Buffalo-Style Chicken Strips with Ranch Dressing

Buffalo-Style Chicken Strips with Ranch Dressing - "Amber's Delectable Delights"
(Adapted from: CookingLight.com)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed cornflakes
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
Cooking spray
1/3 cup hot sauce (such as Crystal)
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup fat-free ranch dressing
4 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks
4 carrots, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°.Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Place cornflakes in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken strip at a time, dredge in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in cornflakes. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken strips, flour mixture, egg whites, and cornflakes.Lightly coat chicken strips with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until done, turning once.Combine hot sauce, pepper sauce, and Worcestershire in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter. Drizzle hot sauce mixture over chicken. Serve with ranch dressing, celery, and carrots

Asian Noodle Salad

Asian Noodle Salad - From an "An Irish Girl Who Can Cook And Drink!!!"
adapted from Jamie Oliver

SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin (if available)
1 small bag bean sprouts (also called “mung bean sprouts”)
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet

DRESSING:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapeños, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.

TCHO Chocolate

I got my packet of free chocolate from http://www.blakemakes.com/ yesterday in the mail. I wanted to be in the mood and not be too stuffed when I tried it. Last night I had too much corned beef, so I took it to work with me today. I left it in the car and did not remember it till I got home tonight. Let me say it melted!! :( I wanted to make something good with it but I just could not resist just taking a bite. It was soooo good!! It was really smooth, maybe from melting, but that is how I like my chocolate, just starting to melt. It was slightly bitter but with just the right amount of sweet. I hid the reminder of the bar from my family. I think I might use some for hot chocolate tomorrow. Oh yeah, I sampled the chocolatey bar. Here is the website if anyone is interested in buying some. I would definitely like to try the other flavors. http://tcho.com/

Chocolate!!

I got my free sample of chocolate, THCO, from Blakemakes.com, Yeah!! I will write more when I taste the chocolate.

Irish Soda Bread

Tonight is St. Paddy's day. We had the traditional corned beef and cabbage. I wanted to make some bread to go with the meal but I did not want to make something that difficult. I found a recipe on Martha Stewart for Irish Soda Bread. It did not require yeast, yeah. All I did was mix the ingredients and bake. You do need buttermilk, so it does take some planning. The tasted a bit like a scone. It will be good for breakfast.

Irish Soda Bread - Martha Stewart

Ingredients
1 loaf.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
2 cups golden or dark raisins
1 1/2 scant cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds until well combined. Using a pastry cutter or two knives in scissor fashion, cut in butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour-and-butter mixture all at once, and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to hold together. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Using your hands, press the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Lift the loaf from the bowl, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. With a sharp knife or razor, incise a cross, about 1/2 inch deep, into the top of the loaf. Transfer to the oven. Bake, rotating halfway through, until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 70 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer bread from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.

Super Easy Calzones

I saw a recipe a couple of weeks ago for calzones. They looked really good and I thought I would make them someday. Well, I decided to take my FI to my favorite bakery, New York Bakery in El Cajon. He ordered a Calzone. I then remembered my recipe and thought I would make calzones for dinner. I could not find my recipe. So I did a google search and came out with tons. The recipe was super easy.

I bought frozen bread dough at the grocery store and thawed all day. I divided the loaf into 3rds. I rolled the thirds until flat and then filled with our favorite toppings. I put tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, ricotta cheese and shredded cheese in mine. I added ham to my parents and my FI had ham, ricotta and shredded cheese in his. I baked them at 350 deg. for 20 min. or until golden brown. They were really good. They were even good, reheated in the microwave for lunch today.

Lemon-Roasted Chicken with Arugula Salad and Dilled Orzo

I made this dinner several night ago. It was pretty good. They tell you to cut the chicken in smaller pieces, so it cooks faster. I used a cleaver to cut the meat. My mom was in the kitchen with me and kept telling me to keep my hands off the cutting board. This part was really fun and with the cleaver the meat/bones cut really easily. I used more lemons than ask for because I wanted a really lemony chicken. I also made my own dressing for the salad. I mixed dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil with some seasonings. It turned out great. I will probably make this again.

Lemon-Roasted Chicken with Arugula Salad and Dilled Orzo - From Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Ingredients

Serves 4
1 chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into 10 pieces
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 lemons, quartered
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup orzo
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
3 bunches arugula (12 to 16 ounces total), thick stems removed, washed well

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Set a large saucepan of water to boil.
On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss together chicken, garlic, lemons, oregano, and 1 teaspoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast chicken, skin side up, until golden and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, generously salt boiling water. Add orzo, and cook until al dente; drain well, and return to saucepan. Add dill and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper, and mix gently to combine.
In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. When chicken and orzo are ready, add arugula to bowl; toss to coat. Drizzle chicken with pan juices, and serve with lemon wedges, orzo, and arugula salad.

Crock Bean Soup with Kale

Crock Bean Soup with Kale - from www.savingdinner.com
Serves 6
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bunch kale, trimmed and sliced
1 pound cannellini beans, soaked overnight (you can also use white beans)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrot and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Add kale and cook till wilted, about 3 minutes. In a crock pot, place soaked, drained beans; add crushed red pepper flakes and the contents of the skillet; cover with broth.Cook on high for 8 hours, or until beans are tender. Once beans are tender, add the tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

Per Serving: 349 Calories; 8g Fat; 19g Protein; 54g Carbohydrate; 13g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 85mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain (Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Some whole grain rolls and a big salad.

Cheater Week

I have had a cheater week, I have not cooked very much. I went out to eat on Monday, made the previous post on Tues, went to Aunt's for dinner last night and had hogpog tonight. We had some leftover pork, potatoes and potato salad from my aunt's. Then I made teriyaki chicken, steamed green beans and made our fav spinach salad (bagged). Our local grocery store, Daniel's, has the best Blue Cheese Potato Salad, which I took to my aunt's. It has tons of blue cheese, lots of bacon, onions and celery.

Teriyaki Chicken

1 c Soy Sauce
1/4 c Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Oil
Any spices that you like, fresh or dried, onions, garlic, ginger, etc.

Marinate for several hours. Then BBQ. We like to cut our chicken in small pieces. It cooks faster and gets more marinade.

Turkey Stir Fry

We all loved this dinner. It was excellent. I think this will become one of our "5 meals". Everyone really liked the sauce, so maybe I will play around and make different types of stir-fry. I really doubled Danielle's recipe. I used 2 packages of ground turkey, probably 2 lbs, I used a bag of baby carrots, pre-cooked in the microwave, broccoli, white mushrooms and snow peas.

Turkey Stir Fry - from "Dinner With Danielle"

8 oz ground turkey
1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 cup carrots
1/4 cup cremini mushrooms
1/4 cup General Tsao's Stir Fry Sauce
1/4 cup Harvest Grains Blend
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste for turkey
cooking sprayBring chicken stock to a boil and add grains. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and cover for 10 minutes.Meanwhile, heat pan on medium and spray with cooking spray (I used olive oil spray). When pan has heated add ground turkey and cook until lightly browned. Add veggies and cover for three minutes until veggies are cooked 1/2 way. Add sauce and stir. Cover again for 3 more minutes or until veggies are fully cooked.Serve stir-fry over grain blend and enjoy!

Salmon with Pineapple and Brown Rice

I didn't really like this. But now that I think about it, I don't really like salmon. It has a really strong flavor. I marinated this for several days and it did not really pick up the flavor. My fam liked it, so maybe I will make it again but i will only eat the side dishes.

Salmon with Pineapple and Brown Rice - from www.savingdinner.com

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 c canned crushed pineapple in water or juice
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp low sodium soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, pressed
Water/oil mixture
4 Salmon Filets
3 c cooked brown rice

Cooking Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, combine pineapple, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, soy sauce and garlic; set aside. Spray a large non-stick skillet with water/oil mixture over med.-hi heat; add salmon filets and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Pour half of the sauce over the filets and simmer for about 2 minutes. Turn salmon and spoon remaining sauce on top; again simmer for about 2 minutes. Serve with hot rice and enjoy!

Nutrition per serving: 399 Calories and 7g Fat

Instead of pan frying, I bbq. I boiled the pineapple mixture on the side to serve with the fish. We had a spinach salad, also.