Zachary's Famous Oatmeal Cookies

Last Saturday, Jeremy was spending the night at Grandma's house, and Zachary was looking for something to do. Remembering the fun he had had with Jeremy a few weeks before whipping up a brownie mix, he decided to make cookies. Oatmeal raisin are a favorite of his Dad, but we shook things up a bit and he made oatmeal M&M cookies. The recipe was from Quaker's website, and here it is, adapted:

2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups oats (quick or old-fashioned)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups M&Ms

Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, beat butter and both kinds of sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg, and mix well. Add oats. Mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 minutes.

Chard-Tomato Peasant Pasta

It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out, but somehow adding tomatoes to the chard was a revelation for me! I added some parmesan cheese at the end. I copied this directly from a website. I have no idea what Erbette Chard is. I just used whatever kind of chard I had. And regular old dried pasta.

1 bunch Erbette Chard, cleaned, stems removed, and very roughly chopped (can be in fairly large pieces)
olive oil
garlic cloves, peeled and chopped (3?)
4-5 medium sized ripe tomatoes, chopped
fresh pasta, we used Cafferata's fresh spaghetti or dried spaghetti
splash of white wine or squeeze of lemon
S & P

**note: have tongs or other utensil to fish cooked chard out of the water so you can boil the pasta in the same water. another note: save a little pasta water for the final dish....

Bring one large pot of water to boil, then add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Add chard pieces to the water and cook until blanched, 2 minutes or so. Fish out the chard with tongs or strainer. Add pasta to water to cook if using dried pasta...

Meantime, cook the garlic in the oil in a large saute pan for 1 minute over medium or medium high heat until softening a little, make sure it doesn't burn. Add blanched chard & chopped tomatoes. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Cook up the pasta now if you're using fresh pasta.

Now the fun part: toss everything together, with a splash of white wine or lemon juice, and add a little of the pasta water to make everything a tad soupy. Adjust seasoning (add S & P to taste) and EAT.

Crunchy Chinese Salad

I've been seeing salads like this all over the place, but never got the recipe. This one (from foodnetwork.com) worked well:

1 large head Napa cabbage, finely chopped
5 green onions, diced
1/4 cup butter
2 packages ramen noodles
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 small package sliced almonds

Dressing:
1 cup vegetable oil (I added some pure sesame oil, just a bit)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Mix cabbage and onions in large bowl.

Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Break noodles in small pieces and brown along with sesame seeds and almonds. Cool.

To make dressing, mix all ingredients and microwave to dissolve sugar. Let cool (about 20 minutes) before serving.

Toss together all ingredients just before serving.

Chicken Tacos with Mango-Avocado Salsa

All I have to say is that this recipe is stinkin' good! My kids aren't into the salsa, so they like to eat the tacos with chicken, cheese, tomato and lettuce. They don't know what they are missing.....I think the salsa is what makes the dish!

1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
3/4 tsp. salt, divided

4 (6 ounce) chicken breast halves

1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup diced peeled mango
1/2 cup diced peeled avocado
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. minced jalapeno pepper

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas

Heat non-stick skillet over med-high heat.
Combine first 4 ingredients and stir in 1/2 tsp. salt.
Rub over chicken.
Add oil to pan and swirl to coat.
Add chicken, cooking 4 minutes each side or until done.
Remove chicken from pan, let stand 5 minutes and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces.

While chicken cooks, combine mango and next 6 ingredients and stir in remaining 1/4 tsp. salt.
Heat tortillas according to package directions, top with chicken and salsa.

Yield 4 servings. Serving size: 2 tortillas, 1 chicken breast half and 1/2 cup salsa.

Enjoy!

source: Cooking Light Magazine - Oct. 2009

Cleaning the Pan is Disgusting but.....

....the dinner turned out very yummy!

I was recently given a recipe by a friend (hi Tara!) that I thought sounded really yucky. (Yes, she already knows this...). I will start out by saying, I am not a meatloaf kind of girl. I find the whole concept of meatloaf pretty disgusting....ground meat formed into a huge loaf and baked (gag), but I decided to give this recipe a try because I was desperate for a dinner idea and I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.

I must admit, the result was quite tasty, although as mentioned in the title of this post....cleaning the pan afterwards is revolting. Hopefully you have someone who does clean up duty for you on the nights when you cook...you know what I mean...gender equal households where they share the domestic duties....whoever cooks doesn't have to clean....yadda, yadda, yadda. Yeah, I understand...it doesn't work that way in my house either. A girl can dream though!

Anyways, enough chit chat. Here is the recipe!

Mini Meatloaves

2 tbsp. Italian salad dressing
1 cup finely chopped portobello mushrooms
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup jarred pasta sauce (divided in half)
2 egg whites, beaten
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
1 lb extra lean ground beef (or ground chicken)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Heat the salad dressing over medium.
Saute the mushrooms, onions, carrots and garlic for about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl reserving 1/2 cup pasta sauce.
Make into 8 balls and place in a muffin tin, patting down.
Make a little well in the middle of each and spoon some sauce into each one.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the centers are 160 degrees.

Enjoy...and have fun washing that pan! :)

Colleen

Another Easy Chicken Dinner

I served this chicken, which has a sweet-and-sour flair, over the couscous. It would work over rice, too.

Chicken with Sweet Raisins and Apricots

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons butter

3 large shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

12 drive, pitted apricots, halved

1 cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar

2 cups chicken stock

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the hot skillet and cook on each side for 5 to 6 minutes.

Remove chicken from skillet to plate and cover with foil. Return skillet to heat and add butter and shallots. Cook for 2 minutes. Dust with the flour and continue to cook for 1 minute. Add apricots, raisins, and cider vinegar. Whisk in 2 cups of chicken stock and turn heat up to high. Simmer mixture until thick. Add fresh thyme. Add chicken back to skillet, coat in the sauce, and heat chicken, about 1 minute. Serve over almond couscous or rice.

Almond Couscous

½ cup sliced almonds

1 ½ cups chicken stock

1 ½ cups plain couscous

3 tablespoons chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley

Toast nuts in bottom of medium sauce pot over medium heat until golden. Transfer toasted nuts to a dish and reserve. Return pot to stovetop. Add 1 ½ cups stock and 1 tablespoon of oil. Cover pot and raise the heat. Bring broth to a boil. Remove from head. Add couscous and parley to the stock, then stir. Cover and let the couscous stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and toss with almonds.

Easy Chicken Patties

I got inspired to try something different the other day. These were yummy and very easy, though my kids thought they were a bit spicy.

Garlic and Mint Lamb or Chicken Patties

1 ½ pounds ground chicken (or lamb)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning

2 teaspoons ground cumin

¼ cup chopped mint leaves

¼ chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 pita breads or flat breads

plain Greek yogurt.

Combine ground chicken with onions, seasoning, cumin, mint, and parsley. Form 8 small patties, 1 inch thick and 2 or 3 inches across. Add patties to hot skillet. Cook 4 minutes on each side until fully cooked. Serve with yogurt in a pita.