Search Results for: pizza

Turmeric Spiced Haddock with Lentils & Fiddleheads

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I’m starting to feel my age. Not in the sense that I feel feeble and tired, though I’m pretty tired of this shoulder injury, but I’m feeling it on an intellectual/emotional level. We’ve got summer interns in the office now and nothing makes you feel old like having a couple cocky young things almost 10 years younger than you hanging around. I mean really, I was one of the youngest people in the office until last week, my whole life ahead of me and all that, now looking at them I almost feel bad because they have so much to learn and suddenly they are looking at me like I know it all.

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My Italy Bucket List

By Jessica

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I have to admit I’m falling behind on planning for Italy. I planned everything to a T when we went to Ireland but honestly I don’t have it in me this time. I just want to get there already. I want to be drinking wine on a side walk at a little café. I mean doesn’t that sound delightful?

While I don’t have our transportation, or plans set in stone yet I do have a few things that I know I want to do. I thought it would be fun to share that list with you.

Eat gelato every day

Wander through ancient ruins

Source: cntraveler.com

Eat Seafood & Drink Spritz in Venice

Go on a wine tour in Tuscany

Spend an evening strolling through city streets as the sun sets

Buy fresh ingredients and cook a meal on my own

Go to an authentic trattoria

source: trevifountain.net

Get a photo in front of the Trevi Fountain

Eat Pizza

Visit some epic Dan Brown movie sights, because why not? (eg. The Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, etc)

Eat Pasta (Basically we are eating all the things here)

source: en.wikipedia.org

See the Vatican

Go to a gallery and see some beautiful art

And there you have it my bucket list. We aren’t really looking for anything ground breaking here, but it was a fun little post to put together. Happy Friday!

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner

By Jessica

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This is a one dish recipe for Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner. A healthy family meal with little prep time that is sure to please.

As you know we bought a house recently, and spent the subsequent few weeks in full on work mode, to get several things done before we could move in. Because of the short notice and upcoming events we were unable to take days off to get the work done, so it’s been a lot of late nights after work, which despite my best efforts has resulted in more take out than either of us is interested in. Luckily the grocery store near us makes a mean salad, has great sushi, and a sandwich station so we have been able to keep it somewhat healthy. The other thing that has helped us keep our stuff together is the great American casserole.

I’ve been trying to keep them as healthy as possible, avoiding the condensed soup, and mayo train, but once in a while you just have to use the condensed soup. This recipe uses it, but it’s still way better for you than ordering pizza, which has happened plenty lately believe me. Using the condensed soup makes all the difference in adding depth and flavor to this recipe without adding steps. The point here was to fix it and forget it so we can get back to work on those floors damnet!

I really think this is a casserole I can get behind though. It was delicious and made the whole house smell great while it cooked away. Besides I loaded it up with traditional mixed vegetables and protein packed chicken which in my book makes it one of those classic American meals. If you grew up in the US I’m sure your mother or grandmother cooked something very similar at some point.

I did decide to add a few more mushrooms because really most condensed cream of mushroom soups actually lack a number of mushrooms. Once we get into this house and I can actually use all those awesome wedding shower gifts that I got I vow to start making and canning my own condensed soups that will be loaded with veggies!

Any-whoodles the recipe is below, and sorry for the pics, we were working with a cell phone camera here. I can’t wait to have all my stuff in one place again!

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 4 to 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 (10.5 ounce) Can Cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 cup water
¾ cup plain rice
1 (16 ounce) bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 teaspoon oregano
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large dutch oven combine the soup, water, rice, vegetables, oregano. Mix well.
Season the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika, then place it on top in an even layer.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
Stir well and return to the oven to cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. When done the chicken should be cooked through and the rice tender.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Pre-made Breaded Chicken for the Freezer

By Jessica

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This is a simple and healthy recipe for breaded chicken as well as instructions on how to freezer and re heat it for last minute weekly meals.

Sometimes I just don’t have the time to cook a wholesome dinner from scratch. Other times I simply don’t have the energy, and while take out pizza is always a great alternative we are trying desperately here to save our pennies (for that house!), and get a little healthier (for that wedding!).

Lately I have been making a lot of extras to freeze, so that I can prepare healthy home cooked dinners in a flash. Things like soup, meatballs, cooked chicken and blanched veggies are easy to defrost and heat up. Today I wanted to share with you a pretty basic recipe for what we call Freezer Chicken. It’s lightly breaded chicken that is baked and then frozen to be used as needed at a later date.

My basic breaded chicken recipe is below. However the key to making this idea of frozen breaded chicken work is first freezing it on a sheet tray without allowing any of the pieces to touch and then putting it in a reseal-able storage container. Freezing the chicken separately helps prevent them from sticking together in the bag. This way it’s easy to pull out just one piece of chicken and heat it up in the oven or microwave before serving.

Italian Style Breaded Freezer Chicken

Author: JC

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 tbsp melted butter
4 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Combine bread crumbs and spices in a large shallow dish and set aside.
On a cutting board place one hand on top of a single chicken breast. Carefully slice the meat horizontally midway up the chicken, cutting almost to the other side. Open it like a book and finish cutting it through. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the chicken and working from the center out begin to pound the chicken with the smooth side of a mallet until it is about ¼ inch thick. Repeat this process with the remaining chicken.
Brush the chicken with butter and dredge in the bread crumbs until well coated.
Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken and bake for another 10 minutes until cooked through.
To Freeze: Remove from heat and let cool until room temperature. Freeze on a flat sheet tray without touching for about 30 minutes. Remove from tray and place into a large freezer bag and return to the freezer.

Now that you have freezer chicken readily available to you here are some of my favorite ways to use it:

Dip them in Honey Mustard, or another favorite dip
Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Salad
Chicken alfredo
BBQ or Buffalo chicken sandwich or wrap
Bacon Ranch Sandwich
Chicken Caesar Salad
Pizza toppings
Quick Chicken & Waffles

Got another suggestion? Lets hear it in the comments! I’ve got a ton of these so I’d love to try something new with them.

10 Amazing New Recipes to Try this Spring!

By Jessica

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You have heard me (read me?) talking about how excited I am
for spring for a while now, so I thought it might be a good idea to share a
bunch of really awesome recipes that I’m excited to try for spring. Enjoy!!