CAJUN CHICKEN

Happy Easter!

(So that I could enjoy Easter with my family, I wrote this post in advance.)

What a lazy Sunday afternoon. My umpiring hubby is at softball games all day and night, and my youngest daughter has no softball games tonight. So there's no rush to make dinner before games.

I made a big lunch so maybe I'll make a quick, easy dinner.

Even my pets are taking it easy as we watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding and I blog. Here's Bobby whom I caught in the BJ's box I brought home yesterday from our weekly shopping. He's a cat so of course he can't resist a box. My little buddy likes this box better than the catnip toy we bought for him.

He was relaxing until I took the first picture. Maybe the flash woke him up.

 

 

That flash made him look demonic but he's really a sweetie.

 

Now you can see his eyes better, without the demonic glow. I should have given him a box for Christmas. He loves it so.

 

Back to lunch, in addition to Bobby's wonderful box, I bought a lot of fresh chicken at BJ's yesterday. I slept in really late so I didn't have time to look up a recipe. So I made up my own. The kids all gave it a thumbs up.

 

CAJUN CHICKEN

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Fresh chicken enough for your family

 

lemon juice

 

Cajun Spice



 



Black Pepper


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees Farenheit.

Meanwhile, place chicken in a glass baking casserole dish. Liberally sprinkle first lemon juice, then black pepper, then Cajun spice over the chicken.

Bake 15 minute.

Turn over and liberally sprinkle the other side of the chicken with lemon juice, black pepper, and Cajun spice.

Bake another 15 minutes.

Serve warm.

Yum!

Beef Enchilada Casserole

My refrigerator door fell off last night. I bent over to get an onion out of the vegetable bin and the next thing I knew, there was a hard, heavy weight sliding right down me.

I caught the door before it slammed to the floor. Fortunately, it wasn't that heavy. I was more surprised than anything.

My daughters rushed to my aid as I yelled, "Dave! The refrigerator door fell off." Then I screwed up my face and hunkered down to hear the inevitable swearing.

You see, recently, we bought a new house and my husband blames me when anything isn't perfect. So far the floor is creaky. The dishwasher leaked and we had to replace it. The toilet seat in our bathroom came off. The shower in our bathroom is too low so he has to bend to get in and out. The toilet in the kids' bathroom was leaky. God, I hope nothing else goes wrong in the next year or he'll never stop moaning.

Luckily, he got out his handy tool kit, laid on the floor, and screwed the door back on. Meanwhile, I stepped around him to finish dinner.

So far (knock on wood), the fridge door is staying on.

When I got home tonight I had no clue what I was going to make for dinner. We already had spaghetti this week and we're out of fish. It would take at least a couple hours to make shrimp fried rice and I was too tired to do that after an eight-hour work day. I thought about making tacos but didn't have an appetite for them.

Then I remembered my husband had liked the look of a burrito recipe I found. As I dug the ingredients out of my pantry I changed my mind and decided to make an enchilada casserole which sounded faster and easier than rolling burritos.

I haven't made an enchilada casserole in awhile and I was missing the green chilies I usually add, and I had bought sour cream, so I made some changes. It obviously worked out well as my older daughter pronounced the enchilada's better than my lasagna.

I hope you'll like it, too.

 

Beef Enchilada Casserole

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

 

1-2 pounds ground, Hamburger

 

1 large can Red Enchilada Sauce

 

1 can Refried Beans

 

1 package Lipton's Spanish Rice, cooked

 

4 large Tortilla Shells

 

1 pound Cheddar Cheese

 

1 pound Sour Cream

 

1 chicken boullion cube

 

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.

 

Prepare the rice. Cook the hamburger with the enchilada sauce and boullion. Set aside.

 

Divide the cheese into two halves.

 

Layer a thin covering of enchilada/hamburger sauce on the bottom of a large casserole dish. Cover with two tortillas.

 

Next layer the refried beans, hamburger, more enchilada/hamburger sauce, rice, and one half of the cheese. It should be nice and thick now.

 

Place the remaining tortilla shells over the cheese.

 

Smother the tortilla shells with sour cream. Make sure the tortillas are thoroughly covered. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over the sour cream.

 

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until the cheese is meltd and golden.

 



 

Quiche Lorraine

Have I mentioned that I'm a Disabled Vet (Air Force)? Or that I'm a softball widow almost every weekend and sometimes, it feels like months on end during rec season?

I'm a lot of things but these are two main ingredients in the recipe that makes up moi.

I've been a disabled vet since I was 21 when I lost the hearing in my left ear due to a military hospital error. A tumor was left to grow until not only it, but most of the bones in my ear had to be surgically removed. No conductivity remained. Nada. Zippo. I no longer felt like a viable human being, not being able to participate in normal conversation without saying the dreaded "What?" fifty million times a conversation, bending my head and turning my body so my "good ear" was toward the speaker, trying to lip read, suffering humiliation almost every conversation because I still misheard important words, often entire phrases. Often my mishearing islaughable. Sometimes, I'm sure, disturbing or even undignifying.

Once again I am petitioning the VA to increase my disability to more than 10% and also to give me hearing aids as my other ear is going bad. As if things weren't hard enough to hear with only one ear. Now the "good ear" is on the fritz.

My hubby who is also a Disabled Vet for other reasons, is an avid softball officianado. He's always off at the kids games, or softball board meetings, or umpiring. Many weekends, he is away all weekend doing his thing. If I want to see him, I have to hunt him down at one of the many softball parks he frequents. Although it's jacket and mitten weather in Fort Lauderdale the day I'm writing this (in advance), he's umpiring for our daughter's league.

Voila! I often get called upon to whip up a quick dinner for him late at night when he tromps in late, despite the fact I have to get up early the next morning for the day job.

Since I work full-time weekdays, everybody's on their own for weekday breakfast in my house. On weekends, however, I cook for my entire brood.

Today, I made a Quiche Lorraine that my family enjoyed. It was a little different than the normal scrambled eggs and bacon or the scrambled egg burritos I usually make on weekends. It was a hit and something I'll do again.

QUICHE LORRAINE

INGREDIENTS:

1 pie crust, pre-made or homemade
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cheese, grated (I used a blend of cheddar and Monterray Jack cheese)
6 slices bacon, cooked, diced
3 eggs
1 tbsp. All-season salt

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Poke pie crust several times with fork tines. Bake pie crust while you cook bacon and assemble the quiche.

Cook bacon. Then dice. Set aside.

Scramble eggs, pour in whipping cream, milk, salt, cheese, and bacon. Mix well.

Remove partially baked pie crust from oven. Pour egg mixture into it.

Return the quiche to the oven. Bake another 1/2 - 1 hour until egg-cheese mixture is firm.

Serve warm.

* If you prefer, exchange bacon for crab or add spinach or green onions.


 

Texas Chili

The kids and I checked out our local Flea Market vegetable stand yesterday and the first thing to catch our eye was this beautiful deal. $1.00 for all these gorgeous peppers.

One of my daughters said, "Please make chili, not Cincinnati chili."

I love Greek Cincinnati Skyline chili, but I also love Texas chili, so that was fine by me. I like variety and since we're blessed to have two Skyline Chili parlors in South Florida (plus I have the recipe), we eat it a few times a month. In fact, we usually have most of our family birthday parties at Skyline Chili.

Tonight, however, I made a hearty, spicy hot, Texas chili - no nutmeg, no cinnamon, and some other tweeks.

Because I added black beans, my husband refused to eat it. Sometimes I think he's a pickier eater than our youngest daughter. His loss. It was absolutely delicious.

So that you can enjoy it, too, here's the recipe.

TEXAS CHILI

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
2 - 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 - 16 oz can black beans
1 - 16 oz can pink pinto beans
2-3 lbs cooked hamburger
3 green onions, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 cubes chicken boullion
1 1/2 Tblsp white wine vinegar
2 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce
6 tsp Mexican chili
3 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Red Pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 cups white rice cooked
cheddar cheese, shredded


DIRECTIONS:

Cook white rice according to directions. Set aside.

Brown hamburger in non-stick skillet.

Meanwhile, finely dice peppers and onion. Add to large pot.

Next add tomatoes, tomato paste, beans, spices, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and boullion. Simmer over medium heat. Add hamburger as soon as it is thoroughly browned. Cook about 20 minutes.

Dish rice into bowl. Spoon 2 - 4 large spoonfuls of chili over rice. Sprinkle cheese to taste.

Serve warm with a side of buttered French Bread.





 

Taco Shephard's Pie

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here's a tasty potato dish. If you really wish to be Irish, add green food coloring to the mashed potatoes.

This is a quick cheater recipe which is good for a quick dinner after work or when you're tired.

I say "cheater" because there's not a lot of cooking involved. However it's very tasty.

TACO SHEPHARD'S PIE

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups Cheesy Instant Mashed Potatoes
1-2 lbs ground beef
2 packages taco seasoning mix
2-3 cups water
mixed vegetables (optional)


DIRECTIONS:

Brown ground beef,  Add taco seasoning mix and 2-3 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer until most of the liquid has boiled off.

At the same time, make mashed potatoes per package instructions.

If you want vegetables, heat in microwave

Pour ground beef mixture and if desired, vegetables, into a large bowl or casserole dish. If vegetables are added, mix well. Spoon mashed potatoes on top of taco meat.

Serve warm.

 

Grilled Cheese & Ham

My youngest daughter just asked, "Can you ever sit still?" Of course I answered, "No". At age twenty two she shouldn't have to ask. She's had years to observe me.

I'm pretty sure that I am the source of ADHD in four out of my five children. I have to multi-task or I fall asleep. I can't watch a movie without doing something else whether it be reading, writing, cooking, or playing on the computer.

She can't understand me. Worse, it seems I annoy her.

But that's me. I can't sit still.

So I've been up and down cooking while blogging, and taking pictures of my creations to add to the blog. Before I started cooking we shopped at BJ's Discount Center. Did I mention I have a family of 6, almost all big eaters and food lovers like me? I have to save money any way I can to afford to feed this troop.

Tonight I made a very simple, yet tasty dinner - grilled cheese with ham. Whereas I hate tuna, I LOVE ham. Ask my lunch friends at work.

I used to get this dish at a local diner. Unfortunately, the diner closed so I'm making this tasty sandwich myself.

GRILLED CHEESE & HAM

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 slices fresh thick bread per sandwich (Texas toast is really yummy)
2 slices American cheese per sandwich
3-4 slices deli ham per sandwich (the more the better)
butter or margarine

DIRECTIONS:

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Spread butter evenly over the bread.

Place the butter side down on the plate of one slice. Place one slice American cheese on top of bread. Cover with 3 slices ham. Top with the remaining slice American cheese. Then top with the remaining slice of bread, butter side on top so that it will touch the skillet.

In a preheated non-stick skillet, place two sandwiches at once. Fry until the side is golden brown. Flip the sandwich. Fry until the second side is also golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Transfer to its plate. Cut into four equal pieces, one catechorner to the other.

Serve warm with fries, sweet potato fries, or a bowl of soup.


 

Creamy Chicken & Rice

I watched The Bachelor last night and it struck me that there should be a cooking challenge. Wouldn't the bachelor like to know if his future wife can cook or not? That would be much more practical than scaling buildings like Batman and Robin.

Don't get me wrong. I love to watch The Bachelor, but some things seem ridiculous.

What do you think?

Tonight, my daughter wanted chicken and rice for dinner so I searched for a recipe using ingredients I have on hand.

I found several chicken and rice recipes but none that titillated my fancy, so I made up my own. I really like it so I will make it again.

I hope you like it, too.

CREAMY CHICKEN & RICE

INGREDIENTS:

5 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces, uncooked
8 cups cooked rice
Lemon juice
1 clove garlic, diced
3 Tblsp Soy sauce
1 small can Cream of Chicken soup
2 Tblsp olive oil


DIRECTIONS:

Cook rice and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Heat olive oil in non-stick skillet. Add chicken. Liberally cover chicken with lemon juice.

Add garlic and soy sauce. Stir fry until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

In a 9 x 13 glass casserole dish, combine rice, chicken mixture, and soup. Mix well.

Cover with foil. Bake about 15 minutes until soup is cooked.

Serves 8-12.




 

Chicken Paprika & Dumplings

Have I mentioned that I have a VERY picky eater in my family? She won't eat onions or any veggies. The only thing green she likes is money.

 

She LOVES meat and fish, especially chicken and sushi. She prefers things plain, such as plain white rice. God forbid I give her Rice-a-Roni or any creamed rice.

 

Unfortunately, I like things spicy and I don't like having to make two or more main dishes for one meal. So when I came upon a recipe for chicken and dumplings, I thought ah ha! We'll both like this.

 

I changed the recipe to fit our particular likes, for instance, I left out the onions which I would have liked but she would reject.

 

For example, last night I made a dish with vegetables for me and just meat and shrimp for her. Although it had the same base sauce, she wouldn't let me use the same spoon to stir her dish that I used to stir mine.

 

That's not the only change I made so I'll share my version as it turned out to be quite tasty.

 

Tasty yes, but also very laughable. Can you believe I've never eaten a dumpling? You will when you see my dumplings below. I'll work on these and be back after they're perfected.

 

I also want to share that I discovered The Pioneer Woman's TV show and blog this weekend. How awesome! The blog's visual alone took my breath before I read a word or tasted one of her tasty recipes. We had the patty melts this afternoon, and they were a hit! LOVED THEM! Thank you Pioneer Woman for a delicious, filling treat. Not one of my picky eaters complained, threw away their food, or made a face, In fact, they raved and asked me to make this sandwich again. I definitely will.

 

Until I recently moved, I was into scrapbooking and writing. Now I'm back into cooking and Food Network and Pinterest Recipes have become my new best friend. Tonight I'm looking forward into watching The Worst Cooks in America. What fun. :)

 

 

 

CHICKEN PAPRIKA & DUMPLINGS

 

INGREDIENTS - CHICKEN:

 



1 chicken, cut into small, bite size pieces

4 Tblsp shortening

Paprika

Salt

Black Pepper

2 cups sour cream

1 cup chicken broth

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS - DUMPLINGS:

 

3 eggs

3 cups flour

1/2 cup water

1 Tblsp salt

 

 

 

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

 

Boil water in a large sauce pan for the dumplings.

 

Assemble the dumpling mix. If necessary, add a bit more water. Make the dumplings very small and drop nto the boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Set cooked dumplings aside.

 

 

Melt shortening in a large non-stick skillet. Sprinkle chicken with a generous amount of paprika and pepper and dust with light sprinkling of salt. Cook chicken in the pan.

 

After the chicken is almost done, add the sour cream, chicken broth, and dumplings. Mix well. Stir occasionally.

 

Serve warm.

 

 

Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Onions

I thought I'd try something a little different tonight than my regular zuchhini (which I love). I put my own attitude and spin on this, as I hope the American Idol judges would say about this recipe if they judged food.

I finished this dish shortly before American Idol aired tonight, so I had the pleasure of tasting it for the first time while I watched one of my favorite shows.

I'm really feeling Charlie and Lazaro tonight. Curtis is something else, too. What neat young men and awesome crooners.

Although I'm the best singer in my family, I was never AI material. Maybe someday, I'll make it into a cooking contest or a cooking show.

I can dream...

My softball umpire hubby was a dear last night and brought home my fav Skyline Chili with Cheese (for other Cincinnati chili lovers, a three-way). I was already asleep so I took it for lunch today.

 

Although it's super yummy, it's a ton of calories, so I made light dinner tonight - baked salmon with a side of my favorite zucchini with an added zing. It turned out sooooooo good, I'll definitely make it again. I bet you'll like it, too.

 

 



 

Zucchini, Mushrooms, & Onions

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 zucchini, sliced into french fry shaped pieces

1 slice of onion

1 handful of sliced mushrooms

1-2 Tblsp Butter

Lemon Juice

Pepper, to taste (I like a LOT)

 

 



 

 

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Slice zucchini, onions, and fresh mushrooms. Thin slices are best.

 

Melt butter in a non-stick pan on medium heat.

 

Place vegetables in pan. Sprinkle generously with lemon juice. Sprinkle black pepper to taste. As I said above, I like a LOT of black pepper.

 

Let the veggies set for a couple minutes, then turn, sprinkle lemon juice and pepper onto ungarnished side. Let set for a couple minutes on that side.

 

Stir frequently until veggies are soft and golden.

Makes 2 servings. Double for a family of four.

 

Serve warm with a main dish.

 

 



 

Spinach Pie

Here's another diet recipe that's very tasty. I ate a lot of it, too, when I lost 95 pounds using the Weight Watcher's system. The only problem was, I couldn't stop eating it and I'd eat the whole "pie" by myself. Luckily an entire spinach pie was only 9 WW points so I didn't do too much damage.

My older daughter got miffed a couple times that I ate the majority. That's how much I love this dish.

SPINACH PIE


INGREDIENTS

1 package frozen spinach
3 oz shredded mozarella cheese, low fat
1 cup cottage cheese, low fat
Garlic Salt
Black Pepper


DIRECTIONS

Thaw and thoroughly drain frozen spinach. Wring out as much moisture as possible.

Put in a mixing bowl and mix drained spinach with the mozarella and cottage cheese. Sprinkle garlic salt and black pepper into mixture. Mix well.

Place "pie" in non-stick small baking dish in preheated 350 oven. Cook until cheeses turn bubbly and brown.





 

Spicy Cajun Green Beans & Mushrooms

My husband came up with this recipe so he gets the credit. We used to serve it only on holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Then I decided it was too good and too healthy to only eat a few times a year.

When I went on Weight Watchers several years ago, I ate this dish as a main course quite often. I lost 95 pounds and I enjoyed every bite of my green beans. I cut back on meat intake in favor of veggies and fruit and lots of exercise, something I need to do again, sadly.

Some people find it too spicy. If you do, cut back on the spices and try it again. I like mine spicy.

SPICY CAJUN GREEN BEANS & MUSHROOMS

INGREDIENTS

1 large can Italian cut green beans (you can use other green beans, but this variety works best for this recipe)
1 small can mushroom pieces (optional)
Cajun Seasoning
Black Pepper


DIRECTIONS

Pour 1 large can Italian cut green beans and 1 can mushrooms into large non-stick skillet with their juice.

Cover the green beans and mushrooms with a thick layer of Cajun Spice and Black Pepper. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer. Cover with a lid until the liquid steams off. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn.

This is a great side dish to serve with ham or turkey and macaroni and cheese on a holiday. It's also a great dish to eat to lose weight, holiday or not.