Greek Chicken & Pita Bake

I’ve always loved the flavors used in Greek cooking. This is a really simple casserole that goes together quickly and has a nice flavor to it. You could very easily turn this into a vegetarian dish by sticking with the 2 zucchini and adding the tomatoes. All in all, it was a tasty dish. Enjoy!

Greek Chicken & Pita Bake


1  10 3/4-oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup
4 cups chopped cooked chicken (about 1 1/4 lbs.)
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices (I just used 1 zucchini)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2  cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning
3  6-inch pita bread rounds, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (I omitted the tomatoes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken, zucchini, broth, red onion, garlic and Greek seasoning; mix well. Spoon into an un-greased 9×13 baking pan or dish. (I used an 8*8)

Bake, covered, about 30 minutes or until vegetables are almost tender. Uncover and stir.
In a medium bowl, toss together pita bread pieces, feta, olives and oil. Sprinkle pita mixture and tomatoes over chicken mixture. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes more or until top is golden brown.

Baja Chicken Soup

It turned out to be a dark & rainy Saturday so soup sounded pretty good. I found this recipe last week and I had everything on hand so I thought I’d give it a try. I added just a few ingredients to the original and it turned out pretty good. I hope you like it.

Baja Chicken Soup

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in bite size pieces
1 tbl olive oil
1 can cheddar cheese soup
3 cups chicken broth
1 can ro-tel
2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1 small can of chopped black olives (not in the original)
1 packed taco seasoning
1/2 C Fat Free 1/2 & 1/2 (not in the original)

Place olive oil in stock pan, heat over medium heat, throw in chicken. Cook until it's white on outside. (It will cook more so make sure and don't cook all the way through). Place can of soup and chicken broth in pot and bring to boil.

Then place rotel, beans, corn, and black olives in pot. Season to your taste with seasoning packet. When you are about 5 minutes from serving, add Fat Free 1/2 & 1/2 just to help cool down the spiciness. Simmer until heated through and ready to eat.

Mongolian Beef

I came across this recipe from Shawnda last week. We don’t normally try our hand at Asian cuisine at home, but we had some flank steak in the freezer and her picture looked delicious. I had to give it a shot. Oh My! This was delicious!! The sauce on this is great. We served this with some edamame & shrimp shumai from the local Asian grocery store. Delicious!



Mongolian Beef

1 lb flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 tsp vegetable oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar (measured, not packed)
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large green onion, sliced thinly

Pat steak slices dry and add to a bowl with corn starch. Toss to ensure all pieces are just coated. Shake off excess corn starch using a strainer.

Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in a large wok or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant. Add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl.

Turn the heat to high and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides. Pour the sauce back into the wok and cook until the sauce reaches desired consistency. Add the green onions (a pinch reserved for garnish), stir, and remove from heat.

Plate. Top with remaining onions, and serve.

Crab Salad

With all of our leftover crab from the previous night’s Crab Boil, I decided to make a crab salad. I’m definitely more of a cream cheese then a mayo girl, but you can really adjust this however you want to. I prefer to serve it on an avocado 1/2 with a sprinkle of green onions. Enjoy this light summer meal.


Crab Salad

about 2 Cups of meat from crab legs & claws, torn into small pieces
1 8oz package of Fat Free Cream Cheese
a little less than 1/4 Cup of mayo
2 to 3 Tbsp of skim milk
a splash of lemon juice
salt & pepper

In a medium size bowl combine crab meat, cream cheese, and mayo. Stir gently to combine.
Add milk in a Tbsp at a time until you are happy with the consistency.
Season with lemon juice, salt & pepper.

Serve chilled.

Crab & Shrimp Boil

When you ask your sweet husband to go pick up some crab from the store, nothing is more nice than coming home to him cooking away so you have a night off. So there isn’t much of a recipe below... The Crab Boil should give you the basics. This is how Cancy put it all together. Enjoy!


Crab & Shrimp Boil

2 clusters of snow crab legs
1/2 pound peeled & deveined shrimp
2 ears of corn, halved into 2 pieces each
4 or 5 small red potatoes, cut each into about 4 pieces
Zatarain’s Crab & Shrimp Boil (dry)

Using the recipe on your Crab Boil, you’ll want to cook the corn and potatoes first, give the crab about 20 minutes, and the shrimp about 5.

Grilled Beer Brats & Sauerkraut

This isn’t really much of a recipe, but more of an easy weeknight meal when it’s nice enough outside to grill. This is how we do beer brats...


Beer Brats & Sauerkraut

1 package of beer brats
1 large jar of sauerkraut
1 white onion, chopped
1 can of beer

In a large pan bring beer to a simmer, adding onions and sauerkraut. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set beer brats on the top of the simmering sauerkraut and cover again for another 20 minutes.

Remove brats and replace the lid. Grill the brats until nicely marked. Serve on top of sauerkraut/onions and add some mustard for a little extra flavor.

Summer Shrimp Rolls

This is a recipe that I came across in the June/July ’09 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray. This was one of the easiest meals to put together. I think I had everything ready to go within 15 minutes. This is definitely a keeper for those summer nights when it’s too hot to cook, but you want something tasty to fill you up.

Summer Shrimp Rolls

1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pound large shrimp - peeled, deveined, chopped
3/4 Cup fresh corn kernels, from about 2 ears (I cheated and used a small can of Mexi-Corn)
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise ( I used low fat mayo)
1/4 Cup Pesto
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch cubes ( I used a whole red pepper)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
salt & pepper
4 hot dog buns ( I used 4 small Hawaiian rolls)

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until opaque, about 3 minutes, Remove from the heat, stir in the corn, and let cool.

In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, pesto, and lemon juice. Add the shrimp-corn mixture, bell pepper & scallions; toss. Season with salt & pepper. Serve in the buns.

No-Cook Avocado Bisque

Sometimes you want, so badly to love a recipe... Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you can’t.

I have never made, and Cancy and I have never eaten a cold soup. It was a beautiful, hot Spring day so I thought it would be the perfect time to try a new recipe in the June/July Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.

So, as we sat down to dinner, we both tried really hard to like it. Cancy summed it up best, I guess, by saying it was like eating guacamole, but as a soup. I stubbornly finished mine off. He gave up and made some quick man food to eat instead. This one did not quite do it for us...

No-Cook Avocado Bisque

2 large avocados
2 Cups Buttermilk
4 scallions, green & white parts sliced separately
Grated peel & juice of 1 lime
16 ice cubes
Salt
1 pound of tomatoes, coarsely chopped
3 ounces Feta Cheese, crumbled
6 ounces tortilla chips

Using a blender (I used my food processor) puree 1 avocado, the buttermilk, and scallion whites. Add the lime peel and three quarters of the lime juice. With the machine on low speed, add blend in the ice cubes, 1 at a time, until smooth. (I only used about 8 ice cubes). Season with salt; refrigerate.

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the remaining avocado and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the tomatoes, feta cheese, scallion greens, and the remaining lime juice.

Divide the soup among bowls. Top with the avocado salad & tortilla chips. Serve with the remaining tortilla chips on the side.

Polynesian Style Meatballs

Since this is my off week for grocery shopping, it’s time for using up whatever is in the fridge, freezer, & pantry. This recipe from Don’t Forget Delicious popped up in my Google Reader and I just happened to have everything on hand. Enjoy!



Polynesian Style Meatballs

1 pound ground pork
1 large egg
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds, ground (or mustard powder)
8 ounces pineapple chunks in juice
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup chopped onion (I used a whole onion)
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350. Cover a baking sheet with foil and lightly spritz with cooking spray.

Combine pork with next 6 ingredients (egg through mustard) in a bowl and mix well. Using a disher or your hands, roll into balls, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each, or your desired size.

Brown meatballs in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned on all sides. Move meatballs to baking sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until they are cooked through (center should be 165 degrees - residual heat will continue to cook them to 170).

While meatballs are baking, In same pan you used for the meat, heat pineapple with juice, bell pepper and onion over medium-high heat until just boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, water, brown sugar and cornstarch and mix well. Add to pineapple mixture and stir to combine. Boil and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Add meatballs back into pan and toss to coat. Serve over hot rice.

Grilled Sausage with Peppers & Onions

I had this summery recipe from Ashley in my google reader.

Simple... Yes,      Tasty... Yes,      Perfect for grilling out on a warm/hot Spring night in Texas... Absolutely


Grilled Sausage with Peppers & Onions

1 pound uncooked sausage links (I used 4 cheddar Bratwurst)
1 large onion, peeled & cut into 3/4-inch pieces (I used a red onion)
1-2 large bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used 1 red & 1 green pepper)
Olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat grill. Toss the onions & peppers with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.

Slide a skewer all the way through each onion slice. Repeat. Skewer all the peppers. (I didn’t skewer mine. I just covered the top shelf in the grill with foil and spread the veggies out)

Grill the sausages, onions & peppers, covered, until well browned on all sides.

Beefier Bean & Cheese Burritos

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. Texas is pretty close to Mexico... And we needed an excuse for margaritas & Corona. So Happy Cinco de mayo it was. And this was also the perfect excuse to try Ashley’s Beefier Bean & Cheese Burritos. Delicious!! This recipe comes together so fast and easier, you can make this a few margaritas into your night and not mess it up. Anyway, it was a great Cinco de Mayo meal... Margaritas weren’t bad either.

Beefier Bean & Cheese Burritos

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup water
4 cans Ranch Style Beans, drained & rinsed
1 can diced Hatch green chiles
10 Kraft Single Slices, or shredded cheese as desired
20 fresh flour/wheat tortillas

Saute ground beef in a large skillet until browned. Drain grease. Add taco seasoning, green chiles and 1 cup of water. Simmer until water has evaporated. Add drained & rinsed Ranch Style beans. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Partially mash using a potato masher until desired consistency achieved. If using shredded cheese, mix in cheese until desired cheesy consistency.

Fill each tortilla with a heaping 1/4 cup of beef/bean mixture. Top with 1/2 slice of cheese. Fold tortilla.

Gnocchi & Shrimp with Goat Cheese Sauce

I was trying to think of a way to use the goat cheese that we had in the fridge. I was trying to think to think of something that would come together quickly. We had the gnocchi in the pantry so the recipe for tonight’s dinner just sort of happened. This took 15 minutes from start to finish. Cancy and I both really enjoyed it. I hope you like it.

Gnocchi & Shrimp with Goat Cheese Sauce

1 pkg shelf stable gnocchi
1/2 pound frozen shrimp
1/2 bag fresh baby spinach
1/4 Cup white wine
1 Cup chicken broth
a 4 oz container of crumbled goat cheese
Thyme, salt & pepper

In a large skillet, spray non stick spray in pan and heat to medium high. Add the gnocchi and toss until done. While the gnocchi is cooking, season with salt & pepper. Add additional non-stick spray as needed. The gnocchi is done when you can bite into it and it doesn’t taste floury.
Set aside.

Keeping a medium high heat, cook the shrimp in the pan until just slightly pink. Set this aside.

Wilt spinach in the same pan until reduced in size and then set aside with the shrimp.

Deglaze the pan with 1/4 Cup white wine and cook down until reduced by 1/2. Add the chicken broth and again cook until reduced down. Add about 1/2 Tbsp Thyme. Add shrimp & spinach back into the pan.

Sprinkle in container of crumbled goat cheese and stir until smooth and there are no more chunks of goat cheese.

To serve, plate the cooked gnocchi and then top with shrimp & spinach, ladling the sauce over top.