Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Apple Sauce Help!

So we got some apples from our ward garden (they have a ton there and it seems like no one has picked any). So today I thought I could dry some and make some applesauce. I tried making some applesauce today. If anyone has made it and will give me some tips, I appreciate it. How long do you boil/simmer the apples for (it seemed to take forever and still didn't seem long enough)?
Also, if you have any tips on drying apples (in an oven) before I try. I want to try making apple juice, but it seems like you need a juicer to do that and I don't have one.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Crispy Ranch Chicken

2 cups crispy rice cereal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
2 egg white, beaten
2 skinless, boneless, chicken thighs (I used breasts)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray baking sheet. Combine the rice cereal, Parmesan cheese, and ranch salad dressing mix in a bowl.
Place beaten egg in a bowl. Dip each piece of chicken in egg and then in the cereal mixture to coat evenly.
Arrange on baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and juices run clear when cut, about 20-25 minutes.

I halved this recipe and used chicken breasts instead of thighs, okay so I didn't notice it said thighs until I started typing this up. It was good. We had this with mashed potatoes. Ian kept asking for more chicken.

Crockpot Pot Peach Cobbler

4 cups sliced peaches (fresh or canned, if canned reserve juice)
2/3 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup all purpose baking mix (like Bisquick or Jiffy mix)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water or reserved peach juice

Place peaches in greased slow cooker. Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in water until well mixed. Spoon batter into cooker and stir into peaches, just until blended. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.
Serve warm with ice cream or frozen yogurt.

I found this in my mom's new Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook (it's called Just Peachy). It is really good.

Parmesan Pork Tenderloin

"Use seasoned bread crumbs to add more kick to this dish. Serve these breaded pork medallions with tortellini and sauteed summer squash."

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 25 Min

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound pork tenderloin
• 3 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 small zucchini or summer squash, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut tenderloin crosswise into 12 slices, approximately 3/4-inch thick.
Place each slice on its cut surface and flatten with heel of hand to 1/2- inch thickness. Combine crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper;
dredge pork slices to coat.

2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in nonstick pan. Saute pork for 2 to 3 minutes per side; remove and keep warm. Add onion, garlic and zucchini
or squash to skillet and saute 5 minutes or until tender.



I made this for Jon a couple of weeks ago. He really liked it. I put it with some Pasta Roni Fettucine, which was good. Also, I'm still not sure if one clove of garlic is the entire garlic thing, or one of the chunks you pry from it. So, being a garlic lover, I decided to put in the whole garlic thing. If it is indeed the whole thing, you might not want to put the entire thing in. I thought that amount of garlic was a little too much. And let's be honest here, it took me about 2 hours to make this, even though the recipe says you should be done in 25 minutes. Of course, I am a slow chopper/grater/meat cutter (I also bought meat with bones...I don't recommend that, it adds a lot to the prep time).

Friday, September 25, 2009

Pizza II

So I made pizza the other night. As I was making it, I decided to make the crust with wheat flour (half wheat, half white). It turned out great. I asked Rex after he ate it if he noticed anything different and he didn't. I was excited that it worked. It was the same recipe that I posted before.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Mexican Lasagna

This is another one from my Taste of Home magazine (I love finding new recipes to try and that work out). We had this last night and was really good.

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken
1 c each diced red onions and diced green bell pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 c canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c diced tomatoes
1/2c frozen or canned corn
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 c tomato pasta sauce
1 c medium salsa
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
4 large or 8 small tortillas
1 1/2 c packed shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large pot or skillet, cook ground chicken, onions, green pepper, and garlic until meat is no longer pink. add black beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder, and cumin, Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add pasta sauce, salsa, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat.
To assemble the lasagna, spread 1/3 sauce mixture over bottom of casserole dish. Top with tortillas, overlapping and cutting them as necessary to fit. Top with 1/3 sauce mixture, followed by 1/2 the cheese. Cover cheese with tortillas, followed by remaining sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheese over sauce.
Cover with foil and bake for 35 mintues. Uncover and bake 10 more mintues. Let lasgna stand for at least 10 mintues before serving.

I actually used ground beef instead of chicken, as I don't have ground chicken and have never used it. I also didn't put the green pepper in since Rex doesn't like peppers. I also skipped the cilantro because I forgot to get any at the store this week. I used wheat tortillas on one layer and white tortillas on the other. The recipe also says to top each piece with some sour cream and chopped green onions. Rex had sour cream, I didn't (I don't like sour cream when it is not cooked in). I also halved the recipe, since this serves 8.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Lemon chicken tortellini

I made this last night and it was really good. I got it from my Taste of Home magazine

1 pkg (19 oz) frozen cheese tortellini
1 lb chicken, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 small sweet red pepper, julienned
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken broth, divided
1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 pkg (6 oz) fresh baby spinach
6 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute chicken in butter until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. In same pan, cook red pepper until crisp-tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add 2 cups broth; bring to a boil.
Combine flour, salt, pepper, and remaining broth until smooth; gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken and lemon peel. Add spinach; cook just until wilted. Drain pasta; toss with sauce. Sprinkle with cheese.

It was easy to make. Instead of the lemon peel, I used lemon juice. Next time I don't think I will add the red pepper (it was fine, Rex just isn't a fan of peppers).