Chicken Empanadas

I cannot even explain how great these things are...sooo good!! And, after preparation and before cooking, you can freeze and save them for a month, which makes these so easy for lunches and parties. I've made a few changes; some times I use green chilies instead of jalapenos or I will use a rotisserie chicken instead of cooked chicken breast. It's a fun and easy recipe that can be customized in lots of ways so have fun with it!

Oh and the best part, I am still trying to collect cooking tools so I had to be creative in cutting the circles from the dough so I used a martini glass; perfect size :)

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
• 8 ounces shredded cheese (my favorite to use is habanero cheddar)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
• Water

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chicken and next 7 ingredients. Unroll 1 piecrust onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12 to 15 circles total. Arrange 1 round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month). Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Angel Hair with Shrimp and Asparagus

Last night's dinner was AMAZING!! And healthy!! I am seriously getting the hang of this cooking thing and now I am getting a little more creative and not taking so many shortcuts, as in, I am dicing my own tomatoes instead of buying canned and am buying fresh herbs to chop; yummm :)


So this recipe is from the Skinny Taste blog and she gives nutritional values (so great!); enjoy!


Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups • Calories: 378.4 • Fat: 6.8 g • Carbs: 52.1 g • Fiber: 8.5 g • Protein: 31.6 g  


Ingredients: 

• 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends removed, quartered
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6-8 ripe plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 12 oz large shrimp, peeled and deviened
• 1/2 cup fat free chicken broth
• 2 oz white wine
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1/2 tsp herbs de Provence (or you can use your favorite herbs)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (gives it a little kick)
• 8 oz angel hair pasta, high fiber or low carb

Directions:

Heat a large skillet on high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. When skillet is hot, spray with oil and add shrimp. Cook shrimp about 2 minutes in each side until almost cooked through and remove from the pan. Set aside.

Reduce skillet heat to medium, add olive oil and garlic and sauté until golden, careful not to burn. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer about 4 minutes.Add white wine and broth and stir. Add asparagus, salt, pepper and herbs. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes on medium low heat.

While sauce is simmering, boil salted water and cook pasta until desired tenderness.Drain when done.

After sauce simmers 10 minutes, add shrimp to sauce to finish cooking, about 1 minutes (Do not overcook or shrimp will get tough). Add pasta to the sauce and tosswell. Divide equally in 4 bowls and top with a good grated cheese.

Chili-Lime Shrimp Tacos

Love, love, LOVE these things! I also like to top mine with a spicy mango salsa; Whole Foods has an amazing one! I found a corn and flour tortilla that worked best because you get the compliment of the corn but the stability of flour. I served them with an awesome black bean salad that I will post :)

You will need:

• 20 medium prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 corn tortillas
• oil for frying
• shredded lettuce
• diced tomatoes
• sliced avocado
• cilantro lime sour cream (recipe follows)

1. In a bowl whisk together olive oil, garlic, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper (if using). Add in shrimp and toss to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes to give the flavors a chance to marry.
2. Cook shrimp in a skillet on medium heat until pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and cover to keep warm.
3. Use enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of a small pan, about 2 tablespoons. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas one at a time until soft, about 30 seconds on each side. Fold over to make a taco shell. As you cook each tortilla, place them on paper towels to absorb any of the oil left over.
4. Spoon 5 shrimp into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, avocado and cilantro-lime sour cream.
5. Serve.

Cilantro-Lime Sour Cream

You will need:

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• juice and zest from one lime
• salt to taste

1. Stir all ingredients together in a bowl

Wine Bottle Light

This doesn't have anything to do with food but I loved this DIY project! And hey, part of being domestic is decorating, right?

Original post here.

DIY: Wine Bottle Light

You’ll need:

an empty wine bottle
a drill
safety glasses and gloves (just in case the bottle breaks)
1/2″ glass drill bit
masking tape
short strand of Christmas lights (with a plug only on one end)
How to:
1. Rinse out your wine bottle and remove the labels (if desired).
2. Place a piece of masking tape on the bottle where you want to drill the hole for the cord. The tape keeps the drill bit from slipping.
3. Put on your gloves and goggles and start drilling. Don’t apply too much pressure or you could break the glass. The drilling takes a long time. I spent about 30 minutes drilling the hole. Be patient!

4. Once your hole is drilled rinse the glass shavings out of your bottle, and let the bottle dry.
5. Carefully feed the strand of Christmas lights into the hole you drilled.
6. TaaDaa!

Chicken Taquitos

These are SOOOO good and SOOOO easy!! I have this fantastic balance of friends...those who cook and those who don't :) I am trying to post recipes that are for both. This one is easy because only need the fajita seasoning, (hopefully you guys have salt and pepper). Most people run into the conundrum of buying spices; it's an expensive way to start your kitchen; necessary but expensive so try this recipe out because fajita seasoning is cheap!


Oh and I took this one from Kacie, again ;) http://hubbyapprovedrecipes.blogspot.com/


Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1 block of cream cheese
Green chile salsa 
Hot sauce (we like Cholula)
Adam's Beef fajita seasoning 
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn or flour tortillas 
Cooking spray


Directions:
Boil chicken breasts until fully cooked. Remove from water and shred with fork and knife. Soften cream cheese in microwave for about 30 seconds. Mix chicken, cream cheese, several tablespoons green chile salsa, hot sauce to taste, fajita seasoning, salt and pepper. Cover tortillas with damp paper towel and warm in microwave for about 45 seconds.Spoon a few tablespoons of chicken mixture into warm tortilla and roll very tightly.
Place on lightly sprayed cooking sheet. Spray with cooking oil and sprinkle with salt (I like using sea salt here because it is bigger).Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!!

The Not-so Fried, Fried Chicken

I took the recipe from a friend of a friend's blog here. I made this last night and it was GREAT! Clint loved it :)


Ingredients Needed:

1 1/2 cups mashed potato flakes

1 tsp seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup melted butter

1 TBSP water

1 egg

1 cut fryer chicken (about 3-3.5 lbs)

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a large mixing bowl comine: 1 1/2 cups mashed potato flakes, 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Stir 1/4 cup melted butter into potato flake mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat 1 egg with 1 TBSP water. 

Dip chicken in egg, then coat in potato flake mixture. 

Place chicken in 13x9 (ungreased) baking dish. I actually like to spread mine out into two dishes so the chicken pieces don't touch and the batter stays on. I also pour the leftover crumbs on the already coated chicken for extra crunch.  

Then, bake for 1 hour.

Chicken Ranch Pasta

Such a great pasta dish for summer days and again, a good lunch for the hubs. Now that Clint works in Austin (YAY!) I have been preparing lunches for him and that is a whole new set of cooking ideas. I grabbed this recipe from a friend's blog: http://kenyoncooking.blogspot.com/


Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (or 4 strips, whatever you have)
2 cups pasta
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
1 can italian diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup broccoli
grated Parmesan Cheese
garlic, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:


Season the chicken with about half of the ranch packet; generously cover the chicken.


Heat up a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken. Once the chicken has cooked for a couple minutes, add the broccoli to the skillet. I had frozen broccoli on hand, so that's what I used here. Start boiling the water for your pasta.


Once the chicken is done (about 4-5 minutes per side), cut into bite size pieces. Throw in the other half of the ranch seasoning packet, as well as a little garlic and salt and pepper to your liking.


Add the can of diced tomatoes.


Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and add to your serving bowl.


Now, add in the entire skillet of the yummy chicken/tomato/broccoli concoction.


Top with grated parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley.

GREAT Sandwich

From the wonderful mother-in-law...

Good sandwiches

Sub rolls

Deli thin sliced roast beef

Thin sliced onions

Mix softened cream cheese and horseradish (prepared horseradish, in a jar)

Light cream cheese is very good – no-fat is terrible

Warm it a little in the microwave or toast a little in the oven

Tomatoes and lettuce if you want!

YUM! 

Black Bean Salsa

Such a good side dish! It's called a salsa but I've eaten it as a side a couple times with shrimp tacos. You can also serve it with chips as an app or with grilled chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (17-ounce) package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 large avocado, peeled and diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and chill overnight. Taste and add salt, pepper or more lime juice as necessary.

Cucumber-Mint Water

I have a slight aversion to drinking water so for a while I put orange and lime slices in a pitcher of water to give it some flavor. It is so good! Use a whole small orange and just a few slices of lime (the lime is pretty strong).


Then I saw this yummy idea on my friend's blog: http://hubbyapprovedrecipes.blogspot.com/


Cucumber-Mint Water!

You need:
-Cucumber, about 1/3
-Fresh mint, about a handful
-Pitcher of water

Make it:
-Wash and slice cucumber. Place in pitcher.
-Wash mint. I left the leaves on the stems so that I didn't end up with leaves floating all around. Place in pitcher.
-Fill pitcher with water. Stir and place in fridge for a few hours. Serve cold.


It adds some character to boring water and is so refreshing!

Monkey Bread!!

Such an amazing treat! And yes, I do feel like a kid every time I make it but it is so darn good! And it's easy to slice and send along with the hubby for a quick breakfast.


Quick note: don't overfill your baking pan...I did and I should have photographed the mess that was at the bottom of my oven and the plumes of smoke that came out when I opened the oven door. I used an 8.5" bread pan; I should have only used one pack of biscuits. Hey, I'm learning ;)


Ingredients:

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
Walnut pieces - not sure how much I used

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan (I used a bread pan).

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into halves or quarters and place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.

3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. If you are using walnuts, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.


5. Bake for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!

Butter Chicken

I can't even remember how I came across this recipe but it was AMAZING! Just one note: I would add plenty of chicken; definitely use tenderloins to get the maximum flavor from the over-night marinating but make sure you cook plenty in the sauce because you will have left overs. 


INGREDIENTS:
4 piecesBoneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 
****I used tenderloins (8) and they came out super tender and loaded with flavor; so good!
5 clovesGarlic, Minced
1 teaspoonSalt
1/2 teaspoonBlack Pepper
1/2 teaspoonCayenne Pepper
1/4 teaspoonGround Coriander
1/4 teaspoonCumin
1/4 teaspoonCardamom
1 wholeLime, Juiced
1 wholeOnion, Diced
1/4 cupButter
1 can(14.5 Oz. Can) Tomato Sauce
1 can(14.5 Oz. Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 pintWhipping Cream
1 bunchChopped Cilantro, to taste
2 cupsBasmati Rice (or However Much You Want)

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine first 9 ingredients and marinate overnight.

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Add the whipping cream (I have used light cream or half-and-half also) and cilantro just before serving over Basmati rice.

Recipe found here.

***Side note: this sauce is amazing over pasta too! I had left over sauce, without the chicken, and poured it over some whole wheat penne pasta for lunch. GREAT vegetarian dish!