Recipe Test 1: Chicken Breasts with Jalapeno Cheese Sauce

Hi, everyone!

I've been testing and making recipes off of pinterest for years, and it can be difficult to tell which recipes will be amazing and added to my family's meal rotation, and which are disgusting and just should not even exist.  Tonight I made a new recipe: Chicken Breasts with Jalapeno Cheese Sauce.  The picture and description on pinterest made me think that this was chicken with a queso type of sauce, but in reality it tasted more like jalapeno poppers.


I will admit I deviated from the original in 3 ways:
1.) I used thin sliced chicken breasts instead of full sized boneless chicken breasts (and I adjusted the cooking time to match).  I hate cooking thick chicken breasts in a skillet.  I always over cook the outside but the inside will be raw.  I get super paranoid about whether or not it is cooked, so for me it was not even a choice, I needed to use thin chicken.
2.) I added the garlic in at the same time as the jalapenos and onions.  I was chopping up the jalapenos and onions in my Manual Food Processor and added the garlic to it before adding it to the pan, so it all went in together.
3.) I added a little milk to the sauce.  I'm not sure if my stove was too hot, or if I added too much cheddar (it calls for a heaping cup, which leaves a bit of leeway) but my sauce was incredibly thick before I even added the chicken to cook for almost 10 minutes longer.  So I thinned it out with some milk.

Now for the verdict:  this recipe was delicious! (Even if it didn't look all that appetizing...) It had a very mild heat, and reminded me of jalapeno poppers.  I think next time I would just add a bit more salt to the recipe (although maybe if I wasn't using low-sodium chicken broth it would fix that?) but I will definitely be making this again.

Things I like (aside from deliciousness):
1.) This recipe is low carb (if you don't serve it over rice, like I did).  My husband eats low carb so it is important that I make low carb recipes.
2.) This is gluten free.  I have a wheat allergy so this is a necessity.  Just a word to the wise: don't use the brand of cumin I did.  It was not gluten free (as I found out shortly after eating it...)

Enjoy!

Roasted Sausages and Peppers

This is a favorite of my family.  Easy to prep, easy to make wheat free (due to my recently diagnosed allergy), and delicious I really could not ask for more!

Ingredients:
3 or 4 onions (I always do 4...I love onions)
1 each red, yellow, and orange pepper
Italian sausage links (I have used pork, lean pork, and chicken sausage.  They have all worked)
Seasoning of choice (I use Pampered Chef 3 Onion Rub)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Slice onions and peppers
3. Spray vegetables with oil and sprinkle with seasoning.   Spread onto a large baking pan.
4. Roast for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I HATE broccoli.  In any and all forms.  I am not someone you can hide broccoli from because I can always taste it.  It is hideous and I do not understand why anyone would voluntarily put it in their mouths.

Apparently this baby has a different opinion on broccoli, though.

Back in December my work gave a holiday luncheon with assorted yummy hot food.  Every time I walked by the creamy broccoli chicken dish, my mouth would water.  I finally decided to try it, just knowing that once I took a bite I would probably spit it out and stop thinking about it.  Nope.  I ate two whole bowls of creamy broccoli chicken.  I ate so much of it that I didn't eat dinner that night.

I've been meaning to try broccoli again since then to see if it was a fluke, but I have been scared.  My hatred of broccoli is so ingrained, I was afraid that I would either pay money for or spend a lot of time making a broccoli dish that would then go completely to waste.

But last week at the grocery store, it happened again.  As we shopped in the produce section I kept asking my husband what that delicious smell was.  I finally tracked it down: broccoli cheddar soup.  I almost bought some, then chickened out again. 

But the smell was enough to get me to try some broccoli cheddar soup on Wednesday, when I was not allowed to have meat.  It was soooooo good! 

Here is my take on broccoli cheddar soup:

1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 c. butter or margarine (I used salted butter)
1/4 c. flour
1 c. chicken broth
2 1/2 c. milk (I used skim because that's what we have at my house)
2 c. cooked broccoli (I used the frozen kind that you steam in the bag)
2 c. sharp cheddar, shredded

Saute the onion in the butter over medium heat.  When tender, but not brown, add in flour and stir to create a smooth consistency.  Add broth and milk and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add broccoli.  I used my immersion blender (I highly recommend getting one!) to puree the broccoli into the soup, but if you do not have one, you could (carefully!) pour the soup into a food processor for this step.  Or you can just leave the broccoli as chunks in the soup if you like that.  Finally, melt the cheddar cheese into the soup.  Taste and add salt as needed.  Enjoy!

A bad picture of a delicious soup!

Sticky Mustard Kielbasa

Mmmmm.  So this recipe was an attempt to get my child to eat real food for once, and eventually it worked.  This is one of the few meat dishes that my son will actually eat and (occasionally) ask for more!  The mustard and the brown sugar make a honey-mustard type of flavor (even though there is absolutely no honey in the recipe).

Ingredients:

Mustard

Brown Sugar

Kielbasa

(You have to love a recipe with only 3 ingredients!)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350, then line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!  The sticky part of this recipe is a pain to try to get off of baking sheets.
If you can find them, I recommend using kielbasa links, it just makes it easier.  If you are using a kielbasa rope (shaped like a horseshoe) you need to cut it into 5 even sized chunks.  Then cut the chunks (or your links) in half lengthwise and place on your cookie sheet cut side up.  Squirt mustard on the cut side of your kielbasa (how much or how little is up to you and how much you like mustard).

 Sprinkle with brown sugar (for how much, see note about mustard). 

Bake in the oven until mustard and brown sugar become a sticky coating on top of kielbasa.  The time for this recipe is really flexible.  I have cooked it only 20 minutes (I was too hungry to wait longer) and I have cooked it as much as 45 (the hubby was late getting home that night).  I think somewhere in the middle is best, so shoot for half an hour.

(Okay, so it won't win any beauty awards.  But it sure is tasty!)

And that is it.  So easy.  Enjoy some yummy, sweet, sticky kielbasa. 

Slow Cooker Vegetable Meatball Soup

One of the best recipes for me.  This soup is a great way for me to get veggies into my family since it is delicious, but it is also so simple to make.  My hubby likes it and the last time I made it even the toddler ate some, which is nothing short of amazing since he usually only likes to eat fruits or things shaped like animals (Goldfish, Teddie grahams, etc).

I start this in the slow cooker before going to work.  When I get home, I make the pasta add it in and dinner is served! :-)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups beef broth
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 can (14.5 ounce size) stewed tomatoes
12 frozen fully cooked meatballs, thawed

1 cup spiral pasta, cooked and drained

DIRECTIONS:

Combine first 4 ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (these ingredients are already cooked, so it could be a lot less than that, say 4 hours.  I just put 8 because on average that is how long I am gone at work).
Just before serving, stir in pasta; heat through.

I don't find that this needs any extra salt, because the broth and meatballs are already seasoned.

Makes 4 servings.  4 points plus per serving.

What's for breakfast?

Chocolate Cherry Refrigerator Oatmeal

 Ingredients

• 1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup vanilla low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk chocolate chips
• ¼ cup chopped cherries (I got mine frozen)
  

 Directions

In a half pint (1 cup) jar, add oats, milk, yogurt,and sugar. Put lid on jar and shake until well combined. Remove lid, add chocolate chips and cherries and stir until mixed throughout. Return lid to jar and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. Eat chilled.

Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Tacos

Anybody besides me love sweet & spicy together?  I love it!  In fact, my favorite candy is Hot Tamales.  This meal is the epitome of a harmonious sweet and spicy marriage.

This morning, I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight.  This is a rarity for me because I almost always plan my menu before I ever go grocery shopping, but I am trying to use up what is in my pantry and freezers this week.  I remembered some boneless skinless chicken breast that I bought a couple of weeks ago on sale (it was buy one get one!).  What could I do with chicken....   I also remembered the raspberry chipotle salsa that was in the fridge.  Thus, the raspberry chipotle chicken taco was born!

I bought the salsa at a Le Gourmet shop.  You can also order it here: 

Ingredients:

2 T. oil (I used canola)
1 1/2 chicken breasts, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bag of frozen mixed pepper strips

1 jar raspberry chipotle salsa
1/2 t. chipotle chili powder (if you don't have this, regular chili powder would work)
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder
salt to taste
tortillas

Procedure:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook until outside is browned.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add pepper strips.  Add a couple of tablespoons of the salsa.  Add all of the spices and stir to make sure evenly distributed.  Add the rest of the salsa.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.
Heat tortillas according to package directions.  Serve chicken mixture inside of tortillas.  I also put cheddar cheese and rice inside of my tortillas.  So yummy!