Ritz Cracker Baked Chicken

  In keeping with this week's "freezer meals" theme, I have decided to prepare the best oven-baked chicken recipe I have ever had the pleasure of eating (thanks to my sister for introducing it to us). I typically prepare this dish the day I plan to serve it, but recently I got to thinking, "this would make a great frozen dinner recipe". Who needs frozen fish sticks (UGH!) when you could have delicious, healthy, homemade chicken strips (the recipe calls for chicken breasts; use chicken tenders if you plan to freeze them).

Ritz Cracker Chicken

4-5 chicken breasts

1 c. plain yogurt

1 wrapper Ritz crackers

¼ c. powdered parmesan

½ t. seasoned salt

dash garlic powder

¼ c. butter, melted

  Combine in a food processor; Ritz crackers, parmesan, seasoned salt, and garlic powder. Dip chicken breasts in yogurt, then coat in Ritz cracker mixture. Place chicken in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray and drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes or until cooked through.

  To make this dish even healthier use low-fat yogurt, reduced-fat Ritz crackers and simply leave off the melted butter.

  To make this dish as a "freezer meal": Prepare chicken up to the point of placing in a baking dish; instead place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, place chicken in a covered container or ziploc bag; store until ready to use.

  To bake: Follow remainder of above directions, except bake 1- 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through.

  Double or triple the recipe to cut the overall workload, then simply pull as many pieces from the freezer as you need at a time.

Update

  Remember the new addiction I posted about? Here's a recipe I actually like better for the cookie. The Salted Caramel Frosting remains the same. I made the Chocolate and Key Lime Whoopie Pies for a get-together today and they were a big hit.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Yield: about 24 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

3½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Combine the flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl; whisk together to blend.  Set aside.  Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.  Blend in the buttermilk and vanilla extract until incorporated.  Mix in the dry ingredients, blending just until combined.

Using a 1-oz dough scoop, drop the batter onto the prepared baking pans, 12 cookies per pan.  Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool on the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining batter.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, match them up in pairs by size.  Fill a pastry bag fitted with filling.  Pipe a dollop of filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair, and sandwich the cookies together, pushing the filling to the edges.  Store in an airtight container.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp (40 mL) cream
• 2 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 Put 1/4 cup of sugar and water in saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not stir of you will get sugar crystals, but you can swirl the saucepan gently. It will bubble itself into a deep amber. Remove immediately from heat and add cream (careful – it will bubble up furiously). Stir until smooth and set aside.

 Put the egg whites, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches 140 degrees. Transfer to bowl of standing mixer.

 Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add butter a bit at a time, and continue beating on medium. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla extract, and then caramel (you may need to gently rewarm the caramel in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it is workable but not burning hot). Beat for 4-5 minutes. 

 Frosting may begin to separate and look absolutely terrible. Just keep beating.

 Eventually you will have a fluffy, beautiful buttercream.

   

  I also came up with a recipe for Key Lime Whoopie Pies. What a delicious take on a favorite summer dessert!

 Key Lime Whoopie Pies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated key lime zest
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and lemon zest until light and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour mixture (scrape bowl as needed). Beat well to combine.
   
2. Drop batter in 2-tablespoon mounds, about 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until puffed and pale golden around edges, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cakes cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Fill with key lime filling.
    
   

Key Lime Filling

3/4 c. sugar, divided
4 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. key lime zest
2 Tbsp. key lime juice
2 egg yolks
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2 pint heavy cream


  Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add butter, key lime zest, key lime juice, egg yolks and milk; cook over medium heat until very thick. Stir in sour cream and pour filling into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled.
  Whip cream until stiff peaks begin to form. Add remaining sugar and beat until very stiff. Fold cream into previously chilled filling.
  Spread filling on half the prepared cookies, top with remaining cookies. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
  
  I'm afraid one of my sisters has gotten me on to something that is soon to become a new obsession; Whoopie Pies. I'll have to get her to share her recent recipe discovery of a Vanilla Whoopie Pie with Raspberry Mascarpone Filling. The recipe I decided to try is a Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Salted Caramel Buttercream Filling...DELICIOUS! I have only one complaint; it needs double the filling. So the next time I make these little bites of heaven I will be doubling the filling recipe and making the cookies slightly smaller so you can taste more of the filling. The filling is so good, in fact, I will probably be using it in some other favorite recipes; like sandwiched between layers of chocolate cake that have then been frosted with a chocolate fudge frosting. YUM!

  I made the pies much larger than I should have because I was crunched for time, but here's the end result.

                                                                     Sorry the lighting is so bad.

Dessert In 4 Ingredients Or Less

  We were tasked with bringing something that required 4 ingredients or less for an event I attended last night. Now, there are entire cookbooks dedicated to recipes with 5 ingredients, so I was a little perplexed as to how I was going to do this. I came across this blog in which the woman was talking about a dessert cookbook where every recipe had 4 ingredients or less. With permission from the author she posted a recipe for Nutella brownies. Four ingredients and they tasted delicious!

I'm In Heaven!

  If you're like me (until about 15 minutes ago) and have never had the pleasure of eating a fresh croissant straight from the oven, you're seriously missing out!

  I've always wanted to try making croissants, but thought croissant-making was one of those "arts" better left to trained professionals. Boy was I wrong! The process by which croissants are made is time-consuming, but so incredibly easy. If you hate spending $6 of a package of 4 croissants as much as I do, I would highly recommend giving this recipe a shot.

  I split my first croissant-making adventure into 2 days so I wouldn't be totally over-whelmed. I followed a recipe I found online almost to the letter (they tell you to prepare an egg wash and then never tell you what to do with it; so I followed my instincts and put it on when I thought I should).

  I didn't think I could handle making croissants this first time and trying to photograph as I went (not to mention, I was afraid I'd go to all the work just to have them flop), so I will make them again VERY soon and give you the step-by-step breakdown of the process (recipe included).

  So...stay tuned and I'll follow up soon.

Buttermilk Syrup

I made the most heavenly Buttermilk Syrup this morning. I had heard rumors of buttermilk syrup recipes but had never tried it for myself. I have to say..."WOW"! This is my new breakfast indulgence.

Weekly Menu Wednesday

Check out the weekly menu plan for next week. I decided to change things up a bit.

Frozen Dinners

All the entrees listed here that are baked at some point are fantastic for using as freezer meals.
Freezer-to-Oven Entrees courtesy of Rachel Ray
Martha Stewart has her own collection of freezer meals.
Skillet Lasagna
This website is dedicated to creating freezer meals. 

  The basic idea is to get creative. Casseroles, baked pastas and essentially anything that goes in a dish and into the oven at some point, is going to make a great frozen dinner. I love the concept of "frozen dinners" that have healthy ingredients in them. So many of the frozen foods you buy at the supermarket are so unhealthy. So, take a day to plan and prepare for all those hectic days in the future when preparing dinner just isn't "in the cards".

THRIVE Sour Cream Doodles

 This is a Shelf Reliance recipe I've been wanting to try and finally got around to. I'm not a fan of Snickerdoodles, don't know why, but I never have been. Because this recipe has sour cream instead of cream of tartar, I thought I'd give it a shot. So glad I did. This is a wonderful recipe! Now, I know some of you are thinking "I don't have THRIVE ingredients" or "I'm not bustin' out a brand new can of THRIVE Powdered Sour Cream just for some cookies". I'm sure this recipe will still be good with regular store-bought ingredients. So try it out. And if you like it, you might just want to get some of this fantastic THRIVE Sour Cream Powder; it's on sale for just a few more days!

Sour Cream Doodles

Makes 2 dozen  •  Prep time: 15 min  •  Total time:  30 minutes

1⁄2 cup THRIVE® Butter Powder (reconstituted with  2 T of water)

2 tablespoons THRIVE® Whole Egg Powder (reconstituted with 4 T of water)

1 1⁄2 cup THRIVE® White Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups THRIVE® White Flour

1⁄2 cup THRIVE® Sour Cream Powder (reconstituted with 1/4 cup water)

1⁄2 teaspoon THRIVE® Salt

1⁄2 teaspoon THRIVE® Baking Powder

1⁄2 teaspoon THRIVE® Baking Soda

2 tablespoons THRIVE® White Sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

  Preheat oven to 400˚F

  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Add ½ of the flour and ½ of the sour cream; mix well. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda and last half sour cream. Add remaining flour slowly until desired texture is achieved.

 Roll into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake on greased cookie sheet (my preference is a Silpat or parchment paper) for 8-10 minutes.

Straying from the Weekly Menu

  Sadly my husband was not overly fond of Sunday's dinner. I decided yesterday that instead of taking a chance on one of this week's recipes I would make something he was sure to love. I've had some large pasta shells in my pantry begging to be used, and have been dying to try a recipe for making your own ricotta cheese, so I thought I'd throw something together.

  Ricotta Cheese-making Take One:

One of my fellow Shelf Reliance Consultants posted a recipe on her blog for Ricotta Cheese from THRIVE Instant Milk. I don't have the milk at the moment but was eager to try the recipe so I used the powdered milk I had from before I was introduced to THRIVE with terrible results (it didn't form curds resulting in the bulk of the ingredients going down the drain instead of staying in the strainer where it belonged). Now I can't blame everything on the milk, because I missed something in the recipe and added the vinegar at the wrong time (so, it's probably mostly my fault), but I wasn't about to take another chance on it and waste more of my expensive powdered milk only to have it fail again. My only problem-I now had everything ready for stuffed shells without the ricotta cheese. (I do have to say that I will be attempting this recipe again once my THRIVE Instant Milk arrives.)

  Ricotta Cheese-making Take Two:

I did a web search for "Ricotta Cheese" and found a recipe by a trusted baker and author, David Lebovitz. I had all the ingredients on hand so I went to work on it again. The results? See for yourself.

This shot without the flash shows the curds.

 

This shot with the flash shows how white and creamy it turned out.

  To the ricotta I added an egg yolk, cooked Italian sausage, spinach and onions (which I previously sauteed), Parmesan and Romano cheeses and coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. I stuffed the shells and placed them in a baking dish to which I had spread a layer of homemade marinara; topped them with more marinara and some mozzarella cheese. I covered the dish with foil and popped it into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, removed the foil, turned the oven up to 450 and baked 10 minutes more.

  This is the marinara recipe I used as a guide. However, I used dried spices, pureed my tomatoes until they were small chunks, and added a bay leaf, fresh flat leaf parsley and a dash of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. I brought everything to a boil, then turned it down to simmer for about 2 hours.

  I am happy to say, even though we ended up eating at 6:30 instead of our typical 5:30 because of the ricotta mishap, the meal was fantastic and my husband helped himself to seconds...and thirds!

So, this photo doesn't really do it justice. But hey, I'm a cook not a photographer!

Liege Waffles

  I was watching a food show one night and became engrossed when they began talking about Belgium waffles, true Belgium waffles. These particular waffles are more of a yeast dough that rises like bread and is filled with chunks of Belgium Pearl Sugar that caramelizes when cooked. YUM! I set out on a quest to find a recipe for such a delicious-sounding breakfast treat...no luck! I couldn't seem to find a recipe anywhere (it could be that at the time I did not know it by it's true name-Liege Waffles). So I gave up my fruitless search for the time being.
  Last week I happened on to a blog in my search for Whoopie Pie recipes-remember the fantastic Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Buttercream? This blogger had a recipe for none other than Liege Waffles! Upon further investigation of the recipe I realized this was the one I'd been searching for. So I got on Amazon that day and ordered some Belgium Pearl Sugar (What you think I'd wait another second after finding my long-lost recipe?) So this morning I got to work and 2 horribly long hours later I had this:

Well, actually four times this but my children and I ate them as they came out of the waffle iron.

  Fabulous! Now, I'm going to need to do some tweaking on the recipe in order to make it work for my climate. I think the dough needs more flour because they came out more dense than I think they should have, but I wanted to follow the recipe precisely the first time around (by precisely I mean minus the 2nd 200g of flour it calls for, because if you follow the instructions in the recipe I think there's a typo in the ingredient list).
  So, you better believe we will be having Liege Waffles again this week with my own little alterations to account for the fine, rainy weather we've been experiencing in Utah for the last month!

Asian Night

Sorry about the lack of posts over the last couple days, I was preparing for yesterday's meal. I had my family over for dinner and had an Asian meal full of new recipes planned. Here's how it went.

Cold Sesame Noodles-Thanks to my sis Michelle for this one!

I actually served this hot with homemade noodles (using my new pasta maker of course). It was delicious! My sister has served it cold and says it's equally delicious.

Pork Satay

1	tsp.	sugar
1	tsp.	salt
1	lb	pork
2	tbsp.	yellow curry powder
1/2	cup	coconut milk
		bamboo skewers

  The pork should be yellowish in color. Sometimes there is not enough tumeric in curry powder. If you like the brighten up the color for presentation, add a dash of tumeric.

Soak bamboo skewers at least half an hour so that the ends do not burn on the grill. Slice the pork into thin strips (about 1/4 of an inch thick) that will fit onto the skewers.

  Marinade the pork and curry powder, sugar, coconut milk and salt for the same amount of time that you soak the skewers (I do both at the same time).
  Thread the pork onto the bamboo skewers. When you get the skewers at a restaurant, the meat is normally stretched out flat. While this looks nice and makes economical sense for restaurants, I find that stuffing the skewers gives me a moister, tastier result that is tenderer than when it is stretched tight.
  Grill 5-6 minutes per side. Serve with Peanut Sauce.

Peanut Sauce

1	tablespoon	tamarind (omit if you can’t find it)
3	tablespoons	sugar
3	tablespoons	chunky peanut butter
2	tablespoons	fish sauce
1	tablespoon	red curry paste
3/4	cup	coconut milk

Add the coconut milk to a cold sauce pan and start to heat it up at medium heat. As it is heating, stir in the curry paste and break the paste into small pieces. Mix well. When you see red oil simmering to the top, add the peanut butter and the rest of ingredients. Stir and taste. You should be able to taste the fish sauce, sugar and tamarind flavors. If it becomes too thick, add a few teaspoons of water to thin the paste.

Thai Fresh Spring Rolls

6 spring roll wrappers

12 medium, cooked shimp

shredded leaf lettuce

chopped cilantro

peeled, seeded, julienned cucumber

minced mint leaves

julienned carrot

bean sprouts

shitake mushrooms

cellophane noodles (bean thread noodles) soaked and drained

Dip one spring roll wrapper in warm water; place on a clean surface and top with fillings. Roll wrapper burrito-style and slice in half at an angle. Serve with Hoisin-Peanut Dipping Sauce.

Hoisin-Peanut Dipping Sauce

1 cup (8 oz) hoisin sauce (if sauce is thick, add about 1/4 cup warm water to reach desired consistency)
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 minced Thai chili, or more for desired spiciness

Combine all ingredients until smooth.

Coconut Cake- Thank you "Taste of Home" magazine for a most delicious dessert. (I did go with my own frosting because the one in the recipe sounded very sweet and overpowering for such a delicate cake.)

My Frosting:

4 Tbsp. butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. coconut extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 pint heavy whipping cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and cream cheese; beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Add coconut extract and vanilla. Switch to the whisk attachment. With the mixer running on medium speed, slowly add the cream and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

Each of us like some things more than others, but all-in-all a delicious meal!

Update

Thank you to Matt for introducing us to "Poppy Seed Chicken". My family very much enjoyed it for dinner tonight! Add that to the fantastic "Turkey Teriyaki Sliders" and my family's eating very well this week. Keep those recipes comin'!
 
We're doing sort of a "Choose your own Adventure" menu this week. Please submit your favorite dinner recipe(s) to share with us by leaving a comment following this post. We can all then choose which recipes to make next week and come back and share feedback with each other about how it went. I am always looking for new recipes, as I'm sure you are, and this will be a fun way to do a recipe-share. I'll start us off with one of our "family favorites"

New Orlean's Pasta

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Penne Noodles
1 (6 oz.) boneless, skinless Chicken Breast, cut into 1/4" thick strips
2 1/2 tsp. Essence
2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 oz. chopped Chorizo or Andouille Sausage
3/4 lb. medium Shrimp, cleaned
1 small Yellow Onion, diced
1 clove minced Garlic
3 c. Heavy Cream
1 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. Hot Red Pepper Sauce

Essence:
5 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika
1/4 c. salt
1/4 c. Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp. freshly ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Onion Powder
2 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper Powder
2 Tbsp. dried Oregano
1 Tbsp. dried Thyme
Combine above ingredients in an airtight container; will store up to 3 months.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta until al dente-about nine minutes.
2. In a medium bowl toss chicken strips with 1 teaspoon essence. In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over high heat. Add chicken; saute, shaking pan occasionally, one minute or until browned. Add sausage; cook and stir one minute. Add shrimp, onions, garlic and remaining essence; saute one minute. Stir in heavy cream; reduce heat and simmer two minutes. Stir in half the parmesan cheese and remaining ingredients; simmer 5 minutes.
3. Drain pasta; add to skillet of prepared sauce and gently toss to coat. Transfer to serving dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve.  3 comments

Weekly Menu Wednesday

Be sure to check out the Weekly Menu!

Strawberry Season

  I'm a huge advocate for using in-season produce as much as possible. Why not take advantage of great prices on fresh fruits and veggies? Today I decided to try a new recipe for Strawberry Bread. I did not take pictures simply because it didn't last long enough after coming out of the oven. If you aren't one for cooked fruit, this isn't the recipe for you because there are portions of slightly mushy strawberries in the bread. If you don't mind that sort of thing can I just say, you must try this recipe! Absolutely delicious! Thank you Martha Stewart.

Dinner Tonight

  If you thought I wasn't going to be trying out your recipes, you were wrong! Tonight I prepared the following recipe that was submitted by a friend:

"One of our quick go-to meals lately is pinapple turkey burger silders. I typically use Kings Hawiaan rolls but Walmart makes awesome pinapple rolls also. Grill the turkey burgers with garlic salt along with fresh pinapple. Mix 1/2 cup mayo with 1/4 cup teryaki sauce. Slice the rolls in half, put pleanty of the mayo sauce on top and bottom put the burger on with a slice of sharp swiss cheese and pinapple and tadaa! They are so yummy, my husband cant get enough of them. I serve them with home made fries dipped in the teryaki sauce. I also think it would be great with grilled green peppers and mushrooms."

  I decided to make my own Hawaiian Rolls because I knew I wouldn't make it to the store. They turned out wonderful. I also made my own Teriyaki Sauce from equal parts homemade peach jam and soy sauce. I didn't have any cheese but topped the burgers with the Teriyaki/Mayo dressing, shredded lettuce and shredded carrots. I'm happy to say these are now a new family favorite, and if you were to use low-fat mayo and nix the homemade shoestring french fries they would be very healthy!

One Last Time

  Okay so I'm reminding you one more time to post your recipes in the comment section of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Weekly Menu post. We have three recipes for this week's dinners and need at least two more to round out the week. Get 'em posted cause I'm itchin' to try your delicious recipes!

A Quick Reminder

I wanted to remind you about this great sale. I don't know how much longer it will be available.

Freeze Dried Tropical Fruit Package--A Screamin' Deal!

Here is a special on Thrive you can only get through me. The Tropical Fruit Package comes with the following fruits in #10 (or gallon. size) cans:

Banana Slices freeze dried
Mangoes freeze dried
Pineapple Chunks freeze dried
Mandarin Oranges freeze dried
Apricots freeze dried
Pears freeze dried

  This package retails at $240. If you were to purchase each can separately through me you'd pay $155.74 plus tax and shipping. This package right now is only $118.70. I can't imagine it staying at this price for long. It's a great gift for Mother's Day. The best part is, all the fruit is freeze dried, so its a healthy snack with no additives. Plus it stores for over 25 years in the sealed can. Once you open a can of the freeze dried fruit you have one year to eat it.

Contact me to get this screamin' deal on Thrive freeze dried fruit.

Don't Forget!

Just a quick reminder to get your recipes posted for next week's weekly menu. 

I want to try out your fabulous dishes!

I'm in Trouble

  I'm afraid one of my sisters has gotten me on to something that is soon to become a new obsession; Whoopie Pies. I'll have to get her to share her recent recipe discovery of a Vanilla Whoopie Pie with Raspberry Mascarpone Filling. The recipe I decided to try is a Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Salted Caramel Buttercream Filling...DELICIOUS! I have only one complaint; it needs double the filling. So the next time I make these little bites of heaven I will be doubling the filling recipe and making the cookies slightly smaller so you can taste more of the filling. The filling is so good, in fact, I will probably be using it in some other favorite recipes; like sandwiched between layers of chocolate cake that have then been frosted with a chocolate fudge frosting. YUM!

  I made the pies much larger than I should have because I was crunched for time, but here's the end result.

Sorry the lighting is so bad.

Create Your Own Weekly Menu

  We're doing sort of a "Choose your own Adventure" menu this week. Please submit your favorite dinner recipe(s) to share with us by leaving a comment following this post. We can all then choose which recipes to make next week and come back and share feedback with each other about how it went. I am always looking for new recipes, as I'm sure you are, and this will be a fun way to do a recipe-share. I'll start us off with one of our "family favorites"

New Orlean's Pasta

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Penne Noodles
1 (6 oz.) boneless, skinless Chicken Breast, cut into 1/4" thick strips
2 1/2 tsp. Essence
2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 oz. chopped Chorizo or Andouille Sausage
3/4 lb. medium Shrimp, cleaned
1 small Yellow Onion, diced
1 clove minced Garlic
3 c. Heavy Cream
1 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. Hot Red Pepper Sauce

Essence:
5 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika
1/4 c. salt
1/4 c. Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp. freshly ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Onion Powder
2 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper Powder
2 Tbsp. dried Oregano
1 Tbsp. dried Thyme
Combine above ingredients in an airtight container; will store up to 3 months.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta until al dente-about nine minutes.
2. In a medium bowl toss chicken strips with 1 teaspoon essence. In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over high heat. Add chicken; saute, shaking pan occasionally, one minute or until browned. Add sausage; cook and stir one minute. Add shrimp, onions, garlic and remaining essence; saute one minute. Stir in heavy cream; reduce heat and simmer two minutes. Stir in half the parmesan cheese and remaining ingredients; simmer 5 minutes.
3. Drain pasta; add to skillet of prepared sauce and gently toss to coat. Transfer to serving dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve.

A Busy Day

  If you didn't already know, you are about to find out exactly how big a food nerd I really am. For my birthday I asked for (and received) a pasta maker and ice cream waffle cone maker. Of course I couldn't let even one day go by before trying out my new toys. I never got around to making last week's Ragu Bolognese so I made it tonight with homemade Tagliatelle noodles...Delicious! I also made waffle bowls to go with ice cream for dessert.
  I followed the directions for the Tagliatelle to the point where you cut the noodles, at which point I used my pasta maker to do the cutting.
  I was having a hard time figuring out how to pinch the point of the waffle cones in order to keep the ice cream from dripping out, and since I was pressed for time, I opted to drape the hot waffles over a dish and create bowls instead. Sorry there are no pictures, we had my in-laws over to join us and I didn't want to hold up the meal. Not to worry though, I will be making both things again and will flood your computer screen with mouth-watering photos.
  Everything was delicious and well worth the time and effort. With a little time and experience I should be able to get really fantastic results. I was amazed how easy this all was. If learning how to make homemade pasta or waffle cones is something you're interested in, I would highly recommend it. There's something very satisfying about making my own pasta and the flexibility I have now with making spinach, tomato or whole wheat noodles.
  On to the next adventure!

My Birthday Treat

  Red Velvet Cupcakes for my "Big Three-O". My sis made a delicious cake for the family celebration we had yesterday, but I wanted something on my actual b-day as well. Can you blame me? Of course I had to try one just after frosting them, just to make sure they tasted great...and they do! Hope they make it till after dinner tonight!!

I used Bon Appetit's Red Velvet Cupcake recipe and followed the frosting directions with the following changes:
-1 stick of cream cheese instead of two
-1/2 cup whipping cream whipped into the frosting at the very end
-no coconut
-topped with toasted pecans

YUM!! Happy Birthday to me!

Update

  Just in case you haven't made it yet and were wondering, the Chicken with Shallots and Morels (Baby Bellas in my case) was fantastic! The dish was incredibly simple and took hardly any time to prepare, if you choose not to start with a whole chicken. I have never broken down and whole chicken before and decided it was about time, so I did it. Next time, however, I'm taking the easy route and buying a pre-packaged chicken that has already been pieced for me; doing this should result in this recipe becoming a "30 minute meal".

Happy Cinco de Mayo

  So I'm still learning some things with Blogger and have just found that my "pages" (tabs across the top) only hold a small amount of info and then send the rest, where? Cyberspace? I'm gonna have to figure out what to do about that. In the mean time, I didn't want you to miss out on the delicious Cinco de Mayo recipes I had on the menu for today, so here they are.

Empanadas  

(My take on one of my husband's favorites from his time in Argentina.)

Dough: 

2 c. flour                                    

1 tsp. salt

10 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into cubes                                           

1/3 c. cold water
 

  Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl; cut in butter. Add water and stir just till combined. Roll dough out on a floured counter and cut into 5" rounds.

Filling: 

1/2 lb. ground beef                                 

1/2 yellow onion, diced small

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes                                  

dash cumin                                                

1/4 tsp. beef bouillon

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. water

1 hard boiled egg, peeled and chopped

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, grated

canola oil for frying  

  In a saute pan brown ground beef over medium-high heat; add onion and saute until tender (about 5 minutes). Add red pepper flakes, cumin, beef bouillon, salt and pepper, and water. Cook until water evaporates, (5-10 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool. Add egg and cheese; set aside.  Place a small amount of filling in the center of each previously cut pieces of dough. Using your finger, apply a small amount of water to the edge of half the piece of dough. Fold empanada in half and press the edges with the tines of a fork to seal.  Fry empanadas a few at a time in hot oil (about 300 degrees). Serve hot.

Guacamole 

(Courtesy of Bon Appetit)

5 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, divided

1/4 c. minced white onion

1 lg. jalapeno, seeded, minced, divided

kosher salt

6 medium or 4 large avocados, halved and pitted

1 medium tomato, cored and chopped

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. lime zest

Combine 2 1/2 Tbsp. cilantro, onion, and 1 Tbsp. jalapeño in a mortar or a large bowl; season with salt and mash with a pestle or the back of a fork until a coarse paste forms. Using a small knife, cut flesh (not skin) of each avocado lengthwise into 4 strips, then crosswise 4 or 5 times, forming cubes. Using a spoon, scoop cubes out of peel and into mortar with onion mixture. Mash until slightly chunky. Mix in remaining cilantro and jalapeño along with the tomato, lime juice, and zest. Season to taste with salt. Serve with tortilla chips.  

DO AHEAD Can be made 4 hours ahead. Press plastic wrap on surface of guacamole and chill. 

Also, don't forget to rinse your minced onion under cold running water to rid it of the bitterness given off in the cutting process.

Here's the link to the Brazillian Lemonade recipe.

Japanese Curry

  So, I'm off schedule again. I've decided the weekly menu plan is more of a suggestion of meals for a given week for me. I'll continue to post the menu with each of the 5 weekdays assigned and then I'll just prepare them when I feel like. How do you like that! I have found that I am much more ambitious about cooking dinner when I cook according to my tastes and energy each day. Trying to tackle a meal requiring 2 hours of prep just is not practical some days, so...you adjust. For today's adjustment I have been very nicely rewarded with the wonderful smell of Japanese Curry filling my home. I hope your dinner tonight is equally delicious!

This will be served atop long-grain white rice.

  
 By the way, I used my THRIVE Mixed Peppers and Freeze Dried Celery to make prepping much less work. I would have used all THRIVE veggies, but I had some fresh ingredients that needed to be used and was out of some of the THRIVE veggies (they're on order). Had I used all THRIVE veggies my prep time would have been 5 minutes and 35 minutes of cooking time. How's that for a gourmet meal on the fly!

Weekly Menu Wednesday

I got a jump start on the Weekly Menu so you wouldn't have to wait till the end of the day to find out what delicious food is in store for next week. Be sure to check it out and get everything you need to cook along with me!

An Update on Monday's Dinner.

 Monday was supposed to be the Latvian meal, but my husband came home wanting to take us out and who was I to say no?! So, today I found myself making the Latvian meal. Just a few things; the Pork Cutlets were wonderful (despite the fact that I accidentally left out the lemon juice which, I think only would have added to the flavor). I enjoyed the potatoes; my husband, however, didn't think very highly of them. I think the dill-sour cream combination was a little too much for him. All-in-all a very nice meal.

This picture really doesn't do it justice! It looked a lot better than this makes it out to.