Korean Chicken

I'm not sure if this chicken is Korean or not, but I am sure that it is AWESOME!  I rarely make the same recipe twice, but this recipe has made a few appearances at our supper table.  It is super quick and delicious!  Plus it uses honey, which I prefer over sugar.

Korean Chicken
(adapted from food.com)

1 chicken, cut up or 7-10 chicken pieces

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup minced green onion or dried minced onion or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons honey or sugar

2 teaspoons minced garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

*Place all ingredients together in a ziploc bag.
*Marinate in the fridge overnight.
*Arrange in pan.
*Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I have made this without sesame oil and it is still good.  Sesame oil pushes it over the edge of amazing though!

Enjoy!

-C :)

Creamy Chicken Lasagna

In our almost 5 years of marriage, there are only 2 meals that Sam has ever requested that we have again, and this is one of them.  Both of the kids love this too!

This dish is relatively simple, but takes a bit of time to get everything together, as most lasagna's do.  Don't be afraid of the spinach.  I do NOT like spinach.  The first time I only put in half and it tasted ok, so I thought I would try it with 2 packages and it was fine!

Creamy Chicken Lasagna
(adapted from HDMac on food.com)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (slightly heaped)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, for topping

*Boil lasagna noodles until al dente.
*Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic until the mushrooms have lost their water and it has evaporated.

*Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly.

*Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

*Stir in 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.

*Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper.

*Remove from heat and set aside. (The sauce should be fairly thick.)

*Preheat oven to 350.

*Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.

*Cover with 1/3 of the noodles, all the cottage cheese, and all the chicken.

*Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining mozzarella cheese.

*Top with remaining noodles and sauce mixture, and sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

*Bake 45 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this as much as Sam does!

-C :)

Linked to: i have to say... The Recipe Box Swap

Taco Seasoning

In my kitchen, I am always on a quest to get rid of as many processed products as I can.  In our home we eat quite a bit of Mexican food.  Mexican food that calls for a packet of taco seasoning.  I quick search on food.com lead me to a wonderful recipe that provides all the flavor of the bought variety of taco seasoning without the added chemicals and salt plus it doesn't take long to stir up an enormous batch!  Win-win I say!




Photo courtesy of food.com alligirl.

 Taco Seasoning
(adapted from Kittencal's recipe)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 -3 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 pinch cayenne

2 tablespoons cornstarch

* Combine all ingredients together in a small container.

*To use:  Brown ground beef/chicken.  Add taco seasoning and 3/4 c water.  Simmer until water  evaporates.

When I make this I usually increase the recipe by 5 so that I always have some on hand.  Also, if you are not using the taco seasoning for taco meat but to flavor other dishes, you can omit the cornstarch if you want.

Enjoy!

-C :)

Microwave Popcorn

Did you know that you can make popcorn in your microwave?  I don't mean the store bought kind with the nasty fake butter, I mean real popcorn kernels, no chemicals.  After I made this the first time I was amazed that I had been fooled all those years into making fake store bought popcorn!

Since moving out on my own, popcorn has become a staple in my diet.  At one time in my life, while living with 3 other girls, our microwave used to make 4 bags of popcorn in an evening!  After the news came out about microwave popcorn containing cancer causing chemicals, I shuddered to think how many of those chemical I ingested over the years.  With the discovery of this recipe I could once again enjoy microwave popcorn without the worry of what I was doing to my body!



Image from Ayelie on Flicker


Microwave Popcorn

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup popcorn kernels
• paper bag (I just grab an extra one each time I buy mushrooms!)
• tape

*Place the popcorn kernels in the paper bag.  Fold the top up a few times and tape the edge down.
*Place in the microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes.  Listen carefully and once the popcorn popping slows down to a few pops at a time, then take it out.
*Open the bag, drizzle with a little melted butter or your favorite toppings and ENJOY!

Pop away people!

-Carla :)

Tool Time

There are very few kitchen gadgets that impress me.  I have tried out a lot of things while trying to figure out exactly what I need to make my kitchen function.  Some I like, many many I don't.  Tonight I came across one of those things that I really really like.  You would think that I would need to try it out a few times to know if I like it or not, but from the moment I held it in my hands, I knew it was a keeper.

Let me introduce the Mix n' Chop by Pampered Chef.  I use a lot of ground elk or ground beef in my cooking.  I am forever getting a tired arm from chop chop chopping the ground meat with my egg flipper to break it up.  I am never satisfied with the results as I like my meat to be quite fine.  The Mix n' Chop is the answer I have been looking for!  I browned 5 lbs of ground meat today with no tired arm.  The result was a beautifully crumbled pan of ground beef/elk.  It was a match made in Heaven (or at least in the Pampered Chef test lab).

Two thumbs up from this cook!

- Carla :)

I was in no way compensated by Pampered Chef for this review.  However if they ever were interested in my reviewing a product of theirs I would be honored!

Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole is a classic at most holiday tables.  The debate for me was do I go with the classic cream of mushroom soup variety or switch it up with something a bit better for you...  Amazingly, better for you won!

I think the result was pretty good.  It definitely wasn't the original, but close enough for me to want to make it again.  I love that it does not contain anything canned.

Image from allrecipes.com.  I thought there might be mutiny if I brought out the camera and started snapping pictures of the casserole instead of just eating it!

Green Bean Casserole

(recipe adapted from: Amy Barry)

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (taste to see if you need more)
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can waterchest nuts, drained and diced
• 2 cups sour cream (light or full fat, not fat-free)
• 2.5 lbs green beans, cooked
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

*Preheat oven to 375.

*Saute onions and mushrooms in a small amount of oil (or butter) until the mushrooms have released their water and it has evaporated.

*Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar and sour cream.

*Add green beans, onion and mushroom mixture and waterchest nuts to sauce. Stir to coat.

*Transfer the mixture to a greased casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top.

*Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the cheese is bubbly.

(I made mine the day before and took it out a few hours before cooking to warm up a bit.  It worked well.)

Hope you like it!

-Carla :)

Roasted Cauliflower

Okay, I know that Toffee Pretzel Bark is a pretty hard act to follow, especially with a vegetable, but I figured I might need to eat a bunch of this to make up for eating too much of the Toffee Pretzel Bark.

I made this the other night with baked potatoes and salmon.  G immediately told me he didn't like cauliflower, but I put some on his plate anyway.  He ate his potato, then reluctantly put a piece of cauliflower in his mouth.  I waited for the complaint, but it never came.  He gobbled it up and then said, I do like cauliflower!

This was a great change from steamed cauliflower.  I have also done this with broccoli.  It was yummy but I liked the cauliflower better.



Picture from Flicker ex.libris.  Ours got eaten too quickly to take a picture! (Mine looked exactly like this though!)

 This recipe is super simple...

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 head cauliflower
• olive oil
• crushed garlic cloves
• salt (sea salt if you have, if not regular works too)
• pepper

*Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (375 if you have convection).
*Break cauliflower into bite sized pieces and place into a large bowl.
*Add crushed garlic.
*Drizzle with olive oil.
*Season with salt and pepper.
*Spread on a cookie sheet (I used my Pampered Chef stone).
*Bake for 20-30 minutes or until browned (that's what makes it taste so good).

Enjoy!

-Carla :)