Creamy Paprika Chicken

Yes, I know, make with the blogging!

As I posted earlier, I've changed my eating habits, and I'm working on revamping my older recipes to make them healthier. As a result, nothing really new has come up, and there's no point in blogging about old shit again. I've lost 8.6 pounds since I started this on February 2.

I did, however, make a fantastic dish tonight. And it was so easy. This makes 4 servings.

Creamy Paprika Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
a dash of salt
1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken and mushroom (if you can't find this, use a half can of cream of chicken and a half can of cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
2 tablespoons fat free creamer
2 tablespoons paprika

Generously spray a pan with cooking spray. Throw the chicken chunks in and sprinkle some salt over it. Cook until well done. Add the soup (undilluted) and sour cream. Mix well. Add the creamer and the paprika. Stir well and let it simmer for about 3 minutes. Serve over brown rice (or egg noodles if you aren't watching what you eat).

Spinach and Mushroom Quesadilla

I'm so bad. I haven't updated in almost a month. :(

I have put myself on a calorie-restrictive diet, so I haven't really been eating anything exciting. I've only been revamping old recipes. It's not as hard as I thought it would be.

Here is a recipe I used to eat all of the time when I was a vegetarian. It's pretty healthy and very filling.

Spinach and Mushroom Quesadilla

3-4 large mushrooms, chopped
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 slices red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 small whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup cheese ( I used Kraft Fat Free shredded cheddar)


Spray a medium sized pan with cooking spray. I used Pam Organic Olive Oil spray. No calories. Yay! Heat it over medium heat. Throw in the mushrooms, spinach, onion, and garlic. Cook until the spinach is wilted and the rest of the vegetables are cooked through. Put the mixture in a bowl and set aside.

Spray the pan with more cooking spray. Place one tortilla in the pan. Put all of your vegetables and then cheese on the tortilla and top with the other. Cook the quesadilla until it's nicely browned on both sides.

I ate a couple of tablespoons of low fat sour cream and some black beans with mine. This is a very healthy and filling meal.

Honey Mustard Chicken

My New Year's resolution was to try one new recipe per week and blog about it. Well, I didn't get to last week because it was my birthday week and I was busy doing birthday things. This week, I will fulfill half of the resolution- I have made this dish before, but never have blogged about it. It's incredibly easy and very tasty. Sorry in advance for the bad photo. I'm better at the cookin...

Honey Mustard Chicken

1/4 cup dijon mustard
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons tarragon or basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cream
A dash of salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 6 or 8 ounce chicken breast, cubed


To prepare the sauce, combine the mustard, honey, salt, cream, and tarragon or basil in a bowl. Set aside. Heat the oil in a pan and cook the chicken. When the chicken is done, leave it in the pan and pour the sauce over. Stir in until the chicken is coated and the sauce is warmed.

La-la-la-la-la-lasagna

I bought some lasagna boats at World Market last Monday. I have been wanting them forever. So I had to try them out.

Lasagna is a really nice meal that is quite simple to make. It looks hard, but it's not. Here is my version. Keep in mind I just made it for me and Allen, so this is only two servings.

Lasagna
Serves two

3 uncooked lasagna noodles, broken in half (I find this makes a nice manageable portion)
1/2 lb ground beef or turkey (I used turkey)
pasta sauce (I like Ragu tradtional)
1 egg, beaten
about 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2/3 cup mozarella cheese


Preheat oven to 375. Brown meat and add pasta sauce. Stir until well combined and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella and egg. Stir until well combined. Pour a little pasta sauce in the bottom of whatever dish you are using. Put down your first noodle (you don't even need to precook them!). Spread the ricotta mixture on the noodle. Top with pasta sauce and meat. Do this with the remaining noodles, then top the whole thing off with more cheese. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes.

I forgot the foil like an idiot on mine, so in the photo, you can see the top noodle didn't get done on the edges.

Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday.

The reason I don't update this blog very often is that I have about 50 recipes that I cycle through. I don't create something new and exciting every day. However, I would like that to change, and one of my New Year's Resolutions (which I rarely do, but found myself having two this year) is to make something new to blog about every week. We'll see how long that lasts.

I got a new cookbook from EatingWell, so I should be able to find something at least once a week to cook from there. I have tons of cookbooks, but really I just buy them to read them. A lot of the recipes in my cookbooks are a bit too complicated, something that would be hard to make one serving of (since Allen doesn't really eat my cooking), or are just way too fancy. But I'm going to try to do this at least once a week.

Tonight is the Tostito's Fiesta Bowl football game- University of Texas v. Ohio State. Allen will be watching, which means I will be watching it as well. While I don't really go for football, it's always fun to watch with Allen. But since my shows aren't on, I took some time to look through my recipes, and found this one. I made myself a Chambord margarita and got to work. I altered it a little by adding garlic powder and parmesan cheese.

Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

1 boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 tablespoon extra virgin oilve oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium shallot, minced
1/2 cup or so thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
2 tablespoons dry vermouth or dry white wine
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives or scallion greens

Method:

Toss chicken in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add to a skillet and cook through. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Add shallot to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in vermouth (or wine); simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cream, parmesan, garlic powder, and chives (or scallions); return to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Serve with rice.

One nice autumn day in Austin, back in 2005, I received a very special package from my friend, Stacey. In the package- cute tiny barrettes, recipes, and a tub of these amazing vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They were delicious.

We had a bake off at work, and I tried my hand at the cookies. I won second place in the bake off. My friend Dylan lost his mind and asked me if he brought the stuff, would I make some for his family for Thanksgiving. I gladly obliged. I have been baking these fuckers for the past 3 years now, and this will be the 4th.

Seriously, they're fun, and I don't mind, and it's sorta cool that someone likes something I make SO MUCH that it's become their family tradition. Well, in case you wanna try them, here's the recipe. And NO, I will not make them for your family. Dylan's got that market cornered, and I don't have the energy. ;)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Makes about 20 depending on size)

1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup regular sugar
1 can packed pumpkin
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chunks or chips
1 egg (or egg substitute for one egg)
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats

Mix pumpkin, applesauce, and sugar. Add egg or egg substitute. Beat until well mixed. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Drop on a greased cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes.

Oven-Baked Risotto with Mushrooms

As you can see, I'm playing with the layout on this blogger. I can't quite figure out how to get the music player full sized, though. I got so mad about it last week that it gave me a headache. Allen did it for me because he's rad.

The meal plan for last week did not work out. I was in the mood for what I listed when I listed it, and then it turns out, I really wasn't for the rest of the week. So maybe I'll scrap that idea, which means I'll probably erase that entry, or at least the list part.

Tonight I'm trying my hand at a baked mushroom risotto dish. I've only ever made risotto a few times, and it's never turned out quite right. And I misread these directions, so I thought it would be gross, but in the end, it didn't matter, because this is really, really good! But read the directions carefully. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I put the risotto in too soon. But it did turn out lovely.

Oven-Baked Risotto with Mushrooms (I halved this recipe tonight and it still made a fuckton of it)

5.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used veggie broth)
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 oz pancetta or thick-cut smoked bacon, diced
14 oz chopped mushrooms (or as much or little as you like)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 5/8 cup risotto rice
2 tablespoons tarragon or parsley
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (or 180 C). Bring the veggie broth to a boil, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer while preparing the risotto.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons in a large skillet over high heat. Sautee the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add the pancetta to the skillet, cook and set aside with mushroom mixture.
4. Reduce heat to low and add the remaining oil. Add risotto and stir until it's coated in oil. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly or until the grains are translucent.
5. Gradually stir the broth into the rice, then add the mushroom and pancetta mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer everything into a casserole or oven-safe dish.
7. Cover and bake for 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed.
8. Remove from oven, and stir in parmesan. Return to the oven and bake another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with parmesan, and serve immediately.


I served mine with garlic bread. Yummmmmm.....

Meat Pies

Allen has been telling me all week how much he loves Boomerang's Meat Pies. He brought a menu home, and they sounded good. So we decided to go and have one today.

These things are amazing. They're lke $5.50 each, but really filling. You can also order them frozen to take home. They have a 6 for $20 deal, I may have to do that when I get paid. There are meat pies and veggie pies. They're like little pot pies filled with goodness. I got the Guinness Steak and Potato Pie. Since I'm retarded, or this blogger is retarded, you'll have to click on the image to get the full photo.



Sorry I didn't get a photo before it was almost gone, but it was just sooooo good. Next, I'm trying the Spicy Mexican- beef, beans, jalapenos, and cheese in a TINY PIE!!!

The place is called Boomerang's. It's on 31 1/2 Street, right off of Guadalupe Street here in Austin. They're open from 11-8 Monday through Friday and only from 12-6 on Saturday and Sunday. You should go tomorrow.