Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Kraft Fresh Take Southwest Three-Cheese Chicken


Nathan made this yummy dinner last night using the new Kraft Fresh Take we purchased last week with an awesome coupon from Kraft First Taste. (I'm telling you, sign up for this)  We used the Kraft Southwest Three-Cheese Chicken variety.  The chicken was delicious and moist.  Love it!

It was super easy.
  1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Open FRESH TAKE bag; pull apart center seal. Mix contents together.
  2. Moisten chicken with water; place in bag, 1 piece at a time. Lightly press cheese mixture onto both sides of chicken. (Chicken will not be completely coated.) Place on prepared baking sheet; top with remaining cheese mixture.
  3. Bake 28 to 30 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

You can pick up a $.50 off coupon for a Kraft Fresh Take here.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Easy Chicken Enchiladas - with Philadephia Cooking Creme

Photo stolen from Kraft's website

Made this recipe with the other Kraft Philadelphia Cooking Creme that I purchased last week with a coupon I got from Kraft First Taste (you should definitely sign up on this site if you aren't already a member).  This was super simple and tasted completely awesome!  We definitely will be making it again - so YUMMY!

So here's the recipe - my adjustment are in orange.

Ingredients
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts, mine was diced and not pre-cooked
  • 1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained - I used fresh diced tomatoes
  • 1 tub Philadelphia Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme, divided
  • 1/2 cup Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese
  • 8 flour tortillas
Directions:
  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cook and stir onions in hot oil in large skillet on medium hat 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Stir in chicken, tomatoes, 3/4 cup cooking creme and shredded cheese. Cover.
  • Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining cooking creme.  Cover.
  • Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through.

So here's my adjustments to this recipe.  We didn't cook the chicken before hand.  We cut the chicken into cubes and cooked it with the onions and I also added a diced red pepper at this stage.  I didn't use canned tomatoes, instead I used fresh diced tomatoes.  I served with sour cream and guacamole.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Fresh Asparagus, Tomato & Chicken Pasta


Because of a great coupon I had, I purchased a container of Philadelphia Cooking Creme - Italian Cheese & Herb.  On the back of the carton was a recipe for Fresh Asparagus, Tomato & Chicken Pasta that sounded pretty good and because I had most of the ingredients already on hand, we gave it a try last night.  It was delicious!

Fresh Asparagus, Tomato & Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1/2 lb thin fresh asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1-inch lengths
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1 tub (10 oz) Philadelphia Reduced Fat Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Creme
  •  2 cups hot cooked whole wheat penne pasta
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
  • Cook and stir chicken, asparagus and onions in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 7 to 8 minutes or until chicken is done and asparagus is crisp-tender.
  • Add cooking creme and pasta; cook and stir 3 minutes.
  • Stir in tomatoes.  Top with Parmesan.

Super simple recipe.  I did make a couple of alterations because of what I had on hand. I didn't have cherry tomatoes, so I just diced some roma tomatoes.  I also used garden penne instead of whole wheat because that package was already opened.  I didn't have shredded Parmesan cheese, so I just used grated Parmesan cheese from the bottle.  

It was delicious and the kids liked it too.  So creamy and yummy!!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Broccoli Chicken


I previously posted a broccoli beef recipe that I really liked.  I decided to try it with chicken as an alternative.  It turned out super yummy!  Typically you would serve this over rice, but Nathan doesn't care for rice too often so I served over some whole wheat pasta.

Broccoli Chicken

1 lb chicken, cut into thin slices
6 cups cut broccoli

Gravy:
2 ½ c. water
3 TBSP cornstarch
1/3 cup soy sauce


Marinade:
2 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp ginger
2 cloves garlic

Mix marinade. Pour into a bowl with chicken and let sit while preparing the other ingredients. Try to let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat about a TBSP of oil in pan. Stir fry chicken about 6 minutes. Add broccoli and cook 4 minutes. Add gravy mixture and slowly bring to a boil. Mixture will thicken as you cook it for another 4-5 minutes. Serve over hot rice.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

03/13/12 - Chicken & Beef Fajitas

I wanted to use up a bunch of produce I've had hanging around in the fridge for a week or two. So we had chicken and beef fajitas.  I just grilled up some chicken breasts and the beef was leftover sirloin steak from our Sunday dinner that I sliced and warmed up with our peppers and onions.


For our extras, we had diced tomatoes, lettuce and slices of avocado and a dollop of sour cream.

Because I am trying to eat a little more healthy these days I had my fajita on a Flatout Multi-Grain Flat Bread that I picked up at Costco a few weeks ago.  They aren't flour tortillas by any means, but they aren't too bad either.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sausage and Rice Skillet w/a recipe

So a while back I posted about my friend, Jess' Sausage and Rice Skillet, but apparently I never posted the recipe for it.  Thanks for pointing that out Malia.

So here is the recipe straight from Jess - well,  I corrected her spelling... love you girl!

s & r skillet‏

one package sausage
rice to your serving size (now that wyatt [her son]eats more i make two cups of rice)
water to your rice serving
one can cream of chicken (i have started using cream of chicken with herbs much better)
one TBSP butter
one pinch of salt
cheese to your preference

cut up sausage
mix rice, water, butter, salt, cream of chicken in skillet, add in sausage- bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes, add cheese on top and simmer for 5 more minutes and then serve.

easiest dinner ever

peace out

Monday, March 12, 2012

Fruit Salad - yummy yummy


Because the weather has been so nice the past couple of days, and with my trip coming up, I was feeling very tropical yesterday.  So I pulled out the remainder of the fruit I had left from my Bountiful Basket and whipped up this light and tasty fruit salad to go with dinner.  It was a HUGE success with the kids!

The best part - all but the mandarin oranges were fresh.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 pineapple, diced
  • 1 mango, diced
  • 2 kiwis, diced
  • i can mandarin oranges, drained

Friday, March 09, 2012

A Childhood Memory Night

 
Took the kids to Glade's in Spanish Fork, UT tonight.  We used to go there at least once a month when I was growing up and it was fun to share that tradition with the kids.  We sat in the car and ate our food just like when I was little.  The fry sauce was worth the drive!

my favorite pizza right now

My favorite pizza right now (and it has been for at least a year) is Domino's American Legends® - Pacific Veggie Pizza.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

march 7, 2012 - shaved brussel sprout salad with grilled chicken

i ordered a bountiful basket last week and in the basket were a bunch of brussel sprouts and a bag of yukon gold potatoes.  i admit that i have NEVER eaten brussel sprouts before this, so i was a little skeptical that this meal was going to be good.  i was pleasantly surprised.  i really like brussel sprouts.  they taste a little like cabbage and this recipe was good.  even my two older boys ate it and said they like it, then i told them what it was :)

sorry, i forgot to take a picture of the meal.

here's the recipe from KUTV's website. I added a few notes of my own.
Ingredients:
  • 16-18 Brussel Sprouts, thinly sliced
  • 2 Klondike Rose Potatoes, finely diced (I used yukon gold potatoes because that's what I had handy.)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup onion diced
  • Zest of one lemon (not a fan of lemon zest, so I omitted.)
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tbsp freshly chopped dill (I'm not a big dill fan so I chose not to include this.)
  • 1/3 cup toasted almonds (I didn't have any, but it would have tasted even better with them I'm sure)
  • 2 chicken breasts, flattened
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanche (basically this means boil them for a little bit) brussel sprouts and Klondike Rose potatoes.  Strain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
  2. Heat a large sauté pan and add just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.
  3. Add the onions and garlic. Sauté until fragrant (about 3 minutes).  Add the brussel sprouts and Klondike Rose Potatoes. Sauté for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add the toasted almonds. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to use.
  4. Lightly salt and pepper each side of the chicken breasts.  Heat a large sauté pan on the stove and add just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.  Plan sear each side for the chicken for about 4-6 minutes.  If needed, cook longer.  Be sure chicken is thoroughly cooked through. 
  5. Serve pan seared chicken with brussel sprout salad and enjoy!