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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Chicken & Beef Chili

This recipe has become a staple; I probably make it twice per month. The best part about it is 1) delicious of course and 2) the recipe makes plenty for dinner and provides lunches for about 2 days. The ingredients I am listing, per usual, may not be 100% exact because I send to switch it up and do not measure. Another thing to note is for this recipe I am listing the ingredients as 1 Lb of ground white chicken and 1/2 Lb of 85/15 ground beef... you can change the quantities as the total remains around 1.5 Lbs.

Ingredients:

1 Crockpot
1/4 cup olive oil (Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 51-Ounce Bottle)
1 Lb. Ground White Chicken
1/2 Lb. 85/15 Ground Beef
1-2 (small-medium) Whole yellow onions diced
1 Red Pepper, dices
1 Poblano Pepper or Habenero Pepper (I like poblano, Rob likes Habenero), diced
3-5 Cloves of freshly minced garlic (Use REAL garlic)
2 Cans of Roasted diced tomatoes with green chilis Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, 28-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12) This is the brand I use, just not the flavor)
1 Can of Roasted roasted garlic diced tomatoes
1 Tb of tomato paste
1 Can black beans, rinsed and dried (Westbrae Natural Vegetarian Organic Black Beans, 15 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12))
1/3 of a jar of tomato sauce (preferably a regular flavor like marinara) (Cucina Antica Tomato Basil Sauce, 16-Ounce Jars (Pack of 6) This is a yummy brand!!)
Chili Powder
Cumin
Pepper
Lawry's season salt
Oregano

Procedure:

First, turn your crockpot onto low heat and add all but 2 Tb of the olive oil into it, leave it alone to start heating. Then, in a large skillet (on medium heat), add the remaining olive oil. Let the olive oil heat for a minute and then add all the diced onions to start sautéing. Sauté the onions for about 2 minutes then add in the diced red pepper and poblano pepper). Let these sauté until they start to become soft but not brown. Once vegetables are soft(er) add in the ground beef, chicken, about 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of chili powder, 1/2 tsp of Lawry's and a 1/2 tsp of pepper. Sauté until cooked through. Once the meat is cooked, turn the skillet down to medium/low heat and add in the freshly minced garlic. Make sure you mix it around so the garlic goes all through your skillet mixture. Allow that to cook for 2-3 minutes. Once that has had 2-3 minutes to cook, dump everything in the skillet into the crockpot. Cover the crockpot and turn it up to high.

Now for all the cans... open all 3 diced tomato cans and dump them into the crockpot, juice and all. Then add in the tomato sauce and add in black beans. Finally, add in the tomato paste along with spices. Approximation of the spices are as follows: 2 Tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of cumin, 1/4 tsp of oregano and 1/4 tsp black pepper (this is in addition to the spices you added to your skillet mixture). Mix well and allow to cook on high for about 2 hours without stirring. After 2 hours (or it starts to bubble) turn down the mixture to low heat for at least another 2 hours, preferably 4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, turn the crockpot down to the "keep warm" setting, this allows for the chili to start to settle. After 30 minutes, serve in bowls with spoons-- ENJOY!
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I like to sprinkle either a little cheddar cheese or sour cream on the top (sometimes freshly chopped scallions) and serve corn muffins (Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 8.5oz) on the side.

This recipe really warms you up on a fall or winter day! If you have any thoughts or suggestions please let me know! If not.. hope you enjoy this!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Oven Baked Breaded Chicken

The other night Rob requested I make my homemade breaded chicken with sauce, cheese and pasta. It is basically chicken parm, but not quite. The thing I like about making it... is that it is SO easy and you can make it look so fancy! Here is how you make the chicken:

Ingredients:


1 lb of boneless, skinless, chicken cutlets
1 Package of bread crumbs (I use italian style panko bread crumbs) (Ian's Original Panko Breadcrumb, 9-Ounces (Pack of 12) )
2-3 Eggs
1/8 cup (or so) of cold water
2 Tb melted butter
Pepper
Dried minced garlic (McCormick Minced Garlic 3-Ounce Unit (Pack of 6) )
Lawry's seasoning salt (Lawrys Seasoning Salt, 16 -Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6) )

Process:


First, preheat oven to 350.  Then, rinse the chicken and leave it to dry. Get out 2 medium sized bowls. In one bowl add eggs and water, slightly whisk until lots of the big egg chunks are well mixed. In the second bowl, add bread crumbs (not the whole package! Maybe half) and add some extra spices to them; dried garlic, pepper and lawry's seasoning salt, mix well. Now, go back to the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Take the chicken piece by piece, and dip one piece into the egg wash then dip it in the bread crumb bowl and make sure the piece of chicken is completely covered in bread crumbs. Once each piece is covered place them in a single layer in a glass baking pan. Sprinkle a small amount of extra bread crumbs on each piece of chicken and pat them down, then drizzle a little bit of melted butter on each piece of chicken. NOTE: The chicken should not be covered in butter, just a small sprinkle on each piece. Once that is complete, place the chicken in the oven for about 30 minutes (give or take). Then, after 30 minutes remove it and et it sit for 5 minutes. Viola! Your delicious chicken in complete!!

Plating:


Now, if you want to make your chicken with sauce and pasta and cheese--- and you want it to look pretty... First, take a plate and put a small serving of pasta on it, put a little sauce of the pasta and a little cheese. Then, take one piece of chicken and place it on on top of the sauce and pasta, place a piece of provolone cheese on top of the chicken and cover the chicken with sauce. Then, top off the plate by sprinkling some freshly grated cheese on. It will look lovely and taste even better!!



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Hope everyone enjoys this! You can obviously pair the chicken with whatever sides or dishes you are in the mood for but I just happen to make it with pasta, sauce and cheese... so I thought I would share that with you! As always, any thoughts.. critiques, suggestions or other ideas... feel free to let me know!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Homemade Fresh Salsa

I have obviously not written in awhile... not because I have not been cooking, but because I have been a little too lazy to post.  Over the next few days I am going to post about the meals/side dishes I have cooked over the past month or so starting with one of my favorites, my homemade fresh salsa!

Ingredients:

1 Package of cocktail tomatoes (10 oz.) (NOTE-- you can use cherry tomatoes too, if you use cherry tomatoes, use a whole package)
1/3 of a Red Onion (that is an approximation... go with what seems like enough onion for you... I like a lot!)
3 Cloves of fresh minced garlic (again, that is an approximation)
Lime -- The juice from 1/2 a lime
Cilantro -- About 1/3 of a bunch (sold at Whole Foods)
Dash of Salt (Morton Iodized Table Salt - 4lb. box)
Dash of Pepper (NoMU Just Pepper Black Pepper Grinder, 2.1-Ounce Grinders (Pack of 4))

Process:

Literally, all you need to do is dice up all of the ingredients. Mix them together, add salt and pepper, mix again. Done!

You can eat it right away or if you can let it set for a few hours and then eat, it is all preference. The most important thing is that you dice the ingredients so you get nice chunks of fresh cut veggies; the color scheme is beautiful. If you used a food processor to dice the ingredients it is just not the same, although it is easier... it is worth taking the time to cut all the veggies yourself.

Enjoy!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Sweet and Easy Pulled Pork

Tonight Rob and I had pulled pork tenderloin. I have to say that I cannot take credit for this recipe... Becca made it once and I was hooked and have made it a few times since. Here is what you need:

Ingredients:

Crockpot (Maxi-Matic MST-800V Elite Gourmet Large 8-1/2-Quart Slow Cooker, Stainless)
About 1 lb. of Pork Tenderloin
1/2-1 cup of Root Beer (Thomas Kemper Root Beer, 6pk)
1/4 cup Water
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce ( Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce - 2/40oz)

Get out your crockpot and turn it to high. Place your pork tenderloin into the crockpot (after washing and drying of course). Pour Root Beer into crock pot, pork tenderloin SHOULD NOT be covered (it will not look like enough liquid but it is). Add a little (1/4 cup max) water. Cover and let this cook on high for about 6 hours (no less than 5.5 hours). After 6 hours remove cover from crockpot and pour out excess Root Beer. Once Root Beer is gone, leave the tenderloin in the crockpot and pull it apart with a fork and knife. Once pulled apart, cover with some BBQ sauce (it should not be sopping wet with BBQ but also not dry... some where in the middle). Mix BBQ sauce so it is evenly combined with meat. That is it, it is that easy to have delicious pulled pork!

I served it in sandwich form on 100 calorie deli-flat bread. I think this is perfect bread for this sandwich because it is just enough bread, almost enough so you don't even notice it.... you can easily focus on the delicious flavor of the pork. We also both had a salad with the sandwich...baby romaine lettuce with red onions and Rob had tomato on his. Yummy yummy!

This is one of the easiest things to make and it comes out with so much flavor for doing so little!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Amazing Yogurt Parfait's

Recently for breakfast I have been obsessed with making homemade yogurt parfaits and bringing them into work for breakfast. Obviously in a yogurt parfait there are endless possibilities of ingredients you can add... fruit, nuts.. whatever you want! However... mine go a little something like this...

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (approx) pineapple, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 kiwi, chopped into bite sized pieces (1 kiwi for me is about 12 pieces)
4-6 blackberries
Low-fat Wallaby Organic Vanilla Yogurt
Granola ( I use either strawberry and cream or vanilla almond, both from Whole Foods), about 1/4 cup (Udi's Granola Sampler (Original, Cranberry, Vanilla, Hawaiian, Au Naturel, Banaberry), 13-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6))

All I do is take a container that has some depth and place half the fruit in the bottom of the container. Then cover the fruit with a little granola, about 1/8 cup. Then, take  6 oz yogurt (give or take 1 or 2 oz) and cover the fruit and granola. Afterwards, place the remaining fruit on top of the yogurt. Top with granola. Refrigerate for at least 15 (preferably 30-60 if you can wait) minutes before eating to let the juices from the fruit soak into the granola and soften it slightly.

Enjoy with a spoon. Most importantly... when you go to dig in, DO NOT mix it all up with the spoon...! Eat it in bites as is... you get the best flavor this way.

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Now, like I said before...you obviously can use any fruit you want. I personally recommend pineapple and kiwi because they are very juicy and pair nicely with the granola (I add the blackberries just for fun and great flavor).

I also recommend using a clear container (like this: GladWare Entree Containers with Lids, 5-Containers) to assemble this in because it looks so pretty! It is nice to be able to see the layers of what you are creating!

Be careful! This is very addicting! Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Tuna Burgers with Garlic Olive Oil and Red Onion

Last night I was too tired to post the deliciousness that happened at dinner time so I will write about it now....

Now that the water crisis is behind us I can start cooking again however, yesterday I was still a little skeptical as to whether the water was safe to drink or cook with yet, so I did a semi-homemade kind of dinner and it was so yummy! I served up Tuna burgers with a side of asparagus!

This is what you need for the tuna burgers:

2 frozen tuna burgers ( I get mine from Whole Foods)
4 Slices of gluten free sandwich bread
Red Onion
Garlic Olive Oil (Olave Organic Garlic Olive Oil)
Butter

To cook the burgers:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is preheating, get a cookie sheet and cover it with aluminum foil. On top of the aluminum foil, place a metal rack with slits (like a sheet you use to cool cookies); spray lightly with cooking spray. Place your tuna burgers on top, place in oven-- cook for 6-8 minutes on each side. Once that is complete, remove tuna burgers from oven and finish the cooking process in a skillet (on medium heat with a little cooking spray) cooking approximately 1-2 minutes on each side so the burger brown slightly. Once cooked, remove from heat.

Toast gluten free sandwich bread in toaster oven (Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven with Element IQ). Once toasted, spread butter on one piece and garlic olive oil on the other. Place tuna burger in between. Serve with a nicely cut (not too thin), circle slice of red onion on the side (it makes the plate look pretty and tastes amazing on the burger!!). Enjoy!
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The gluten free sandwich bread definitely adds to the yummy-ness, the texture of the bread goes so nicely with the burger, I much prefer this over a regular burger bun.

This burger can be served with whatever you want on the side. Becca and I had oven roasted asparagus with a little pepper and sea salt (Alessi Coarse Sea Salt, 2.83-Ounce Grinders (Pack of 6)) and they went very nicely with the meal!