8 posts tagged “food”
July is national ice cream month! What's your favorite flavor?
Submitted by LittleWiseOne.
This came from Taste Of Home's Cooking for 2 magazine. It's really good, reheats well, and goes together quickly. I usually double the peppers and mushrooms in it and have added a small finely diced onion to the mix. Enjoy!
Veggie Chicken Linguine
INGREDIENTS
6 ounces uncooked linguine
3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 to 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
4 large fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium green pepper, julienned
1/2 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
1 green onion, chopped
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash pepper
Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional
DIRECTIONS: Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, place the chicken and Cajun seasoning in a large resealable plastic bag; shake to coat. In a large skillet, sauté chicken in butter for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, peppers and onion; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until chicken juices run clear and vegetables are tender. Stir in the soup, milk and seasonings. Cook 2-3 minutes longer or until heated through. Drain linguine; toss with chicken mixture. Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired. Yield: 3 servings.
How do you stay in shape?
I've spent the last two weeks slowly demolishing a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Top that off with chips & dip, egg rolls several times a week, and a couple of pints of Haagen Dazs. Add some misc. fried food, and there you are.
What? Round is a shape. Besides, you have to try this---it's awesomely good!
Yet another recipe that I wish I could take credit for. This one came from the USA Weekend supplement in the Sunday paper a few months ago. I had been carrying the clipping around for weeks before finally making it. It's paraphrased slightly since I forgot to bring the clipping in with me, but here goes:
Coconut Pecan Chicken
2/3 cup panko
2/3 cup lightly sweetened coconut
½ cup finely chopped pecans
1 ½-2 cups plain yogurt (fat free is ok too)
1 ½-2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into strips
Preheat oven to 450.
Combine panko, coconut, and pecans in shallow dish. Dip the chicken strips in the yogurt and roll in crumb mixture. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Spray top of pieces lightly w/cooking oil spray. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes or until lightly golden and done through. You may want to run it under the broiler for a minute or two for a crispier crust.
I ate it with some green beans and grape tomatoes, but peas & rice would be good too.
I made this last night. Easy, fairly quick, totally delicious. Adapted from one of the Moosewood restaurant cookbooks, found on Culinate:
3 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 cups milk (skim, whole, whatever. I used ½ & ½ since that’s what I had on hand)
1 tsp vanilla
Mix the 1st 4 ingredients well in a heavy sauce pan. Whisk in the milk, making sure the mixture isn’t lumpy. Heat over medium, stirring constantly, until boiling. Reduce heat and continue to stir for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into bowls/ramekins/whatever, and serve warm or chill for a few hours and serve cold. (you may want to press plastic wrap over the surface if you chill it to avoid a skin forming on top)
Theoretically serves 4.
My friend Chad & I are very different people, yet we are also very much alike. But grocery shopping together is not a good idea for us. While I do make out a list of things I definitely need, I also like to browse and sometimes pick up off-list items to work into a meal. I also tend to shop for different items at different stores. He simply makes a list, decides what store he's going to, period, and does not deviate from this. In, out, boom, he's done. Chad refers to this as man shopping. "We only browse in hardware stores and the electronics department."
We both suffer from forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. At least, I'm willing to admit I do, he is in firm denial. We get together nearly every Saturday night, make dinner, and watch movies. We used to take turns cooking, but he has pretty much taken the job over. I don't object too much because it's nice to not have to feed myself at least one day of the week. But in the interest of trying new things, his OCD has taken over. Chad buys cookbooks and decides that we're going to work our way through them. Which would be fine if we could vary the routine every now & then or skip things that just don't look good, but he insists on trying EVERY recipe. Which is why we've eaten some form of pot roast almost every week for the last 6 weeks. (guess what chapter we're in?) There's not much difference in these recipes, but he won't hear of skipping to a new chapter.
I had to laugh at him last year. I was allowed to skip a meal because it was a crab/egg/cheese casserole of some sort. My seafood alleriges prevented me from eating it. Chad doesn't like crab. But he spent a ridiculous amount of money on the ingredients, made the casserole and spent 3 days eating it. (he couldn't halve the recipe because "I have to make it the way it's written") Did I mention that he hated it? But it was the next recipe in the book, so of course he HAD to make it. I did finally convince him to throw the leftovers out before he gave himself food poisoning.
Anyway, he's found another recipe in the casserole cookbook that we never got around to doing because the Kroger store where we usually shop didn't have the specific apples (don't ask) that it called for. Never mind that he could use another type of apple- it HAS to be what the recipe lists. I suggested driving over to Whole Foods- they have a much more extensive (and expensive, alas) produce section. "I'm not driving to a store across town (we live approx 10 minutes away from nearly everything in Louisville) just to buy apples." I pointed out that he could browse and pick up new things to try, just for the hell of it. See his comment above for the response to that idea. And then he told me that tryng new things was the whole point of going through the cookbooks. I couldn't get him to understand that I meant something like trying a new-to-me fruit or a new chocolate bar or some of Whole Foods' inventive homemade sausages. "Why would I want to do that if it's not what I went in for?"
Yes, he makes me crazy, but I have the same effect on him. He doesn't understand my need to forage through the odds-n-ends cheese bin. I've found some terrific new favorites that way, and a few icky ones, but didn't have to spend a lot of money to try them...or get stuck with a large chunk of cheese that I hated. (Roomkaas is not nearly as good as the Fromage steward made it sound, but goat gouda is yummy) Or why I can look at the produce section and suddenly decide to skip my original plan for dinner and grab assorted fresh veggies to make a stir-fry instead. But the next time I make a trip to Whole Foods, I'm dragging him along. Maybe a bite of Drunken goat cheese and a few winesap apples will convince him!
What's your favorite thing to drink when it's cold outside?
I love a good cup of jasmine tea or a steaming mug of hot chocolate. But my special winter treat for myself is hot spiced cider...I drive over to a local orchard/winery, buy a gallon of their homemade cider, add spices and drink myself into a stupor. Come to think of it, I still have some left from the last batch.......
If your Vox Neighborhood had a potluck dinner tonight, what dish, drink or dessert would you bring?
Bourbon/Chocolate/Pecan Pie
