Christmas Tree Hunt 2009

          

       

Last weekend we went with James Sr. & Diane to chop down our first Christmas tree for our new home!

I must say—I am super excited about it! This is my first real Christmas tree in about 10 years!

Everything in the Pot: Rice Chicken & Fire Roasted Tomatoes

Tonight was one of those nights when I opened the fridge and stared blankly—at least 6 times. What to make, what to make?  So I started throwing things in a pot and I must say—pretty damn delicious! Reminded my of a Zataran’s Rice mixture.

The Rice…

1/4 Orzo Pasta

1 cup Brown Rice (I use Uncle Ben’s instant brown rice)

2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock

Drizzle a little olive oil into a saucepan, let drop in the Orzo to let in begin to brown.  Once it has developed some good color, dump in the rice and stock.  Pop the lid on it and bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer until all the liquid as absorbed (Bam! You’ve pretty much created a rice pilaf!)

 

Get Saucy…

1 Medium Onion - chopped

1/2 bell pepper - chopped

3-4 cloves garlic – crushed/chopped

1 can red kidney beans

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1-2 roma tomatoes (optional)

2 chicken breasts – grilled or broiled

Seasoning… whatev ( I used Trader Joe’s Poultry Seasoning—it has a great blend of red pepper flake, garlic, paprika, parsley, etc.  I also added some ground coriander ) 

You can pretty much throw anything in here—this is just what I had in the pantry/fridge.  Plus super easy to make it a bigger batch—no measuring really needed.

Grill or broil 2 chicken breasts while you make up the sauce.  You’ll slice this up at the end and add it to the mix.

In a large skillet, sauté  the garlic in a little olive oil.  Add the onions and pepper until the start getting soft.  Dump in the fire roasted tomatoes, kidney beans and add your seasoning.  This is where I added 2 chopped up tomatoes to give it a little more juice—but it would be fine without it.

Let this simmer for a bit to let the ingredients come together and get a little mushy (about 15 minutes).  Once the rice has pretty much absorbed the liquid, dump it into the sauce mixture.

Last step! Slice up the grilled or broiled chicken and add it into the mix. Combine all the goods together and  you are good to go!

A yummy pot of delicious rice, beans, tomatoes and chicken!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Here you are Scarlet—this one’s for Seth!

This is probably the easiest, most unhealthy pie recipe you’ll ever find—but whatev, that’s what the treadmill is for, right?

This year James and I came up with this fantastic variation on our family classic… and it was a HIT at Friendsgiving 2009.

What you need:

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

1 1/2 of the king size Hershey Bars

1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter (I like the chunky stuff!)

Melt* 1/4 cup of the peanut butter until it’s super runny.  Then spread evenly across the bottom of the pie crust.  Pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

While the peanut butter is setting, repeat by melting the 1/2 bar of chocolate.  Spread over the chilled layer and put back in the freezer.   

 

While your peanut butter cup is setting, whip the heavy cream (be sure to not over mix!) I usually do this in my Kitchenaid mixer so I can let it mix while I do the next step).

Melt the remaining chocolate and peanut butter.  Once smooth and runny, fold gently into the whipped cream.  Don’t over stir!

Spread this mixture over the peanut buttercup crust.  Optional: Crush up a few peanut butter cups and sprinkled them on top for the “pretty” factor.  Pop the lid back on (it comes with the crust) and throw in the fridge for a few hours to chill. 

Enjoy!

Tips for melting the goods: Create a double boiler by putting 1 inch of water in a sauce pan—then put a glass bowl (or metal bowl—just be sure to use an oven mitt to hold onto it)

Bomb Diggity Noodle-less Potato Casserole

Tonight I was craving casserole, but we’ve had a ton of pasta lately so the last thing I wanted was more noodles.  When I looked in the pantry—we had a TON of potatoes…so I started throwing stuff in a pan and HOT damn— delicious magic happened!

Be warned—you better use a big skillet!

This is ‘measuring not needed’ recipe—you can’t screw it up.

The Bulk of it…

Chopped onion (I used about  1/2 medium yellow onion)

Crushed garlic (1-2 cloves)

1 bell pepper (I used yellow & orange —they were leftover from last nights Thai recipe— you can use what ever color you have)

Package of Ground Turkey – 1 – 1.25 lbs. (you can use ground beef—but I prefer the turkey because its lean and mean!)

Potatoes! Any kind (I used Yukon Golds.  Cut them into about 1/2” or so cubes)

Smoked Sweet Paprika – lots! (note this is different from reg. paprika!

Cumin

Pepper

Salt

Sauce/Gravy…

Chicken Stock (can use veggie stock instead)

Sour Cream (1/2 – 3/4 cup)

Equal parts butter & flour (to create a rue)

Preheat the oven to about 375.

If a pretty large skillet, sauté the onions and garlic until they start to soften—add the ground turkey and start to brown. 

Stir in all of the spices and then mix in all the potatoes.  Let them cook for about 10 mins or so. 

Transfer everything into a casserole dish and set aside while we make the gravy.

In the same skillet melt butter (recommend 2 tbsp), sprinkle equal parts flour into butter and whisk (this will start to bubble).

Pour in chicken stock a little at a time to start building a gravy like sauce (keep whisking to get all the bits from the bottom of the pan!) 

Keep adding stock until you have enough to cover your casserole. (If gravy gets too thin, then add a little more flour to thicken)

Once you have a good amount, whisk in the sour cream.  Add more black pepper and salt. 

Pour the gravy over the casserole and lightly mix together.

Now pop that bad boy into the oven! Should take about 20 minutes or so (poke the potatoes with a fork and they should be soft).

Enjoy!

Super delish Spinach & Artichoke dip with Chicken

Okay okay….after about 6 months of consistent harassment from friends and family….I have finally decided to start posting my recipes.

1/2 – 3/4 of a package of cream cheese (I prefer the light version)

1/4 c heavy cream

About a 1/4 c Grated Parmesan Cheese

About a 1/4 c Grated Mozzarella Cheese

About 1/4 c Grated Romano cheese*

1 10 oz bag frozen spinach

1 6.5 oz jar marinated artichokes, drained

1 can premium white chunk meat chicken in water, drained

Defrost the frozen spinach in the microwave and then drain all of the water from it.  I usually dump it into a clean kitchen towel the squeeeeeze the heck out of it!

In a small casserole dish, dump in drained artichoke hearts,

In a separate bowl, microwave the cream cheese to soften (about 15 seconds or so. Add the other cheeses with cream cheese, add the heavy cream and spinach and mix thoroughly.  Add everything to the casserole dish, mix and add the  chicken.  Lightly mix.

Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and delicious.  Serve warm with tortilla chips, crackers or fresh french bread!  Enjoy!

Kara’s gettin’ hitched!

Last weekend the girls went out to celebrate Kara’s last hoorah!

I’m pretty sure the pictures speak for themselves….

but yes, we had a good time! 

Love you Kara! Michael’s sure a luck man!