Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce

I cannot stress enough how AMAZING this was! I seriously took the left overs away from my husband so that I could have them for lunch! Try this recipe out and you will love, love, love me for finding it!


Ingredients:

• 8 chicken tenderloins, 16 oz total
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup fat free chicken broth
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 200°. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge in flour. 

Heat a large skillet on medium heat; when hot add 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil. Addchicken to the skillet and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink. Set aside in a warm oven.

Add additional oil and butter to the skillet, then garlic and cook a few seconds; addmushrooms, salt and pepper stirring occasionally until golden, about 5 minutes.

Add wine, chicken broth, parsley; stir the pan with a wooden spoon breaking up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook a few more minutes or until the liquid reduces by half. Top the chicken with the mushroom sauce and serve.

Angel Hair with Shrimp and Tomato Sauce

I'm having a slight obsession with shrimp right now. It's so good and meals like this are so fresh and healthy...and great for the boiling heat we are getting in Austin. I LOVED this for dinner last night and lunch today ;)


Once again, I grabbed this from the Skinny Taste blog. The recipes are great and are healthier versions of everyday favorites!


Angel Hair with Shrimp and Tomato Sauce
Servings: 4 • Size: divide in 4 • Calories: 245

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup half and half
• oregano
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 8 oz angel hair pasta (whole wheat is the best!)

Boil water for pasta. Cook according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, season shrimp with salt and oregano (I added red pepper for some heat). Cook shrimp and garlic in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, wine, salt and pepper and cook an additional minute. Add half and half and cook 1 more minute. Add lemon juice and parsley and serve over pasta. Divide equally in 4 plates.

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!!