Monday, April 29, 2013

Baked Citrus-Pecan Crusted Chicken


My only regret with this Citrus & Pecan Crusted Chicken is not taking a picture of one of the breasts sliced open. Oh my stars was this chicken juicy on the inside!

Moist on the inside, Crunch on the outside. Everything I want of my breaded chicken!

This is the first time I have breaded chicken, put it in the oven and had something acceptable to serve anyone. I can’t believe I have not been doing this the whole time!! It’s going to be so much fun experimenting with different nuts and citrus zests, I will be sure to share the winning combinations. :)

I have been trying to add extra nutrients to our food – for instance the pecans are loaded with nutritional goodness. Let me share… they contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals, they have heart-healthy fats, they aid in weight loss, they lower cholesterol, they contain more antioxidants than any other nut and a new study is showing that a handful of pecans a day may play a role in protecting the nervous system.


If I am going to coat my chicken in anything – I am thinking pecans are a pretty good choice! Not to mention the added orange zest; did you know orange peel has more vitamin c than actual orange juice? I had no idea and would have thought it to be the other way around. Plus the chipotle powder provides iron, fiber and potassium. I am seriously loving all this nutritional shtuff. :)

With all that said, let me give you the recipe already! I hope you enjoy this one. :)

Baked Citrus-Pecan Crusted Chicken
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons water
Directions
1. Using a mallet or small hammer, pound chicken breasts down to ½” in thickness. I place mine in between two pieces of wax paper to avoid tearing the meat.
2. Heat oven to 350.
3. Place pecans, breadcrumbs, orange zest, salt and chipotle powder in food processor and process until pecans are fully ground.
4. Mix together water and egg white. Dip each chicken breast in water mixture then into breadcrumb mixture. Place in baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until chicken is done. I used my cast iron pizza pan and it worked wonderful!
5. Let cool and enjoy!

Meatball Monday: Pesto Chicken Meatballs


Happy Monday!

Ok, let’s not pretend that I am sitting here all bright eyed and bushy tailed greeting you on this Monday morning. The truth is, I am beat. The only thing getting me by right now is a cup of coffee – which I am now thinking could be without creamer since I don’t need anything getting in between me and a bit of caffeine this morning.

You may be wondering, why would she write a Meatball Monday post on Monday morning, can’t she prepare a little and get it done over the weekend? I could have and in fact the plan was to write it last night before going to bed. However, it was 11pm and I noticed that everybody in my house was sleeping – even the 11 week old twins. I said to myself, “Just lay down for a couple of hours and then get up to write that Meatball Monday post.” But that couple hours turned into 6 hours with the twins waking up only twice to eat. Sweet deal – except the part about writing a blog post in the wee hours of the morning.

I am not a morning person to say the least. Until I have my coffee, I would really prefer to be left alone. My husband thought I was an insane bitch when he first encountered my morning attitude. I thought his “jump out bed and start talking and getting ready to go” attitude was just as crazy. It makes me laugh when he brings me coffee in bed before I even wake up – it’s like feeding the tiger before letting it out of the cage. haha

Enough about me and my sleeping - let’s get to those meatballs!

I don’t think I tried pesto until I was around 23. How terrible is that? Ever since then, I have been hooked. I have to be honest and say that these meatballs were extremely last minute and just thrown together. Good news, they came out wonderful! I stood over the kitchen counter devouring mine like a starved kikachu while my husband enjoyed his with a salad. I have some leftover and am thinking they would be uh-mazing in a meatball sandwich.

Pesto Chicken Meatballs
makes 18 meatballs
Ingredients
1lb ground chicken
2.5 tablespoons pesto sauce (I just used store bought)
2 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together well
2. Roll into 1.5” balls
3. If using meatball bbq rack – cook for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat, flipping every 5 minutes. If cooking in oven – bake for 25-30 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.

Monday, April 22, 2013

#FreshTake Easy Southwest Pizza


This post is about two things I completely LOVE – pizza and a new product that is totally awesome.

The other day I went to buy some shredded cheese for a homemade pizza and saw Kraft’s new Fresh Take Cheese & Breadcrumb mix – I knew I had to try it! There is a photo of delicious looking chicken on the cover of the package but that is not what I had in mind. I had pizza on the brain – warm, cheesy, tasty-pizza goodness.

In all honesty, I wanted to buy each one of the Kraft Fresh Take varieties. They all would work great for different pizzas, but it wasn’t time to be acting all crazy just because I was excited about a new product. So, I hoed and hummed and finally decided on the Southwest Three Cheese. (This is probably the part of the shopping trip that my husband wonders why he agrees to come with me… haha!)


This is what I was thinking – I already use parmesan cheese in my homemade pizza dough, so why not replace that with a little something special? Something to give our homemade pizza a little “pop” of flavor. Not to brag or anything, but this was an awesome idea I had…

I picked up the rest of the ingredients I needed for an easy pizza and headed home. Check out my shopping trip here on Google+ - we found some real fun stuff.


Now that I have been able to check out Kraft Fresh Take, let me tell you a little about it…


It’s a mixture of breadcrumbs and cheese, sold in a resealable bag. The two are not mixed together in the package – but divided by a removable separator. Once the divider is unsealed, the breadcrumbs and cheese can be mixed in the resealable bag. Then you can add chicken, pork or fish to the same bag and coat with the breadcrumb mixture. I love how Fresh Take uses fresh cheese and helps make clean-up a little easier. Although I made pizza this time – I really want to try Fresh Take with chicken, I imagine the tastes are awesome!

With all that said, I must share what I created with my very own bag of Kraft Fresh Take: Easy Southwest Pizza. Oh yes, it’s easy and it screams with Southwestern flavors. A couple notes about the recipe real quick...

1) The recipe is written to be made with a stand mixer – the job can get done by hand as well, it will just require a little elbow grease and a bit of patience. 
2) I use a pizza docker that places rows of holes on the dough before baking it. This helps the dough to NOT rise in those areas thus making the middle of the dough flatter than the crust when baked. A fork works for this task as well. 
3) All ingredients used in this recipe can either be made fresh or bought pre-made in the store. I used homemade black beans, but of course canned would work just fine. 
4)The hardest part of the recipe is waiting for the pizza to cool enough to take a bite without scalding all of your tastebuds – true story.;)

#FreshTake Easy Southwest Pizza
Ingredients
½ tablespoon active dry yeast
¾ cups warm water
1 ½ cups flour
Kraft Fresh Take – Southwest Three Cheese
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup ranch dressing
2 cups monterey jack cheese
2 cups chicken, cooked & cubed
¼ cup black beans
¼ cups corn kernels
¼ cups tomatoes, chopped
Directions
1. In stand mixer, add ½ tablespoon active dry yeast with ¾ cups warm water
2. In separate bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour with ½ cup Kraft Fresh Take - Southwest Three Cheese
3. Wait about 7 minutes or until yeast mixture is foamy. Add flour mixture to stand mixer and mix on speed 2 for about 7-10 minutes, adding olive oil once most dry ingredients have been incorporated into dough.
4.Either using your hands or a rolling pin, spread dough out. I was able to make a 14” pizza, with crust, using this recipe. Poke holes into base of pizza dough once rolled out using a fork or pastry docker.
5. Bake for 6 minutes, rotating dough once.
6. Remove and add ingredients in the following order: ranch dressing, monterey jack cheese, chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes and remaining Kraft Fresh Take.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating pizza once.
8. Let cool, slice and devour. I find that devouring the pizza is SO much easier than waiting for it to cool. ;)


From March until July the Kraft Fresh Possibilities Tour truck will be making stops across the country! Check their site here to see if they will be making a stop in your town!!

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Kraft Foods #FreshTake #cbias #SocialFabric

Monday, April 15, 2013

Meatball Monday: Chicken Bacon Artichoke Meatballs


Last week I professed my love for pizza with Pizza Meatballs for Meatball Monday. This week, my love for pizza is shining through with these meatballs that were inspired by one of my favorite pizzas - Papa Murphy's Chicken Bacon Artichoke deLITE.

Although we make our own pizzas nowadays, that was not always the case. We had a Papa Murphy's in the shopping center across from our apartment complex and on nights when we didn't want to cook, we ordered some good ol' take-n-bake. I loved the flavors of the Chicken Bacon Artichoke pizza - in fact just thinking about it makes me want a slice!

I took all the ingredients that are on the delicious Chicken Bacon Artichoke pizza and rolled them into these lovelies! Chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, spinach, parmesan cheese and garlic.


The outcome was divine! We enjoyed the Chicken Bacon Artichoke Meatballs with pasta and marinara sauce, but I imagine they would also be good with alfredo sauce. They are wonderful on their own as well - nothing is needed to complete the flavor of these little bad boys!


Chicken Bacon Artichoke Meatballs
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 cup bacon, cooked and chopped
1/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon garlic
Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together until fully incorporated.
2. Roll into 1.5” balls
3. If using meatball bbq rack – cook for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat, flipping every 5 minutes. If cooking in oven – bake for 25-30 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

#DeliciousPairings - Starbucks Dark French Roast Coffee & The Bakery at Walmart's Turtle Iced Brownies


Ever since we brought the twins home from the hospital I have been obsessed with anything that comes in two. Pairs, couples, duos, combos - they all have my attention now. So, needless to say, when I spotted Delicious Pairings at Walmart, I was intrigued...


Not only did the word "Pairings" catch my eye - but the fact it was associated with coffee caught my entire, undivided attention. Coffee has become one of my favorite indulgences since the twins were born; it is delightfully delicious and it gives me a jump-start when I am feeling a bit tired from nights up with the babies. We seem to always have coffee on hand these days and I must credit it with getting us through some tough mornings.

At Walmart, there were three roast profiles to choose from - blonde, medium and dark. Each roast pairs well with different flavors and there were signs that listed what those were. For example, flavors that pair well with a darker roasted coffee are toasted nuts, caramelized sugar and roasted vegetables. (Vegetables? I had never thought about serving coffee with a meal - but now that I know it's acceptable, I am totally doing it!!)

I was sold on trying a dark roasted coffee. Not only did the flavors on display, Dark French Roast and Dark Cafe Verona, sound delicious but I also wanted to try The Bakery at Walmart's Turtle Iced Brownies- and a dark roast seemed like a definite Delicious Pairing! I decided on the Dark French Roast since I am already a fan of French Roast and trying a darker roasted version sounded perfect! There were only whole beans of coffee at the Delicious Pairings display so we headed over to the coffee aisle to see if the flavor I wanted was available in ground.


There was a couple more selections of Starbuck's dark roasted coffees in the coffee aisle. The selections were Dark French Roast, Dark Espresso Roast, Dark Cafe Verona and Dark Italian Roast. I found the Dark French Roast ground coffee and headed back to the bakery for those Turtle Iced Brownies I had been hearing about.


There were also Fudge Iced Brownies and Cream Cheese Iced Brownies in addition to the Turtle Iced Brownies. I won't lie - they almost all ended up in my cart, but we stuck the ones we came for. The Turtle Iced Brownies have a fudge icing, caramel drizzle and walnut topping - how good does that sound?? I have been dying to try them!

Our Delicious Pairing:
Starbuck's Dark French Roast & The Bakery at Walmart's Turtle Iced Brownies


The pot of coffee was brewing in no time after getting home while I mustered up all my self-restraint to not try the brownie until it was done. 

Our coffee pot beeps when it is done brewing a pot of coffee - this time that beep also meant it was time for a brownie! I was excited. After staying up all night with the babies I needed something sweet in my life.

The waiting was worth it. The brownie was better than I thought it would be - soft with creamy icing, the caramel drizzle and walnuts adding the perfect touch. The coffee was awesome - intense and smoky, just as the package promised. The true test was trying these two wonderful products together. I took a bite of brownie along with a swig of coffee and the marriage of flavors was like fireworks in my mouth! I will admit to eating my brownie and drinking my coffee faster than any one person should ever do - but I recommend it to everyone. ;)


As I was drinking my coffee and devouring my brownie, it crossed my mind that it is National Poetry Month and I hadn't written a poem since I was in high school. It sounded like a fun little challenge to write one down right then. I am a little rusty - so hang in there with me... 

Inspired by my newborn twin babies and Starbuck's & The Bakery at Walmart's Delicious Pairings, I present my poem to you -

Babies bring joy and babies bring glee
Babies bring need for a lot of coffee
They wake up at midnight for a quick bite to eat
Or sometimes they need a little drive up the street
Whatever it takes to get them asleep
We feel the tiredness starting to creep
They fuss and they fight, not giving in
The start of a new day is soon to begin
As they go to sleep, the sun is coming up
I pour more Starbuck’s into my cup
Enjoying my coffee, I gather my bearings
Starting my day with a #DeliciousPairings

What do you think? Don't be too harsh. ;)

One last thing I want to share is an added bonus to buying Starbuck's coffee to brew at home. Besides the fact that it is much less expensive to brew your own coffee at home - you can get a free tall brewed coffee from Starbuck's by exchanging an empty bag of Starbuck's coffee at one of their stores. How great is that? I can't believe I never knew that before, but now that I do it sure is an incentive to buying their ground coffee at the grocery store!



I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #cbias #SocialFabric

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Chocolate & Butterscotch Chip Cookies with Bacon


What is the correlation between geeks and bacon? Other than the fact that geeks & bacon are both amazingly awesome. ;) Was there a geek convention where they all agreed to lay claim to one of the most delicious foods ever made? If so, they totally scored – if not, well… they totally scored anyway.

My husband is a total geek – but I love that about him. His love for bacon? It’s unmatched – he appreciates all that bacon has to offer.

These cookies were made for my geek, with love.
If you know someone who loves bacon , geek or not, surprise them with these cookies – they won’t disappoint!


Chocolate & Butterscotch Chip Cookies with Bacon
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks of butter, salted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies
¾ cup butterscotch chips
½ cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
Directions
1. Heat oven to 375
2. Whisk together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, salt and vanilla extract – continue beating until well combined
5. Stir in flour mixture and bacon until fully blended. Add chocolate and butterscotch chips and mix together.
6. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges turn golden brown.
7. Cool on cookie rack and enjoy!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Cheese & Burger Challenge - #1 Casanova


A few years ago I stumbled across one of the most awesome sites out there – Cheese & Burger Society. It is a collection of the most beautiful hamburgers I have ever seen. Mr. Hungry Harp and I drooled all over the keyboard as we flipped from hamburger to hamburger. (The site is set up like a rolodex, so you can “flip” through the selection of burgers.) We talked about making some of them, but it never materialized into anything.

Then the other day, as I was making our weekly menu, Cheese & Burger Society crossed my mind. I decided to make one of their delicious looking creations, but didn’t know which one. How about all of them? Yes! Of course, I couldn’t make them all at the same time – that would be way more extreme than anything I would want to deal with… haha. But how do you pick only one when there are 30 choices? Well… I decided to start a little challenge for ourselves, start at #1 and slowly work our way through them all!

#1 on the list is the Casanova. I did a little research on the actual man named Casanova and let me tell you, the things he did have no place on a food blog. The man was a freak. Let’s just stick to talking about the hamburger here…


The Casanova (burger) is built on a potato roll – it starts with mayonnaise, sliced ham, 1/2lb burger patty, swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms and ends with Dijon mustard. I am pretty sure it was the biggest burger I have ever made. Mr. Hungry Harp said it was awesome and he loves when meat from an animal besides a cow is put on his hamburger. (A bit morbid, I know…) I thought it was pretty good – not spectacular, because I am not a huge fan of Dijon mustard.

The next burger, #2, for us to try is the Rhinelander. Rhinelander is a city in Wisconsin – which is a little less risqué than Casanova. Can’t wait to share it with you!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Meatball Monday: Pizza Meatballs


I can’t believe it’s already been a week since posting the Green Chicken Enchilada Meatballs! Time is flying by a bit too fast since bringing the twins home. They just turned 8 weeks this past Friday and it seriously feels like we just brought them home…

But anyhow, let’s get to these Pizza Meatballs!

I LOVE pizza. It always sounds good to me and I’ll eat it warm or cold. Lucky for me, my husband and kids share my love of the ol’ pizza pie! We have it at least once a week if not more – homemade of course. (I nearly have my crust recipe perfected and will be sharing it soon!)

So, when I was brainstorming what meatballs I could cook for this week I started thinking about what foods I really LOVE – and of course pizza came to mind. It was a no brainer – I had to cook some Pizza Meatballs! These lovelies are packed with pepperoni, green bell pepper, onion, olive, cheese and mushrooms - all held together with ground pork. Delicious!


Serve them with some marinara sauce to complete the flavor. An afterthought (darn 20/20 hindsight…) was to sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes to the top of the Pizza Meatballs before serving. 

Happy Monday – hope you all have an awesome week!! :)


Pizza Meatballs
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
½ tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup green bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup onion, chopped
1lb ground pork
10 slices pepperoni (small size), diced
1 tablespoon olives, chopped
½ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
¼ cup mushrooms, chopped
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions and green bell peppers until soft – about 7 minutes. Remove heat and set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients
3. Roll into 1.5” balls
4. If using meatball bbq rack – cook for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat, flipping every 5 minutes. If cooking in oven – bake for 20-25 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.
5. Serve with marinara sauce and enjoy!

Friday, April 5, 2013

Monterey-Ranch Chicken


 This has to be the most intense chicken I have ever cooked. It was so incredibly good that I was contemplating writing this post last night after we finished dinner and then again when I got up for a 3am feeding with the newborns. However, I am glad I waited and got a little bit of sleep in before telling you all about this scrumptious (I think that’s the first time I used that word on this blog!) chicken. :)

It all started on Pinterest (seems a lot does these days!) where I found a pin for Monterey Chicken. The pinner had said something to the effect that this was the best chicken they had ever cooked. Then I did a google search for Monterey Chicken to only find that everyone and their Mom (not really…) had already tried it, loved it and blogged about it. Darn it!

So, I just decided we would have it for dinner and I would skip blogging about it – since it was just old news anyway. (I even found out that the restaurant chain, Chili’s, serves a Monterey Chicken dish as well)

Then I started making the dish – making small adjustments here and there to suit my liking. When it was all said and done I decided that I had to share it with you – but since I made a few changes to the recipe, I changed the name too. Let me introduce you to Monterey-Ranch Chicken!

It’s grilled chicken –


 Topped with ranch dressing & bbq sauce


Topped with chopped bacon –


Topped with tomatoes & chiles (I used canned) –


Topped with cheese, olives & green onions –


Then baked at 400 for 10 minutes –


We had ours with white rice which ended up being perfect because of how much flavor the chicken had. No leftovers with this dish. Mr. Hungry Harp went back for seconds – which is always the highest compliment you can pay to this cook!

Monterey-Ranch Chicken
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts (mine were 1/2lb each)
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1lb bacon, cooked and chopped into 1” pieces (I actually chop mine before cooking it.)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles (S&W brand is what I used)
1 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup olives, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
Directions
1. Flatten chicken breasts. Place breasts between two pieces of wax paper and using a rolling pin, pound each one until thickest part of chicken is about an 1”. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Grill chicken breasts over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side.
3. Heat oven to 400.
4. Place chicken breasts in casserole dish or baking pan. Divide each of the toppings between the four chicken breasts in the following order: bbq sauce, ranch dressing, bacon, diced tomatoes, cheese, olives and green onions.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Enjoy!!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti with Mushrooms & Instagram


I will get to that amazing Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti with Mushrooms in just a minute - let's talk Instagram first!

My husband and I recently got smartphones. I know, I know – been living under a rock, huh? So, along with a smartphone came the awesomesauce app, Instagram. I will admit, I had been jealous of everyone posting pictures on Instagram – I wanted to join in on the fun! So, I am finally on the Instagram scene and ready to share some pictures. Yay!

Here is some of what I have been sharing…


I know that it may not be the best portfolio to convince you to follow me - but I am still getting the hang of it! I promise better things are to come. ;)

Check us out on Instagram here:

Instagram

Ok, now let's get to that Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti with Mushrooms!!

This dish is one of those that knocks your socks off the first time you try it, then repeats to knock your socks off while eating it as leftovers. For real. On top of the crazy-good taste of this dish – the prep is not that bad and totally worth the effort that it does take. 


Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti with Mushrooms
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
8oz spaghetti noodles
1.5lb ground beef
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
8oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
8oz cream cheese
1/4 cup whole milk
4 cups tomato pasta sauce (I used Hungry Harps Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce)
1 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup french fried onions
Directions
1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package
2. Preheat oven to 350
3.Brown ground beef, drain and set aside. Keep a tablespoon of grease in skillet and saute red bell pepper, onions, mushrooms and garlic on medium heat until most of the liquid that the mushrooms release is gone, about 7-10 minutes. Add cream cheese and milk to skillet and mix well until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Combine pasta sauce and ground beef in bowl
5. In 9x13 casserole dish layer ingredients in following order; thin layer of pasta/meat sauce, noodles, cream cheese mixture, remainder of pasta/meat sauce. Top with parmesan cheese.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Add french fried onions and bake for 5 more minutes.
7. Let cool and enjoy!!