Thai Honey Peanut Chicken

I discovered Thai food through Weight Watchers Smart ones frozen meals. No really.  There are a few of them that I really love! So when this recipe poped up on my Google Reader, I knew I had to try it!  I  made this on the day of the blizzard and it was so easy and totally hit the spot! I will definitely be adding this to the rotation.

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken
from: The Tasty Kitchen via ThreeManyCooks

1 pound Chicken, In Chunks
¼ cups Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic (approximately 1 Large Clove)
1 Tablespoon Natural Peanut Butter (heaping Tablespoon Even Better)
½ teaspoons Curry Powder
1 teaspoon Sriracha (optional) - I used Chili Sauce

Mix ingredients and marinate chicken for 2-3 hours.

Cook chicken in the sauce over medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes or until chicken is done. Reduce heat to medium-low and add precooked veggies if desired. Serve topped with sesame seeds.

To thicken sauce if needed: reduce heat to medium-low and add a cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water). - I didn't need to do this.


 I doubled the recipe and I'm glad I did because Zach said the leftovers were delicious!  My only complaint? It was a bit on the salty side.  It also made my house smell like soy sauce for about 3 days, but it was worth it.

Breakfast Casserole

Yum, breakfast food! I've always said my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I just love all sorts of different breakfast foods. Eggs being pretty high on the list. Breakfast casserole always reminds me of Easter. Probably because it's what we have at my Grandma's house every year. It is extra delicious! I'm not exactly sure why I never made it myself until last Mother's day, but I'm glad I tried it out. It is so easy, totally customizable and extra delicious, especially re-heated as leftovers. I recently made a pan for a yummy New Years Eve brunch with Zach.  Here's a super basic recipe I found, but you can adapt it anyway you want.  I've used both regular sausage and turkey sausage and both were good. If you are trying to be good you could throw in some veggies (although I think veggies in breakfast food is just weird). I'm even pretty sure you could use egg substitute! Enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole

(found somewhere on the internet)

Ingredients

6 slices bread, cubed

1 pound sausage, browned and drained (or whatever else you want to use)

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

8 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

Directions

Cube bread and place evenly in a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle evenly with sausage and cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl then pour evenly into the pan. Cover and chill overnight. Remove from fridge 15 minutes prior to baking. Bake 45 minutes at 325 degrees until set. Cut into squares to serve. 

 

Taco Soup

I've been behind the times.  I've never had, or made, Taco Soup. Quite frankly when it comes to soup, I'm just now, at the age of 29, starting to try "new" things.  Up until now my soup consumption has consisted mainly of chicken noodle, tomato, and beef and barley. B-or-ing.

These days I'm a soup fanatic. I can't eat enough of the stuff! I would guess I probably eat soup for dinner or lunch at least 4 times a week.  The soup aisle is my new favorite place! So many choices! So cheap! So healthy! I guess it's a phase, but a welcome one.

This Taco Soup recipe has been around for a long time. I think it might be another Weight Watchers recipe, but I kind of just threw it together based on a few internet searches.   It was not really as much a soup as it is a chili.  Either way, it was delicious! And really easy! Brown some meat, open some cans, mix it all together, simmer and you are done!

Taco Soup
1 lb. ground turkey or lean beef (I used ground turkey)
1 (1 oz.) package hidden valley ranch dressing mix (I used spicy ranch mix)
1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning Mix
1 (16 oz.) can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 (16 oz) can chili beans
1 (16 oz) can whole kernel corn (I used an even smaller can and will likely leave it out completely next time, corn just isn't our thing)
1 (8 oz) can Mexican-style tomatoes (used Rotel)
1 (8 oz) can diced tomatoes (any flavor)
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chili's 
Dash of onion powder
Dash of garlic powder
Dash of Southwest Chipolte Spice
1 Can of water

Brown the beef or turkey in a skillet and drain off excess liquid.  In a large stockpot, combine the ground meat and all the spices and cans of beans and veggies plus one can of water (you could use more if you want it even soupier or none if you want a thick chili).  Let simmer for 1 hour over low to medium heat.

We served ours topped with cheddar cheese and a side of cornbread. It was the perfect fall meal! The leftovers are even better!

Soft Pretzels - My New Favortie Recipe

I love soft pretzels. Love them! The are one of my most favorite ballpark treats.  That chewy crust, the soft bread, the sprinkles of salt and the delicious cheese dip is just too much for me to resist. 

I'd always wanted to try making soft pretzels on my own, but just figured they would be too hard.  That is until my baking hero Annie of Annie's Eats posted a how-to on soft pretzels.  I knew I had to try!  So, one Chiefs Sunday I decided to make them before the game. 

I'm going to be honest. I had no idea how soft pretzels were made and when I got to the part about boiling them in baking soda water (!?!) I just had a feeling that I was doomed.  The whole time I was in the kitchen I kept yelling out to Zach, "Don't expect much!", "There's no way these are going to work", "I have no idea what I'm doing!".  Needless to say, I was less than optimistic.  I was constantly surprised when each step turned out to be rather easy! I was doing it! I was making soft pretzels! Using yeast and baking soda water and everything!  

Soft Pretzels
from Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
For the dough:
1½ cups warm water (110-115° F)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
22 oz. all-purpose flour (about 4½ cups)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl

For finishing:
Cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Pretzel (or kosher) salt

Directions:
To make the dough, combine the water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast. Add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 50-55 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan or stockpot. In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope. Make a U-shape with the rope and holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the U-shape in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet. Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

You guys, These. Were. Amazing.  I couldn't believe it!  I'm not even joking when I say this might very well be my most favorite thing I've ever made. Yes, that's how much I love soft pretzels! They tasted even better than at the stadium!  We froze the ones we didn't eat right away and then heated them up a couple weeks later by thawing them a bit in the microwave and then putting them back in the oven for just about 3-4 minutes. Perfect even re-heated!

You must make these. Nowish.

Fill in the Blank Friday! Foodstuffs!

Of course the theme for Fill in the Blank Friday the day after I announce my Fitness Challenge 2.0 would be about food...

1. Today for breakfast I ate Frosted Flakes. They were on sale a couple weeks ago for super cheap and I hadn't had them in a very long time, so I got a box. Yeah, that's one kids cereal that should stay a kids cereal. I did not find them tasty at all (and we all know I love sugar), but it was all I had. Usually I eat oatmeal at my desk at work, but I was starving after my morning run and couldn't wait.

2. My go to/never fail recipe is cheesy chicken burritos! Yum, now I want to make them! And my "famous" frosted sugar cookies (that recipe is a secret!)

3. Something I eat that other people think is weird is not much. Me? Eat weird food? Yeah, nice try. The strangest thing that I can think of right now is how I eat McDonalds cheeseburgers. I eat them almost all the way normally and then when it's a few bites left, I eat the bottom part of the bun, then the top part of the bun and then the burger. I've done this for as long as I can remember and even when I try to tell myself "don't do that, it's weird" I still do it. I can't help myself. Oh, and I also open up the burger and use the ketchup and muster inside to dip a few fries in. I don't like cold mustard or ketchup (which I guess is also strange), so this is a perfect solution. Ok. Enough about McDonalds. Ha!

4. My worst cooking disaster ever was when I tried to cook chicken in a skillet on the stove. I covered the chicken with this dry rub stuff, well I'm an idiot and it all burned off before the chicken could cook. The whole house was full of smoke and smelled like burnt grossness for what seems like weeks. To this day, I refuse to cook whole pieces of chicken on the stove. I have to cut it in to bite size pieces. I pretty much hate cooking chicken on anything other than the grill.

5. If I could only eat one flavor of ice cream the rest of my life it would be chocolate ice cream with chunks of brownie. That was a hard decision.

6. One food I hate and avoid at all costs is onions. Everyone knows that. They are evil little bastards.

7. What is your favorite meal? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Breakfast!!! Oh man, I would eat it all the time. Sweet pastries, yummy eggs, salty bacon, crunchy toast, crispy potatoes! What is there not to love?! I eat breakfast for dinner all the time!

Alright! Time for lunch!

Creamy Chicken Burritos

 I love me a good burrito! Yum, yum!  There are a zillion ways out there to make a chicken burrito and I think everyone has their own style. I know my mom has a couple varieties and my brother apparently has a famous recipe (that I haven't been privileged enough to try yet) and I have mine. I've adapted this recipe from various burritos I've tried so I like to call it my own.  Most of the measurements are just "thrown in", so there's no exact science here.  

Creamy Chicken Burritos

1.5 lbs or 3-4 big chicken breasts (I didn't have enough chicken this time and I used two huge breasts, so my burritos were a little heavy on the "creamy" side of things.)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 small carton of sour cream

1 can rotel

dash of cayane pepper

dash of chipolte spices

dash of cilantro

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (aprox)

Package of 10 flour tortillas

1 can refried beans (I love the spicy chipolte ones)

1 can green enchilada sauce

Cook the chicken (I like to grill mine) and then shred with a fork and place in a large bowl. Mix in cream of chicken soup, sour cream, rotel, spices and about half the cheese. Grease a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Take one flour tortilla and spread a nice spoonful of the refried beans on it.  Then spoon a decent portion of chicken mixture on top. Roll like a burrito and place in the baking dish. Repeat.  I usually can squeeze about 8 burritos in a pan, depending on how big they are.  Use a smaller baking dish for the others or simply assemble and then freeze (first time I did this, haven't tried the frozen ones, so do this at your own risk!)  After all the burritos are in the pan pour the can of enchilada sauce over the top and then sprinkle with some more cheese to taste. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake some more until cheese starts browning, around 5 minutes.

I will warn you. The leftovers get a little bit soggy. However it doesn't bother me! I am weird.

*Note: If you use reduced fat cream of chicken soup, sour cream and cheese plus fat free beans, you have yourself quite the healthy meal here!  Bonus!

Four-Cheese Pasta Florentine with Chicken

A couple of weeks ago I got the latest Kraft Food & Family magazine in the mail. They claim it's a subscription based magazine now, but I keep getting it for free. Shhh, nobody tell!  It's one of my favorite things because the recipes are super simple and usually don't require every random ingredient known to man like a lot of other recipes tend to. The first thing in this issue that caught my eye was the Four-Cheese Pasta Florentine. Four cheeses you say? Yes please!  I knew there would be no way that Zach would eat a meat-less meal like this, so I decided to add in some chicken as well.

Four-Cheese Pasta Florentine 
Adapted from Kraft Food & Family

3 cups mostaccioli, uncooked
1 package (10oz) frozen chopped spinach
4 oz (1/2 8oz package) cream cheese, cubed
1 cup 2% low fat cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 package (8oz) shredded mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (Stephanie addition)
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (Stephanie addition)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook spinach as directed on package; drain well. Place in large bowl. Add cream cheese; stir until melted. Stir in cottage cheese. Italian seasoning and eggs until well blended.
Drain pasta. Add to spinach mixture with mozzarella and chicken; mix lightly. Spoon into medium sized casserole dish; top with Parmesan.
Bake 25 min, or until heated through.

Simple and easy! I've often found that recipes from Kraft Food & Family are a little on the bland side, so that's why I added the seasoning. I also told Zach that next time I'd add some garlic and salt and pepper. But, overall I think we have a winner!  Definitely CHEESY! Mmm...cheese.

Irish Soda Bread

St. Patrick's Day has never really been my thing. I don't really think of myself as being Irish, even though apparently I am a little tiny bit.  One year my friends and I were in Vegas for our first Spring Break and it happened to be over St. Patrick's Day, so that's really the only one I can remember where I had a wee bit too much fun.  Otherwise, St. Pat's usually comes and goes without much notice from me.

I wanted to try to do SOMETHING Irish-ish this year though. I browsed around on the internet and quite honestly most all Irish food looked absolutely disgusting. Basically the only thing that popped out at me was this Irish Soda Bread.  I like bread, so I thought I'd go for it.

Irish Soda Bread
from "Simply Recipies.com"
4 cups flour
2 Tbsp Sugar (I used 3)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together 4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
Using a pastry cutter, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, then stir in raisins.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour and gently knead dough into a rough ball. (it will be kind of like biscuit dough)
Trasfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iorn skillet or baking sheet (I used a round 9"cake pan). using a serrated knife, score the top of the dough with a deep "X" shape.
I also sprinkled some sugar over the top, because, I love sugar.
Cook about 35-45 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick.
Remove from oven and let bread sit in pan for 10-15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Lots of people say that Irish Soda Bread is best warm, right out of the oven, and they are correct.  It's a VERY simple tasting bread. Kind of like a biscuit with raisins. Not too sweet, but not too bland. It was perfect for me.  It was really, really good right away, but after sitting for a day it got hard and dry. So if you make this, plan on eating it all right away.  It makes a lot, so have company over :)

Lean 'N Green Chili

I got this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Cast Sugar, You should check Emily out, she's fantastic. A few people I know had made it and raved about it, so I thought I'd give it a shot! It didn't disappoint!

Lean 'N Green Chili
Ingredients:

8 6-in. corn tortillas, divided

2 tsp. vegetable oil, dived

1 c. chopped Poblano Chile peppers (or green bell peppers)

1/2 c. chopped onion (naturally, I leave this out. Yick!)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-in. pieces

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 cans (14.5 oz.) 99% fat free chicken broth

2 cans (15 oz.) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/4 c. salsa verde (or 1 can green Chile enchilada sauce)

3-4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut four of the tortillas in half and stack them one on top of another. Cut the tortillas into ½ inch strips. Place in bowl and toss with 1 tsp of the oil. Spread in a single layer in a baking pan. Bake 10 – 12 min or until crisp, stirring once. Remove from oven.

Chop Chile peppers and onion. Cut chicken into ¾ inch pieces; toss with cumin in small bowl. Fold one tortilla to fit into a food processor coarsely grate. Repeat with remaining 3 tortillas. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 tsp oil in large pot over medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 min. Remove chicken from casserole; and Chile peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir 3 min. Stir in chicken, broth, beans, salsa and grated tortillas. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 15 min.

Stir cilantro into chili. Ladle soup into bowls; top with baked tortilla strips.


This was really easy to make and is super hearty. A perfect meal for a cold winter night. PLUS it only has about 250 calories per serving! Seriously, it doesn't get much better than that! Zach and I actually fight over the leftovers. I think the homemade tortilla strips really make it. And of course, I always top my chili with a little cheddar cheese. Yum, Yum, Yum!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Yesterday I was on the hunt for a quick and easy recipe that I could make. I found this recipe in one of my Kraft Food and Family magazines. It looked simple and tasty, so I tried it. We thought it was pretty good! I served it with a garden salad and some Grands biscuits.


Bruschetta Chicken Bake
from Kraft Food and Family Magazine

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg (6ox) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup Kraft 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees, Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing is moistened.
Layer chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing in 13x9 or 3-qt baking dish.
Bake 30 min, or until chicken is cooked through.

(I just realized as I was typing this that I mixed everything together in a bowl and didn't layer it. Hmm, might turn out a little better if you do it the right way.)

I also had some left-over frosting from my Christmas cookies so we had some yummy graham cracker sandwiches for dessert.