Taco Chilli

For the first Ranger's game, that we unfortunately did not win, I made Taco chilli/soup for Cameron, Whit, Preston, and Courtney. This recipe is super easy and inexpensive. Most of the ingredients are canned and can easily be bought and stored for later use!

 

This can be either a soup or chilli. But it's great for cold nights (not like Dallas right now, 85 and the very end of October, what is that?!). Just make sure you have a nice couch to lay on and a good game or show to watch after, because you will want to take a long nap... Feeling very satisfied and full!

 

Taco Chilli

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean beef or turkey (even healthier)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 package hidden valley ranch dressing mix (1 oz)
• 1 package taco seasoning Mix (1 oz)
• 1 (16 oz.) can pinto beans (I bought one with jalapenos with it)
• 1 (16 oz) can chili beans, hot or regular
• 1 (16 oz) can whole kernel corn
• 1 (8 oz) can Mexican-style tomatoes (Rotel is delicious)
• 1 (8 oz) can diced tomatoes 

 Directions:

 

Saute beef and onion, drain fat and return to pan. Add both seasoning packages and mix into beef.

In a large pot, combine the beans, corn, and tomatoes (with all the sauces). Add beef and onions and simmer for an hour.

Garnish: Sour cream, chives, jalapenos, avacados, cheese, cornbread, tortilla chips (pretty much anything you would put on your taco!)

 

ENJOY!

GUMBO!

A couple of weekends ago,  I went home for my sister's volleyball regional tournament... Which they won! So I stayed the weekend and my parents and grandparents got together to watch the Baylor vs. KU game, Sic em bears, (not OU vs Texas) and I made gumbo with sausage and chicken. (I changed the ingredients and spiciness based on my families preferences).

Chicken, Sausage, and Shrimp Gumbo

I didn't add the shrimp because my grandmother is allergic, and I didn't add okra because I forgot to buy it (which my mother said was a sin against cajun food). So let me know how this recipe turns out with those added!

My family loved this gumbo and all went back for seconds! It's very hearty and is great during half time of a football game!

Tip: to save on time, I bought precooked sausage and chicken, I just didn't think it was worth all the extra work!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl olive oil  (only is cooking chicken and sausage)
• 1 cup skinless, boneless chicken - chopped (I bought a de-boned a full rotisserie chicken (Sam's has the best))
• 1/2 pound pork sausage links, thinly sliced (I used a spicy sausage- precooked)
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbl minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 can or bottle beer (I used Miller Lite)
• 6 stalks celery, diced
• 4 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 sweet onion, sliced or diced
• 1 cup okra, sliced (you can use frozen and thaw, or fresh)
• 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid (Rotel is great)
• 2 Tbl chopped fresh red chile peppers or any kind of pepper you prefer
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup Cajun seasoning (I used half Old Bay and half Tony Chachere's spicy seasonings, and it was still very spicy!)
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:

If cooking raw chicken and sausage: Heat oil over medium heat in a med-large skillet, add chicken until no longer pink. Add sausage and cook together until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan, add the oil and flour and make your roux. Stir continuously or the roux will burn. Stir until brown and bubbly. (A roux, is used to thicken soups, sauces, etc its equal parts flour and fat (butter, oil, etc)). You want to roux to get brown and dark. Add in garlic and cooking for an additional minute.

Gradually add in the chicken stock and beer into the roux. Stirring frequently, bring to a boil. Add in celery, okra, onion, tomatoes, rotel tomatoes with chiles, parsley, and your choice of cajun seasoning. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir frequently.

Mix in the chicken, sausage, and shrimp and stir frequently for about 20 minutes. You can turn the gumbo on low for a while to keep it warm before you serve it.

This will serve about 10-12 people. And the total time is about 2 hours. It helps a lot to chop all the ingredients before hand.

Serve with white rice and crusty bread or cornbread for dipping. Enjoy!

Tips: I would not make this cornbread with the gumbo, just a plain cornbread is better. There is so much going on in the gumbo and the cornbread, that the cornbread takes away. I think buying the pre-packaged cornbread (ex: Jiffy or Marie Callender's) are both delicious and time saving!

 Here's our yummy breads!

BBQ Chicken, Veggies, and Apple Crisp!

Tonight, Whit, Kyle, Cameron, and I all cooked out at our house! Cameron and I went to Central Market and found this delicious sweet barbecue sauce... and the rest followed!

Menu:
BBQ Chicken
Grilled Veggies
Whit's Potato Casserole
Apple Crisp for dessert

For the BBQ chicken all you need is a good barbecue sauce and chicken. Marinate the chicken in the BBQ sauce (season with salt and pepper, or a grilling seasoning) for about 2-4 hours (and as long as overnight). Then grill! Have more BBQ sauce on hand for serving!

I love grilled veggies! Tonight we grilled red pepper, jalapenos, squash, and red onions. All you need is a little evoo and salt and pepper. Make sure you try to cut the veggies to the same thickness so they cook the same!

Whit's potato casserole I'll need to cook again for the recipe. Its delicious and super easy though, stay posted!

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 5 apples (about 5 cups), peels, cored, and sliced
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 11/2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After you peel, core, and slice the apples (use Granny or another cooking apple), layer them in a baking pan, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water. Mix well and evenly.

For the topping, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and butter, mix together and sprinkle evenly on top of the apple mixture, back for 45 minutes.

Serve with ice cream!

Chicken Cauliflower Gratin

I've always really liked the idea of using cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes. I found this recipe today and thought I would try it out. It was originally made as a side dish. But I added chicken to make it into a main dish, you could also add pasta.

This is a really creamy sauce, but without the butter! I really liked substituting the cauliflower for potatoes and will do that more in the future. If you're not a vegetable person, or are cooking for someone who doesn't like vegetables, you can hardly tell the difference! Cauliflower, when cooked, has a consistency that is really similar to mashed potatoes, so its the perfect healthy replacement.

This recipe is delicious how it is originally, but would be great with these additions:

• Adding peas and carrots
• Pasta- another take on the main dish (if you make it without the chicken, it's a great vegetarian dish)
• Taking out the chicken- to make it a side (great with steak)
• Adding minced garlic
• Add broccoli

Chicken Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients:

• 4 cups 1-inch cauliflower florets (about 1/2 large head) (I used frozen)
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk, divided into 1 1/4 and 1/4 cups
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, I used crumbed crackers
• 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 tsp evoo
• 2 Tbl all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbl chopped fresh chives
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp black pepper (you can use white too, but I like the extra kick)
• Chicken, cooked and shredded (I had some left over from a rotisserie chicken)

Directions:

Position rack in upper rack of the oven and preheat your broiler.

In a large ovenproof skillet, over medium-high heat, bring cauliflower, 1 1/4 cups milk and salt to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup cheese and oil in a small bowl.

Whisk flour and the remaining 1/4 cup milk in another small bowl until smooth.

Stir the mixture into the pan and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Add chicken.

Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, chives, mustard and pepper.

(I didn't have an oven proof skillet, so I transferred the gratin to a casserole dish to put in the oven)
Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Broil until the top is crispy and beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
Serves 4

We served the chicken gratin with fruit, tomato basil salad, and rolls. Everyone loved the meal, and went back for seconds and thirds! It's really creamy and cheesy, but still good for you!

Salmon Tostadas with Katie

Katie came over yesterday to cook some dinner with me and my family after work! We made Black Bean and Salmon Tostadas, they were really good, filling, and so easy to make. We're both in Oklahoma for a couple of weeks. Then Katie's on to Chicago and I'm on to Dallas! So we'll probably make a couple more dinners together before we head off to new cities.

Salmon Tostadas

Ingedients:

• 8 6-inch corn tortillas
• Canola oil cooking spray
• 1 7 ounce can boneless, skinless wild Alaskan salmon, drained (or use frozen or fresh salmon, cook and flake)
• 1 avocado, diced
• 2 Tbl minced pickled jalapeños, plus 2 tablespoons pickling juice from the jar, divided (or use fresh jalapenos with pickled jalapeno juice, or red wine vinegar)
• 2 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
• 2 Tbl chopped cilantro
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 3 tsp reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 Tbl prepared salsa
• 2 scallions, chopped
• Lime wedges, for garnish

Directions:

Position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375°F. Coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray. Place on 2 baking sheets. Bake, turning once, until light brown, for about 12 minutes. Don't over cook them or they'll get hard and tough.

Combine the salmon, avocado and jalapeños in a bowl.

I only added half the jalapenos and half the juice because my mom really doesn't like spicy food. But you couldn't taste it at all. I'd recommend using both tablespoons of jalapenos and all the juice, and if you like it spicy, add more! But you can barely taste the jalapenos if you half it, so don't be afraid to add them in!

Combine cabbage, cilantro and the pickling juice in another bowl.

Process black beans, sour cream, salsa and scallions in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on High until hot, about 2 minutes.

To assemble tostadas:

Spread each tortilla with some bean mixture

and some salmon mixture

 and top with the cabbage salad.

Serve with lime wedges and/or tomato wedges. Enjoy!

Katie and I cooking away!

Vegetable Crepes

Tonight I made my parents these healthy vegetarian summer
crepes. This has to be one of my favorite recipes ever! Everything is so fresh.

For these crepes you can pretty much just add or take out whatever vegetable you want to the crepe. If you want it with a little kick I would recommend adding a diced jalapeno or red peppers. Mushrooms would be good as well as summer squash. If you are really against vegetarian plates, then add chicken! I got this recipe off of my new favorite website http://www.eatingwell.com/.

Vegetable Crepes

Ingredients:

•  1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, divided, plus more for garnish
• 3 Tbl low-fat milk
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3/4 tsp salt, divided
• 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 1/4 cups chopped green beans (or asparagus)
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels, (about 1 large ear)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2-1 garlic clove
• 1 red or green pepper
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 4 9-inch “ready-to-use” crepes

Directions:

Stir sour cream, 1/4 cup chives, milk, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until combined. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, green beans, onion, garlic, corn and any other vegetable you decide to use and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in ricotta, Monterey Jack, the remaining 1/4 cup chives, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring gently, until the cheese is melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

To remove the kernels from the corn, stand a cob in a bowl and slice them off with a sharp knife. All the kernels fall into the bowl!

Rolling crepes is a little more difficult then it seems. They are really thin and break easily, so hadle with care. To roll crepes, place one on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Spoon 1/4 of the vegetable-cheese mixture (about 3/4 cup) down the center of the crepe. Use the paper to help you gently roll the crepe around the filling. Place the crepe seam-side down on a dinner plate. Repeat with the remaining crepes and filling. Serve each crepe topped with 2 tablespoons of the reserved sauce and more chives. ENJOY!

Chicken Stuffed with Pimiento Cheese

Sunday night, Cameron, Ford, and I went to the Ongena's with Josh and KB to cook dinner. The only people I was missing were my sister and parents!

We made chicken stuffed with pimiento cheese served over rice and roasted vegetables. The roasted vegetable I had previously made in January.

There are two different versions to this meal. Since I know some people like to have healthy options, while others enjoy the regular versions (Nanni). Both are good, and you can use any kind of version of Pimiento cheese.

Ford and Cameron were my sous chefs, while Mr. and Mrs. Ongena provided the kitchen as well as the music. And Josh and Kb were the observers/eaters/cobbler bringers.

Ingredients:

• For Homemade Pimiento:
• 1/2 cup shredded Gouda cheese, preferably smoked
• 2 Tbl chopped scallion
• 1 Tbl sliced pimientos, chopped 
• OR, 12 oz premade pimiento cheese (less healthy but still delicious) If you are making more than 7 chicken breast buy two.
• 1 tsp paprika, divided
• 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4-1 1/2 pounds total), trimmed and tenders removed
• 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, divided
• 1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

If you are making homemade pimiento cheese:
Combine Gouda, scallion, pimientos and 1/2 teaspoon paprika in a small bowl.

Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of each chicken breast, nearly through to the opposite side, and open like a book. Sprinkle the breasts with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Divide the cheese filling among the breasts, placing it in the center of each. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Sprinkle the breasts with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Turn the chicken over and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, about 30 minutes. Cameron had a great idea and topped all of the chicken breats with pimiento cheese.

Kung Pao Chicken

Last night I made Healthy Kung Pao Chicken for my dad and sister. I am a huge fan of Chinese food... and breakfast, and sushi, and Italian... Ok, I love pretty much every kind of food. But I do love Chinese food, and if you ask my roommates, I very frequently crave it.

In general, Chinese food is pretty unhealthy, so this version is really delicious, makes 4 servings, and is only 350 calories per serving! I served it as is, but you can serve it over rice!

 Ingredients:

• 3 Tbl soy sauce
• 1 Tbl  fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks, boneless, skinless
• 3 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, cut into thin strips
• 2 small green bell peppers, cut into thin strips
• 2/3 cup (unsalted) roasted peanuts, produce

Directions:

In a small bowl, with a fork, combine soy sauce, ginger, sugar, cornstarch, crushed red pepper, garlic and water. Transfer 2 Tbsp. of the sauce to a medium bowl; add chicken and toss to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes.

In a nonstick skillet, warm 2 tsp. oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the chicken and cook until meat loses its pink color throughout, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Add remaining 1 tsp. oil to the same skillet and heat until hot. Add onion and bell peppers, and stir-fry about 5 to 10 minutes, until peppers start to soften. (Add 1 to 2 Tbsp. water if skillet is dry.)

Pour remaining stir-fry sauce over vegetables and boil 1 minute. Return chicken to skillet along with peanuts and heat through. Serve over rice, if you like.