We tried this recipe (from Pampered Chef) last night with some of the tomatoes from our garden (both yellow and red...so pretty!). Sorry, there are no pics...this was made in the middle of The Great Salsa Debacle of 2011 (four days to get a large batch of salsa chopped, cooked and canned), so the kitchen was a DISASTER and I was exhausted and hungry. The recipe was a big hit! It was quick, easy, healthy and yummy. All three of us gave it two thumbs up.
GRILLED CHICKEN PESTO
Yield: 6 servings.
6 tomatoes, chopped
2 T prepared basil pesto (I actually realized halfway through the recipe that I had no pesto, so I just used a sprinkle of dried basil instead...worked great)
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt to taste
3 cups hot cooked angel hair pasta
6 (4 oz) boneless skinless chicken breast halves, grilled (we sprinkled with a bit of garlic, I think lemon pepper would also be good)
Saute the tomatoes in a nonstick 12-inch skillet until soft. Stir in the pesto, lemon juice and salt. Cook just until heated through, stirring constantly. Serve pasta topped with chicken and tomato pesto sauce.
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Sunday, December 19, 2010
yum {peppermint bark}
Last year, I discovered Beth's recipe for peppermint bark. We tried making a batch and were instantly hooked. This stuff is addictive. Seriously.
This Christmas we decided to share the yummy goodness, so I made several batches yesterday and packaged it up to give away to the mail carrier, teachers at school and at church, the trash collectors, neighbors.
The recipe is so easy. Head on over to Beth's blog and try it out for yourself. The hardest part is finding peppermint extract, not just mint extract (although we've made it with mint extract and it came out fine). And if you go to the grocery store during the holiday season and there is no baking chocolate to be had, the regular white chips work just fine - just make sure you've got 32 oz.
Note: If you are clueless about melting chocolate like I was, DON'T let any water drops get into your chocolate while you are melting it. This includes the peppermint extract, which you should not add until after the chocolate is all melted and smooth. If you get water in your chocolate, the chocolate will seize and you will cry over the unsalvageable lump in your pot. Other than that, you are good to go. We do tweak the recipe a little bit - we substitute 1/2 lb of dark chocolate for 1/2 lb of the white. We melt that first and freeze it, then continue with the recipe as usual and spread it on top of the dark chocolate layer. Mmmm-mmm good!
This Christmas we decided to share the yummy goodness, so I made several batches yesterday and packaged it up to give away to the mail carrier, teachers at school and at church, the trash collectors, neighbors.
The recipe is so easy. Head on over to Beth's blog and try it out for yourself. The hardest part is finding peppermint extract, not just mint extract (although we've made it with mint extract and it came out fine). And if you go to the grocery store during the holiday season and there is no baking chocolate to be had, the regular white chips work just fine - just make sure you've got 32 oz.
Note: If you are clueless about melting chocolate like I was, DON'T let any water drops get into your chocolate while you are melting it. This includes the peppermint extract, which you should not add until after the chocolate is all melted and smooth. If you get water in your chocolate, the chocolate will seize and you will cry over the unsalvageable lump in your pot. Other than that, you are good to go. We do tweak the recipe a little bit - we substitute 1/2 lb of dark chocolate for 1/2 lb of the white. We melt that first and freeze it, then continue with the recipe as usual and spread it on top of the dark chocolate layer. Mmmm-mmm good!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
jell-o day
Yesterday was Jell-O day. My sister-in-law makes a very cool Jell-O salad that always goes over very well at potlucks and large family get-togethers, so I decided to give it a try at our back-to-school picnic. This very cool salad is super-easy to make, but a little time consuming.
First, you must assemble your ingredients: Jell-O, sour cream, and water.
Dissolve the first color in boiling water. Mix half of it with sour cream. Pour into glass dish and chill. While it chills, put together a freezer meal (which, by the way, calls for MORE sour cream) for your friend at church who just had a baby.
While you're at it, make extra so that your family can have it for dinner, too.
When the sour cream layer has chilled, pour the plain Jell-O on top of the sour cream layer. Chill. While it chills, drive matchbox cars with your 6-year-old.
Repeat all steps for the next color of Jell-O.
While it chills, paint some rocks with your 6-year-old.
Repeat for the next color.
While it chills, spell words with magnetic letters on the bottom half of the refrigerator with your 6-year-old.
Admire the photos on the top half of the fridge. Brainstorm more places for photos, since the fridge is more than full (there are more pics of family and friends down below these).
Repeat for the next layer. And the next. And the next...
While the last layer is chilling, deliver meal to tired mommy friend. Come home and pop your own dinner into the oven. And your Jell-O now looks kinda-sorta like this:
I wish I could show you a picture of what it looks like after someone has taken a spoonful or two out of the dish - the layers are much easier to see - but it was quickly consumed at the picnic, and I have nothing left to show you. I'm secretly elated. I love going to a picnic and coming back with empty dishes.
Renee's Rainbow Jell-O
1 box grape Jell-O (all boxes are 3 ounces)
1 box berry blue Jell-O
1 box lime Jell-O
1 box lemon or pineapple Jell-O
1 box orange or apricot Jell-O
1 box raspberry, strawberry or cherry Jell-O
1 box strawberry kiwi or watermelon Jell-O (I couldn't find either of these, so I just picked another red flavor)
1 pint (16 ounces) sour cream or plain yogurt
Repeat the following process for each flavor of Jell-O: Add 1 cup boiling water to box of Jell-O, stirring until dissolved. When Jell-O is dissolved, take 1/2 of this mixture and add it slowly to 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt. Stir together until smooth and then pour into a 9 x 13-inch glass pan. Chill for 25 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons cold water to the remaining half of the Jell-O mixture. Pour on top of the chilled sour cream layer. Chill 15-20 minutes.
Bonus recipe - my mom's potatoes (I made some honey ham and added these potatoes and a salad for my new baby meal):
Potatoes Lorna
1 2-lb bag hash browns, partially thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup onion, chopped (left this out for baby meal - onion and breastfeeding don't mix)
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
2 c. corn flakes
additional butter, melted
Combine all ingredients except corn flakes and additional butter. Spread in greased 9 x 13-inch pan. In a small bowl, combine corn flakes with enough butter to make crumbly (about 1/4 cup). Spread crumbs on top of potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.
First, you must assemble your ingredients: Jell-O, sour cream, and water.
Dissolve the first color in boiling water. Mix half of it with sour cream. Pour into glass dish and chill. While it chills, put together a freezer meal (which, by the way, calls for MORE sour cream) for your friend at church who just had a baby.
While you're at it, make extra so that your family can have it for dinner, too.
When the sour cream layer has chilled, pour the plain Jell-O on top of the sour cream layer. Chill. While it chills, drive matchbox cars with your 6-year-old.
Repeat all steps for the next color of Jell-O.
While it chills, paint some rocks with your 6-year-old.
Repeat for the next color.
While it chills, spell words with magnetic letters on the bottom half of the refrigerator with your 6-year-old.
Admire the photos on the top half of the fridge. Brainstorm more places for photos, since the fridge is more than full (there are more pics of family and friends down below these).
Repeat for the next layer. And the next. And the next...
While the last layer is chilling, deliver meal to tired mommy friend. Come home and pop your own dinner into the oven. And your Jell-O now looks kinda-sorta like this:
I wish I could show you a picture of what it looks like after someone has taken a spoonful or two out of the dish - the layers are much easier to see - but it was quickly consumed at the picnic, and I have nothing left to show you. I'm secretly elated. I love going to a picnic and coming back with empty dishes.
Renee's Rainbow Jell-O
1 box grape Jell-O (all boxes are 3 ounces)
1 box berry blue Jell-O
1 box lime Jell-O
1 box lemon or pineapple Jell-O
1 box orange or apricot Jell-O
1 box raspberry, strawberry or cherry Jell-O
1 box strawberry kiwi or watermelon Jell-O (I couldn't find either of these, so I just picked another red flavor)
1 pint (16 ounces) sour cream or plain yogurt
Repeat the following process for each flavor of Jell-O: Add 1 cup boiling water to box of Jell-O, stirring until dissolved. When Jell-O is dissolved, take 1/2 of this mixture and add it slowly to 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt. Stir together until smooth and then pour into a 9 x 13-inch glass pan. Chill for 25 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons cold water to the remaining half of the Jell-O mixture. Pour on top of the chilled sour cream layer. Chill 15-20 minutes.
Bonus recipe - my mom's potatoes (I made some honey ham and added these potatoes and a salad for my new baby meal):
Potatoes Lorna
1 2-lb bag hash browns, partially thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup onion, chopped (left this out for baby meal - onion and breastfeeding don't mix)
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
2 c. corn flakes
additional butter, melted
Combine all ingredients except corn flakes and additional butter. Spread in greased 9 x 13-inch pan. In a small bowl, combine corn flakes with enough butter to make crumbly (about 1/4 cup). Spread crumbs on top of potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.
Friday, August 13, 2010
kindergardens - week 18 {salsa!!}
It's salsa week at our house!
Anyone want to come over for tacos?
Kiddo helped pick the peppers (and broke a jalapeno in the process, and I, dumb mom, didn't even think about it until after he had thrown a tantrum all over the lawn while I was trying to talk to the neighbor and we got back inside - lecturing the whole way about rudeness - and he said something about his hands and his lips feeling hot, and it finally dawned on me that he had jalapeno juice ALL OVER! No wonder he was upset).
He was going to help me pick the Roma tomatoes, too, but he got distracted by the grape tomatoes, which were much easier to pick (they weren't hiding in the depths of the plants like the Romas were), and he got to eat them right away. I can hardly blame him. Yum!
I must confess that salsa hasn't been as much fun this year. Due to our lack of rain all summer, our tomatoes are tiny. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between the grapes and Romas, the Romas are SO SMALL. There was a lot more work involved than in the past to get them ready to go in the pot.
Hubby and I chopped and chopped, and then threw everything into the pot, where it simmered all day long. I wish I could take a pic of the smell. Mmmm-mmmm good.
I was disappointed that we only had enough tomatoes for a small pot, and that was after picking them for a week. But my sister-in-law called the other day and said she had a bucket full of tomatoes that she couldn't use, so this weekend the plan is to make a BIG batch. While I was making this batch, Kiddo told me he wanted to help (after the salsa was already simmering on the stove). I told him he could help stir, but there wasn't much else to do right then. "No," he said, "I don't find stirring things very exciting." Well then. Maybe I'll get him chopping some onions or peppers this weekend. Chopping is more exciting than stirring, right?
Besides salsa, we have been grilling veggies, making homemade onion rings, slapping veggies on burgers, making zucchini bread/cake/muffins, and feasting on veggie pizza. I'm going to be sad when winter rolls around.
The birds have been busy feasting this week as well - I found this buffet they had set up in the sunflowers. Lean over the edge, grab a seed or two, then eat it right there on the back of the sunflower!
The goldfinches are also snacking on our coneflowers.
I have staked out the dining room window, trying to get a picture where I can actually see his face, but so far he and his friends have not obliged. And of course, the one time I did find a cooperative finch, my camera was at the other end of the house.
UPDATE: My stalking paid off...I got him!
Today I am making stepping stones with Kiddo for his flower garden. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
For other posts about our "kindergarden" experience this summer, feel free to check out the kindergarden archive in the sidebar.
Find out what's going on in other kindergardens over at The Inadvertent Farmer!
UPDATE #2: Salsa Recipe
3 quarts tomatoes, peeled and chopped. We usually use Roma - more meat, less juice and seeds - but any kind will do. We are using regular slicing tomatoes this weekend, I will probably get rid of some of the seeds just to make it less runny.
2-3 large bell peppers, chopped
2-3 jalapeno peppers, chopped
2-3 med. onions, chopped
2 tsp garlic
1 c. white vinegar
1 tsp whole oregano
3 T. salt
cayenne pepper to taste (1 T for hot, less for milder. We use between 1 and 1-1/2 tsp.)
Mix tomatoes and peppers in large pot (one recipe will just barely fit in a 4-qt dutch oven, which is what I used this week). Simmer until reduced to 2 quarts (this takes a while). Stir in remaining ingredients. Put 1 tsp vinegar in bottom of each jar. Fill with salsa and process 30 minutes (water bath).
Helpful hint: to peel tomatoes quickly, cut a cross in the skin of the tomato on the bottom. Submerge in boiling water for a few seconds, then remove and submerge in cold water. Peel should slide off easily with finger pressure. If it doesn't, just drop it back in the boiling water for a few more seconds.
Anyone want to come over for tacos?
Kiddo helped pick the peppers (and broke a jalapeno in the process, and I, dumb mom, didn't even think about it until after he had thrown a tantrum all over the lawn while I was trying to talk to the neighbor and we got back inside - lecturing the whole way about rudeness - and he said something about his hands and his lips feeling hot, and it finally dawned on me that he had jalapeno juice ALL OVER! No wonder he was upset).
He was going to help me pick the Roma tomatoes, too, but he got distracted by the grape tomatoes, which were much easier to pick (they weren't hiding in the depths of the plants like the Romas were), and he got to eat them right away. I can hardly blame him. Yum!
I must confess that salsa hasn't been as much fun this year. Due to our lack of rain all summer, our tomatoes are tiny. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between the grapes and Romas, the Romas are SO SMALL. There was a lot more work involved than in the past to get them ready to go in the pot.
(yes, believe it or not, at least some of those are Roma tomatoes!)
Hubby and I chopped and chopped, and then threw everything into the pot, where it simmered all day long. I wish I could take a pic of the smell. Mmmm-mmmm good.
I was disappointed that we only had enough tomatoes for a small pot, and that was after picking them for a week. But my sister-in-law called the other day and said she had a bucket full of tomatoes that she couldn't use, so this weekend the plan is to make a BIG batch. While I was making this batch, Kiddo told me he wanted to help (after the salsa was already simmering on the stove). I told him he could help stir, but there wasn't much else to do right then. "No," he said, "I don't find stirring things very exciting." Well then. Maybe I'll get him chopping some onions or peppers this weekend. Chopping is more exciting than stirring, right?
Besides salsa, we have been grilling veggies, making homemade onion rings, slapping veggies on burgers, making zucchini bread/cake/muffins, and feasting on veggie pizza. I'm going to be sad when winter rolls around.
The birds have been busy feasting this week as well - I found this buffet they had set up in the sunflowers. Lean over the edge, grab a seed or two, then eat it right there on the back of the sunflower!
The goldfinches are also snacking on our coneflowers.
I have staked out the dining room window, trying to get a picture where I can actually see his face, but so far he and his friends have not obliged. And of course, the one time I did find a cooperative finch, my camera was at the other end of the house.
UPDATE: My stalking paid off...I got him!
Today I am making stepping stones with Kiddo for his flower garden. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
For other posts about our "kindergarden" experience this summer, feel free to check out the kindergarden archive in the sidebar.
Find out what's going on in other kindergardens over at The Inadvertent Farmer!
UPDATE #2: Salsa Recipe
3 quarts tomatoes, peeled and chopped. We usually use Roma - more meat, less juice and seeds - but any kind will do. We are using regular slicing tomatoes this weekend, I will probably get rid of some of the seeds just to make it less runny.
2-3 large bell peppers, chopped
2-3 jalapeno peppers, chopped
2-3 med. onions, chopped
2 tsp garlic
1 c. white vinegar
1 tsp whole oregano
3 T. salt
cayenne pepper to taste (1 T for hot, less for milder. We use between 1 and 1-1/2 tsp.)
Mix tomatoes and peppers in large pot (one recipe will just barely fit in a 4-qt dutch oven, which is what I used this week). Simmer until reduced to 2 quarts (this takes a while). Stir in remaining ingredients. Put 1 tsp vinegar in bottom of each jar. Fill with salsa and process 30 minutes (water bath).
Helpful hint: to peel tomatoes quickly, cut a cross in the skin of the tomato on the bottom. Submerge in boiling water for a few seconds, then remove and submerge in cold water. Peel should slide off easily with finger pressure. If it doesn't, just drop it back in the boiling water for a few more seconds.
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