Chicken & Bean Slaw Wraps

Sounds gross, looks gross, but tastes GREAT!

Chicken & Bean Slaw Wraps

(I have no idea--I've had the recipe for forever)

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 1/2c. coleslaw mix with carrots

1 (15oz.) can spicy pinto beans OR Ranch Style beans OR whatever bean you like

1/3 c. Ranch dressing

1/2 c. green onions, chopped

flour tortillas

shredded cheese

BBQ sauce

Mix together cubed chicken, coleslaw mix, beans, Ranch dressing and onions.

Set aside (can be refrigerated and eaten cold, too)

Place tortillas on baking sheet and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake tortillas at 350 degrees for about 3-5 minutes.

Spoon chicken mixture onto hot tortilla, lightly drizzle with BBQ sauce, and roll up.

**If looking for a nicer presentation, you can roll up in parchment paper, twist ends, tie with raffia and then cut in half on diagonal**

Spinach and Bacon Frittata

Breakfast for dinner...one of my most favorite things! :)

Spinach and Bacon Frittata

(MS EveryDay Food, Sept/Oct 2009?)

6 large eggs

1 c. ricotta cheese

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

coarse salt and ground pepper

5 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

5 red potatoes, boiled and quartered

fresh spinach

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Set aside.

2. In a medium, nonstick ovenproof skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, 6-7 minutes. Drain all but 1 tsp. fat from pan. Add potatoes and cook until warmed through, 2-3 minutes. Add spinach and toss until barely wilted, about 30 seconds.

3. Add egg mixture and stir until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until center is set, about 15 minutes.

Tomatillo Chicken & Classic Cornbread

I am back on the bandwagon...I think. I will try to play catch up today and post a few of the recent recipes we have tried this past week. I have pictures of most of them, but need to figure out how to download my new camera--so they are coming...a bit later.

Before posting this chicken recipe, let me just state the obvious. I don't like meat on the bone. No chicken, no steak, no ham, no pork, no nothin'! Therefore, I adapt many recipes to my good ol' boneless, skinless chicken breast/tenders--which is exactly what I did here--just substituted chicken tenders for the whole chicken. I also halved the recipe for my little family and then only used 1/2 a jalapeno so it wouldn't be so spicy for my kids.

Tomatillo Chicken

(MS EveryDay Food, Sept/Oct 2009?)

2 lbs. tomatillos (husks removed, washed & halved)

1 Tblspn. vegetable oil

1 whole chicken (3-4lbs), cut into 10 pieces (wings reserved for another use)

(or about 8-10 chicken tenders)

coarse salt and pepper

2 jalapenos, chopped

1/2 medium white onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 can (15oz) hominy, drained (optional)

1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

1. In a food processor, puree tomatillos; set aside. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pot, skin side down. Cook until browned on one side, 6 minutes. Transfer to plate.

(I still lightly browned my chicken tenders, too)

2. Add jalapenos and onion to pot and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly softened, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatillo puree and hominy (if using). Season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken, skin side up, in sauce. Cover pot simmer until chicken is cooked through, 22-25 minutes. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper.

I think I must have a little bit of my dad in me. He loves to go for drives, discover new places (especially ones off the beaten path), appreciates history and isn't afraid to just get in the car and go. So a few Sunday's ago, that is exactly what I did. My family was not up for the "Sunday drive" adventure, so I went alone. Quite enjoyable, actually.

There is a street in town called "Anderson Mill Rd." It recently came to my attention that this road was actually named after a real mill--that still exists. It is only open one Sunday a month and is run by the local garden club. So I went to check it out. An interesting piece of local history, a great photo backdrop and very friendly seniors anxious to show me around. While there, I learned that the mill still grinds organic corn, donated by WholeFoods. The women swore it made the best cornbread--so I bought a bag and here is the recipe that was attached:

Cornbread

(thanks to the woman from the Anderson Mill Gardeners Club)

Beat together:

1/3 c. sugar

2 Tblspn. shortening

1 egg

In a separate bowl, mix together:

1 c. regular flour

1 c. cornmeal

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

Alternating with dry mixture, add:

1 c. buttermilk

Beat enough to mix well.

Grease 9 x 9 pan or muffin tins.

Bake @ 375 degrees until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Fresh Apricot Pie

I am visiting family "up on the farm"--literally. My girls think they are in heaven feeding the horses, chickens and dogs every day. They also LOVE checking the garden each morning to see what is ready to pick. Aside from the countless zucchini, squash, tomatoes and berries they gather each morning, they also bring in a basket FULL of fresh apricots. My SIL's apricot tree literally has thousands of apricots on it--it is quite the sight to behold. I was excited to use them in a new recipe this week. I never, ever, make fruit pies because "if it's not chocolate, it's not dessert" (according to my husband) which means that I end up eating the whole thing by myself. But since we are here with lots of family around, this was the best time to make pie. I cheated and bought the frozen pie crusts and then just added the following filling:

Fresh Apricot Pie
(courtesy of allrecipes.com: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fresh-Apricot-Pie/Detail.aspx )

4 cups sliced fresh apricots
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
Milk
Additional sugar

In a bowl, toss apricots, sugar, flour and nutmeg.
Sprinkle with lemon juice; mix well.
Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; add filling.
Roll out remaining pastry to make a lattice crust. Place over filling; seal and flute edges.
Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Cover edges of pastry loosely with foil.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.

Of course, this is great a la mode (but can also be eaten for breakfast, as my BIL can testify!)

Pineapple Pork Stir-Fry

When I was chatting with my neighbor a week or so ago, we were both complaining about being out of dinner ideas. But when I asked what she was cooking that night, she mentioned this recipe. This was a totally new dish for my family, so we were excited about it. It was easy, different than a traditional ol' chicken dish and yummy!

Pineapple Pork Stir-Fry

(thanks Cheri!)

1 can (20 oz.) Pineapple chunks
1/2 pound pork roast, cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tblsp. vegetable oil
2 tblsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 small bunch (about 3/4 lb.) broccoli florets
1/2 cup toasted walnuts

Drain pineapple, reserve 1/2 cup juice. In skillet or wok, stir fry pork with garlic, onion, and ginger in hot oil. Mix reserved juice, soy sauce and cornstarch. Stir into pork mixture. Top with pineapple, broccoli, and nuts. Cover; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender. Remove from heat and stir all together. Serve over rice.

Lemon Lime Tartlets

My friend Chelsea sent me a link to this recipe just the other day. I usually just print things out and add it to my "to-try" box but this sounded so good at the time I made them right away. I had to laugh though--Chelsea thought it would be insulting to me for her to recommend a recipe that wasn't 100% from scratch. WHAT? Whatever Chels. I love easy, simple recipes that taste great--so thanks for sharing!
OH, one more thing...the recipe calls these "mini tartlets," but I would disagree. They are muffin sized, which was fine, but next time I make them, I am going to try them in mini-muffin tins--they would be awesome bite-size!

Mini Lemon Lime Tartlets

www.verybestbaking.com

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=143669

1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Bar Dough
1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 pkg. (8 oz.) 1/3 less fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel) or regular cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups thawed fat free, reduced fat or regular frozen whipped topping
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 cup lime juice
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
Additional lemon and lime quarter slices, peel curls or grated peel (optional)

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 325º F. Paper-line 24 muffin cups.

CUT dough along pre-scored lines; place one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will be puffy. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

BEAT sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese in large mixer bowl until smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping. Divide mixture into two medium bowls. Stir lemon juice and lemon peel into one bowl and lime juice and lime peel into other bowl.

POUR about 3 tablespoons lemon cream cheese mixture over 12 cookie cups. Repeat with lime cream cheese mixture and remaining cookie cups.

(this step really confused me--I am not sure what they are trying to say, except to just put a scoop of the lime and a scoop of the lemon in each sugar cookie cup, which is what I did)Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Decorate with lemon and lime quarter slices, curls or peel, if desired. (or slice of strawberry or a raspberry)

TIPS:• Using low and reduced fat cream cheese and whipped topping helps to make these treats lower in fat.• Love lemon but not crazy about lime? Simply double the lemon juice and grated lemon peel in the recipe and leave out the lime, and make 24 lemon tartlets. Tartlets may be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Broccoli with Bleu Cheese

My sister emailed me this recipe a while back. We decided to try it out for our Father's Day dinner, since Marc is a huge bleu cheese fan. We ALL became fans after this recipe--we loved it!

Broccoli with Bleu Cheese
(thanks Rebecca!)

2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 c. milk
3 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. crumbled bleu cheese
1 1/4 lb. fresh steamed broccoli

Melt butter in saucepan.
Stir in flour and heat until bubbly.
Slowly add milk and stir until mixture thickens.
Add cream cheese adn bleu cheese.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
Pour over broccoli and serve.