30 days of Dinner!

In an attempt to be more consistent with the blog, I'm going to try to post our dinner or dessert every night for the next 30 days. Now, just to warn you, I go back to work this week, so it might be leftovers or mac and cheese! Anyway, here is last night's dinner--spaghetti! Nothing exciting--whole wheat noodles and Mr. Newman's special sauce! (We just got back from vacation and I haven't shopped yet--if I don't go soon, the blog may get VERY interesting!)

Creamy Chicken with Stuffing Soup

I know, I know--soup in August? Well, not to alienate my readers, but we have central AC, so soup isn't bad on a warm day.
This recipe is actually one that I made up and is inspired by the soup at Sweet Tomatoes. They had a creamy chicken and vegetable soup and then they had stuffing to put on top. I had this there while I was pregnant with Nicholas and I just couldn't get enough.
The other good thing about this recipe is that all the ingredients are pretty standard things that you probably have in your fridge, pantry or freezer. I haven't been to the store this week (or last) and I made it work. I first made this in the winter, but made some adaptations this time around.

Ingredients:

2 TB butter
2 TB flour
diced onion (about 1/2 cup)
1 box chicken broth (32 oz)
Milk--about 1 cup
Frozen veggies about 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Diced cooked chicken--2 cups
1 tsp thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 box stove top stuffing (prepared as directed)

Optional ingredients--leftover mashed potatoes

First, I melted the butter and sauteed the onion. After it was melted, I added the flour and mixed it to make a roux. Then, I added the chicken broth, milk (I confess, I didn't measure the milk!) and thyme. I whisked it until it was all mixed together. I'm cooking it over medium heat at this point. After it started to warm up, I whisked in about a scoop and a half of leftover mashed potatoes. What else was I going to do with them, right? I love to do this when I make soups! They not only give the soup a great flavor, but they thicken the soup a little too.

After that was going and starting to steam a little, I dumped in some frozen veggies. I have used a bag of frozen mixed veggies in the past, but this time, I didn't have any! So, I put in some frozen peas and carrots and added some corn. I also added the chicken. Yesterday, I bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco and that was dinner last night. Tonight, I chopped up the rest of it and put it in the soup! I will confess at this point, I also put in the last of a carton of cream (probably about 2 tablespoons). Again, what do you do with the last 2 tablespoons of cream? I used some salt and pepper too--but just a word of caution here. The stuffing is going to add salt to this soup, so don't overdo the salt and pepper. You can add more later if you need it.

I let the soup come to a boil and simmer a little and I made the stuffing. I just made it right out of the box--if you so desired, of course you could do homemade or use leftover Thanksgiving stuffing, but this dinner is all about fast and easy for me! (If you wanted to make this in November, you could replace the chicken with turkey).

Serve the soup and top each bowl with a scoop of stuffing. YUM! This really is fantastic!
This served 2 adults and 2 kids at my house. TONS of soup leftover. Probably would serve at least 6 adults. But, not too much stuffing left. I might make 2 packages next time, just so there is enough for leftovers.

Another meal of Leftovers--Masher Bites!

This meal was inspired by the Masher Bites at The Best Little Roadhouse. And also by the leftover steak and mashed potatoes in my fridge!
The menu describes the Masher Bites as, "Tenderloin and button mushrooms sautéed in red wine demi-glace served over our garlic mashed potatoes."
So--that was my goal! (Even though I don't know what a "demi-glace" is!)
I didn't measure much of anything in this--so I apologize. But, I can give you the gist of it.
First, I melted butter and mixed in some flour. Then, I added beef broth and marsala wine, garlic, and a little worcestershire sauce. I let it simmer and thicken.
While that simmered, I sauteed mushrooms, onion and garlic in a little butter. I added that to the sauce.

Then, I sliced the steak very thinly and warmed it in the same pan I cooked the onions and mushrooms in. Slicing it very thinly allows the steak to heat up, without overcooking it.

I had some mashed potatoes (and cauliflower!) leftover, and I just added another potato or two to the mix and mashed them in. (I didn't do garlic mashed potatoes--no time!)
Anyway, I served the steak and sauce with the mashed potatoes and a salad and it was great!
Ryan, in typical three year old fashion, at first absolutely refused to eat anything. We made him take a few bites and then he decided that he liked it after all!
It was really good, and a great way to use leftovers that would have gone to waste otherwise!

Fooled them! Deceptive Mashed Potatoes

I bought the Deceptively Delicious cookbook a few years ago, and have only made a few things from it. But, I have heard that cauliflower can be mixed or substituted for mashed potatoes and I was willing to try it. The recipe was in the cookbook, so I thought I would give it a go! Truthfully, cauliflower is not my favorite veggie and Jamie will not eat it. The jury is still out on Ryan, but since we don't like it much, Ryan hasn't had it much.
I bought some cauliflower last week and decided to try it tonight. I had to make some modifications since I didn't have any buttermilk. But this is my version!

4 medium sized red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
skim milk (didn't measure)
3/4 cup of pureed cauliflower
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

For the pureed cauliflower, I steamed it in the microwave until it was tender and then put it in the blender with a little water.
I peeled and then boiled the potatoes, then mashed them with my mixer and added the butter, milk, salt, pepper and pureed cauliflower. Then, I added a few pours/shakes of parmesan cheese. (I thought it needed a little something.)

The results--Ryan ate it without a complaint. Jamie ate it, pronounced it delicious and was surprised when I told him about the cauliflower. I also liked it!
Three thumbs up for this one at my house, and I got my family to eat a veggie that they otherwise wouldn't touch!

What is in Pam?

Confession: I am very skeptical of Pam cooking spray. What is in it? And how is it different than just buttering or greasing a pan? And why are there no calories in it?
While we are on the subject--"butter" for the popcorn at the movies? What in the world is in that? Real butter makes the popcorn wet--but this stuff doesn't. I suspect it is just butter flavored hydrogenated oil. Makes me a little nauseous just thinking about it.
I refuse to buy Pam or use it--and just substitute olive oil or butter instead. I am beginning to subscribe more and more to the theory--if you can't tell where it came from, don't eat it! Now, by employing this logic, I can rationalize a LOT. Cheesecake--eggs, butter, cream cheese. Yep, I can figure out where all those came from! Note: I'm not obsessive about this. We do eat things that are processed.
What ingredients do you refuse to use when you cook?

Leftovers...Re-invented!

I made this awhile ago, but hadn't gotten around to posting! I know grilling season is almost over, but this was too good not to post!
I don't know about your family, but we sometimes don't get leftovers eaten. Especially if it is just a chicken breast or one pork chop. But, we had 2 chicken breasts leftover from when we grilled teriyaki chicken and I wanted to use them! But, I hate how re-heating meat dries it out, which is why unless it is soup or a cassrole, it doesn't get eaten!
So, I cubed the chicken (large cubes) and put them in a foil packet. I added fresh pineapple to the packet. Then, I made another packet of pineapple and also made a packet of sliced Walla Walla Sweet onions. (I added a little butter and salt and pepper to the onions). I put all the packet on the grill over medium heat for just about 10-15 minutes.
I thought about kebabs, but didn't really want to give my three year old a sharp stick to eat off of!
)
So, after about 15 minutes, the packet was hot and the chicken was still moist, not dried out.
I served this with some brown basmati rice and called it good!
Pineapple on the grill is amazing anyway, and the chicken and the onions were great with it.
And REALLY healthful meal!
Sorry, there is no after picture for this--Ryan made a lake in his sandbox while I was chopping the pineapple and it was quite the clean up!

By Request: Tortilla Soup!

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breast halves

2- 15 oz cans black beans (drained and rinsed)

2- 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

1 - 14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce

1 - 4 oz can green chiles (drained)

1 cup of salsa

Taco seasoning--to taste

Toppings:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients (not toppings) in a crock pot. (I put my chicken in there frozen). Cook for 8 hours on low. Just before serving shred chicken with a fork.

Top each bowl with cheese, sour cream and chips.

Super easy--if you can open a can and push a button, you can make this recipe!! Ryan loves it too!