What's Cooking? Easy Thai Style Chicken Curry

We have a freezer full of meat. Between participating in a cow share in December (20 pounds worth!), and our Costco run last week (chicken and pork for days!) we are good to go for....months. Joe has also purchased a food saver so we have meal sized portions vacuum sealed.

Today, I tell a story of some of the chicken we froze.

I took out some chicken to make one of our favorites, Thai Style Chicken Curry.

This recipe isn't really a recipe, but more if an inspiration to use with Trader Joe's Red Curry Sauce. I used to make red curry sauce on my own, but this is a great time saver and tastes pretty much the same!

I cut the chicken in bite size pieces, stir fried it in vegetable oil and garlic. Then I removed the chicken to put back when the veggies were done.

I chose a variety of veggies to cut up and stir fry next. I used asparagus, celery, snow peas, and green pepper. I chopped them up and stir fried them with a little vegetable oil.

Next I added the entire bottle of sauce and the chicken.

Then I let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

I served it over basmati rice. Yum yum!

Enjoy! 

What do you like to put in your stir-frys?

What's Cooking? Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce!

On a whim a few weeks ago I bought the latest issue of Food Network magazine. There were a few recipes that looked yummy and I was determined to actually cook one. How many times have I bought a magazine only for it to sit there with no recipes cooked from it? Not this time! 

I'd never made an alfredo sauce from scratch, but oh my goodness, it was so easy! (And tasty too!)

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

So few ingredients, so much yum!

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter and pumpkin smell so good together while cooking.

The sauce is coming together!

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

It smelled amazing.

4. Serve with a yummy Cesar salad! And, dinner. Delicious.

This is fall goodness on a plate!

We will definitely be making this recipe again this fall. It was so easy and fast (about 20 minutes total) and so delicious. Joe was also a fan.  Later in the week I made a plain alfredo sauce to go with some other pasta with the leftover cream. I think I prefered the pumpkin version. Thanks, Food Network!

Full Text:

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

4. Serve.

What's Cooking? Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

When there's half a rotisserie chicken and some broccoli in the fridge, what are we having for dinner? Chicken & Broccoli Pasta with Pine Nuts!

It sounds so simple, but it's so good! My sister came up with this recipe years ago (and where she got it from, I have no idea.) I don't even use a recipe, it's that easy to make! But I will share with you what I used tonight to make our yummy dinner!

Easy dinner from leftovers? Yes, please!

Chicken & Broccoli Pasta with Pine Nuts

What you need:

1/2 Rotisserie chicken

about 2 cups of broccoli florets

a handful of pine nuts

chicken broth

olive oil

crushed garlic

balsamic vinegar

pasta (usually I use farfalle, but tonight I had spaghetti noodles so I used those)

parmesan cheese ( I didn't use this tonight)

(Most of the ingredients don't have measurements, I just use what looks good and add from there.)

What to Do:

1. Toast pine nuts in pan. (Don't burn the first batch like I did, those things are expensive!) Then set aside for later. Meanwhile boil water for the pasta in a separate pot.

2. Put olive oil and garlic in the pan and add chicken broth, vinegar and broccoli. Let simmer.

3. Shred chicken and place in the pan too. Let simmer and thicken. Add more broth and vinegar as needed.

4. After pasta is done, mix everything together and add pine nuts back into the dish.

5. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan and enjoy!

What's Cooking? Coconut Chicken Fingers!

I've been feeling under the weather lately, so our dinners have not been super exciting. I did make a casserole the other night, but that's not super exciting. Today after our day date in San Francisco, I decided to make Coconut Chicken Fingers with sweet potato fries. I had originally planned this for last night's dinner, but we ended up going out to sushi. On our way home from San Francisco, I decided I wanted to also make some kind of salad with pineapple in it - and with a quick google search in the car (don't worry, Joe was driving) we stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up a couple of last minute items.

My friend Jen over at Overeducated & Underemployed, had given a recipe for Coconut Chicken Fingers in the sweet cookbook she and her husband made as wedding favors in May. I didn't have any Panko bread crumbs, so I used a recipe I found over at Kraft Recipes thanks to google. I got the recipe for Pineapple & Cucumber Salad from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. (I cheated and got frozen sweet potato fries from Target.)

~Ingredients for chicken fingers and pineapple-cucumber salad~

~My assembly line: chicken, egg, coconut mixture~

 ~Going for a swim in the coconut bath~

~Ready for the Oven~

Recipe: Coconut Chicken Fingers (adapted from Kraftrecipes.com)

What You Need:

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup flour (I used whole-wheat)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne powder (I added this)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken strips

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup melted butter

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.

3. Dip chicken strips in egg, then coat with coconut mixture.

4. Place in a baking pan then drizzle with butter.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through. Turn after 15 minutes.

~Pineapple Cucumber Salad, yum!~

Recipe: Pineapple-Cucumber Salad (recipe adapted from marthastewart.com)

What You Need:

1/2 pineapple chopped (I used precut pineapple spears and chopped from there.)

1 English cucumber, cut into 1/4 inch slices.

1 or 2 limes for juicing

cilantro leaves to taste

What You Do:

1. Combine lime juice, pineapple, cucumber, and cilantro. Leave to set until dinner is out of the oven.

~One yummy meal~

Long story short, Joe and I both enjoyed this meal, and it is definitely easy enough and yummy enough to make again!

Recipe Review: Caramel Apple Milky Way Cookies!

First of all, thank you pinterest for alerting me to the fact that Caramel Apple Milky Ways exist. Also, thank you Target for selling them :)

And thank you to pinterest and the domestic rebel for the recipe I'm reviewing today. 

I made these cookies last night. You can see my review at the end of this post. 

Caramel Apple Spice Milky Way Cookies 
(recipe adapted from www.thedomesticrebel.com)

What You Need:
1 box spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 medium gala apple, peeled and roughly diced
1 tsp cinnamon
About 20-24 Caramel Apple Milky Way candies, unwrapped
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar*

*to make my cinnamon sugar, I combined 1/4 cup sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon at a time then shook in my little container until I got my desired color - I think I used about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.)

~Ingredients ready to go ~

~Diced my apple!~

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with silicone liner or spray lightly with cooking spray. (I used the cooking spray this time.) Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs and oil until blended. Stir in the apples and the teaspoon of cinnamon to combine.

3. Scoop out heaping Tablespoonfuls of dough and place it in your palm. Press an unwrapped candy in the center of the cookie dough ball and gently fold the dough around the candy to enclose it. Place the filled cookie dough on the baking sheets, 1-2″ apart. (At this point, I thought these were the hardest, messiest cookies to make ever. My "dough" was very slippery and sticky. I finally just plopped a scoop of the dough directly on the cookie sheet and set the candy on top and used a spoon to fold over the dough over the candy. This made my cookies a bit larger, so I only ended up with about 18 cookies.)

4. Sprinkle the dough balls with cinnamon sugar, then bake for approx. 8-10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time to ensure even cooking. Allow to cool 5 minutes on the pan, then carefully transfer to wire racks to finish cooling. (In my oven, or maybe due to the size of the cookies, my cookies took upwards of 15-20 minutes to finish cooking completely).

5. These cookies can be stored airtight, at room temperature, up to 2 days.

~Smellin' good in the oven!~

~Deliciousness on a plate.~

Review: These were really easy to make, though I am not sure how I could make the dough less sticky and slippery during step 3. Joe said the house smelled like Christmas as they were cooking. They tasted great! (I think they were even better this afternoon!) I would totally make these again!

It is definitely fall and time to bake at the Gianino house!

What's Cooking? Chicken Tikka Masala!

I think the first time I had Indian food I was with my friend Jen in Davis, which was only a few years ago. I have no idea it took me until my late-20s to try Indian cuisine (I must have been afraid it was "spicy" or something). 

Meanwhile, Indian food turns out to be something Joe and I enjoy together quite a bit. He's introduced me to some of the most delicious hole-in-the-wall places in San Francisco, and one of our favorite Indian places is right near us. We found Curry Up Now at a "Off the Grid" food truck night and found out they had a brick-and-mortar restaurant selling delicious Indian street food in downtown San Mateo. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Our very favorite Indian dish? Chicken Tikka Masala.

Anyway, I did not intend this to be a review of Curry Up Now, but rather, a story of how I was inspired by Trader Joe's delicious frozen Indian food to find a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. Chicken Tikka Masala is amusing because it was invented in England and is the national dish of the United Kingdom (well, if you believe Wikipedia). Again, I digress.

On Pinterest a few months back, I found a recipe for Chicken Tikki Masala in the Crock Pot. Hallalujah! Real Simple's version as pinned on pinterest.com.

I adapted my recipe to fit the ingredients I had at home (like, I don't have garam masala at home, though I'm sure plenty of my neighbors do!) 

~All my ingredients ready for the crock pot! ~

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

What You Need:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped (I use sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced already in my refrigerator)

approximately 3 tablespoons of garam masala mixture (recipe follows)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I had chicken breast tenders, I used those)

1 cup heavy cream (more/less for correct coloring of sauce at the end)

Garam masala mixture (this is already doubled and should be enough for the recipe)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I like to mix this in a small bowl and can make more using the same proportions.

What to Do:

1. Add everything but chicken and cream into the slow cooker, avoiding splashing the sides (to avoid burning).
2. Lay chicken pieces on top.

~My chicken tenders ready to slow-cook in a tomato bath!~

3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. (I usually do high heat and leave it "warming" until it's time to add the cream.)

4. Just before serving, remove chicken from the sauce and stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to sauce. Add more cream or tomato paste if it's too pale in color or to taste. (In this case, I added a bit more tomato paste and a touch of cream to cut the tangy tomato taste).

~Ready for the rice~

5. Serve with basmati rice.

I like to serve this with the Trader Joe's palak paneer (spinach and cheese dish) and basmati rice. I had forgotten to cook the basmati rice, so I microwaved some instant brown rice instead! (Basmati definitely tastes better though.) I also heated up some Naan (not surprisingly, also from Trader Joe's.)

~Yummy dinner!~

Printable Version:

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

What You Need:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped (I use sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced already in my refrigerator)

approximately 3 tablespoons of garam masala mixture (recipe follows)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I had chicken breast tenders, I used those)

1 cup heavy cream (more/less for correct coloring of sauce at the end)

Garam masala mixture (this is already doubled and should be enough for the recipe)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I like to mix this in a small bowl and can make more using the same proportions.

What to Do:

1. Add everything but chicken and cream into the slow cooker, avoiding splashing the sides.
2. Lay chicken pieces on top.

3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.

4. Just before serving, remove chicken from the sauce and stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to sauce. 

5. Serve with basmati rice.

What's Cooking?

A month ago, Joe and I went out to a new Chinese restaurant and decided to try Szechuan Chicken. It was so delicious, I had to make it for dinner that week! I found a good recipe on Cooking Light's website and adapted it to fit the veggies I really like in my stir-fries. Since this was before I started blogging, I hadn't thought to take any pictures or write about my experience.

Then, I made it again last night (and was so excited because I didn't have to go to the store for ANY ingredients, I had them all in the house, whoo hoo!!)

And, forgive me. I meant to snap some pictures while I was cooking, but I only remembered to take a picture of the ingredients. That's what happens when I'm watching Eureka on Netflix in the background (thank you iPad, but I digress...)

The original recipe can be found here. Really, I didn't change too much. Joe really likes this recipe so it's another that will be in the rotation.

Szechuan Chicken Stir-Fry:

What you need:

• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil, divided
• 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (I substitued red wine vinegar)
• 2 teaspoons chile paste (I used sambal oelek) (less if you don't want it too spicy)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips (I used green because that's what I had)
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 cup diagonally cut celery
• 1/4 cup (1-inch) slices green onions
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice (I used basmati rice)

<Ahh, all the ingredients were in my house!>

What to do:

1. 1. Combine 2 teaspoons sesame oil and next 6 ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl. Keep aside.
2. 2. Heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 tablespoon canola oil; swirl. 
3. 3. Add chicken; stir-fry 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.
4. 4. Add remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil; swirl. Add bell peppers, celery, and green onions. Stir-fry 1 minute. 
5. 5. Add broth mixture; cook 30 seconds or until thick. 
6. 6. Return chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes or until chicken is done. 
7. 7. Spoon 1/2 cup rice onto each plate, top with stir-fry mixture.

Enjoy!

What's Cooking?

I've been trying to up my repertoire of recipes and find budget-friendly, healthy things for dinner. The other day, Joe was at Costco, and I told him if he got a rotisserie chicken (which can feed the 2 of us for a few dinners at $4.99!) I would make up some chicken enchiladas.

I've known enchilada recipes to be labor intensive and time consuming, but using a rotisserie chicken and modifying a recipe I found on pinterest, these delicious enchiladas only took about 30 minutes to make!

Original recipe found here: Taste of Home. I decided to omit the cilantro and tomatoes. I also substitued corn tortillas for flour ones. Result: deliciousness!

I've included the full-text of my version at the end of this post.

Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas

What you need: 

• 1 chilled rotisserie chicken
• 1/2  15 oz. can of fat-free refried beans
• 2 (10-ounce) cans enchilada sauce
• 10 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (2.25-ounce) can sliced black olives (drained)
• 1 8 oz bag of shredded Mexican-blend cheese
• lettuce "shreds"
• reduced-fat sour cream

My ingredients. Clearly, someone loves Target :)

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Remove meat of chicken from bones (discard skin and bones) and shred; put in a medium sized bowl. Stir in beans, 1/2 the can of olives and 1 can of the enchilada sauce.

Chicken, bean, olive, enchilada sauce mixture

3. Spoon chicken mixture equally into center of tortillas, sprinkle a little cheese on top. Roll tortillas around filling and place, seam side down, in baking dish. Pour remaining can of enchilada sauce over enchiladas.

Ready to roll!

4. Sprinkle remaining olives and cheese evenly over enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted. I fit nine enchiladas in my pan, I probably could have made ten.

Ready for the oven.

5. Garnish with lettuce shreds and sour cream and enjoy!

So delicious!

Full Text of Recipe:

Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas

adapted from Tasteofhome.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 chilled rotisserie chicken
• 1/2  15 oz. can of fat-free refried beans
• 2 (10-ounce) cans enchilada sauce
• 10 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (2.25-ounce) can sliced black olives (drained)
• 1 8 oz bag of shredded Mexican-blend cheese
• lettuce "shreds"
• reduced-fat sour cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Remove meat of chicken from bones (discard skin and bones) and shred; put in a medium sized bowl. Stir in beans, 1/2 the can of olives and 1 can of the enchilada sauce.
• Spoon chicken mixture equally into center of tortillas, sprinkle a little cheese on top. Roll tortillas around filling and place, seam side down, in baking dish. Pour remaining can of enchilada sauce over enchiladas.
• Sprinkle remaining olives and cheese evenly over enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted. Serve

If you end up trying this recipe, please let me know what you think! Joe loved it, I will definitely will be making it again!