Spicy Stuffed Chicken

 

I should probably call this EXTRA spicy stuffed chicken because it takes quite the iron tongue to get through this meal, but that's half the fun isn't it?

I am lucky enough that at my job we have a small garden that I can pick some peppers and experiment with foods I probably wouldn't buy from the store (I don't like bell peppers, so I'm always wary of peppers in general).  This time I grabbed a Fresno Chili Pepper, having no idea what it even was, along with a cayenne pepper.  Upon my investigation, I found out that a fresno pepper is similar to a jalapeno, which is my favorite kind of pepper.  Needless to say, I was excited to work these beauties into something.  I'm also a fan of veggies that I can work into a main dish rather than having to remember to add them on the side.  The little kid in me still isn't the biggest fan of having them on my plate.

They've been hanging out in my kitchen for about a week,
so they are starting to look a bit rough

One restaurant I miss from back home is Red Robin.  The A1 Burger is to die for!  There, I once had this dish called something like Ensenada Chicken, which I adored.  I decided to channel that concept into something a bit more involved.  This led me to the fridge to see what I could possibly combine.

*Correction:  As my friend Rosalie pointed out to me, there are Red Robins out here, they are just so far away from me*

There I found cottage cheese, which my roommate abhors and I use as a cruel joke whenever he whines.   It usually involves the line, "Would you like some cheese with that whine?".  I'm clever, I know.  I, however, love the stuff on it's own merit, but I also love that it can be a healthier replacement for ricotta cheese.  And I know that ricotta cheese, well really any kind of cheese, tastes great when stuffed inside a chicken.  How do I know that, you ask?  Well another wonderful restaurant I left behind, named Carrabbas taught me that one.  So the combination of these two delicious chain restaurants spawned:

Spicy Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

1 Chicken Breast
1/4 cup Cottage Cheese
Spinach (about a pinch or two)
1 Jalapeno or Fresno Pepper
1 Cayenne Pepper
Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese (Optional)
1/4 tsp of the following:
  Garlic Salt
  Black Pepper
  Dried Cilantro
  Oregano
  Chili Powder
  Crushed Red Pepper
1/2tsp Cumin
Dash of All Spice (Optional)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cooking spray on a clear baking dish.

Looks like Christmas

In a bowl mix Cottage Cheese, Spinach, Peppers, and All Spice.

On a plate mix together Garlic Salt, Black Pepper, Cilantro, Oregano, Chili Powder, Red Pepper, and Cumin.

Create a pocket in the chicken breast with a knife.  Try not to puncture the sides, but make it as big as you can so every bite will have the filling.  

Coat the chicken in the spices.  Fill chicken breast with cottage cheese filling.  Try to fit as much in as possible because the cottage cheese will lose most of it's liquid while cooking.  You'll be surprised just how much filling will fit (insert that's what she said joke here).


Cover dish with tinfoil and bake for about 25 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.  Don't be afraid to over cook this dish.  I over estimated the time needed for cooking by about a whopping 20 minutes but because of the cottage cheese the dish was still incredibly most, the filling just lost some extra moisture.

With about five minutes left for cooking, sprinkle the top with the Mexican Blend Cheese.  If you forget, like I usually do, just put it on afterwards and let it melt.

I paired mine with a Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Couscous blend to help with the heat.  Yum!

Turkey Pumpkin Crock Pot Chili

 

Fall is upon us, which means it's time to use one of my favorite ingredients: Pumpkin.  It just makes everything taste like fall.  Pumpkin pies, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin thyme alfredo, give me all of it.

I found this recipe on a wonderful blog for healthier recipes that aren't typical lame health food: Skinnytaste.  Expect to see a lot more recipes from there in the future.  For this recipe though I cut everything in half and adjusted the spices somewhat.

Turkey Pumpkin Crock Pot Chili

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1lb Ground Turkey
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 Small Onion, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 tsp Chili Powder, to taste
1/2 tsp Thyme
1-2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Oregano
1 15 oz can of White Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup of Canned Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 oz Canned Chopped Green Chile
1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Sour Cream for topping (optional)
Chopped Cilantro and Chives for topping (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

I put in the full 15oz of pumpkin puree,  so yours 
may look a  little more watery than mine.

Directions:

Heat a large saute pan on high and lightly spray with oil.  Add meat and cook, breaking it up until white, about 5 minutes.  Add to crock pot.

Add oil to the sauté pan, then onions, garlic, sauté about 3-4 minutes; add cumin and sauté another minute.

Add to crock pot.  Add beans, pumpkin puree, green chills, broth, chili powder, oregano, thyme and bay leaf.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning to taste before serving.

Easy Week Night Staple - Italian Sausage and Pasta

By some miracle, the universe decided to introduce me to the wonderful tastes of Italian Sausage dancing on my tongue last year.  From the very first bite I was hooked and couldn't stop sneaking a bite from the Thanksgiving stuffing we were making.  Ever since, my freezer has never been without this little slice of heaven.

Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit, but trust me, this stuff is so good.  It's already packed with flavorful spices, but when you mix it with your own, Italian Sausage just makes any dish packed with deliciousness rather easily.

When I am pressed for time or am just being lazy at night, this is my go to dish.  Some staples I always have in my fridge, that I get made fun of for including in everything I make, include frozen spinach, mushrooms and parmesan cheese.  Needless to say, if things sound like they will go together, I'm willing to try anything once.  Luckily for me, this incredibly easy dish turned out to be so delicious it became my go to weeknight staple.

 Weeknight Italian Sausage and Pasta 

Serving Size: 1

Ingredients:

1 link of Italian Sausage

Spinach (frozen or thawed)

Mushrooms (recommended - portabella)

3 Tblsp (approx) Olive oil

Garlic (salt or 1 clove, minced)

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Pasta

Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Directions:

Boil water for pasta.  Cook pasta to taste.

Remove skin from sausage link and break up the meat.  Cook in a skillet on medium heat with spinach and mushrooms.

If using garlic clove, in a separate pan, heat olive oil on low and mix in minced garlic until garlic is soft and aromatic.

If using garlic salt, once meat is almost fully cooked, pour in olive oil to heat with other ingredients.  

Sprinkle the spices on the meat and veggie mixture to taste.

Strain pasta and combine with oil, sausage, veggies, etc.

Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy.

 REMEMBER:  Olive oil is a healthy fat, but it is still a fat.  With this dish, you don't need a lot of oil because the sausage creates the flavor that takes the place of a sauce.  The oil helps to coat the noodles and bring all the flavors together.  In this case, less is more.

Asian Style Breaded Chicken

My recipes usually consist of whatever I happen to have on hand at the moment with the least amount of things needed from the grocery store as possible.  I like shopping, but the grocery store just makes me angry.  Unless it is 3 o'clock in the morning, the grocery store always seems to be packed full of people just trying to make me scream.  From the people who walk extremely slow in a snake like pattern making it impossible to get past, to the shopping carts blocking every aisle while their drivers stand in the most inconvenient spots, to the death stares I get while I have to shimmy up against the ketchup racks just to get by.  IT'S INFURIATING.  But I digress.

Because of my utter hatred for Los Angeles supermarkets, I usually improvise.  That being said, every once in a while when I cook for someone else I will go through the effort of making something that requires special ingredients.  I did this a few weeks ago and made Asian Chicken Burgers which were to die for.  Now I have random ingredients like Hoisin Sauce and Thai Chili Paste that I have no idea how I'll ever use up.  This is where my creativity needed to stretch it's legs.  In my sheer hatred of letting food spoil (I'm really not an angry person, I swear) I invented a little thing I like to call:

Asian Style Breaded Chicken


Ingredients:

Chicken Breast
2-3 Tblsp Soy Sauce
1 Tblsp Hoisin Sauce
1-2 tsp Thai Chili Paste
Panko Bread Crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix the Soy Sauce, Hoisin Sauce and Thai Chili Paste (be warned, that stuff is SPICY!).

Coat the chicken in the sauce and Panko Bread Crumbs.

Cook for about 45 mins or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Pair this with some green beans and peanuts, and you are ready to go.

Make sure to make some extra sauce for dipping, just don't let the raw chicken touch the extra sauce.

1-1-1 Peanut Butter Cookies

I love these cookies because I'll never forget the recipe.  They are basic, but I think they are even tastier because they don't require a ton of ingredients.  Plus, the easier they are to make, the less frustrated I am when they are finally done, and the happiness can just grow exponentially with each bite.

My 1-1-1 Peanut Butter Cookies are an adaptation of Food Network's Magic Peanut Butter Cookies because I don't like using Splenda.  If you do, though, just replace the 1 cup sugar with 1 1/3 cup Splenda.  The rest is the same.

1-1-1 Peanut Butter Cookies


Ingredients:

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract


Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Stir well. 

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls.


Place the balls on the cookie sheet.  Use a fork dipped in sugar to prevent sticking and create a criss-cross pattern on the balls, flattening slightly.

Bake for about 12 minutes and lightly sprinkle with more sugar. 

Let cool and remove from tray.

Enjoy the peanut butter deliciousness. 

These are a great dessert after asian fare such as Asian Style Breaded Chicken.