Thursday's Eats ~ Chipotle Chicken Fingers, Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes and Asparagus

Chipotle Chicken Fingers
click the link for recipe

I used chipotle chilli powder instead of chipotle powder (is there a difference?)

I also halfed the amount of chipotle chili powder because I didn't want it to be overpowering.

Both of these changes made it perfect!  Caleb thought I picked these up at the store and reheated them.  

 Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes

1 c light sour cream

4 oz light cream cheese

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

2 lbs red potatoes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Salt & pepper

Spray your crockpot with oil to prevent sticking.

Wash potatoes and thinly slice. Put the potatoes in a bowl and mix with the sour cream, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce and salt & pepper. Place mixture in crockpot and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.  Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, until potatoes are tender.  You could change the temperature to low and cook longer if needed.

Asparagus

rinse asparagus, cut off about an inch off the bottoms.

heat 2-3 TBSP of olive oil in a large skillet and add 2-3 cloves of garlic (or more).  

Add asparagus and cook on medium-low until asparagus is tender.

Couscous Paella with Shrimp

This is a great summer recipe! Love all of the different flavors and it all cooks in one skillet!

Couscous Paella with Shrimp

1 TBSP olive oil 

1 medium onion, chopped 

3 garlic cloves, chopped 

1 medium red pepper, chopped 

1 medium yellow pepper, chopped 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp black pepper 

1/2 tsp dried thyme 

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

1/2 tsp ground turmeric 

1 14 1/2 oz can chicken broth 

10 oz frozen peas, thawed 

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, shelled and cleaned 

10 oz plain couscous 

1/2 c pitted black olives, sliced  

Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic and peppers. Cook for 8 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally. 

Add salt, black pepper, thyme, red pepper flakes and turmeric. Stir in broth, 1 c water and the peas. Bring to a simmer and add shirmp. Simmer, covered, for 2 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through. 

Remove from heat; stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. To serve, fluff with a fork and garnish with olives.  

Serves 6


Linked up to:


It’s a Keeper, Dittle Dattle: Amaze Me Monday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam: Tasty Tuesday, This Chick Cooks, A Beach Cottage, The Trendy Treehouse, Good Cheap Eats: What’s On Your Plate?, Bouffe e Bambini 

Thursday's Eats ~ Sesame Chicken

I found this recipe for sesame chicken on Feathers in Our Nest a few months ago.  I love Chinese food, but I hate how unhealthy it can be - so I'm always looking for recipes that offer great flavor with healthy ingredients!

(I kinda forgot the sesame seeds, so yours will look a bit more like sesame chicken)

Chinese Sesame Chicken

1 lb. chicken, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Oil

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

4 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

¼ - ½ tsp red pepper flakes (based on preference)

In a small bowl, combine flour and 2 Tbsp. cornstarch.  Coat the chicken pieces in the mixture. Fry on medium heat in a skillet in a small amount of oil for about 10 minutes, stirring once. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, combine water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and cornstarch to form a sauce.  Add sauce to cooked chicken and return skillet to heat.  Add sesame seeds and cook until sauce is thickened.

Prepare brown or white rice as desired.  I also served steamed broccoli florets.

Serves 3-4 

Thursday's Eats ~ Skillet Lasagna

I found a recipe for Skillet Lasagna on Lynda's Recipe Box a few weeks ago.  I modified it a bit to fit our tastes and what I had on hand.  It turned out wonderfully.  I loved that I could cook the entire meal in one skillet and the lasagna flavor was great.  Definitely adding this to my it's a keeper recipes! :)

Skillet Lasagna

3 cans (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound of ground beef

10 oz uncooked rotini noodles

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded 5-cheese Italian blend

1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

3/4 cup skim ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a 12 inch non-stick skillet. Add diced onion and salt and cook until softened; stir in garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground beef; break up the meat as it cooks. Drain grease from skillet if needed.

Add the uncooked rotini noodles and scatter over the meat in the skillet. Pour the tomatoes over the noodles and sprinkle with the dried basil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

When done (noodles are tender), remove the pan from the burner. Carefully stir the mixture together and add salt and pepper to taste. Lightly stir in half of the Italian blend cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheeses over the top. Spoon the ricotta cheese in spoonfuls over the lasagna. Move the skillet back to the burner and keep warm on low.  Cover skillet with lid and let the cheese melt.

Enjoy!

Thursday's Eats ~ Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork

I had two pork tenderloins I wanted to cook up in the slow cooker, so I decided to make pulled pork.  I found this recipe from My Baking Addiction and it was great!  I used it for bbq sandwiches, but it would be great in tacos too.

Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork

Ingredients

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (4-6 lb) boneless pork butt or shoulder (I used 2.5 lbs of pork tenderloin)

¾ cup cider vinegar

4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

1 ½ teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoons dry mustard

½ teaspoon garlic salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Rinse pork roast under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Place onions in crock-pot. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, paprika, kosher salt and pepper; mix thoroughly. Rub mixture all over roast and place the roast on top of the onions.
3. In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne pepper; whisk to combine. Drizzle about 1/3 of vinegar mixture over roast. Cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar mixture.
4. Cover crockpot; cook on low for 10-12 hours. Drizzle about 1/3 of reserved vinegar mixture over roast during last ½ hour of cooking.
5. Remove meat and onions; drain. Chop or shred meat and onions. Serve with remaining vinegar mixture or your favorite barbecue sauce.

Thursday's Eats ~ Southwestern Twice-Baked Potatoes

I saw this recipe in the Atlanta Journal Constitution ~ and then modified it a bit to fit my tastes.  This would be a great side to barbecue chicken or a taco salad.  You could even just make it a light dinner, like we did.  Good flavor and the mashed potatoes make it taste like a comfort food. :)

Southwestern Twice-Baked Potatoes


2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup canned black beans
1/2 cup frozen corn
4 medium sized baking potatoes
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
1/3 cup salsa
sliced avocado for garnish 


Wash and bake potatoes at 375* for 40 minutes or until soft. Set aside to cool.  Meanwhile, mix olive oil, beans, corn, and onion powder in a skillet over medium heat.  Cook until corn is soft.


Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop out potato pulp, leaving 1/4 inch shell.  Mash potato pulp.  Stir in cooked black bean mixture, yogurt, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cheese and salsa.  Place potato skins on rimmed baking sheet.  Spoon potato mixture into shells.  
Bake at 425* for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Garnish with avocado.

Thursday's Eats ~ Healthy Banana Bread

What do I do when I find these sitting on my counter?

Make banana bread, of course! 

This recipe uses yogurt instead of oil and I substituted half of the flour for whole wheat.  Next time I will try using honey and apple sauce instead of sugar - then all of the ingredients will be healthy!

Healthy Banana Bread

Yield: 1 loaf, 14 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 bananas)

5.3 ounces Greek yogurt

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degree.  Combine the flour and baking soda, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Mix sugar, yogurt, eggs, and mashed bananas. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Thursday's Eats ~ Some Favorites

The Hummingbird Cupcakes I made last week 

are being featured today!

Be sure to check out the link up - a fantastic list of recipes every Thursday.  

Recipe link-ups are where I get a lot of  my cooking inspiration!  

Because finals are upon me (1 A so far!), instead of posting a new recipe today, 

I am going to pull a few of my favorites from the past to make sure you've seen them!

Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich Copy Cat

I love this recipe - it's pretty easy and while it's still "fried",

 it is so much healthier than eating it at a fast food restaurant.

Tomato Enchilada Bake

 This is my go-to recipe, for a filling and flavorful recipe.

Penne Pasta with Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage

One of my favorite pasta recipes - slightly spicy and fairly frugal!

Thursday's Eats ~ Hummingbird Cupcakes

I saw this recipe on Let's Dish a few weeks ago and knew I wanted to give it a try.  

Hummingbird Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cake

3 cups self-rising flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 very ripe large bananas, mashed

8 oz crushed pineapple, drained

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Frosting

1 pound confectioners’ sugar

8 oz package cream cheese, softened

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. In a large bowl combine the sugar, oil, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, and eggs.  Blend in the cinnamon and then the flour.   Stir until smooth.  Pour batter into lined cupcake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops spring back. Let cool.


Make the icing by mixing the sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. If needed add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency. Frost between the layers and on the top and sides. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. 

The original recipe is for a cake, but I easily made 24 cupcakes out of it and cooked them for 20-25 minutes.  The recipe also called for nuts mixed in the batter, but I just sprinkled some nuts on top of the frosting.

Don't forget to checkout my giveaway for Purex Complete Laundry Detergent.  Giveaway ends tomorrow night (4/22)!

Thursday's Eats ~ Basil Pasta Shells

Basil Pasta Shells

2 ½ c uncooked medium shell pasta (or any type of small pasta)

2 tsp olive oil

15 oz diced tomatoes

4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

¼ c minced fresh basil or 1 ½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp coarsely ground pepper

¾ c shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large skillet, sauté oil, tomatoes, cooked bacon, basil, and pepper; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Rinse and drain pasta; stir into tomato mixture. Add half of the cheese. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered at 375* for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4

~ ~ ~

This is one of the recipes I reach for when I'm not feeling too creative, because I typically have all of the ingredients on hand.  Also, because of the small addition of bacon - Caleb typically doesn't complain about the lack of meat in this meal. :)

If I'm really in a hurry, I skip the baking part - just return pasta to the pan, stir in the tomato mixture and add all of the cheese.  Heat until cheese is melted.

This recipe tastes great, uses ingredients on hand, and is easy!

Thursday's Eats ~ Bona Fide Chili

I have been seeing several recipes lately for chicken chili, fajita chicken chili, fajita chili, etc.  This past week I decided to create my own and it was great (if I do say so myself). 

Bona Fide Chili


2 cups chicken, cooked and diced

1 14oz can diced tomatoes with chillis

1 can of rotel tomatoes

1 15 oz can of black beans

1 15 oz can of kidney beans

1 29 oz can of tomato sauce

1/2 tsp garlic

dash of cayenne pepper

1 tsp chilli powder

salt and pepper
cheddar cheese and sour cream (optional)


Place all ingredients in crockpot, mix thoroughly and cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Garnish with cheese and sour cream.  This was so easy and very delicious!  I liked using black beans and kidney beans, as it spiced up a normal chili recipe.


I put leftovers on top of pasta for chili mac a few nights later.  Delicious again.  Love planning for leftovers during this busy time in our life.

Do you have any tried and true chili recipes? I'm always looking for a good one

Thursday's Eats ~ Mexican Lasagna

LOVED this recipe! Mexican Lasagna has always sounded delicious to me, but then I see “corn tortillas” as an ingredient and I think “eugh” I was happy to find this recipe that uses regular pasta and has wonderful flavor! I adapted the recipe a bit. . . I cut the cheese by about 50%, used onion powder instead of onions, etc. Please take a look at the original recipe (link provided below) and feel free to concoct your own rendition!





Mexican Lasagna
Adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Café’s Mexican Lasagna


1 teaspoon onion powder
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
dash of ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 ½ cup frozen corn kernels, white or yellow
1 (6 ounce) can olives, chopped
9-12 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used the Barilla brand)
1 cup shredded 5 Italian cheese blend
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream, light or regular
4 ounces cream cheese, light or regular


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan and set aside.


In a large 12-inch skillet, heat the oil, minced garlic, and onion powder over medium heat. Add the tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, oregano and salt and pepper. Mix well. Add the diced tomatoes, black beans, corn and olives. Mix well and heat through, about 5 minutes.


Remove the skillet from the heat. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer three noodles over the sauce. Spread 1/3 of the sauce over the noodles. Dollop 1/3 of the sour cream and 1/3 of the cream cheese (just pinch off chunks and toss them on top) across the sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheeses. Repeat the layers two more times until all the ingredients are used.


Cover the lasagna with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes more, until the lasagna is hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into and serving.


*Serves 6-8

Thursday's Eats ~ Chicken, Mushroom and Brown Rice Bake

Chicken, Mushroom and Brown Rice Bake - Adapted from SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in my Kitchen, who Adapted it from Amy @ Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free

1 1/2 C brown rice
1 T butter
12 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced thick
1 tsp onion powder
1 bag frozen broccoli florets (16 oz)
1 C chicken stock
2 C shredded chicken/turkey
2 T corn starch
1 C ½ and ½ , divided
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook the brown rice whichever way you’re used to.  I used the stovetop method, you can use a rice cooker, etc.  I always do half water, half chicken stock when I cook rice because it increases the flavor.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add in the mushrooms and onion powder.  Saute until the mushrooms have evaporated much of their liquid. Then, add in the broccoli.  Stir in the chicken stock and the shredded chicken/turkey. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and add 1 T of cream and mix well until cornstarch is dissolved and the mixture is thick.  Add remaining cream to the chicken mixture, and cook -- stirring once you add the cream.  Then add in the cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the mix from the heat.

When the rice is done, pour it into a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Spoon the chicken mixture over the top.  Cover again - tightly. I used a cookie sheet to cover the dish ... works just like tinfoil! 

Bake in the oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes until all the liquid is gone, and the dish is bubbly.  Remove the cover, add the Parmesan cheese, and return the dish to the oven to melt and, if desired, slightly brown the cheese. 

This makes a lot of rice casserole!  It fed us 2 dinners and 2 lunches, so you could easily freeze half of it for later.  Enjoy!