Baked Chicken Bruschetta

I found this recipe on All Recipes, and I adapted it a bit to fit our taste. It was so easy, and really good. I have never eaten bruschetta before, so I cannot judge if it taste like the real thing, but I can say if nothing else it looked just like it!

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Chicken Breast, thawed and cut into cubes

1 15oz Can of Diced Tomatoes

1/2 Cup of Water

1/2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/4 Tbsp of Barley

1/4 Tbsp of Parsley

1 Box of Chicken Flavored Dry Stuffing

2 Cups of Shredded Mozzarella

1 .6oz Packet of Dry Italian Seasoning

Servings: 5-6

Preheat Oven to 400*

In a bowl mix the stuffing, tomatoes, water, olive oil, barley, and parsley. This will soften while you get the chicken ready. Once the chicken is cut into cubes place it in the bottom of a baking dish, then sprinkle 1/2 of the Italian seasoning packet on the chicken. Next pour the cheese over the chicken. The last layer is the stuffing mixture, then add the remaining seasoning to the top of the stuffing.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.

For an added note, I omitted the salt and garlic from the original recipe. I typically will never use salt, so if you like salt then add it. Also, I did not mean to omit the garlic, I simply FORGOT...that was my Mommy Hates Cooking moment! I thought it came out great though and when I make it again I will still not add the garlic.

I served this with New York Sesame Bagel Chips.

Enjoy!

Breaded Baked Catfish

Catfish is one of the other few fish that do not taste too fishy for me. After researching some catfish recipes I saw a few different ideas. Then, I looked at what I had in my pantry and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Flour

1/4 Cup of Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 Cup of Bread Crumbs

1 Tsp of Garlic Powder

2 Egg Whites

1/4 Cup of Skim Milk

4 Catfish Fillets, 6oz fillets

Servings: 4

Preheat the oven to 400*. Mix the flour, cheese, bread crumbs, and garlic powder together in a bowl, then in a separate bowl whisk together the egg whites and skim milk.

Then, dip each catfish fillet into the milk and egg mixture and then into the dry ingredient mixture. Place each one on a foil lined baking dish and put in the oven. Bake them for 30 minutes or until fully cooked, fish will be flaky when fully cooked.

These turned out surprisingly well using what I had on hand. The cheese gave it a nice touch of flavor. I paired them with fresh squash and cucumber that I simmered in the skillet for 20 minutes with 1/4 Tbsp of Olive Oil.

Honey Dijon Tilapia

On my quest to eat more fish, here is yet another way to make delicious tilapia. I saw this recipe on $5 Dollar Dinner's, Honey Dijon Fish.

I adapted this to use what I had on hand, which really turned out to only be 1 of the ingredients from the original. I was surprised to find this to be really good and is now one of my favorite ways to eat tilapia.

Ingredients:

5 Tilapia Fillets

4 Tbsp French's Honey Dijon Sauce

1 Tbsp Fat Free Italian Dressing

1 Tsp of Creole Cajun Seasoning

Serving: 5

I started by preheating the oven to 400*. In a small bowl, I mixed the Honey Dijon and Italian Dressing together with a whisk. I placed fillets on a foil lined baking dish. I poured the mixture over the fish and then sprinkled it with the Cajun seasoning. I baked the fish for about 30 minutes or until fully cooked.

I paired it with steamed corn and canned green beans. This is a quick, tasty way to fix fish!

Beef Goulash

I was recently told that there are many different types of goulash, and this may or may not be one of them. However, my mom always called this dish goulash, so that's what I plan to call it regardless of what it should technically be called!

On nights when I need something with a lot of leftovers so that my hubby has enough to last him a couple of days at work, and if I know I will not have time to cook for a couple of days...this is the dish I make!

Ingredients:

1 lb of Medium Shells

1 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb of Ground Beef

Shredded Mozzarella

First, I boil the medium shells on the stove until al dente, using a large stock pot. While these are cooking, I cook the ground beef in a skillet, you can also use ground turkey. This time I just warmed up my pre cooked ground beef crumbles from National Steak and Poultry. Then, I heat up the spaghetti sauce for 2 minutes in the microwave. I drain the noodles and the beef and mix them together in the pot, stirring in the warm spaghetti sauce. I serve this topped with mozzarella cheese and a side salad with garlic bread and you have dinner...and probably a lot of leftovers too!

Another nice change to this meal is putting the mixture in a baking dish, top with mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven on 350* for about 20 minutes. This makes it taste more like a casserole style dish.

This is a great dish for a toddler meal too if your child can handle tomato based products.

This is very simple, easy, and last us several days!

Slow Cooker Turkey Meatballs with Spaghetti

In the past when I make Spaghetti, I have always used store bought meatballs. However, I am learning that it is much healthier and easier to make my own.

Thanks to Roseann for sending me this meatball recipe. I adapted it a bit, but overall it's very similar to the original and tasty!

Meatballs:

1 lb of Ground Turkey

2 Egg Whites

3 Tbsp of Minced Onion or 1 Cup of Fresh Chopped Onion

1 Cup of Italian Bread Crumbs

1 Tsp of Garlic Powder

Mix all of the ingredients together and form small balls, then I put them in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours. I would then cook on low for an hour to be sure they are fully cooked. This was a great alternative to using the oven or being short on time and using store bought meatballs. They were ready by the time I was home from work. You can also make extra and freeze for future use.

While the meatballs were in the slow cooker, I boiled 4 cups of water with 8 oz of angel hair pasta. I drained the pasta and put back in the pot. I warmed a 26oz jar of marinara sauce and then added this to the pasta. I mixed the cooked meatballs in and added a little mozzarella cheese to the top of the dish. There you have it, Spaghetti with Slow Cooker Meatballs.

Chicken and Rice

One of my favorite dishes is Chicken and Rice. I have recently added a few different items to this dish in order to get more veggies in our meals.

Ingredients:

6 Chicken Drumsticks, thawed

2 Cups of Brown Minute Rice

1 14.5oz can of Chicken Broth

1 10.5oz Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Cup of Frozen Peas, thawed

1 Cup of Frozen Carrots, thawed

2 Cups of Water

Start by preheating oven to 400*. In a casserole dish, I pour the rice in to cover the bottom of the dish. Then, I add the chicken broth. I place the drumsticks down the middle of the dish and top them with cream of chicken. I surround the chicken with the carrots and peas and mix it into the uncooked rice. Then, I bake it for about 1 hour or until the chicken is done. I typically will add the 2 cups of water after 30 minutes of baking so the dish does not dry out.

This dish is very minimal prep time and is a one dish meal. My toddler loves this meal as well. I pull the skin off the drumsticks and then pull the chicken off the bone for him to eat. It may be a little messy for him, but he enjoys eating it so I am okay with the mess.

I have made this with chicken breast as well, but tried drumsticks a few months back and prefer those now. I have found the drumsticks do not dry out like the chicken breast did.

This is by far my favorite dish! Enjoy!

Steak Kabobs

My hubby and I decided we would try making steak shish kabobs this past weekend. They turned out really well, we were both impressed.

We used:

2 Top Sirloin Steak Strips 6oz, cut into cubes

1 Tsp of Rosemary

1 Tsp of Celery Salt

1 Tsp of Oregano

1 Tsp of Sweet Basil

1 Yellow Squash, sliced

1 Apple, Sliced

2 Celery Stalks, sliced

1 Banana Pepper, sliced

These would be really good with Green Peppers, if you make them, add that too. I will also be adding some pineapple next time. This was our first time ever making these, so they were good considering we were newbies to this!

We found the skewer sticks at the local grocery store.

After preparing the meat and veggies, we started putting our kabobs together. We basically just went in a veggie and meat pattern. We were able to make 8 kabobs with these ingredients above. Use more or less spices depending on your preference. I have learned that you can pretty much use the spices you have on hand and most meals will come out tasting yummy. Once we had the kabobs prepared, we put them on the grill for 20 minutes and they were ready to eat!

We had extra veggies that we did not use for the kabobs. We put the same spices we used for the kabobs along with 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil and wrapped them in foil. We put this on the grill too and it was delicious! I fixed 2 cups of whole grain minute rice and dinner was served.

We did overcook the veggies that were on the kabobs because they cooked so much faster than the meat. They were still good though, just crispy!

For my son, I gave him some chicken we had in the fridge, and then he had veggies with rice. The steak was tender enough that it was very easy to chew, so we gave him some bits of it. My son thought it was pretty tasty!

This was a great summer recipe, and the good thing about shish kabobs is you can basically do anything with them and they turn out good. I have seen chicken and sausage kabobs as well and the variety of veggies to use is endless!

Go start grilling!

Fish Taco Night

I am trying new ideas for fish. I saw many fish taco recipes, my first thought when seeing these? Gross! Then, I decided to give it a try. After looking at the recipes, most were made with ingredients that I do not like, so I came up with my own.

One of the main ingredients that is added to many fish taco recipes is cilantro. After a major crisis situation when I was younger with cilantro, I can not stand the smell or taste of it. All I remember though was my mom and I trying to air out the smell from our house. By all means though, if you like cilantro go for it!

The other item I opted out of was adding avocado. I recently tried avocado for the first time, and like most fruit found out really fast I am allergic to it. It basically felt like my mouth was on fire when I ate it, even worse I used avocado dressing on the dish I was eating!

Ingredients:

10 Flour Tortillas (I used 8 inch diameter size)

1 10oz Can of Rotel, drained

1 Cup of Pace Picante Sauce, Chunky

1 Cup of Corn, drained

1 Red Pepper, diced

2 Chopped Green Onions

2 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper

1 Tbsp of Creole Seasoning

3 6oz Tilapia Fillets

Mexican Shredded Cheese

Makes 5 Taco's

I started by preheating the oven to 400*. I placed the fish fillets on a baking sheet, then I sprinkled the Creole seasoning and cayenne pepper over each fillet. If you like spice, add more cayenne pepper. I do not like spicy foods. I baked this in the oven for 30 minutes or until the fish is fully cooked.

While this was cooking, I added all the remaining ingredients to a skillet and let is simmer.

Once the fish was done, I prepared the taco's. I used 2 tortilla's for each taco. One of the recipes that I read mentioned doing this and it was a lot less messy using 2 tortilla's. Then, I put 1/2 of the fish fillet on the tortilla's and topped it with the skillet mixture. I decided to only use 1/2 of the fillet because I'm still learning to love fish and the whole fillet was a bit much for me, plus this made more.

When I had my taco's made, I put them on a cookie sheet and baked in the oven for 10 minutes on 350*, to make them crispy. I added some cheese to each one when I got them out of the oven.

As a side to this dish, I cooked Knorr's Mexican Rice.

I did add some miscellaneous peppers that I picked up from the Farmer's Market, a few of them were given to me when I purchased the Green Peppers. None of them had any heat to them, but they did add a nice touch of flavor. One of them was purple, which the man who gave that one to me said he believes it taste just like a green pepper and sure enough it did.

This dish was a nice alternative to the basic baked fish. The idea of fish tacos may take a bit to warm up too; however, my husband thought they were great.

Rosemary Chicken

I have never loved chicken so much until I made this dish, Rosemary Chicken.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breast (We only ate 1/2 a Chicken Breast as a serving, so for us it served 4)

6 Red Potatoes

1/2 Cup of Olive Oil

2 Tsp of Dried Rosemary

1 1/2 Tsp of Oregano

1 1/2 Tsp of Garlic Powder

Start by heating up the oven to 375*. Cut the potatoes into quarters or smaller depending on your preference. Put the chicken and potatoes in a large bowl and then coat with the olive oil. Pour the coated chicken and potatoes into a casserole or baking dish. Then sprinkle with the rosemary, oregano, and garlic powder. Put it in the oven at 375* for 1 hour.

The prep time on this dish was a mere 10 minutes, and then bake time from there. I used canned carrots to go with the meal; however, another great idea is adding asparagus. The asparagus can be cooked separately or added in with the potatoes and chicken.

The chicken turned out so juicy. I have a tendency to overcook chicken; however, this time it was perfect.

I decided to show a picture of reality in our house when it comes to meals. This is how my husband sees all of his dinners. Due to his shift, he does not get the meal until the next day in the beautiful platter AKA only piece of Tupperware I can find with a lid my son has not hidden.

If you want to impress friends, try this recipe!

Stuffed Peppers

The first time I had even heard of stuffed peppers was over a year ago, when my husband had mentioned how much he liked them. Shortly after his mom made them for a family dinner, I thought they were far too complicated for me to make until I found this recipe, Prego Good-For-You Stuffed Peppers.



Ingredients:

8 Green Bell Peppers
2 Cups of Brown Minute Rice
1 lb of Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 Chopped Green Onions
1 Tsp of Chili Powder
1 26oz Jar of Spaghetti Sauce

Start by preheating the oven to 400*. I cooked the rice as directed on the package without any
butter or extras, I only used the rice and water to cook it. While this was cooking, I heated up my precooked ground beef crumbles form National Steak and Poultry. I added the olive oil, green onions, and chili powder to the meat while it was heating up. Then, I poured the rice along with 2 cups of spaghetti sauce into the skillet and mixed it up. Meanwhile, I cut the tops off the peppers and cleaned out the inside of them. Once this was fully heated through, I started stuffing the peppers. After I stuffed the peppers, I drizzled some of the remaining spaghetti sauce over the tops. I put them in the oven on 400* for 45 minutes; however 30 minutes would be enough.

They came out really well and so much easier than I thought these would be to fix! I added a light salad and topped the peppers with mozzarella cheese before serving. I also purchased the peppers at my local farmer's market and they were well worth it!

Delicious!

Italian Chicken Dish

This is very similar to Chicken Parmesan; however, I used Mozzarella instead.


Ingredients for Chicken Dish:
3 Chicken Breast
8 oz of Angel Hair Pasta
26 oz Jar of Marinara Sauce (I only used 1/2 the jar, but you can use more or less depending on your preference)
1/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
2 Tsp of Garlic Powder

I started off by preheating the oven to 400*. I covered 3 chicken breast with 2 tsp of garlic powder, then I baked them in the oven until fully cooked.

While the chicken was baking, I cooked angel hair pasta as instructed on the box. I used 8 ounces of pasta. While the pasta was cooking, I put the marinara sauce in the microwave and heated it up for 2 minutes. Once, the pasta was fully cooked and drained, I covered the bottom of the dish with the angel hair pasta. I placed the cooked chicken on top of the pasta. I drizzled garlic marinara sauce over the top of each chicken breast then sprinkled 1/4 cup mozzarella over the dish.

I decided to fix some veggies as oppose to salad with this dish. Typically, I will make salad with Italian dishes, but I had some leftover veggies that needed to be eaten. I used steamed carrots and sugar snap peas. I put them in the skillet with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tsp of garlic powder and let them simmer. This gave them a nice, fresh glaze and a hint of flavor.

Dakota had this same meal only smaller portion size and minimal marinara. This was the first time my son had angel hair pasta and let's just say I am pretty sure I picked most of his off the floor!

Chicken and Rice Wraps

I found this recipe on All Recipes, then I added my usual tweaks.

The ingredients for this recipe include:

1 Cup of Chunky Salsa

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1/2 Cup of Water

1/2 Cup of Canned Corn, Drained

1 Cup of Minute Rice

2 Cups of Shredded Chicken Breast (I cooked 1 chicken breast and shredded it)

Shredded Cheese

1 Bag of Fajita Size Tortillas

Bring the salsa, cream of chicken, water, canned corn to boil in a medium sauce pan, once it starts to boil add in the rice and let simmer for 10 minutes. Then, mix in the shredded chicken and stir. Stuff each tortilla with the mixture then add shredded cheese to the top of the mixture before wrapping the tortilla.

I placed them in a casserole dish and put them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to get them warm and crispy.

These were a hit for us. I was not sure judging by the mixture how they would taste, but my husband gave me 2 thumbs up. I guess that's a good thing! I think these would have been better for a party or as a snack. I had a hard time trying to find something to go with them as a side since most of what I would normally fix was already stuffed in the wrap. I think next time I would add some tortilla chips and salsa or queso with this and use it as a lunch item or a party side.

Overall, tasty!

Toddler Pinwheels

My son is very fond of his usual meal, which consists of 1 slice of wheat bread, 1-2 pieces of lunch meat, 1 slice of cheese, and fruit or veggie. I have been trying to mix it up a bit for him with different versions of this meal because it seems that other meats he does not care for as much as lunch meat.

I decided I would use a few different ingredients and make him pinwheels to give him a different version of his favorite foods.

I used fajita size tortilla's. I placed the tortilla on a plate and spread a layer of cream cheese on it. Then, I added 3 pieces of lunch meat to cover the tortilla and 1 piece of cheese in the middle.

I rolled it up starting at one end and working to the other, then I added a small amount of cream cheese to the end piece and stuck it to the tortilla. This kept it from unrolling. I sliced it up to form the pinwheels.

I put them in the fridge for 3 hours, then when I got them out, I cut them in 1/4's, just like a sandwich. I was originally just going to cut them in 1/2, but my son likes to stuff the entire thing in his mouth, so 1/4 was a safer way to start. The picture below is before I cut them into 1/4's.

The verdict, he LOVED them. He could not get enough of them, and neither could my husband, who kept sneaking them! Next time, I will be using whole wheat tortilla's.

Fettuccine Carbonara aka Penne Carbonara

This recipe was by far a keeper. My husband and I loved it. Let's just say he only got 1 bowl of this delicious goodness, and I ate 3 bowls! (Not in the same day, of course!)

The recipe was inspired by All Recipes Bertoilli Fettuccine Carbonara, however, I actually used a different brand of sauce. I had to stick to the lightest version of Alfredo sauce that I could find, and at the local store, Ragu was the lightest I found. I also used penne pasta instead of fettuccine, since that is what I had in my pantry.

The ingredients I used for this dish:

1 16oz Box of Penne Pasta

1 Tbsp of Butter

1 Cup of Frozen Peas

4 Strips of Cooked, Crumbled Bacon
1 16oz Jar of Light Ragu Alfredo Sauce

1 Tbsp of Minced Onion

1 Tsp of Garlic Salt or to Taste

I cooked the penne pasta as directed on the box, but I added 1 Tbsp of butter to the boiling pasta. I added in the 1 cup of peas about 3-5 minutes before the noodles were done. Once the noodles and peas were cooked, I drained the dish and set aside. Meanwhile, I cooked the bacon in a skillet until crispy and then crumbled it into small pieces. I also used a paper towel to get all the excess grease off the bacon. If you want to make it even more easy, just buy the precooked bacon crumbles in the grocery store next to the salad toppings.

I put the drained pasta and peas back into the stock pot, then I added the bacon, Alfredo sauce, onion, and garlic salt. Stir it well, and you have dinner! I topped ours with a little bit of mozzarella cheese as well. Adding a small side salad and garlic bread works well with this meal.

I really loved the frozen peas. I have read that using canned peas works as well, but the frozen peas were more crisp instead of being mushy like the canned peas would have been.

This will be a staple in our household as we all loved it even my son who likes to throw the food rather than eat it! He gobbled it up too.

Fish Food

One thing I am really not very fond of is, Fish! I have just recently started to eat catfish, tilapia, and salmon. Those are the only three types of fish I can find that do not taste fishy! I was basically told that my diet should consist of 3 servings of fish a week. My first thought was...YUCK! I'm learning to love it though, one day at a time.

I decided to fix some tilapia. I used a cookie sheet layered with foil on the bottom then, I added 2 tsp of lemon juice and 2 tsp of pepper to each of the tilapia fillets and put it in the oven on 400* for about 30 minutes. It came out fabulous! I really enjoyed this meal. I added some canned carrots and peas, along with rolls. All of the sides came from my stockpile, thanks to great coupon deals.

Dakota had mixed reviews. He was not sure of the texture of the fish, so at first he would put it in his mouth then spit it out, then I got this great picture of him acting like he really didn't like the fish; however, by the end he was all smiles. I tried this meal again later and he wouldn't touch the fish. He may take a while to warm up to it just like his mommy had to!

Veggie Turkey Casserole

Tonight, I tried Veggie Turkey Casserole. This is a quick and nutritious dish especially for toddlers.

The ingredients I used:

1 lb Ground Turkey

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Can of Cream of Mushroom

1 12 oz Bag of Mixed Frozen Veggies

1 Tbsp Minced Onion

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

Bread Crumbs

I cooked the turkey in a skillet on the stove until well done. Meanwhile, I combined all other ingredients in a bowl and mixed it together. Once the turkey was done, I added that to the mixture. I put it in a baking dish and then put a thin layer of bread crumbs over the top. I popped it in the oven at *375 for 20 minutes.

This dish turned out very well; however, it was a bit too creamy for me. I have made this dish in the past using Stovetop turkey stuffing as a base, and I prefer that because the stuffing gave it a bit more texture.

I may have wished for more texture, but my son thought it was perfect. Lately, he has been throwing most of his food in the floor, not a drop of this dish landed on the floor. He was begging for more! Then, after he was done and I took him out of his booster seat he turned around and started eating what had fallen into the seat. I am thrilled that he liked this dish so much because it was a healthy dish and something other than lunch meat!

Has anyone else made a similar dish? If so, what changes would you make?

Blueberry Smoothie

We recently took a trip to a local blueberry farm, which was featured on, KOTV, Channel 6. Click on the link to see the story and the video.

We were able to pick several blueberries, along with the employees picking us several more blueberries. Which means, we left with A LOT of DELICIOUS blueberries!

I have been trying to think of recipes to include blueberries in and recently read about making smoothies with them. I had never really thought of using blueberries in a smoothie; however, I am not a huge fan of fruit so really most fruit does not sound good to me. Although, I thought this cold smoothie would be a brilliant idea for my teething toddler.

I blended 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries, 2/3 cup of rice milk, and a handful of ice cubes in the blender. If you would like a more creamy taste use nonfat vanilla yogurt, and you can also use regular milk with this. I prefer to use yogurt, but my son does not tolerate it well, so I avoided that. It turned out pretty well and more like a slushy without the yogurt. My son LOVED it. I gave him 1/2 a cup of the blueberry smoothie and as soon as he drank that he was begging for more. This will be a usual snack for us or breakfast item. I will be trying some some different fruits as well.

What kind of smoothies do you like? Any good fruit combinations?

Mexican Dish

We cook several different Mexican dishes in our household. Both my husband and I really love these dishes, plus there are always tons of leftovers...which means? One less day of cooking for me!

I had originally started this dish planning to make enchiladas, then realized that I forgot to buy enchilada sauce at the store. Never fear, I love to improvise!

I cooked the 1 lb of chicken breast in the skillet using Weber's Kickin' Chicken seasoning. This can be seasoned to your taste, I used 1/2 tbsp. I cut the chicken breast into small chunks once it was cooked. I purchased 1 bag of burrito size flour tortillas and stuffed them with 5 chicken chunks, 1 tsp of corn, and 1 tsp of cheese. You can do more or less depending on how much you like. Once I had the tortillas stuffed, I placed them on a baking dish and then I put 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 tbsp of green chili's on top. I also added a small amount of cheese and corn to the top of the tortillas. Then, I baked it in the oven at *350 until it was crispy.

While this was cooking, I put on some Knorr's Spanish Rice.

They came out of the oven, and my husband and I were amazed at how good they were. I actually enjoyed them more than if I had used enchilada sauce. I liked that they were crispy.

Since we had a Mexican dish, Dakota had his usual lunch meat, cheese, bread, and veggie.