I was meeting a friend for dinner last night and felt bad leaving T to fend for himself (it may have turned out being a run to the nearest fast food restaurant if I did). So I threw some chicken breasts in a crockpot with chicken seasoning, quartered onions, quartered potatoes and mini carrots. Eight hours later, POOF, dinner!
Of course, it was only T eating dinner last night so there were tons of left overs. About 4 or so chicken breasts as well as the veggies. I am in a new mindset of using all leftovers if at all possible. So today I was trying to think of what I could make that would utilize the chicken and veggies. I thought, hmmm, maybe chicken/corn chowder.
I had found ears of white corn during my usual grocery trip for $.47/ea so I got about 5 ears. I already had the chicken and the potatoes AND they were already cooked. Tomorrow is my veggie/fruit shopping day at a farmer market store or Fry's so I really wanted to use up the veggies in the fridge drawer. After looking for recipes online, and being unsuccessful at finding anything that sounded good or used the ingredients I had, I decided to go it alone. Turned out that it was EASY and oh so yummy! T LOVED it and, luckily, there is enough left over for dinner tomorrow night!! And, if you eliminate the potatoes, you could probably freeze it really well. Which is a mental note I am making as something I might make and freeze in early December before baby is born.
Here is what I did (in my typical, loose, casual recipe style):
Approx 1 -2 TBL olive oil
1/2 stick of butter (never said it was healthy)
4 - 5 left over crock pot seasoned chicken breasts
Left over potatoes from crock pot
Approx 6 ears of white or yellow corn
1 med to large sweet onion diced
Approx 3 or so stalks of celery diced
Approx 1 - 2 cups of thinly sliced mini carrots
(2) Bay leaves (optional)
Garlic salt (or finely diced garlic - I didn't have any on hand)
(2) cans of cream of chicken (or cream of anything really)
Milk
In a large soup pan, add olive oil and butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add diced onions, celery and carrots. Add the bay leaves if you are using them. Sprinkle with garlic salt (if you are using actual garlic, wait to add until the veggie are almost done so you don't burn the garlic). Saute until tender.
While veggies are softening, shuck corn and rinse off silks. Place a smaller bowl upside down in a larger bowl, place the cob of corn on the smaller bowl and cut off the kernels using a paring knife. Or you can use canned corn or frozen corn. I am sure it would all work the same. When the veggies are soft to your liking, add corn kernels.
While corn is cooking with the veggies, dice the left over chicken breasts and potatoes. Once corn is cooked to your liking, add chicken and potatoes. They are already cooked so you are just wanting to warm through.
Once warm, add two cans of cream of whatever floats your boat. Then add three can fulls of milk. Stir well. Take out bay leaves (if you used). Heat through. You are done!
Now, for us, we love spicy so I did add two jalapenos to the veggies. I left the seeds of half of a pepper for spice. T said it was the PERFECT amount of spice. Interesting but not damaging.
I tried to take a pic of the final product but it tastes a lot better than it looks. =] Ours was thick like chowder but you can thin it out to your liking by adding more milk or by substituting chicken broth in place of milk. Or you can keep it super thick with less milk. This recipe would also work with the cooked rotisserie chicken from the store or the pre-cooked chicken strips in the deli section. But the crock pot makes the meat so tender...it is hard to go any other way.
Bon appetit!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Loaded Potato Soup
Ingredients:
* Potatoes - peeled, washed and quartered (you can use red, gold or russet)
* Yellow or sweet onion - peeled & diced
* Garlic salt
* 3 TBS corn starch mixed in approx 1.5 cups hot tap water
* Milk
* Butter
* Cheddar cheese (for topping)
* Diced green onions (optional) for topping
* Crumbled bacon (optional) for topping
Put diced potatoes and onions in soup pot (I use one of my larger pots so that I have plenty of leftovers!). Cover potatoes and onions with water until water line is about an inch above the potatoes. Add garlic salt and boil until potatoes are tender but not mushy. Stir the corn starch mixture well and add the entire amount to the pot. Reduce heat to simmer. This will thicken the broth.
Add a touch of milk until broth turns more of a white color. Add butter (to taste - in my large pot, I put about a half a stick....no one said this was a healthy dish!). Stir until well mixed and let simmer until all butter is melted. Soup will thicken upon sitting and will be even thicker as left overs (if you want it thinned a bit days following, just add a touch of milk).
Ladel soup into bowl and add grated cheddar cheese and the other optional toppings. I also add fresh ground pepper and saltine crackers to mine.
Making this soup is a great way to use up any potatoes that are getting close to extinction in your pantry. I usually make this soup on grocery day when I am bringing home a fresh batch of potatoes and need to get rid of the week prior potatoes.
* Potatoes - peeled, washed and quartered (you can use red, gold or russet)
* Yellow or sweet onion - peeled & diced
* Garlic salt
* 3 TBS corn starch mixed in approx 1.5 cups hot tap water
* Milk
* Butter
* Cheddar cheese (for topping)
* Diced green onions (optional) for topping
* Crumbled bacon (optional) for topping
Put diced potatoes and onions in soup pot (I use one of my larger pots so that I have plenty of leftovers!). Cover potatoes and onions with water until water line is about an inch above the potatoes. Add garlic salt and boil until potatoes are tender but not mushy. Stir the corn starch mixture well and add the entire amount to the pot. Reduce heat to simmer. This will thicken the broth.
Add a touch of milk until broth turns more of a white color. Add butter (to taste - in my large pot, I put about a half a stick....no one said this was a healthy dish!). Stir until well mixed and let simmer until all butter is melted. Soup will thicken upon sitting and will be even thicker as left overs (if you want it thinned a bit days following, just add a touch of milk).
Ladel soup into bowl and add grated cheddar cheese and the other optional toppings. I also add fresh ground pepper and saltine crackers to mine.
Making this soup is a great way to use up any potatoes that are getting close to extinction in your pantry. I usually make this soup on grocery day when I am bringing home a fresh batch of potatoes and need to get rid of the week prior potatoes.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
What to do with left overs?
If you just made tacos (we make ours with ground turkey) and have left over ingredients, here is a suggestion.
Mexi-turkey veggie stew
Dice up onions, celery and carrots and put in a pan that has a tad of olive oil in the bottom. Saute veggies with 2-3 bay leaves until tender. Remove bay leaves and add white beans (or any can of beans you have in the pantry), left over tomatoes and/or a can of diced tomatoes and green chilis, left over taco sauce (or enchilada sauce), left over taco meat and tomato juice until your preferred consistency is reached.
To serve, put crushed tortilla chips in bottom of bowl along with shredded cheddar cheese. Top with stew. We had croissants (Pillsbury) that I buttered with spray butter and sprinkled with garlic salt and fresh shredded parm.
It was very, very yummy and used up all of my taco left overs! But now we have a new left over for lunch and dinner tomorrow! It made a good size pot!
Enjoy!
Mexi-turkey veggie stew
Dice up onions, celery and carrots and put in a pan that has a tad of olive oil in the bottom. Saute veggies with 2-3 bay leaves until tender. Remove bay leaves and add white beans (or any can of beans you have in the pantry), left over tomatoes and/or a can of diced tomatoes and green chilis, left over taco sauce (or enchilada sauce), left over taco meat and tomato juice until your preferred consistency is reached.
To serve, put crushed tortilla chips in bottom of bowl along with shredded cheddar cheese. Top with stew. We had croissants (Pillsbury) that I buttered with spray butter and sprinkled with garlic salt and fresh shredded parm.
It was very, very yummy and used up all of my taco left overs! But now we have a new left over for lunch and dinner tomorrow! It made a good size pot!
Enjoy!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
My Ranch Mashed Potatoes
Ok, so this is one of my favorite ways to make mashed potatoes:
I peel however many red potatoes for the amount of people I will be feeding (and I always seem to overestimate). You don't have to peel them but, because I usually make these when I have a VERY picky five year old eating with us, I do. Cut the potatoes into uniform pieces and place in a pot. Cover with water until they submerged by an inch or two. Cook on high until boiling. Keep boiling until potatoes are soft. Drain water.
Then, add butter (I use spray butter), ranch dressing (I use lite) and cheddar cheese (the REAL stuff). Smash up real good with a tater masher! Taste test and add salt (or garlic salt) as needed.
Mmmm, nothing like mashed potatoes that stick to your ribs!
I peel however many red potatoes for the amount of people I will be feeding (and I always seem to overestimate). You don't have to peel them but, because I usually make these when I have a VERY picky five year old eating with us, I do. Cut the potatoes into uniform pieces and place in a pot. Cover with water until they submerged by an inch or two. Cook on high until boiling. Keep boiling until potatoes are soft. Drain water.
Then, add butter (I use spray butter), ranch dressing (I use lite) and cheddar cheese (the REAL stuff). Smash up real good with a tater masher! Taste test and add salt (or garlic salt) as needed.
Mmmm, nothing like mashed potatoes that stick to your ribs!
Monday, April 27, 2009
My daily lunch salad
My favorite salad goes like this:
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Fresh chopped jalapenos (not seeded)
Green onions
Cucumber
Turkey bacon crumbles
Fat Free Cottage Cheese or Reduced Fat Feta
Black beans (seasoned with taco seasoning)
Fat Free Catalina dressing
Light garlic salt
Citrus pepper grinder
Yum!!!! My fave salad ever!!
You just lost 10 min of your precious life reading that list! But thanks for your interest!! =]
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Fresh chopped jalapenos (not seeded)
Green onions
Cucumber
Turkey bacon crumbles
Fat Free Cottage Cheese or Reduced Fat Feta
Black beans (seasoned with taco seasoning)
Fat Free Catalina dressing
Light garlic salt
Citrus pepper grinder
Yum!!!! My fave salad ever!!
You just lost 10 min of your precious life reading that list! But thanks for your interest!! =]
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Interesting tidbits..
I received an email from my aunt with the following tidbits. I thought they were very interesting and wanted to share them with you.
** Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.
** Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
** Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
** Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
** Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
** To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
** For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.
** Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
** Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
** Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works. Less time heating the oven and less energy used.
** Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
** Expanding Frosting When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
** Reheating refrigerated bread To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
** Newspaper keeps weeds away. Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
** Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
** No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
** To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
** Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
** Reducing Static Cling: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! .. static is gone.
** Measuring Cups: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
** Foggy Windshield? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
** Reopening envelope If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
** Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
** To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
** Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
** INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS (written by the chain letter person): The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all!
He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't see the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free .... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box . well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it!
He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share! Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all!
** Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.
** Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
** Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
** Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
** Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
** To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
** For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.
** Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
** Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
** Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works. Less time heating the oven and less energy used.
** Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
** Expanding Frosting When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
** Reheating refrigerated bread To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
** Newspaper keeps weeds away. Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
** Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
** No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
** To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
** Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
** Reducing Static Cling: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! .. static is gone.
** Measuring Cups: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
** Foggy Windshield? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
** Reopening envelope If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
** Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
** To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
** Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
** INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS (written by the chain letter person): The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all!
He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't see the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free .... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box . well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it!
He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share! Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Hot Wing Chicken
What you will need:
Frank's Red Hot Sauce (or any hot sauce you prefer)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 stick of butter
(2) Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Chicken seasoning of your choice
(1) Pizza crust of your choice
Ranch or blue cheese dressing (I used Lite Ranch)
Mozzerella cheese
Diced green or sweet onions
Jalapenos (if you are daring like we are)
After seasoning the chicken breasts, place on grill on bake in oven until cooked through. While cooking chicken, combine hot sauce, tomato sauce and butter in small sauce pan until butter is melted. After chicken is cooked, cool on plate until you can handle with your hands. Shred chicken and place in sauce mixture. Warm through.
On pizza crust, spread dressing as you would sauce. Then layer the chicken mixture including all of the sauce. Add diced onions and jalapenos as layers. Finish by sprinkling moz cheese on top. Put in oven for 8 -10 minutes or until cheese is melted and center is heated.
Enjoy with a cold beer!
Frank's Red Hot Sauce (or any hot sauce you prefer)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 stick of butter
(2) Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Chicken seasoning of your choice
(1) Pizza crust of your choice
Ranch or blue cheese dressing (I used Lite Ranch)
Mozzerella cheese
Diced green or sweet onions
Jalapenos (if you are daring like we are)
After seasoning the chicken breasts, place on grill on bake in oven until cooked through. While cooking chicken, combine hot sauce, tomato sauce and butter in small sauce pan until butter is melted. After chicken is cooked, cool on plate until you can handle with your hands. Shred chicken and place in sauce mixture. Warm through.
On pizza crust, spread dressing as you would sauce. Then layer the chicken mixture including all of the sauce. Add diced onions and jalapenos as layers. Finish by sprinkling moz cheese on top. Put in oven for 8 -10 minutes or until cheese is melted and center is heated.
Enjoy with a cold beer!
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