Viva Madrid Spanish Chicken

Aye, aye, aye was this delicious!!! Even with all of the onions & dates, P still tried this dish and loved it. It was fun to make and didn't take long at all. I'll definitely be making this again!

Here is the link for the recipe. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/viva-madrid-spanish-chicken/detail.aspx The only changes I made was I didn't mince the garlic, I just pounded it out with a knife and I didn't have thyme. It was still delish!

This is not diet food

Zucchini, Mushrooms and Tagliatelle. Mama Mia!

P-Man (I was asked by him to be called something other than hubby- lol) and I have decided to have 2 vegetarian meals a week. Tonight was veggies with pasta in a rich cream sauce. I don't think this was the right way to go for our first "healthy" meatless night. Oh well, we have one more day this week. I'll try to make it right.

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Butter

2 Small Zucchini, julienned

1 Small Pkg of your favorite mushrooms, sliced

1/2 Onion, Minced

2 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream (or use Laughing Cow triangles for a low-fat sauce)

4 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

Salt & Pepper to Taste

1 Pkg Tagliatelle Pasta, cooked as directed on pkg

Directions:

1. Heat Oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add zucchini and mushrooms and saute until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
2. Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute until golden brown. Stir in Cream and boil until sauce is reduced.
3. Add noodles, zuchhini, 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese, salt & pepper to taste to the cream sauce. Toss until heated through. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.

Enjoy! And be ready for bed afterwards!! :)

Where Have I Been?

Hiya! I'm back! I can't belive it's been 2 years since I've posted. We have just moved to Sevilla, Spain so I KNOW I'll have lots to blog about. Stay tuned!

Cheesy Pork Chops

I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've blogged. There is so much to tell, but that is a whole other blog in itself. In May I officially became a Homemade Gourmet consultant and am loving it! So, of course I will be posting my creations. :)

Cheesy Pork Chops (and I forgot to take a picture!)

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Pork Chops
1 Can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 Cup chicken broth
1 Bell pepper, sliced
2 Large potatoes, thinly sliced
3 Tablespoons Homemade Gourmet Grandmother's Sunday Roast
1 Cup shredded cheese (colby or whatever you like)

Pre heat oven to 350. Layer potatoes and bell pepper in a large casserole dish. Place pork chops on top of potatoes. In a bowl, mix cream of mushroom, broth and Sunday Roast seasoning. Pour on top of pork chops. Bake for about 45 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top of pork chops and place under the broiler for a few minutes until cheese is bubbly.

Yes, I Love Brussel Sprouts!

This is pork chops with polenta and brussel sprouts on the side. I actually just wanted to give the recipe for the brussel sprouts. They were the best I've ever had! I have NEVER liked brussel sprouts and was quite surprised when I scarfed these down.

Ingredients:
20 big fresh brussel sprouts, cut in half
4 garlic cloves, smashed with a knife
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter (or more if you like)
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in medium sized frying pan. Add garlic and cook for around 3 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan. Add sprouts, cut side down. Add salt & pepper to your liking. Top with garlic and cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until the sprouts are tender. These are GREAT!

Roast Beef Sub

I made a pot roast on Sunday. Instead of having the traditional "pot roast dinner", I made hoagies instead. They were so good! I added some provolone on top and melted it before I served them. The pot roast is so juicy that you don't even need condiments.

Ingredients:

Chuck roast- 2.5 lb.

Approx 10 garlic cloves

Olive oil

1 can beef broth

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Cut small slits on the chuck roast and slip 1/2 garlic clove into it. I usually make about 10 to 15 slits total (I love garlic!). Rub olive oil all over the roast then add salt & pepper. Brown each side of the roast in a frying pan for about 3 minutes on each side. Once you put the roast in a roast pan, pour the beef broth over it and add additional salt & pepper. Cover and cook for approx. 3 hours on 325.

Some What Cobb Salad

Well, this is just about the only way to get my other half to eat salad. With all of the extra ingredients and dressing, it probably has a TON of calories.... but it's oh so good.

I'm sure by the picture you can see all of the ingredients. There is some avocado in there, just in case you can't see it ;) Delish!

Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken

I know my last post was with bow tie pasta. I just can't get enough!!! I was bored so invented the cream sauce which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. ;) I don't know how to cook for 1 or 2 people so this recipe made enough for about 6 peeps. lol Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 box bow tie pasta, cooked al dente

1 box frozen spinach, thawed and dried

3-4 chicken breasts, cubed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pkg lite cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

1-2 cups milk (I used 2%)

Splash of dry white wine

Juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons dry basil leaves

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute chicken in a bit of olive oil, add garlic and cook until chicken is browned (about 3-4 minutes). Remove chicken from the pan so that you can make the sauce. Add butter to the saucepan. Once it melts add the cream cheese until smooth. Add milk until you get the consistency you would like. Add a splash of wine and the juice of one lemon. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Add the basil leaves and chili flakes. Add spinach and chicken and simmer for a few more minutes to warm the spinach and chicken. Salt & pepper to taste. Once the sauce is done, transfer to the pot with the pasta. Serve with lemon. Delish!

Bow Tie Pasta w/ Turkey Sausage

Since Patrick has been out of town I have been eating all kinds of food with tomato sauce. :) I made this dish last night and it was so delish! It's very easy, took about 20 minutes and I even had left overs for lunch. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 box bow tie pasta, cooked
1 pkg turkey kielbasa sausage, chopped
1 pkg spinach
1 jar marinara sauce
2 garlic cloves, sliced
Parmesan cheese, shredded
Black olives, sliced
A few dashes red pepper flakes

Fry sausage and garlic in a bit of olive oil until sausage has browned. Add spinach and cook for a few minutes. Add marinara sauce and olives and simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix the marinara sauce in with the bow tie pasta, add red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese to taste. Top with additional parm cheese if desired.

Menu Plan Monday

My Mom just left this weekend. We had a wonderful time while she was here. Last week we celebrated our 2nd anniversary. We all got dressed up and went to Anthony's restaurant for a 4-course meal. It's a beautiful restaurant, right by the bay. I had shrimp cocktail, clam chowder, salmon cakes and chocolate mousse. We also went to Olive Garden and had their shrimp risotto. Omgosh, it is sooo good! So.... this week I'm going to try my own version of salmon cakes and I can't believe it- Olive Garden posted their receipe for the shrimp risotto, so I'm making that as well. We are going camping Friday (two weekends in a row) so I will only post until Thursday. If I make anything interesting on our camping trip I'll be sure to post it.

Sunday we had 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken. Once again it was super! I love Ina Garten's recipes. Well, I hope everyone has a great week!

For more receipes and meal ideas please visit our host Laura at http://www.orgjunkie.com/

Monday
Salmon Cakes*

Tuesday
Cobb Salad

Wednesday
Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto

Thursday
Leftovers

Friday
Camping!

*Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

1/2 red pepper, grated
1/2 cup red onion, grated
1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice & zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
1 cup dry seasoned bread crumbs
2 (6 ounce) cans boneless salmon filet
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
A few dashes tabasco sauce

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, combine red pepper, green onion, mayonnaise, lemon juice, lemon zest, seasoned salt and cayenne pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste. Stir in egg, well-drained salmon and 4 T of the bread crumbs. Divide and form mixture into 6 to 8 balls. Roll salmon balls in remaining bread crumbs and flatten into cakes. Fry salmon cakes in olive oil and melted butter in skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve with rice and green salad.