Chipotle Cashew Chicken

I think that lots of Rachael Ray's recipes are just... weird. However, this one (even though it sounds weird) is just so good. Sweet, spicy, crunchy... it's a strange medley of flavors that somehow comes together. It's one of hers that we just love. Be careful with the chipotle peppers... the first time I made this, I put in four, thinking it wouldn't be a big deal. Adam about died. So I stick to two... for the kids. :)

Chipotle Cashew Chicken

Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, 1/4 onion finely chopped, 3/4 thinly sliced
2 cups short-grain brown rice
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
1 cup frozen green peas
3 tablespoons chipotle in adobo (2 peppers and their sauce)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 cup raw cashews

In a medium pot over medium heat combine 1 tablespoon canola oil and 1 tablespoon butter. When butter melts into oil, add in the chopped onion, cook 2 minutes, then add rice and cook 3 minutes more. Add stock and cover the pot. Raise heat to bring stock to a rapid boil. Once the stock boils, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

While rice cooks, make the chicken. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan, then the chicken. Season the chicken with grill seasoning. Brown the chicken on both sides, season with soy sauce then move off to one side of the pan. Add the remaining onions, garlic and peppers. Cook 2 to 3 minutes then add water chestnuts and green peas and mix vegetables and meat together. Add the chipotles and cumin. Toss to coat. Glaze the mixture with honey and maple syrup and turn off the heat. Add in cashews.

Top rice with cashew chicken and serve. Sprinkle with additional chopped cashews. Adam also likes to drizzle his with a little extra honey.

[Courtesy recipe Rachael Ray. See original recipe here.]

Creamy Italian Chicken

We were introduced to this meal through Tiffin several years ago at Mom and Dad Wilkins' 30th Anniversary party. It's so incredibly easy, and everyone just loves it. So yummy. I'm including the original recipe and the changes I make for our family (in red).

Creamy Italian Chicken

Serves 4-6

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I use 2 breasts, cut into approx. 3-4 large pieces each)
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free-you can't tell. Really.)
1/2 can water
8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1 packet Italian dressing mix (like Good Seasonings)
1 cup baby carrots
Linguine, cooked (I use whole wheat rigatoni)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poach chicken pieces in salted water until cooked through. Drain, and set aside. In a saucepan combine cream of chicken soup, water, cream cheese, and Italian dressing mix until melted. Whisk to remove any remaining chunks until smooth. Place chicken in a 9 x 9-inch oven-safe dish. Sprinkle carrots over chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and carrots. Bake approximately 15 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serve with a side salad.

Beef Stroganoff: Quick Version

I don't cook with beef much because of a) it's more expensive, and b) the steroids/hormones they give to cows weirds me out. However, Mike asked if we could have more of it. So, here we are. This is one of my favorite dinners from childhood. It is comfort food, plain and simple. This is the quick version (I happen to think that the slow cooker version is better, but I'll share that recipe a different time). And sorry 'bout the picture... it just doesn't photograph well.

Beef Stroganoff

Serves 4

12 ounces boneless beef sirloin steak.

8 ounces sour cream

2 TB all-purpose flour

2 tsp. instant bouillon granules

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 cups sliced mushrooms (I omitted these, because everyone refuses to eat them)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced
2 TB butter
2 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Trim fat from meat, and cut into thin slices (across the grain). Partially freeze for easier cutting.

In a small bowl stir together sour cream and flour. Stir in bouillon granules, water, and black pepper. Set aside.

In a large skillet cook and stir meat, onion and garlic in hot butter over medium heat until done. Drain off fat. Stir sour cream mixture into skillet. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve over noodles.

Penrod Fajitas

Growing up in Arizona, and I've had some pretty darn good Mexican food. LOVE Mexican food. The spicier, the better. When I was in high school, my BFF's family served us their version of fajitas, and I've pretty much been craving them since. They are so not traditional. They so may be considered "Utah" Mexican food. I don't care. They. Are. Good.

When I was first married I begged her for the recipe. I just knew Mike would like them. When she came and made them for us, and finally gave me the recipe, I was shocked by what the ingredient was that made them so good. Anyway, I was right. Mike loves them. This, to me, is proof to how good they are. He is a die-hard Mexican food fan, and is incredibly picky. So, I know that they are good if he likes them.

Penrod Fajitas

Serves 4

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin (I only used one, because I only had one)
2 bell peppers (any color you want... I love red and yellow. BUT, green were on sale), sliced thin
1 onion, cut into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, minced (again, I grate mine)
2 TB canola oil, divided
2-4 TB Yoshida's Sweet Teriyaki Sauce

Warm flour tortillas
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Tomatoes, diced

Heat 1 TB oil in pan. Add half of chicken and cook until browned. Remove, and repeat with remaining chicken. Remove. Warm tortillas by wrapping a stack of them in foil, and heating at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.



Add remaining oil to pan. Cook onions on medium-high until they begin to become slightly translucent (about 5-7 minutes... I love the sweetness from cooked onions, but if you like them with more 'bite' cook them less). Be sure and scrape up the brown bits from the pan (see above picture) this adds to the flavor. Add garlic, stirring constantly, cook for about 1 minute. Add bell peppers, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until crisp-tender. Add chicken. Toss together with peppers and onion, and then add teriyaki sauce. We like ours saucy, so we add all of it. But use however much you want.

Serve on warm tortillas with sour cream, shredded cheese, and diced tomatoes.

Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce

We recently tried growing a garden. Our result was a bunch of dead plants, with one success: basil. I LOVE basil, and have been pouring over cookbooks trying decide the best way to use it. So, there will be a lot of basil recipes these next few weeks. We all love Thai food/Indian food (can't decide just which category it fits into), and this one is perfect. Not too spicy for the kids, but it's got a kick. And the fresh basil is just yummy! There are so many flavors going on in this dish. We all love it. Even my incredibly picky 5-year-old asks for seconds when we have it. And that, my friends, is hard to do.

Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup diced red onion (about 1/2 of a large red onion)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped (I only used one... for the kids)
1 TB canola oil
1 (13 1/2-14 oz) can coconut milk (use 'light' to save on the calories and fat... still tastes fab)
1 TB cornstarch
3 TB fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger

3 cups hot cooked rice (I prefer brown... it seems to 'hold' up to the curry better)


Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Place in medium bowl. In a small bowl stir together curry, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken, tossing to coat evenly. Cover and chill 1 to 2 hours. Be sure and do this! The salt helps bring the flavors into the chicken, and it needs the time to make this happen.

In a large skillet (or wok) heat oil. Cook onion, garlic, and jalapeno over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, or until onion is becoming slightly clear. Remove from wok and set aside. Add half of the chicken, and cook/stir for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove. Add additional oil (if necessary) and remaining chicken. Cook as above; remove.

Combine coconut milk and cornstarch. Carefully add to wok. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Return chicken and onion mixture to walk. Stir in basil and ginger. Cook and stir about 2 minuets more, or until heated through. Serve over rice.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

I love taking 'older' recipes (the kind in the 70s and 80s Betty Crocker cookbooks that I nabbed from my mom when I got married), and 'health-ing' them up a bit. This recipe is the result of one of those experiments. It's one dish we all really like: Mike likes the meatballs, the kids like the sugar content, and I'm happy that everyone's eating veggies (even if they are coated in sugar). I also love that it's surprisingly 'light' tasting, not heavy like you normally think of meatball dishes.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Serves 6

Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/4 cup skim milk

2 TB finely minced green onions
1 clove garlic, minced (I normally just grate mine with a fine grater)

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash salt

1 egg

Sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar1 TB cornstarch

1 (13 oz) can pineapple chunks, in juice

1/3 cup vinegar

1 TB soy sauce

1/2 onion, roughly chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

Cooked brown rice (or white, if you dare :) )

For Meatballs:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a 9 x 13 pan with foil, and spray lightly with cooking spray. Mix all meatball ingredients together, taking care not to over-mix. Shape into meatballs and place into pan. Because turkey has less fat and has a harder time holding shape, I just use my little ice cream scoop to do this. My kids love meatballs so much, and I'm so paranoid about germs, that I have one just for meatballs. Weird, eh? Anyway, it makes about 24 meatballs. Bake these guys for about 25 minutes. Of course, you could always fry 'em in oil, but really, this is just easier for me.

Once done, let cool for several minutes in pan. They should easily peel off of the foil.

For Sauce:

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in pan. Stir in pineapple (with juice), vinegar, and soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer.

Add meatballs, onion, and carrot. Cover, and let cook 10 minutes, occasionally giving the pan a shake (you don't want to stir and break up the meatballs).

Stir in bell pepper. Cover, simmer until peppers are crisp-tender (about 5 minutes). Serve over rice.

French Bread Pizza

This meal is a no-brainer, and doesn't even really NEED a recipe. But, it's something I always forget about making. And for all of you on a budget, this meal is seriously inexpensive, and so yummy.

French Bread Pizza

1 loaf of French bread
12 oz tomato sauce (I use sodium-free so I can control the salt)
1-2 tsp. sugar
Dash of salt, to taste
Seasonings: minced basil, minced garlic, oregano, dried Italian seasoning, etc.
16 oz pizza cheese (this makes it super cheesy, but that's how Mike likes it)
Toppings: bell pepper, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, pineapple, ham... you get the idea

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a large cookie sheet in foil (for easy clean-up). Split bread lengthwise, and place on sheet. Mix tomato sauce, sugar, salt, and seasonings, to taste. I like ours to be a little sweet, with a hint of salt. And if you are so lucky as to have it, some fresh garden-grown basil is YUMMY. Spread on, and top with cheese and toppings. [Note: I usually get a large package of turkey pepperoni, and keep it in the freezer. It usually lasts us 3-4 meals, and it has SO much less fat than regular pepperoni. And you can't even tell.] Top with all veggies for a yummy, vegetarian version.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned. Watch it, though, because it goes from golden brown to black quick.

Enjoy with a side salad.

Grandma Dorrie's Meatloaf

My grandma makes the best meatloaf. I've loved it since I was a little girl. I remember being 9, and asking her for the recipe, and it's always a family favorite. Mike especially loves it. I am pretty sure that this isn't a secret family recipe, so I'm sharing it. If this post mysteriously disappears, you'll know why. :)

This recipe normally uses 3 pounds of ground beef. I've cut the recipe down by 1/3 to use 2 pound for budget purposes. ALSO, I use ground turkey in all my recipes. It's leaner and less expensive, and I like the taste. I'll post her recipe, and my changes (in red).

Grandma Dorrie's Meatloaf

3 pounds ground beef (2 pounds ground turkey)
1-12 oz can evaporated milk (8 oz)
1 envelope onion soup mix (2/3 envelope)
1 cup wheat germ (2/3 cup)
Lots of celery (I do about a cup)

Mix together, and place into a 9x13" pan. Cover with ketchup. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Drain fat off, and serve with more ketchup.