Crispy Ranch Chicken

When I made my Greek-Style Chicken, I bought a surplus of chicken thighs.  We really don't eat chicken thighs on a regular basis, so I froze half the package for later use.  This past week, my Mother, sister and I packed up my kitchen, so my slow-cookers are safely packed away in a box, so making the Greek-Style Chicken again was not an option.  This is another from the Great American Recipes collection.  This is an easy recipe, most of the ingredients are usually on hand in any kitchen.  You can either use Rice Crispys or Corn Flakes for the coating.  We had the chicken coated with Corn Flakes tonight, and it tricked me into thinking I was eating a piece of fried chicken, it was so delicious and crunchy!  I sprinkled the left-over crumbs in the dish over the chicken on the baking sheet, I suggest you do the same!

Yields 4 servings

Prep time 10 mins    Cooke time 20-25 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rice Crispys or Corn Flakes
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 envelope (1 oz) ranch salad dressing mix, such as Hidden Valley
• 2 egg whites, beaten  
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 5 oz each)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine the rice cereal, Parmesan cheese and ranch salad dressing mix in a large bowl. 
2. Place beaten egg whites in a medium bowl.  Dip each chicken thigh in the egg whites and then in the cereal mixture to coat evenly.
3. Arrange the coated chicken on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake until golden and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife, 20-25 minutes.  Serve hot.

Happenings in World of A Mommy's "Food" - scapades!

In the spirit of Peter Cottontail and colored hard-boiled eggs everywhere, I am re-posting my Carrot Cake Cupcakes recipe.  I was planning on making this as a Carrot Cake this Easter, but due to our upcoming move (8 short days away!) and the fact that my Mother, Sister and I packed up the kitchen on Monday, leaving the barest of all essentials, I'll have to leave the Carrot Cake to next year's festivities!  I will, however, bake a Carrot Cake for Bill, Eoin and I once we get settled into the new place.  I know this seems like a cop-out.  Mom's are supposed to be these incredible beings, that are not to be encumbered by anything they may encounter, but I have a 15 month old that is very active, and I have pretty much been left to pack all of our things since Bill's day is 12 hours long.  Example of my day, I pack a box, and if Eoin is not napping, he'll come over and unpack said box!  Besides all of that, I literally have no kitchen at the moment.  All of the boxes that are ready to go are piled to the ceiling in there, which makes cooking (in any capacity) nearly impossible.  I have one more recipe to post, possibly two, for the rest of the month.  I know, while I was off to a good start in March, my posts have been few and far between this month.  Once the move is complete, and everything is set up in the new kitchen, I promise I will be as active as ever!  I have some very good ideas of new products that I want (hint, hint Mother's Day and Birthday!) and I have plenty of recipes in mind!  Like I said, I definitely have one, if not two, recipes to end this month!  Like always, I appreciate all of your feedback, so keep those comments coming!  And please feel free to follow me on Facebook!

Salsa Fish Fillets

I was in the mood for a smorgasbord for dinner tonight.  I wanted fish, but I didn't just want fish fillets for dinner.  Like I have said, we are moving in 2 weeks!  (Exciting isn't it?)  and I am trying to use as much as I can from my freezer so I don't have to take it all with me!  Saves on shopping for the next two weeks!  So tonight I decided to make a seafood festival of sorts.  I made the fillets (a small fillet for each of us), linguine and white clam sauce (I added some salad shrimp to the clam sauce), mussels in garlic and oil sauce and of course a veggie, corn.  I have a bachelorette party tomorrow night, so the boys now have plenty of leftovers from the past two nights to have dinner tomorrow night!  This is truly a simple dish, ANYONE can make it!  It's super fast and simple, that even after a long day of work, this is still a doable meal!  I wasn't quite sure if Eoin was going to eat any of this, because of the salsa, but he tried it and seemed to like it.  He was in a mood though, so we'll try again tomorrow and see if we have the same outcome!

Yields 3 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 sole, tilapia, flounder, whatever fish you would like to use.
• About 6 Tbsp Salsa, roughly 2 for each fillet
• Lemon juice, fresh or Real Lemon, whatever you have handy

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line baking sheet with 2 sheets of foil.  You will be making a tent with the foil, so make sure it is wide enough.  Spray foil with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Line fish on foil-lined baking sheet.  
4. Spread 1-2 Tbsp of Salsa on each fillet, you want it covered thoroughly.  Squirt lemon juice over the Salsa covered fillets.
5. Fold the foil around fish to make a tent.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the fish is nice and flakey.

Mini Italian Meat Loaves

This is another one from Betty Crocker The Big Book of Slow Cooker, Casseroles & More.  I'll admit, it is VERY similar to my recipe for Turkey Pizza Burgers but it does taste different!  Obviously this isn't what we're having for dinner tonight since we're still in Lent, but it was what was for dinner last night!  They came out very good, and Eoin got a kick out of having his own little meatloaf!  I served these with Italian Green Beans and Beef Rice, mainly because I was limited on time.  I want to; in the future, try something similar but I want to use ground chicken.  I'll obviously post the recipe for that if I choose to create it!  You can make these however you make your traditional meatloaf.  I followed the recipe for this, but I don't make my traditional meatloaf this way.  I have stated before, meatloaf, hamburgers and meatballs are literally the easiest dishes you can make.  I have variations on certain kinds of hamburgers, but other than that, there are no "real" directions on making them.  It all boils down to your personal preference, some people like chopped onion in theirs, some extra garlic, and some a hint of Tabasco!  There is no wrong way for preparing them!  These are made in a muffin pan, which I thought was an excellent idea because sometimes when you slice into a meatloaf, the whole thing crumbles and falls apart!  This way, there's a sense of portion control, and the overall presentation is a bit nicer!  The mini loaves are super kid-friendly!

Yields 6 servings (2 loaves each)  [Mine made 2 loaves less, giving me 10 loaves, or 5 servings]

Prep Time 10 minutes   Cook Time about 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs extra-lean (at least 90%) ground beef
• 1/2 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup pepperoni-flavored pizza sauce (from 14-oz jar)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I added extra garlic to mine)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup shredded Italian-style six-cheese blend or mozzarella cheese (1 oz)
• Additional pizza sauce, heated, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  In large bowl, mix all ingredients except cheese and additional pizza sauce.  Press beef mixture into 12 regular-size muffin cups (cups will be very full).  Place muffin pan on cookie sheet in oven to catch any spillover.  
2. Bake about 30 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted in center of loaves in middle of muffin pan reads 160°F.
3. Sprinke 1 teaspoon cheese over each loaf.  Bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.  Immediately remove from cups.  Serve with pizza sauce.

Easy Cheesy Manicotti

I belong to a book club, which was terrific when I was pregnant, because I ordered a whole bunch of books for my little bundle of joy.  Now, I don't have any time to read.  I have a toddler who runs around and turns my house upside down every day.  I cook, clean, and work two days a week.  Oh and we're moving, so I'm on a never-ending packing escapade (or so it seems).  Just for laughs (yeah right!) I decided to check how many more books I needed to buy and in how long of a time.  4 selections by July!  I don't even have time to read, and now I need to buy 4 books?  And when it comes to a book club, 4 selections really doesn't mean 4 books.  7 books later...so I decided to buy 2 cookbooks, although as soon as they came in the mail, I saw one that I wanted even more.  Maybe someone will buy it for me for Mother's Day or my 30th birthday (hint, hint).  This one is Betty Crocker The Big Book of Slow Cooker, Casseroles & More which at this point in time is almost like a Godsend because packing has become a little more important than cooking, and I'm trying to get rid of EVERYTHING in my freezer so I don't have to bring it with us! 

Between work and then a late afternoon appointment, I don't have time to cook tomorrow.  Between packing and cleaning today, I prepped this casserole (while Eoin was napping!), and now when I get home tomorrow night, it's ready to go in the oven.  When we all get home and sit around the kitchen table, I can guarantee we will have a great meal to share the tales of our day over!

Yields 7 servings (2 shells each)

prep time  25 minutes  cook time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 jar (26 oz) chunky-style tomato paste sauce.  (I used the rest of my Truly Simple Mushroom Marinara Sauce)
• 2 boxes (9 oz each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained.  (I put mine in a colander and pressed down, squeezing the excess water out)
• 1 container (12 oz) small-curd cottage cheese (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves, crumbled
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 package (8 oz) manicotti shells (14 shells)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz) 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  In ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish, spread about one-third of the pasta sauce.
2. In a large bowl, mix spinach, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, oregano and pepper.  Fill uncooked manicotti shells with spinach mixture; place on sauce in baking dish.
3. In medium bowl, mix remaining pasta sauce and water.  Pour sauce mixture evenly over shells, covering completely.
4. Cover with foil.  Bake 1 hour.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Cover; bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until shells are tender.

*You can make this up to 24 hours in advance.  Complete steps 1-3 and then cover with foil and refrigerate.  When you are ready to cook, place in preheated oven, and follow step 4.  You can also FREEZE this recipe!  Again, complete steps 1-3, then cover tightly, label and freeze for up to a month.  Bake 2 hours when ready to eat.

Crunchy Eggplant Cutlet Parmesan

I know Lent really isn't THAT long, but I've grown pretty tired of "Fish Fridays."  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fish, and I LOVE seafood, but not when I HAVE to eat it!  I bought a medium-sized eggplant the other day, figuring just the baby and I would eat it during the week for lunch, or as a side dish to our dinner.  My boyfriend really isn't a huge fan of eggplant.  Then I started thinking...wouldn't it be nice to use it as a substitute for chicken in Chicken Parmesan cutlets.  I really wasn't in the mood for a traditional Eggplant Parmesan.  I wanted thick slices of crunchy eggplant with sauce and oozing cheese.  When I have chicken cutlets, I prefer them to be a little bit crunchier, so that was what I was aiming for with these by using the Panko.  I figure it's not your traditional run-of-the-mill Eggplant Parmesan, and maybe it will be a vegetarian hit in our house (we don't have many of those)!  The sauce I used in this recipe was a homemade Truly Simple Mushroom Marinara Sauce.  The mushrooms gave the sauce that extra "meatiness," which I think these cutlets really needed, to feel just a little bit more filling.  I really wanted to do this recipe just by baking them (I hate giving the baby anything fried) but I thought by just baking, it may dry out the eggplant, and would not have my desired effect.  I'll try experimenting a little next time, and see if I can get a solely baked version that comes out just as good!

Yields about 10 "cutlets," makes about 4-5 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-1 1/2" rounds
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup panko (more as needed)
• 1 egg, whisked with 1/2 cup cold water
• About 1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1/2-1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
• about 1/3 cup of marinara sauce (link to a homemade sauce recipe above, or jarred)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
2. Put paper towels over a baking sheet and place rounds in single layer.  Lightly sprinkle with salt, and let sit 20 minutes.  This rids the eggplant of excess moisture. 
3. Coat the bottom of a frying pan with the oil, and heat over medium heat.
4. Coat each round with flour, dip into egg and press into panko crumbs.  After each round is breaded, but into pan with hot oil.  Brown both sides of the eggplant, adding more oil when needed.
5. After both sides of round are browned, then transfer to a paper towel covered plate.  You DO NOT want to cook the eggplant rounds thoroughly, because over cooking will cause them to fall apart!  
6. While the paper towels are absorbing the excess oil, take 2 cookie sheets, and put a wire rack inside of them.  After frying the eggplant, and making them nice and crispy, you want the hot air to circulate around the cutlets.  If you put them directly onto the cookie sheet, you risk the chance of them becoming soggy!  
7. Arrange the cooled cutlets on the wire racks in a single layer.  Put a dollop of marinara sauce on each, then sprinkle generously with cheese.
8. Bake just until the cheese melts.  Serve with a side of pasta and salad!

Truly SIMPLE Mushroom Marinara Sauce

Alas, Lent it almost over!  I'm getting tired of fish on Fridays though!  Tonight, I figured I would make something different, but I didn't feel like using jarred sauce (I'm feeling rather ambitious today)  I decided to make sauce while Eoin ate breakfast this morning, and since I had some left over mushrooms from the other night, that I didn't use in the salad, I figured what could be better than a mushroom marinara?  The original recipe was featured in the April 2010 issue of Woman's Day, of course I spruced it up with the mushrooms!  You can double and triple this recipe and freeze the sauce for later use.  I highly recommend this, however I didn't do it myself this time.  We're gearing up to move at the end of the month, and the less in my freezer, the better! 

This makes about 7 cups (if you only need it for pasta, use half and then freeze half)

Ingredients:

• non-stick cooking spray
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 container of white mushrooms, about 7 mushrooms, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced (I used the equivalent in minced jarred garlic)
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 cans (28 oz each) no-salt-added crushed tomatoes (stock up when they're on sale, you won't regret it!)
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Coat a 5-quart saucepan with non-stick cooking spray.  Heat over medium heat.
2. Add onion, cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften.  Add mushrooms, and cook down, stirring occasionally.  You want the mushrooms to be soft, and the onions to be clear.
3. Add the balsamic vinegar and the garlic, and stir into the onion and mushroom mixture.  Let cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper.  Stir to combine and heat til boiling.  Lower heat to low, cover and simmer for a half hour.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Turkey Pizza Burgers

I'm not a big fan of ground turkey, but I buy it and eat it because it's healthy and it helps us eat a balanced diet.  It seems like the whole family can tolerate ground turkey if I use it in burgers.  I try to change up the kinds of burgers I do every now and then, because let's face it, the same old can get VERY boring!  My son likes turkey burgers, and this one was a big hit!  My goal was to pretty much season the burger itself like the pizza sauce and then to top each burger with a spoonful of marinara sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.  You can use homemade sauce, and freshly grated cheese, or you can use jarred sauce and a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, the choice is strictly up to your personal preference. 

Yields about 6 burgers

Prep time 10 minutes     Cook time 12 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1 1/4 lbs of ground turkey
• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 4 Tbsp marinara sauce, more to top each burger with a teaspoonful
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 dashes red pepper flakes
• a dash of salt and a dash of pepper
• about 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella

Directions:

1. Heat pan over medium-high heat.
2. Combine everything except for extra marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Combine thoroughly and form into about 6 patties (number of patties may vary depending on how big or small you like your burgers, I usually make a couple of sliders for the baby)
3. Grill burgers 5 minutes on each side, or cooked through.  Lower heat to medium-low.  Top each burger with a tsp of marinara sauce and sprinkle mozzarella on top.  Cover, and melt cheese.  Serve on a roll or by itself. 

Sausage and Peppers

My son isn't a big fan of sausage and peppers, and I really can't blame him!  For a baby, it makes you gassy, and the texture is just weird.  Needless to say, this is my first recipe which isn't a 100% tried and true kid-friendly recipe.  Eoin tried bits and pieces and wasn't thrilled.  But at least he tried it!  Regardless, I am sharing this recipe because it is one of the easiest things to make.  I already have the alterations in my head to make it a little more kid-friendly, and I can't wait to share the new and improved recipe with you in the future!  

Tuesdays and Thursdays, both Bill and I work.  When Eoin and I get home, I need a quick and easy recipe to get dinner on the table ASAP.  I am not a huge fan of sausage and peppers myself, but the beer gives it a slightly different flavor, which is always welcome to my palate.  The next time around, I will omit the beer, and use a turkey or chicken sausage and just saute everything.  

Yields 4 Servings

Prep Time 10 minutes    Cook time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1-1 1/2 lbs of sweet Italian sausage, each link sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 medium red onion, sliced or chopped
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1/2 can of your favorite beer

Directions:

1. Heat skillet for 2 minutes on medium-high heat.
2. Add sausage and brown (approximately 5 minutes) on each side.
3. Add onion and peppers and sweat down, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add beer, simmer for about 10-15 minutes more.

I served this tonight on top of yellow rice and a side salad consisting of mixed greens with garbanzo beans (chickpeas), sliced white mushroom and green olives.  I prefer using either lemon juice or a light balsamic dressing, but you can use your choice of dressing.