Cheesy Turkey Lasagna

The first time I made lasagna I failed terribly. But I feel like I have now perfected the technique, and it is always better the next day. This is a pretty traditional recipe, but made with ground turkey instead of beef. We like it very cheesy.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
3 eggs
16 oz cottage cheese
15 oz part skim ricotta
4 oz shredded mozzarella
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 large sweet onion chopped
1 container sliced mushrooms
2  24oz jars spaghetti sauce
Worcestershire sauce, season salt, minced garlic, pepper to taste
Lasagna noodles uncooked (I use multi grain)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet season turkey with worcestershire sauce, season salt, garlic, and pepper and brown meat making sure it is cooked through. Turn heat to medium low and add in onion and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Reduce heat to low and add in spaghetti sauce. My personal favorite is Classico Traditional Sweet Basil.

While that heats, in a large bowl mix eggs, cottage cheese, ricotta, Parmesan, and 2 oz of mozzarella.

Turn off the heat for your meat sauce mixture and spread 1/3 of the meat sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Next place noodles side by side on top of the meat sauce.

Spread half the cheese mixture on top of the noddles.

Then place another 1/3 of the meat sauce on top, continue to layer with noodles, and the remaining cheese mixture. Finally top with the last 1/3 of meat sauce. Cover with foil, place on a baking sheet (in case of drips) and bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil, and top with 2 oz of mozzarella and bake for 10 more minutes. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to cool and firm up a little before serving.

Enjoy! Cheers!
CC

Egg and Hash Brown Scramble with Bacon

This is a good, easy, hearty breakfast you can make for your family and you do not need to be an expert in the kitchen to make it. As you can see from the picture...I really class it up with paper plates.

Ingredients:
1 package bacon (I like maple)
1 package frozen potatoes O'Brien (you will also need a little vegetable oil, salt and pepper for these)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Shredded Cheese (cheddar or a cheddar mix works best)
Salsa or ketchup or even some sour cream

I LOVE bacon...but I used to hate cooking it because you either got splashed by grease trying to fry it in a pan, or you smelled up your microwave for a week. Thanks to my friend Cristina...I now will pass on to you an easy way to cook bacon.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Separate bacon slices and lay flat on foil. Bake until you achieve desired crispiness. I like mine a little soft, so I bake it about 15 minutes.

While the bacon is baking....cook frozen potatoes according to package directions. While they are cooking, sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste (I usually use season salt).
 Whisk eggs and milk together.

Whisk eggs and milk together.













Once potatoes are finished pour in egg mixture and cook until eggs are firm, stirring occasionally.

















  Top with shredded cheese and remove from heat











Top with ketchup, salsa, sour cream...which ever you decided.

Cheers!
CC

Finally...A Meal Plan

Tomorrow is going to be grocery day. I just cannot go on the weekends, it is too crowded. :) I spent the last couple hours looking through recipes, cutting coupons, and making my shopping list.

Here is what's on tap:

Turkey Lasagna
Satay Chicken with brown rice and steamed veggies
Marsala Chicken with mashed potatoes and asparagus
Orange Roughy with rice and green beans
Shake & Bake Chicken with my grandma's carrot recipe and scalloped potatoes

I'm also planning a few things for my 1-year-old to try:

Breakfast: French Toast Fingers
Lunch: Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups

I should have plenty of blogging to do for the next couple weeks with these recipes. :)

Cheers!
CC

2 Minute Scrambled Egg

I HATE eggs. Mixed with things they are okay, but by themselves...yuck. However, my 1-year-old has to have her morning scrambled egg. Eggs are a good source of protein, but the thought of getting out the frying pan, etc. can be daunting in the morning, especially if you have busy mornings. So here is a quick and easy way to cook yourself or your kids an egg. TIP: I buy organic when ever possible, especially dairy and meat products.

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
A sprinkle of grated cheese

Combine egg and milk in a microwave safe coffee mug and whisk with a fork. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. If you buy the pre-shredded kind, it will be super fast! Pop in the microwave for 1 minute. And viola! You are done! You can also add in bacon pieces, ham, or veggies.

Cheers!
CC

Chicken Tikka Masala

I don't always cook from scratch...I know...its horrible. But I have found that there are some good products out there that help make dinner a little easier to make and when I come across them, I like to share them. :)

I found an organic tikka masala sauce that is just really tasty. I love Indian food and this is pretty authentic. You can follow the directions on the jar...and here is how I did it.


Bake 4 Chicken Breasts....pre-heat oven to 375. Grease bottom of baking dish with a thin layer of olive oil. Place chicken breasts in baking dish. Sprinkle on curry powder, season salt, black pepper, and cumin. Poke several times with a fork. Bake for 30 minutes.

Place chicken in a skillet (one that has a lid). Cover with sauce and simmer on medium low heat for 10 minutes, covered. Make sure to stir once in a while so it doesn't burn.

Serve with veggies, rice, or potatoes or even another Indian dish. If you have a Trader Joes near by (which sadly I no longer have), they have some great Indian side dishes in their frozen food section.

Cheers!
CC

Preview for next week

I am still working on my meal plan...but I have some inspiration...Today we went to a Mardi Gras parade and I am learning about the culture here in Louisiana. So in honor of Fat Tuesday this coming week, I am going to attempt to make a King Cake. And I am going to scour my Southern Cooking book for some recipes. :)

Cheers,
CC

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Original recipe came from http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/01/chicken-cordon-bleu-roll-ups.html#more...which I found on Pinterest. But I did things differently and made a casserole instead. I think the way I did it came out really well, and we were able to have it for 3 days. Next time I make it, I will change a few things...so I will note those changes here. :)

Here is the recipe I used:

2 cooked chicken breast, chopped
1 cooked ham steak, chopped (i bought a .03lb ham steak and used half of it for this recipe)
2 cans reduced-fat crescent rolls
1 can 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray; set aside. Mix together milk, soup and half of the cheese. Then add in the cut up chicken and ham and mix it up.

Open 1 can of crescent rolls, flatten out the dough and place on the bottom of the baking dish. Pour Soup and meat mixture over the dough. Top with remaining shredded cheese, then open and unroll the second can of rolls and place on the top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and rolls are golden brown.

Next time I make this, I am going to add some fresh chopped broccoli and mushrooms or maybe even some spinach. This makes about 6 servings.

Cheers! CC

Apple Glazed Pork Chops

This turned out soooo good last night! I am really happy to share this one. The original recipe I got some time ago by doing a google search and for the life of me I cannot find the site again. So my apologies for not giving credit. I changed quite a few things anyway. You can also use this same recipe on chicken. I made Stove Top Pork stuffing and a salad with it. This recipe serves 4 people.

Ingredients for the Chops
4 Butterfly cut pork loin chops
1 large apple (I prefer fuji or honeycrisp), diced
pumpkin spice
garlic minced or powder which ever you prefer
season salt
2 table spoons brown sugar
pecans if desired
1 cup apple cider

Preheat oven to 375. Place chops in glass baking dish and sprinkle on pumpkin spice, garlic, season salt. Poke chops several times with a fork to get the seasonings in side the meat. Add the apple cider to the bottom of the dish. Don't pour it over the top because this will take the spices off the meat. Place diced apples on top of the meat and sprinkle on brown sugar. Bake for 40 minutes. If using pecans, add them the last 20 minutes or they will burn.

Apple Glaze Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup pineapple preserves
pumpkin spice
1 table spoon flour

If you can't find pineapple preserves...I have reversed the recipe and it turns out just as good...use apple preserves and pineapple juice instead.

Place apple cider and a dash of pumpkin spice in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Heat for a few minutes, then whisk in pineapple preserves, then whisk in flour until the clumps are gone. Heat until bubbly. The glaze should be a little thick. If you think it is too thick just add a little cider to thin it out. Pour over meat when it is finished baking and serve.

Baking the meat with the cider really helps keep it juicy. This is a sweet and flavorful dish and one we love. Hope you enjoy it too!

Sour Cream and Green Chilli Enchiladas

I found this recipe on Pinterest (original blogger http://joyful-mommas-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/white-chicken-enchiladas.html). This first time, I am going to follow the recipe as close as possible and see if there are any tweaks I can make. I am also making my own guacamole (my recipe), refried beans (from a can), and spanish rice (Rice a Roni).

The recipe called for 2 cups of shredded chicken...so I had to wing this part a little. I took two large frozen chicken breasts put them in a glass baking dish and preheated the oven to 375 degrees. I splashed some worcestershire sauce on the chicken, Lawry's season salt, black pepper, cumin, cilantro, and Mrs. Dash on the chicken and popped it in the oven for 45 minutes.

While the chicken was baking, I started this blog :) and then made my guacamole.

Guacamole Recipe
2 large avocados
2 table spoons of salsa or pico de gallo
1 table spoon sour cream
cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

My Guacamole

Cut up the avocados and mash them in a bowl with a fork. Add the salsa, sour cream, cilantro, salt & pepper and mix it up. TIP: add the seeds after it is made to hold off browning. Mind you this is not your typical guacamole, but we like it from time to time.

After I baked and shredded the chicken, I followed the recipe as closely as possible. With a couple small things I will note.

Here is the original recipe:

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies. Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Shredded Chicken and Cheese Mixed

Rolled Enchiladas

Hot Out of the Oven

Ok...here are my notes....I used a 7oz can of chillies because that was all I could find. Mine made 5 enchiladas, not 10. And I did not broil them for the last three minutes.

My thoughts...I wouldn't say this was the best ever recipe. Fairly easy, but they were lacking flavor. We had left overs so I heated them up the next night for dinner and they were much better. So maybe make them the night before and let them sit and marinate in the fridge and re-heat in the oven. I probably won't use this recipe again though... sorry....

Preview for next week

Here is what I am planning for next week...stay tuned!

Apple Glazed Pork Chops
Chicken Enchiladas (recipe I found on Pinterest)
Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll Ups (recipe I found on Pinterest)

The rest of the week is still hazy...I need to see what's on sale at the grocery store.

Sweet Red Wine Chicken

Nick (my man) told me that this version of the wine sauce was my best yet! In fact, we had some left over so we had it again the next day. And I still have a couple days worth left. So I think you can probably get 8-10 servings out of the sauce. I have made this several times, just trying to perfect the recipe and I think I finally got it right! It's super simple to make and will leave your dinner companions feeling like they just ate something fancy.

This red wine sauce is sweet and goes great with chicken and mashed potatoes. You can even be fancy and serve the chicken on top of the potatoes :)

For the wine...I use Charles Shaw Cabernet. Yes, "2 buck Chuck." I love cooking with this wine because it is tasty and cheap. BUT...it is also not available everywhere. So find a Cabernet that you like and is on the less expensive side and use that if you don't have access to Chuck.

Ingredients for the Chicken
1/2 bottle Cabernet (you can drink the rest that's the fun part!)
2 cups brown sugar
1 heaping table spoon all purpose flour
Cooked chicken breasts (however many you desire to make)
Mrs. Dash Salt Free Original Blend
Lawry's Season Salt
Black Pepper
Worcestershire sauce

Ingredients for the Mashed Potatoes
1 brown potato per person (they don't need to be too big)
Mrs. Dash
Season Salt
Black pepper
butter (about 1 table spoon per potato used)
Milk

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Next pull out a pot to boil your potatoes in, put some water in it and turn the burner on high. Add some season salt and Mrs. Dash to the water. Potatoes will soak up what they are cooked in and by doing this instead of plain water the potatoes are much tastier! Put the amount of chicken breasts you want to use in a glass baking dish. MAKE SURE TO WASH YOUR HANDS AND ANY SURFACES YOU USE WHEN HANDLING RAW MEAT. I am a stickler about this...food poisoning is NO fun! Next splash on some Worcestershire sause, enough to get the chicken wet and to be sitting in a little of it. Sprinkle black pepper, Mrs. Dash, and season salt to taste. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

While the chicken is baking...peel, wash, and cut up the potatoes. I don't dice them, but I cut them into smaller chunks so they cook faster. Add potatoes to the boiling water and turn heat to medium high. Let them boil until soft. I usually let them boil until the chicken is done baking.

When you have about 15 minutes to go on the chicken, start the wine sauce. Pour the wine into a sauce pan and turn the burner on medium. Add the brown sugar and take a whisk and stir it up so there are no clumps and the brown sugar has dissolved. Whisk in flour again so there are no clumps. Cook the sauce until boiling and you need to stir it a lot! Once boiling for about 5 minutes, turn it off and remove from heat.

Now it's time to mash the potatoes. Drain them using a strainer...do not rinse. Put them in a large mixing bowl and add butter and a few splashes of milk. Add in some more Mrs. Dash and season salt and some black pepper. Using a mixer, mix them up until they are at the desired consistency. Add more milk for smoother potatoes, less for chunkier ones. Taste them and see if they are lacking anything if so...add whatever they are lacking.

By now your chicken should be done...remove it from the oven, put it on a plate with some potatoes and pour a generous amount of wine sauce. You can have what ever veggie you desire or make a simple salad like I did (tip...I used a bag salad). :)

Cheers!
CC

A Million Food Blogs, but here's mine...

I won't promise that my food blog will have magical powers and will completely stand out from the other millions of food blogs. I can't promise pretty photography, and I may not even give you the recipe exactly because, well...I may not know exactly what I did. But here's what my goal is...to show you what I think tastes good and is relatively simple to make. I'm not a fancy cook...I have a 1 year old daughter and man to cook for. I try to be on the healthier side and cook with natural or organic ingredients when possible. I may pass on recipes I tried from other blogs or cookbooks and I will always give credit (I may also tweak these recipes). I don't always know how much of this or that I put into things...so I will give you a best guess. I cook by taste :)

I hope you enjoy my food, and if you try something, please feel free to give feed back. :)

Cheers!!!

CC