It was a chicken kind of week

With the economic times and all, I'm trying to be more thrifty at the grocery store, which is hard, but a fun challenge. So this week instead of buying 2 different packages of chicken, one package of breast meat for the pot pie, and a package of boneless thighs for this chicken and vegetable stew I'm going to talk about below, I bought just a package of thighs (thighs are cheaper and usually come in bigger packages than breasts, like 2 lbs - I can't wait for the day we can have a 2nd freezer and I can buy the 3lb+ packages of meat and save that way!)...but anyways, back to the chicken. I used thighs in the pot pie and was very happy AND then doubly happy because we used the rest of the thighs the next night - I present, the first time I've ever made this chicken and veg stew thing;) And bonus - I got to use my dutch oven, which I definitely don't get to use often enough:)

What you'll need:

olive oil
flour
as much chicken as you think your family will need - I used 1 lb thighs for 2 adults
one white onion
one or two zucchini
as many baby carrots as you would like
any other veggies you may like - example - artichoke, olives, yellow squash, all depending on the season and what is fresh at your local market
28 oz can any kind of stewed or diced tomatoes
saltines

Easy = Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and cover in flour; at the same time, heat 2 tbsp oil in the dutch oven at medium high heat. Add chicken, baby carrots, and cut up onion and cook until chicken is browned all all sides, stirring pretty continuously. Then add the cut up zucchini and 28 oz can of diced/stewed tomatoes - smells so yummy at this point! Add salt and pepper too if you'd like at any point:) Cover the dutch oven and cook on medium to medium low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked thru and veggies are nice and tender.

I honestly wasn't crazy about the stewed tomatoes - I think I'd rather use tomato juice and cut up some tomatoes and do that part that way - husband loved it and he said it was a perfect meal for while he was down and out with a cold:)

Tomorrow, my famous fajitas;) Sizzle! For now, enjoy the rest of your Saturday/Saturday night where ever you are! A nice meal out for this lady, some DVR'd shows, SNL, and of course Bejeweled! Anyone else obsessed with that game???

I'm not slacking, I'm here!

Sorry for the lapse the last couple of days - I've just been creative in other ways (scrapbooking) and reading - almost done with Gone with the Wind and I love it!

This entry is not about food good ole Scarlett had served to her at Tara, it's about chicken pot pie! With the cooler weather coming, and a cold going around here at home and work, it was the perfect comfort food:)

You will need:

2 cups of cooked chicken, seasoned if you would like with salt and pepper or any other spices
2 pie crusts (I just use the ready-made roll out ones)
2 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup of chicken broth
16 oz of your favorite canned or frozen veggies - I used some frozen butternut squash, corn, and carrots and a can of sliced potatoes in this one...sometimes I use peas, broccoli, all depending on our moods:); I also estimate the 16 oz, going a little over won't hurt, as long as it all fits in the size of your casserole dish:)

Really simple - using a casserole dish, pie dish, whatever you would like, as long as it's something around 8-9", roll out one of the pie crusts. And oh yes, preheat the oven to 400:) Combine all other ingredients in a bowl, stir them up, and then pour into that pie crust. Cover this mixture with the other pie crust, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the top crust is the color you like - we like it a little crispy, so I cooked it the full 35 minutes.

So yummy, so warm, and so comforting when you have a little cold:) Enjoy!

Just a pic of me non-sick;)

It's probably tacky to post a picture of myself that I took of myself, but I am finally feeling almost 100% (I'd say about 75%) and I wanted to show it off:)

The best pork recipe ever!

Once again, thank you cooks.com! I love to go thru and thru recipes on that site, and was lucky to come across the 2 of the 3 recipes I made tonight (the other was a green bean casserole from the side of the fried onion container thing;)) - the Chinese Style BBQ Pork and fried rice. I've never had/made a pork dish that is so tasty and moist, I could eat it everyday! Usually, I can only eat chocolate everyday;)

The only negative about this meal is that it is time-consuming to make (give yourself about an hour), but I'm lucky enough that I don't usually have any distractions while I cook, unless you count a hungry husband who comes in looking for cheez-it's to tide himself over;) Someday I will have children and this recipe will only be for special occasions:)

For the pork you will need:

2 small boneless pork loins, about 1 lb each - I HATE buying pre-sauced pork loins, so go for it and buy the un-sauced pork loins and make your own sauce:)
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp grated prepared horseradish ***I used horseradish mustard actually***
1 tsp wasabi powder or dry mustard ***I've only used the dry mustard***
1/4 cup sugar

Overnight, or atleast one hour before, you'll want to place the pork loins in a pyrex-type dish and mix together all of the other ingredients and pour that mixture over the loins and place in the fridge, turning the loins often to soak up all that good stuff!

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place the loins on that sheet. Pour marinade that is left in the container over the loins and bake for 25 minutes, then turn and cook another 25 minutes. The internal temperature should be 165 when it's completely done ***note - mine took 45 minutes total to reach 165 instead of 50, so make sure you check them:)***

ALWAYS let the pork rest for atleast 15 minutes before cutting into - gotta let those juices rage throughout!

Now while this is baking, you cannot rest! Time to make the rice! So far I have only made it as "fried rice," not chicken fried rice, etc. If you do add meat, 6 ounces should be plenty.

Alright the rice - I was very scared to try it, because we saw it made right in front of us on our honeymoon...no not in China, but in the Dominican;) I may not be able to flip it all around, but I think it tastes just as good:)

For the rice you will need:

1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp low sodium teriyaki sauce
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
pinch of white or black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup diced white onion
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 1/2 cup cooked white rice ***I use 2 bags of the boil in 10 minute-type white rice***
1/2 cup frozen peas

Now you'll notice in my pictures that there are no carrots - the first time I made it with the shredded carrots, I loved it, but the husband isn't such a fan of carrots so I graciously left them out for him tonight:)

Combine any meat you may be using, again I used none, 2 tbsps of water, chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, ginger, and pepper in a bowl and let sit. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp of veg oil, add the beaten eggs, and cook, stirring until set but still moist. When the eggs are complete, move them out of the skillet and onto a plate and keep warm. Add another tbsp of veg oil to the same skillet, heat, and add onion (and carrots), stir frying this mixture for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice and peas and cook until the rice begins to brown. Add the mixture that has been sitting and the egg and cook 5 minutes longer until heated thru. Soooo yummy, I really could eat it everyday:)

Again, I cooked a green bean casserole as a side, but any veg would do:) I hope you try these recipes out and enjoy them as much as the Cormier's do:) This meal makes enough for 4 dinner helpings and then 3 leftover containers - which is great!



BTW, is anyone else watching Dancing with the Stars?!? Who's gonna take it this season??