Chicken Costa Brava

-Allrecipes.com

I adjusted this based on how it worked for us last night. I'm sure you COULD put 10 chicken breasts in there, but as there's only two of us, we added one BIG one diced up. This also would taste awesome without the chicken for the vegetarian at heart. :)
This is also a good way to use up leftovers, as it's got all sorts of random stuff you might find in your fridge.

• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast (diced in chunks or strips)
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, quartered (or in strips)
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (I used a leftover tomato half)
  
• 2 cups black olives (or one can- I cut them in half too)
  
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• salt to taste

1. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Sprinkle with salt.
2. In a large frying pan, brown chicken in oil. Combine cumin and cinnamon, and sprinkle over chicken. Add garlic and onion; cook until onion is soft. Add reserved pineapple juice, tomatoes, olives, and salsa. Cover, and simmer 25 minutes. (Yeah right- I didn't simmer for 25 min! 5-10 min. was just fine...)
   
3. Mix cornstarch with water; stir into pan juices. Add bell pepper, and simmer until sauce boils and thickens. Stir in pineapple chunks, and heat through.
4. Serve over rice.
   

I LOVED the diverse mix of flavors, and Picky #1 who's not such a fan of mixing his food, actually loved it too. (YAY!) It tasted kinda like a Hawaiian haystack offshoot, but with more veggies. We'll be making this again soon.

HUBBY SCORE: * * * *

Strawberry & Feta Cheese Salad

- From... ?

Spinach leaves
Strawberries, diced (about 2-3 per plate)
Feta cheese
Crumbled walnuts (1 fistful per plate)
Craisins (1 fistful per plate)
Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette dressing

Assemble salad. Portions listed work great as a dinner salad, and seem to work best prepared on individual plates as in a humongous bowl all the good stuff seems to sink to the bottom.

This can also be called, "Best Frickin' Awesome Salad in the Whole Wide World". We eat this on a regular basis and can't ever imagine getting tired of it. Love it to pieces. Also tastes great with a mix of diced pears.


HUBBY SCORE: * * * * *

Black Bean Burritos

First off, someone is going to have to teach me the ways of the blogging world... I've never been officially initiated and I don't really know how it works.

Second, can I please just say how amazing the captions are below the faces of the brothers. I laughed for five minutes when I read Ty's cause... oh wait! True story. Ever since that day I have always tried to put everything away before Tyler gets home so he can't figure out what ingredients I cook with.

ANYWAY! Onto the food. I tried this recipe yesterday and I thought it was really good. I let Tyler rate it and he gave me 4 stars, but we are newlyweds so take that for what it's worth. Also, be warned that I tend to make up a lot of my own recipes so I'll try to let you know if they are tried and true or some of my own ideas... understandably I think that could sway the decision to try it or not. This one happens to be one that I just kind of made up on my own.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 (10" round) tortillas
* 1 sweet onion, chopped
* 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
*1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 2 T minced jalapeno peppers
* 2 T garlic salt ( I added a lot more, but I am notorious for adding ample spice)
* 1 1/2 t chili powder (once again, I added more so I guessed how much would be normal)
* 1 t salt
* 3 T chopped, fresh cilantro
* 1-2 c Spanish rice with tomatoes
** 4 T sour cream OR 4 T cream cheese
Directions

1. Wrap tortillas in foil and bake for 350F for 15 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place onion, bell pepper and jalapeno in skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Pour beans into skillet and cook for another 3 minutes, while adding garlic salt and chili powder.

3. Stir cilantro and rice into mixture

4. Spread cream cheese or sour cream onto tortilla. Be careful not to get too close to the edges, or it will be hard to fold.

5. Spoon mixture evenly down the center of the tortilla and fold.

Beef Stroganoff

Mama Kris had a bad experience with beef stroganoff so the boys have never really had it. Mr. Picky Two was up for trying it and now it is one of his favorites. Its easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

Round Steak* (or if you want a super fast easy meal, buy the already cut stew meat - its a little more expensive per pound but cuts out the most tedious part of the preparation)

1 can french onion soup

1 can cream of mushroom

Milk

Wide Egg Noodles


Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut steak into strips about 1/4" thick and brown. Once browned, combine french onion soup, cream of mushroom soup, the browned meat*, and one can of milk in a sauce pan. Bring to a low boil (if you want the sauce thicker, add flour or corn starch until the desired consistency). Spray Pam on a casserole dish and pour sauce into dish. Place in oven for 30 minutes. While sauce cooks in the oven, boil a package of wide egg noodles according to the directions on the package. Once sauce and noodles are cooked, spoon sauce over noodles and enjoy!

Serve with: Green beans, and rolls (our pickies love their rolls - at least mine does.)

Hubby Score: * * * * *








*for you vegetarian types, you can leave the meat aside and let your husband add it to his sauce later, or leave it out completely, it will still be yummy.

The picture of "Mama" Kris definitely has to go - we need to find something better or I will post a photo of Julia Child! Thanks Sare for getting this started. Kris

Tamale Pie

-From my Mom (out of a Healthy Heart Cookbook)

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 can beef broth (chicken broth okay too)

Combine cornmeal and 1/2 cup broth in large saucepan. Boil remaining broth and stir into cormeal mixture. Stir over medium heat until thickened. Press into a greased baking dish (line the sides and the bottom). Set aside.

Spaghetti sauce (up to a whole jar)
1/2 lb hamburger meat
1/4 cup onion
2 cups corn (or 1 frozen bag)
black olives (up to a whole can)
1 tbsp. chili power
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (one can)
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/2 red bell pepper (optional)
grated cheese (cheddar works well)

Combine listed ingredients except for cheese and simmer 5 minutes stirring gently. Spoon mixture into lined baking dish, top with cheese.

Bake 30 min. at 350F. Serves 8.

Oddly enough, no tamales are in this recipe at all. Still quite good, though.

HUBBY SCORE: * * * *

Bratton's Clam Chowder

- "Monsieur Bratton", from my Mom

3/4 lb. minced clams (2 tins)
1 cup onions, chopped fine
1 cup celery, chopped fine
1 quart half & half *
1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup butter (I do 1/2 cup)
1 cup potatoes, diced fine (2-4 potatoes)
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Drain clams from juice and pour over vegetables in pot, add enough water to cover vegetables. Simmer until tender (about 20 min.) Melt butter in large saucepan then add flour. Add cream and cook until smooth and thick (stir often with a wire whisk). Add vegetables and clams (add vegetable water to stretch soup out.) Season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes to heat clams through.
Serves 6 large bowls.

* I've tried with different cream combinations in a pinch (sour cream & milk, etc) All turn out okay. Even straight milk seems to work fine. Just depends on how thick you want it.


HUBBY SCORE: * * * *