Cashew Chicken

This recipe is a little more cultural than my usual creations. But I feel that's a good thing - we all need to switch it up and get a little crazy every now and again!

So this chicken is great in a wrap (obviously *hence* picture) 

But also delicious on rice, in a taco or even just by itself with some delicious sides to round out the meal

It's a spicy blend of flavors complimented by the crunch of the cashews and tender chicken pieces. You can adjust the spice to fit your likings (just add more/less red pepper flakes)

The original recipe came from my sister who is doing an awesome job this year at making all her meals for the upcoming two weeks on a Sunday... brilliant! And this was one of those meals - so FYI it freezes beautifully! 

INGREDIENTS: 

-4 chicken breasts (cooked and diced)

-2 TBSP soy sauce

-1/2 TBSP olive oil

-1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to your liking)

-1 onion - minced

-1 TBSP. minced garlic (or garlic salt)

-1/2 cup cashews

For Sauce:

-4 TBSP. soy sauce

-1 1/2 TBSP cornstarch

-1 TBSP sugar

-2 tsp. white vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine 1 TBSP. soy sauce and olive oil in a bowl, add diced chicken and let marinate while you prepare the other ingredients

2. Whisk 4 TBSP soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar and vinegar - set aside

3. Add chicken, onions, garlic and red pepper to a pan set on medium heat

4. Cook until chicken is golden - about 3 or 4 minutes

5. Add cashews and cook another minute

6. Add the sauce and let it simmer until thickened, around 5 more minutes

7. Serve HOT over rice, in a tortilla, any which way your little tummy desires!

BBQ Beef Lo Mein

This dish was originally meant to have a Chinese-esque flair to it... but this Midwest girl didn't exactly have all the unique ingredients that go into an Asian dish... shocker right? ;)
So it turned into a dish that is having a real identity problem...
"Am I Asian? Or from the country? Do I consider myself BBQ or Teriyaki?"

Let's just go with DELICIOUS!

...So, like any girl would do - I threw stuff in here, little bit there, substituted 'til the cows came home, and thankfully it turned out pretty darn tasty!

This dish has more of a smoky/BBQ flavor... if it was going to be any sort of Asian dish it would definitely be the closest relative of teriyaki if anything...

But no matter what family tree, or country of origin this recipe may or may not fit into - one thing is for certain... IT'S DELICIOUS!
And easy, very very easy to throw together in no time at all!

What you're gonna need~

4oz pasta
6 oz steak (cooked and sliced)
2 cups frozen veggies (California Blend is delish)
1 tbsp each:
-Soy sauce
-BBQ sauce
-Worsheier
-Chicken stock
-Brown sugar
pinch of salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper (if you like spice!)
1 tsp. oil of choice (for sautéing garlic and onions)
Garlic (depending on how much you enjoy, my family doesn't really enjoy garlic too much so I used about 1 tsp. minced)
Onions chopped (again, to your liking)
Sesame seeds (opt.)

The drill~
1. Bring a pot of water to boil - add pasta and cook until nearly done, while that is going-mix up your "sauce" aka-the soy, BBQ, chicken stock, brown sugar, salt and pepper (and red pepper if using)

~After pasta is nearly done, drain almost all the pasta water

2. Saute your garlic and onions in a small sauce pan

3. Add sliced steak as well as veggies and cook for a minute or two

4. Add veggies after thawing in microwave if need be
5. Stir fry those all up for another minute or so

6. Add the sauce, pasta and remaining pasta water (I found it easier to add meat/veggies to pasta instead just because I was worried about it all fitting in my baby sized sauce pan!)

7. Let cook a few minutes (about 4 or 5)
8. When everything is hot and mixed together well, and the sauce has thickened and soaked into noodles you're all set!

9. Serve piping hot, and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if you're feeling all sorts of fancy!)

Taco Pasta

What do you get when an Olive Garden receives Taco Bell's shipment of ingredients?
TACO PASTA!

There's a short little clip about the steps of taco pasta... as you can see it's pretty darn simple. It's also a great roll-over meal to have after you make tacos!

What you're going to need (for 3-4 servings)

-2 cups dry pasta (whole wheat works great)

-1/2 cup ground beef

-1/2 cup beans (can have more, this is just what I had after taco night)

-1/2 cup corn (again, give or take depending on what you have)

-2 tomatoes, chopped

-1/2 cup salsa

The steps to supper:

1. Boil pasta until nearly done, then drain all but aout 1/4 cup of the water

2. Heat the salsa, tomatoes, corn, beans and beef

3. When hot, add to the pasta and place on a burner

4. Reheat, stirring often. It may not seem like the sauce is thick enough, but it should thicken as you heat - if not you can always add a little sour cream or cream cheese to thicken

~Serve with chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream-anything you'd regularly add to a taco!

Perfect for a quick and easy (not to mention healthy) supper, and kids LOVE it!

Sunday Happenings...

So, I've never really done the whole, just blog about what is going on in life right now thing - but what the heck - today's the day to start it! 

(Sorry for anyone who was expecting a recipe or review... being away at college doesn't provide many opportunities to whip up new creations :/ Please forgive me!)

So here goes!

First off, I got new running shoes! WOOT! They don't glow in the dark like my last ones :( But they're so bright it almost counts. 

Ya like?

Secondly, I finally figured out how to solve my "no time to eat because I have class over the noon hour and the dining hall is 2 miles (give or take) away!" dilema. Our cafeteria will pack me a lunch! Nifty right? I feel like I'm in Kindergarten again going on a field trip... only no letters from my mom :(

Oh well, can't have it all!

A turkey, roast beef, spinach, tomato and hummus sandwich on marble rye - not to shabby! And with the piece of fruit, water bottle and cold veggies, it was delicious, nutritious and quick & easy!

Soooo what's a girl to do when you have way too many samples left over that you have already reviewed and they will soon go bad, but you just can not eat that much? 

Put them on your ironing board in the middle of your dorm's hallway! 

DUH!

They were gone in like 2 hours... no joke. People LOVED it! And best of all, the companies got even more publicity! 

Hey, they sent me free samples, I feel like I should do as much as possible to help them out!

Well, that's all for today! I hope you all had fabulous weekends and a great week!

....I have my first physiology test coming up... :/ 

St. Thomas Aquinas (patron saint of learning) please pray for me!

Sunday Family Dinner - Chicken Not-Fried Steak and Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes

Does anyone in this country still believe in the beautiful, nostalgic idea of a big Sunday Family Dinner?

...of course followed immediately by a nice Sunday nap!

Well I do!

And I hope all of you do as well, why?

Well... I'm sure you all know the benefits of eating healthy meals, and everyone has heard the advantages of eating as a family. So.... if you have a family dinner that is healthy think of how awesome you'll be!?  

So just in case you need a new and delicious idea for a family meal that doesn't take long to prepare, uses everyday ingredients, is food for the soul and healthy - I've provided you with one of my favorites! 

Let me present - in it's healthy-fied version:

Chicken 'Fried' Steak and Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes with White Gravy and Peas

...now showing at a family dinner table near you.

So let's get started, shall we-

First, let's go over what you will need to make EVERYTHING for this smile-inducing meal.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

-Red skin potatoes (I recommend one per person)

-2-3 TBSP. Greek yogurt 

-Garlic (I prefer to use the pre-minced stuff that comes in a jar, more economical)

~add to your preference, but I usually do 2 TBSP. of the minced kind when I make 8 potatoes worth.

-2-3 TBSP. Milk

-2-3 TBSP. Sour Cream (fat-free kind works just fine, if you want a lower fat version)

-1 TBSP. butter (light butter, again if you want it even lower fat)

-Seasonings: garlic salt, onion powder, pepper

Peas

Chicken not-'Fried' Steak

-Chicken Breast (one per person)

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1/3 cup whole wheat flour

-1/3 fiber one original cereal

-1/2 buttermilk (regular milk works too in a pinch)

-2 TBSP. cornstarch

-egg white of 1 egg

White Gravy

-2/3 cup milk

-1/3 cup chicken stock - at least (can just use water if you don't want to open a whole can of stock)

-2 TBSP. flour

-1 TBSP. butter

-Seasoning: onion salt/powder, pepper

Ok! Let's get down to business... (well now I have the Mulan song stuck in my head!)

First things first, start de-thawing your chicken breasts if they were frozen. 

Then you will want to pound them flat - do this by placing them in a ziplock bag and using your pent-up aggressions and a rolling pin to squash 'em!

Then get them into a nice bath of 1/2 cup buttermilk

while they are soaking...

For the potatoes:

First, you will want to wash, but DO NOT peel, your red skin potatoes

Then cut them into small chunks, try to make them equal in size

While doing this, you can start bringing a pot of water to boiling

When the water is boiling, add your chopped potatoes and let them cook until a fork can go through them, but not so long that they are mush

Remove the pan from the stove and drain immediately, then rinse with cold water (this stops the cooking process so all the starch doesn't make the potatoes sticky)

Place aside, we're now moving on to the chicken.

For the chicken not-fried steak:

Place your fiber one in a blender/food processor-or just throw in a ziplock baggie and smash with a rolling pin! You want the cereal to be completely smooth.

Now you can start setting up your assembly line-

dish 1. all-purpose flour

dish 2. egg white

dish 3. crushed fiber one, whole wheat flour, cornstarch and seasonings

Now remove chicken from buttermilk, and let the excess milk drip off

Then dredge in flour

Dip in egg white

Coat in breading

Place on a plate where they will rest until we are ready to 'fry'

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

All coated up and ready to go!

By the way, now would be a dandy time to turn your stove-top on medium and oven on 350*

Now, to 'fry' them.

You want to get a big skillet hot on a stove-top

When it is hot, either coat the pan with 1 TBSP oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray

Then immediately add your chicken breast and spray the top of the chicken with cooking spray as well

Let cook a few minutes, until starting to get golden, and flip and allow other side to 'fry' as well

You will be left with pretty well 'fried' chicken steaks, but some parts will not be golden and they will probably not be hot all the way through.

So to fix that-place them on a wire rack (like a cookie cooling rack) and then on a baking sheet and place in a 350* oven

These will cook for around 20ish minutes, which just so happens to be the perfect amount of time to finish up the potatoes, make the gravy and heat the peas.

Your skillet will probably look like this:

which is perfect! You better not be one of those people that washes dishes ASAP and has already cleaned this-because you need the skillet remains to make the gravy!

Next you want to make your 'rue' - for this combine your flour and 1/3 cup milk and whisk until smooth.

Now place your skillet back on the heat and add your butter until it melts. Then add rue and stir continuously until it starts getting thick. Then add remaining milk, chicken stock to desired thickness and bring it up to a simmer. Add your spices and you're done!

Now we can finish up the spuds!

In a big bowl, mash the cooked potato chunks - using potato masher, or if you're lazy (like me) you can use a hand mixer :)

Then add in everything else-

milk, yogurt, sour cream, butter, garlic and spices

You can rewarm in the microwave or place in the oven (if your bowl is oven proof of course!) with tin foil overtop

Meanwhile...

Heat up your peas in the microwave, or on the stove-top in about 1 inch of water

That's It! You're completely done with this very impressive meal 

Just set the table, fill the water pitcher, and ring the dinner bell! 

Dinner. Is. Served. 

Chicken Pastries

Every once and a while I come across a meal I just fall in love with instantly... these Chicken Pastries would fall into that category. I recently was made this delightful little dish from a friend (who is now my best. friend.) 

So want to make some people call you their new best friend?! Of course-who doesn't want more friends!? To accomplish that you need to make them this recipe!

In a small bowl mix together:

-2 TBSP. low-fat cream cheese

-1 TBSP. butter (or margarine)

-1 TBSP. Greek yogurt

-1 TBSP. non-fat sour cream

-1 TBSP. milk

-minced garlic (to your liking, I used 1 TBSP)

-1/2 finely chopped onion

-dash of salt, pepper and Italian seasoning

...you can also get the oven pre-heating on 350* at this time

It will start looking like this!

Then add 2 cups cooked, cooled and chopped chicken (about 3-4 chicken breasts)

Then the magic starts to happen....

Take one small package of crescent rolls (one that makes 8 rolls) and pinch the edges of all 8 little triangles together to create one big sheet (you could also just buy the crescent roll in sheet form, or a sheet of puff pastry dough)

Roll out and cut into 6 equal sized squares

Place 1/6 of the chicken mixture to each square of dough and place onto a greased baking sheet.

Pinch up the sides of the pastries to create a little package (package full of deliciousness!), like so:

No you can leave them un-adulterated, or spray with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with:

-parmesan cheese

-bread crumbs

-Italian seasoning

-mixture of all three!

Then just place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes

Viola-an easy, 30-minute-meal that is sure to impress!

Grilled Pizza

Even though summer is almost over... (tear) we still have a few more days to fire up our grill and head outside to make a delicious dinner! 

So what should we do to celebrate our last few days of summer? Grill pizza! 

It's very simple! 

1. Just make your pizza dough-or buy from store... then prepare your veggies by adding a little bit of oil or salad dressing to the pre-choped veggies and throw in a grill basket. 

2. Season the veggies with some salt, pepper, and whatever spices you like!

3. Grill veggies for about 10 minutes before throwing your rolled out pizza dough on the grill.

4. Let the pizza dough grill for a few minutes on each side

5. Remove dough and veggies and take back inside to prepare pizzas!

6. Fill pizzas as you like... sauce, veggies, meat, cheese, etc.

7. Throw back on the grill for 3-5 minutes-or until cheese is melty!