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.

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.

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).

Barbecue Pork Ribs

3 to 4 lbs boneless pork ribs (I get the country ribs)
1 onion, sliced (I sprinkled in minced onion instead)
2 cups barbecue sauce
2 tsp lemon juice.

combine all ingredients in slow cooked. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.

I made this last night and had my parents over for dinner. My dad loved it and kept saying I had to teach my mom how to make it, so I am posting it.

Honey Glazed Chicken Stir Fry

12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves or thighs (I use 1 chicken breast)
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp orange juice
4 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cooking oil
4 cups cut up veggies (I use broccoli)
2 cups hot cooked rice

1. Cut chicken into bite size strips; set aside. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together honey, vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch; set aside.

2. Pour oil into wok or large skillet. Heat over medium high heat. Add veggies; cook and sitr for 3 to 4 mintues or until veggies are crisp tender. Remove veggies. Add chicken; cook and stir until no longer pink. Push chicken from center of the wok/skillet. Sitr sauce and add to the center. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

3. Return cooked veggies to wok/skillet. Cook and stir about 1 minutre of until heated through. Serve over rice.

I make the sauce while the broccoli or chicken is cooking. This takes about 20-30 minutes to make. Last night I started making it and forgot we didn't have orange juice, so I just didn't add any and it turned out fine. I would have taken a picture, but I thought I had already posted this. I looked this morning and realized I hadn't posted it before.

Veggie Chili

2 T. olive oil
2 medium onions,chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 jalepeno pepper (seeded, de-veined, and chopped)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 16oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 14 oz. can black beans
1 16 oz. kidney beans
1 T. cumin
2 T. chili powder
1 T. hot pepper suce
1 t. salt
1 can refried beans with chiles

in a large pot, add olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add onion, peppers, and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or until softened. Add tomatoes, black beans and kidney beans, stirring well to combine. Add cumin, chili powder, hot sauce and salt. Stir in refried beans to thicken chili. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

South-of-the-border chicken and pasta skillet

2 c. pasta, uncooked
2 boneless chicken breasts thawed cut into bite-size pieces
16 oz. salsa (about 2 cups)
10 oz. frozen corn, unthawed (about 2 cups)
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 t. cumin
1 c. kraft mexican style finely shredded four cheese

Cook pasta. meanwhile, cook and stir chicked in large skillet on medium-high heat 6 min. or until done. Add salsa, corn, cream cheese and cumin; simmer on medium-low heat 6 min. or until corn is heated through and cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta add to skilet with half the shredded cheese. Simmer 3 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese: cover. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.