The Soup Kitchen: Chicken Curry with Brown Rice

I was inspired by the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Curry in a Hurry but adjusted for the slow cooker and of course changed some things up. 

The Ingredients:

2 Tbsp salted butter

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 medium onion diced

1 bag frozen carrots and peas

2 Tbsp curry powder

1 can coconut milk

4 C chicken broth

2 Tbsp honey

salt

Pepper

1 rotisserie chicken meat

1/4 c cilantro

2 dashes of Sriracha

1 small lime juiced

1 C brown rice

Red pepper flakes and cilantro to garnish

The Recipe:

I sautéed the butter, seasonings, and veggies for a couple minutes then added all the other ingredients and cooked on HI for 3 hours. 

Garnish with red pepper flakes and cilantro.

The Healthy Kitchen: Chicken Burger Cauliflower Gnocchi Skillet

This was surprisingly good and pretty healthy. It is loaded with veggies and protein. 

I revamped a Hamburger gnocchi skillet meal.

The Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter

1 bag of cauliflower gnocchi

1 lb ground chicken

1/4 c diced onion

1 tsp garlic

1 1/5 -2 Tbsp Meehans chicken seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1 zucchini chopped

1 can rotel

1 C chicken broth

1/3 C shredded cheese

The Recipe:

Melt the butter in a covered skillet. Add gnocchi and brown on both sides then set aside.

To the skillet add the chicken, onion, garlic, seasoning and salt. Cook until no longer pink. 

Add the zucchini, rotel, broth, and the gnocchi. Cook until bubbly. Then lower until the broth minimizes. 

Add the cheese and combine until melted.

The Sweet Kitchen: Browned Butter M&M Blondies

 It's not often I made a regular sweet recipe and usually that occurs when I am baking for other people. Of course, I have to taste test! I made these browned butter M&M blondies for my friend Lori to celebrate her birthday. 

Browned butter is a new favorite ingredient to use especially in baking. It gives everything such amazing flavor and it so easy to do. You just cook the butter the recipe calls for on the stove until the butter turns an amber color and has a nutty or caramel smell. Just be careful not to overcook it. Then let it cool for 20 minutes before adding it to the recipe including all the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Thats all the good flavors. 

So first preheat the oven to 350 degrees then go ahead and brown the butter and set it aside. While it is cooling it a great time to gather all of your ingredients you will need. 

The Ingredients:

3/4 C of browned butter cooled

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 C flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 C mini M&Ms

2/3 C semi sweet chocolate chips

The Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and brown your butter. 

Grease a 9x13 pan. 

Combine the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, and sugar and mix until combined. 

Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine. 

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. 

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until combined. 

Fold in 1/3 C of M&M's and the chocolate chips

Place batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top so the batter touches the edges.

Press in the remaining 1/3 C of M&M's into the top of the batter. 

Bake for 23-25 minutes until golden brown. This will still feel a bit soft but toothpick inserted should come out clean. 

Cool completely and cut into squares.

The Meatless Kitchen: Tex Mex Quinoa Three Ways!

 I needed a quick lunch the other day, so I made a big batch of Tex Mex Quinoa. Basically, a bunch of veggies and beans tossed with seasoned quinoa. This is meatless so would be great if you are omitting meat. I cooked a cup of quinoa in chicken broth with some seasoning. I used Adobo seasoning in this. Then I threw the veggies in a casserole dish to heat up in the oven. I used a can of drained black beans, a can or Rotel, green chiles, and black olives all drained and topped with some gouda cheese. For lunch that day I just had it in a bowl. 

Today though I'm going to show you three ways you can use that mixture in different meals. 

Meal 1: Tex Mex Quinoa Tacos

Just add the mixture to a soft shell or hard shell taco. Add any toppings you'd like (cheese, lettuce, jalapenos, sour cream). I added some salsa to the mixture and topped with some pepperjack cheese. Be prepared this is a bit of a messy taco. 

Meal 2: Tex Mex Quinoa Nachos

Just lay a bed of tortilla chips on the plate and top with the quinoa mixture. Top with any additional topping you would like (lettuce, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc). Use the tortilla chips to scoop up the quinoa mixture. I used quinoa chia seed tortilla chips. 

Meal 3: Tex Mex Quinoa Enchiladas

This was by far my favorite of the three. The enchilada sauce really added some flavor. So, for this I took the base quinoa mixture and added a couple tablespoons of the enchilada sauce. Then built the enchiladas. 

               

I used low carb tortillas and put in 2 TBSP of the quinoa mixture and rolled the enchiladas and placed them in a greased casserole dish. fold side down. Some of the mixture will fall out the sides that's ok just push it back in if you can. Once all the enchiladas are in the pan, pour the rest of the can of enchilada sauce over all the enchiladas. I made 6 enchiladas if you are making more you will need a 2nd can of sauce. I then shredded some pepperjack cheese and covered the enchiladas. I baked in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted. Cheddar cheese or Monterrey jack would be good in this as well. I would like to try this again with corn tortillas and green enchilada sauce, but this was very good. 

A great option for a meatless yet filling meal. You can do a trio meal like I did, or you can try a single meal option. 

The Italian Kitchen: Baked Feta and Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Italian Sausage

I've seen this recipe around and thought I would finally try it. I, of course, made some changes. Next time, I would like to try the Boursin version. It was good a bit unexpected. It was a bit tangier than expected, I believe from the Feta.

The Ingredients

2 pints of cherry tomatoes

1 block Feta cheese

1/2 C olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

Salt 

Pepper

Pasta of choice

Ground Italian sausage

Oregano

Basil

Pizza party seasoning

The Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In baking dish layer the  cherry tomatoes and top with half of olive oil and seasonings. 

Add the Feta block in the middle of the baking dish and top with remainder of olive oil and seasonings.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the tomatoes break up and Feta melts. Mash to combine. I also used an immersion blender to really combine it well. 

While the Feta is cooking, cook your meat and pasta. Once the Feta is done, add the pasta and meat to the sauce. 

Garnish with parmesan, basil, or oregano. 

You could also add some veggies like broccoli or spinach if desired.