What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 8-23-11

Tonight was spent with my sisters and mom at a local restaurant so I posting last nights dinner.

I was on my way home from a friends Saturday at 9:30 and still hadn't eaten dinner, I wasn't in the mood for my typical fast food so I decided to run into Kroger to pick some stuff up. L had gotten some veggies a couple days before and I wanted to make something with them but I needed to get some protein. I was originally going to get some tofu and make stir fry but then I saw buffalo chicken bites in the deli and thought that sounded better. The recipe I ended up with was delicious and I just had to make it for L last night.

Buffalo Chicken Stir Fry

1 Zucchini

1 Yellow squash

4oz Mushrooms

1/2 lbs Chicken

1 tbsp Goat cheese

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tbsp of Buffalo sauce

Cayenne pepper

Paprika

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Like I stated above I bought the buffalo chicken but you could just as easily buy chicken and saute with buffalo sauce. Heat oil in 9 inch saute pan. Saute mushroom, squash and zucchini until tender. Season to your desire spiciness. Add chicken and goat cheese, also at this time you can add more buffalo sauce if you wish (I've found that the sauce on the chicken will cook off a little) . Allow cheese to melt and serve. I like to sprinkle with parmesan.

What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 7-26-11

Well technically I picked up Sonic after my meeting but I made this last night and was going to eat leftovers tonight but didn't feel like it.

This is a recipe I make often because hubby loves it and it's full of veggies! I'm still trying to perfect this recipe and add a little more flavor (last night I realized I forgot to season the eggplant and add salt and pepper to the ricotta mixture). But that's why I love to cook is to try new techniques and figure out the secrets behind what makes a recipe work! My little secret to this recipe is using tomato paste instead of sauce.

Eggplant Parmesan

2 medium eggplants

3 oz tomato paste

2 large eggs

1 cup parmesan cheese

4oz Ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper

Italian seasoning

Pre-heat oven  to 350. Slice eggplant 1/4 of an inch thick, I use a mandolin. Mix ricotta, eggs, half of parmesan, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper in a separate bowl. I do not pre-cook my eggplant, that;s the reason I use tomato paste because of the water in the eggplant would make it too watery. the next steps are just layering each ingredient one after another in any order you choose, I usually go sauce, eggplant, ricotta, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella, eggplant, ricotta, etc... the last layer i usually do eggplant ricotta, sauce, and then the rest of the parmesan. Cover with lid or foil and bake for 1hr. This time I used my round corning ware opposed to my usual rectangular Pyrex so I should have cooked it longer, but it turned out well.

 Like I said before I'm always changing up recipes til I perfect it so feel free to add or change to your desires. I've added mushrooms and leftover rotisserie chicken before. Next time I will be peeling the eggplant and see if I like that better. I also just found this recipe and think I might try this sauce cause I always like a little spice!

Sorry forgot to take a picture before we dug in :-)



What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 7-19-11

I realized that I have yet to put a pasta dish on here, which is surprising cause I eat pasta all the time. But come to think of it I can't remember the last time I had pasta. It's usually a go to meal for me, I always have a box in my pantry and I throw what every I have on hand in it. Tonight I actually planned this out cause I had to run to the store cause we were running low on veggies and cheese, and what's pasta with out any of those!

Pasta Primavera is any pasta dish with pasta and fresh veg.

Pasta Primavera



These are the freshest mushrooms I've ever found at a store, it was like they were straight from the farm.
Those sun-dried tomatoes I got from the Asian food market are amazing!

1 Chicken Breast

1 Medium Zucchini

4 Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 4oz container of Mushrooms

1 tbsp of Oil

6oz of Pasta

1tsp of Flour

Roasted Garlic

Seasons of choice

Parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp of Cream cheese

I put the chicken on the stove top to help it defrost.

 Put water on to boil and cook pasta according to directions on box. I used whole wheat egg noddles. Add oil to a pan add mushrooms and zucchini and allow to cook down. At the half way point add tomatoes, flour and seasoning and allow to cook the rest of the way. Cook the chicken anyway you would like, I used left over buffalo chicken that I had in the freezer.

While everything is cooking in a separate bowl add garlic, cheeses and Italian seasonings. whisk together with about 1/2 cup of the pasta water, keep stirring til cheese is melted and garlic is dissolved.

Once the pasta/chicken/veggies are done stir everything together in the bowl with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan. Serve with toasted garlic bread.



What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 7-12-11

Chorizo Hot Pockets

6 Pilsbury Grand Biscuits, uncooked

3 slices of Pepper Jack cheese

6 oz of Ground Chorizi , uncooked

Egg wash

Flour for dusting

I've worked with alot of chorizo and this is probably the best one. I found it at Kroger.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out biscuits til they are about 6inches wide/ or the size of your hand, use flour to prevent sticking to board or pin. Cut the cheese in fours. In the middle of one half of the biscuit place 2 pieces of cheese and about 1oz of chorizo. Brush edges with egg wash and fold over and seal edges together. I like to fold mine over, roll it up and bring the two edges together and seal. (hope that makes sense, you can tell in the picture) Brush the sides and top with egg wash. Bake for 18-20mins. (I've found out it need longer than the biscuit directions)

These are probably one of the best things I've made in a while. Again this recipe came about by Hubby not being home Friday night  and trying to find something in the fridge just for myself. It turned out better than expected! And it's super easy and quick, makes a great Tuesday night dinner!

What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 6-28-11



Once again Hubby got to it before I could take a picture.

If you like me you've always wanted to try this but you thought it was too complicated and cost too much. Well earlier today I decided I was finally going to go for it, I had a coupon for beef tenderloin when I went shopping last week so I picked one up so it was perfect timing. I knew I wasn't going to be able to afford the pate that most recipes call for (and I've never had it so I wasn't sure if I would like it). So I searched for a recipe on Foodnetwork that didn't call for the pate. And I found this one, I decided to make a few changes to it like add cream cheese to kind of give it that creaminess that the pate would have. My tenderloin was a prepackaged one that was already had a peppercorn marinade on it. And I added roasted garlic to the onion/mushroom mix.

Beef Wellington

Ingredients

• 1 beef tenderloin (2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
• Ground black pepper (optional)
• 1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 clove roasted garlic
• 1 tbsp of cream cheese

Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the butter and 1/2 of oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic and onion and cook until the mushrooms are tender and all the liquid is evaporated, stirring often. Set aside in separate bowl and allow to cool.

Season the tenderloin with pepper. In the same skillet pan, heat remaining olive oil. When the oil is hot, sear the tenderloin for 2 to 3 minutes on all sides. Remove from the pan and cool.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.

Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook until the mushrooms are tender and all the liquid is evaporated, stirring often.
Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a rectangle 4 inches longer and 6 inches wider than the beef. Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture. Spoon the mushroom mixture onto the pastry sheet to within 1-inch of the edges. Thinly slice the cream cheese and lay out on mixture. Place the beef in the center of the mushroom mixture. Fold the pastry over the beef and press to seal. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Tuck the ends under to seal. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and a meat thermometer reads 140 degrees F.

I served it with mash potatoes and green beans; and used the liquid from the beef left in the pan as a sauce. It was really good, I was very proud of myself. I will definitely be trying this again, I think it would make a great entertaining center piece! :-)



What I Learned:
For next time I think I will bring stainless steel pan out to get a better sear on the beef  and that might help the beef be less cooked through (I was hoping for med-rare and it was more med-well) and add more cream cheese or maybe even get up the nerve and extra money to try the pate.

Whats For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 6-21-2011

So I decided that this week I'm going to make every meal in the crockpot. This works out perfectly cause like I've said money is a little tight this month so I haven't done much grocery shopping. Instead I emptied my mom's freezers of frozen meat  (she's one of those people who buys meat never uses it and freezers it with intention of using one day but never does, so she calls me over every 3 months or so and I clean her out and save myself money! plus frozen meats are great for the crockpot) Yesterday was Italian sausage and ravioli. So today I'm making chicken again! It's getting closer to the end of the month and food is dwindling down but I did happen to have a box of Rice-A-Roni Mexican rice and a can of Chipotle chilies in adobe sauce left, and it sounded like a good combo.

2 Tbsp butter

1 box of Rice-a-Roni Mexican rice

3-4 Chicken breast

1 can Chiplote Chillies

1 clove Roasted garlic

2 cups of water

4oz Sour Cream

I simply added butter, the rice, then the seasoning mix, placed the chicken breast on top of that, then took about 4-5 chilies (depending on how spicy you like it) and put then randomly in the pot along with some roasted garlic I made the day before. I then added water (you can use chicken stock if you have it) and covered and cooked on low for 6 hrs. I cut the chicken up in to bit size pieces and added some sour cream to help cut some of the spice.

Again sorry no pictures, it wasn't done before I left for my meeting and hubby had already eaten when I got home.

So what are you having for dinner tonight?



What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 6-14-11

A day late and a dollar short... I think that describes today perfectly!

Monday night I had planned on laying out by the pool pretty much all day with my sister Katie, so I threw a couple a chicken breast, a little oil, about a cup of chicken stock, the juice from one lime and a packet of McCormick's Grill Mates Mexican Fiesta Marinate into the crock pot and cooked in on low for 6 hrs. I then shredded it, added about 2 tbsp of cream cheese and served along side Mexican rice.

Tuesday I got home from work around 3, accidentally took a nap waiting on L to get home, so I had about an 1 to get dinner together and get ready for my meeting. Luckily I had some chicken leftover from Monday night. So I put some pasta on to cook (you can use whatever you prefer, I used egg noddle because it's what I had on hand) and I then checked out the fridge to see what I had to put in the pasta. I'm known to do this, just take whatever I have in my fridge or pantry and make some amazing meals. I found some cream cheese, mushrooms, and pepper jack cheese.
Once the pasta was done, about 15 mins, I drained it, reserving about a cup of pasta water to keep thin out the sauce. I then added the chicken, cheese and mushrooms, along with some chili and garlic powder to the pot til warm. This is a pretty easy meal and I love it cause you can just change it up and add whatever you want. I usually serve it with garlic bread cause the hubby loves bread.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures, but I'm making more crockpot chicken tonight so that means I'll probably make some other pasta Friday (in case you don't know I love pasta). So I'll take pictures of that meal.

So what are you having for dinner tonight?

What's For Dinner Tonight

I'm getting rid of my page What's For Dinner Tuesday and turning into a weekly post instead so I'm posting my past post so they won't get deleted. Hope you enjoy!

June 7, 2010

It's my BIRTHDAY! I can't believe I'm 25, but thats another post, another day. Since it's my birthday I refuse to make dinner so I don't know what's for dinner tonight!

May 31, 2010

I found this recipe on Tyler's Taste Tests, the moment I read it I knew L was going to love it. It's another quick and easy meal for Tuesday nights since I have my MK meetings. Today was technically my Monday since it was a holiday weekend so it was manic on top of being the usual crazy day. I left for work this afternoon and forgot to put dinner on so I had to rush home after work and put it on high for 3 hours instead of the usual low for 6 hours. However it still came out wonderful. I added my own flare to it: I added a little cream cheese at the end to give it a little extra creaminess (is that even a word??) and then sprinkled it with pepper jack cheese, and I had some leftover biscuits from breakfast so I served the chicken over that instead of regular bread. This is defiently a new family favorite.  Thanks Tyler!

L got into it before I could make it home

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

4 boneless, skinless chicken breats

1 (17.5 fluid oz) bottle buffalo wing sauce

1 oz package dry ranch salad dressing mix

2 tbsp butter

6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise (or sandwich bread of your choice)

Place the chicken breast in the crockpot along with 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter and shred with two forks. Add the meat to your bread and splash with remaining buffalo wing sauce. Enjoy!

May 25, 2010

This recipe comes from my sister Carrie,(which is ironic cause she doesn't eat red meat anymore) I don't remember when or how it came about in my house but every since my mom started making it it's been a family favorite. I remember the first time I made it for my husband, he loved it, well then again he loves everything I make. Or so he says he usually adds hot sauce to it anyway.

This is a quick and easy meal I usually make on Tuesdays since I have my MaryKay meetings at 7pm, I can throw this together as I'm getting ready and all L has to do is add the sour cream right before he makes his plate.

Gooey Stuff:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground pork

1 (16oz) can tomato sauce
7-8 oz Elbow Macaroni

1 med Green Bell Pepper

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 (2oz) jar Pimiento, diced

2 T Sugar

2tsp Chili Powder

2 tsp Salt

1 (8oz) ctn Sour Cream

Brown meat in large skillet. Drain off all the fat as it collects. Stir in remaining ingredients except sour cream. Heat to boiling. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until macaroni is tender; stir frequently. Add more tomato sauce or a small portion of water if necessary. after reaching the right consistency stir in sour cream; heat through but not do not boil.

I usually leave out the onions cause I'm not a fan.This also make great leftovers.
That's what's for dinner tonight, hope you enjoy!

If you know my husband, you know which bowl is his!