Chicken and Noodles

I haven't been cooking nice dinners as much as I used to. I've either gotten lazy or busy. Tonight I told Michael I'd make him a homemade dinner and out of the choices I gave him, he picked Chicken and Noodles. I adapted a recipe from my go-to cook book for savory foods - Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

I've made this before and I recall that it's turned out pretty bland, so this time I made a few substitutions to try to rectify this problem. Where the recipe calls for water I used chicken stock (much tastier than broth). I also added a cup more stock than the recipe calls for, and 1/2 cup more milk than it calls for. In addition, I didn't have any frozen peas on hand, so I used soybean succotash (a mixture of edamame, corn and peppers). Finally, I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts in place of chicken legs that the original recipe calls for. The addition of stock rather than water really changed the dish - it's not bland at all. It's actually really delish.

Chicken and Noodles

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, copyright 2003

3 chicken breasts

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups chopped onions (3 medium)

2 cups sliced carrots (3-4 medium)

1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)

3 cups wide egg noodles (6 oz)

1 cup frozen peas (I used Trader Joe's Soybean Succotash)

2 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)

4 Tbsp all-purpose flour

In a Dutch oven, combine chicken, stock, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Add onions, carrots and celery. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer covered for 20 - 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Discard the bay leaves. Remove chicken from Dutch oven; cool slightly. Chop chicken and set aside.

Bring stock mixture to boil. Add noodles and cook for five minutes. Stir in peas and two cups of milk. In a screw-top jar with a lid, combine the remaining one cup of milk with the flour. Cover and shake until smooth. Stir into noodle mixture. Cook and stir until thicened and bubbly. Stir in chopped chicken. Cook and stir for one to two minutes more or until mixture is heated through.

As originally written, this is a lite recipe (311 calories, 6 grams fat, 5 grams fiber). I'm not sure what my substitutions would do to the calorie count, etc. but I'd imagine it's pretty close since the stock is fat free and I used white meat rather than the dark it originally calls for.

Start to finish, this dinner took about an hour to make. Not much to look at, but it's a delicious home cooked meal for a cold night.

French's Fried Onion-Crusted Cubed Steak

I bought cubed steaks on sale, thinking they'd be really tough, but I thought they were worth the try anyway, given the price (about $4.25 for 4). I bought them with no real recipe in mind, having recently discovered that Michael is not a fan of country fried steak - the only recipe I knew to make with cubed steak. So I went home that night (many weeks ago... this poor blog has been sadly neglected of late) and came up with my own recipe. Turned out pretty delicious, and not tough at all.

I served the meat with sides of egg noodles and broccoli and packaged brown gravy.

French's Fried Onion-Crusted Cubed Steak
Source: Yours Truly

4 cubed steaks

1 small can French's Fried Onions, crushed
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

To taste: salt, pepper, garlic powder

2 eggs

Flour for dredging

Olive oil or butter

You'll need three wide-bottomed bowls. In the first bowl add a cup or less of flour. In the second, beat two eggs. In the third, add the crushed onions through garlic powder and mix. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add olive oil or butter to the pan. Starting with your first cubed steak, dredge in flour, then in the egg, then coat as best you can with the onion mixture. Add to the pan and repeat with the other steaks. Fry for a few minutes on the first side before turning so that the crust browns nicely. (Sorry for the lack of specific timing, I didn't write it down). Turn over, adding more oil or butter to the pan in necessary. Remove to your plate and drizzle brown gravy over the meat.

Surprisingly delicious and easy, though not so good for you. Still, it was worth it, and I'll make it again. Even the leftovers were good.

Not Quite Semi-Homemade

"Hey, aren't you going to take a picture of this for your food blog?"

"Well, of course, I was just getting out the camera."

"Use my plate. It'll photograph better."

I was running late last night so Michael was kind enough to make dinner for us. Two nights in a row, he's had to do this. I am very lucky to have a husband who doesn't just sit around scratching himself on nights like these when I can't get home before quarter to seven. Not only did he cook, but he also had a little ankle biter to watch.

I'm afraid I don't have any recipes or kitchen tips from the chef. But the menu consisted of chicken nuggets, green beans and Velveeta shells and cheese. A meal the whole family could enjoy!

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chili

I knew I'd be baking a lot this past weekend, so for dinner on Friday, I prepared this Weight Watchers recipe, which had been listed as part of a post on the cooking board I frequent. Super easy to prepare, and pretty tasty, too. I served it with Trader Joe's cornbread (best mix around), prepared in a muffin top pan. The chili is sweeter than I am used to, but that may have to do as much with corn bread that I crumble in my bowl as the brown sugar in the recipe.

This is a crock pot recipe, but I don't see why one couldn't just put all ingredients into a dutch oven and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so, if you don't have the time for it to slow cook.

Now I just need to find a use for all the extra tomato juice I have on hand. Bloody Mary, anyone?

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chili

Source: Weight Watchers website, via a post on TheNest.com

Yield: 8 servings

1 lb extra lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp prepared mustard

1 medium sized onion, chopped (I used frozen pre-chopped onion)

2 (14 oz) cans kidney or red beans (I used one can chili beans in mild sauce and one can red beans)

2 cups low sodium tomato juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp chili powder

My addition: frozen red, green and yellow bell peppers

Brown ground beef and onion (and peppers) in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Drain. Add all ingredients to crock pot and stir to combine. Cover. Cook on high for 2-3 hours. If possible, stir several times during cooking.

240 calories, 6g fat, 4g fiber = 4/5 WW points per serving (hits right on the line)

Buffalo Chicken Calzone

Ah blog... it's been too long. Too many weekends spent out of town and away from the kitchen. Hopefully this post is the first of many to come this month.

Some talk on the cooking board I frequent inspired me to create a buffalo chicken calzone. I had the pizza dough in the fridge, which I had planned to use to make one of my giant calzones anyway, so why not go spicy? And spicy it was. Wowza. A little too spicy for me, but if you like your wings flaming hot, you'll love this recipe.

If not, I suggest going the way of the legendary buffalo chicken dip, and to the ground chicken add up to one block of cream cheese, 1/2 cup hot sauce and 1/4 cup ranch dressing. That should temper the heat while maintaining a little kick.

Buffalo Chicken Calzone

Source: Yours Truly

1 lb ground chicken

Poultry seasoning to taste

Ground pepper to taste

3/4 block 1/3 less fat cream cheese

3/4 cup hot wing sauce (like Frank's)

Frozen onion/celery mix to taste

1 handful shredded mozzarella (or to taste)

1 handful shredded cheddar (or to taste)

1 refridgerated pizza dough

Ranch dressing for dipping

Preheat oven to 425. Put jelly roll pan or pizza stone in oven to warm. Brown chicken and frozen onions/celery. Drain fat and add poultry seasoning, ground pepper and cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese melts. Add wing sauce. Simmer until sauce is slightly reduced. Remove from heat.

On a piece of parchment paper, roll out pizza dough. Sprinkle cheese over dough, then spread slightly cooled chicken mixture over half (long ways) of the dough. Roll the dough long ways and seal the dough at the seam. Helpful hint: rather than trying to pull the dough from the parchment as you roll it, lift the parchment long ways so that the entire piece of dough rolls at once without breaking. Note that with the amount of meat in the calzone, you'll only be able to fold the dough over once and seal; you won't be able to form a pinwheel.

Cut slices on top of the dough with a knife so steam can escape. Spray lightly with olive oil, or brush dough with an egg wash. Put calzone with parchment on the hot jelly roll pan and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until brown. Once out of the oven, let calzone rest for a few minutes and slice into generous diagonal pieces. Serve with ranch for dipping.

Ground Turkey "Stroganoff"

I'm not even sure what to call this. The recipe I used as a base is called "Hamburger Buddy," but I didn't use beef, and "Turkey Buddy" really just doesn't offer much explanation for what's happening here. So I decided that since this incorporates many of the elements of a stroganoff, that's what I'd call it. I'm even using the dreaded air quotes, possibly opening myself up to inclusion on this blog, which I find very amusing.

Now, I've tried making traditional beef stroganoff several times, as I'm a huge fan of comfort food and Michael loves stroganoff. But I've only been truly successful once, and that was long before my blogging days, so I have no idea what I did differently that time. Usually the resulting dish is fine. We eat it. But it's always pretty bland. I can't figure out what to do to fix the problem. I'm thinking it's because the beefy flavor isn't shining through (more Worcestershire?). Someone on the cooking board I frequent suggested the addition of brandy, which I may try next time. If you have a suggestion, please let me know.

(Comments of "You're a moron - use beef if you want it to taste beefy" are already acknowledged).

Anyway, the pseudo-blandness is happening here. But there are far too many reasons to like this dish otherwise (lots of veggies, decently good for your backside, a fair amount of spice, etc.), so I know I'll take a crack at it again. You'll note my ingredients are pretty rough. Since I wasn't baking, I just threw stuff in.

I recently found the website EatingWell.com, which is where I found the original recipe. It's a great alternative to Cooking Light. Check it out.

Ground Turkey "Stroganoff"

Source: adapted from this recipe at EatingWell.com

3 cloves garlic, minced

Few handfuls of baby carrots

Not quite half a bag of frozen spinach

Not quite half a bag of frozen diced onion

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 bay leaf

2 tsp Italian seasoning

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups hot water mixed with beef boullion seasoning (Wyler's), or reduced sodium beef broth

2 cups whole-wheat macaroni noodles

6 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp corn starch, plus more to get desired consistency

8 oz reduced fat sour cream

Finely chop garlic, carrots, spinach and onion in food processor. Set aside. Boil noodles until tender. Drain. Cook turkey and bay leaf in a skillet until no longer pink. Drain fat in collander. Add back to skillet with veggies. Return to heat and stir until mixture is hot. Add seasonings to mixture. Pour mixture into pot with noodles (or use a really large skillet and pour noodles in with meat). Mix 2 tbp corn starch into boullion/water mix. Add boullion mix, Worcestershire and sour cream to noodles and meat. Thoroughly mix and return to heat for 10 minutes or so, until sauce has thickened and flavors have mixed. Remove bay leaf and serve.

I made far to many changes to the original recipe to have a clue what I did to the per serving nutritional information, but am sticking this under "Lite" anyway, as I don't think the changes are so bad for you.

Spicy Polenta Tamale Pie

I know. From the photos, this doesn't look like much. Might not even look that appetizing. Oh, but it is. If you're a fan of tamales or polenta in general, and if you're dieting or not, this is a delicious and easy week night meal.

I'm actually looking forward to left overs tonight.

Spicy Polenta Tamale Pie

Source: Aimee's Adventures

Serves: 6, 1 cup each

24 oz. Pre-packaged cooked polenta (comes in a plastic roll)

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce (mild, medium, or hot) [I suggest you go with "hot" if you want this to live up to it's name - "spicy" - otherwise it will likely not be so.]

1 (11 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained [I didn't have corn so I subbed hominy.]

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 cup fat free cheddar cheese [I used reduced fat.]

Ellen's additions:

1 lb 93% lean ground beef

Chopped, frozen onions

1 small can diced green chilis

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8X8 dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut polenta into small cubes. Mix all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and pour into prepared dish. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes*.

* This dish can be served even more quickly by cooking the meat (if you add any) in a large skillet, then adding the rest of the ingredients and simmering for 10-15 minutes. I've made this both ways and prefer the skillet method.

Per Serving (without my additions or substitutions): 263 Calories; 7g Fat; 7g Dietary Fiber = 5 WW points

Taco Salad with Edible Bowl

I am very behind on reading my magazine subscriptions. Except for US Weekly. I always find time for my celebrity friends. But Sunday night it was Michael's turn to put Chloe to bed so I read an issue of Family Fun magazine. Got it for free for subscribing to Parenting. It's a decent pub. Anywho, there was an article on kid-friendly salads, and while my kid is too young to find any salad friendly, the taco salad caught my eye. Mainly because the ingredients looked fresh and healthy and it required making your own edible bowls from tortillas. Sounded like fun. So I made taco salad last night. I didn't stick with the recipe, in that I didn't make the dressing (looked delish, but not so much with the taco meat I added - which kind of makes the salad look wilted and gross in my pics and in person, even though it was neither wilted nor gross) and I added more ingredients. It was a huge hit, and Michael commented several times on how good it was. Nice to hear for something so easy. I'll make this again, though next time I may substitute the ground beef for cubed chicken, and make the honey-lime dressing the actual recipe calls for.

Source: adapted from a recipe in Family Fun magazine, July/August 2008 issue

3 flour tortillas (6" diameter)
About half a head of iceberg lettuce
1 tomato, large dice
1 avocado, large dice
Handful of cheddar cheese
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup salsa
1 lb lean ground beef
Taco seasoning packet

Heat oven to 350. Microwave each tortilla under a damp paper towel for roughly 20 seconds - enough to make it soft and pliable. Put three ramekins upside down on a cookie sheet. Spray each side of the tortillas with cooking spray and lay on top of each ramekin, gently encouraging the tortillas to form a ruffled cup. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the tortillas are golden brown. Remove from oven and set right-side up on each of three plates. Let cool.

Cook the meat in a skillet. Drain if desired. Add seasoning and a bit of water if necessary. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, chop the lettuce and add it to a large bowl with all ingredients other than tortillas. Toss to combine. Put a generous amount of salad in each bowl and serve.