Quick and easy, these chicken packets are perfect for this recipe blog! I didn't have full-size boneless chicken breasts on hand, but I did have frozen chicken breast tenderloins. I just put 2-3 of the tenderloins in each packet, and it came out perfectly. How did it taste? Well, Hubs ate 3 packets. What does that tell you? :) The vegetables come out perfectly steamed and everything very tasty!
The recipe doesn't say how many potatoes, how many carrots, etc. I cooked 4 packets, so in parentheses I've put how many of each I used.
You'll need:
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Onion slices (I used 1 medium onion)
Sliced carrots (I used about 3 medium-sized carrots)
Sliced potatoes (I used 2 medium sized potatoes but 3 might have been better)
Yellow squash, sliced (optional, I didn't use squash and it came out fine)
Salt
Pepper
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast per packet.
Lay out one big square of foil for each person and chicken packet. Layer chicken, onion slices, carrot slices, potato slices, squash slices. Salt and pepper lightly. Fold the packets tightly or they will drip.
Cook for 1-1/2 hours or until done in a 300 degree oven. Yes, you read this right...300 degrees.
No need to use a pan, just lay these directly on the oven rack.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Kid friendly macaroni and cheese
This recipe comes from a Boar's Head brand catalog, so of course they'd like for you to buy their products...but if you can't find Boar's Head in your store, I'm sure you could substitute with other brand cheeses. I've put asterisks to further explain some ideas I have.
4 TBSP unsalted butter****
3 TBSP All-purpose flour
2-1/2 cups whole milk
1 lb Boar's Head Yellow American Cheese, chunked*
1/2 tsp dry mustard**
1 lb macaroni, in shapes like pinwheels and spirals***
1/4 cup Boar's Head Vermont Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Coat 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Melt 3 TBSP butter, add four, and cook over moderate heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Don't let it brown. Add milk and whisk constantly until thickened: 3 to 5 minutes. Add American cheese, mustard, salt and pepper, and stir until blended. Remove from heat.
Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well, but do not rinse.Mix cooked macaroni with the cheese sauce. Stir until blended. Pur mac and cheese into baking dish. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. Dot with remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.
*You could replace this with cheddar cheese, or for more smoothness, you could use Velveeta.
**Dry mustard will be found with spices etc in your grocery store. It won't be labeled Dry Mustard, it will just be labeled Mustard, but it's a powder, usually in a tin.
***I've even found Disney pasta shapes, so check out all the options to pick something your kids will like.
****It's important to use UNSALTED butter. Makes sense if you think about why. Cheese is pretty salty, so if you have salted butter with cheese, it's going to be entirely too salty. Also keep in mind you can look for reduced fat cheeses to reduce the calorie count of this.
4 TBSP unsalted butter****
3 TBSP All-purpose flour
2-1/2 cups whole milk
1 lb Boar's Head Yellow American Cheese, chunked*
1/2 tsp dry mustard**
1 lb macaroni, in shapes like pinwheels and spirals***
1/4 cup Boar's Head Vermont Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Coat 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Melt 3 TBSP butter, add four, and cook over moderate heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Don't let it brown. Add milk and whisk constantly until thickened: 3 to 5 minutes. Add American cheese, mustard, salt and pepper, and stir until blended. Remove from heat.
Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well, but do not rinse.Mix cooked macaroni with the cheese sauce. Stir until blended. Pur mac and cheese into baking dish. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. Dot with remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.
*You could replace this with cheddar cheese, or for more smoothness, you could use Velveeta.
**Dry mustard will be found with spices etc in your grocery store. It won't be labeled Dry Mustard, it will just be labeled Mustard, but it's a powder, usually in a tin.
***I've even found Disney pasta shapes, so check out all the options to pick something your kids will like.
****It's important to use UNSALTED butter. Makes sense if you think about why. Cheese is pretty salty, so if you have salted butter with cheese, it's going to be entirely too salty. Also keep in mind you can look for reduced fat cheeses to reduce the calorie count of this.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Parmesan Basil Chicken Bake
This one will be great for using that canned chicken! I love recipes that used canned ingredients (for example, tuna casserole is my standby dish if I don't have fresh meat in the house)
This recipe is by Amy Bergin, the inventor of the Couponizer coupon organizer!
Parmesan Basil Chicken Bake
This recipe is by Amy Bergin, the inventor of the Couponizer coupon organizer!
Parmesan Basil Chicken Bake
by Amy Bergin
This is an original recipe of mine! My family loved it, so it's time to share with you!
INGREDIENTS:
1 can premium chicken breast (12.5 oz), drained
2 TB butter or margarine
2 TB flour
2 cups milk
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c. fresh basil chopped
1 c. shaved parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pasta according to direction on box, do not overcook. Melt butter in medium sized saucepan, then stir in flour and milk to make a rue sauce or white sauce (see demo below if needed). Add cream cheese and stir unitl melted. Once the sauce has thickened, then add chicken, basil, 1/2 c. of parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Grease a 9"X13" baking dish and place the cooked pasta for the bottom layer. Then pour the white sauce mixture over it. Top with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes uncovered or until bubbly.
If you have never made a white sauce, then watch this simple demonstration for tips on making it perfect every time!
Serving suggestion: Add a simple fruit salad like what is pictured - strawberries, bananas and blueberries tossed in vanilla yogurt.
Coupons to use: canned chicken, butter/margarine, flour, cheese
(Recipe used with permission)
(Recipe used with permission)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Cheese Crunches baked snacks
Snacks are so expensive, and who knows what's in them? Here's a recipe for Cheese Crunches that have real cheese and cereal in them, so they actually contain vitamins!
1/2 lb sharp cheese, grated
1/2 lb margarine
2 cups flour
2 cups Rice Krispies
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Mix cheese and margarine (room temperature). Add remaining ingredients. Form into balls; flatten with fork on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Note: It's important to make sure they are small - about an inch across. If they are larger, they won't be so crunchy.
Makes about 8 dozen.
1/2 lb sharp cheese, grated
1/2 lb margarine
2 cups flour
2 cups Rice Krispies
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Mix cheese and margarine (room temperature). Add remaining ingredients. Form into balls; flatten with fork on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Note: It's important to make sure they are small - about an inch across. If they are larger, they won't be so crunchy.
Makes about 8 dozen.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Glazed carrots
This came from a chef on the Food Network.
This chef didn't give enough details for the food challenged (ie: Me) in my opinion. I think that they know people like the cooking to be fast. Cooking shows are so popular, yet hardly anybody cooks! Maybe we just like to watch but don't like details! I don't know!
But the lady never said how many carrots go into this, so I had to rewind my TiVo, and visibly count the carrots. It looked like 5-6 medium to large sized carrots to me. She also put water in the pan, but didn't say how much. I really like to know how much water and how many carrots. Oh well, I'll give it a shot anyway, just wanted to let you know this has a lot of guesswork in it.
About 5 carrots - peel them then cut them into "coins" (so they are round)
Heat a bit of water and chicken stock together in a pan with 1 TBSP butter, until the butter has melted. (Looked like maybe 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of the chicken stock to me)
Add to that 1 TBSP brown sugar (can be light or dark brown sugar), 1/2 tsp Cumin, and a BIG pinch of salt.
Put in the carrots, cover and steam for a fun minutes, then uncover.
Let the glaze reduce...which means to let the liquid evaporate.
Then she put in a pretty good squeeze from a lemon. If you don't have a lemon on hand, you could use the lemon that comes in the little plastic lemon bottles (you can find these in the grocery store in the produce section or the larger glass bottles on the regular grocery store shelves.)
Apparently the flavors from the Cumin, the brown sugar and the lemon all work together to make this more than just boring carrots. Let me know if you try it and what you think!
This chef didn't give enough details for the food challenged (ie: Me) in my opinion. I think that they know people like the cooking to be fast. Cooking shows are so popular, yet hardly anybody cooks! Maybe we just like to watch but don't like details! I don't know!
But the lady never said how many carrots go into this, so I had to rewind my TiVo, and visibly count the carrots. It looked like 5-6 medium to large sized carrots to me. She also put water in the pan, but didn't say how much. I really like to know how much water and how many carrots. Oh well, I'll give it a shot anyway, just wanted to let you know this has a lot of guesswork in it.
About 5 carrots - peel them then cut them into "coins" (so they are round)
Heat a bit of water and chicken stock together in a pan with 1 TBSP butter, until the butter has melted. (Looked like maybe 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of the chicken stock to me)
Add to that 1 TBSP brown sugar (can be light or dark brown sugar), 1/2 tsp Cumin, and a BIG pinch of salt.
Put in the carrots, cover and steam for a fun minutes, then uncover.
Let the glaze reduce...which means to let the liquid evaporate.
Then she put in a pretty good squeeze from a lemon. If you don't have a lemon on hand, you could use the lemon that comes in the little plastic lemon bottles (you can find these in the grocery store in the produce section or the larger glass bottles on the regular grocery store shelves.)
Apparently the flavors from the Cumin, the brown sugar and the lemon all work together to make this more than just boring carrots. Let me know if you try it and what you think!
Potato casserole
This one is also from the Sandra Lee Money Saving Meals on the Food Network. The show airs on Sundays at 12 noon.
She said this one is only 71 cents per serving:
2 TBSP butter in pan
heat together with:
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
(you will also need 1/2 cup white shredded cheddar cheese later)
Slice potatoes evenly. I don't think she peeled the potatoes, I believe they still had the skins (more vitamins that way, but I'm sure you can peel them first if you don't like the peels).
Sandra Lee processed them in her food processor. It would help to get the slices thin and uniform, but if you don't have one, you can still do this, just be careful when cutting. I hack a piece of potato off the long side of the potato so it will stay in place while I'm cutting. You're more likely to cut yourself if you have the vegetable rolling all over the place - don't ask how I know that. haha.
Lay out the sliced potatoes in a greased casserole dish. Place the casserole dish on a cookie sheet, so if it overflows while baking, the cookie sheet will catch any mess. Separate the slices as you lay them in so they don't stick together. On the top, pour the butter/milk mixture. Sprinkle over that 1/2 cup of white shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes or until browned.
She said this one is only 71 cents per serving:
2 TBSP butter in pan
heat together with:
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
(you will also need 1/2 cup white shredded cheddar cheese later)
Slice potatoes evenly. I don't think she peeled the potatoes, I believe they still had the skins (more vitamins that way, but I'm sure you can peel them first if you don't like the peels).
Sandra Lee processed them in her food processor. It would help to get the slices thin and uniform, but if you don't have one, you can still do this, just be careful when cutting. I hack a piece of potato off the long side of the potato so it will stay in place while I'm cutting. You're more likely to cut yourself if you have the vegetable rolling all over the place - don't ask how I know that. haha.
Lay out the sliced potatoes in a greased casserole dish. Place the casserole dish on a cookie sheet, so if it overflows while baking, the cookie sheet will catch any mess. Separate the slices as you lay them in so they don't stick together. On the top, pour the butter/milk mixture. Sprinkle over that 1/2 cup of white shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes or until browned.
Spaghetti and stuffed meatballs
This is the spaghetti and meatballs recipe from the TV show, Sandra Lee's Money Saving Meals on the FoodNetwork channel. She said this has a price-per-serving of $1.62.
I really liked her show. She goes rather fast for the foodie-challenged, but her recipes are geared for families on a budget.
Meatballs:
2 slices bread (regular white bread, soft.) Slice it into small bites
1/4 cup milk
1 lb of 80% lean ground beef
1/2 of an onion, diced (go ahead and dice up the whole onion, but use 1/2 of it for the meatballs, reserve 1/2 of it for the sauce)
1 egg
1 TBSP garlic, diced (she dices up her own in a food processor, says that saves a lot of money to do ahead in bulk)
1TBSP Italian seasoning
2 mozzarella cheese sticks (the cheese snack type...cut them into little slices)
Mix the beef with the bread, milk, egg, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Blend with your hands. But don't blend too much, it makes the meatballs tough. Form the beef into mini patties, then place a piece of the cheese in center then roll it up, so that the cheese is inside the meatball. The meatballs should end up being about 2-3" across before baking.
Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until heated through to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
TIP: If you put water on your hands, it will make it easier to shape the meatballs without it sticking to your hands so much.
Sauce:
Set 2 TSBP olive oil on medium heat in saucepan.
1/2 onion, chopped
2 TBSP basil
2 TBSP parsley
1 TBSP garlic
Diced tomatoes (looked like the large sized can)
Salt and pepper to taste
Simmer this 10 minutes.
Get a package worth of spaghetti cooking in boiling water. Cook spaghetti for about 9-10 minutes or according to package directions.
Set the meatballs into the sauce to absorb the liquid and get more flavor. Drain the spaghetti, then put it out on a serving platter. Place the meatballs first on top of the spaghetti noodles, then gently pour the sauce over all.
I really liked her show. She goes rather fast for the foodie-challenged, but her recipes are geared for families on a budget.
Meatballs:
2 slices bread (regular white bread, soft.) Slice it into small bites
1/4 cup milk
1 lb of 80% lean ground beef
1/2 of an onion, diced (go ahead and dice up the whole onion, but use 1/2 of it for the meatballs, reserve 1/2 of it for the sauce)
1 egg
1 TBSP garlic, diced (she dices up her own in a food processor, says that saves a lot of money to do ahead in bulk)
1TBSP Italian seasoning
2 mozzarella cheese sticks (the cheese snack type...cut them into little slices)
Mix the beef with the bread, milk, egg, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Blend with your hands. But don't blend too much, it makes the meatballs tough. Form the beef into mini patties, then place a piece of the cheese in center then roll it up, so that the cheese is inside the meatball. The meatballs should end up being about 2-3" across before baking.
Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until heated through to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
TIP: If you put water on your hands, it will make it easier to shape the meatballs without it sticking to your hands so much.
Sauce:
Set 2 TSBP olive oil on medium heat in saucepan.
1/2 onion, chopped
2 TBSP basil
2 TBSP parsley
1 TBSP garlic
Diced tomatoes (looked like the large sized can)
Salt and pepper to taste
Simmer this 10 minutes.
Get a package worth of spaghetti cooking in boiling water. Cook spaghetti for about 9-10 minutes or according to package directions.
Set the meatballs into the sauce to absorb the liquid and get more flavor. Drain the spaghetti, then put it out on a serving platter. Place the meatballs first on top of the spaghetti noodles, then gently pour the sauce over all.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Hamburger Stew crock pot recipe
Hamburger Stew
3 large potatoes sliced
3 carrots sliced
1 pound of frozen peas (I made without this)
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced thin
1-1/2 lbs of ground beef, brown it and drain it.
Can of tomato soup
1 soup can of water
Put the vegetables in the slow cooker in order listed. Salt and pepper each layer as you go.
Layer the beef on top of the celery. Mix the water and soup together then pour over the ground beef layer. Put the cover on the crock pot and cook on Low setting for 6-8 hours, or at the High setting for 2-4 hours.
The directions said to "stir occasionally" - and that's where my over-analytic side comes in. Why was it important to put it all in there in a certain order, if I'm just supposed to mix it all up? So I compromise...I'm cooking this on High and just stirred it after 2 hours of cooking time.
I also forgot to salt and pepper until about the 4th ingredient layer. Duh! I can't believe I can mess up such a simple recipe. Now you see why I made this blog. I can't be the only one out there like me.
3 large potatoes sliced
3 carrots sliced
1 pound of frozen peas (I made without this)
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced thin
1-1/2 lbs of ground beef, brown it and drain it.
Can of tomato soup
1 soup can of water
Put the vegetables in the slow cooker in order listed. Salt and pepper each layer as you go.
Layer the beef on top of the celery. Mix the water and soup together then pour over the ground beef layer. Put the cover on the crock pot and cook on Low setting for 6-8 hours, or at the High setting for 2-4 hours.
The directions said to "stir occasionally" - and that's where my over-analytic side comes in. Why was it important to put it all in there in a certain order, if I'm just supposed to mix it all up? So I compromise...I'm cooking this on High and just stirred it after 2 hours of cooking time.
I also forgot to salt and pepper until about the 4th ingredient layer. Duh! I can't believe I can mess up such a simple recipe. Now you see why I made this blog. I can't be the only one out there like me.
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