Zesty Chicken Tenders

Zesty Chicken Tenders

Good for a nice quick dinner that makes the kids happy and has enough flavor to not be boring! Pair with blue cheese and celery sticks and a salad.

What you need:

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground red pepper

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 lb chicken breast tenders 

Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a shallow dish.  Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, and dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Serve with your favorite blue cheese!

Broken Lasagna Skillet

Broken Lasagna Skillet

I'm always looking for new ways to use up my zucchini in the summer time. This recipe was inspired by one I found in a Food Network magazine. You can find the original recipe here on their website. I added a few things to mine.

What you need:

2 med zucchini, shredded

1 box of lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces

1/2 stick of butter

1 small box of cherry tomatoes, about 2 cups, halved

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup or so of grated Parmesan

chives, cut into small pieces

deveined, tailless shrimp, I used the frozen ones and let them thaw while I was cooking everything else. We like shrimp so I used a lot of them

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder to taste

While bringing the water to boil for the ravioli. Shred your zucchini and place in a colander to drain for about 10 minutes and then squeeze out excess moisture. Make sure to constantly stir your ravioli so it doesn't stick together. And reserve the water from your ravioli.

Heat the butter in a large skillet and add the cherry tomatoes until the start to look blistered about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and lemon juice crushing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Allow the zucchini to cook until it is tender-crisp about 5-10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and other spices. Add your shrimp and cook another couple of minutes until pink. 

Transfer the zucchini mixture to a large bowl. Add the ravioli, cheese and about half the chives and toss. Add a little of the reserved water to loosen if needed. Top with more cheese and chives.

Chicken Chiles Rellenos Style

Chicken Chiles Rellenos Style

The kids loved this one! Of course since it uses nacho chips. Simple to make and tastes great!

What you need:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 lime, juiced

2 eggs

1/2 Tbl crushed garlic

1 bag Nacho flavored Doritos,  finely crushed

1 4oz can of green chiles, diced

1 block Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Salsa, optional

I bought the chicken breasts with the rib meat on it. Cut the rib meat off and depending on how large the breasts are slice them in halve. Use a meat tenderizer to even out all the chicken pieces including the rib meat.

In a bowl mix the egg, lime juice and garlic until frothy. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg mixture and then coat in nachos. Place chicken on a pan in the oven at 400 Degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Place chiles on the chicken, sprinkle with shredded cheese and cook another 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve with salsa if desired.

Side Note:

If you have non chiles eaters leave it off a few pieces and just sprinkle with the cheese.

I buy the chicken with the rib meat because I can feed a bigger family by slicing the thick parts down and using the rib meat. We have less waste that way. The kids with smaller appetites eat 2-3 of the little pieces and the meat tenderizer flattens the meat enough that the big kids think they are getting gigantic pieces.I use the same trick when serving steak or ham or anything. I slice it first. There mind tells them they are getting more but I know they're not overeating. 

Bleu Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Burgers

Bleu Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Burger

Now this is a burger!

Bleu Cheese crumbles paired with spinach wrapped up by 1/4 to 1/2 lb fresh beef and topped with bacon and roasted peppers...

What you need:

4 lbs ground beef

Bleu cheese crumbles

Fresh spinach leaves

Roasted red peppers

1lb bacon

Hamburger seasoning(this is tricky because I don't really have a recipe for this. I add in a few dashes or a pinch or a couple shakes of the following items: soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and I have a couple different pre-mixed hamburger seasonings from the store that I add to it)

Anyway, back to the burger. In a large bowl mix the ground beef and your seasonings. Form a good size burger patty with a hollow in the center.It should look like a well. Place 3-4 spinach leaves in the hollow and a good size spoonful of bleu cheese. Wrap the sides down over the filling and carefully form with your hands to return to a patty shape. 

Grill on each side until desired doneness. Top with bacon and roasted red peppers. Serve on a bed of lettuce or on a bun.

Fried Okra

Fried Okra

I have an odd relationship with okra. The first time I had it I bought it out of the freezer section and while I didn't hate the taste it wasn't a texture I was certain I ever wanted again. It's been years since that happened. But I wanted to make gumbo and okra goes in gumbo so I bought some. Fresh this time. What to do with the leftovers? My son made me taste it raw. Not terrible but not my favorite. I didn't notice it too much in my gumbo. And then I was on the phone with a friend and she suggested deep fried. Everything is better deep fried!

What you need:

Fresh okra sliced in to 1/2 inch slices

buttermilk

breadcrumbs

salt and pepper

any other seasonings you might want

Place the sliced okra in buttermilk to moisten. Roll in breadcrumbs mixed with salt, pepper and seasonings until coated. Place in a deep fryer or a pan with about 2 inches of oil in it heated to 350 degrees. watch them closely because they don't take long at all. About 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve with ranch as a dipping sauce.

My fear of okra is over! I will try it again maybe a different way this time. But now I know deep fried is a big thumbs up!

Tomato Mozzarella Stack

Tomato Mozzarella Stack

Reminiscent of a Caprese salad, this is something similar we used to serve as an appetizer at the restaurant I worked in. Super easy to make and so refreshing. Serve as an appetizer at your dinner party or as an after school snack for the kids.

What you need:

2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin

6-8 oz of fresh mozzarella, sliced thin

roasted red pepper strips

balsamic reduction

fresh or dried basil

On a platter alternate tomato and mozzarella slices. Using a few pieces of the red pepper top every other or every third piece of mozzarella. Drizzle with balsamic reduction and sprinkle with basil.

Notes:

I prefer fresh basil but I don't always have it. Also, feel free to use whatever kind of tomatoes you might prefer. I prefer roma because they are meatier and have less juice and seeds. 

Zesty Ravioli

Zesty Ravioli

Simple, yet tastes like gourmet. You're gonna love this! So easy and all done in the skillet.My kids went back for seconds! And I have a couple picky eaters! The original recipe is from Pampered Chef and you can find it here.

What you're going to need:

1/2 cup whipping cream 

4 cups baby spinach leaves

6 oz grated Provolone cheese

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

3 garlic cloves, pressed

3 cans diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

2 packages frozen or fresh ravioli, I used the large ones

Saute the jalapeno in a large skillet for about a minute or so. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Now add the diced tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook until simmering. Add ravioli and cook uncovered about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in your cream and bring it back to a simmer. Place your spinach on top of the ravioli and cover. Cook 1-2 minutes or until the spinach starts to wilt. Remove from heat, add the shredded cheese and allow to melt before serving.