Chili Casserole December 14, 2009

I haven’t made a casserole yet, so I decided it was the perfect time! I also decided to use beef, since I haven’t done too much with beef so far.

Ingrediants:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can chili

1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice

1/4 cup taco sauce

1 (15 ounce) can corn

1 (8 ounce) package egg noodles

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute the beef and onion for 5 to 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain fat. Add the celery, chili, tomatoes, taco sauce and corn. Heat thoroughly, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer. Meanwhile, prepare the noodles according to package directions. When cooked, place them in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Pour the meat mixture over the noodles, stirring well. Top with the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted and bubbly.

This was a decent recipe. It probably is not one of the healthiest recipes that I have cooked. But hey, it’s the end of the semester! I would defiantly make a salad as a side to this, so I could get my veggies in for the day. It took a decent amount of time to cook. It did have a good taste and texture to it. Although, it’s just my dad and I living in my house, we had way too many leftovers with this recipe. I would recommend it though!

Chicken and Rice Soup December 14, 2009

I once again decided to make my favorite soup! It was so cold out this weekend. I needed something warm. I have never made chicken and rice soup, so I tried it!

ingredients:

1  cup  uncooked quick-cooking wild rice

Cooking spray

1  cup  chopped onion

2  garlic cloves, minced

3  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2  cups  cubed peeled baking potato

3  cups  2% reduced-fat milk

1/3  cup  all-purpose flour

10  ounce  light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)

2  cups  chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)

1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

1/4  teaspoon  salt

1/4  cup  chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Recipe:                                                                                                                              

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender.

Combine milk and flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in rice, chicken, pepper, and salt. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

I liked this soup a lot. It was tasteful! My dad also said he enjoyed the flavors of the soup. It was a great soup for a chilly night. I have thought about adding some celery and carrots to it next time for a little more nutritional value.

Chicken Cutlet December 10, 2009

Easy Easy Peanut Butter Cookies December 8, 2009

Since the holiday season is rapidly approaching (YIKES!), I decided to make some traditional Christmas cookies. I found this recipe on easy-cookies.com. I couldn’t believe how easy they were  to make. With all the work of the end of the semester and all my holiday shopping, this recipe is a huge time saver.

Recipe

• 1 cup peanut butter                                                                            
• 1/2 sugar
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 325*  Mix everything together until well blended.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Roll into 18 balls.  Place 2″ apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten each ball in a criss-cross pattern with a fork.  Bake for 18 minutes.  Cool.

                                                                                                                                                        

Instead of doing the criss-cross pattern, I pushed a Hershey’s kiss into the center of each cookie as soon as they came out of the oven to make the infamous Peanut butter blossoms. Chocolate and peanut butter! Yum.

These were very good cookies. But I am mostly amazed at how easy they were to make.

Chicken Cutlets December 8, 2009

This is a recipe that I found a couple of years ago and I have just memorized the simple ingredients. It’s an American favorite and easy to make.

Recipe

• 3-4Chicken breasts
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• bread crumbs
• olive oil
• pepper
• salt

Beat (I guess that’s the right word???) the chicken breasts with rolling-pin or mallet, in till quarter of an inch thick. Add the 2 tablespoon of milk to egg and beat. Dip the chicken into the egg and milk mixture and make sure the chicken is completely covered. In large plastic bag mix the bread crumbs, salt, pepper. Put the chicken in the bag. Make sure to ziplock the bag and shake to cover the chicken in bread crumbs. Heat oil in a skillet. Add breaded chicken and cook for a couple minutes on each side until the center is no longer pink. 

When I made this recipe there was a lot of smoke. I didn’t burn it though. Apparently, our alarm system is connected to our fire detectors and when the detector went off the alarm went off and the fire department was immediately called. Two minutes later a police man, and Fire Chief were at my house. awesome! I looked like the biggest dumbass. Moral of the story: put on a fan and open the windows! 

I forgot to take a picture because of all the drama with the fire company. It really wasn’t burnt. My dad and I ate the chicken and it was delicious!!!!

Chicken Stir Fry December 2, 2009

I made this recipe up last minute. In the morning I put some chicken breasts in a plastic zip loc baggy with some Asian Stir Fry Sauce. I let that marinade for a couple hours. I think this is a really easy idea that anyone can take and make their own. Vegetarians could use tofu or beef eaters could use beef instead of chicken.

Recipe:

• 2-3 chicken breasts                        
• Asian stiry fry sauce-amount to taste
• half red pepper
• half cup broccli
• half cup carrots
• half cup onion
• extra virgin olive oil

Chop all the veggies. Heat the oil and add the chicken. After 5 minutes or so add broccoli. Stir every minute or so and put lid on.  Then add the rest of the veggies and the sauce. Cook with lid on and continue stirring until chicken is cooked and veggies and tender. Serve over rice.

I really like this recipe. It’s really easy and all the ingrediants are staple foods in my house, so it’s a great last minute meal. It definatly gives you more than one serving of veggies and protein. The sauce is high in sodium, but if you use it in moderation I don’t think it will do too much harm.