Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I wanted to venture into cooking more chicken breasts.  I thought it would be yummy to find one that was stuffed.  I really liked the ingredients in this one.  Christine helped me make it as well.  Very good!

Chicken breasts are stuffed with mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs, and herbs.

Cook Time: 1 hour - personally I would reduce. Check your chicken around 45 minutes. Mine turned out a little dry, but still very yummy!

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

•6 boneless chicken breast halves
•1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•1 tablespoon butter
•1 medium onion, sliced
•4 ounces sliced mushrooms
•1 rib celery, thinly sliced
•1 egg, beaten
•1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
•2 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs
•2 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese
•3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
•salt and pepper
•1 can (10 1/2 ounces) condensed tomato soup
•1/2 cup water
•1/2 teaspoon leaf basil, crumbled

Preparation:

Place chicken pieces between sheets of plastic wax; gently pound with a meat mallet to flatten evenly. Be careful not to tear or break through.
In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil and butter; sauté onion slices, mushrooms, and celery until tender. Add egg, parsley, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Stir to blend well.
Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper; fill with even portions of the filling mixture. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Arrange chicken breasts in a shallow 3-quart baking dish, spooning any extra filling around the chicken rolls. Mix soup with 1/2 cup water and the basil; pour over chicken.
Bake at 350°, basting occasionally with sauce in the baking dish, for 1 hour (see note above). Remove toothpicks and serve with rice or potatoes. Serves 4 to 6.

Before baking:

After baking:

Indian Tacos

Growing up in Oklahoma, I remember going to the Fair and counting down the days until the next year.  My main reason besides the carnival and animals was the food.  At the Oklahoma State Fair they sell these tacos, Indian tacos to be more exact.  I love the bread, the chili, and the cheese.  I finally found a good recipe that looked easy as well.  Here's my attempt at Indian Tacos.


Seasoned Hamburger:

1 pound ground chuck or sirloin
Taco seasoning
1 cup refried beans

Frybread:

3 cups flour  (I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon powdered milk
1 tablespoon lard or margarine
1 1/2 cups warm water
Vegetable oil

Grated cheese, as an accompaniment
Chopped tomatoes, as an accompaniment
Chopped onions, as an accompaniment
Chopped green chiles, as an accompaniment
Chopped olives, as an accompaniment
Salsa, as an accompaniment
Sour cream, as an accompaniment

Brown the beef in saute pan over medium-high heat. Add taco seasoning, to taste. Add refried beans. Mix well and set aside.

For the Frybread: Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and powdered milk. Add lard or margarine and mix. Add water to make dough soft. Refrigerate until use. Dough will keep several days.

In a heavy skillet, heat 3/4-inch of oil to 375 degrees F.

Pat or roll out dough into about 6 (1/4 to 3/8-inch thick) rounds. Slide into hot oil. Puncture once or twice. Fry until golden brown. Flip the dough over and fry other side to golden brown. Take out and drain on paper towels.

Spoon some meat onto hot bread and top with your choice of the following: cheese, tomatoes, onions, green chiles, olives, salsa, and sour cream.


The recipe above is as directed.  I didn't have time to make it as directed, so I just used canned chili instead of the hamburger meat and refried beans.  You can add any toppings.  They were really good and were very similiar to the ones that I had a the fair.

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

I still have tons of blueberries my deep freeze.  I was looking for a recipe that was different than a pie or muffin.  This one was very easy and was so good too.  I actually made it to take with us to the drive in movies on Friday night.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
1 cup unsalted butter (cold butter, use straight from the fridge)
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of 2 lemons (you can also use orange zest instead of lemon zest)

4 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup of sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  9x13 pan and spray with nonstick cooking spray
2) In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.
3) In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla together until combined.
4) Use pastry cutter or food processor to blend the flour mixture with the butter and egg/vanilla mixture.  (I just used my hand held mixer) Dough will be crumbly.  Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan.
5) In another bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar and 3 tsp of cornstarch.  Gently mix in the blueberries.  (I put the sugar/cornstarch/blueberries in a gallon plastic bag as this is how my blueberries were frozen)  Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust.  Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.
6) Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown.  Cool completely before cutting squares.

Nutrition Facts:
24 servings

Calories - 191.6
Total Fat - 8g
Saturated Fat - 4.9g
Polyunsaturated Fat - 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat - 2.3g
Cholesterol - 29.6 mg
Sodium - 74.2 mg
Potassium - 43.8 mg
Total Carb - 28.2 g
Fiber - 1.1 g
Sugars - 15.1 g
Protein - 2.1g
From My Baking Addiction: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/lemon-blueberry-crumb-bars/

Corn Dog Mini-Muffins

My kids love corn dogs.  I wanted to find a recipe that was made at home and less processed than the store bought stuff.  These were very easy and also tasted great.  This is a recipe that your toddler can help prepare.  (Thanks Nicole for the recipe)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (you can make your own by adding 1 T of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 hot dogs (depending on how many hot dogs you prefer)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.  Spray non stick spray on your muffin pans.  I used a mini muffin pan that makes 12 mini-muffins and then a pan that made 6 regular size muffins.

Add the lemon juice to one cup of milk so it can start to sour into buttermilk.  Melt the butter in a large bowl.  Stir in the sugar, eggs and beat together.  Add the baking soda into the milk and then add to the egg mixture.  Add the flour, cornmeal, and the salt leaving a few lumps.  Let it sit for a few minutes.  (this mixture was a little runny for me, but they turned out great)  Cut the hot dogs into fourths. (I made them into smaller bites since I have a toddler and loves to put too much food in this mouth)  Fill the muffin cups 2/3rds of the way full with the cornbread mix and drop hot dogs in it.  Cover the hot dogs with a little bit of cornbread mix, this will create a surprise when they go to eat them.  Bake for 12-18 minutes or until golden brown. 

Under Construction

I am in the process of moving all of my recipes from facebook to here.  This will give me the ability to add the search option on my recipes.  If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know. 

Thanks,
Kendra

Skillet Penne with Sausage and Spinach

A friend posted this recipe and it sounded good.  I am not one for vegetables, but thought I should give it a try.  After making this for dinner, I was very impressed.  Andrew had 2 plates full and Christine had a big portion as well.  Even though I am not a fan of any vegetables, I would make this again!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil (I did not use)
1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage (I used ground chicken sausage)
3 gloves of garlic (minced)
2 1/4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/4 cups of water
8 ounces of penne pasta (2 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped fine (I used sun-dried tomatoes, not in the oil - just dry)
1 (6 ounce) bag of baby spinach
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (I did not use)

Directions:

1) Brown Sausage: Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking (I skipped this step).  Add sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2) Simmer Penne: Stir in broth, water, penne, tomatoes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Increase heat to high and cook, stirring often, until penne is tender and liquid has thickened, 15 to 18 minutes.

3) Wilt Spinach: Stir in spinach, handful at time, and cook until wilted.  Off heat, stir in  Parmesan and nuts.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.

from Cooks Illustrated

Hamburger Pie

We have alot of hamburger in our house so I wanted to try something new and fun. All of the ingredients are things we typically have on hand in our house. Andrew and Chris loved this and even had a second serving.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup of corn or other veggie (optional - the original recipe did not call for any veggies)
Your favorite shredded cheese

Directions:
Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat. Stir the soup in the skillet.

Unroll 1 package crescent roll dough and press on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Press the seams to seal. Layer half the beef mixture and half the cheese in the pie plate. Repeat the layers. Unroll the remaining dough. Place the dough over the filling and press the edges to seal, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Inside of Hamburger Pie