Stir Fry Veggies & Rice

I've been so far behind that I am posting this just so I can have it on record -- for when I run out of meal ideas!

Stir Fry in evoo: shredded cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, onion & pineapple. Season with soy sauce & sweet chili sauce. Add leftover Sticky Chicken.

Serve with Jasmine rice.

Chicken Club Salads

Food Category: PG, Bum Lovin', High-5
Difficulty: Easy

The good stuff:

lettuce
shredded carrots
sliced cucumbers
radishes
avocados
chopped leftover Sticky Chicken breast.

The really good stuff:

2 slices center cut bacon
1/2 serving grated cheddar
1 boiled egg
croutons
fat free 1000 Island dressing

Southwestern Eggrolls

Food Category: PG
Difficulty: Easy

I began with the intention of following the Chili's Southwestern Eggroll recipe, and for the most part I did. Except for I cooked on a much larger scale & didn't pay too much attention to proportions - not that it really matters the ratio of corn to onions, know what I mean?

Here's roughly what I used:

• 2 cups of cooked chicken (I used Mimi's Sticky Chicken from last night)
• 1 chopped onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 of each: red, green & yellow bell pepper
• 1 can vacuumed-packed corn
• 1 can black beans
• 1/3 cup chopped jalapeno peppers
• 1 cup chopped frozen spinach
• 1/2 crushed tomatoes (b/c I had some in the fridge)
• several splashes of Taco Sauce (again, in the fridge)
• 8 oz (weight) grated cheddar cheese
• 8 burrito size spiced tomato tortillas
• 8 taco/fajita size spinach tortillas

To make the Eggroll Filling:

• Sautee bell peppers in 2 T olive oil for 3-4 minutes
• Add onion & continue to sautee for 3-4 minutes
• Add 1-2 cloves minced garlic
• Add the spinach & cooked until heated through
• Next, toss in the beans, corn, chicken & jalapenos
• And, 1/2 t each, more if you choose: chili powder, cumin, paprika, smoky sweet chili blend, cayenne & salt
• Remove from heat & add cheese
• Stir until cheese melts & mixes in

To assemble the Eggrolls:

• Microwave the tortillas in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel for 45-60 seconds on high
• Spread 1/4-1/3 cup of filling on one side of the tortilla
• Roll "eggroll style" turning the sides in as you go
• You can "seal" with a bit to cream cheese

To cook the Eggrolls:

• I sprayed the Eggrolls with olive oil, placed seam side down on a baking pan &
• Baked at 425 until crispy & golden, turning once 1/2 way through (about 15 minutes)
• (The original recipe calls for the Eggrolls to be frozen & then deep fried)

To serve the Eggrolls:

• Cut in 1/2 crosswise & serve with a dipping sauce.

I really, really wanted & tried to make the avocado dipping sauce BUT avocados in Europe are terrible & it was a waste of my time & energy & ingredients. I had to resort to serving with Ranch dip. Next time, in the absence of decent avocados, I'll make Haus Salsa.

If I had good access to fresh jalepeno & poblano peppers, I would have added some. Maybe next time I'll throw in a chopped chipotle or two.

Personally, I don't think these have to be deep fried. It's more mess to clean up, more calories to burn off & it's not necessary for flavor. If you spray & bake, these are actually kind of healthy.

Leftover Potential: These were a huge hit & there were none leftover. If you did have leftovers, you can reheat in the oven or freeze for later. If you anticipate leftovers, I'd freeze before cooking.

Mimi's Sticky Chicken & Bratkartoffeln

Food Category: PG, Southern Comfort
Difficulty: Easy

Mimi's Sticky Chicken has got to be the best roasted chicken ever. If you have never roasted a chicken, don't be intimidated. Just rub seasoning all over the inside, outside & under the skin, then pop into a hot oven. It's that simple.

If you have heat (as in picante and not caliente) sensitive people in your Haus (wimps & small children) notice that the recipe does call for 3 kinds of pepper (cayenne, black & white). I do not think this recipe is hot in anyway, just flavorful.

This roasted chicken is great the first time around & perfectly wonderful for leftovers. I roasted 2 chickens tonight (adding some rosemary that I had lying around) because I need chicken-as-an-ingredient for meals later in the week. My oven is not big enough for a roasting pan, so I shoved both chickens into my 9X13 stoneware dish, breast side down.

Sorry about the chicken butts - that's just how it was!

This is yet another example of how small the oven is.

The chicken was served with Bratkartoffeln. Tonight I used mostly peeled red potatoes & some wunderbar Bratkartoffel seasoning I picked up at the Wiesbaden Christmas Market.

I started by cooking 2 slices of bacon, adding some evoo, then dumping the potatoes, onion & seasonings in the pan.

Meat & Potatoes were served with microwaved green peas & mixed veggies, also nuked.


The chicken carcasses & veggies from the roasting pan went into a stock pot. I'll have lots of broth for soups & sauces. I'll freeze it to use later.

Leftover potential: Endless possibilities for the chicken. Tomorrow I am making Southwestern Chicken Wraps to take to a party. The rest of the leftover chicken will keep in the fridge for a few days, or the freezer for a few months. Veggies can be reheated in the microwave or frozen in the soup-bucket. Potatoes: reheat in the microwave or in a pan, add to breakfast burritos.

Pineapple Sweet & Sour Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Food Category: PG, High-5
Difficulty: Easy

Pssst. Here's what is keeping this meal from being Bum Lovin': I pan fried (not even spritzed with evoo & baked!) lumpias, wrapped them in foil & kept them in a warm oven until ready to serve. They were so good!

Start the cooking prep by marinating 3 chicken breasts for at least one hour.

Chicken Marinade

Thinly slice 3 chicken breasts & 1/2 of an onion. To the chicken & onion add:

• 2-3 T of sweet chili sauce (It's in the picture below on the far right - purchased at the commissary.)
• 2 T of pineapple juice (from an 8 oz can of pineapple chunks)
• 2 T of soy sauce
• 2 t sesame oil
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• few shakes of run-of-the-mill chicken seasoning

Stir Fry Veggies

• Cut 2-3 large carrots into thin strips, not quite Julienne
• Stir fry in a bit of evoo for 3-4 minutes
• Add 2 cups broccoli florets & continue to cook until almost tender crisp
• Add 2 cups of cole slaw mix & stir fry for 2-3 more minutes
• Season with salt, pepper, sesame oil & soy sauce
• Remove from pan and set aside

(If using frozen broccoli, cook in the microwave & toss with the other veggies at the end of the cooking process.)

Stir Fry Chicken

• Add a bit more evoo to the pan over high heat
• Toss in the marinated chicken and stir fry until cooked through
• Remove chicken from the pan, leaving the juices
• Set chicken aside

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Mix together with a wire whisk:

• 1/4 c Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 1/2 c vinegar
• 1/2 c pineapple juice (the rest of the juice of the 8 oz can)
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1/2 c water w/1 teaspoon chicken granules (or 1/2 c chicken broth)
• 2 heaping T of cornstarch
• 1-2 t sesame oil
• 1-2 T sweet chili sauce

Bring pan juices to a boil & add the sweet & sour mixture. Cook over medium high heat until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the pineapple chunks & remove from heat.

Serve with Jasmine Rice, cooked in a rice cooker & lumpias, either pan fried or spritzed & baked!

Leftover potential: Straight up leftovers for lunch. To reheat the eggrolls, wrap in foil and bake in the toaster oven until heated through. Remove foil & bake for a few more minutes to crisp them up.

Yo-Yo

We are leaving for Germany tomorrow and will be gone through the weekend. Dinner tonight will most definitely include cleaning out the fridge. It's all good. Here's what we have to choose from:

BBQ beef & beans - enough for one more sandwich
Salad - enough for one person
Minestrone - whatever doesn't get eaten, gets frozen
Chicken from the Kindy Thanksgiving Feast - enough for 2 servings
Wheat rolls, also from the Fest -- 4 left
Pecan tassies, Feast again - 11 left

Whatever leftovers from the Feast were mine to start with. Here's how I made the kid-friendly chicken.

Chicken on a Stick

• Toss frozen chicken thighs with: a drizzle of evoo, Turkey Rub, rubbed sage & thyme.
• Defrost one bag of frozen, boneless & skinless chicken thighs in the fridge overnight.
• The chicken marinates as it defrosts.
• When the chicken is totally defrosted, cut into small bite sized chunks & thread onto wooden skewers (soak the skewers in water for 1 hour prior).
• Line a baking pan with foil, place chicken sticks on to pan & put into a hot oven (400F).
• Bake for 20 minutes, turning 1/2 through, or until the biggest pieces of chicken are cooked through.

Buttery Bread Machine Rolls

I followed this recipe posted on RecipeZaar with the following exceptions:

• I used 2 cups white flour & 2 cups of whole wheat.
• Made 32 smaller rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• I let the dough rise a second time for over 1 hour.
• I baked at 350F.

Pecan Tassies

Shall we mosey on over to Not Just Strudel and see how they are made?

OK, fine. There are only ten nine tassies left now. I think I'm going to have to call dibs on the salad for dinner.

Breaded & Baked Chicken

Food Category: PG, Southern Comfort
Difficulty: Easy

Breading

1 cup bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle of your favorite flavors: garlic/onion powder, seasoned salt, salt/pepper, basil

Chicken

• Cut 2 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts in half crosswise to make 4 servings.
• Lightly coat with flour. You can toss them into a bag with some flour.
• Then dip into an egg/water mixture (50/50).
• Then toss in a plastic bag with breading to coat.
• Place chicken on a preheated baking pan. You can use parchment paper for non-stick & easy clean up.
• Drizzle with evoo or spray with a cooking spray.
• Place baking pan into a hot oven (400F).
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown & crispy, turning 1/2 way through.

Serve with:

Roasted potatoes: Peel & cube 4-5 medium baking potatoes, lightly toss with evoo & season with salt, onion powder & pepper. Bake at 400F on a hot baking pan lined with parchment paper for 15-20 minutes, turning once.

Green beans: Cut with kitchen shears one slice of center cut bacon & cook over medium heat until most of the fat is rendered. Add cut frozen green beans to the pan and a bit of water. Cover and cook until the beans are tender. Stir occasionally. Season with salt/pepper.

Leftover Potential: Beans can be frozen for soup. Chicken can be reheated in a toaster oven (keeps it crispy). How about a chicken sandwich for lunch? Potatoes can be added to scrambled eggs and make an appearance on a breakfast burrito.

Teriyaki Chicken & Stir Fry Veggies

Food Category: PG, High-5, Bum Lovin'
Difficulty: Easy

Stir Fry Teriyaki Chicken

• Marinate 3-4 servings of chicken breasts in Teriyaki-Garlic sauce for 3-4 hours.
• Slice chicken into thin strips & pat dry with paper towels.
• Sprinkle with ground ginger.
• Stir fry with evoo over medium-high heat with thin slices of onion & one garlic clove.
• At the very end of the cooking process, season with Teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, salt & pepper.
• Once chicken is browned, remove from pan, cover to keep warm & set aside.

Stir Fry Veggies: Zucchini, Carrots, Sugar Snap Peas

• Slice one large zucchini into half-moons.
• Sautee in evoo until tender crisp.
• Season with sesame oil, soy sauce, salt & pepper.
• Remove zucchini from pan & set aside.
• Add more evoo to the pan & sautee sliced carrots until about half cooked.
• Add sugar snap peas & continue to cook both the carrots & peas until tender crisp.
• At the end of the cooking process, season with sesame oil, soy sauce, Teriyaki/garlic sauce, salt & pepper.

Serve with rice cooked in the rice cooker.



Leftover potential: Straight-up leftovers work. Also, everything will keep well in the fridge for a few days. You can stir fry the whole kit & kaboodle to make fried rice. Veggies & chicken can be frozen and later added to soup.

Quick & Easy

Food Category: G-Rated
Difficulty: Easy

Tonight, I had a very important meeting to attend. OK, fine. It was a very interesting game of Bunco. But the point is that I threw together some food for the family before I headed out.

Man had leftover turkey & stuffing from the freezer. The kids had chicken strips baked in the toaster oven. I did make mashed potatoes to pull both meals together. Veggies, Schmeggiges. Who eats them if Mom's not home anyway?

Obviously, there was nothing exciting food-wise, but I'll share my recipe for HausFrau's Red Rooster:

2 quarts of cranberry juice
8 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
2 1/3 cups of peach vodka

Mix together into a gallon bucket (I use my Bill Miller ice tea bucket) with a lid & freeze for 24 hours. The cranberry & orange juice certainly count toward you five-a-day. Substitute orange juice blend with calcium for that extra nutritional punch. See how healthy it is? And vodka is made from potatoes. It's almost like kicking back a V8.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Sandwiches

Food Category: Bum Lovin', PG
Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Sandwiches:

I used 2 frozen chicken breasts (they were huge) that I cut in half crosswise while partially still frozen. I ended up with 4 thin chicken filets about the size of the bread. Season with garlic & onion powder, pepper & all purpose chicken seasoning. Let the chicken marinate in the dry rub for about 30 minutes.

Pan grill the chicken in a bit of evoo. Baste with a honey-mustard mixture (half honey, half spicy mustard). Remove from heat & set aside until ready to assemble the sandwiches.

I toasted the bread on a stove-top pan grill.

Sandwiches were assembled with:

lettuce

sliced Kosher dill pickles

sliced red onion

3 slices Oscar Mayer precooked bacon (70 calories, lots of flavor)

Miracle Whip

honey-mustard chicken breast

Served with:

Thick cut oven fries.

Here's the white bread, white potato version:

And, the healthier, whole wheat & sweet potato version:

With sweet potato fries as a side, you can easily get 3 veggie servings (one for the lettuce & 2 for the fries).

Here's a recipe & cooking method for garlic oven fries. My only suggestion would be to definitely cook the potatoes on parchment paper to prevent sticking. Other than that, I think I'll give these a try soon. Just like mine, only better because of the garlic!

Again, here's Paula's sweet potato fries recipe.

Pita Pizza

Food Category: G-Rated, Bum Lovin'

Difficulty: Easy

It's just the girls and I for a few nights, so simple it is. Tonight we built our pizzas on whole wheat pita bread, topped with Contadina bottled pizza sauce, grated mozzarella, a sprinkle of basil-garlic seasoning, leftover chicken meatballs (chopped w/o the buffalo sauce) and snipets of fresh basil.

Here's the link to my Pita Pizza Debut for cooking method.

Orange Chicken & Rice

Food Category: Easy, PG, High-5

Difficulty: Easy

Stir-Fry Fresh Veggies

Sautee sliced onion, snow peas & Napa cabbage (that's what I had in the fridge from the night we had Asian Salads) in evoo & remove from pan.

Orange Chicken

Cook according to package directions. I also added a few small pieces of the Tyson chicken strips the girls had for dinner.

Add back the stir-fried veggies & a package of microwave steamed veggies.

Serve with:

Rice made in the rice cooker.

All said and done the "quick" meal from the freezer ended up being almost as much work as cooking from scratch. The portions were very skimpy, the taste "just okay" & not really worth the expense ($4.29).

Next time, I'll make something more along the lines of this Tyson's Sweet & Sour recipe. I may even use cut up breaded chicken strips (or nuggets!) so that it's more like real take-out. It really depends on how much we need to watch calories that particular night.

Ok, so dinner wasn't anything to brag about, but breakfast was! Check out the pancakes MiniMe & I made this morning. We used a medicine syringe to make the faces & had a Spook-tacular time.

Chicken Club Wraps & Sweet Potato Fries

Food Category: PG, Bum Lovin'
Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Breasts

You can use any kind of chicken meat you want: leftover, Rotisserie, grilled, prepacked/precooked, lunch meat, etc. What I had available was 3 split chicken breasts, bone-in. I cooked them in the crockpot on high for 4 hours with:

2 celery ribs
1 carrot
1/4 onion
some all purpose chicken seasoning
2 rosemary sprigs

Clubs were assembled with:

Whole grain, low carb wrap
chicken
lettuce/spinach
sliced red onion
medium cheddar
dill pickles
bacon slices
sliced avocado
spicy mustard
low fat Ranch
snipped basil leaves
tomatoes, optional


Sweet Potato Oven Fries

peel potatoes & cut into thick steak fries
toss with olive oil
season with Essence
bake at 425F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown

My buddy Paula Deen has this recipe if you need more guidance. I used Essence because that's what I had mixed up & ready to go -- didn't feel like mixing up House Seasoning.

This meal is loaded with the good stuff that is super-healthy. The only thing questionable is the bacon, and the Oscar Mayer precooked bacon is only 70 calories for 3 slices. Oh, and the cheese. Just go easy if you are looking for lower calorie.

Leftover potential: I have enough chicken leftover to make soup or chicken salad later in the week. I'm not sure how the sweet potatoes would re-heat, but they can be frozen and added to soups later.

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Food Category: PG, Bum Lovin'
Difficulty: Easy

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

I followed Rachel Ray's recipe.

Except: I used ground chicken (not ground chicken breast) because that's what I can find here. If you can find ground chicken breast, use that -- it's lower calorie/fat. I sprinkled in some paprika, cayenne & dry mustard for extra flavor & only used a fraction of the butter in the sauce. Also, I cooked the meatballs on the stove top in a tiny bit of olive oil because I had potatoes in the oven.

Meatballs were shaped using the medium Pampered Chef scoop. 2.5 lbs of meat made 40 meatballs - plenty for leftovers.

Oven Fries

Peel & cut potatoes into thick fries
toss with olive oil
season with salt, pepper & pommes frites (or all purpose) seasoning
Bake @ 450F for 20-30 mins until golden brown, turn frequently

Serve with:

carrot/celery sticks & cucumber slices
Low Fat Ranch or Bleu Cheese dressing


Leftover potential: Extra meatballs can be stored for a bit in the fridge, or freeze them for a quick meal later on. Meatballs (with/without the buffalo sauce) can also be added to soups or find their way into spaghetti. Leftover potatoes can be added to omlettes.

Stir Fry Chicken & Veggies

Food Category: PG, Bum Lovin', High-5
Difficulty: Easy

Stir Fry Chicken

marinate 2 chicken breasts in soy sauce
cut into tiny bite size pieces
stir fry in olive/canola oil
season with teriyaki garlic sauce
remove from pan, set aside

Stir Fry Veggies

stir fry broccoli florets & sliced carrots in oil
remove from pan

stir fry frozen Mandarin veggies in oil
when cooked, toss back in the broccoli & carrots
season with teriyaki garlic & soy sauce

Rice

plain old white rice cooked in the rice cooker

Leftover potential: Straight-up leftovers for later in the week. Extra meat & veggies can be frozen & added to soups later. Leftover rice can be re-invented into fried rice w/meat, veggies & scrambled eggs.

Crispy Chicken Salads

Food Category: PG, High-5, Bum Lovin'

Difficulty: Easy

Crispy Chicken

Tyson's Crispy Chicken Strips,

baked in the oven until crispy

When cripsy, cut into chunks &

toss on the salad greens.

Salad

• lettuce
• shredded carrots
• radishes
• cucumbers
• real bacon bits
• chopped boiled eggs
• tomatoes (for Man only!)
• croutons

Honey Mustard Dressing

Mix together until it looks/tastes right:

• Lite Ranch dressing
• spicy mustard
• honey
• pepper
• sprinkle of onion/garlic powder/dry mustard
• chopped fresh parsley (optional)

This meal is quick and easy & only 600-800 calories depending on how much of the bad good stuff you add to the veggies. I'm all out of fresh spinach or I would have mixed 1/2 lettuce, 1/2 spinach. Grated cheddar cheese is also good with this salad, but we don't have any. It's been over 3 weeks since my last commissary trip & I'm not going this week either.

Leftover potential: The dressing will hang in the fridge for a while & extra chicken can be reheated in the toaster oven.

Oven Baked Chicken & Rice

Food Category: Southern Comfort, PG
Difficulity: Easy

Chicken & Rice

3 cups of uncooked rice (not Minute Rice)
1 can (reduced fat) cream of mushroom soup & one can of water
1 can French onion soup & one can of water
add water to total about 4 cups of liquid
pour into a casserole dish (I used my 9X13 stoneware)
one piece of chicken per person
dot with pats of butter (or not)
cover with foil
bake at 350-400 until done

I made this with 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (had one leftover) with all the visible fat removed. You can use dark meat & bone-in, but defintely use skinless to cut back on the bad fat.

I cooked the dish at 350F for about an hour, then turned it up closer to 400F for about 20 mins. I have a small European size oven & your cooking times may vary. Start checking on doneness (texture of the rice and temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer) at about 45 mins.

Chicken and rice was served with:

corn on the cob (this happened to be fresh)
sauteed asparagus (frozen) seasoned with evoo, lemon juice, salt/pepper, lemon herb seasoning

If you cut back on the butter & practice portion control, this can also be a weight friendly meal - as far as overall calorie consumption. And, yes, we eat carbs.

I happened to wash this meal down with a nice glass or two, I lost count of Spätelese, but iced tea works, too (for any & every meal, in my opinion).

Leftover potential: the rice dish heats up nicely in the microwave to eat as straight-up leftovers. I don't recommend freezing because the texture of the rice gets all funky. For leftover veggies, there's always the option to freeze them & add to soups later.