pita chicken

Wow, it's been a long time since anyone posted on this blog! I've been meaning to post some recipes for my sisters, so I figured I should just post them here instead of duplicating things all over the place. I've tried a few other recipes on this blog - I LOVE the summer squash pasta that Tiana posted back in April. I've made it 2 or 3 times this summer.

This is a really yummy dinner that we had last night - I got the recipe from allrecipes.com here.

2 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 tbl olive oil
1/4 tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
1/4 cup salsa
pita bread
tomato sliced
avocado sliced
sour cream

Heat the olive oil, and cook the chicken strips. Just before it's done, sprinkle with the spices and add the salsa until it's all heated through and the liquid from the salsa cooks out a bit.

Put chicken/salsa in the pita, top with tomato and avocado slices, and sour cream. Eat.

You can of course add any other tex-mex toppings you like, like olives or lettuce or something. We had it with just tomato and avocado, and it certainly didn't seem lacking to us.

I didn't measure the spices - just sprinkled them over the chicken. Go super light on the cayenne unless you like things spicy. I like the kick, but my kids don't so they didn't eat much. I didn't measure the salsa either - just put it in until it was a balance that I liked.

Noodle Bowls

First of all...credit for this goes to my friend Rachel. She posted it on her blog but I loved it so much that I asked her if I could put it on our food blog for you all to enjoy. Secondly...just a note that I used totally different vegetables and chicken instead of beef so you can pretty much prepare it with whatever you have on hand. The sauce is what makes it. Yummy.



8 oz. linguine, uncooked
3 cups broccoli florets
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)
2 tsp. veggie oil
1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli and carrots to the cooking water for the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking time. Drain pasta mix. Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Add meat; cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. (I barbecue mine then continue the recipe!) Stir in dressing, teriyaki sauce and ginger; cook until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Toss pasta and meat/sauce in large serving bowl. I also add 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts for some crunch! This serves 4, so for larger families...may need to double!

Vietnamese Pho Soup

Aaron was hungry for this the other day and searched online for a recipe. It was so filling and delicious!

This is a popular soup in Vietnam, pronounced "FO". Granted the recipe calls for things you may not have already in your pantry, but Aaron thought that it wasn't that difficult to make. He wasn't strict on the measurements, and just kind of went by if it smelt good and right. : )

Basically you bring the broth to a boil and then simmer it for 30 mins. Meanwhile you can soak the rice noodles for 10 mins. Then cook them according to package directions, rinse and set them aside. Slice the scallions, onions, peppers, cilantro and place with other garnishes (bean sprouts, basil sprigs, lemon or lime quarters) in a serving bowl or bowls.

To serve: Divide noodles among 4 to 6 large individual serving bowls. Arrange thinly sliced raw beef, scallions, onion, and cilantro on top. Pour boiling hot broth to cover noodles and serve immediately. The boiling broth will cook the thin slices of beef.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Beef Broth:
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced ginger
3-4 cans of beef broth
8 cups water
A pinch of Anise
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pound lean, tender beef - DON'T COOK, SLICE THINLY AND SET ASIDE. The boiling broth poured over it when you serve it will cook it.

Noodles:
1 16-ounce package dry, flat rice noodles (pho)

Garnishes: (Pick and choose the ones you want.)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
10 cilantro sprigs, finely chopped
1 cup bean sprouts
10 sprigs basil
fresh red or green chile pepper, thinly sliced
10 sprigs fresh culantro (ngo gai) or CILANTRO
*Culantro is a leafy herb with a similar aroma to cilantro, although more pungent. If unavailable, increase the amount of cilantro or simply leave out.

Other Accompaniments: (Optional)
lime or lemon quarters
fish sauce
hoisin sauce
hot chile sauce

Recipe Reprinted with permission from The Vietnamese Cookbook, by Diana My Tran.

Catalina Chicken

Anyone in the mood for a super easy, super low fat and super yummy dinner idea?? I thought so. My college roommate introduced me to this years ago and then a few months ago we tried it with a few additional ingredients and it is so good. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts

Fat Free Catalina salad dressing

Cranberry sauce

Onion Soup Mix pack

Toss all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. I didn't put any measurements in because it is easily modified for the size you want to prepare. You just want the chicken breasts to be covered with sauce. When chicken breasts are tender shred them.... and serve over rice. This dish has about 2.5 grams of fat per serving!!! (If you looked at Trina's recent post that showed an appetizer from Outback Steakhouse coming in at 182 grams of fat - 2.5 grams sounds pretty good.)

food links you might find interesting

In some random internet clicking, I came across a website called "Eat This, Not That!" It definitely made for some interesting reading ... how drinks alone can sabotage your caloric count here, and if you eat out very often, this is an eye opener.

Bon appetit!

Hidden Veggie Chili and Corn bread

I have always wanted to make chili, just never got around to doing it. Finally, one day I decided to go for it. I looked over several different recipes, picked out things I thought would be good, and came up with my own. Can I just say it turned out FABULOUS! I loved it, CJ loved it, Ches has yet to try it (he was sick when I made it). Also, one of my favorite things to do when I cook is to sneak veggies in and see if CJ notices. Not that CJ is anti-vegetable or anything, but if I told him I was putting more veggies into this chili then beef, he probably would have protested. He didn't even know I put any in, though I think it just added to the great flavor. I may never go back to canned chili again!!

Sorry, I am taking off this recipe for now. I have modified it several times, and am kind of turning it into a signature dish. Maybe someday I will be ready to share the recipe again, but right now I am not.

My favorite cornbread

This is a recipe I tweaked a little to get it nice and moist. Just remember not to overcook it!

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs
6 Tbs melted butter (again, I use smart balance spread)

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and beat 1 min. Pour into greased 9x9 pan (I use a glass dish) Bake at 425 for 15-20 min. Serve immediately.

Cheater Toffee

One Monday afternoon I realized that though I had a FHE lesson plan I had no Family Home Eating planned. It would have been a major disappointment to Ches to have FHE with no FHE so I quickly scanned my fav site, allrecipes.com and found this recipe, made a few modifications and here we have it! Quick, easy, Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Graham Crackers
1/2-1 c smart balance spread
1/2 c sugar
vanilla
chopped nuts (recipe said pecans, I used walnuts, though I made some w/o any because Ches is anti-nut)

Directions:
Cover baking sheet with graham crackers and sprinkle with nuts
In saucepan melt "butter" and sugar together, til boiling, boil 3 min.
Pour in some vanilla (around a tsp)
Pour mixture over crackers and nuts, coating evenly.
Bake at 350 for 12 min, until golden. Cool completely before cutting and eating.