Chicken, Corn, and Tomato Skillet

This recipe was fast and good. Everyone ate it and enjoyed it. The chicken broth kept the chicken moist and added flavor to the basmati rice. I have never had/worked with basmati, and was pleasently surprised at the aroma and taste that exploded out of the rice. Also I steamed some squash from our garden. Below is the recipe and some quick pictures.

Directions:

1. Stir together 1 c chicken broth and 1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes, with juice in a large nonstick saute pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.

2. Stir in 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast haves, cut into 1/2 in pieces, 2/3 cup basmati rice, 1 c frozen corn, 1 tsp basil, and pepper to taste. When the liquid returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium; cover, and cook for about 12 minutesor until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is done.

That's all!

Grade A-

Anna: Cheesing it up

Sarah looking cute while eating her hand.

Emily enjoying every minute

Lucy is having a hard time. :(

Foolproof Beef & Broccoli

This was a nice take from the traditional beefe & broccoli. The cream of broccoli soup gives it a little cheesey taste and once again the soup keeps the meat tender. I used egg noodles for the base.

Grade: B

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak OR beef top round steak, 3/4" thick
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups broccoli flowerets
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1/8 tsp. garlic powder OR 1 clove garlic, minced
1 can Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup OR Campbell's® Condensed 98% Fat Free Cream of Broccoli Soup
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp. soy sauce
4 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Directions:
Slice beef into very thin strips.Heat 1 tbsp. oil in skillet. Add beef and stir-fry until browned. Remove beef.Add remaining oil. Add broccoli, onion and garlic and stir-fry until tender-crisp.Add soup, water and soy. Heat to a boil. Return beef to skillet and heat through. Serve over egg noodles.Tip: To make slicing easier, freeze beef 1 hour.Serves 4.



Anna adding her cheese and butter

Lucy

Emily

Sarah

zucchini brownies

It has been about a week since my last post because Jen and the girls were out of town. They are now back and I have a great recipe for you to try. It is zucchini brownies. I don't have any pictures for this one because Anna was off taking pictures of who knows what, but it looks and taste like a regular brownie. I made a chocolate peanut butter frosting for the top. Amazing!
Grade: A

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups shredded zucchini

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in yogurt and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in zucchini.

2. Pour into a greased 13 in x9 in baking pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

3. For frosting, in a small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and peanut butter. Cook and stir over low heat until smooth. Spread over warm brownies. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

OMG

Emily and the Squash

I am going to be taking most of this week off because Jen is taking the girls to Ohio so I can get some work done in my classroom, but I just wanted to share a picture of this ginormous squash that was grew in our garden. I check every other day for squash and zucchini that are ready to be picked, and I obviously overlooked this one. I will resume posting on 8-10.

Chicken and Asparagus Skillet Supper

Tonight's dinner was a success, except for the fact that I did not make enough rice for everyone. This meal was quick and easy with extremely tender chicken. I believe the chicken stock that you add at the end of the cooking process helped with keeping it tender. The squash was from our garden. Steaming the squash and asparagus was a great way to prepare these two veggies. One of the blog's followers was over for dinner and she also said that it was good. She is not pictured. :)

Grade: B+

Directions:

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

3 slices of bacon

1/2 cup chicken breast

1 lb of asparagus

1 small yellow squash

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In 12-in skillet cook chicken and bacon over medium-high heat 12 min, turning over to brown evenly. Carefully add broth; cover and cook 3-5 more or until chicken is tender and no longer pink.

2.Meanwhile, in microwave-save 2 qt dish combine asparagus, squash, and 2 Tbs water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with vented plastic wrap. Cook on 100 percent power 3-5 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring once. Transfer to plates. Drizzle cooking liquid; top with chicken, bacon, and onions.

Sarah

Emily

Lucy

Creamy Pasta Primavera

Tonight's recipe was based on a recipe that Jen found, but we tweaked it to be our own dish. Using the basil, zucchini, and yellow squash all from our garden, we made this easy pasta dish and it was great. The last meal lacked not only taste (that was not cream of mushroom) but also color (as I commented the picture looked like vomit). So the meal tasted great and extremely colorful. Anna helped tear the basil. She loved the meal as well.

Directions:
Cook 3 cups of pasta (we used heart pasta)
Meanwhile, Saute the veggies with 2 Tbs Zesty Italian salad dressing, basil, and oregano. When the veggies are ready, add 1 cup of chicken stock and 8 oz of cream cheese. Stir the pasta into the veggies. If it is too runny, add some parmesan cheese.

It is pretty easy and really good. I give it an A-.

Anna with her basil

Emily and Lucy

Sarah and Anna (of course)

Pork Chop Dinner with Rice and Veggies

It kind of looks like vomit


I cannot exactly review this dish because I did not follow the recipe to the T, but the taste of cream of mushroom soup is all that we could taste from it. The recipe was from a cookbook titled Betty Crocker's quick & easy cookbook. It was not too difficult and the pork loin was very tender, but again TOO much cream of mushroom taste. I substituted a zucchini and squash from our garden for the bag of frozen veggies, but that should not have made that much of a difference in how the dinner turned out. It was runny even after I cooked it for 15 minutes longer than the recipe called for. If I had to do it all over again, I would have only used one can of cream of mushroom soup. Overall, I would give it a C-.

Ingredients

6 pork boneless loin chops

2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 bag frozen baby peas, carrots, pea pods, and corn, thawed and drained

1 can chicken broth

2 cups uncooked instant brown rice

1. Spray 12-inch non stick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Cook pork in skillet about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown. Remove pork from skillet; keep warm.

2. Heat soup, vegetables and broth to boiling in same skillet, stirring occasionally. Stir in rice; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

3. Top with pork. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes longer or until pork is slightly pink in center and rice is tender.

Sarah





Emily

Lucy

No picture of Anna because she was not in the mood.