Orzo with Chicken, Corn, and Green Beans

photo from:  Everyday Food

Have you tried Orzo?  I had never made orzo or used it in any recipe before tonight.  I found this dish very easy to prepare and had lots of flavor!  The sweetness of the corn, garlic and salty flavors all compliment each other making this dish a delight!  I am a fan of orzo and will be looking for more recipes that call for it!

One tip: Have everything prepped before you start cooking!

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
  
• 1/2 pound orzo
  
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed
  
• 1 whole roasted chicken, (3 pounds), skin discarded, shredded (about 3 1/2 cups)  I didn't use a whole roasted chicken, I just fried 5 chicken breast tenders in a little EVOO and cracked some salt and pepper over them while they were frying.  

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook orzo until al dente, according to package instructions; add green beans during last 6 minutes of cooking. 
   
2. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add corn and 1 teaspoon salt; cook until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes.
   
3. Toss pasta and green beans with corn mixture and chicken. Season generously with salt and pepper.
   

Broccoli Tomato Salad

This is a delicious summer time salad, and a nice alternative to a pasta salad! 

Ingredients:

Serves 6

• Large bunch of broccoli
• 1 pint of little tomatoes, I've used cherry or grape both are great.
• 4 green onions sliced thinly
• Cheddar Cheese Chunks, as many as you would like.  
• 1/2 c. mayo
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Cut the broccoli flowerettes off and steam in shallow boiling water for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the boiling water immediately and place in a colander.  Rinse with cold water to get the broccoli cooled down.
2. Slice the tomatoes in half, chop the onions, and cheese.  Combine in a bowl with broccoli.
3. Put mayo, sugar, and red wine vinegar in a bowl and whisk together. 
4. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and combine.
5. Serve right away or place in the refrigerator and serve later.  I've even made it a night before and taken it to work for lunch and it still tastes fresh! 

Pennies From Heaven

I think several of the "Dinner-Belles" have made pennies from heaven, but I thought I'd include the recipe/how to do on our blog. Pennies from heaven were created by the kids I nanny, they are a lunch time favorite! I don't remember exactly how the name came about, I think while I was making them one day and I was in a silly mood and told they kids they were pennies. Natalie and Andrew were commenting on how much they LOVED the pennies, that I must have said "they are like pennies from heaven!" The name stuck and to this day they ask for pennies from heaven quite regularly!

1.  Slice your zucchini in semi-thick circles.

2.  Sometimes I chopped the zucchini circles in half, I know, they don't look like pennies anymore but they are easier to flip around in a pan.  So, whatever you prefer.

3.  Heat about 1 Tablespoon of EVOO in a larger pan over Medium-High Heat.  Coat the pan evenly, and add the zucchini.  Fry the zucchini in the pan for about 2 minutes, mixing them around getting them evenly coated with the oil.  Make sure to keep the zucchini moving in the pan our they will burn. 

4.  Add 1/4 Cup of water to the pan and cover.  Let simmer for about 1 min, no more than 2... depending on how "cooked" you like your vegetables.

5.  Serve as a side dish with a little salt cracked over them.

Skirt Steak with Cilantro Garlic Sauce

So I used to have this all the time in Arizona and since moving to Washington I've missed it a ton. Then I saw this recipe in this book that Gourmet Magazine sent me, I tried it, and it reminded me of home. It's super good and really easy too. Don't leave out the chipotle chili powder, it gives it that extra something. Try it out! - Colin

Serves 6

20 minutes, start to finish

Sauce:

1 medium garlic clove

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/4 ~ 1/2 tsp roasted chipotle chili powder (essential!)

Steak:

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 lb skirt steak, cut crosswise into 3-4 inch pieces

Make Sauce

1. Finely mince garlic

2. Add garlic and remaining ingredients to a blender, then blend until smooth

Grill Steak

1. Stir together cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.

2. Pat steak dry, then rub all sides of each piece with cumin mixture

3. Heat grill to high heat and grill steak, turning occasionally, 2-3 minutes per side for medium-rare. (Can be done under a broiler for same length of time)

4. Let steak rest for 5-10 minutes

5. Serve steak with sauce drizzled over and enjoy.

(I put extra sauce out because some people like alot of it!)

Delicious Cheese Pie

This is just like a cheese cake except rather than having a graham cracker crust it forms it's own "crust" when it bakes. Also note that this is made in a pie dish and not a spring-form pan.

Ingredients:

Bottom:
16 oz cream cheese
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (or more if you want it more lemony)

Top:
2 cups sour cream
3 TB sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

~Beat the cream cheese unit smooth, beat in one egg at a time. Then add remaining sugar, vanilla and lemon juice and beat until creamy.
~Pour into a greased 9 inch pie pan
~Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes
~After the 50 minutes are up, take the pie out of the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes. (At this point the pie will have puffed up A LOT... don't worry, it will go down before you have to put the top on)
~While the pie is cooling mix all of the ingredients together for the top.
~After the pie is cooled (about 30 minutes) pour the mixture on top and bake at 325 degrees for another 15 minutes.
~Chill in the fridge for about 5-6 hours

This pie is great served with fresh fruit or a jam on top! Enjoy!!

Divine Sauteed Shrimp Cocktail

Well I have a new addiction-since recovering from my HGTV obsession I have moved on to the Food Network. This new infatuation is only slightly more practical in the sense that I may actually be able to do some of the things I see. This recipe is from Giada @ Home who seems to be able to make flavorful dishes with few ingredients, I happened on this one by chance but it is a keeper! Kerry and I ate it as a meal with some crusty bread but it is actually an appetizer.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled, tail left on, deveined
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard (recommended: Maille)
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil leaves
Directions
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and herbes de Provence. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 2 minutes each side.
In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, maple syrup, turmeric, and basil until smooth. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Place the yogurt mixture in a dipping bowl.
Place the bowl of dipping sauce on a serving platter with the cooked shrimp.

If you have never used herbes de Provence seasoning, or heard of it like me, it is worth the investment!! It was fabulous and easy to find and could be used for many poultry and fish dishes. I used lowfat yogurt and mayo. Don't omit anything, it all adds to the dish, however I would use a little less oil next time (and you could get away without the basil). For those of you that have a Target near by, they sell frozen, raw, peeled, deveined, tail on shrimp that is very good. The recipe makes a lot of sauce but don't worry, mix with some chicken the next day and you have a great chicken salad sandwich. Enjoy!

Sweet Potatoes: "We be yammin'!"

I'm excited about sweet potatoes. After recently tasting the scrumptious baked sweet potato fries at Au Naturale Restaurant, I knew I needed to be able to make this treat at home for a fraction of the cost. In searching for recipes and nutrition info., I learned that this homely tuber is kind of like a geode, ugly on the outside, but truly a gem on the inside--a nutritional gem. In fact, The Center for Science in the Public Interest rated it as the best vegetable you could eat. (I don't think that applies if they're smothered in brown sugar, swimming in butter, and topped with a fluffy crown of marshmallows.) If you do a "google search" there's lots of interesting nutrition facts on the web. BTW, when the orange fleshed sweet potatoes entered the market, they were called "yams" to differentiate them from the white fleshed sweet potatoes. However, they are not even in the same botanical family as true yams. Nowdays there are several varieties of sweet potatoes with various colors, so don't be confused if you can only find something labeled "yams" in the produce department. They are really sweet potatoes.

This is the recipe I tried for sweet potato fries. The basic process remains the same, but there are many seasoning combinations you could try, both sweet and savory. Keep an eye on them as they cook. They need to be turned to prevent burning. Also, don't cut them too thin.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1-2 teaspoons italian spice blend
• 1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
• sea salt
• pepper

Method:

• Wash and dry sweet potatoes (if using organics, no need to peel them--amazingly, the price at my local grocery store was the same)
• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
• Cut potatoes in half, then cut each half into uniform sized rectangles, not too thin
• Put potatoes into a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat, sprinkle with italian seasoning, rosemary, salt and pepper and toss again
• Arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
• Bake for 30 min. turning potatoes after 15 min. (watch closely, they burn easily)
• Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauces: (endless variations)

• Equal parts mayo and sour cream or yogurt with a minced garlic clove added
• Equal parts mayo and ketchup
• Mayo with curry powder or paste

Easy Chicken Tacos

This is a great recipe that can easily be used twice - the 1st night for tacos and the 2nd night you could add a can of black beans and turn your leftovers into enchiladas!

What you need:

A crockpot
3 -4 chicken breasts
1 jar salsa of your choice (we use a roasted garlic salsa from Trader Joe's)
1 can corn
1 red bell pepper diced
tortillas
shredded cheese (we use extra sharp cheddar)
sour cream (if desired)
guacamole (if desired)

How to make it:
1. In the morning put your chicken breasts in your crockpot (they can even be frozen!!!)
2. Empty the entire jar of salsa into the crockpot & cover crockpot with lid
3. Cook chicken and salsa on low for 8-10 hours
4. About 30 minutes before serving shred the chicken in the crockpot (it should pretty much fall apart on its own) and add the can of corn & diced bell pepper

• at this point you could also add a can of green chiles, or onions, or black beans - whatever you want in your tacos or enchiladas

5. Fill your tacos with the chicken mixture (watch out it may be a little juicy if the chicken breasts were frozen before) and top with shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole (maybe some fresh chopped cilantro?) and enjoy!

6. Night 2 with leftovers? Add a can of black beans or beans of your choice and use the leftovers and enchilada fillings!

Barilla PLUS

I am NOT a fan of whole wheat noodles. I despise them! They ruin my love for pasta. I am aware that a switch from white noodles to whole wheat would be much better for my health, but I just can't do it. Whole wheat noodles are so grainy and tough tasting. While perusing the pasta isle a few months ago I saw Barilla PLUS noodles. They caught my eye and I thought I would give them a try. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of these noodles. I know they are not truly whole wheat, but I do feel a little better eating a bowl of Barilla PLUS noodles than just the plain old white kind. Try them!

Kathy's Mac N' Chesse

This is known fondly around the Treusch household by many names, "Kathy's Mac N' Cheese," "Mom's Mac N' Cheese," "Nona's-Kath Noodles," and as Ben sometimes refers to it, "Manderoni N' Cheese." My mom's friend Kathy deserves all the credit to this recipe that I grew up loving and am still preparing to this day.

Igreidents:
Serves 4 (usually with some left overs)

• 1 14.5 oz box of noodles (Use any kind you like, I prefer the medium shells, but as pictured above penne works just fine too!)
• 1 container of 8 oz of sour cream
• 1 can of low sodium cream of mushroom soup
• Ham (You can add as much as you like. A lot of the time this is a recipe my mom makes when she has left over ham from an Easter dinner or some sort of occasion. You can also buy precubed ham in the meat section. I think I usually add about a pound to this recipe.)
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese (Again this is an ingredient that I just eyeball as I'm adding it. If you buy the preshredded cheese I would use the whole bag. If you're shredding it yourself, shred enough to cover the noodles once in the pan.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cube ham.
3. Shred Cheese
4. Boil pasta according to directions on the box.
5. While the pasta is cooking combine the sour cream and cream of mushroom in a large bowl, add ham and sometimes I add a little cheese (small hand full) to the mixture.
6. Drain pasta and add to the sour cream and cream of mushroom mixture. Stir and evenly coat the noodles.
7. Pour into a 11x13 pan and top with cheese. I like to crack black pepper on top and cover with foil.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Honey-Lime-Garlic-Chicken

Since my sister Mandy called and asked for this recipe today I thought I'd make it my first contribution to this awesome blog! I learned this recipe from a girl I went to Nicaragua with in 2000. I've tweaked it a bit to bump up the lime flavor and have (of course!) added garlic! :) This is a super easy dish that can be made any night of the week and the bonus is, if you prep the night before, it marinates all day infusing the chicken with all that honey lime and garlic goodness!

What you need:

4 chicken breasts (for feeding 4-5 people)
1 lime per chicken breast (so in this case 4 limes)
1 bottle of honey (or maybe plain agave nectar would work?!?!)
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. zest limes and set zest aside
2. juice limes and pour juice into whatever dish you'll be cooking the chicken in
3. add about 1/2 cup honey to lime juice and whisk until ALL honey is combined with lime juice
4. taste the lime juice - is it too tart (probably!) so add more honey until you get the sweetness you desire. My family likes it a teeny bit on the sweet side. :)
5. press your garlic cloves into the lime juice and whisk to combine
6. add zest, then salt and pepper the lime juice to taste
7. marinate your chicken for 30 minutes to 24 hours before cooking
8. Bake chicken at 350 for about 35 minutes (depending on the thickness of your chicken - you can always pound the chicken breasts to flatten and thin them out if you're in a hurry!)

I always serve this chicken over a bed of couscous or rice. That way I can drizzle a little bit of the cooked juices over the chicken and bed of grains. As a side my hubby usually prefers broccoli.

Mandy, I hope your dinner turns out great! This one is always a hit for me!

Ciao for now! <>< Bree

Easy Chicken Cacciatore

a.k.a. "Kitchen Catch-A-Story" (so quick and easy, you can sit down and read a story in the time you'll save) . . . I "invented" this recipe in a moment of dinner desperation, and amazingly my family thought it tasted great. Everyone I've shared it with has had a similar reaction, which gives me the courage to share it as my very first blog post EVER. Hopefully it will help someone dear to me in a moment of dinner desperation. You can adjust the number of servings by how much chicken you use. BTW, if you need to, you can skip the browning of the chicken and throw it in the crock pot with the salsa and spaghetti sauce, cook it all day and fix the pasta when you get home. Let me know what you think.

Serves 6 with left-overs. I combine the remaining pasta and chicken and refrigerate. Keeps well for 3 days.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• salt/pepper
• 6-7 chicken tenders
• 1 jar mild salsa (16 oz.)
• 1 jar sphaghetti sauce (24 oz.) (I like Classico or Barilla "Roasted Garlic")
• fresh grated parmesan cheese
• pasta (approx 12 oz.) (I use Mrs. Leeper's Organic Rice-Vegetable Twists to keep it gluten free)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over med. high heat. Brown chicken 2-3min. each side, salt and pepper lightly.
2. Pour salsa and spaghetti sauce over chicken, cover and cook 25-30 min. over med. heat until chicken is cooked enough to break into small chunks or shreds. Stir chicken chunks around in sauce, reduce heat to low and continue to simmer another 10-15 min. while cooking pasta.
3. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain. Toss with a little butter and olive oil to prevent sticking.

Serve chicken mixture over pasta, topped with parmesan cheese. Add a garden salad, maybe some garlic bread, and YUM!

P.S. BIG THANKS and HUGS to Mandy (our digital whiz kid) for getting our Dinner Belles blog launched. She has already posted some awesome recipes. Her enthusiasm is contagious. I am so excited to share recipes and ideas for nourishing our families, stretching our budgets, and changing meal planning from a JOB to a JOY. Love to all.

Chili-Rubbed Salmon with Zucchini and Sauteed Corn

photo from: Everday Food

Delicious summer time meal!

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 2 lbs salmon
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
  
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
  
• 1 pound medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 3-inch spears (about 1/2 inch thick)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen corn kernels (4 cups)
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 cup chopped scallions
  
• 1 container (16 ounces) prepared fresh tomato salsa (2 cups)
  
• Lime wedges, for garnish (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Heat broiler; set rack 4 inches from heat. Rub salmon all over with salt and pepper. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet; sprinkle top of fillets with 1 teaspoon chili powder. Arrange zucchini around salmon; sprinkle with remaining teaspoon chili powder, and season with salt and pepper.
   
2. Broil until fish is opaque throughout and zucchini is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
   
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Add corn and garlic; cook, tossing, until corn is tender and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in scallions and salsa; season generously with salt and pepper. To serve, place fillets on plates, and serve with zucchini and half the corn. Reserve other half of the corn for next day. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.
   

Foster Farms Chicken Breast Tenders

Foster Farms Frozen Chicken Breast Tenders from Costco have been a great discovering for me! I used to buy the regular Chicken Breast but I couldn't believe how big they were, not to mention sometimes they were a bit fatty. The tenders seem to have solved both problems, they are smaller (more appropriate portion size) and they seem to have little if no fat on them at all. I highly recommend having these in your freezer, they save me when I'm in a pinch for dinner. You get about 30 per bag for $14.99!

Chicken Enchilada's with Creamy Green Sauce

photo from: Everyday Food

The best thing about this recipe is you can prepare it a day ahead of time!  Just prep and assemble the enchiladas in a baking dish, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

WARNING:  This recipe can be very spicy!! For some reason the bottled green salsa is very spicy, so to tone it down a bit you can also use a regular red salsa that is not as spicy.

Ingredients:

Serves 6

• 3 large chicken breast or 6 chicken breast tenders (depending on what you have)
  
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
  
• 5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  
• 2 jars (16 ounces each) medium green salsa
  
• 3/4 cup Half & Half
  
• 12 corn tortillas (6-inch)
  
• about 3 cups (or more) Monterey Jack cheese
  
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper; place with garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes for breasts. Slightly shorter baking time for breast tenders.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine salsa and cream.
   
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, shred meat. Peel and chop garlic. In a large bowl, combine chicken, garlic, and 1/2 cup salsa mixture.
   
3. Stack tortillas flat, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute to soften. Working with one tortilla at a time, dip in salsa mixture, lay flat, and fill with 1/3 cup chicken mixture. Roll up and arrange, seam side down, in your baking dish. Top with remaining salsa mixture, then cheese.
   
4. Bake until cheese is browned and salsa is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes; let rest 10 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with cilantro, if desired.
   

Barbecued Chicken Pizza

photo from: Everyday Food

Another favorite and regular meal at our house! I have slightly changed the recipe as I have made a few times. Here is my version!


Ingredients:
Serves 4

• Olive oil, for baking sheet


• All-purpose flour, for dusting


• 1 pound store-bought frozen pizza dough, thawed (If you have a bread machine you can make your own dough however I have never been happy when I make my own dough and then freeze it. It doesn't taste very good one thawed, so store bought might be a better choice.)


• 1 chicken breast


• store-bought barbecue sauce (I love "Sweet Baby Ray's")


• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese


• 4 cloves of garlic


• 1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced


• 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced


• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions:

1. Pour bottle of BBQ sauce in a medium sauce pan, reserve a 1/2 cup to spread on pizza later. Add chicken breast to the pan and 4 cloves of garlic. Turn the stove on Medium High and let the chicken cook in the BBQ sauce for about 35 minutes or until there is no pink left. When the chicken is done it should flake apart. Keep the chicken in the pan and place it on Low until your dough is rolled out.


2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a large baking sheet; set aside.


3. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin and your hands to roll and stretch dough to a 15-by-10-inch oval (if dough becomes too elastic to work with, let rest a few minutes). Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
   In a medium bowl, combine chicken and 1/2 cup barbecue sauce. Leaving a 1-inch border, scatter chicken mixture evenly over dough; sprinkle with cheese, then zucchini and onion. Season with salt and pepper.


4. Bake until crust is golden and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Taco Meat

This is the best Taco Meat I have ever had!! When I make it I like to make my own crunchy taco shells in the oven. (See directions below.)

In place of beef, you can substitute ground turkey or chicken. This is much healthier and the man in my house can never tell the difference! :)

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno minced (remove seeds for less heat)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, with juice
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  

Optional Toppings: cilantro, iceberg lettuce, diced jalapenos, sliced tomato, Cheddar cheese, sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeno; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
   
2. Add garlic, chili powder, and cumin to skillet; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beef; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
   

Directions for corn tortillas:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Lay corn tortilla's on a rimmed baking sheet, they can overlap slightly.
3. Brush EVOO on one side of the tortilla and crack coarse salt over them.
4. Place in the oven for 4 mins, then flip them over.
5. Cook for another 3 mins, but watch so they don't burn. They should start to curl a little on the sides.
6. Once they seem a little stiff take them out and immediately curl over so they harden like a crunchy taco shell. Sometimes this is a two man job, because the taco shells are HOT!
7. Fill the shells with desired insides and eat over a plate or bowl, because the shells sometimes crack.