Smothered Italian Chicken

Lately my cooking has been so sloppy. Not in the physical sense of a messy kitchen, more so in the sense that I meal plan and rarely stick to it, make things I didn't intend to make, and ultimately reach the end of the week with random ingredients that no longer are needed. This has resulted in more food waste than I comfortable with so the other day when I saw some random tomatoes laying around I decided to put them to good use. I had been craving breaded chicken and decided to make a "sauce" if you will for the chicken.

This came out incredible. In fact if I were making it again I'd likely double the sauce so I could mix it with the pasta as well. This had a ton of flavor and really paired nicely with the crisp chicken. Total win! I actually have all the ingredients on hand now so I just might make it again this week!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 egg
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Vegetable oil
1 roma tomato, sliced
1.5 cups baby spinach
1/3-1/2 tub Philadelphia Italian Cooking Creme
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- Slice the tomato and place in a small baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake covered for 15 minutes or until soft.
3- Meanwhile, dip the chicken in egg, then bread crumbs, until coated. Heat oil and fry chicken until crisp and cooked through. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
4- Add the spinach and cooking creme to the tomatoes. Cover with foil and bake for another 10 minutes or so, stirring well.
5- Spoon the sauce mixture over the hot chicken. Serve immediately.

Cheesy Cous Cous with Chicken & Spinach

I am a very visual person, especially when it comes to food. If I see a recipe and someone used penne pasta, I have to use penne. I know very well that rotini would work, but I must use penne. Don't even get me started with mixing various types of pasta together... it make me shake a little on the inside. It just doesn't look right! When this recipe popped up on Tina's blog I instantly added it to my menu. I knew Landon would love it and I'm a big fan of anything that uses Laughing Cow cheese. However, due to my insanity I had to find the exact same brand of cous cous that Tina used because I loved how large and perfectly spherical the pasta was. (Are you judging me yet? I don't blame you... truly I don't.)

This dish was delicious. Landon loved it and gobbled it up. The leftovers were perfect and made for easy daycare lunches. Can't beat a simple meal like this! I ended up making 1.5 times the original recipe so it'd be enough for 2 adult dinners and a baby, so I'd definitely suggest doubling the recipe if you're cooking for a family!

Source: Carrots 'N Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped spinach (frozen or fresh)
1.5 cups chunked chicken
2 tbsp milk
4 wedges of The Laughing Cow Light French Onion cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup uncooked pearl/Israeli couscous

Directions:

1- Cook pearl/Israeli couscous as instructed by directions on package in a large pot on the stove top. 

2- Add the wedges of cheese, spinach, milk, garlic powder, and chicken to the pot while it is still hot. 

3- Mix well. Serve immediately.

Texas Fudge Cake

As a true Northeastern girl I haven't ventured into the south much. I've been to Virginia, and Florida (but does that count as "the south"?), and... that might be about it! So when it comes to Texas fudge cake, I have no idea if this is authentic, or if people in Texas really eat a lot of fudge cake, but if they don't- they should. Because this recipe is good stuff! I made if for Easter (yes... and I'm just sharing it now) and loved it! I really think it's a great recipe for entertaining because it can be made a day or so ahead of time and it really holds up well. John and I sampled from this cake for the whole week after Easter and it was still moist and delicious. I like how the frosting is more of a crackly/fudgy topping and not a thick traditional frosting. It kind of reminded me of a brownie more than a cake, but a hybrid of brownie-cake can never be a bad thing!

Source: Cassie Craves

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sifted flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 batch frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 9 x 13 metal pan.
2. In a medium saucepan combine the butter, cocoa, and water. Bring to a boil.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
4. Pour the hot ingredients into the the dry ingredients. Stir well with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Stir until the batter is smooth.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place it in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Immediately make the frosting and pour the frosting over the warm cake. Spread the frosting evenly and let the cake cool before serving.

Frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons cocoa
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

1. In a medium saucepan combine the butter, milk, cocoa, salt, and vanilla. Bring to a boil.
2. Place the powdered sugar in a large bowl. Pour the hot ingredients over the powdered sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until the frosting is smooth.

Crockpot Vegetable Marinara Sauce

As a mom of a picky toddler I am constantly trying to get vegetables in my son in one way or another. He likes certain things (peas/carrots/spinach/sweet potatoes/mushrooms) but beyond that... yeah... he's not so interested right now. One thing he does eat in huge quantities though is tomato sauce. I go through a lot of sauce with him. He uses it as a dip for just about everything, eats lots of homemade pizza, and tons of pasta. So with that said I figured I'd try to make a healthier sauce that incorporates more veggies. This turned out great! What I will say though is that it does change the flavor of the sauce depending on what veggies you use so if you have a very intuitive little one at home, you might get caught. Since it's cooked in the slow cooker for hours the veggies completely turn to mush and are easy to puree into the sauce. I plan to make this many many more times in the coming months!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 onion, peeled and sliced in half
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 tsp Italian seasonings
1 tsp garlic powder
4 tbsp butter

Directions:
1- Combine all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
2- When done, remove the onion. Use an immersion blender and puree the sauce to the desired consistency.

Toddler Tuesdays: Greek Yogurt Pancakes

A new Toddler Tuesdays recipe is up and I'm so excited- it's a real winner! What toddler doesn't like pancakes??

If you've read my blog at all in the past month you've read about the insanely difficult time we've had feeding Landon. During this month I didn't really make new things for Landon because was so resistant to food. I don't know what changed in the past week but he seems to be snapping out of it and coming around. I decided to seize the opportunity and try some new things- first up were these Greek yogurt pancakes! Landon loves pancakes, and really any bread products that he can hold in his hand and bite- so I decided to try a healthier version of a classic recipe. These were more dense than a traditional pancake but he didn't mind at all.

I should also add that the batter is sturdy- I made it and kept the prepared batter in a sealed bowl for two days, making fresh pancakes each morning with the batter. The batter is also VERY thick. When you spoon it out you'll be thinking you went wrong somewhere- you didn't. Once the first side browns and you flip it you can squish down a little to morph it more into a pancake shape and they'll be perfect. Prior to smushing it down with the spatula it was sort of... thick? I don't know- it retained the shape of the scooper and didn't spread like I'm used to but once smushed it was perfect. We are huge fans of these in this house. Best of all you can really feel good about giving your child pancakes when they have more protein and nutrients in them from the yogurt.

Source: Slightly adapted from Everyday Belle

Ingredients:
1 6 oz container Greek yogurt, any flavor (I used vanilla)
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
Blueberries (optional)

Directions:
1- Stir the yogurt until it's smooth and creamy. At this point add the egg and continue stirring until they are well incorporated and easy to stir.
2- In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking soda. Mix well.
3- Pour the yogurt mix into the flour mix. Stir well. If using blueberries fold them in, to taste.
4- Heat a skillet with butter. Drop batter onto hot skillet and flip once golden. The recipe will yield about 8 medium sized pancakes.

April Recipe Remake Recap

I'm posting this a day early because I have an awesome Toddler Tuesday recipe coming your way tomorrow! April was a little light in the remake department. For starters I had a lot of struggles with Landon and his eating through the majority of the month so I was sticking with very simple/basic/safe foods that I knew he'd try. Secondly I made a bunch of new recipes and did a fair amount of ordering in. So needless to say it's a little light this month, but what we had was good.

We started the month off with last minute lasagna. I've made this 6-7 times now and each time we are pleased. It's so simple- ravioli, sauce, spinach, cheese. It's that simple. Also I love meals I can make ahead and throw in the oven. I made this on a Sunday night and baked it Monday night for dinner. Perfect when I am rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off!

In an effort to get Landon to eat I also remade these cheesy sweet potato nuggets. He refused to eat the fried ones but chowed down on a bowl of the cheesy mashed potato filling. Fine by me. I should also add I've had two readers tell me these fell apart for them and didn't fry up well. I can't say why because I've now made them successfully twice, but if you do have that issue I'd add a bit of a binder (some egg would work) or make sure your potato filling isn't too moist.

At least once a month I find myself with leftover rotisserie chicken and no direction as to what I want to do with it. More often than not I make simple cheese quesadillas with it, but this month I remade these chicken corn and pepper quesadillas. Once again we loved the flavors! Total hit.

Sticking with the lasagna theme I also remade the crockpot spinach lasagna. This time I used the oven ready noodles and saw no difference in the process, so that's good. I also let it sit on warm this time for a few hours because I made it while at work and it did dry out a bit, but nothing a few ladles of sauce couldn't fix!

Last but not least I just remade these BBQ chicken rolls this past week. There is just something satisfying about flakey pastry, cheese, and sweet BBQ chicken. John took one for lunch and said it reheated perfectly, so next time I might make a double batch so he can take them for lunch a few times in the week.

See? Very light on the remakes! But what that means is I have quite a few delicious new things coming your way!

Lighter Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Growing up I was a horrible eater. I didn't eat any fruit or vegetables (except lettuce and corn) until I was like 20. Now I eat just about everything but it's still not natural- I still have to force myself. I'll find myself subconsciously picking veggies out of food even though I like them! Some habits are hard to kick I guess. With that said, I really make an effort to do better and eat better than where my instincts lead me. When it comes to Asian food I know there's good choices (leaner meat, stir fried with veggies, etc.) vs. bad choices (deep fried and covered in sweet sticky sauces) but I'm sure you know where I instinctually go. Yup- sesame chicken/general tsos, etc. I only do it once in a while but I love it! When a craving for orange chicken hit I decided to try to make it at home and make it healthier. This came out great! Will it replace the craving for traditional orange chicken? No... I mean it's totally different, but it did hit the spot and we were both really happy with this meal!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Sauce:
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Stir fry:
1/2 pound chicken, cut into chunks
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups assorted veggies (I used zucchini, bell peppers, and snap peas, but anything works)

Directions:
1- Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2- In a separate bowl toss the chicken and cornstarch. Meanwhile, add the oil to a large skillet or wok and heat.
3- Dip the coated chicken in the egg and immediately transfer to the hot oil, repeating until all chicken is covered in egg and in the pan.
4- Allow to brown on each side, cooking until cooked through.
5- Remove the chicken and cover. Add the veggies to the skillet with 1-2 tbsp of the sauce mix. Stir frequently for about 5 minutes, until veggies are softening.
6- Pour in the remaining sauce and turn up the heat to high until the sauce begins to thicken/cook down. Add the chicken back into the skillet and  stir well.
7- Once the sauce is thicker and coating the chicken/veggies, serve over rice or toss with rice noodles.