Peanut Butter - Rediscovered

I love peanut butter, but have only ever had it in desserts or in a traditional PB & J sandwich. I've seen many Thai or Asian recipes in a PB based sauce. I found two recipes - Spicy Soba Noodles w/Chicken in Peanut Sauce and Aromatic Noodles w/Lime Peanut Sauce took elements from both, and added my own. Jamie LOVED it, it's one of his favorite things I've made recently.
PS - It's healthy too!

Chicken & Noodles in Spicy Peanut Sauce

3/4 lb whole wheat spaghetti
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
1 lb chicken breast or tenders , cubed
2 cups fat free less sodium chicken broth, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup reduced fat or natural smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup pasta water (or as much as needed)
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1/2 - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tbsp honey
6 tbsp peanuts, chopped
4 tbsp scallions, sliced
salt & pepper to taste

Combine 1/3 cup broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, ginger, salt & pepper, red pepper & garlic; whisk until smooth, set aside.

Place chicken in a large saucepan and bring 1 2/3 cups broth to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is done. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water, but reserve the pasta water.

While pasta and chicken are cooking, add carrots and broccoli to a skillet(or steam) briefly until almost crisp. Add drained chicken to skillet with vegetables for additional 2 minutes.

Add pasta and sauce to skillet, toss. Add some pasta water to think out sauce, and garnish with peanuts and scallions.

Get Dippin'

Watching sports with family & friends are a regular occurance at our house, so I'm always trying new things to serve. Although my chicken wings are the prefered snack, this quick and easy dip was a hit.
Ole Cheesey Chili Dip

1 cup of chili (I used my recipe in this blog, or use prepared or your own recipe) heated till warm
7-8 oz mexican style Velveeta,cubed
3 oz cream cheese, cubed, more if desired
Tortilla chips (I think the Scoops type works best and it less messy)

I have a Little Dipper Crockpot, so I add the cubed cheese and stir till partially melted, then stir in the chili. My crock cooks fairly quickly, so keep an eye so it doesn't burn.

Serve with tortilla chips...yummy!

Turkey Day!!!!

This past Thanksgiving was my third time hosting. I wanted to make as many dishes as possible from scratch - no Stove Top here! It was a lot of work, a bit overwhelming, and created a disaster in the kitchen, but overall it turned out pretty good. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures, after all that work, I was hungry and just wanted to dig in. But I will share my menu and recipes, you'll get some great side dish ideas, and of course Christmas dinner is less than a month away.

Turkey Day Menu

Appetizers
crudite platter
shrimp with cocktail sauce

Main
Turkey with Herbes De Provence (and gravy) - Food Network

Sides
Slow Cooker Stuffing - Allrecipes Just be sure to reduce the chicken broth, you can always add more if too dry

Green Beans with Shallots - Food Network I also added 2 cloves garlic, minced and some lemon zest to compliment the turkey

Baked Sweet Potatoes - Allrecipes I added fresh tyme in the last 20 minutes of cooking

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes - Food Network I added some fresh chopped parsley and omitted the parmesean cheese

Homemade Whole Cranberry Sauce - Back of Oceanspray fresh cranberry package or Ocean Spray I reduced water by 1/2 cup and replaced with pulp free orange juice

Store bought dinner rolls and butter

Dessert
Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake - in blog

And don't forget one of the most important things - A lot of white wine ;)

Better Than Pumpkin Pie

I hosted Thanksgiving this year, and I wanted to try a bunch of new dishes. One being my arch nemesis - dessert. I didn't want the regular old pumpkin pie - but since pumpkin is traditional for Thanksgiving, I decided on a pumpkin cheesecake. This is taken from Allrecipes, and to my great surprise, it turned out delicious. You could also add a caramel sauce, however I thought it might be too sweet. And it was even easier, than well... pie!

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients: 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.

Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

Fall + Football = Chili!!!

Whether you are a poor unfortunate soul stuck in a parking lot tailgating braving rain, wind & snow (Sorry football fans, I'm a hockey girl!), or happily relaxing on the couch in front of the tv, when it feels like fall and football - you probably feel like having some chili. Out of anything I have ever cooked, chili has the most variations I have ever seen. Some have odd ingredients such as chocolate and coffee, my ingredients are pretty traditional. I like to vary the recipe slightly, depending on whether it is prepared in the slow cooker or stove, and how much heat you want. Also, I like a lot of tomatoes, omit the crushed and substitute a small can of tomato sauce.

Melissa's Touchdown Chili

1.5 lbs lean ground beef (or a mixture of beef/pork)
1 medium-large onion diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (14.5 oz) Mexican- style diced tomatoes, or stewed, coarsely chopped
1 (15 oz) can chili beans, with juice
1-2 (15 oz) can kidney, pinto or black beans, whatever you prefer, rinsed and drained
1.5 tablespoons chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 tsp freshly ground pepper
1.2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup Amber or dark Mexican beer, or beef broth
3-6 oz tomato paste, use to thicken as desired

Fixings
shredded Mexican-style cheese
low fat sour cream
garlic bread
minced onions or scallions

Brown meat in a large skillet till meat starts to brown, add in onions and garlic and cooked till meat is browned and onions soft. Drain.

In either a slow cooker or large pot, add all tomatoes, meat mixture, beer, and seasonings, and stir. Add in 3 oz of tomato paste, more if necessary to thicken.

If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 6-8 hours, adding beans in the last hour. Also, you can use less beer/liquid if slow cooking, or increase tomato paste.

If using stove method, bring to slow boil, turn heat down to low and simmer for 1-2 hours, adding beans in last hour.

Top with minced onions, shredded cheese, sour cream and garlic bread - enjoy!

Bella Lasagna

I've made the traditional lasagna many times, and was looking for something a little different. I had just gone shopping, and picked up some Baby Bellas (mini portabello mushrooms). I saw the perfect recipe to use them, Portabello Lasagna Rollups on the Food Network, which are basically mini vegetarian lasagna. It was great, and I didn't feel as guilty as I mornally do after eating lasagna/Italian food!

Portabello Lasagna Rollups
by Ellie Kriger
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

12 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 3/4 pound)
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 ounces portabello mushrooms, chopped I used Baby Bellas
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups Easy Tomato Sauce, recipe follows, or store bought marinara sauce
1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 ounces grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook the noodles al dente according to the directions on the package. Drain them well and spread them out onto aluminum foil or waxed paper to prevent them from sticking.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, a few turns of pepper, and nutmeg.

Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 12-inch baking dish. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto a lasagna noodle. Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mushroom mixture, roll the noodle and place it into the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles. Spread the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the lasagna rolls. Top with grated cheeses, cover loosely with foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

Easy Tomato Sauce:
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained, tomatoes chopped I used Muir Glen's Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Not So Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Eating healthier has been a goal of mine, and I discovered Cooking Light a few months ago. It's a great site, and most of the recipes that I have experimented with don't look or taste "light". I've had a loadec baked potato soup many times at restaurants, but they are by no means light. So, when I came across a recipe on Cooking Light, I just had to try it. It turned out very good. Of course I made some changes, but only to the amounts of ingredients in the recipe to suit my tastes - I added a bit more salt, some garlic powder (I love garlic!!!) and a little more sour cream & cheese. As usual, I served this with a salad - romaine & baby spinach.



Baked Potato Soup

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese ,divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon)