Food Glorious Food.....

I was thinking of making a weekly feature on the blog......what were cooking?.  For example yesterday Emily had her year check up.  The appointment was in the early afternoon so I wanted to do something quick and easy since we would be in and out of the house.

I decided on chicken patties from Morning Star Farms  ( we get the big pack at our local BJ wholesaler) as a side I was going to do french fries but alas we had none in the freezer.  I decided to make a quick bean salad.  In making it I utilized some left overs we had in the fridge.  I was pleasantly surprised in the end result........

Anything you got bean salad....

1 can red kidney beans

1 can chick peas

** utilize any beans you have on hand**

1 cup mozzarella cubed

1 cup cooked elbow macaroni or any small pasta you have on hand

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1-2 minced garlic cloves.  I love to use the pre minced jar garlic from Goya.  If using this use 1tsp

1/2 small onion chopped/diced

1 table spoon of Italian seasoning or your favorite herb combination.

salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything into a bowl and mix well.  I actually forgot to add salt and pepper and still found it came out tasty.  We don't use a lot of salt when we cook so for me it doesn't make a difference.  For best results let it marinate for at least an hour in the fridge so the flavors marry.  It's really good the next day.  

Let me know what you think!

XO.

K

Chicken Zucchini and Potatoes

We eat a lot of chicken in our house.  Sometimes it can get boring making the same things and hard to find something new. I mean how many different ways can you make it?  I also like to try and make things in either my crock pot or the oven, you know all in one dishes.  It's so much easier when you have a little one.  A little one who's determined to walk.  Crawling and pulling herself up on everything but that's a story for another day.

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com  it's my go to site.  I always find a great recipe.  Haven't had a flop yet.  It didn't call for chicken and really is a side dish, but I plumped it up with chicken to make it a main dish.  You really could make it with a bunch of different veggies for a vegetarian main dish.

 

Chicken, zucchini, potatoe bake........

NGREDIENTS:

2 medium zucchini, quartered and cut into large pieces 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 clove garlic, sliced 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup olive oil paprika to taste salt to taste ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.	In a medium baking pan, toss together the zucchini, potatoes, red bell pepper, garlic, bread crumbs, and olive oil. Season with paprika, salt, and pepper.
3.	Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender and lightly brown.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes Servings: 6

I omitted the paprika also added....

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into chunks

3 Italian long green peppers instead of red peppers because I didn't have any

1 cup of parmesan cheese

Other suggestions which I may try next time is 

1 packet of dry onion soup mix

variety of seasonal veggies 

sweet potatoe mixed with the white potatoes.

My husband and I really enjoyed it.  Nice flavor not too bland and not over powering.  Great fall/winter dish.  The zucchini almost takes on a cheesy texture.  Really yummy.  This one will be in the recipe rotation.

How do you keep dinner exciting?

Have a great weekend, 

K

Easy Crock pot Sausage and Peppers

Earlier this week I made sausage and peppers in our crock pot (love that thing)  I actually used chicken sausage but you can use your favorite regular sausage.  It's super easy and delicious!  Sausage and peppers is pretty easy not really requiring a recipe but I did follow this one from Preventionrd.com

Here we go.......

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 1/2 lbs hot turkey Italian sausage (about 10 links, cut into 4 pieces each)
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
2 large yellow onions, halved and sliced
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1-15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth ( I like low sodium )

Directions:

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a skillet and add half the sausage. Cook until brown on all sides, set aside. Repeat with remaining teaspoon of oil and sausage.

Place onions and bell peppers into the crock pot. Top with sausage and remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. Serve with pasta or bread.

Yield: 7 servings (~6 pieces of turkey sausage with 1/2 cup peppers and onions).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 259 calories; 12.7 g. fat; 79 mg. cholesterol; 647 mg. sodium; 11.7 g. carbohydrate; 2.9 g. fiber; 23.7 g. protein

** SIDE NOTES***

1.  After I browned my sausage I cut it into bite size pieces before putting in the crock pot

2.  Theres a lot of liquid once the dish is finished cooking.  If you like a thicker "sauce" add a      table spoon of the last 10 min of cooking to thicken it up a bit or if it's too much liquid for you omit the wine/chicken broth

3.  Add some potatoes diced up for a hearty meal

4.  I think the 5-7 hour cooking time is too long.  I would suggest 2-3 hours on high

5. If you don't have a crock pot you can cook this in a casserole dish in the oven.  Put the oven on 350 and cook for about 2 hours or until sausage is cook through and peppers and onions are soft.

BON APPETIT!

K