickle relish, onion, garlic, and herbs.

Place sausage in bowl with potatoes.

Toss dressing over potato/sausage mixture.

Serve Warm.

Baked Seasoned Tomatoes

Last night we had delicious burgers from Omaha Steaks (Thanks Katie for the gift card!!!), Tater Tots and I decided to use up a large portion of the tomatoes from the garden on baked tomatoes. I sorta made it up but loosely based on some recipes I found online. It was the highlight of our dinner and tonight we're re-using the rest with rotini.



In a bowl mix 1 cup of bread crumbs, italian seasonings, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Slice tomatoes into thick slices - don't use top part or bottom and don't core. Place a layer in a glass baking dish - drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and spread some of the topping on. repeat layers - we did 3 and it was perfect! Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Increase to 425 until golden brown - about 5 minutes



When it came out of the oven. I put some fresh shredded parmesan on top and returned to oven to melt.

Baked Pork Chops and Apples

This was a throw together dinner that came out so good!

Steamed broccoli
Rice Pilaf with cranberries and almonds
Pork Chops with Apples and fall spices

Season pork chops with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger.
Top with sliced apples. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until chops are done.

Help! There's a Lamb Chop on my plate!

Yesterday, I got home from Albany and Adam and I headed to the market - it was so great for us both to have a random Tuesday off - we love those days!

Nothing was defrosted, so dinner was something from the market. None of the fish looked great - so we figured we do steaks - but they didn't look so hot either - so we ended up with lamb.

This is my standard lamb marinade

Place lamb chops in ziplock bag
Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 cup water, salt, pepper, 1 T each of dried thyme, rosemary. 2 tsp. garlic powder and onion powder, 1 T lemon juice. Let marinade in fridge until ready to grill.

Tasty goodness on my plate and in my belly

Dinner was served with herb boiled potatoes and spaghetti squash.

Mmm... Good Eats!

I made a roasted chicken tonight so adam could have leftovers while I'm gone the next two nights - and it was SO good. The whole meal was awesome with subtle fall flavored undertones.

Rice Pilaf
I just used a bagged mix of Carolina Rice Pilaf and added dried cherries while it cooked. Once it was done I added some slivered almonds. So tasty!

Steamed Asparagus

Orange and Honey Roasted Chicken

Take roasting chicken and remove giblet bag. Place on rack in a roasting pan.

In a mixing cup combine 2 tsp of salt and pepper, 1 T of cumin, a tsp. of garlic powder and half a T of cinnamon. Then add the zest of one orange and 1/4 cup of honey. Cut the orange in quarters, squeeze juice of 1/4 in the measuring cup and place remaining pieces in the cavity of the chicken. Stir mixture and pour over chicken and rub it into the bird.

Bake at 375 for approx. 1 hour based on size of the bird. Tent with foil or lid when bird gets crispy.

ENJOY!

Potato....

The most versitile food on the planet - and I'm a firm believer in that. Stuff em, shredd em, dice, slice, cube, fry, bake, mash, suatee, roast. You name it, you can do it! And it's a great source of nutrients!

Adam and I both had to work late last night so I got out some leftover taco meat I had put in the freezer a few weeks ago. We had the meat inside baked potatoes, done in the microwave, and topped with fresh tomato from the garden and shredded cheese. Great quick dinner and filling.

Grilled Ham & Apples

Last nights dinner was so TASTY! From Southern Living Easy Weeknight Favorites.

1/2 cup orange marmalade (I used Apricot)

2 tsp. butter

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Cooking Spray

2 ham slices

4 small apples cored and cut into rings

I used my indoor grill pan instead of the outdoor grill.

Combine first 3 ingredients in measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute. I added a dash of cinnamon here. I also did this on the stove top in a small pot.

Coat grill pan or rack with cooking spray. Place ham and apples on grill and baste with the marmalade mixture. I did the apples first then the ham. I also seasoned the ham with cinnamon and ground cloves as well as the glaze.

Served with sweet potatoes and zucchini - great dinner! I used the Morel ham steaks - 2 to a pack..

Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

2 out of 4 stars

It was an OK dinner - the taste was just a little strange and we both like mustard. I think had I used the whipping cream the sauce would have been better than with milk. I also think this would be better with a breaded chicken breast instead of just pan fried with the mustard on it.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to 1/4 inch thick
2 T dijon mustard
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup white wine
2 T olive oil
salt
pepper
2 tsp dijon mustard

Pound chicken out and season with salt and pepper. Coat each side with the 2 T of dijon mustard. Heat oil in a skillet and pan fry the chicken until the juices run clear. Remove from pan. In same pan add wine and scrape up bits, add whipping cream and 2 tsp. of dijon mustard. Season with pepper. Stir until thickened. Serve sauce over chicken.

Again I think had you done the mustard and then coated the chicken in some breadding it would have held the sauce better. I used sherry as well as white wine and I think the wine would have been MUCH better with it. May try again with the changes.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

We had this at our friend's house this weekend and it was TO DIE FOR GOOD! Very sweet so be prepared.

Pumpkin Pie Dip
Makes 3 cups
5 min prep
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin (pumpkin pie filling)- I prefer the plain pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2-1 teaspoon ground ginger (instead of cinnamon and ginger you can just use pumpkin pie spice)
apples, slices
gingersnaps
Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add pie filling, cinnamon, and ginger, beating well. Cover and chill 8 hours. Serve with gingersnaps and apple slices.

Menu for week of October 1

Sunday: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Monday: Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce from Southern Living
Tuesday: Out - IMAX Night
Wednesday: Crock Pot - Cincinnatti Chili
Thursday: Leftover Chili
Friday: Shake and Bake Pork Chops, Gravy and Mashed potatoes
Saturday: Surf and Turf Sandwhiches

Pizza Night

So Adam and I truly enjoy pizza - good unique pizza. So last night - after 3 nights of trying - we finally made the BBQ Chicken Pizza I had on the docket for the week.

We are so lucky that our market sells fresh dough from the local pizza places so we love to use that - and it's cheap!

Here's what we did:

1 ball fresh pizza dough
1 tub lloyds bb1 chicken
1/2 red onion sliced thin
1 small can Dole pineapple tidbits drained
1 bag sargento pizza cheese

Roll and stretch out your pizza crust and place on sheet. We have a pizza sheet pan that has holes at the bottom so that the crust gets super crunchy - best investment we've ever made! Brush some olive oil on the crust. Place tub of BBQ chicken mix over crust, spreading out all over. Sprinkle with onion and pineapple and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Such a good, filling dinner. Too bad I forgot to get a picture.

We decided we're going to try and have pizza night one night a week.