Chipotle Beef Soft Tacos

Chipotle-beef-tostadas-recipe

The above link is what I used for my inspiration for tonight's dinner! Thanks Food Network Recipe of the Day!!

Tonight's dinner was so delicious that even my picky eater (who dares not eat anything green!!) had seconds!!  There were a few changes I made to the above recipe:

Instead of the $11 jar of chipotle chili powder, I bought a $6 jar of Mexican chili powder that combined the chipotle plus cumin and a few other spices

Instead of coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage, I bought the Broccolli Cole Slaw veggie bag

Instead of the hard tostadas, I bought soft flour taco shells.

It was really important to dice the zucchini small.  It allows it to cook well.  I also used a can of Rotel tomatos and green chiles.....

My whole family really enjoyed this dish! I loved the way the broccolli slaw tasted with just lime juice, salt and pepper!  This will definately become a regular on our menu, especially since the PICKY girl ate all of it and more!! YAY!!! I love a successful new recipe try!!

Chicken Marsala

Tonight for dinner I made my very own Chicken Marsala from scratch.  It has to be my very favorite dish ever! This is how I do it:
(1) cup of flour
(2) tablespoons of Gold Medal Soul Seasoning
(3) cups sliced fresh mushrooms
(4) tablespoons of real butter
(3/4) cup of good Marsala wine
(1) package thin sliced chicken breasts
(1) cup of chicken broth
Fresh mozzarella
Thin sliced proscuiito
Olive Oil

Heat about (2) tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet until hot but not smoking. 
While it heats, mix the one cup of flour with the Soul Seasoning.  When oil is hot, add one tablespoon butter.  Quickly dredge chicken in the flour and place in the pan.  Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes each side.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Add two more tablespoons of butter to the pan and toss in the sliced mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are getting brown.  Add the marsala wine.  Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half.

Add the chicken broth and cook 3 more minutes until it starts to thicken slightly.  Lower the heat to medium and add the chicken breasts back in.  Also add one more tablespoon of butter.  Let cook until the chicken is done.  Slice the mozzarella and place one slice on top of each piece of chicken.  Add a slice of proscuiito on top of the mozzarella.  Let it simmer gently until the mozzarella is good and melty...

Serve with some thin spaghetti noodles, spoon extra sauce and mushrooms over and sprinkle with diced green onions.

This is my favorite.  I have tried "Chicken Marsala" at various Italian restaurants.  Many have come close to this but as arrogant as this sounds, I prefer my own.
I hope you try it and enjoy it!!

Loaded Mashed Potatoes (found on Pinterest)

Hello!! Tonight for dinner I was looking for something that would be easy on the teeth as my sweetie has a sore mouth.  I scanned my "Yummy" board on Pinterest and found this post for Loaded Mashed Potatoes.  I decided to give it a go! 

This is what I started with: a 5 lb bag of red potatoes (I chose the red ones because it meant I would not have to stand and peel the taters!), lots of shredded cheddar cheese, apple wood smoked bacon, sour cream and butter.

This is what the end result looked like.  Everybody ate it right up! They loved it....of course, my crew would eat ANYTHING that had bacon and cheese!!

Loaded Mashed Potatoes  Here is the original recipe! I would encourage you to try it (if you are not on a diet!!!)  It was a quick recipe for dinner.  The only draw backs that I had for this was that I did not quite have a big enough bowl for the whole five pounds of potatoes.  I also did not have a hand-held mixer to mix the potatoes up with.  I hand mashed them but I have always liked my mash-a-taters lumpy anyway.

I think I will definately make this again, but perhaps in smaller quantity. Let me know if you try it out!!

PS....in case you noticed, in the picture above of all the ingredients is a little peek of my new stove! I have renovated my kitchen and am loving all the new woodwork, tile and stainless steel appliances.





Casseroles!!! HELP!

I need easy casserole ideas! I am making a week's worth of food for a co-worker who recently lost his dear wife.  They were married for 30 years and then one morning he woke up and she didn't.  They have a 17 year old son who has some special needs.  Understandibly, he is devastated.  He came back to work after two weeks but it is apparent he is not taking care of himself.  He is losing weight really fast.  I am hoping by sending him home with some food made with love it will help.

I have three ideas already.  I am making him my mother's famous chicken, cheese and noodle casserole.  It is rich and comforting and easy. It has very few ingredients, mostly just the egg noodles, sliced american cheese, boiled chicken, and cream of chicken soup mixed with a can of milk.  My kids have grown up on this just like I did.

The second item I am making is beef and bean enchiladas.  I am sort of winging this one as I don't have a hard and fast recipe.  I made some really good ground beef (got it from a REAL butcher, not the grocery store) and mixed it with taco seasoning.....OKAY, I must tell you this, my confession:  when you first open the taco seasoning, it smells like a man's sweaty armpit....so gross! How it ends up tasting good is nothing short of a miracle! (Yes, I know, I am weird!)

The third item will be meatballs in a good Italian tomato sauce.  I can't decide if I want it to be spaghetti or not.  I am not sure if I put the sketti noodles in and then freeze if they will hold up or not? Will they go mush or be okay? Oh boy, I am not sure what to do!!

I need two more ideas!! It's got to be freezable and its got to be yummy.  I am going to be scouring the blogs and recipe sites. Hopefully I can come up with something!!!

Dinner via Pinterest

The Country Cook

Above is the website that was linked to the recipe I found on Pinterest! She is pretty amazing.  I love following her on Pinterest.  Tonight I needed something new for the family for dinner so I started looking at all the yummy pins I had and this one struck me as super easy and super yummy (plus super inexpensive).  The recipe is called Meatball Sub Casserole.

The ingredients are simple (there are double shown here).  French bread cut up, sketti sauce, cream cheese, mayo, Italian seasonings and pre-made meatballs.  The french bread is cut up into 1 inch pieces and layed in a pan.

Fill in any holes with extra pieces.  I did not use the entire loaf but there was no worries as I had vultures (translation: teenagers) lurking nearby who snatched up the rest of the bread.

I spread the cream cheese mixture over the bread then added about a cup of mozzarella next.

After that came the sketti and meatballs sauce on top.

After that came the final layer of mozzarella cheese.

As you can see I probably added more mozzarella than was called for but I could not help myself.  I am getting ready to take this out of the oven right now.

And here it is....the final product that is currently being devoured by teenagers!!  The final verdict? They all loved it! I thought the recipe was a little strange BUT follow the directions! It was worth it and very tasty!!  My hat is off to the Country Cook!



To stem or not to stem?

Mushrooms, oh I love mushrooms! My biggest question is with the stems. Do you leave them on or do you pop them off? Lately I have been taking them off but I am wondering if that is a waste?  I do not want to be wasteful but the stems kind of freak me out! I think I am being weird!

Tonight's dinner featured sliced mushrooms sauteed in butter (yes, I know, I should not really be using a whole stick of butter).  I made Shake and Bake chicken in the oven, Santa Fe rice and beans and corn. 

As I looked at my plate I started suffering from "Chopped" syndrome.  I realized that my plating technique was not very good.  Okay, I confess, I watched at least four episodes of "Chopped" today.  So above is my plate....nothing spectactular.  Oven baked chicken, rice and beans, corn and mushrooms.  I am not sure what I could have done better although I admit I was not thinking too clearly when i paired the rice and beans with chicken.  I think my taste buds were off tonight.  I will think better when I make dinner tomorrow! I am dying to try a recipe I saw on Pinterest today and then blogged by a fellow blogger on here.  Her blog is amazing and you can check it out here:"All My Great Ideas Really are from Pinterest"  (I hope she does not mind me recommending her site!!)

Asparagus, Cherry Tomato & Mozzarella Salad

Tonight I decided to try a new recipe I found on one of my all-time favorite websites, Italian Food Forever....Italian Food Forever
I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out.  The only modification I made to the recipe was that I added red onions along with the green onions.  This was a delicious salad.  Because my family is full of meat eaters, they were at first horrified at the thought of a "salad only" dinner.  To keep them happy I made some Lemon Pepper chicken in the oven to go with it.  We also had a huge hunk of rustic wheat bread that was nutty and wonderful.

My only complaint is with me! I do not quite understand the correct method for cutting green onions.  I am hoping my friend Javelin Warrior will take note and send me some tips! I am hopelessly clueless.  I used a serrated knife but it did not do well.

Anyway! As you may have noticed it, I am on an asparagus kick.  I recently discovered how delicious it can taste when properly prepared and I love it.  This is my second recipe with asparagus and I will be looking for more.  If you have any ideas, let me know!