Just a Mom, HA!

Wheat Rolls

This recipe is seriously worth bragging about.

Wheat rolls that are smooth and soft, but are actually a combo of wheat and regular flours so no added gluten or softeners are required.  My average pantry has made these twice already because we just can’t get enough!

Wheat Rolls

• 1 c. warm water
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 Tbs milk
• 2 Tbs canola oil
• 2 Tbs honey
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then turn off once it has preheated.  Combine warm water and yeast is a small dish, let stand until yeast gets frothy.  Meanwhile, combine milk, oil, honey, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  When yeast mixture is ready, add it to the large mixing bowl, then add the whole wheat flour, stirring until combined.  Next add the all purpose flour (I find that this smoother flour works in better as the dough begins to stiffen compared to the whole wheat). Knead the dough in the bowl by hand until all flour is incorporated and the dough becomes mostly smooth.

Remove dough, lightly spray the mixing bowl, then return the dough and give it a quick shot of cooking spray as well. Cover bowl with a cloth and put dough in the preheated oven for an hour to rise.  After an hour, punch the dough down and divide it into 12 equal pieces.*  Work the pieces into smooth balls and place in a lightly greased baking dish, cover and put back in the warm oven for about 30 minutes.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, remove from warm oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for around **13 minutes and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

*Having a hard time getting equal sized rolls? Start by cutting the dough ball in half, then in half again.  Break each quarter piece down into 3rds and you’ll have a dozen equal rolls.

**I noticed that my rolls cooked faster (11 minutes) when in a metal pan.  When I made them in glass, they weren’t ready that fast and I had to put them back in for an additional 2 minutes.  Watch your rolls and feel their sides, not the tops, to know when they’re done.

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Apple Couscous

Have you ever had a recipe that you thought was OK, but didn’t quite hit the mark? Have you ever thought of taking that recipe and pairing it up with something new to push it in a whole new direction?  That’s what I did this last weekend and the results were outstanding. This recipe will be a repeat in our house, when at first it was just a snooze.

Even if you’re scared of couscous, I would strongly recommend trying it out. You never know what the outcome will be – Cee LOVED his and gobbled it up like candy, but rice would work for this too if that’s what you have on hand.

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Apple Couscous

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into strips
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup crushed saltine or wheat crackers
• nutmeg
• 1 box whole wheat couscous
• 1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed, divided
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons Honey Dijon mustard (I used French’s Brand with good results)
• 1 tsp corn starch

Prepare chicken coating by separating the egg white, adding a little bit of water and whisking it with a fork on a plate.  Crush/chop the crackers and nuts, mix together on another plate.  Dip chicken pieces into egg white wash, then into cracker/pecan mixture, then place in a lightly sprayed dish.  When all of the pieces are done, sprinkle them lightly with the nutmeg.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (longer if you are using thick or whole breasts rather than strips like me).

While the chicken bakes, place couscous in a small mixing bowl. Heat 1/3 cup of the apple concentrate and 2/3 cup water to boiling  then pour apple liquid into couscous. Stir and cover tightly with foil.

Whisk together remaining 2/3 cup apple concentrate, honey and mustard in a small sauce pan. Bring sauce to a boil, stirring constantly.  Once the sauce boils, reduce heat and add the corn starch. Allow sauce to thicken.  Serve chicken with couscous drizzling sauce over all.

Kim’s note:  Want something more? Add fresh spinach leaves to the couscous before it cooks. The warm liquid wilts them down perfectly and they are delicious!

Happy Cooking!

Brioche Rolls

Just in time for Easter, here’s the perfect roll:

Brioche (according to my bread maker company, from whom I’m tweaking this recipe) is a rich, white, egg bread.  Its texture is soft and smooth, especially straight out of the oven, and it’s no-salt flavor can be paired with just about anything from gravy to honey.

Do try them with honey. No joke, I could cry it was so good.  Just crack it open like this:

And drizzle the honey on.  No butter necessary, these stand alone.

Brioche Rolls

• 2/3 c. warm milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. yeast
• 1 1/2 Tbs light butter/margarine, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 3 c. flour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then turn off once it has preheated.  Combine warm milk and yeast is a small dish, let stand until yeast gets frothy.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a large mixing bowl, then add the eggs and sugar.  When yeast mixture is ready, add it to the large mixing bowl, then add flour by cups, stirring between each addition.  Knead the dough in the bowl by hand until all flour is incorporated and the dough becomes mostly smooth (mine was a little cracked in places).

Remove dough, lightly spray the mixing bowl, then return the dough and cover with a slightly moist cloth and put dough in the preheated oven for an hour to rise.  After an hour, punch the dough down and divide it into 8 equal pieces.*  Work the pieces into smooth balls and place on a lightly greased baking dish, cover and put back in the warm oven for about 30 minutes.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, remove from warm oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for 10 minutes and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

* Kim’s notes:  I made 8 rolls, but they were HUGE!  I could have easily cut them again and made 16.  If you chose to make smaller rolls, adjust the cooking time so that they don’t come out too tough.

Before baking, I spritzed my rolls with a little I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray. You could do this, smear a little melted butter on, or leave them plain.

Happy Cooking!

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Chicken Caesar Pizza

HoLEE COW!

I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes lately for pizzas with lettuce toppings.  Not wanting to be left out of the loop, I thought I’d give Chicken Caesar Pizza a go.

I did it begrudgingly.  I blame food blog peer pressure.

However, despite my reservations going into this project, this pizza is a new favorite of mine.  Jay was late coming home from work and he’s lucky that I saved him some it was so good.

Like most of my recipes, you can make this as health conscious or as fatty as you want – I took it the healthier route and used my naan recipe for the crust and my Caesar dressing for the sauce.  I recommend those since that’s the taste I had last night that knocked my socks off, but if you don’t have the time for all that, then any prepared pizza crust or dressing will do the trick.

Let’s take a look at what you’re going for without the lettuce barrier:

Beautiful, huh?  Okay, here’s the idea…

Chicken Caesar Pizza

• Pizza crust (prepared or homemade, I used my Naan recipe)
• Caesar dressing (mine was incredible for this and can be found HERE)
• Shredded chicken (amount depends on preference, the pizza pictured has about 1 1/2 breasts worth of meat)
• Tomato, sliced very thin (light should shine through thin – this will make it become a part of the sauce, if you want more tomatoes you can chunk them and add them later)
• Spinach, shredded (about 1/4 cup or more according to taste)
• Onion, thinly sliced
• Mozzerella Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Romaine lettuce, torn

Beforehand, shred the chicken and seal it in an air tight bag with enough dressing to coat the chicken.  Let chill in the fridge until it’s time to cook.  Prepare crust according to its directions.  Smear crust with Caesar dressing, then lay the thin tomato slices on top of the sauce.  Next lay down the spinach and onion slices.  Top veggies with the prepared chicken, then cover everything with the two cheeses (if you’re trying to save on calories, use a fine shredded cheese and keep it light).

Bake according to the directions for your pizza crust (mine baked at 350 for about 12 minutes).

Remove pizza from oven, top with torn lettuce and additional dressing if desired.

Happy Cooking!

Thai Coconut Stir-Fry

I knew I had to try this recipe when I stumbled across it on the Better Homes and Gardens website.  With a couple of little tweaks it was SO Jay that I couldn’t wait to make it for him.

Which meant I made it while his Mom was in town visiting us.

This is kind of an “out there” recipe for down-home Ohio types, but the flavor was subtle enough to get great reviews from everyone (even Cee).

When you read this recipe over, you might not believe me when I say that it is subtle, but it really is!  I think I just might up the Chili Powder next time to take the flavor up a notch.

Thai Coconut Stir-Fry (adapted from Coconut Chicken Chili on BHG.com)

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut to bite size pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
• 1 Tbs. Peanut Butter
• 1 c. water
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
• matchstick carrots (about half a bag, 2 c.)
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs fresh cilantro, chopped
• cooked rice

In a large saucepan combine the first 6 ingredients and saute until chicken is no longer pink (don’t worry about oil, just a little cooking spray will do).  Next stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute more.  After the minute is up add the coconut milk, water, and peanut butter, stir until blended in and bring mixture to a boil.  Add all remaining ingredients, mixing until blended.  Return to a boil, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until veggies have softened and liquid has thickened.  Serve over cooked rice.

Happy Cooking!

Pasta E Fagioli

I adore Pasta E Fagioli soup from the Olive Garden.  Ever since discovering the all-you-can-eat soup, salad, and breadstick combo there during high school, I’ve been hooked.

Lots of recipes online claim to have the exact Olive Garden recipe, but since most call for spaghetti sauce as an ingredient, I haven’t put a lot of stock in these claims.  However, as it is possibly my favorite soup, I took a stab at making it in my trusty crock pot, but Kim style (meaning no oil and extra veggies).  Jay and I loved it, it was great the second time around, and it will definitely be a repeat in our house.

Pasta E Fagioli

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/3 of a large red onion, chopped
• 1 c. carrots, cut very fine (the larger the chunks the longer the cook time)
• 3 small-med celery stalks, cut lengthwise then chopped
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 c. low-sodium beef broth
• 3/4 of a 16.5 oz jar red pasta sauce
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt (this was with low sodium broth and may not be necessary if using regular)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 c. dry ditalini (small tube pasta), other small pastas could be substituted if needed

Brown the meat, then drain well.  Chop veggies to desired sizes – the larger the carrots, the longer the cook time.  Add all ingredients except the pasta to your slow cooker.  Cook on low for about 6 hours, check veggies for tenderness.  If the veggies are just about ready, add the pasta and cook for one more hour.  Serve with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Picante de Pollo

Picante de Pollo is a classic Bolivian dish which I ate often while living there.  When I saw this recipe I knew I’d have to give it a try.  The name is deceiving, this IS NOT a SPICY DISH.  It’s savory with a touch of sweet underlying the salsa flavors.

It wasn’t like the Bolivian dish that I knew, but it has become a new favorite of mine.  I see HUGE potential here for making it as a taco/burrito filling, making it in the slow cooker and shredding it, or just serve it simply over rice as the recipe calls for.

Picante de Pollo (from Campbell’s Kitchen)

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 c. fresh salsa
• 3 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 Tbs honey dijon mustard

Place trimmed chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients together until blended then pour over chicken.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.  Serve over rice.

Happy Cooking!

Pudding in a Cloud

Here’s an EASY dessert idea straight from my childhood that pleases both young and old.

Pudding in a cloud.

So simple, yet so stinkin’ good!  The idea is that you can’t see the pudding from the outside because it’s too well blocked by a layer of COOL WHIP!

Yum! (Or nummy nummy num, as Cee would say.)

My mom would make these on special family nights and line them out on the counter for all 5 of us.  My brothers and I would argue and shove until we were sure that we had the biggest or best serving.

It works with any pudding, any whipped topping, can be served up with a plethora of other goodies, or can be scaled back with low-cal Cool Whip, sugar free pudding, skim milk and you’ve got yourself a great low-cal alternative to ice cream!

Pudding in a Cloud

• 1 tub whipped topping
• Pudding – any flavor, I’ve only ever used instant which makes for a quicker dessert, but cooked pudding would be fine if you have the patience.
• Individual glass dishes (or at least a see through container if you don’t trust your kiddos with glass yet)

Mix up pudding according to package or recipe.  Allow to cool in fridge until set.  Using a spoon, heap and glob of whipped topping into a glass container, smearing it around until the glass is completely covered and you can’t see through (that would be the “cloud”).  Line all of the containers that you’ll use in this manner, then scooped the set/chilled pudding into the cloud.  Put a small final drop of whipped topping on the top.  Eat it alone, stash it in the fridge for a few hours, or serve it up with other goodies – goes great with graham crackers, nilla wafers, or anything else you want!

Happy Cooking!

Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

THIS salad was by far the best thing that I “cooked” all through the holidays.  It beat the ham, it beat the spuds, it rocked.

Oh – and that’s some non-fat dressing you’re looking at to boot!

I’m putting up the dressing recipe, but the salad recipe itself can be whatever you like – suggestions follow…

Cranberry Vinaigrette

• 8 oz whole berry cranberry sauce (about half a normal can, or one small can if you can find it)
• 1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbs. honey dijon mustard
• 3 Tbs. water

Add all ingredients to your blender and liquify.  Store in an air tight contain in the fridge until ready to serve.  Can store for several days.

The pictured salad is made of:

• Sweet baby lettuces
• Spinach
• red onion
• cheese
• cucumber
• candied almonds*
• tomatoes

Next time I’m absolutely adding fresh berries and dried cranberries too.

*Rather than buying tons of candied almonds which I knew I’d eat by the truck load, I bought natural almonds, chopped them, and then sauteed them with only a little cooking spray, sugar and cinnamon.  Wonderful taste, wonderful crunch, no butter and no commitment to eat a million candied nuts.

Sour Cream and Paprika Pork Chops

I love making pork in my slow cooker.  This is my 3 recipe of this genre and I’m falling even more in love.  Pork, creaminess, onions – wow it’s awesome.

I won’t even tell you how good this will make your house smell while it cooks.  I won’t say, because it is sure to make me drool all over my keyboard.

Though this recipe uses a chicken broth base, it does have a stroganoff feel to it and therefore it lends itself to being served with noodles, rice, or POTATOES!

That did it – I did drool a bit thinking about those potatoes.  And for a bit of extra veggie goodness I layered fresh spinach on my plate and then loaded it up. YUM!

Sour Cream and Paprika Pork Chops

• 1.5 lbs. boneless pork chops
• Pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 c. flour
• 1 med onion, sliced in rings
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 2 c. hot water
• 2 Tbs flour
• 8 oz fat-free sour cream (half an average container)
• 1 tsp. paprika

Season pork chops with pepper, then lightly coat them with the 1/3 c. flour (discard flour after use).  In a skillet, lightly brown the chops on each side until flour is well adhered.  Place chops in slow cooker, topping with onion rings. Add the garlic, hot water, and bouillon to the slow cooker as well.  Cook on low for 6 hours, or until pork is cooked through.

Once the pork is cooked, remove from slow cooker, cover and keep warm.  Strain excess fat or gristle from juices. Combine the sour cream, 2 tbs. flour and paprika, then add it to slow cooker juices. Turn the slow cooker to high allowing sauce to thicken for about 30 minutes.  Return pork chops to slow cooker, and reduce heat to warm until it’s time to serve.

Serve with sauce over potatoes, noodles, or rice.