Thursday, February 17, 2011
A Brief Hiatus
Hello, everyone! I want to let you all know I will be taking a brief hiatus from my blog. I just had foot surgery and as a result I have to hobble around in a pink cast for the next month or so. This cast makes it very difficult to cook, so until my cast is removed towards the end of March, I will not be blogging on new recipes. I will return, though, at the end of March with lots of new recipes and wonderful new ideas and tips! Have a great February, everyone!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Crock Pot Chicken and Veggies!
Sometimes I am surprised by what you see in the grocery store ads. A few days ago I was looking at the sales in the local ad for the grocery store here. In the ad there was a recipe for a crock pot recipe. I love cooking in the crock pot because you can throw in all of your ingredients in it and then turn it on and walk away and a few hours later you have a delicious meal and you didn't have to babysit it.
So, I decided to try the recipe that was in the ad. It was a recipe for Chicken and Vegetables. I went to the grocery store and bought the little meal pack you could get. The only thing I switched up was the Cream of Mushroom soup that was in the recipe. I substituted a can of Cream of Asparagus soup instead. I put all of the ingredients in the crockpot and turned it on and went to work. When I came home a little over eight hours later, I had a delicious meal. The chicken was so tender I could barely get it out of the crock pot without it falling apart. This was by far one of the best meals I have had in a long time. The recipe below feeds six people. I modified it a little because I am only one person. I cut the recipe in half. I still have enough for another batch. But this recipe is perfect for a family. In fact, my sister made a similar meal from this idea. I will post her idea below as well. So, if you want a healthy, easy meal this is my suggestion!
Crock Pot Chicken and Veggies
6 Boneless chicken breasts
10 Red Potatoes, cut into chunks
1 lb. bag of baby carrots
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom (or another Cream of Vegetable soup if you aren't a fan of fungus)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (for another level, I used one garlic clove)
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
Add the potatoes to the crock pot. Cover with the carrots. Top with the chicken breasts. Combine the soups and add the garlic. Pour over the chicken and veggies. Turn on crock pot on low and cook for eight hours. Salt and pepper to taste upon serving. Serve with rolls if preferred.
Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pies:
Follow the recipe above, but add some additional vegetables such as frozen peas, corn, or whatever you prefer. You may also want to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces. Bake some of the pop can biscuits (such as Pillsbury). When the chicken is done, spoon some of the chicken and veggies over one half biscuit and top with the other half biscuit. Instant "pot pie." You could even make this more pie like if you have a ramekin. You could split one biscuit and put it in the bottom of the ramekin and then scoop the mixture over and then put the top on it!
So, I decided to try the recipe that was in the ad. It was a recipe for Chicken and Vegetables. I went to the grocery store and bought the little meal pack you could get. The only thing I switched up was the Cream of Mushroom soup that was in the recipe. I substituted a can of Cream of Asparagus soup instead. I put all of the ingredients in the crockpot and turned it on and went to work. When I came home a little over eight hours later, I had a delicious meal. The chicken was so tender I could barely get it out of the crock pot without it falling apart. This was by far one of the best meals I have had in a long time. The recipe below feeds six people. I modified it a little because I am only one person. I cut the recipe in half. I still have enough for another batch. But this recipe is perfect for a family. In fact, my sister made a similar meal from this idea. I will post her idea below as well. So, if you want a healthy, easy meal this is my suggestion!
Crock Pot Chicken and Veggies
6 Boneless chicken breasts
10 Red Potatoes, cut into chunks
1 lb. bag of baby carrots
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom (or another Cream of Vegetable soup if you aren't a fan of fungus)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (for another level, I used one garlic clove)
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
Add the potatoes to the crock pot. Cover with the carrots. Top with the chicken breasts. Combine the soups and add the garlic. Pour over the chicken and veggies. Turn on crock pot on low and cook for eight hours. Salt and pepper to taste upon serving. Serve with rolls if preferred.
Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pies:
Follow the recipe above, but add some additional vegetables such as frozen peas, corn, or whatever you prefer. You may also want to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces. Bake some of the pop can biscuits (such as Pillsbury). When the chicken is done, spoon some of the chicken and veggies over one half biscuit and top with the other half biscuit. Instant "pot pie." You could even make this more pie like if you have a ramekin. You could split one biscuit and put it in the bottom of the ramekin and then scoop the mixture over and then put the top on it!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!
So I made this for dinner quite some time ago. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my cat had a freak accident and so I was dealing with that. He is all healed now, so now I blog.
I made Nut-Crusted Tilapia With Spinach and Carrots. This was so good! This was also a first for me in terms of cooking something I have never cooked before. I have grown up eating all kinds of fish, but I have never cooked it myself unless you count frozen fish sticks. The tilapia was quite easy to cook. I ground up some bread and cashew nuts in my food processor and then coated the fish with some horseradish infused spicy grainy mustard and the nut mixture and then baked the fish. It turned out really well and was very tender and flaky! With the leftover fish I cooked it a few days later and "fried" the pieces. That was good too! I consider this a hit because my friend ate the fish with me and she isn't a big fan of having nuts in her food, but she didn't even know until I told her. So I think if you are someone who hates nuts in food because of texture, this is the perfect recipe because the nuts are ground up into a powder almost, so it eliminates the texture that nuts tend to have.
The recipe also had spinach and roasted carrots on the side. The carrots were roasted in the oven. They turned out really well. The only I would do different is double the carrots, because there wasn't that much after I was done cooking them. And hey, they are vegetables so there is no guilt in doubling up on them! The spinach was easy to cook. The recipe suggested adding a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes to the spinach, so I did -- won't do that next time! It definitely took the spinach up another level, but it was spicy! Next time I will omit the pepper flakes.
So, all in all, this was a great recipe and I think kids would love this recipe! It would expose them to something more than frozen fish sticks but still have that fish stick appeal with the nut crust. I am thankful that my parents didn't always have money for eating out and even store bought meat. My dad always went fishing and so we always had fish in the house, and so I grew up loving fish and still do to this day! If prepared right, fish is mighty tasty!
Nut-crusted tilapia with Spinach and Carrots:
I made Nut-Crusted Tilapia With Spinach and Carrots. This was so good! This was also a first for me in terms of cooking something I have never cooked before. I have grown up eating all kinds of fish, but I have never cooked it myself unless you count frozen fish sticks. The tilapia was quite easy to cook. I ground up some bread and cashew nuts in my food processor and then coated the fish with some horseradish infused spicy grainy mustard and the nut mixture and then baked the fish. It turned out really well and was very tender and flaky! With the leftover fish I cooked it a few days later and "fried" the pieces. That was good too! I consider this a hit because my friend ate the fish with me and she isn't a big fan of having nuts in her food, but she didn't even know until I told her. So I think if you are someone who hates nuts in food because of texture, this is the perfect recipe because the nuts are ground up into a powder almost, so it eliminates the texture that nuts tend to have.
The recipe also had spinach and roasted carrots on the side. The carrots were roasted in the oven. They turned out really well. The only I would do different is double the carrots, because there wasn't that much after I was done cooking them. And hey, they are vegetables so there is no guilt in doubling up on them! The spinach was easy to cook. The recipe suggested adding a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes to the spinach, so I did -- won't do that next time! It definitely took the spinach up another level, but it was spicy! Next time I will omit the pepper flakes.
So, all in all, this was a great recipe and I think kids would love this recipe! It would expose them to something more than frozen fish sticks but still have that fish stick appeal with the nut crust. I am thankful that my parents didn't always have money for eating out and even store bought meat. My dad always went fishing and so we always had fish in the house, and so I grew up loving fish and still do to this day! If prepared right, fish is mighty tasty!
Nut-crusted tilapia with Spinach and Carrots:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)