Balsamic Chicken Drumsticks

Easiest chicken recipe ever.  You can fine the original

recipe here.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. soy sauce (I like Trader Joe’s.  It’s low sodium and still has a nice, strong flavor)

1 clove minced garlic

sesame seeds, optional

10 chicken drumsticks

Place the vinegar, soy sauce, and honey in a ziploc bag wtih the chicken.   Seal the bag and mix it all up.  Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 450.

Place drumsticks on a baking sheet covered in foil.  Reserve marinade in a pan and set aside.

Cook the drumsticks for about 1 hour until they start to caramelize.

Meanwhile, cook the marinade in a sauce pan to boiling in order to kill bacteria, and then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

When the chicken is done, brush with the marinade glaze.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!

Mini Focaccia Breads

Walking through the grocery store today I saw some Focaccia bread that looked absolutely delicious.  I almost grabbed it when I realized I had a can of biscuits at home to use up, and came up with this fun way of making individual sized Focaccia breads.  Yum!

Ingredients:

1 can refrigerated biscuit dough, reduced-fat

Assortment of fresh or dried herbs (I used basil, roemary, and thyme)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic

1/4 onion, chopped

1 handful baby spinach

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top

1 Tbs olive oil

salt and pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped tomato

Preheat oven to 400.

In a food processor, combine the herbs, garlic, red pepper flakes, spinach, parmesan, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Blend together until finely chopped.

Separate the biscuits and flatten into circles.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Spread the herb and cheese mixture on top of the flattened biscuits.

Top with the finely chopped tomato and more Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.

Southwest Stuffed Acorn Squash

Mike’s grandmother gave us some acorn squash, and I was excited to have a

fun food to explore cooking with.  I haven’t cooked with acorn squash much before, but they turned out really delicious.  I’ll definitely make this again!

Southwest Stuffed Acorn Squash

Preheat oven to 375.  Cut 4 acorn squash in half and scoop out all the seeds in the center.  Place the squash halves, cut side down, onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the inside of the squash is soft and tender.  While the squash bakes:

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 small onion

1 jalepeno pepper

Saute together until cooked through.  Add:

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 pint corn

1 can black beans

Saute to heat through and season with one packet of taco seasoning.

1 tomato, chopped

Add into the mixture.

When the squash are cooked, flip them over and fill with the meat filling.  Top with:

4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Return to the oven and bake 4 to 5 more minutes or until melted.

Enjoy!

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni

An easy and delicious cheesy pasta dish.  It has become one of my favorites!

2Tbs Butter

2 Tbs Flour

1 1/2 cups low fat milk

1 to 1 1/2 blocks sharp white cheddar cheese

1/2 can diced tomatoes

Spices: Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt, Black Pepper

Kielbasa, smoked sausage, chicken sausage/meat of choice
Pasta of choice

Heat a pot of water and cook pasta.

Meanwhile, slice the kielbasa and saute in pan. Remove to a plate, but leave the grease in the pan. Melt the butter , if needed, in the pan and whisk in flour until combined. Slowly pour in milk, little bits at a time so that it can combine completely and smoothly. Once all of the milk is in, bring the roux to a light boil and add in the cheddar cheese in chunks.
While the cheese melts, slowly mix in the tomatoes with their juice, little bits at a time so that they combine without curdling the cheese sauce. Once the tomatoes are combined and the cheese is continuing to melt, mix in all of the spices. Do a couple good dashes of each and then taste.
Add in the kielbasa and pasta.

Enjoy!

Banana Chip Muffins

These are healthy and delicious.  You can’t lose!

• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together.  Beat in the bananas, egg, applesauce, and vanilla.  Mix the dry ingredients together and then stir into the wet ingredients.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease muffin tin and fill each up 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Chowder

I’ve never been much of a soup person, but lately I’ve been enjoying some delicious soups to make a cold evening feel nice and cozy  I discovered this soup on the blog Closet Cooking, and I kept it pretty close to the original recipe to try it out.  It turned out great, and is definitely a quick and easy soup to try on a weeknight.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 1 pound chicken, cut into bite sized pieces ( I used leftover rotisserie chicken)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2-3 celery stalks, cut into small pieces
• 2-3 carrots, cut into small pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• hot sauce to taste (I used 1/4 cup Franks Red Hot sauce)
• 2-3 medium potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup light cream
• 1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and saute until cooked.  8-10 minutes. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the garlic and flour and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Then, add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan.
Add the hot sauce and potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, mix in the cream and blue cheese and remove from heat when the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!

Makeover Spinach and Artichoke Casserole

I discovered this recipe in Healthy Cooking Magazine

and I was really impressed with how delicious is turned out! It has lots of flavor and a little bite which I love. My husband who’s not a huge fan of spinach actually enjoyed it

Spinach and Artichoke Casserole

1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped

1 med onion, finely chopped

2 Tbs butter

1 Tbs olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

3 1/2 Tbs flour

2 cups fat free milk

3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican cheese blend)

2 frozen bags of chopped spinach

1 bag frozen artichoke hearts (or 2 cans rinsed and drained)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or other fresh grated hard cheese)

In a large pot, saute the red pepper and onion in the butter and oil until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.  Stir in flour; gradually add the milk a little at a time, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook and stir until thickened, 2 more minutes.  Stir in cheese until melted.

Add the spinach, artichokes, salt, and spices.  Transfer into an 8″ square baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30-35 minutes until bubbly.  Enjoy!

Sausage Lentil Soup

With the cold finally setting in here in Philadelphia, I’ve gotten in the mood for soup.  Here’s a really easy recipe that turned out way better than I thought it would!    A recipe similar to this was highlighted in Rachael Ray and Healthy Cooking Magazine, and I kind of combined the two

Sausage Lentil Soup

1 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage

Remove from casings and brown in a large pot.  Remove from pot and set aside.

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Saute in the pot until tender.

Thyme

Black Pepper

Add a few dashes of each to taste.

1 32 oz box chicken broth

6-8 oz dried lentils

Add to pot with the veggies and boil for 25-30 minutes.

1 box frozen spinach

Add to the soup and add the sausage back in. Enjoy!  Try it with some crusty bread for dipping:-) You can try my recipe for Italian Bread here:  http://gracefullydelectable.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/its-easier-than-it-sounds/

Christmas Cookie Marathon

The Christmas season is definitely one of my favorite times of the year.  One of my favorite things is that every year my mom and I spend a whole day baking tons of Christmas cookies  This year we baked for over 8 hours to make dozens upon dozens of cookies. Yum!  Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas treats we made this year:

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

This is a super easy treat to make!  Melt chocolate in a double boiler, or microwave safe bowl.  Dip pretzel rods into melted chocolate and roll in crushed candy cane, candy bar, sprinkles, etc.  Let harden on wax paper.  An easy treat and so delicious!

 

This is another easy, delicious treat

Chow Mein Cookies

12 oz. pkg. butterscotch chips

1 c. peanut butter

Melt.

2 c. chow mein noodles

2 c. miniature marshmallows

Add.  Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let cool until set.  Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmastime!  Enjoy your treats

Black Bean Corn Tostadas

The bright and fresh flavors of this were really delicious on a winter night

Ingredients:

1 can black beans

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

8 to 10 oz corn

1 avocado, diced

1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered or other diced tomatoes

1 jalapeno, diced

Lemon juice, a few splashes

2 to 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

2 or 3 tsp cumin

salt, to taste

small corn or flour tortillas

chicken or other meat if desired

Heat oven to 400.  Meanwhile, chop and mix all of the ingredients from the black beans to the salt.

Grease a cookie sheet and  line with the small tortillas.  Crisp them in the oven for about 4-5 minutes per side.  Top with the black bean salad.  Enjoy!