Stuffed Chicken

Mmm...

My kids love chicken, cheese, and sometimes don't eat their vegetables; which is why this recipe is perfect *Evil Genius Laugh*

I'm making this for dinner tonight.  After I'm done I'll post the pictures for easier directions.

You'll need:
About 8 chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 onion, cut into half circle slices
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach, kale, or swiss chard (leaves only)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 cloves garlic
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
juice and zest of one lemon
salt and pepper
3 tbs total of dried herbs (I like oregano, basil, and parsley)

Cut the chicken breasts in half, horizontally, lengthwise, but leave a "hinge" so it's still attached.  When you're done, it should look like one big, flat, chicken breast (lol).

Take a little of each of the veggies you cut up, and place them lengthwise on the chicken.  Roll the chicken up and place it in a casserole dish.  Repeat the same thing with all of the pieces of chicken and arrange in a casserole dish.  They should all touch each other.  If they don't, add more!  :-)

In a small bowl or blender, mix together about 4 tbs olive oil, the juice and zest of one lemon, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, the dried herbs, and garlic.  Paint the mixture all over the chicken.

Bake for about 1 hour on 365.

Since the chicken has veggies in it already, you don't need lots of sides.  Just potatoes, rice, or salad with bread is good.

My kids love it.  And I like it because they really have no choice but to eat the vegetables:-)

ADDITION:  I made this dish tonight, only I used cheddar instead of feta and added asparagus.  I served it with Pasta Primavera (click for recipe).  My seven year old step son helped me make everything and he had a lot of fun.  Cooking that involves kids is always great because it teaches them about food, nutrition, and how to cook.  Love it.

Fruit Salad with Healthy Dressing

I used to make this all the time at Allyson's.  I miss that place so much.

Anyway... these are pretty basic guidelines for a typical fruit salad with a yummier dressing than marshmallow stuff or whipped cream.

Mix together:
1 cup strawberries
2 bananas
1 cup blueberries (NE Oregon: use huckleberries.  Western Oregon, use blackberries!)
1 tart apple, cut into cubes
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

In a small bowl, mix a Fage Greek Yogurt with Honey (you know, the little personal ones) and a teaspoon of cinnamon.  I like to use the 2% yogurt but Fage also makes a 0% milkfat kind.

Drizzle the dressing on the fruit salad and toss together.  It is sweet just like whip cream, but the cinnamon makes it just a little different.  Plus, the yogurt has tons of protein and less processed sugar than whipped cream or Cool Whip.

You can keep this salad in the fridge for a day but you will need to drain excess juices off before serving.

How to Hard Boil an Egg- The Right Way

Busy Mama Recipes



This is another that seems silly to some, but useful to others. (Seriously, one of my friends once tried to hard boil an egg in the microwave... did not work.  Another boiled eggs for 45 minutes to make sure they were done.  Oh boy...)

When I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I thought I knew how to boil an egg.  Duh.  I mean, it's freaking boiling an egg.  How hard is that?  Unfortunately, I was incorrect:

We had an over abundance of eggs for some reason, and a catering event.  Obviously: Deviled eggs.  So, I began the process to make tons of eggs to get started.  I put eggs in a pot, set them on the stove, and turned the burner on.  My plan was to bring them to a boil, let them boil for 10 minutes, then put them in cold water.

"Okay, but do you really know how to boil an egg?" Allyson asked me.  And of course I'm thinking in my head "Yeah.  Duh."  But she is the best cook I know, and an amazing teacher, so I asked her how, and I'm so glad I did.

She gave me these instructions:

1. Wash the eggs.  (Wow.  I had never done that.  Seriously, it seems so obvious.  I wash produce before using it.  Eggs are worse because they came out of a chicken once... bleh.  I couldn't believe after all those years, this was news to me.)

2. Put the eggs in a pot and fill it with cold water.  (That part seems obvious.  If the water is too hot it can crack the eggs, so make sure it's cold!)

3. Bring the eggs to a boil. (Okay, I was still on the same page there.)

4.  Once they are at a roaring boil, take them off the heat and cover for 12 minutes.  (This is where she lost me).

5. Put them in the fridge and let them cool completely before using them.

I asked her why.  Why was her way better than mine?  They both accomplished the same thing: a boiled egg.  She told me that when it's done this way, there is no gray area, so the eggs are much prettier when they are made into deviled eggs, egg salad, or sliced and served with salads.

This photo is an example of what I mean.  Yellow yolk, no gray:

Pretty huh?  Now here is a photo I found online (credit: sizzleeats.com) that shows the gray area when you keep the egg on the heat for too long:

Weird, huh?

Presentation is important.

*I saw a tip on Pinterest that said if you boiled eggs with baking soda in the water, that the peel comes off easier.  I have never tried it, so I have no idea if it's true.  By the sounds of the comments, it works!

How to Properly Zest an Orange

This probably sounds stupid to some people.  They are thinking, "Duh, grate the orange.  Done."  NO.  It's harder than you think!

Once, when I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I was making a big batch of soup (probably a few gallons) for the cafe.  It was some sort of Curried Carrot soup- or something very similar.

Anyway, the recipe called for the zest or two oranges, and I only had one.  To problem solve, I just grated that dang orange reeeeaaaaly well.  I thought I was genius- I was wrong.

You know that white stuff underneath the peel?  The stuff that looks like fake snow?  That stuff is called pith, and it's evil.  Well, not evil- it's actually healthy for you and has lots of health benefits- but it's bitter as crap.

From only one orange I ruined the entire batch of soup.  One orange.  No joke.  I learned my lesson big time.  Every cooking class I helped with after, I mentioned this story so people know what NOT to do.

So, to properly zest an orange, use a fine zester (I love my Microplane Zester that I got at Macy's for around $15.  It's "grate" for cheese too... haha) and zest one layer, then pick up the zester and begin in a new spot.  Don't go over spots twice, as if you were grating hard cheese.  There are only a few millimeters between sweet and evil bitterness.  Be careful!

There are a few recipes on my blog that you will need to zest an orange, like Orange Rosemary Shrimp and Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce.  Don't worry.  As long as you are careful, there's no reason to fear ruining anything:-)  

Ginger Cilantro Salmon with Cucumber Relish

Busy Mama Recipes



This is another recipe I got from my mom.  It was one of my favorites when I was younger because I love Salmon and ginger.  I was thinking about it today, and I'm bummed- Kevin dislikes cilantro AND ginger (I know, he is weird), so I can never make this dish:-(  The only time I make it is when we have the kids (Stewart loves it) AND there is leftover pizza for Kevin to eat.

My mom made this a lot, and I'm not exactly sure where she got the recipe... maybe in her head, maybe a cookbook... who knows.  But, it's delish:

Start with the salmon.  Choose salmon that is pink and not gross looking (I can't handle when fish looks slimy and weird).   Thank God for Nessa in my seafood department, otherwise I don't know what I would do:-) 

I usually get half a salmon, just one fillet with the skin still on.  It feeds my family and we have a little bit leftover for some lunch the next day.  You can adjust the amount, though, depending on how many you're feeding.  (BTW, I have no idea how many pounds that is... haha)

Put the salmon fillet, skin down, on a foil lined cookie sheet or casserole dish.

Ginger Cilantro Marinade:

1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves only, chopped
about 4-8 tbs fresh grated ginger, depending on how much you want
1 1/2 tsp Sesame oil
3 tbs olive oil, blend oil, or grapeseed oil
salt and white pepper

Blend it all in the food processor until it makes a paste similar to pesto.  You can add more oil or water to make it thinner if you need to.  It's very important to make sure the mixture is blended with no big chunks, because fresh herbs will burn in the oven unless pureed completely. Paint it on the salmon and let it sit in the fridge while you prepare the rest (or, let it sit overnight- I have found the longer it sits, the less "fishy" it tastes).

Cucumber Relish:

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced (I prefer English cucumbers, which you don't have to peel)
1 red bell pepper, diced (you can use yellow or orange too, but red is prettiest)
1/2 - 1 red onion, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbs Rice Vinegar (if you don't like rice vinegar, you can use lime juice instead)
salt and white pepper to taste
*I have added dill a few times because my grandparents dry it so I have an overabundance each year.  It was never a part of my mom's recipe, nor is it really necessary, but it's yummy.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the salmon with the ginger cilantro mixture on it for about 30 minutes.  Then, turn the oven on broil low and cook for another 3 minutes or so, watching to make sure the top doesn't burn.  Take the salmon out and serve with the cucumber relish on the side.  It's a very refreshing dish.  

I usually serve it with cilantro lime rice or spring rolls.  It makes a great bbq meal too, if you grill the fish instead of broiling it.

Leftover Idea:

Toss the leftover relish and salmon pieces with noodles.  If needed, add a dressing made with sesame oil, blend oil, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Add some chopped broccoli and make it into an Asian style pasta salad, served with crunchy noodles.

Wine Pairing:

Sake, of course;-)

Alternative:

A lot of people don't like salmon (which is sad because they obviously don't know what they're missing).  I have had this relish and marinade on pork chops.  We made everything the same and then grilled the pork and served it with an Asian style rice salad.  It was great for a bbq! 

Orange Rosemary Shrimp

I can't take complete credit for this recipe.  My mom actually made it a long time ago, and it's been a favorite in the family ever since.

My kids, for some reason (because they're awesome) LOVE shrimp.  Stewart called it "fish" when he was little, and Knox thinks it's "chicken", but regardless, they would eat a pound each if I let them.  No contest, it's Stewart's favorite food (maybe toss up between this and my homemade truffled mac and cheese, but he usually opts for this).

Photo credit: unknown

The original recipe was supposed to be "lemon rosemary shrimp" but my mom has a disease where she can't tell the difference between lemons and oranges (lol sorry Mom! Love you).  So, this dish was made from oranges instead.  As I very well know, accidents make the best things sometimes!

I'm having this for dinner tonight! I will post the picture directions later.  For now, here's the recipe:

In a bowl or gallon size ziploc bag, add all of the ingredients:

Zest and juice of one large orange*
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, the needles only, chopped
3-4 tbs olive oil or grapeseed oil
salt and pepper
1 pound of shrimp (raw, peeled and deveined)

*Learn how to properly zest an orange here.

 Let the shrimp sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes before you cook it.  Whenever my dad makes shrimp of any kind, he soaks it in some milk before preparing it because he says it takes the "fishy" taste out.  I have no idea if this is true, but I do it out of habit, because that's what we did growing up.

I have also let the shrimp sit in the orange marinade overnight in the fridge.  The longer it sits, the less fishy it tastes.  Also, adding more orange will cut the fish flavor out.

Saute the shrimp in a large skillet.  You may add more oil if you need, and can add more of any of the other ingredients if you feel the need to.  The amounts aren't rules, just guidelines.  I like to add a little dry white wine towards the end, only about 1/4 cup or so... then drink the rest;-)

Saute until the shrimp is pink and curled, but not too long because it will become rubbery in texture.

I always serve this with either a pasta dish or potatoes and steamed vegetables.  I also like to pair it with this recipe for Asparagus, which could also be broccoli or Brussels sprouts, too..  It's great because of the different flavors and textures.  Also, if you grill everything (grill basket is the best thing ever) instead of broiling or frying, it makes a great bbq dinner (something different from traditional burgers and chicken).  Be careful adding wine if you grill!

There is always an easy way to change this recipe.  Changing the acid is easy:  substitute a lemon or lime for the orange, or use balsamic vinegar instead.  If you are like one of my crazy friends that dislike rosemary, try fresh parsley, fresh cilantro, or dried oregano instead.  Marjoram and basil together are AMAZING too!

I have made this with scallops, too!  I love them mixed: half scallops half shrimp, but Kevin isn't a big scallop fan.  Boo.  I only make it with scallops when I'm mad at him.

If you love shrimp but aren't a big fan of this recipe, try my recipe for Shrimp Florentine.  It's seafood but without the acidic/ herby sauces.  Plus it has bacon:-)

Pair this with the wine you used in the recipe, like Chardonnay and for those who want to live outside the rules a little, Pinot Grigio will work too.

Quick Mexican Dip

Perfect for parties, potlucks, and dinners.  Inexpensive and easy to make, plus it's very easy to half or double or triple this recipe!  Everyone loves it and it's very non traditional (who else is getting tired of cheeseballs?)  I actually got the idea from someone who made Jalapeno Popper Dip and brought it to work.  It was good, but I wanted a little bit more from it.

This is what you'll need:

3 8oz packages of cream cheese
1 cup sour cream or Mexican Crema
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 small cans diced green chiles
2 small cans jalapeno peppers (or about 4-7 fresh jalapeno peppers, finely diced, without seeds)
2 tbs taco seasoning (or 1 tbs cumin, 1 tbs chile powder)
1 tbs dried cilantro
3 diced green onions

Mix all ingredients together and bake on 375 for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly.  Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, or bread.

Meat and Veggie Soup *then magically* Beer Stew!!!

It's freezing outside, so it's time for some soup recipes.  I love soup because 1. It warms everyone up. 2. It's filling. 3. It's usually fairly easy and inexpensive to make. 4. It's easy to make it healthy and "hide" vegetables and other things in it. 5. Leftovers! 6. You can make it in a stockpot or a crockpot, which requires hardly any effort and almost no cleanup. 7. Easy to make adjustments, like omit pepper and add eggplant, for example. 8. SO EASY to make allergy friendly!  I have so many friends and relatives that can't have gluten, dairy, sugar, etc. Soup is easy to make without pesky ingredients that your family can't have.

Oh yeah, and you can freeze the leftovers for a quick dinner someday when you don't feel like cooking (I'm stocking up for maternity leave).  I did it when I was pregnant with my son and it was SO worth it.  Brilliant.

This recipe is pretty basic.  It follows the Paleo diet too, which wasn't on purpose, but can't hurt, right?  My grandfather makes a version of it, but usually uses lamb and adds barley.  I love potatoes right now, so skip the barley and sub the elk meat that I have in my freezer, and this soup is almost free:-)

You'll need:

1 quart of canned tomatoes (I used more- one quart plus some more.  I can my own tomatoes so I always have extra in the fridge.  You can also use fresh if you'd like)
2 quarts broth (I used beef broth because that's what I had.  Again, I usually make my own and freeze it, so I have used vegetable stock and chicken stock in place and it tastes fine).
About 1-2 pounds of meat of your choice, chopped into bite size pieces.  I LOVE lamb, but I don't always have it.  Beef is great, as is deer or elk (the other flavors get rid of the "gamey" taste.  You could also omit the mat for a vegetarian/ vegan soup).
5 potatoes of your choice, diced (I used medium sized Yukon Golds, so if you use larger potatoes like Russets, or smaller ones like Reds- my fav- just adjust to how much you want).
3 cups of green beans (This is a guess, as I used frozen beans from the garden, so I'm not sure exactly how much it was.  You can use fresh or frozen, but keep in mind the frozen don't take as long to cook).
1 bell pepper, diced (I like green and Kevin likes red.  It doesn't matter which you choose)
2 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 or 2 onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt, pepper, oregano, parlsey, and a little thyme (I used all dried and just added until I though it tasted right)

Per usual, saute the carrots, celery, onion, pepper, and garlic in a little olive oil until softened.  Add the potatoes and meat and saute until browned.  Add all of the rest of the ingredient except the beans and spices.  Bring to a boil then simmer for about an hour, covered.  Add in the beans and spices and simmer until the beans are done.

Turn down to low and cover.  Keep warm until you are ready to eat.

You can also do this in a crockpot, although you may have to half this recipe if you don't have a large crockpot.  Just add everything except the beans and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Add the beans and cook for another hour.  I like this method because i can get it ready the night before and have it cook while I'm at work during the day.  Dinner is ready when i get home and there is hardly any cleanup.

Now comes the exciting part.... TA-DA!!!

The next day, instead of having the same thing again, make it into something even cooler by adding a few things.

Warm the soup on the stove and add (what I call) "butter balls".  I call it that mostly because it's funny, and parlty because I don't know what these things are actually called.  What you do is you take equal parts butter and flour and roll it together in your hand until it forms a tiny ball.  You can add these little balls to anything to thicken it, which is what we are doing to this soup.  If you used marble size butter balls, you will probably add between 7 and 12, depending on how much soup you have leftover.

Of course, this is the perfect opportunity for some trickery:  Puree steamed vegetable like spinach, kale, zucchini, red pepper, and add them in as well.  Your kids won't know that its extra- healthy and you score mom points for preventing illness;-)

Then, add half a can of beer.  It doesn't matter which kid as long as it's not some weird flavor, like pumpkin ale.

Serve this thickened stew with shredded cheddar cheese (or smoked cheddar) on the top.  YUMMMMM...

And of course, the leftovers will pair well with.... beer! The first one will pair well with a red wine like merlot.