Chicken in Creamy Pan Sauce

Hello!  I have hardly cooked for the past 2 weeks, but I'm back with an easy recipe and a picture!  I have a big stack of pages that I've ripped from my cooking magazines over the years with recipes to try.  If I'm honest, I'll probably never get around to a lot of them, even after I sort through them and throw out ones I know I'll never really make.  But I'm trying to actually make some of them, and this one, although I modified it a decent bit, was really tasty!  Aaron liked it as well, so we will definitely have it again.  The original recipe didn't include the noodles, but I thought it needed a little something to beef it up (or should I say chicken it up?), so I made more sauce and added the noodles.

Chicken in Creamy Pan Sauce

Adapted from Kraft Foods

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used the thin sliced ones)

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

6 oz. Philadelphia Cooking Creme (I used the Italian Cheese & Herb flavor, but any would work)

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 lb. egg noodles (I don't know how much I used because I just used what I had in the pantry; this is a guess)

Pour the oil in a skillet and heat to medium-high.  Place the flour on a plate.  Dip each side of each chicken breast in the flour; shake off excess.  Place chicken breasts in the skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook a few minutes on each side until starting to brown and cooked all the way through.  Remove chicken from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour chicken broth in skillet.  Stir to scrape up browned bits from the chicken.  Cook over medium-high for 1-2 minutes.  Add cooking creme and stir until sauce is smooth.  Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce starts to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, cook noodles according to package directions.

Once sauce begins to thicken, add noodles, tomatoes and chicken to pan.  Stir until all is coated.  Serve chicken over noodles and tomatoes.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

This is another recipe I found on Pinterest.  It was part of a pin for 40 recipes using shredded chicken.  I often buy a 5 lb. pack of chicken breasts (they're cheaper that way!), cook them in water in the crockpot and then shred them and freeze them.  This was a good recipe to use up some of that chicken sitting around in my freezer!  Overall I really liked this.  It is maybe just slightly on the mushy side, but I think if you make sure you cook the cornbread mixture until it is really set it would be better.  Also, I would personally prefer it to be a little spicier, but for Ezra it was probably just right.  We all enjoyed this and I'll make it again!  It would also be good with other meats (ground beef with taco seasoning, pulled pork, leftover roast).

Chicken Tamale Casserole
From Cooking Light via Pinterest

1 cup preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided (I just used cheddar and grated it myself)
1/3 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup egg substitute (I used 1 large egg)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 14.75 oz. can cream-style corn
1 8.5 oz. box corn muffin mix
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies, drained
cooking spray
1 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts (I used about 3 cups)
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chilies), stirring just until moist.  Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes or until set.  Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top.  Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.  Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.  Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream. 

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Custard

I wasn't really wild about this.  In fact, the leftovers in my freezer will probably get dumped because it just wasn't worth the calories to me.  But maybe someone else would like this more than me.  I had high hopes for this ice cream.  I hoped it would taste like a creamsicle.  There was almost a hint of bitterness from the orange, and the orange zest was kind of clumpy and made the texture weird.  If I ever decide to make this again I would leave out the orange zest.  If you give this a try, let me know what you think!

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Custard
From Food Network Magazine

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 teaspoons grated orange zest

Whisk the cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl until smooth.  Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan; whisk in the cornstarch mixture and the remaining 1 cup milk until smooth.

Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring until thick enough to coat a spoon, 7 to 8 minutes (do not boil).  Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water.  Add the cream and stir until cool.  Remove from the ice bath; stir in the vanilla, orange juice concentrate and orange zest.  Cover and chill until cold.

Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.  Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe into cups.

Note:  I have the ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer.  It's very convenient, but it doesn't really get the ice cream cold and thick enough.  I poured the ice cream into a container and let it freeze for a couple hours before serving. 

Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

I've really been trying to cook more recipes from the food magazines I receive each month.  This is another Cooking Light recipe.  I don't know that it's super light, and I might have added an extra slice...or two...of bacon, but it was pretty good!

Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese
From Cooking Light

3 cups broccoli florets
8 oz. uncooked rigatoni (I used rotini)
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk (I used 1%)
2 oz. reduced-fat processed American cheese, cut into pieces (I used 2% Velveeta)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (I left these out)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 slices center-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used about 3 1/2 slices :)  )
2 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1/2 cup packed)


Steam broccoli 5 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain.  Pat dry, and keep warm.  Cook pasta in boiling water in a large saucepan for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain and keep warm.  Wipe pan with paper towels, and return to medium heat.  Melt butter in pan.  Sprinkle flour over melted butter; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Gradually add milk to the flour mixture in pan, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thick, and remove from heat.  Add American cheese; stir until smooth.  Stir in sliced green onions and the remaining ingredients.  Stir in broccoli and pasta; serve immediately.
  

Sweet-and-Spicy Meatloves

I feel like I have hardly had a chance to breathe lately, let alone post any recipes.  But the end of tax season will be here in less than a week, so I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We've eaten out more than we usually do since I've been so busy, but I do have a few recipes I need to catch up on.  I tried to take a pic of this one, but my camera battery died literally as I was trying to push the button to get the first shot.  Oh well...

This recipe was really good!  Aaron's never been a meatloaf lover, but I think I converted him with these.  Ezra, who quite often curls up his lips and sticks out his tongue when offered meat, actually loved this when we had it for leftovers.  We'll add this to the dinner rotation for sure!

Sweet-and-Spicy Meatloaves
Adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1/2 small onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, quartered (I used some canned carrot)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup peach preserves/jam/jelly

Pulse the bread in a food processor until finely ground.  Add the onion and carrot to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add the meat, egg and curry powder and pulse until just combined.  Set aside.


In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup and peach preserves.

Shape the meat mixture into 4 small loaves.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Spoon some of the sauce over the loaves.  (Don't cross-contaminate the sauce and save the extra for adding later if you want more on your meatloaf.)  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

 
  

Last-Minute Tropical Sherbet

Lately I've preferred my fruit to be blended.  I'm not really sure why.  Maybe because it's faster to chug a smoothie than eat that much fruit.  Or maybe because it's just more interesting than a banana or a pile of grapes.  Anyway, this sherbet was pretty tasty!  My only complaints were that it was almost too cold and that I didn't let it run in the food processor quite long enough.  I recommend that you just walk away from the food processor and let it go for a few minutes.  It will be better if it's totally smooth.  Also, I didn't make the full recipe.  I just eye-balled it and made enough for Ezra and I to have as an afternoon snack.  And I used the yogurt I had on hand.  And I threw in a splash of lime juice.  Ok, enough rambling!  Here's the original recipe.

Last-Minute Tropical Sherbet
From Cooking Light

1 12-oz. package frozen mango chunks
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 6-oz. carton lemon low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon grated lime rind.

Remove mango and pineapple from freezer, and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes.  Combine mango, pineapple, yogurt, and rind in a food processor; process until smooth.  Serve immediately (for soft-serve texture), or freeze in an airtight container 1 hour and 30 minutes (for firmer texture).  Don't freeze overnight or the mixture will become icy.
  

Bran Muffins

Bran Muffins
From Joanna Knox

2 cups water (heated to boiling or almost boiling)
6 cups all bran cereal (1 box)
1 cup shortening or butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour


Add water to 2 cups cereal.  Set aside to cool.

Cream together the shortening, sugar and eggs.  Add buttermilk and soaked bran mixture.  Add baking soda, salt, flour and remaining 4 cups of cereal.

Bake in muffin cups at 400 for 12-15 minutes.


Note: This makes a lot of muffins (about 35-40).  If you make the whole recipe you will need a really large bowl.  It will not all fit in my Kitchen Aid mixing bowl.  I made half the recipe this time.  These muffins freeze well.