Simple Chicken and Pasta

I haven't been cooking many blog-worthy things lately.  It is eleventy billion degrees here (I can only be off by 2 degrees, max), so I've been all about quick, easy, light, and *not* heating up the entire house.  Due to the heat, I've also been cooking much later than usual which means LOTS of bleached-out flash pictures.  Sorry.

At any rate, this was born:

Take half a large purple onion and cut that puppy up.  Add 2-3 tbsp of minced garlic, 3 tbsp of olive oil, and pop those puppies into a skillet over high heat.  You want to cook all of this until the chicken gets nice and seared on both sides and the onions get transparent, but not caramelized.  Pro tip:  pat your chicken dry before putting it in the skillet.  This helps you get that pretty sear.

I also added a dash of sea salt, a bit of black pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and about 1 tbsp each of basil and parsley.

Add 2 cups of uncooked pasta of your choice and about a cup and a half of water.  Leave it in there with the chicken so that as the chicken cooks, the juices will come out and form sort of a tasty broth that will help flavor the noodles.  Keep cooking it on high heat until the noodles get soft.

The water should all cook off before then, so once it does, add water 1/2 cup at a time, until the noodles are al dente.  You don't want a lot of excess water because you want the flavor to really stick to everything instead of losing it down the sink when you strain.  :)

Once the noodles are done to the desired tenderness, dice up a few roma tomatoes (I used two large ones), and toss it all together.  Dice up the chicken, too, if you prefer.

Plate it up, top with parmesan, and you're good to go!  This is very simple and quick and only takes the one large skillet, so it is also easy clean-up.  It came out light, flavorful, and fresh-tasting, which is a super bonus when it is so hot you feel like you very well may keel over if you eat something too awfully heavy!!

<3

WW

Garlic Salt Chicken

I usually cook with very, very little salt.  Though almost all my recipes call for sea salt, I use MAYBE 1/2 tsp, even in larger recipes.  I'm more of a "just sprinkle a tad in so I can say I did" rather than "let us embalm ourselves alive!" kind of girl.  That being said, this recipe was on a whim and pretty far out of my comfort zone, but its good to step outside your comfort zone once in a while, or at least it was in this instance!

I actually made this chicken two nights in a row.  The first night, I only made one piece to add to our fettuccine alfredo.  It came out of the oven, and after it had cooled a bit I was shredding it and popped a piece into my mouth (like ya do) and was stricken with delicious.  I gave the Wookie a piece to try and it was unanimous that we were having it again the next night with sides so we could revel in its awesomemess.

This, shockingly, is the only thing I used.  I'd have chosen an option made with sea salt if I'd had it, but this was all I had on hand and I didn't feel like mincing fresh garlic and mixing it with sea salt.  I had figured, since I was putting it into pasta, that I'd keep it simple.

Simple can be good.

Simple can be very, very good.

Pull open the skin of the chicken and pour some seasoning in.  Not just a little bit.  Salt that shit like you're preserving it in medieval times.

Push the skin back down and arrange (or cram, if you're using a tiny dish) it in a baking dish with about 1/4 cup of water at the bottom.  Some of the garlic salt will escape and get outside the skin.  no biggie.

Cook on 350 for an hour and...

NOM!  It doesn't show in the picture well, but the garlic salt causes the skin to get all hard and crispy.  When you peel the skin off, the chicken inside is moist and garlicky and salty and...and now I'm hungry.

<3

WW

Crock Pot Tortellini

I'm being horrible at this.  I've been cooking lately, but forgetting to take pictures.  So badly, in fact, that this one has no final picture!  It was soooo good, though.  I promise I'll try to do better in the future!  :)  I saw this recipe on pinterest, wrote down the ingredients that were on the pin description, but apparently forgot to repin it, so I don't know where it came from.  I sort of changed it just a tad, anyway, but if this is your recipe, let me know and I'll give you a link!  :)

Start layering in the crock pot, spinach, kale, and sausage.  I chose this chicken sausage with mozzarella, artichoke and garlic because I started to drool a little when I saw it at the store.  You could fry it first if you want, but I didn't bother, it was already fully cooked and it was a lazy day.

Add in 2 cans of diced Italian-style tomatoes (not drained), 1/2 a carton of vegetable broth, and a bag of frozen tortellini of your choice, I chose cheese...

And one brick of cream cheese, softened, chopped into bricks.

Turn the crock pot on high for about 3 hours or until the tortellini is done.  This shit was amazing, although I did have to turn it on low and leave the lid off for a few minutes to let the sauce cook down a bit.  It comes out this delicious, pasta dish with a creamy sauce and lots of sausage and vegetables and...damn I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of it!  SORRY!  :)

<3 WW

Crock Pot Pork Chops

I've been making a lot of crock pot recipes lately.  It doesn't heat the house up nearly as much as running burners on the stove, so it has been great.  This is one of those where you can just walk away until dinner which is nice.

Start off with squash, garlic, and chopped onion.  I used 2 medium squash that were fresh from my sister-in-law's garden and delicious, half an onion, and a heaping tablespoon of garlic.

Next, dump in a can of collard greens and sort of spread them over the top.  Don't drain them.

Add about 1/2 a bag of baby carrots...

And layer on some pats of butter...Oh yeah.

Next, add some kale.  There's about 2 handfuls dumped in there, and I just tore it with my hands instead of chopping because I find it easier to skirt the big veiny parts on kale that way.

Add a heaping teaspoon of spicy mustard...

...then drizzle balsamic vinegar over the top, then pour in about 1/3 cup of water.

Now, layer your pork chops on, sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and a bit of meat tenderizer if desired, then drizzle a bit of Siriacha sauce over them.

 Put the lid on, set the heat to low, and go away!  No touchy for at least 4 hours!  After that, check to see if the pork chops are done and if they are, then you are good to go!

This is as good as it gets as I completely forgot to take a picture once it was plated up!  It was super delicious and healthy, though.  The vegetable tasted just amazing.  I could live off of greens, I think.

NOM!

<3
WookieWifey

Crustless Mini-Quiche

These are one of my favorite breakfasts/brunches to make on a really lazy day.  They almost always come out great and go wonderfully with coffee or tea.  Most people swear by a crusted quiche, but the first one I ever had was crustless and it has just always been what I've preferred.

Start off with a muffin tin or whatever you want to cook it in.  I use a muffin tin because they come out all cute and finger-food friendly.  Lightly coat your tin in butter, olive oil, or cooking spray.  I usually use olive oil.

Crack some eggs into a bowl.  I use 3 for this tin.  Add about 3 tbsp of milk, some salt and some pepper and stir them up like you're making scrambled eggs.  Chop up whatever else you are adding - I'm using frozen cooked sausage, cheese, and mushrooms in the Wookie's and green onion in mine.  Fold them all into the egg mixture.

Pour into the tins!  I added the cheese as an afterthought, so I just sort of poked it down in there with chopsticks.

Pop them into an oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until they are cooked through, then let them cook a bit before removing and that's it.  These can be made more or less healthy depending on what you have laying around and are great to get rid of leftovers - the spinach and green onion was left over from a previous recipe and I was going to add some spinach as well, but I'd already used all of it.

Are you a quiche fan?  Crustless or regular?

<3
WW

Fully Loaded Cornbread Muffins

These are quite common, but delicious nonetheless, so here we go!!

First step, brown your beef and season it.  Just for shits-n-giggles I used a fajita seasoning instead of a taco seasoning.  Be sure to not get distracted, or you will end up with a few overly-brown pieces like the one that's flipped over and waving at the world above.  Once it is done, take it off the heat and let it cool.

I couldn't make up my mind what cornbread to use, so I used one white and one yellow and mixed them, which turned out to be a good idea.

Next, you'll need one cup of corn (I used frozen), about 2/3 cup of shredded cheese of your choice, half a poblano pepper and half an onion.  Dice up the onion and the pepper, removing the membrane.

Add all the ingredients except the cheese to your meat mixture.  You can caramelize the onions and peppers before cooking the meat if you prefer, but if you don't, it leaves a bit of fresh flavor and crunch to the final product and I like that.

Next, mix up your corn bread mixes according to the directions.

Close-up shot of this little guy because I think he is SO CUTE.  Its a Mini Bakey silicone spatula.  I got a set of two of them off amazon for about 2 bucks and it is some of the best money we've spent as they are always in constant use and they are small enough to scrap peanut butter jars and such clean.  Functional AND cute?  Yes, please!

Anyway, add the skillet mixture and cheese to the corn bread batter, mix it all up, then plunk it in muffin pans.  I used cupcake liners so they wouldn't be a pain to get out.

Bake according to the directions on the corn bread packages.

And NOM THEM ALL!  This made about 2 dozen.  They are freezer friendly and reheat amazingly well - the Wookie took them to work.  He also claims they are great cold, too, but I preferred mine heated or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

<3 WW

Tuna Boats

This is a fun, light, crisp, easy recipe that is just perfect for summer.  The success of this depends on how fresh and nice your cucumbers are, though.  While this was good, the cucumbers I'd bought were a tad on the bitter/tart side, so I'd imagine with a sweeter one this would be ten times better.  I got the idea for this recipe off of Pinterest, but as so often happens, it didn't link back to a source.

This starts out with the tuna recipe I use faithfully - my grandmother's recipe.  I've had a lot of tuna made by a lot of different people, but nowhere else have I ever seen anyone put apples into it and that is a shame because it is just stellar.

Starting off, you'll need 3 cans of tuna in water or oil, your choice.  Drain it well and put it in a large mixing bowl or container.  I knew there'd be leftovers so I mixed it straight into a Tupperware bowl with a lid to save on dishes.

You'll also need 1/2 of an apple - red is best, but green works in a pinch - and half an onion of any color.  The cucumbers are for the little boats.  I made 4 boats and had plenty of tuna left over and could have made about 4-6 more.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach, I couldn't even finish one boat, but the Wookie came to the rescue and ate all the rest!

Other stuff you'll need includes mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip), spicy or brown mustard, salt, pepper, dill pickles or dill relish, and garlic powder, the last two of which seem to have been camera shy on this day.  -.-

Hard boil 3 eggs or one egg per can of tuna and let them cool completely.

Finely dice up the 1/2 onion and 1/2 apple and add them to the tuna along with 1tbsp of the mustard, 1 tsp garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 tbsp of dill relish or finely chopped pickle.  The mayonnaise is up to you.  Some people like their tuna drier than others.  I add mayonnaise until it is to the consistency I like it at, then squeeze in a little more since I'll be adding the eggs in later.

Peel your cucumbers and remove the seeds so they are hollow.  I like to use a melon baller, it gets all the seeds out with one fell swoop.

Next, once they are completely cool, dice the eggs up and fold them into the tuna mixture.  I like to do this after everything else is all stirred up so that some of the chunks of boiled yolks stay intact.  If you mix them in as you mix everything else, they tend to break up and just sort of become one with everything.

Once your eggs are in, pop the whole thing into the fridge, covered, until it is nice and cold, then spoon the mixture into the cucumbers and sprinkle with some parsley.

That's all there is to it!

A close-up shot of the goodness.

Do you have a special tuna salad recipe that's been handed down?

<3
WW

Chicken Tostadas with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Wooo, I'm back to typing-able for the least.  That one-handed typing shit is for the birds, man.  I'm still having to take it easy, so I apologize if the posts seem short or boring!

Lots more posts coming up.  I had so many planned then...yeah.  My accident-prone life.

So here's the recipe I was supposed to post over a week ago!  >.<  I originally found the idea here, but it is very heavily modified.

First, bust out the crock pot.  Put in 4 chicken thighs, defrosting optional, a half cup of water, about 1/4 cup of salsa, and a packet of taco or fajita seasoning or your own blend.  I usually just dump in salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic, basil, onion powder, cilantro, and a bit of cayenne until it tastes right, but I was feeling lazy, so I just used a packet this time.  Put the lid on, crank it up to high, and let it go for about 4-5 hours.

It should be about falling off of the bone.  Remove it to cool and turn the crock pot to warm.

While the chicken is cooling, you should make the salsa.  I put in 1 can of sweet corn, drained, 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed, 1/2 tbsp of cilantro (fresh is best but dried will do), 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 small purple onion, 1 cup diced cherry tomatoes.  Mix it all up, cover it, and pop it in the fridge.

Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove the bones, shred the meat, and spoon in some of the sauce left in the crock pot until all the meat is nicely coated.  Pour the left over sauce out of the crock pot and put the chicken back in to keep warm until it is ready to layer.

(not pictured)
Warm up a can of refried beans in a sauce pan and season with sea salt, black pepper, garlic, chili powder, onion powder, and paprika.  I used about 1/2 tsp of each.

Add enough oil to a skillet to cover about 1/4 inch or so and let it get nice and hot.  Fry up the flour tortillas until crispy.  I use the small taquito-sized ones and this recipe made 8 tostadas feeding 4 people.

Spread a layer of refried beans on a fried tortilla.  Add a layer of chicken, a layer of shredded cheese, and some of the salsa, and whatever other toppings you prefer.  I also had guacamole and salsa on mine and these were so delicious.  This is a recipe I'll be making again!

<3
WW