Asian Fried Chicken

I made dinner for a friend the other night and I was feeling kind of at a loss as to what to do. Chicken is always a good affordable bet but I want to make it special and of course super tasty. This is the recipe I came up with and it was GOOD!

Asian fried Chicken
10 thin cut boneless skinless chicken breast
2 cups flour
2 T ground Ginger
1 1/2 T ground Nutmeg
1 T garlic powder
1 T corn starch
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T paprika
5 eggs
3 T water
1/2 inch veggie oil for frying

Heat the oil in frying pan. Combine flour and all the spices in a dish. Combine eggs and water to create an egg wash. designate one had your wet hand and one your dry (this makes you hands less likely to become globs of the flour and egg mixture) begin in the flour covering the chicken with the spiced flour mixture, then dip in the egg wash, then again in the flour, again in the egg wash and finally in the flour.  Place in the hot oil and fry for about 4-5 minutes per side till cooked completely through.

Honey soy glaze:
In a small sauce pot combine

1/2 c honey
4 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 scallion sliced
1 tsp pepper

Heat to simmer and allow to simmer for several minutes. Drizzle over the cooked chicken or on the side as a dipping sauce.

Chicken Bacon Pinwheels with a Garlic Cream Sauce

6 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled, reserve some of the grease
1 large shallot small diced
2 clove garlic minced
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
milk (as needed to thin sauce out)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Sliced Chives, garnish

saute the shallots and garlic in a bit of reserved bacon fat. Place in a bowl and add the bacon and cream cheese. Mix till well combined. Pound out the chicken breast till thin, and season each side with salt and pepper. Then spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture (you will have extra) over the chicken. Roll chicken up into a pinwheel and secure with a tooth pick. Saute the chicken in a bit of the reserved bacon fat until fully cooked. In a small sauce pan add remaining cream cheese mixture, add Parmesan cheese and enough milk to make a thin sauce.  Remove chicken from pan and allow to rest 5 minutes. Remove the tooth picks and then slice, drizzle the sauce over the chicken and finish with the chives, serve hot and enjoy!

Green Chili Enchiladas are currently one of my favorite things...I don't know if it the sauce or the cream cheese I put in the filling or what but man oh man they are SO good!  Here's what I do:

makes about 24

5-6 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1 T cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 T veggie oil
1 onion, diced
1 T minced garlic
1 can diced green chillies
1 pkg cream cheese
24 flour tortillas( you can use corn but I prefer flour)
1 large can green chili enchilada sauce of choice
1 lb grated Monterrey Jack cheese

Toss the chicken in the Garlic onion, cumin, salt pepper, pepper flakes and oil. Place on a baking tray and bake at 350` till cooked through. Set aside to cool and rest. In a large pan, saute the onions and garlic till golden. Add the green chilies and cream cheese. Stir to allow the cream cheese to melt completely. Dice the cooled chicken into small cubes. Add chicken to the cream cheese mixture and mix well. Scoop into flour tortillas and roll, place on tray. Top with the canned enchilada sauce and then top with cheese. Bake at 350` for about an hour, serve hot with rice and beans on the side!

Chicken and noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce

This is going to be our dinner tonight! Chicken and Noodles with a Thai Peanut Sauce. My hopes are that my kids will hear peanut Butter and noodles and chicken and will not only try it but love it as well!
Here is the recipe and I'll have to post latter how it went over :)
3 T plus 1 tsp soy sauce
2 T plus 2 tsp lime juice
1 T plus 1 T cooking oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 lb spaghetti
3 scallions

In a medium bowl marinate the chicken with 3 T soy, 2 T lime juice and 1 T oil, garlic and ginger. Coat chicken well and marinate for at least ten minutes. In a sauce pan combine the remaining soy, lime. Add the peanut butter, broth, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes. Remove chicken from marinade and add marinade to the other ingredients in the sauce pan. Bring to a high simmer and whisk till smooth. Heat a grill pan and grill the chicken till cooked. Cook the pasta till al dente. add remaining oil to a frying pan, add the cooked chicken  and pasta and sauce. Add the scallions and toss well. Serve hot.

Tuscany White Bean and Chicken Pasta

This was our dinner last night and super easy and tasty

3 Boneless skinless chicken breast
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 squeeze anchovy paste (you may think you don't like anchovies but really you do...the paste is great cause then you don't have to touch  them)
1/2 onion diced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can white beans
1 pkg penne pasta
3 T prepared pesto
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and saute in some olive oil till cooked, remove from pan and let rest. Add the onions and garlic and anchovy paste to the pan, cook till soft and paste is melted. Add tomatoes and beans and pesto. Meanwhile cook pasta till al dente. Slice chicken and add to the beans and tomatoes. Season to taste. Add pasta and toss well, add Parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread.

Wow, it has been over a month since I posted last and I swear, I've been cooking pretty much every night...it's just been crazy. I'm seeing a preview of what my life will be like sooner rather than later, with all five of the kids being in school and sports and activities...and we are still only in kindergarten and preschool! Ahhhh! Oh well, we are very blessed. Here is what I made for dinner last night and I liked it, my kids didn't eat much of it but that really doesn't say much as they are picking eaters regardless of what I make!
Growing up my mom would make us chicken roll, I don't remember what all it had in it other than cream cheese and chicken and you dip it in cream of chicken soup although I'm sure I have her recipe...somewhere. Anyhow, well talking to my sister Jessica the other day and she said they had chicken roll the other night and when she said it it sounded so good...so I decided to make it, but I wanted to desperately use up some of the things in my fridge so I made my own version...
Italian Chicken Roll:
1/2 batch Never Fail Dinner Rolls found here http://simplehomegourmet.blogspot.com/2010/06/never-fail-dinner-rolls.html
1 pkg cream cheese softened
4 boneless skinless chicken breast marinated in Italian dressing seasoned with salt and pepper then grilled and sliced
1/4 cup pesto
2 T sun dried tomatoes, dice small
1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
salt and pepper to taste
egg wash
Alfredo or marinara for dipping(heated through)

Roll out the dough to a large rectangle. In a bowl combine the pesto, sun dried tomatoes and cream cheese, spread onto the center of the dough leaving about three inches on each side. Top with the cooked sliced chicken, top with the cheeses season with salt and pepper. Cut 1 in slices in the dough on the long sides of the rectangle leaving the ends in tack. fold ends over then weave or braid the strips of dough over the end pieces, creating a braided loaf. Coat with egg wash and sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese if desired. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until golden brown and bread is cooked through. Serve with warm marinara or Alfredo for dipping.  Enjoy!

Made this for dinner lastnight and Darwin said he would be happy if I made this meal once a week, and the kids ate it so I guess it is a keeper! It was pretty good. Now you might have noticed that I seem to always change at least something to each recipe I find. I always like to change it a bit to make it my own, so I did switch it up alittle bit, added a few more seasonings, Here is the link to the orginal recipe http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2011/10/crispy-cheddar-chicken.html But this is what I did...

Chicken:
8 large chicken breasts

2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder 

2 C milk
1 tsp cayenne
1tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 T garlic powder

4 C cheddar cheese, grated
fresh parsley
Sauce:
1 14 ounce can cream of chicken soup
4 T sour cream
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley
1/4 tsp thyme
Milk as needed to thin out sauce

Combine the Milk, with the cayenne, salt, pepper and garlic powder for about a half hour. place ritz crackers in a food processor and pluse till fine, add salt, pepper, garlic and onion. In another dish combine the cheese and parsley. Remove the chicken from the milk and place into the cheese, pat cheese on each side, then coat with the ritz crackers, and place on a baking sheet. Bake the chicken at 350` for about 40 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked. Meanwhile prepare the sauce, in a sauce pot combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer. Season as needed with salt and pepper and if you want a thinner sauce as as much milk as needed. Top the chicken with the sauce.





Then this is a picture of the wedding cake I did for Devin and Emily's wedding, that was the day before I had Carter....the top three layers are a combo of styrofoam and rice crispy treats....They ordered sheet cakes for the rest of the the guest and the wedding cake was just to serve the wedding party...I won't do that one again. Working with the styrofoam was such a pain! Thank heaven's for my Dear friend Michelle who was a life saver and helped SO much with this cake, not only did she provide me with a house to do the cake in but she did so much as my large baby belly continued to get in the way. For future reference I will NOT do wedding cakes when I'm nine months pregnant! overall it turned out good, however this picture shows the bottom teir strip is not level and I must admit as I look at it even now it is DRIVING ME NUTS! oh well. I just got hired to do my first cake in Lakeview too, a wedding in December, with cake to serve 100, buttercream and simple decorations, should be great!

Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta

It has been SO hot lately I dread cooking, I now strange huh? Normally I love it and Look forward to making dinner...perhaps it is my growing belly that is making me miserably hot or the fact that my house doesn't cool off the way I would like it to...whatever it is my inspiration to cook has vanished. Plus the summer is supposed to be full of BBQ dinners...our BBQ isn't working. I think something must have gotten disconnected in the move because I can't get it hotter than 200`...alas the minimal cooking dinners.
I really didn't want the oven on so I decided to make a pasta dish and it was SO yummy!  Here is the recipe and let me tell you it is a GOOD ONE!

4 boneless skinless Chicken breast
2 T minced garlic divided
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
bunch of fresh basil + 1 T fresh basil minced
3 T olive oil
1/4 onion
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 box penne pasta, cooked al dente

Heat a bit of oil in a saute pan and add the garlic and 1 T basil, add the chicken and cook till complete. Set aside.
In a food processor or blender make the pesto. Add the tomatoes, bunch of basil, remaing garlic, onion, cheese and oil. Blend well, if too dry add more oil if too wet you can add more tomato, basil or onion. Season with salt and pepper. Slice the chicken breast, and add to the hot cooked pasta. Add pesto and toss well. Toss with a bit more cheese if liked and serve hot.
Simple easy and so good!

Creamy Potato and Bacon soup

found this recipe, tweeked it a bit and it was tasty!

Thick and Creamy Potato Bacon Soup


Ingredients:

•1/2 lb (1/2 package) thick cut pepper bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped

•2 – 3 tbsp. Bacon drippings

•1 large onion, chopped

•4 cloves garlic, minced

•5 lbs. russet or red potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes

•32 oz. chicken stock (approximate)

•1/2 pint heavy cream

•1/8 lb (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

•Salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon using preferred method until crisp. (I bake thick cut bacon on a cooling rack over a sheet pan so that it remains flat). Allow to cool and chop or crumble into small pieces. Reserve several tablespoons of drippings. (add more bacon drippings if onions look dry. This will depend on the size of your pot and particular onion.)


Place a large soup pot or heavy casserole over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp. bacon drippings and cook onions, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes, stirring often.

Add potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally for a few minutes. When everything is sizzling nicely, add enough stock to just cover potatoes. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender.

Mash potatoes roughly with a potato masher. Scoop out about half of the remaining mixture and puree in a blender (in batches!) or food processor. (Or if you’ve got an immersion blender, go for it with that.) Make sure to leave a good bit of the potatoes chunky, for texture.

Add butter and heavy cream. Stir to combine well. Taste for seasoning and add more stock if soup is too thick for your liking. When the consistency is right for you, stir in bacon and bring to just a bare simmer, stirring often.

Serve hot. Garnish with additional crumbled bacon and some chives or green onions.

*things I did differently, I put half the bacon in as I pureed half the soup, and I used milk instead of cream. I also served with grated cheese. It was yummy!

Alfredo anyone??

So I made this super yummy and way easy alfredo sauce tonight and it turned out really good. I had leftover shrimp and chicken from the other night and really didn't want to cook something new so I just made this sauce and cooked up some noodles and whala a whole new meal!

Alfredo sauce:

1/4 cup flour
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 garlic cloves minced
1 onion peeled and cut in half, core still attached
3 cups milk
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
salt and white pepper to taste

Melt the butter and oil and saute the garlic and add the split onion, add the flour and cook your roux for about a minute, add the milk, bring to a boil to thicken, if too thick add more milk. Add cream cheese and Romano cheese, reduce to a simmer. Season to taste and remove onion. Supper simple and ooooooo so YUMMY!

My sister Jessica

I always seem to be emotional around the holidays especially when I know I'm not going to be with my family. Having my grandmother recently hasn't help and we also found out Darwin didn't get a job we really felt he was going to get. So keeping with my emotional state and sentimental feelings of late, here is a recipe and post about an example in my life. My sister Jessica. Now don't get me wrong all of my sisters are amazing examples to me... but I'm pretty sure Jessica is the only one that cooks and this is a cooking blog so... :) I love you Laura, Miranda and Jana! Jessica is incredible and I look up to her so very much. She is the mother of five active kids and still manages to keep the house in order the kids in order and still look amazing and stylish. She has given me many encouraging talks and words of wisdom. She has always been there for me. This past weekend at my grandmother's funeral I was going through some of her photos and found pictures of her and I playing the leaves. I wish we were closer to each other so I could get pictures of our children playing together. She is a great example to me of what a good wife and mother and member of the Church is and I pray that I can someday be as wonderful as she is. I love you Jessica! This is a recipe she sent me. I haven't tried it yet but it sure sounds Delicious.

1 cup Catalina dressing

1 can cranberry sauce or 1 cup prepared cranberries

1 pkg Lipton soup mix

chicken breast

Combine and cover over top of the chicken breast. Bake at 350` for 1 hour. Serve hot over brown or long grain rice, with the extra sauce.

Mexican Pork Soup

Here's what's for dinner tonight. After a week of the stomach flu, head colds we can't seem to shake and the impending winter weather, I feel like soup tonight! I'm going to use the left over pork from my slow roaster I did last week.

1 T olive oil
1 lb of left over roast pork
1 onion small diced
1 small can green chiles, diced
2 T garlic, minced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans
2 tsp ground cumin
1 box chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup frozen corn
season to taste

Start by sauting the garlic and onion then add the pork and beans. Cook till onions are translucent, then add tomatoes and green chiles and cumin. Add stock and allow to simmer for at least one hour. Add corn about 10 minutes before service. Season to taste and serve with cilantro, sour cream and cheese and tortilla chips.

I'm excited it should be yummy!

I'm Back!!

Alright after being gone for so long and all the traveling and to add sick kids on top of it... I never thought I would be so happy to be back in Burns but I am!!! Now we are just trying to get back to the swing of things and back on schedule! We will get there I'm sure... This is a recipe I made yesterday but am eating it today... My dear friend Michelle, surprised me and made me dinner last night since I haven't been feeling well, little did she know I had dinner in the crockpot. So we will be enjoying that tonight.

Slow Cooker Pork Loin Roast

2-3 lb Pork Loin Roast fat trimmed
2 Tbsp Dijion Mustard
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp tarragon
1 meduim onion sliced
2 cups beef broth
1 tsp garlic minced
1 apple sliced

Place Apple and Onions on the bottom of the slow cooker. Coat the pork in the mustard and coat with an even coating of all the seasonings. place in slow cooker, add broth and cook on low for 3-4 hours till completly cooked and tender.

Chicken Cordon Blue

My parents and two younger sisters are coming for a visit and wanted to make something yummy for them. Darwin suggested Chicken Cordon Blue, so it is. I love this it is super yummy!

Chicken Cordon Blue

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 slices of ham
4 slices of Swiss cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp poultry seasoning

Season bread crumbs with garlic, onion, poultry seasoning, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Whisk up eggs in seperate dish, and place flour in a seperate dish as well for the breading. Take chicken breast and either butterfly or pound out thin. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. place a slice of ham and swiss cheese in the middle and roll chicken up. Create a little package filled with goodness. You can use tooth picks to keep it shut if needed. Now for breading, keep one hand for the dry indgredients and one hand wet. place the chicken in the flour and coat, then into the eggs and then in the bread crumbs. Place on a greased baking sheet and top with a dollop of butter. Bake for about 45 minutes until completely cooked through. Serve hot.

Baja Lasagna

This is a recipe that I did in school. It is super yummy and I haven't made it in forever! I think that I might have to make it this week!

20 small corn tortillas
2 T oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion small diced
1 lb pork shredded
40 oz tomato sauce
1 T cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper*
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups refried beans
8 oz green chile chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese grated

grease the 12 ramkins with oil and cut out rounds of tortilla that fit the ramkins.** Saute the garlic and onion in 1 T oil, add the shredded pork. Cook for about 5 minutes. combine the tomato sauce, salt and pepper and green chile, cumin and cayenne and simmer for about ten minutes. Layer the tortilla with the pork mixture and top with cheese and another layer of tortilla, then top that layer with refried beans and cheese then another tortilla. Rotate pork and beans everyother layer. Bake at 350` for about 15 minutes. Use a knoife around the edges and flip out of the ramkin onto the serving platter. Serve hot with a corn and black bean salsa, or rice with chips.

*add more or less depending on your preference of heat, or you could sub jalapenos for the green chiles
** If you don't want to do individuals you could just make this in one dish like a traditional lasagna and it would take less time to prep.

Sweet and sour Chicken

We really enjoy chinese food so I decided to take a stab at making it from home and oh my was it yummy! We served it with some fried rice!

Chicken:
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” cubes)
Flour to coat
4 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Oil for frying
Toss the chicken in flour then in the yolks and soy sauce then again in the flour. Deep fry till completely cooked. Remove from oil and season with salt.

Sweet and Sour sauce:
1 can pineapple chunks (reserve juice for sauce)
1/2cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Combine all ingredients except for corn starch. taste and adjust sourness or sweetness to your liking. Bring to a boil then add corn starch to thicken. toss chicken in sauce nad serve over rice.

Spicy Grill Rub

Sorry it has been while, between end of the school year, beginning of summer things, Darwin's work and a trip to Colorado, we've been really busy. Not to mention the eye appointments, broken leg and me being in the hospital for cysts. Oh well. Well since it is getting to be summer time I figured I put on a spice rub that is great on anything from chicken to ribs to steak and shrimp. Also is a spicy BBQ sauce that is great to coat everything with or to put on corn on the cob. Beware though it is spicy! You can adjust it easily enough for your liking though!

Spicy Grill Rub

1 T cayenne pepper
2T garlic powder
2T onion powder
2T paprika
1T crushed red pepper flakes
1T chilli powder
1 T salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin

combine all ingredents and rub down your choice of meat, coat with spicy BBQ sauce and grill serve with reserve sauce.

Spicy BBQ sauce

1 cup prepared BBQ sauce
2T prepared hot sauce

combine, and serve.

Chicken Enchiladas

One of Darwin's favorite is Chicken enchiladas. I love how easily you can adjust them to your preferences. We like ours with a red sauce and floour tortillas, but you could easily switch it to corn and green sauce.

Flour Tortillas
8 chicken breast
2 T cumin
2 T garlic powder
3 T onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper*
1 lg can red enchilada sauce
1 large onion diced
2 T garlic
1 can diced green chiles
grated cheddar cheese

toss the chicken in garlic powder, cumin, onion powder, and cayenne. Place on baking sheet and roast till cooked through. Set aside to cool. In a saute pan, cook the diced onion and garlic and green chiles. Dice ore shred the chicken and then add to the onions and chiles. toss to combine. Add a few tablespoons of the enchilada sauce to moisten the chicken. Fill and roll the tortillas and place in dish. Top with the remaining sauce and then top with the shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes and serve hot.
*More or Less for you heat preference

Chicken Pesto Pasta

On my trip to Vegas my friend Kari made this for me, which for Kari is a big deal. Growing up she was never much of a cook, but now that she married she has grown emensly in that department! I liked it enough that I'm adding it to my blog and tweeking it just a bit.

1/2 cup prepared pesto
1/4 water
1 onion diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, diced
3 chicken breast
1 tsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg penne pasta
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated

Start the pasta and cook till al dente. set aside. In a saute pan, add a bit of olive oil and saute the garlic and onions. Carmelize slightly, add the chicken breast with the parsley and salt and pepper. allow chicken to get golden brown and cooked through. In a smaller pan heat the pesto and the water to make a thin sauce. When the chicken is completely cooked, shred with forks add to the pasta, add the tomatoes and then the thin pesto sauce. Toss till coated and serve hot top with Romano cheese. Serve with rolls and a salad.

Long time no cook...

Sorry it has been awhile since I last posted. My mom came for a visit and we were busying visiting and painting Emery's room. Then I just got beck from a weekend in Vegas to visit a friend. I have a tri tip roast that I'm going to make for dinner tonight and I wanted to do something different than the regular meat and potatoes roast. I've made this befor with skirt steak and a different marinade but we are going to do it with this marninade and tri tip. Should be yummy!

For the trip tip:
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1 (2 1/2 pound) beef tri-tip roast

Rub all over the tri tip and allow to sit for a few hours in the fridge. Broil, roast or grill the tri tip till cooked to your desired doneness, usually about 40 minutes. Allow to rest and then slice against the grain.

1 loaf crusty french bread, thinnly sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup calamata olives, chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
1 T garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 T olive oil
1 cup mozzrella cheese, grated
3 T fresh Basil, chopped

Combine all bruschetta ingredients. Toast the sliced french bread in oven till they are light brown and crunchy. Top with a slice of the tri tip, then the tomatoe mixture then top with cheese. Melt cheese on top with broiler and serve hot.