Category: Food

Have you ever had Stouffer’s grandma’s chicken rice bake?  It’s in the frozen food aisle and it is delicious.  It’s also a bit pricey and doesn’t give you a whole lot, so I found my own version!    Ok, well it isn’t really my own, but I found it myself on allrecipes.com.   As today maintained a cool 65 degrees I thought a perfect fall meal was in order – yep, chicken rice bake (Dave also requested it and we had leftover chicken from dinner last night).

Ingredients

• 1 C uncooked rice
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken or mushroom soup (whichever is on hand)
• 1 – 2 C water (or chicken broth)
• 1 package dry onion soup mix
• 4 chicken breasts, cooked, cubed

Directions

• Season chicken with salt, garlic, paprika, and bread crumbs.  Spread chicken in casserole dish.
• In separate bowl mix ingredients together, mix well.
• Pour mixture over chicken, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
• After one hour sprinkle panko bread crumbs over top, cook 10 – 30 minutes, uncovered, till done.
• What I usually do– I skip the dry soup mix and instead just dump in a Rice-A-Roni long grain rice mix.  I also add some diced onions and frozen veggies (peas, corn, etc).   Also be sure not to cook it too long, after an hour if it’s still a little liquidy, keep cooking uncovered, checking every 10 min or so.

Ajax liked it very much, but would only eat it off the fork.  As he’s not that proficient with the utensil, I had to load up the fork for him and then he would eat.

My dad and Ajax installed this ceiling fan the other day in our house, while Dave and I had a date night!   My dad said that Ajax was quite the help, lol.

My sister-in-law, Theresa, asked for the calzone recipe, so here it is!   I originally got the dough recipe from Better Homes and Gardens and have been using it since August 2005- still a winner!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon dry active yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups warm water

5 cups flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon salt

Here’s what ya do:

In a large bowl combine the yeast and sugar.  Pour warm water over all.  Let stand 5 minutes.   Using a wooden spoon stir in 2 cups flour, olive oil, and salt (you could also add basil or oregano).  Stir in as much flour as you can.  Kneed in remaining flour.  Dough should be moderately stiff; 6-8 minutes.

Shape dough into a ball; place in a greased bowl and cover.  Let rise four 40 minutes or until about double in size.  Punch down dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface.  Divide into 10 equal portions; let rest.  Roll dough into 7 in round portions.

To use right away- fill the dough with whatever you want.  I usually do pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and ham.  But you can add whatever you want.  Fold over and pinch the edges together.  Brush edges and calzone with a beaten egg.  Then cook for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees (or till done).

Eat right away or freeze for the future!

For some reason when a recipe calls for wine, I feel like the meal is instantly more fancy and yes, sophisticated.   I’m not a fancy cook, I’m a semi, mediocre cook, who is also a busy working mom that lacks a sense of smell.   I cannot walk into a kitchen and create a fabulous meal out of nothing (like my mother can), but I can follow a recipe!

I found this site called The Pioneer Woman Cooks and have been so pleased with the recipes I’ve found on it.  The most recent one I tried was Chicken with Tomatoes and Garlic and it was great!  Dave’s only complaint was that the recipe called for chicken legs and that meant it was on the bone.  In the history of our marriage this was only the second time I had made chicken on the bone, the last time (which was years ago) I believe I had to de-bone the chicken for Dave…

Ingredients

• 8 pieces Chicken Legs Or Thighs
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
• 1 can (14 Ounces) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Tomato Paste
• Fresh Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 16 ounces, weight Pasta (I Used Cavitappi)
• Grated Parmesan Cheese, For Serving
• ½ cups White Wine (or Red Wine)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper chicken legs.

Heat ovenproof skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and butter. When oil/butter is hot, add chicken legs to the pan. Using tongs, brown on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour in wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes with their juice and add tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, then turn off heat. Add plenty of fresh herbs, 8 cloves of peeled (but whole) garlic, and the chicken legs. Put lid on pot and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Remove pot from oven and allow it to sit on the counter with the lid on while you boil the pasta.

Cook the pasta to al dente, Drain and add to a large serving bowl.

Remove lid and check sauce. If it’s overly thin, remove the chicken from the pot and boil the sauce on the stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes. Check seasonings and adjust as needed.

To serve, pour sauce over cooked pasta, then arrange chicken pieces over the top. Sprinkle generously with fresh Parmesan and serve with crusty French bread.

Sunday night my mom stopped by to visit and watched Ajax for a bit while I wrapped up some late night cooking.  I found this meatball recipe that is absolutely excellent.  Since I had some extra beef (thank you Dara and Rod), I decided to triple the recipe and freeze some for future dinners.  The first time I made these I used ground chicken and I think I actually liked the chicken more so than the beef, but that was just me.

For Ajax’s birthday I made his favorite meal on the planet- Southwestern Chicken and White Bean Soup.  This kid loves loves loves this soup.  I found this deceptively simple recipe on AllRecipes.com and it is amazing.  It’s quick, easy, cheap, and best of all Ajax eats everything in it- chicken, beans, corn, onions, everything!   I thought I’d post the recipe because honestly I’ve gotten so many compliments on it that I just had to share! I’ve also added my comments/additions to the recipe in italics.