Apple Dumplin's Caramel Apple Cupcakes, Berry Yummy Cookbook, p 66-67

PREP : Normal
TASTE : OK
REPEAT : Probably not

This was fun to do for Liana and I since it was a recipe from her Stawberry Shortcake cookbook. I don't recall if I substituted whole wheat flour with all-purpose or not. Since we were in the mode of baking sugary stuff I probably just used unbleached all-purpose.

Tanner really liked these but the rest of us really didn't care for them. They were OK, but too sweet for me.

Creamy Chicken & Pesto WW Pasta w/ Sun Dried Tomatoes

PREP : Depends on having pesto on hand.
TASTE : SUPER yummy!
REPEAT : Yes!


This is a successful trial at a personal dish. I will include the basic ingredients that I used, but I didn't measure as I made it. While it is a creamy pasta, and tastes very rich, I don't believe it was nearly as high in fat as a similar pasta would be in a restaurant. This is due to using fat-free evaporated milk for the majority of the cream. In addition, this dish took advantage of whole wheat penne pasta.

I began the dish because I had just made homemade pesto and I had some ingredients that needed to be used, like thawed chicken, lots of frozen chicken stock taking up space in the freezer and sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil. The recipe for the pesto was from Joy of Cooking and was pretty much a basic basil pesto recipe. Lots of fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, salt and olive oil.

My ingredient list is not exact. It was a couple months ago that I made this and I am trying to remember the details. I'm also going to have to learn to measure better in the future so I can be more precise at logging personal recipes and recipe modifications.

2 T light olive or grapeseed oil
1 box whole wheat penne pasta
1/2 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
1-3 cloves of garlic (as desired), minced
2-3 T sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
4 c of chicken stock/chicken broth
2 T unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cans fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 c heavy cream (opt., though I think it gave the rich flavor while adding a relatively small amount of fat)


1. Cook whole wheat penne pasta to al dente (still a bit firm) . Drain and set aside.

2. Cook up the chicken breasts with just a little oil heated up in the dutch oven. The chicken was patted dry, seasoned with salt, pepper and probably some Canadian Steak Seasoning (a favorite blend that I get from Sam's Club). I cook chicken breasts with the lid on for the first few minutes to heat up the inside of the meat. Once the meat is no longer translucent I take the lid off to get each side browned up well. After the chicken rests for a few minutes, slice up, or cut into cubes, as preferred.

*TIP* It is important to keep an eye on the chicken while cooking. If it starts to brown and the oil/fat around the chicken are getting dark in the bottom of the pot, shift the chicken around to loosen and pick up the bits so that they don't burn.

3. Add a little drizzle of oil and add chopped onions and garlic (optional) and chopped up sun-dried tomatoes. (I used the kind packed in olive oil. ) Deglaze with the vegetables and little bit of oil over medium heat. Cook to tender yet firm.

4. Add 2 T flour and appx. a quarter cup of chicken stock. Cook for 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Begin to add stock and fat-free milk in turns (about a cup at a time) with the pesto. Continue heating and stirring. Add cream.

*TIP* Step 4 should take about 5 minutes or so. At this point the cream sauce should fill about half, or more, of a 5 quart pot. In my experience, WW pasta tends to soak up more liquid and requires a larger amount of sauce then other pastas. I like my pastas creamy and I like the sauce to be plentiful. If you do not, you may wish to adjust with smaller amounts of broth and cream/milk.

5. Stir in pasta and warm through. Add salt to taste.

If you try this recipe, please let me know how it goes. I plan to try again in the future and will update this post with any changes necessary.

ENJOY!

Tortilla Pie with Chicken, Everyday Food # 61, April 2009, p96

TASTE: Very Good
PREP: Easy
REPEAT : YES (D' said, "it's a keeper)

This mexican type lasagna includes corn tortillas (toasted), cooked shredded chicken, sour cream, gr. salsa, green chili's and Mont. Jack cheese. I wasn't up to making the salsa so I bought jarred green salsa and used it. I also had a Monterey Jack/Colby cheese blend. Mont Jack only or Jack and Cheddar would have been better. Since I forgot about the canned gr. chilies and didn't have any on hand I used anaheim's fresh from the garden and a jalepeno with no seeds. It wasn't hot at all.

Would try again with homemade green salsa and red salsa.

Tilapia Tostadas w/ Roasted Corn Relish, Cooking Light, Aug 2009, 114

TASTE: Very Good
PREP: Medium
REPEAT: Yes.

Liana didn't want to try this one but both her and Riley ate it all up. The older boys weren't around to try it. The recipe calls for the tilapia to be dredged in cornmeal but I didn't have it because I couldn't get it fresh. I refuse to buy it enriched on the shelves so I used pecans for the breading. They were in the freezer so I just threw some into a coffee grinder and ground them up. I added a little ground flour that was in the freezer with the ground pecans. It ended up being a great blend.

For tostadas I had some homemade whole wheat flour tortillas and some corn ones that I put in the broiler of the toaster oven. The recipe calls for tortillas sprayed with oil and toasted in the broiler. Layered with finely shredded cabbage, pan fried (in this case pecan crusted) tilapia chunks, roasted corn salsa (corn, red bell pepper, red onion, jalepeno and onion) mixed with avocado and lime juice. All of this is topped with sour cream mixed with salsa verde.

Overall it was a pretty easy dish to make and it looked like a dish you might get at a nice restaurant. Nice change of mexican fare for us and I will likely repeat this one.

Mexican Meatloaf (Homemade Gourmet card)

PREP: OK
TASTE : OK
REPEAT : Probably not

No one really cared for this. Yes, I used 1/2 gr. turkey over meat, but it had more to do with the overall lack of flavor I think. Also, the large bits of corn made it fall apart in places and was unattractive. I ate it ok with extra cheese on top and extra salsa, but it was bland otherwise.

Linguine with Garlic Cream Sauce (Cook's Illustrated.com)

PREP: OK, if not worried about the garlic puree
TASTE: VERY good
REPEAT : Yes (although I might double the sauce if making for whole wheat pasta )

Yes, I forgot again, to make more sauce than suggested if I am using it with whole wheat pasta. It just always ends up dry otherwise. I didn't use heavy cream either, but fat free evaporated whole milk. I've found that I get good results with this substitute, and besides, it was what I had available. Tyler LOVED this and the stuffed chicken (with basil and sun dried tomatoes).

Garlic puree is just 4 heads of garlic poached in 1 cup of milk. Then, rinsed (save milk for this dish) and wrapped with EVOO in aluminum foil and roasted for 1 hour. Push out the garlic and smoosh together. :)

Bring 1 c milk, 1/2 c cream, 1/4 t red pepper flakes, 1 1/2 t fresh oregano (or 1/2 t dried) to boil, then simmer whisking frequently. Once reduced about half, add 1/4 c garlic puree. Whisk 2-3 minutes and then add 1/4 c. parmesan (I added more), salt and pepper to taste and then as thickened, pour over linguine. Add pasta water if needed to thin.

Eggnog Cheese Pie with Bourbon Cream (Cooking Light, December 2004, p220)

PREP: A bit more work due to extra bowls and the number of steps
TASTE : Yummy!! (so good I had to make two of them!)
REPEAT : Most definitely

Basic graham cracker crust, pre cooked. I skipped making the bourbon cream because I didn't want to spend the money on the bourbon and I had some natural whipped topping anyway. So the filling requires you to drain the yogurt. Well, I didn't have plain yogurt anyway so I just used fat free sour cream without draining and it worked just fine. Also used one full block of 1/3 less fat cream cheese instead of 1/2 and 1/2 fat free, just because it is what I had on hand. There is 3/4 c eggnog in the recipe, and whipped egg whites folded in just before baking.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cheese, Tomato, Basil (Everyday Food # 32, p 104)

PREP : Easy
TASTE : Very Good
REPEAT : Yes

Well, the recipe called for bone in chicken breast halves. After making it I looked more closely and saw the skin on. This would have helped it from turning out as dry as it did. Other than that, it is an EASY recipe that everyone loved. I also used shredded cheese instead of a slice, which have made a difference. Finally, I thawed out two packs of chicken which ended up being 2 breasts and numerous tenders! I ended up putting the filling on top of the chicken tenders and they got overcooked. Definitely want to stuff, and probably use the bone in, skin on chicken.

Also, the recipe called for 1 t of salt in the filling. This seemed far too high and I only used a fraction and it was fine.

Recipe recap : (Abridged)

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Slice chicken (if needed) and/or flatten to make room for filling.
3. Chop up 1/2 c. fresh packed basil leaves, about 8 sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil), 2 garlic cloves and 1 t fresh grated orange zest (skipped this part), (1 t?) salt and pepper.
4. Divide mix into 4 bone-in, chicken breasts.
5. Add 1 slice of mozzarella and close up with toothpicks.
6. Roast on baking sheet about 30-35 minutes.
   

Served with linguine with garlic cream puree. MMMmmmm...

Lighter General Tso's Chicken (Everyday Food # 56, p 34)

Prep: OK
Taste: OK
Repeat : Maybe

It wasn't bad, I just either need to work on tips for cooking this type of breaded item so that the breading doesn't all fall off! Probably faster and easier than other recipes, but it may be worth looking for another one. Wouldn't hurt to do again either.

Key ingredients: Snow peas, garlic, fresh ginger, light-brown sugar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, skinless chicken

Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie (Everyday Food # 56, p 104)

Prep: OK
Taste: OK - Good (not bad, good comfort food)
Repeat : Yes, probably

This was fairly good, better with Canadian Steak Seasoning by Tone's (found at Sam's Club). Prep was OK, not a big deal. The potatoes were too runny on my end so I need to figure out some way to make them just right on top so they don't seep into the food on the bottom and don't get too dried out on top. I am thinking that adding the cheese on the top half way through would be helpful too. I probably also used the wrong type of potatoes and may have boiled them too long.

Recipe recap :

1. Preheat oven to 450
   
2. Boil 2 pounds peeled, sliced baking potatoes covered 1 in" above with salted water.
3. In another 5 quart pot, heat oil and cook 6 med carrots, quartered and thinly sliced, 6 celery stalks, thinly sliced, 1 lg chopped onion and 1/2 t thyme until tender (8-10 min)
4. Add 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c. tomato paste cook 1 minutes
5. Add 2 lb gr. beef chuck and cook to brown
6. Add 1 c water, bring to a boil and simmer 1 minute. Set aside.
7. Drain potatoes, return to pan and cook over medium until liquid is evaporated (OH, maybe this is what I missed doing!) and film develops, about 1 min. Remove from heat.
   
8. Add 1c milk and 1 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
9. Pour beef into 9X13 pan, cover with potatoes and then cheese. Bake until bubbly about 20 minutes.
   
10. 
    

Easiest Indian Stew (Everyday Food # 58, p 92)

Prep : Easy
Taste : Very Good (especially with cilantro and plain yogurt on top)
Repeat : YES

Such an easy recipe and really quite good. I think I cooked up some chicken to have with it, otherwise it is meant to be eaten over rice. Of course, we had brown rice.

Recipe: (abridged)

1. Cook rice to serve this with.
2. Cook 1 med. minced onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves in 1 T oil to tender.
3. Add 1 T curry powder, 1 t ground ginger and cook to fragrant (about 1 min)
4. Add 3 c. GOOD quality tomato sauce, (2) 15 oz cans of rinsed/drained chickpeas & 1 1/2 c. water. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened. About 8-10 minutes.
5. Stir in 1 T fresh lime juice, season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve over rice with dollop of plain yogurt and chopped cilantro.
   

YUM!