Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I've made this twice and it's super easy and yummy.  The chicken is moist and tasty.    

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 tsp. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

Combine mayo and cheese.  Spread on chicken, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.  Bake at 425, 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.  I covered it with foil and then cooked it for about 5 more minutes without the foil.

I've Neglected the Poor Kitchen

I'll admit it, I haven't been on this blog much due to Doug being out of town for pretty much 2 straight weeks.  I did make some great chicken on the old BBQ using Kraft's Asian Sesame Dressing- so good!!  I've been consuming Life, Raisin Bran, and Golden Grahams- I know, real healthy!     I'm ready to try these yummy recipes- thanks for posting and I promise to get my act together!!

Beef with Peperchinis

This is Shima's recipe and it's so good and easy.

3-4 pound beef bottom round roast
1 cup of water
1 1/2 packet of Italian seasoning mix

Cook the above in a crockpot for about 6 or so hours.

Chop one glass bottle of pepperchinis (not the bottle, the pepperchinis) and add the pepperchinis. Shred the beef with a fork and then cook for another 1.5 hours or so.

Serve in mini sandwiches with havarti or cheddar cheese, tomatoe slices and good dinner rolls or baguettes. (The best is with the Great Harvest white rolls)

Pita Pocket Dinner

I have no idea what to call this since I have no idea where it originated, other than my mother, who I am sure didn't make it up herself. I made this tonight when I realized it was 5:30 and my kids were super hungry, thus super onery. It was literally on the table in 15 minutes. Super fast, easy, and my kids always gobble it up.

1 package pita pockets
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 4 oz. can diced green chilis
1 4 oz. can chopped olives (sliced works too), drained
1 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms (or fresh), drained
2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped
shredded cheddar cheese (I use 1/2 c. - 3/4 c. but you could add as much or as little as you like)
salt and pepper

Brown ground beef/turkey in skillet, drain fat. Add chilis, olives, and mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff in warmed pita pockets.

Crockpot Chicken with Rice

This recipe is for Shauna (the cream cheese/chicken of mushroom soup girl), although I’m sure you have this one if the two ingredients you use the most are the above! This is an easy crockpot recipe and one of my family’s FAVORITES!!!

You will need:
1 package cream cheese
1 package Italian seasoning (the kind that you use to make salad dressing – but just use the spices. DO NOT make the dressing.)
1 can cream of chicken soup
4-5 pieces of thawed chicken breasts
salt/pepper
Put chicken in crockpot. Salt and pepper chicken. Mix together cream cheese, Italian seasoning spices, and can of cream of chicken soup with mixer. Add cream cheese/soup mixture on top of chicken. Cook in crockpot on low for about 5 hours. Serve over brown rice.

best breakfast ever

purchase bag of cocoroos
purchase milk

proceed to pour as many cocoroos as possible in a large bowl, cover with milk, enjoy!

corn and salsa chicken packets

alrighty, i made this tonight to test it out and it was real easy and pretty tastey

4 sheets heavy duty aluminum foil
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 jar chunky salsa
1 can whole kernal corn, drained (i used frozen)
salt/seasoning salt/garlic salt (your choice)
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream

preheat oven to 450 degrees. put a chicken breast in the middle of a piece of foil. salt both sides of chicken breast. pour enough salsa to cover chicken breast. top with corn. bring up foil sides, double fold top and ends to seal packet, leaving room for air to circulate inside. repeat for all four packets. bake 20-25 minutes on a cookie sheet (i baked for 5 extra minutes because i used frozen chicken breasts). be careful to let the steam escape without getting burned when you open up the packets. sprinkle with cheese, add sour cream if that tickles your fancy. yummy served over rice.

so easy chunky salsa

this is so easy, very minimal chopping required. it's also pretty hearty and can be eaten as a side or a topping to enchiladas, tacos, etc.

1 diced green pepper
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 small bottle fat free italian dressing

mix it all together (duh) and add as much dressing as it takes to make it the consistency that you want. it's yummier if you let it sit overnight and serve chilled, also delicious with lime chips. mmmm!

Pita Chips

One other little hint while I am thinking of it. I bought the most delicious hummous at this great grocery store the other day. I decided to just bake my own pita chips instead of buying pre-packaged and they turned out fantastic.

Just buy packaged pitas from the store. They are usually in between 2-3 dollars. Place them on a baking sheet and cut into triangles and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes? Watch them. Ovens vary so much....

What this basically does is just dry them out so they are crispy. The same thing that makes toast crispy I guess. They turned out GREAT and had zero fat and like .5 sugar per pita ( 8 decent size chips).

I didn't realize how good they would be warm! I liked them super crispy on the outside but a little chewy still in the middle. This takes a bit longer than buying the big bag from the store but it is totally worth it.

I will have to get my mom's hummous recipe on here soon...

Fruit Salsa

Okay ladies, I kind of die over this one. My mom introduced it to me last week and we mixed a batch up. I altered a couple things, like I always do. Usually my alterations make it healthier so I am sure you can dig that.

12 oz pkg. frozen raspberries (the sweetened kind that come in a box)
12 oz pkg. frozen strawberries (the sweetened kind that come in a box)
3-4 granny smith apples diced small with skins on
4 kiwis peeled and diced small

Thaw and strain frozen berries and mix with apples and kiwi (you can save the yummy juice and mix it in some lemonade - SOOO good.)

Add:
3 T. brown sugar
3 T strawberry or raspberry preserves
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

You could add halved blueberries or diced fresh peaches or berries too. Let sit and chill for a couple hours before serving.

Serve with these chips:

1 package of soft taco flour tortillas (usually 10-12 in a pkg) - take each tortilla and run it quickly under the faucet to wet each side, just a little wet though - not soggy (I know it sounds weird but trust me). Sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture on each side so that it sticks. Place on baking sheet and use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the tortillas into triangle wedges. I found it easier just to cut them on the baking sheet so I didn't have to transport all the litle triangles. You can usually fit like four tortillas worth of chips on there.

Put tortilla triangles in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until desired crispness. CHECK THEM OFTEN AND DO NOT BURN! It is easy to do

**Sidenote - just so you know what I altered - the original recipe asked that you butter both sides of the tortilla and sprinkle with cinn/sugar and bake, which is what my mom did for us. I made them my way today without the butter and I actually thought they were better and MUCH more healthy :) I also added the lemon juice and I reduced the sugar and jam amounts because I thought it a bit too sweet.

A great thing to serve at a shower or for a luncheon. Fantastic summertime treat.

White Chicken Chili

This makes a ton, so I either freeze half or cut the recipe in half. I love it with lime flavored tortilla chips - yum!

3 cans Great Northern beans
4 c. cooked chicken breast
1 T. olive oil
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
2 4 oz. chopped green chilis
2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. cayenne
6 c. chicken or vegetable stock
3 c. Monterey Jack cheese
sour cream (optional)

Saute onions in oil in large pot, approximately 10 minutes or until opaque. Stir in garlic, chilis, cumin, oregano, and cayenne, cook 2 minutes. Add beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Add chicken and cheese and serve.

Salmon with warm spinach salad

This is one of my favorite meals - soooo good! From Rachael Ray.

4 T. olive oil
1 med. red onion, chopped
1/2 - 1 t. red pepper flakes
1 t. ground cumin
salt and pepper
juice of 2 limes
3 T. honey
1 t. chili powder
4, 6 oz. salmon filets
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 10 oz. box frozen corn
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 15 oz. can black beans
2-3 T. cilantro, chopped
6 c. baby spinach

Combine juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, s&p. Coat salmon in lime mixture (I actually marinate my salmon in this mixture a couple hours before I am ready to cook it) and cook 3-4 minutes each side on medium-high heat with 2 T. olive oil.
In separate pan, heat 2 T. olive oil, add onions, garlic, red pepper, cumin, and s&p. Cook 3 minutes. Add bell peppers, and corn and cook 1 minute. Add broth, cook 2 minutes. Add beans and remove from heat. Add juice of 1 lime, cilantro and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Plate and top with cooked salmon.

CREPES or Swedish Hotcakes- as my grandma would call them

Seriously simple. Get out your blender.

4 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cube of melted butter

preheat a frying pan (preferably an electric one) to 350 degrees. mix eggs and milk in blender. add flour. add salt. add butter. be sure to scrape down sides. pour batter(usually about a cup) into the center of the pan and then tilt the pan all around until the batter spreads into a big circle. cook about 15 seconds, when bottom side is dry, flip(using a spatula) and cook other side. makes about 12 crepes.

this is great for any meal- we serve it with fresh berries, homemade whipping cream and powdered sugar. my brothers fold them in half and eat them with peanut butter and syrup just like pancakes.

i also make chicken crepes as a main course that our family loves. i know it sounds weird but they are yummy.

lest i digrecipe

sauce
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 c. grated cheddar cheese

2 c. sour cream
10 oz. cooked broccoli
2 c. cooked chicken breast(app. 5 breasts)

Sauce- over medium heat, melt butter in small sauce pan. stir in flour and whisk it until bubbly and thick. add chicken broth and Worcestershire. cook, stirring constantly until thick. add 2 cups of the cheese. remove from heat and add the sour cream.

now using a large Pyrex, you make them like enchiladas. lay out a crepe, put in a 1/4 c. of cooked chicken, about 2 Tbls of sauce and sprinkle a little broccoli then wrap it up like and enchilada. lay them out long ways, all right next to each other then cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the last cup of cheese. cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. serve warm-great left overs(makes 12 crepes).

Shiver me snackfoods

Try giving your kiddos a handful of frozen corn or peas in a bowl. Max gobbles them up like candy. I remember having this as an after school snack a lot as a child.

He loves frozen berries too. Just the big bag of mixed berries from Costco - dump a handful in a bowl totally frozen.

Yummy, healthy treats.

PS - The berries sometimes stain little hands, so be aware.

Gooshteh Loobia

This is my favorite Iranian dish although they don't make it all over Iran. It's from my dad's hometown on the Iran/Iraq border and it's generally poor people food, but it's so good and so easy. Sorry I don't have exact measurements, but you really can't mess this one up.

You need:

3 skinless chicken drumsticks
1 yellow onion
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoons of pasta sauce or tomato sauce
1 package of great northern beans
salt


So you can do this in a crockpot the night before you want to eat it or in the morning and you can eat it at night.

Put a package of beans and the chicken and onion (cut in quarters) into the crockpot with the turmeric and salt (about 2 teaspoons-but make sure to taste it to make sure it's not too salty). Add water--about 2 or three inches above the food. Turn the crockpot on for about 6-8 hours on high and then a little bit before you eat it, put in the tomato or pasta sauce (for coloring and flavor).

We eat this with cinnamon (just put some cinnamon on top) and a little bit of yogurt on the side. You can serve with rice--I will post a recipe of fancy Iranian rice later, but you can just cook up some plain white basmati rice or any other rice. It's yummy.

More tags

They wouldn't let me post all of the tags in one post. Here are the others.

Okay ladies

Here it is - the "lest I di-grecipe" blog. Post when you want to share something yummy. I am creating the tags that you can use on this post (although the tags have nothing to do with what I saying here). After writing your post - tag it appropriately by clicking on "show all" next to the tagging area and click as many as fit your item. Let me know if you want me to add a tag category or you can just add it yourself.

Happy cooking!