Another simple one...

I love when I find a quick recipe that turns out tasty as well. This meal was definitely done in under 30 minutes and was flavorful and satisfying. Sadly Joseph couldn't find any basil at Trader Joe's when he went after work so I had to improvise. Luckily I had picked up some frozen basil cubes (they also have cilantro and garlic cubes) in the freezer from an earlier TJs run.

If you want easy... this is the recipe for you :)

Source: Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats



Basil Chicken over Angel Hair Pasta

• 1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used 1 can of diced tomatoes)
• 2 cups boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I used frozen basil cubes from TJs)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I omitted)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook angel hair pasta until it is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and garlic. Stir in the tomatoes, chicken, basil, salt and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and cover skillet. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot and tomatoes are soft.

Toss sauce with hot cooked angel hair pasta to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Salad for two

I've had a few random cravings this pregnancy but one that came out of the blue was a craving for my step mom's version of taco salad. I've shown my mom's version on here before and it's by far my favorite version but my step mom's has some good qualities too.

It's simple, for one. And you literally throw it together. What else can I ask for from a tasty recipe?

Source: Cathy my step mom



Taco Salad

• 1 lb ground beef, browned and seasoned to taste
  
• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped or ripped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 can kidney beans
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used the mexican cheese blend from the store)
• 1 small bag Doritos nacho cheese chips, smashed up
  
• 1-2 tomatoes diced (I omitted)
• Italian dressing to taste

Start with a bed of lettuce. Add the beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, smashed Doritos and cheese. Top with Italian dressing and dig in!

Desperate for Dessert

During the whole pregnancy I have not been much of a sweets lover. I mean I can definitely eat sweets no problem but I just don't have a craving or draw to sweets. Last night, however, I really really wanted some moist cake. I didn't care where it came from as long as it was moist.

I called Joseph since he was out running errands and picking up parts, etc for the kitchen and asked where he was... Kearny Mesa. No real cake place around there. I told him that I really wanted some cake and he didn't know what to do...

So I took matters into my own hands and went in search of an easy, simple & fast cake recipe that didn't need much prep and didn't lead to lots of dirty dishes (Joseph was working on hooking up the sink in the kitchen so I didn't have a sink to do dishes in... the garage sink was already full with dishes...).

I had an idea of what recipe I was looking for since I had made it before. It's a microwave mug cake that takes about 5 minutes to prep... and cook! If you are in need of a chocolate cake fix and don't have time to make or buy one I'd suggest this recipe to tide you over. I do enjoy adding the chocolate chips because it makes it that much more chocolaty and moist. I do warn you though that it doesn't taste exactly like chocolate cake but it curbs the craving.

Source: Many sources if you google 'microwavable chocolate cake' but I took this recipe from this blog.



Chocolate Microwavable Mug Cake

• 4 tablespoons cake flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Mix the first three ingredients thoroughly in a mug.

Add the egg and beat in. Add the liquid ingredients and combine until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and microwave on high for 3 minutes.

Let stand for 30 seconds before eating (it will be hot!). You can either dump the cake onto a plate or eat it right out of the mug like I do!

*warning* the cake does rise in the mug (see picture below) however it will not spill out :)

I Love Surprises!!!

Guess what I came home to? No guesses? Ok... here it is:



Now if you can't read that it says that I won some chocolate cake mix and chocolate frosting from Cherrybrook Kitchen! I also received a cute little spatula too. The best part? I didn't even know I won. Now I'm sure I got an email update from Blake Bakes telling me to go comment on his blog about how much I'd love to win this fabulous prize and I'm sure I did that but I somehow never caught on that I won!

I gotta say... with a husband with a food allergy (allergic to nuts) I am always looking for allergen-free products so that I know he's safe. Now if the kitchen remodel would only be finished I could whip up some cake with this mix. Maybe I'll be able to make it for book club on Wednesday :)

And I just looked at Blake Bakes to see when he announced the winners and it looks like everyone won! Isn't that the greatest?

Waffle Mania

I love waffles. Have I ever mentioned that? I am sure I haven't. It's just so easy to whip up a fresh batch of batter and cook them on the waffle iron. And if you love waffles like I do, you might appreciate this recipe a bit more. I've had it for a while. I became a fan of these last December right after I first joined Weight Watchers. I ate these as a dessert sometimes covered in 2 tablespoons of Cool Whip lite. What kind of waffle, might you ask, would serve as dessert too? Pumpkin waffles! Perfect for the fall or winter and super tasty and fun.

Since I don't currently have an oven or stove I decided that I needed something warm for breakfast. Than Joseph asked me to get some bagels from Einstein Bagels. How could I resist a husband who's working so hard to give me the kitchen of my dreams? So I set aside my craving of waffles and went to go get breakfast.

As soon as I got home I was absorbed in finishing Midnight Sun and 12:30 rolled by quickly. Joseph asked what was for lunch. Waffles immediately popped into my head but I knew he wouldn't want any. So I grabbed him a pot pie from the freezer and set out to hunt down the ingredients for the recipe and my waffle iron. I set up shop in the garage and started cooking. Boy were these good!

Source: Weight Watchers



Pumpkin Waffles

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk (I used 2% due to a lack of buttermilk and lemon juice)

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and next four ingredients into a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Combine egg, brown sugar, oil, pumpkin & milk in a bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray; preheat. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter per waffle onto hot waffle iron, spread batter to edges. Cook 5-7 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat with remaining batter.

5 servings, 2 waffles per serving
4 points per serving

Warming Up

With the cool weather that has finally hit I decided to make something warm and comforting for dinner. I had to be smart and had to use what ingredients I had in the house. That's pretty hard right now since we're remodeling our kitchen and I've all but used up the contents in the freezer (saved a lot of money over the past two months not having to go shopping as often). So I knew we had potatoes, cream and cheese on hand. What better than a potato cheese soup?

We are limited to just a few cooking options at our house right now. So it was either the BBQ, rice cooker or slow cooker. I chose the latter. I searched my GR for some inspiration and found a cheddar, potato steak soup on Carrie's Cooking Adventures. With a few tweaks due to the ingredients I had on hand I came up with this...

Source: Carrie's Cooking Adventures



Potato & Cheese Soup

• 2 russet potatoes, peeled & diced (or cut into thin strips)
• 1 box chicken broth
• 1/2 box water (used chicken broth box to measure)
• Spices (I used s&p, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb and some Tony's Original Creole Seasoning)
• 1/4 pound of marble jack cheese

Peel potatoes. Dice, or thinly slice and than cut into strips, potatoes and put them in the slow cooker. Pour in broth and add enough water to cover the potatoes. Throw in the spices (I didn't measure... just literally threw in a bit of everything).

Cook for 6-8 hours (I cooked for 7 hours) on low.

Add cheese to top of soup and cook on high for 1/2 an hour longer. Stir soup and taste to see if any more seasoning is needed. If not, scoop into a bowl or cup, top with more cheese if you'd like and enjoy!

Update: I just tried the soup heated up today for a quick snack and added some bacon... MMMM! (I used the microwavable bacon from Costco).

Simple Favorites

I can't believe I haven't blogged my tuna casserole before. This recipe isn't quite what I usually make but I had to make some spin on it since I accidentally purchased cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of celery soup. I usually go right off of the cream of celery can for the recipe (minus the pimentos... eww) so if you want to stick with traditional just grab a can of cream of celery and you'll be set.

This is one of Joseph's favorite meals. In between trying new recipes I always have to go back to what Joseph likes because too many new recipes doesn't always make him happy. He's been really great with my trial and errors but I can tell when he just wants good old stand by's. This spin was pretty tasty. Can't wait for left overs tomorrow!



Tuna Cassrole

• 2 cups cooked egg noodles
• 1 can cream of mushroom (or celery)
• 1 can tuna
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 1/2 cup peas (I used frozen)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil water and add noodles. Cook until done. While noodles are cooking mix tuna, cream of mushroom, peas, salt & pepper & Mrs Dash until fully mixed. Drain noodles and mix with other ingredients.

In a small bowl mix butter and bread crumbs until little pea-sized crumbs form. Spread noodle mixture in an 8x8 dish. Top with cheese and bread crumb mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and bread crumbs are golden. Let sit for 5 minutes and than enjoy!

Hot and Spicy

We finally had some fall weather this weekend so I decided to make some soup. I was going to try a tortilla soup but didn't have the energy to make tortillas and didn't have the gas to go to the store... seriously. I was already on fumes and was too lazy to go to the gas station AND the store :)

This turned out great. It was super spicy because I might have left about 1/2 of the seeds from the jalepeno in the soup but it was super tasty. Too hot for Joseph though because he didn't add sour cream. The sour cream makes it very creamy and the cheese... well... you know how good melted cheese is.



Spicy Chicken Soup

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 anaheim peppers (ribbed, seeded & diced)
• 1 jalepeno (ribbed & diced... keep a few seeds for heat)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 chicken breast
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen)
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions, garlic and diced peppers in a dutch oven and coat with oil. Add tomatoes, corn, tomato paste, cumin, & bay leaf and saute for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth and chicken breast and bring to a boil and than reduce to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for 20-25 minutes. Remove chicken from soup and shred.

Season soup to taste if necessary. Remove bay leaf and pulse in a blender (I did two batches). Add chopped chicken back to soup and garnish with with choice of toppings.

Creamy Cheesy Goodness

I have to tell you that I LOVE scalloped potatoes and ham. It's almost my favorite dish. We had some leftover ham from the beginning of the week (when Joseph decided to cook a 7 pound ham for just the two of us because he was craving ham) so I needed to use it somehow. I've already made a bean soup so it was time to make some potatoes. And I had an excuse to use not one but three of my kitchen toys. I used my mandolin, food processor and dutch oven. Oh what fun!

The pictures definitely don't do this recipe justice. I didn't have time to get out my SLR so my point and shoot had to do for tonight. The potatoes were so good that both Joseph and I went back for seconds. And they weren't the skimpy one scoop seconds, they were full plates! YUM! I cannot wait for lunch tomorrow. Can we say left overs?

Source: Sweet Savory Southern



Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

• 5-6 red potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 a large onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
• 1 Tbsp italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or blend of cheeses
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• left over cooked ham, diced (as much as you want to add to your dish... I added about 6 slices)
  

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. In a dutch oven or other heavy pan melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook 3-4 minutes until the onion cooks down a little. Add the garlic and italian seasoning and cook about a minute. Next add the chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper.

Place a layer of sliced potatoes into the pan, add a layer of diced ham and repeat with potatoes until you have about 1 1/2 inches left in your dutch oven ending with ham.Cover and let simmer about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are slightly tender. Top with the cheese and place the pan into the oven for about 15 minutes. Let sit 10 min before serving.

(mine were very liquidy but still very tasty... not sure what I'll do next time to thicken the sauce up)

Starchy Sweetness

It has been almost a year since last Thanksgiving and I've been meaning to blog a recipe I made for last Thanksgiving. I am not sure why I hadn't blogged it yet but was reminded of the dish at a recent get together with Joseph's family. See, we go to Joseph's parents house each Thanksgiving for dinner and I felt like I wanted to participate and bring more than just the salad last year so I found a great recipe on Food Network for sweet potato gnocchi. I was sitting around thinking about the upcoming holidays and realized that I needed to find a recipe to top the one I made last year... so I am starting my brainstorming now. Any ideas... just post them on this entry!

Getting back to the gnocchi... this was the first time I had cooked with sweet potatos and was actually the first time I had eaten sweet potatoes. Yup... I was a sweet potato virgin. Now I cook many dishes with sweet potatoes as an ingredient and love the flavor and sweetness.

Source: Giada De Laurentis
Photo courtesy of Food Network until I can find mine on the other desktop



Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

For the Gnocchi:

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
  
• 2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/3 cup for the work surface

For the Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 20 fresh sage leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes and transfer to a large measuring cup to make sure the sweet potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, and pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.

For the Brown Butter sauce: While the gnocchi are cooking melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally, until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Careful, the mixture will bubble up. Gently stir the mixture. When the bubbles subside, toss the cooked gnocchi in the brown butter. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish and serve immediately.