Cajun Chicken

Another Allrecipes classic recipe~Enjoy!

4 ounces linguine pasta
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced ( I didn't have any, but they would be a great addition)
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.

Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Quick Bread Tip

Just one quick tip that I learned the other day. When you make Banana Bread, or pumpkin or zucchini or whatever kind you can do this trick. Grease your pans and then coat them with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. It makes a delicious little Cinnamon/sugar crust on the bread. Delicious!

Lettuce Wraps

Again, I found this on allrecipes, but I tweaked it to my taste. Here's the original. This is mine with my changes.

16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves (I used iceberg because the other stuff looked gross)
1 pound lean ground pork
a little sesame oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce (at least 1 T. I probably used more)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (again, I think I used more)
Asian chile pepper sauce (I used the hot sauce Jenn used in the spicy chicken)
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 carrot, julienned
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground pork in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, carrots and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

Hidden Valley Ranch Pull-Apart Bread and Variation

This bread is really good, however when I went to make it this weekend, I realized that I only had enough to make one loaf but I had thawed out enough bread dough to make two. So, I improvised. To find the original bread recipe follow this link

Here's what I did differently.

1 packed dry Italian dressing mix
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 package cooked bacon bits (not the Bacos, but the real bacon bits that are packaged in a resealable bag)
1 pound/loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
2 T. oil

Measure oil into a large mixing bowl. Cut bread dough into 1 inch pieces. Add to oil and coat well. Add dressing mix, bacon, and cheese. Put into greased loaf pan and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with foil and return to oven to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes (internal temperature should reach 190-195 degrees).

My husband liked it this way. He said it tasted like bread sticks. I think either version is good, but I liked the ranch bread better.

Ginger Chicken

I got this recipe from one of the other food blogs I read, Pimp My Dinner. It really was easy and pretty tasty so I thought I would share.

Chicken Breast (I used 3 skinless boneless breasts cut up into pieces)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup orange juice

1 T. green onions, chopped

1 T. grated ginger

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. honey

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

Mix together all ingredients and let marinate with chicken for 1 hour. Cook chicken in skillet. {about half way through cooking I dumped in extra marinade and let it thicken into a sauce, this was great over the chicken and rice.} Serve chicken over rice. This marinade is really simple and you could cook the chicken many ways, even grilling would be great. It has a simple yet flavorful taste. I didn't have any green onions so I left those out, but this is a great go-to meal when you don't have a lot in the pantry!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

These really are great enchiladas. I love that they are a little different than the standard enchilada, a little spicy with a little sweet and we really liked them.

3/4 cup honey
lime juice (1-2 limes)
1 T. chili pwd.
1/2 tsp. garlic pwd.
1 tsp. cumin
1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded
8-10 flour tortillas
monterey jack cheese, shredded

Sauce:
16 oz. green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream

Mix the first five ingredients and toss wiht the shredded chicken and let marinate for atleast 1/2 hour. {I just put those five ingredients with the cooked chicken in a Ziploc bag in the fridge in the morning and let it sit all day}. Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and shredded cheese. Put tortillas in pan and cover with sauce and remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until brown and crispy on top.

To make sauce: mix the remaining enchilada sauce with cream and any leftover marinade. I took a few liberties with the sauce. First, I didn't have any heavy cream, so I used 1/2 cup cream of chicken soup and 1/2 cup regular milk. That seemed to work, but really anything that will thicken up the sauce is good. Also, I didn't have any leftover marinade-my chicken sucked up all the yummy goodness, so I just added about 1 T. of honey and 1 T. lime juice to the sauce.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

It is always fun to change things up a bit for breakfast and these muffins are delicious. I did make one change to the original recipe found at http://www.allrecipes.com, I changed the glaze to be more of a frosting because you just can't have too much sugar :). I just added powder sugar until it was the right consistency, but this would be just as good with the regular glaze. This also can be made in loaf pans.

3 eggs
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons butter, melted

Beat together the eggs, 2 1/2 cups white sugar and vegetable oil. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond flavoring, and flour. Mix well. Bake in paper lined muffin cups (filled 3/4 full or 3 small greased loaf pans) at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes for muffins and 50-60 minutes for loaves. The tops should be browned and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove muffins as soon as you can while still warm/hot and dunk tops into glaze. Turn right side up and cool on a cookie rack. With loaves just pour the glaze evenly over the three loaves while still in pans. Let cool to a warm temp. and remove from pans. Yes, it is a little messy but it is really good.

To Make Glaze: In a saucepan over low heat, combine 3/4 cup sugar, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring and 2 teaspoons melted butter. Warm in pan until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over loaf pans or dunk muffin tops into glaze when cooled to room temperature. (Omit the glaze altogether if you don't like the mess.)

Tiny Spicy Chicken

This recipe is a family favorite (even my brother Matt who is the pickiest eater in the world will eat it). It's almost like the real deal at a Chinese Restaurant!




3 lbs. chicken
2-4 eggs
cornstarch
garlic salt

Sauce:
2-3 tsp. chili sauce/sambal oelek (*see picture below*)
1 1 /2 cup sugar
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tsp. soy sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth
6 T. brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
dash of salt

Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and sprinkle with garlic salt and let it set for 30 minutes. Dip the chicken pieces into the eggs and then cornstarch. Brown chicken in oil, but don't cook all the way. Put in 9x13 pan. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken. Bake at 350 form 45-1 hour. Stir chicken at least twice while cooking. Serve with rice.


This is the sambal oelek, found in the Asian isle in most grocery stores. It my opinion, it is critical to creating a great sauce for this recipe. You can use as much or little as you like depending on how spicy you like it.

No Bake Double Good Dessert

I'm pretty sure this is the recipe that a friend brought over for lunch today. It's really, really good. I enjoyed the peanut butter, I even think that doing it mint flavor (replacing the peanut butter with cream cheese, adding mint extract and a few drops of green food coloring) instead of peanut butter would be good too. If it's not the recipe my friend used, I'll post the real recipe when I find it.

20 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Press crushed cookies into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan, reserving a few for decoration. In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Stir in the peanut butter until well blended, then fold in the whipped topping. Spread over the crushed cookie base, sprinkle the remaining cookie chunks on top, and freeze for 1 to 2 hours. Thaw 10 to 15 minutes before cutting and serving. From allrecipes.com

Better Than Sex Cake

For a dessert to earn that name, it's got to be made of chocolate, but this was pretty good. My husband sure enjoyed it. I combined two recipes from allrecipes.com to get this version.

1 (18.25) lemon cake mix
1 can Mountain Dew
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple
3/4 c. sugar
2 pkgs. vanilla pudding (would probably be good with white chocolate or lemon pudding too)
3 c. milk
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Prepare cake in 13x9 in pan replacing the water with Mountain Dew.

While the cake is baking, combine pineapple with juice and 3/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes until thick and syrupy, stirring occasionally. Pierce top of hot cake with fork at 1 inch intervals. Pour pineapple mixture over cake. Cool completely.

Beat pudding mix with milk until smooth. Spread pudding over cooled cake.
Whip cream until slightly thickened. Add confectioner's sugar and vanilla, and whip until soft peaks form. Spread over top of cake. Chill cake for 24 hours. Sprinkle with coconut and pecans just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

To toast coconut, place coconut on a cookie sheet at bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Repeat with pecans, if desired.

Thai Chicken Pasta

Look at me posting a recipe! Jenn will be so proud. I haven't actually made this dish, but the couple we are living with made it the other night and IT'S DELICOUS. Enjoy

Sauce

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. chunky peanut butter

1/4 c. soy sauce

3 T brown sugar

2 T rice vinegar

2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger

2 tsp chili paste with garlic (2 makes it quite spicy,
maybe 1
to 1 1/2 tsp - however, we found a kind of sweet chili paste, almost like Hoisin sauce, and it was not too spicy)

4 garlic cloves minced




8 oz fettuccine

1 lb chicken breast

1 c. (2 inch) sliced green onions

1 c. shredded carrots (I buy the pre-shredded kind)



Combine first 8 ingredients in sauce pan. Cook until smooth, stirring frequently. Cook pasta in boiling water 8 minutes.
Add onions ad carrots. Continue cooking until pasta is done. Drain and place in large bowl.
Toss with peanut sauce and cooked cut up chicken.

Wendy's Frosty

This is a copycat recipe that I found on another food blog. This really tastes just like the frosty's at Wendy's. The texture is just a little different, but oh so close-it is totally worth (and not too bad for you either). This recipe is one large serving, so double or triple it.

1 cup skim milk (I used 2% because it is what I had)
3 T. sugar free/fat free instant chocolate dry pudding mix
2 heaping Tablespoons cool whip
8 or or ice cubes.

Put all in the mixer and then blend away!

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata (or pork piccata) is one of my favorite dishes. Shawn and I always order it when we go to the Cheesecake Factory, they have a delicious one. There are a couple of variations, but really it is pretty simple. I have simplified the sauce a little, but you can make it the original way if you want.

4 Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs
2 eggs, beaten with 1 T. water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable/canola oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 T. Capers

Flatten chicken breasts to about 1/4 inch thick. This is really important to get a good crust and tender, moist chicken. Combine Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs. Dip breasts in eggs mixture and then in cheese and bread crumbs mixture. Put in fridge for about 15 minutes. Combine oil and butter in skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Saute chicken fillets for 5 minutes per side, or until brown and cooked.

I usually just make a simple sauce by adding the lemon juice into the pan drippings and then adding capers. But, to make the original sauce you add garlic or shallot to the pan drippings and saute for a few seconds. Next, add 1/2 to 1 cup chicken stock and fresh lemon slices. Simmer until sauce thickens (about 4 minutes). Add lemon juice and capers and simmer. Once sauce thickens remove from heat and add 2 T. butter until it melts. This sauce is a little thicker and richer, but I am lazy most of the time and think it tastes great either way.

*chicken cooked this way also is great cut up and served in salads, without the sauce!

Pineapple Ginger Fruit Salad

1 pineapple chunked into bite size pieces
2 kiwis thinly sliced
1 cup coconut
2 limes zested and juiced
1 inch piece of ginger root peeled
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Combine coconut with lime zest. Toast until golden brown

Put lime juice, water, sugar, and ginger in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand.

Arrange pineapple and kiwi on plate. Scatter coconut mixture over fruit. Drizzle with ginger syrup.

*I read some people added strawberries and Mandarin oranges.

Zucchini Fudge Cake

I found this recipe right after J.D. and I got married. It's delicious and moist and above all chocolaty. You can used a prepared chocolate fudge frosting (which is what I usually do) but I think the frosting from the Hershey's cake on here would be wonderful too. What a great way to sneak vegetables into your day!

1 cup butter, softened
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 cups shredded zucchini
3-1/2 cups prepared chocolate frosting

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in zucchini.
Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes (I had to bake it about 42 minutes--I don't know why) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake. Yield: 12-14 servings.