vegetable & black bean egg rolls

my husband and i love love love thai food... that being said, the next couple recipes are really good but are kind of a lot of work. i didn't have a hard time finding the asian ingredients, they were all in the asian section of the major supermarket i go to.

2 TBS peanut or vegetable oil, plus extra for deep frying
4 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths and shredded
1-inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin sticks
6 TBS black bean sauce
1/3 c. fresh bean sprouts
1 small can water chestnuts, drained and coursely chopped
1/2 cucumber cut into thin sticks
square egg roll skins
sweet chili dipping sauce

heat the oil in a preheated wok. add the scallions, ginger, carrot and bell pepper, then stir-fry over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. add the black bean sauce, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and cucumber and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. let cool

remove the egg roll skins from the package but keep them in a pile and covered with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out. lay one skin on a counter in front of you in a diamond shape and brush the edges with water. put a spoonful of the filling near one corner and fold the corner over the filling. roll over again and then fold the side corners over the filling. roll up to seal the filling completely. repear with the remaining skins and filling

heat the oil for deep-frying ain the wok or a deep pan. add the rolls, in 2-3 batches and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until crsip and golden all over. remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels, then keep warm while you cook the remaining rolls. garnish with shredded scallions and serve with sweet chili dipping sauce.

Stuffed Chickens

This is SUPER EASY and one of our favorites to make (especially when we have people over). Trevor actually made it up... i am not creative and HAVE to HAVE a recipe. I will just include the instructions for 1 breast and you can multiply as you need. 

1 Boneless skinless chicken breast (we use the foster farms frozen individual ones from costco)

1 lite laughing cow cheese wedge 

1 strip of turkey bacon*

cooking spray

parmesan cheese

1. thaw chicken breast

2. slice open along side to make a slit to fit stuff in (i usually cut it halfway on the side and then take the cut all the way to almost the other side, so the meat is still attached) 

3. open the cheese wedge and mash it a little with your fingers and then put it on both sides of the inside of your cut

4. put the piece of turkey bacon in there too! 

5. spray both sides with cooking spray and top with parmesan cheese and your favorite herbs

I usually use my roasting pan (the one that comes with your oven) line the top with tin foil and then put the it on the second rack down and then broil the chicken on high. (This is actually how i cook all my chicken and it turns out juicy as ever and amazing!!!) Flip once the chicken is white/opaque on one side and then respray the other side and add your seasonings. it usually takes about 10 min a side.

*we have tried regular bacon, canadian bacon, ham, and turkey bacon. We like the turkey bacon the best because you get extra cooking juices but not the fat of regular bacon. 

i don't have the nutritional info for these, but they are very rich tasting but each breast is under 250-300 calories with all the stuffings! 

(btw i took like 20 pictures of this and i couldn't get one good one, trevor totally was making fun of me) 

Easy Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

Here's a really easy dinner idea. It's nice because you can easily vary how much for the number of people. We usually do a chicken breast per person and then about the same amount or more of veggies. You can use whatever you have on hand. We've done this with peppers and onion too, but it was sunday and all we had was broccoli.

Prep:

+Cut up the chicken & veggies into bite size pieces
+Marinate in Teriyaki sauce (we use kinkoman's) for 5+ minutes
+While it's marinating start the rice and start the grill
+Make up the kabobs alternating meat and veggies
+Put on the grill on low heat, turn once and baste with remaining juices from the marinating bowl
+Cook till done... your grill's temp may vary so you just have to watch so they don't burn. Ours took about 10-15 minutes.

Voila!

Really Amazing Meatballs!!

So I got this recipe from Ina Garten (on food network she has the show barefoot contessa). They tasted AMAZING!!! Up til this point my favorite meatballs were the premade kind from Costco-but these ones kicked Costco-kind's butt! It does take 1 hour 20min from start to finish-but it is so worth the work. Plus it makes a TON, there was enough for Marcus to take some to work for luch and for us both to have it for dinner the next night! Sorry no picture :(

HERE IS THE RECIPE:



For the meatballs:
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 extra-large egg, beaten Vegetable oil Olive oil

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:
1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.
Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.
For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

HOW I VARIED IT:
This was a last minute plan for dinner, so I altered the recipe a little bit according to what I had at home. For the meat I substituted the veal and sausage portions for ground turkey. I also didn't have fresh parsley but I had some dried and I used that in the same amounts. I also only had whole wheat multigrain bread and used that instead of white bread. It honestly was THE BEST meatballs I have ever eaten-super moist and delicious. I was skeptical about putting the water in the meat mixture, but now I'm totally sold on it. There is NOTHING worse than dried out meatballs! I also cook with wine occasionally, and all the alcohol cooks out by the time it is done cooking, but it really gives the sauce amazing FLAVOR!

A NOTE ABOUT COOKING TIME:
I'm all about making a great meal fast and easy-but every once in a while it is nice to take the time to prepare something truly AMAZING for your family. I definitely wouldn't make a meal like this all the time-but it was an amazing treat. I was excited about making it and the time seemed to fly by, it really didn't feel like an hour and a half by the time I was done. If you think it really made dinner for two nights it saved me time the follow day!
HOPE YOU LOVED IT AS MUCH AS I DID!!!

Home Made Mac N Cheez

This is one REALLY GOOD, yummy comfort food!

Ingredients:

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 onion (sauteed)

1 lb of pasta (I used rigatoni)

1 cup mayo

box grater full of grated cheeze (I used medium cheddar)

2 soup spoons full of sour cream

1/2 package of turkey bacon

Topping:

3 tbs butter

big handful of crackers, smashed

How I made it:
Start off by getting getting your pasta pot on the heat. Preheat oven to 350. You will have everything else done by the time your pasta is finished cooking. Mince onion and saute with oil or butter and salt and pepper until transparent (5-10min).
Slice strips off the end of turkey bacon until you reach the middle. Place strips on a plate and microwave for 1 min ( I freeze my turkey bacon so I do this to warm it up so I can separate the pieces, If you like crisper bacon increase microwave time). The great thing about slicing off the end is they end up in perfect small strips.
In a large bowl combine soup, mayo, sour cream and cheese. Mix well. Add bacon and onion. Drain pasta ( as rule I always salt my pasta water for enhanced flavor). Add pasta to bowl, stir together.
Melt butter and add crackers. Spray 9/13 pan with pam and add mixture, top with cracker mix. Bake uncovered 30-40 min until cheese is bubbly and top is crisped. Feeds and ARMY!




I served my mac with broccoli, it was AMAZING! Normally I don't add sour cream, but I was running short of mayo and had a little left over sour cream so I just threw it in. I really like the added richness and tang, but just the mayo is great too.
VARIATIONS: I'm not the greatest with measuring things out and like to throw things together so I vary this recipe a lot. I normally use 1 lb of italian seasoned ground pork (SO GOOD) instead of turkey bacon, I didn't have any pork so I used the turkey bacon for the first time last night and really enjoyed it. The great thing about turkey bacon is it is precooked and LESS fattening. I have also added some mushrooms to the onion saute and that was great too. This recipe is perfect when you have left over cheeses in your fridge, different cheese combos work really well ( ie colby, monterey jack, havarti) they just give better flavor so BE CREATIVE! To make it less fattening you could definitely use low fat cheese, mayo options and like i said it tastes great with or without sour cream. IF you have any leftover/stale chips they work great in this too because the heat of the oven crisps them back up-I never throw away chips (they are my favorite casserole topping). Egg noodles also work really well with this.

It might sound like a lot of steps ( I was trying to be thorough in writing it up), but it comes together so fast. Most of it is just throwing the ingredients in the bowl. If anyone does any different variations I would love to hear about it as this is a dinner staple in my house and I love to mix things up!

chicken pillows w/gravy

this is a great super fast recipe. i tried it for the first time tonight and it took me 10 minutes tops to put together. you can also really lighten up the recipe, but i'm a fatty and like to use the full flavor stuff.

chicken pillows

1 rotisserie chicken {you can use any flavor, but i used the herb and garlic}

1 8 oz. package cream cheese {you can use neufactel cheese for less fat}

2 rolls of refridgerated crescent rolls

4 TBS butter melted

1 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed

shred the chicken into a bowl and combine with cream cheese until cheese is evenly distributed through chicken. separate crescent rolls. put 1-2 TBS of chicken mixture on each crescent roll triangle and fold dough around the chicken pinching at all sides to seal. dip in butter and then coat with the cracker crumbs. bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

for the gravy:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 c. sour cream

1/2-1 c. milk

whisk soup, sour cream and milk over medium heat. i poured a little milk in and whisked it until it got to the thinness i desired. pour gravy over baked chicken pillows.

of course

it is okay to post things that aren't as healthy.... as long as its tasty! i don't care... maybe we could also label the healthier ones like low fat or something? what do you think? 

(a lot of my recipe books are healthier... that is probably why a lot of the things that i post will be that way- but not all of them)

just thought i would throw that out there since there have been a few comments about healthiness! 

also, please let me know if you would like your email added to the list that gets emailed whenever anyone comments! you can just do so by commenting on this post! 

Grilled Chicken with Bruschetta Topping

okay, so this is a great recipe out of a cookbook i love... it is called the most decadent diet ever! by devin alexander (it isn't really a diet book, but just healthy recipes). all of the recipes in here are foods you would love to eat.... 

ingredients: 

1 recipe bruschetta topping (recipe follows)

4 4.5 oz chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, visible fat removed

1 tsp EVOO

1.5 tsp fresh garlic

Salt and Pepper

Prepare Bruschetta topping

Preheat Grill to High

Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper on a flat work surface and hammer them out with a meat mallet for more even cooking (i didn't do this)

Transfer chicken to a medium bowl. add olive oil and garlic. mix until well combined. Season generously with s & p to taste.

Place chicken side by side on the grill. Turn heat to medium, if possible. Grill 3-5 minutes per side or until no longer pink in the middle. 

Transfer to plates and use 1/4 of bruschetta topping on each chicken breast. 

Bruschetta Topping Recipe: 

1 1/3 c seeded and finely chopped Roma tomatoes

1 tsp finely slivered fresh basil leaves (i just used dry until it looked right)

1 Tbsp EVOO

1.5  tsp garlic (i definitely used more than this but we are garlic lovers)

.5 tsp sugar

.25 tsp salt 

black pepper to taste

just put all the ingredients into a smaller tupperware and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. serve cold or room temp. 

Notes: This is a VERY easy, VERY healthy recipe. The only thing you have to do that takes any brain power is make the bruschetta topping 2 hours ahead. You could easily make it when you make breakfast (that is what i did).  The bruschetta topping was a total party in my mouth. As a matter of fact i would probably double the recipe just so i could have more tomatoes, but that is just me! it is the same as you get in a restaurant so you could also use the topping for bruschetta with bread or as a pasta topping with angel hair! yum, yum! 

Total prep time: <15>

Total cook time: <15>

We ate this with a side of mixed veggies, but would be great with pasta, etc. The pictures didn't turn out that great, but it tasted MUCH better than it looked! 

Serves 4! 

Nutritional Info: 

199 calories

30g protein 

4g carbohydrates

6g fat (1g sat fat)

74mg cholesterol 

232 mg sodium

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

ok, so i know one of the rules is to post a picture along with the recipe, but i took like 27 pictures of these and i could not for the life of me get them to turn out looking tasty so i gave up. but this is quite possibly my favorite cookie of all time. every year i can't wait for fall to come around so i have a legitimate excuse to make them. this recipe makes a ton so i usually half it if i'm just making them for my husband and i, or i'll make the whole batch and give them to visiting teaching sisters, home teachers, neighbors, etc. these are super soft super yummy cookies that are perfect with a glass of cold milk. if you're on a diet, these probably aren't the best...ps. are we supposed to be healthy on this blog??? well oh well here goes.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

2 c. shortening

2 c. white sugar

1 16 0z. can pumpkin puree

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. allspice {i usually use ground cloves here}

1 tsp. salt

4 c. flour

2 TBS cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 pkg. milk chocolate chips

cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. add pumpkin, egs and vanilla; beat well. stir together flour and spices and add to pumpkin mixture. fold in chocolate chips. spoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Hellllooooo!

Sounds so fun! I am excited to start blogging! :)

Welp....see you later!

welcome!!!

i am still trying to set the blog up so it works well. if i come across some cute free scrap booking paper i will make a different layout, but for now this is probably fine :)

okay, i was thinking of a few "rules" for the blog...


*post as frequently or infrequently as you like
*please only post recipes you have actually made yourself
*try to include the following info:
+ picture (or multiple if you are feeling like an overachiever)
+ labels (i.e. dessert, soup, salad, vegetarian, etc)
+ nutritional info (if you have it)
+ actual prep time/actual cook time
*use whatever font/size/etc you want! make your posts your own!
*if you are just reading the blog (not contributing) please comment on any recipes you have made from it, tell us how it went, any variations, etc!

i think that is all, i just think that the more info and things we can get the better the blog will be. Plus it will be more organized and easy to sift through later when you are looking for a recipe to cook!

Also, if you haven't yet received an invite from me to join as an author, i probably don't have your email, so email me and i will add you! kaitlyn.holman@yahoo.com

Thanks!