My Dinner Creation (which needs a recipe title)

Thanks to my migraine on Sunday, nothing sounded REALLY good. And the one thing that I wanted was something that I had never cooked before and was just a concoction that I came up with based off of a dish from a local restaurant. But it turned out delicious! By the way, this dish needs a name. Help?!

2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp of Italian dressing on each piece of chicken
Red bell peppers, sliced
Green bell peppers, sliced
Cheese (I used what we had on hand, a mozzarella/cheddar blend)
onions, sliced
Olive Oil
Mashed potatoes - I used red potatoes and made it from scratch. I have no recipe, I just make it. I am sure that is no help to you. ;)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken on aluminum foil, add italian dressing and peppers. Cook for 30-40 minutes until chicken is cooked all the way through.
Heat up olive oil and caramelize the onion slices.
Top chicken with onions and cheese. Leave the chicken in the oven until the cheese has melted.
Prepare mashed potatoes as you wish. I added lots of butter and a touch of cheese.
Serve the chicken on top of the mashed potatoes. Delicious!

Share Your Chicken and Veggie Recipes

Kerri asked for recipes on her blog. I decided to pick some of our favorite, easy recipes. Kerri mentioned that she liked chicken and veggies, so the recipes I picked revolved around that theme.I am using MckLinky for the first time and hopefully I won't be left looking lonely and pitiful. ;) Link up and share some of your favorite chicken and/or veggie recipes!

Baked Chicken
1 or 2 chicken breasts
Barbeque Sause or Italian Dressing

This recipe works well with either "marinades". It all depends on what you are in the mood for.
Preheat the oven to 450, cover chicken with sauce of choice(optional: add water for the BBQ), cover with aluminum foil and bake until chicken is cooked(approx. 30-40 minutes).

SO easy!

Roasted root veggies


3 large carrots, cut on the bias
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut on the bias
1/4 cup asparagus (about 4 stalks)
1 small onion
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped chives
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 5 minutes.
6. On a baking sheet, toss all the vegetables in the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Add to the oven and roast for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring midway through baking. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Easy, delicious and healthy! Since I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago, I have eaten this 2-3 times a week. And now I think I want this for dinner. Ha


Chicken Rice Casserole

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Noodle soup
3/4 cup rice, long grain - raw
4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp Italian Dressing
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Combine the two soups in a medium casserole dish. Add 1/4 cup water and the rice. Blend well. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Pour Italian dressing over chicken. Salt and pepper lightly. Cover and back in a 350 degree over for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Uncover and brown 15 minutes more.
 
This is a large recipe but it makes for GREAT leftovers. One of the few leftovers that I can actually get T to eat. Ha

Chicken Stir Fry 
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts
 Teryaki Sauce to taste
 1-2 cups rice
Olive Oil
Veggies

Choose whatever veggies you would like and cut them into small, bite sized pieces.  
 Cut chicken into small pieces. Cook in oil. Remove chicken. 
Add veggies and cook. 
Add cooked chicken and sauce and continue cooking. 
Serve with prepared rice. 

I have started using brown rice whenever we have rice. I like the Minute Rice Ready to Serve bowls and I am going to try the boil in a bag brown rice. For SUPER QUICK AND EASY Stir-Fry for 1 person, try I ReadyServe bowl of rice, 1 box Green Giant Immunity Veggies and Low Sodium Teryaki Sauce to taste. Yum!

Chicken Bake

1-2 Boneless Skinless chicken breasts
2 potatoes - peeled and sliced
4-5 carrots peeled and cut
green beans - 1 can
italian dressing - low fat, 1/4 bottle

Spread chicken in the bottom of a baking dish.  Put potatoes, carrots, and green beans on top of steak.  Pour italian dressing over the top of the vegetables.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour, until potatoes and carrots are done.

 

Doris Day and my Protein Frappe Recipe

Today is Doris Day's birthday. I love Doris Day. It is a joke with my family that Doris Day and I are BFF's... She just doesn't know it yet. ;)

These two movies are some of Doris Day's earliest. The "Moon" Series pairs Doris up with Gordon MacRae in musical film gloriousness. :)

Calamity Jane is probably my family's favorite. From the moment that "Deadwood Stage" starts until Doris Day sings the "My Secret Love" reprise, it will capture your heart and you'll be singing the songs long after the movie has ended.

Rock Hudson and Doris Day are hilarious in Pillow Talk. If you haven't seen it before, I would definitely suggest you adding it to your list. It is a timeless classic.

These are just a few of my favorite Doris Day movies. If you don't know who she is, or haven't seen any/many of her movies, then shame on you. ;)

Also, check out the "Doris Day Radio" station on Pandora. It's a daily listen for me.

Onto the long promised recipe picture post of my Protein Meal Replacement Frappe.

Ingredients:

And please, dear friends, don't make the error of buying the wrong coffee in your haste to make a quick trip to the grocery store while your husband is working out.

Yeah, that is WHOLE BEAN coffee. Oops.

Approx. 96 calories per serving*
- 8 ice cubes
- 2 tbsp no calorie sweetener
- 1 scoop GNLD's GR2 Control Chocolate Dream meal replacement shake
- 1/4 cup 2% milk

- 3 tbsp Community Coffee Dark Blend ground coffee
- 1/2 cup water

It is important that you add the ingredients to the blender in the order they are listed in my recipe. Don't ask me why, but it does not taste the same if you don't. Trust me.

I use my Mr Coffee Cafe Frappe machine. I would assume that you could make the frappe to the same effect using a blender and adding 1/2 cup freshly brewed coffee. The Cafe Frappe simply does the brewing and blending in the same machine. I heart it (thank you, T!).

It is absolute yummy-ness. This past week I have made 2 batches at a time and put them in a clear 1 liter water jug that I got from Wal-mart for under $2. This honestly helped keep my appetite at bay from 6 am until noon. Between the supplements and the GR-2, I have noticed a significant change in my appetite. There are times when the only thing I want to eat is vegetables. Not a bad thing at all. ;o)

Let me know if you try it. Especially if you use the coffee pot/blender method or use a different protein drink mix. If you are interested in placing an order with GNLD. I am now a full fledged believer in the power of adding vitamins and natural supplements to your diet.

*Calorie Count is based on a compilation of the nutritional facts on the labels of each of the products used. I am in no way being compensated for mentioning any of these products. These are my own personal views and opinions.

Parmesan-Basil Tilapia

T is working the day shift today so I was on my own for lunch. I knew I wanted something light but flavorful and my first thought was to bake a tilapia filet. We normally take a frozen filet, cover it in lemon pepper and bake for 25-30 minutes. But I wanted something different. And I found it! ;)

I got the recipe from Shape Magazine's website. Since it was just me eating, I halved the recipe with the exception of the olive oil.
I didn't have any lemons or lemon juice so I passed on their version of the green beans and made my own.

Parmesan-Encrusted Tilapia
4 skinless tilapia fillets (1 pound total)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried basil
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
 
Directions
Preheat the broiler. Cut the tilapia fillets lengthwise into two pieces, then pat dry with a paper towel and season to taste with pepper. In a small bowl, combine basil and Parmesan cheese; set aside.

Heat olive oil in a 12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté the fish for 3 minutes or until brown. Flip the fillets over and remove the skillet from heat. Dust the tilapia with the cheese mixture. Place the skillet under the broiler to finish cooking the fish and slightly brown the cheese, about 3 to 4 minutes.

I don't have an ovenproof skillet so I placed it in a baking dish. It adds an extra dish to wash but totally worth it. ;) It was delicious, light and refreshing!


Clegg's Kitchen Green Beans
I love me some green beans. I like them to be flavorful. I suppose you could say I am picky when it comes to my green beans. But I blame it on my mom for making them taste so good. ;)
For every one can of green beans, add one chicken bouillon cube. Sprinkle with onion flakes. Bring all 3 ingredients to a boil. Stir to break up the cubes and reduce heat until ready to serve.
Yum!

So much for blogging every day

I had been doing so well with blogging every day in January. But the last couple of days have been busy and quite honestly, I didn't have much to say. Rather than make a post just to do it, I decided to break my string of success. But I think that is ok. :)

I have been busy over the weekend. I worked Friday and Saturday. Saturday morning my mom and I went to CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. We had pretty successful trips with our couponing (another post for another day because my pictures aren't uploaded yet). I am hoping in 2010 to be more consistent with using coupons and trying to save money. Hopefully now that I have Register Rewards to use at Walgreens and Extra Care Bucks for CVS I will make more trips and eventually form a habit out of saving. ;o)

I have also gotten a lot done around the apartment this weekend. I still need to tackle the storage room. Yeah. You know, the room that used to be a guest bedroom. We've always had some boxes in it but with fall and Christmas decorations taken down, they seemed to have found a home in the storage room. In piles. Shameful, I know. What can I say? I'm a work in progress (and so is our apartment). Ha

I made 50's Prime Time Cafe Meatloaf and Potato Bundles for dinner. I have never made this meatloaf before, or any meatloaf for that matter, so I hope it turns out ok. If it does, I will share the recipe! If not, we will pretend it never happened. :)

Speaking of recipes, my sister made a new blog for all of the Clegg women to post their recipes on. Hop on over to the Clegg's Kitchen. It is another work in progress. Check it out and add it to your blog list if you feel so inclined!

We are a little over 2 weeks away from going to Disney and I absolutely CANNOT wait! At this point, the first thing that I want to do when I get on Disney property is head to Sunset at H.S. and hug my friends, especially Bernela, Celianese and Viadly (my dear Haitian friends).

Oh, deer...

 And yes, that is supposed to be spelled like that. Read on. ;)

I can only be still for so long. The 4-5 day migraine was bad enough. Less than a day of being migraine free and I woke up with a sinus headache. Lovely. I spent the day with a box of nearly gone kleenex and a consistent flow of dayquil. I feel a little bit better. No more sore throat, coughing, or runny nose. Mostly just sneezing and a slight headache. =)

Having my sweetheart home for the evening helped. T went in for his shift at 2 and got to come home about 4 hours early(around 6:30) because of the "snow storms" coming. Considering typical Mississippi weather, it really would surprise me if we only got flurries. ;) But the community is not taking any chances and many schools have already canceled school for tomorrow. Ah, snow days in Mississippi! Oh, and since his contract pays him to be there the full time, he got paid for those extra 4 hours that he was home.

T came home and, without saying a word, cooked our dinner tonight. I didn't ask or anything. So sweet! Of course, it was part of our Eat from the Pantry challenge. He made Jambalaya with cajun deer sausage. We have been eating deer meat a lot lately and I feel like we haven't even made a dent in it. We still have some in my mom's freezer and my sister is giving us a deer roast. I feel like deer meat is coming out of my ears but I am so grateful that we have it for this month long challenge!

We have a huge pack of deer steak and I don't have a clue what to do with it. Unfortunately, I have never really done a lot of cooking with deer meat. Growing up, we never really had deer meat on hand. What we have used is just basic(sausage with breakfast, jambalaya, red beans and rice, etc). So if you have any ideas or recipes, send them my way!

Crockpot Red Beans and Rice

Meal 1 of my pantry challenge. I adore crockpot meals. So helpful for our odd working hours. I came home from work at 7 and dinner was almost finished. Thank you for my stock of minute rice. ;)

CROCKPOT RED BEANS AND RICE

1 lb. red kidney beans
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, crushed (I use garlic powder)
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
Rice, cooked
Fresh chopped parsley
Meat - optional (I am using some deer sausage that we have in our freezer)

Rinse beans in cold water (sorting out bad beans as you add them into the crockpot).
Cook in 3 quarts of water for 2 hours.
Add all other ingredients(excluding rice) and cook for an additional 2-3 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
Serve with hot rice. Yummm. =)

Pantry Challenge

Somethings have come up and/or changed, so in order for us to make our Disney trip happen in February, I am taking on a challenge.

Through couponing, I have been able to make a very little "stockpile" of sorts in my pantry, freezer, and fridge. I did an inventory of what we have a few nights ago and I came up with 26-28 different meals. Most of these include side of veggies and/or bread and are large enough for leftovers. This does not include 3 "meals for 2" frozen veggie dinners I have, frozen burritos, canned soup or any sandwiches. I excluded these because those are what I consider to be our fall back plans or quick fixes.
I am challenging myself to cook using what we already have, only buying milk, bread and other perishables. I know that this would completely deplete my stash and I don't want to find myself having to do serious grocery shopping at some point in February, so T and I decided on a compromise. I get $100 for the month of January to buy our perishables and then use the rest for couponing and sale shopping only. If it isn't on sale or if I don't have coupons for it, I won't buy it. We will see how we do with this. I was totally shocked once I sat down and looked at all the different meals I could make with what we have on hand. I had NO idea we had that much food stocked up. And T was shocked too. ;) He always says, "Well, what is there to eat?", never saying we don't have anything but certainly making it sound that way. He couldn't believe how many meals I came up with. He asked if I really had the groceries to make all of that on hand. As if I would make something like that up. Ha.
We work on a ridiculously limited budget anyway and I know if we can do this it will save us so much money. Think of how much you would save if you did it? Want to see others who are participating? Check out Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom!

Show Us Your Life - Dinner Recipes

These three recipes are so simple to make but absolutely delicious. They are my mom's recipes so I grew up eating them and, thankfully, Trevor loves them! :)


Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
1 pkg Beef Stew Meat
1 Onion - cut in rings
1 pkg mushrooms - slices
1 Onion Soup Mix
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
16 ox Sour Cream
1 pkg Egg Noodles

Put stew meat in the crockpot, covered with onion, mushrooms, onion soup mix, and cream of mushroom soup.
Cook on LOW all day.
When ready to serve, stir in sour cream and cooked egg noodles.

Campfire Stew
1 lb ground meat
2 cans vegetable soup
1 can corn
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Brown the ground meat and drain off excess fat. Add other ingredients plus 1/3 can of water. Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Chicken Rice Casserole
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Noodle soup
3/4 cup rice, long grain - raw
4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp Italian Dressing
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Combine the two soups in a medium casserole dish. Add 1/4 cup water and the rice. Blend well. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Pour Italian dressing over chicken. Salt and pepper lightly. Cover and back in a 350 degree over for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Uncover and brown 15 minutes more.

What is in your spice cabinet?

Or spice rack, spice shelf, etc...

My Grandmommy gave me a gem! I had asked my mom for a spice rack for my birthay on Tuesday and we had talked about types and styles. I wanted something vintage, of course. =) Well, Grandmommy gave me her spice cabinet. I will try to post pictures when we get home. It is from 1970 with all of the original bottles and labels. I love it! Of course, I have to empty out the bottles, clean them and refill them.

So here is my question, what spices do you keep stocked? I love trying new recipes and I HATE hesitating because I don't have a particular spice or seasoning in my stock.

I want to use the original labels and if I have to, I will leave the original label on and put something else in it with a label on the bottom of the glass jar. ;) The spice rack includes Anise, Allspice, Basil, Bayleaf, Black Pepper, Carraway Seed, Celery Seed, Cinnamon, Cloves, Curry, Dill, Garlic Powder, Ginger, Nutmeg, Organo, Paprika, Parsley, Poultry Seasoning, Sage, Tarragon, and Thyme.

So, let me know what you think should be in every persons spice cabinet! I am open in any and all suggested.

*Post Note: For the record, Trevor's life would not be complete without Lemon Pepper Seasoning or Tony Chachere's Cajun/Creole Seasoning... so never fear - we already have those covered. ;)

Best diet tool... Ever!

I must say, I have barely touched any form of dessert since eating this on June 4th.


It was DELICIOUS! But ridiculously rich and sweet.



Valerie and I had so much fun making it.



My cousin, Valerie, and I used the Chocolate Pavlova recipe from Lifetime's TV show, Cook Yourself Thin.



And since making this and eating half a portion, I have only had one mini Betty Crock Warm Delights while watching the Bachelorette at Honey's and 4 bites of Milky Way Ice Cream for Father's Day. Nice dieting tool, eh? Low in calories (only 337 for a large piece!) and it drives away the desire for anything sweet! Sounds good to me. ;o)