14 Sunday Jan 2018
Posted in Food
I just re-made this dish and it was just as good the second time around! This time i simply served it over jazmati rice. Delicious!!!
via Broccoli Beef – An Easy Homemade Version of a Take-out Favorite!
09 Sunday Oct 2016
Tags
Baked, basil, dipping sauce, Easy, Honey Mustard Chicken, low-fat, Quick
We all have our go to foods, but sometimes you just crave something different. I’ve eaten honey mustard sauces out, but I’ve never made my own. Heck, I seem to remember that McDonalds has a honey mustard sauce for their chicken nuggets. I almost never eat fast food, so honestly don’t know if they still have that sauce or not, but they did when I worked there in high school! Anyway, the other night I had some chicken breast tenders thawed out and thought I would make some honey mustard chicken. These couldn’t have been any easier and my family loved them! They had a great, tangy flavor!
Tip: Before you start brushing the raw chicken with the sauce, set some aside for dipping with your meal. I made the mistake of diving in with the basting brush and once the sauce was tainted with raw chicken it was unusable unless I cooked it. It’s easy to make more sauce, as it is just equal parts of mustard and honey.
Honey Mustard Chicken
1 pound chicken
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup honey
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together your mustard and honey. Set some aside for dipping later and don’t put your basting brush in it, so it’s not contaminated with raw chicken. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and lay on baking sheet. Baste both side of chicken with honey mustard sauce and then sprinkle with fresh basil. Bake chicken 30-45 minutes until cooked through. Cooking time will vary based on the size of your pieces. My chicken tenders cooked pretty quickly, but full size breasts or thighs will take longer. Serve extra sauce with cooked chicken for dipping!
Enjoy!
08 Saturday Oct 2016
For some reason the turkey Italian sausage is always marked down at my local grocery store. I can’t resist a good deal, so I have a bunch of that sausage in my freezer. I figured I better use some of that stuff! I make my marinara sauce quite frequently, so I wanted to try something a little different last night. This spicy cream tomato sauce was delicious!!! Since I used sweet sausage, the dish wasn’t overly spicy, so even the sensitive palette would enjoy it, but you could easily spice it up even more by using spicy sausage and adding additional red pepper flakes. This would be an easy dish to multiply and serve to a large group too!
Italian Sausage and Spicy Cream Sauce Over Pasta
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 pound turkey Italian sausage, remove from casing
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 – 14 oz can diced tomatoes, not drained
1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste (Tip: Buying the tomato paste in a tube (vs. a can) is perfect for this type of recipe. You can squeeze out what you need, cap it and put it back in the fridge. Rather than using a partial can and likely throwing away the rest.)
1/2 cup fat free half and half
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 – 13 oz box of pasta (I had whole wheat rotini pasta on hand, so I used that.)
I cooked in my dutch oven, but you could also use a large skillet. Spray pan with olive oil spray and heat to medium high heat. Add onions and cook until tender. Add sausage and cook, breaking up into small pieces. When sausage is almost completely browned, add garlic and cook another minute. Add all tomato products, stir well and reduce to low. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, you can boil your pasta in salted water. In the last couple minutes of sauce simmering, add the half and half and cheese and stir. Drain pasta and pour into large bowl. Spoon sausage and sauce over pasta and serve. 8 servings.
Mangia bene!!!
02 Sunday Oct 2016
13 Saturday Aug 2016
Tags
Earlier this week, I was trying figure out what to make for dinner and I noticed I had about a pound of leftover BBQ tri-tip roast and maybe a 1/4 pound of left over shrimp. I was in the mood for Chinese food, so I decided to put these two leftover meats to good use and make some shrimp fried rice and broccoli beef. I’ve made fried rice several times before. This was my first time taking a stab at broccoli beef. I impressed myself! This dish turned out really good! The meat stayed tender, the broccoli was still firm and not over cooked, and the sauce had a great flavor and texture. These dishes really weren’t difficult to make, but they were certainly delicious and a great way to make use of leftovers.
If you check out my fried rice recipe, you’ll see how you can also use leftover rice to make this dish.
Broccoli Beef
3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1⁄2 cup water, plus
2 tablespoons water, divided
1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless round steak, cut into 3 inch strips (I used left over BBQ tri-tip roast cut into strips)
3 medium heads off broccoli, cut off stalks and separate florets
1/2 red onion, chopped
1⁄3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.
Add beef and toss. This goes for raw or pre-cooked beef.
Spray large skillet with non-stick spray and heat to medium high, stir-fry beef until beef reaches desired doneness or if using pre-cooked beef until heated through, remove and keep warm.
Give pan another spray on non-stick spray if needed and Stir-fry broccoli and onion for 4-5 minutes.
Return beef to pan.
Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.
Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Enjoy!
19 Sunday Jun 2016
Posted in Baking, Cooking, Food, Vegetarian
Happy Father’s Day!!! One of the desserts we’ll be enjoying today is peach cobbler. My husband got some beautiful fresh peaches from a neighbor’s tree. One of the great thing about living in Northern California, is the amazing, local produce that we have access to. These peaches were perfectly ripe, so sweet and delicious. Cobbler was calling to me! It’s so good, but rather easy to make. This came of the oven a wonderful bubbly golden brown! If you have access to fresh fruit (peaches, berries, nectarines) I highly recommend this recipe!
Peach Cobbler
1/2 cup butter
4 large peaches or about 5 cups, sliced (or other fruit)
2 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/4 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tbsp baking powder
Dash of salt
Cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375. Put butter in medium size baking pan and put in oven to melt butter. Meanwhile, add peaches, 1 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice to sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat while stirring constantly. Once butter is melted (do not let brown!), remove baking pan from oven. In a mixing bowl, combine 1 1/4 cup sugar, milk, flour, baking powder and salt until just mixed. Pour over butter in baking pan, but do not stir any more. Pour peach mixture over batter in baking pan, but do not stir. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
This is delicious served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!
Enjoy and again, Happy Father’s Day!
30 Wednesday Mar 2016
Posted in Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
Tags
Cooking, deviled eggs, Easy, egg salad, Food, hard boiled eggs, Oven Baked, recipe
Check this out! You can make perfect hard boiled eggs in the oven! Who knew!?! No water required! All you need is your eggs, a muffin pan and a 325 degree oven.I just saw a Food Network video on how to make these. You simply place your eggs in the muffin pan, put the pan in a 325 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. When the cooking is done, you remove them from the oven and put your eggs in a bowl of ice water. Shocking the eggs in the ice water will cool them and make them easier to peel.
Now, I love my peeps at the Food Network, but I wouldn’t be a responsible, respectable food blogger if I didn’t try this myself. I HAD to know that it actually worked. Plus, I love me a good science experiment!
I didn’t have an entire dozen eggs on hand (OK, I only had 4!), so I only cooked 2. I didn’t want my daughter to be in a bad mood if she couldn’t make her fried egg sandwich on her spring break morning!
So how did it work, you ask? Perfectly! As you can see from the picture below, the egg yolk is perfectly cooked, no green ring or undercooked center! Voila! Now you have eggs for eating, egg salad, or deviled eggs. Easy peasy!!!
10 Wednesday Feb 2016
Posted in cooking, Food, vegetarian
This recipe looks so simple and complete delectable! My family loves all foods Mexican, so this one is a no brainer! Gotta try it!
If you need a quick and easy dinner, this one is for you. This is a new favorite at my house, and was beyond easy, so that’s an even bigger plus. I put the chicken in my slow cooker before I left for work, and shredded it when I got home. Which made things soooo […]
https://samanthaexplainsit.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/mexican-melt-over-rice/
11 Monday Jan 2016
Who doesn’t love ranch dressing?!? There is just something about the combination of spices in that dressing that is delicious. So if you love these flavors you really should try cooking with the ranch dressing mix packets. You get the spices without the creamy dressing, so you can get the wonderful flavor and still keep the fat and calories down on your dishes. I used this tasty ingredient the other night when I made Ranch Chicken with Beans and Rice. My family devoured this dish!
While the ranch mix packet provided its wonderful seasoning, it wasn’t overpowering. It added just the right amount of flavor while still letting the fresh ingredients shine through.
I did get the inspiration for this dish from a Hidden Valley Ranch TV commercial, but they did not share exact ingredients and measurements. I took their basic suggestion and expanded upon it and was very happy with how this turned out. I would definitely make this dish again! It was both easy to make and delicious!
Ranch Chicken with Beans and Rice
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
½ white onion, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (Rinsing your beans is a good way to remove some of the sodium, if you’re watching your salt intake)
1 cup quick cooking brown rice
1 ½ cup low sodium, fat free chicken broth
½ cup cilantro, diced
1 packet ranch dressing mix
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients together and then spread in casserole dish. Cover dish with foil. Bake for 45 minutes stirring once or twice to make sure the rice is getting moistened.
Optional: Top with shredded cheese. I used a little fat free shredded cheddar.
Enjoy!
09 Saturday Jan 2016
Tags
Chicken, Cooking, Easy, enchilada casserole, enchiladas, Food, ground turkey, healthy, lowfat, Mexican, recipe
One of our family’s favorite dishes is luckily incredibly easy to make! Our California family loves Mexican inspired food. I love enchiladas, but let’s be honest, they can be a bit of work to assemble. I wanted the flavors of enchiladas with out the work. Call me lazy, but I’m a working mom and rolling enchiladas on a week night just doesn’t appeal to me, so my enchilada casserole was born! If you use the right ingredients, this recipe is also pretty lowfat.
As I always do, I play with my food and mix it up once in a while. On this particular occasion, you can see from the picture that I included some corn in my casserole. I don’t always do that. I also switch up the meat that I use. On this night, I simmered boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the enchilada sauce and then shredded it before assembling my casserole. I have also used ground turkey. I have also made it using either green or red enchilada sauce. The casserole is great any way you make it!
Give this casserole a try! I guarantee your family will love eating it and you’ll love how easy it is to make!
Kel’s Enchilada Casserole
1 pound ground turkey or boneless, skinless chicken
2-16 oz cans fat free refried beans
8-12 tortillas (You can use either corn or flour. I like to use La Tortila Factory’s Smart & Delicious Light Flour Tortillas to keep the fat and calories down.)
1-28 oz can of red or green enchilada sauce (or family prefers the green, but you can use either)
1-4 oz can diced green chilies (optional, but when using the green enchilada sauce this is a nice add)
1/2 onion diced
3/4 cup shredded cheddar or jack cheese (I often use the fat free Kraft shredded cheddar)
1-4 oz can sliced black olives
1 cup frozen or canned corn (optional)
Brown ground turkey in a skillet on the stove top. Once browned add enchilada sauce to meat. Or you can simmer or slow cook chicken in the enchilada sauce and then shred the chicken once cooked through. Add your onions to the browning or simmering meat. If adding corn, you can stir it in with your cooked meat and sauce prior to assembling casserole.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread refried beans in bottom of casserole dish. Cover beans with 1/2 of your tortillas. I try to make sure I have 1 good layer of tortillas over the beans, sometimes I tear the tortillas in half to do this. It depends on the size of the tortillas you use. It’s OK if they overlap some. Next you will scoop your meat with some of the enchilada sauce and spread on top of the tortilla layer. You want to try and leave some of the sauce in the pan to top your casserole. It’s alright if here is a little bit of meat left too. On top of the meat you will layer the other 1/2 of your tortillas. Next spread the remaining enchilada sauce and any remaining meat. Then spread your shredded cheese over your casserole and top with black olives.
Bake for about 30 minutes until hot, bubbly and cheese is well melted.
Enjoy!
Inside Kel's Kitchen 