Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

I have had this recipe saved in my google reader for a LONG time, but just never got around to making it. I finaly got around too it tonight, and sadly was a little let down. I didn't think it was the best. I am not sure what it was missing but I just wasn't wowed or couldn't wait to have it again

Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce (From: Erin Orginal: Rachel Ray)

• Salt
• 1/2 pound orzo pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
• Pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 12 white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo pasta. Cook to al dente.
Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream.

Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice the chicken on an angle. Add the parsley and the chicken back to the skillet to heat up, about 1 minute.

To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with the sliced chicken and sauce.

Rice Pudding

I first was introduced to a cookbook called Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen on Carrie's Kitchen Creations after seeing all her recipes from this cookbook, I decided to check it out from the library. I LOVE it, it's now on my Christmas list. I decided to give a try to the rice pudding recipe tonight though!

This was SOOO good, I can't wait to get the cookbook and try more recipes in there!

Stovetop Rice Pudding (From: Moosewood Cookbook)

• 1 C rice
• 3 1/2 C milk (I used 1 %)
• 5 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• nutmeg
• cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Place rinsed and cleaned rice in a saucepan with 3 C milk. Bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat as much as possible. Simmer until rice is tender.

When rice is tender, stir in sugar,cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and vanilla.

Remove about 1 C of the rice and put with extra 1/2 C of milk in blender. Puree and return to rest of rice. Mix well.

Serve with a pinch of cinnamon sprinkled over top.

Coconut Rice

As soon as I told my mom I would be making Fiesta Lime Chicken, she said "With Coconut Rice" I had never heard nor tried this, so I told her get me a recipe and I will.

This was very good rice, a little sweet, but paired VERY well with the chicken dish.

Coconut Rice (From: Unknown)

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 1/2 Cups Rice (not instant)
• ¾ c water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

Wash the rice & drain.

Place in a heavy pot, add the milk, water, salt & sugar, mix, cover & bring to a boil.

Let it boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low & cook for 20 minutes, until done.

Chinese Night

I am not a huge fan of Chinese food, I greatly love it but am always scared of new places to try, I got food poisoning years ago from a Chinese buffet and ever since then I am not so sure. Adam LOVES Chinese so when I found these recipes I knew I had to pair them up together and make a Chinese dinner at home.

My changes are in italics, I didn't make the chicken fried rice as that would of been too filling, I just made fried rice.

This was overall a great dinner, the chicken had great flavor, but it had a different orange color, I am not sure if it was an ingredient or what, but once you got over the color it was great! The rice was also very good. We used the Wok to make the rice and added some mushrooms, next time I would definatly add the chicken, I think that is where you would get more flavor.

Bourbon Chicken (From: Amber, Original: RecipeZaar)

• 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (I used 2 breasts)
• 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted as we aren't spicy people)
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove Chicken.

Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.

Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve over hot rice and ENJOY.

Chicken Fried Rice (From: Bakespace Member Motherof2Boys)

• 6 oz. cooked diced chicken (I omitted)
• 1/4 c. low sodium chicken broth or bouillon (I omitted)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. low sodium teriyaki sauce
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
• Pinch white pepper
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 2 lg. eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 c. diced onion
• 1/2 c. shredded carrot
• 1 1/2 c. cooked white rice
• 1/2 c. frozen peas

In small bowl, combine chicken, 2 tablespoon water, chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, ginger and pepper. Set aside. In large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add eggs; cook, stirring until set but moist. Remove egg to warm plate.

Add remaining oil and heat. Add onion and carrot. Stir fry 3 to 4 minutes, until tender. Stir in rice and peas. Cook until rice begins to brown. Add chicken mixture and egg. I added dash of ginger and teriyaki sauce here instead of with the chicken. Cook 5 minutes longer until heated through.

Teriyaki Chicken

I love teriyaki, anything and everything teriyaki! My friend Amber made teriyaki chicken a while back and I knew I had to make it, come on it's teriyaki. I made it tonight. I made 2 changes to the recipe, I cubed my meat, and marinated in store bought teriyaki marinate for the day, then marinated for another hour in the homemade marinate like the recipe stated. I served with some white rice.

Overall this was very good, it had a little bit of a kick to it, which I am not exactly sure where that came from.

Teriyaki Chicken (From: Krashed24 & Allrecipes)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3 clove garlic, minced (I used minced garlic about a tablespoon and half)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 breasts cubed)
  

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. Let sauce cool.

Pour cooled sauce into bottom of greased 9x13 casserole dish. Dip one side of each chicken piece into the sauce and then place piece, sauce dipped side up, into the pan. Let marinate in fridge for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until internal temp is 165 degrees. Baste the chicken with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking

Mexican Fiesta

I have had my eye on a Mexican rice recipe for almost two weeks now, I wanted to try it SO bad, when we went grocery shopping last I made sure to have all the ingredients. I am SO glad I tried it, I will definitely be making this recipe often!

Chicken Quesadillas (From: Myself)

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 pkg taco seasoning
• cheese
• flour tortillas

Boil chicken breasts, let cool a bit and shred the chicken breasts.

Then put into pan and brown a little bit, add water and taco seasoning. Cook until the water is absorbed.

Lay flour tortilla flat on a pan, put meat and cheese on half of the tortilla. Fold over and cook until golden brown, flip and repeat.

Cut and serve.

Mexican Rice (From: chelley325)

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice (I used 2 cups instant rice)
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (I used onion powder)
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin (I added this)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (I added this)

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with garlic salt.

Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

***Tips: Because I used minute rice, I followed instructions up to boil, then took off heat covered and let sit.

Honey Glazed Chicken

Last night I went with my Aunt and Grandma to a place called Get Cookin' it's a place you prepare meals and then freeze them. My Aunt shared half of one of her meals with me. It was a Honey Glazed Chicken. We tried it out tonight. It was horrible, the sauce had really good flavor but next time I would do it in the slow cooker, so the chicken could take in more flavor, it was only on the outside.

Honey Glazed Chicken (From: Get Cookin' Recipe from: Foodgeeks.com)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 lb. broiler/fryer chicken, cut up
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1-1/2 tsp. curry powder

In a bowl or bag, combine flour, salt and cayenne pepper; add chicken pieces and dredge or shake to coat. Pour 4 tbsp. butter into a 13x9x2 baking pan; place chicken in pan, turning once to coat. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Combine brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, soy sauce, curry powder and remaining butter; pour over chicken. Bake 45 minutes more or until chicken is tender, basting several times with pan drippings.

The directions I had were at 400° for 30 mintes, add sauce and bake for another 15, the chicken was done, but wasn't super flavorful!

Quesadillas

I wasn't sure what to cook the rest of the week. So we got creative. It actually turned out to be an amazing dinner. And I will keep this recipe and use in the future.

I made chicken Quesadillas with my own taco seasoning, Adam and I thought it was better then the store bought stuff!!!

Taco Seasoning

• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• dash of red pepper (I left this off)

I mixed everything together in a bowl, fried my chicken with some EVOO and then added about a half cup of water and the seasoning. The one thing I noticed this took a little longer then a packet to thicken but was good. I then laid my tortilla out on a flat pan, put cheese and meat on one half, folded over and let sit until golden brown on about medium heat.

I served this meal with the corn cakes, and Zatarains Mexican Rice which was VERY good. It was a very easy and quick dinner!!

Kielbasa with Cookies Al-Mode for Dessert

We had our normal Tuesday night date with our friends last night. I wanted something a pretty easy to make so Adam suggested the Kielbasa, we had it just a few weeks ago but he really liked it and wanted to try it again!

I served it with Rice-a-Roni, I couldn't find many good recipes and fresh rolls. My girlfriend who said she grew up with it and hated it because it was also the same. Said this was really good.

• 2 kielbasa
• 1 lg can crushed pineapple
• 1 c. brown sugar

Fry kielbasa in pan until cooked and warm, add pineapple and brown sugar, and simmer until sauce thickens.

For dessert I decided on Cookies Al-Mode. They were awesome! Something I have never made. But the hot gooey chocolate chip cookies and cold ice cream really mixed.

• Chocolate Chip Cookies (I didn't have time to make my own and used Nestle ready bake
• Vanilla Ice Cream (We prefer Eddys Vanilla Bean)
• Chocolate Sauce

Bake the cookies, as soon as they come out serve this dish up. I placed one cookie on the plate, then put 2 scoops of ice cream, and then the other cookie on it's side next to it. Then lay chocolate sauce over top. It was delicious!

Kielbasa with Flair, and Brownies Al-mode

I grew up eating Kielbasa, and introduced Adam to it, he will eat it but never really loved it, one of those in a pinch quick kind of meals. He loved this new recipe. I was on one of my discussion boards when Kielbasa was brought up, a recipe similar to this was mentioned but wasn't taken into detail, so I kinda of made my own recipe up. It was wonderful! And Adam is ready for me to make it again.

Kielbasa

1 kielbasa
1 small can crushed pineapple
2 Tb. brown sugar

I cut the kielbasa into about 1 inch pieces and then fried it until it was a light golden brown. I then added the pineapple and brown sugar and simmer. I waited until it thickened about 5 minutes. I served it with rice.
This is definitely a new way to serve kielbasa! I will be making this more often and experimenting with it also.

For dessert I made No Pudge brownies, they are very easy to make, and 100% fat free. I bought this box at Trader Joes but have seen them at my local grocery store, and all you add is yogurt. Adam said it would be good with some cherry yogurt. I put some fat free ice cream, and whip cream on top. They are so good.

BBQ Dinner

I put my ribs in the slow cooker on Friday night with the sauce, and then baked in the crockpot yesterday. They turned out wonderful. This was a rather easy meal, and the ribs were so easy.

Ribs (My recipe)

1 pkg ribs (use as many as you would like) I used pork this time but have used beef also

1 or 2 jars of BBQ sauce

I brown my ribs in a pan with some olive oil, about 2 minutes on each side, just to get them brown. I then put one layer of BBQ sauce down then lay the ribs on top, then place more BBQ sauce. I then refrigerated them, and put them on in the morning. You don't have to refrigerate it just makes it easier in the morning. I put these on around 8am, and we ate about 6 pm, they just fell off the bone. I served with rice and rolls and some broccoli. It was wonderful!