Sunday, October 26, 2008

We ♥ Wusthof

We've been eyeing these Wusthof knives ever since we registered for our wedding back in January. We didn't end up getting them as a gift, so we finally went ahead and bought the 17-piece set today. Can't wait to use them!!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Cheesy Salami Crescent Pockets

Very similar to my Buffalo Chicken Crescent Pockets, these pockets were a perfect invention for our lunch today. Yum!

Ingredients

* 1 package Pillsbury crescents (I used the new blank sheet where you cut your own shape out)
* 6 slices of hard salami
* Appx 2 oz fat free cream cheese (or any version cream cheese you'd like)
* 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or to taste)

Directions

1. Roll out crescents flat on baking sheet. Spread a little cream cheese in the middle of each triangle/square. Then sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese and add small pieces of salami to each triangle/square.
2. Fold each corner into the middle to make into a "pocket" shape.
3. Bake according to directions on crescent package. Enjoy!

Laughing Cow Chicken

I recently tried Laughing Cow cheese for the first time and OMG it was so yummy! So when I saw this recipe on Macaroni and Cheesecake, I knew I had to try it. I just made it for me and my husband, so I cut the recipe down by 2/3. I also had to modify a bit since we didn't have any darn toothpicks!

Ingredients

* 2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally 3/4 of the way through (so you can stuff the inside)
* 2 wedges Laughing Cow light cheese (one per breast)
* Italian seasoning to taste
* 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (we used seasoned)
* Handful grated parmesan cheese
* Cooking spray

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Open each chicken breast up and spread one wedge of Laughing Cow inside the middle. Sprinkle italian seasoning inside to taste. Fold chicken back over to original shape.
3. Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish. Spray each chicken breast with cooking spray and then dip in bread crumb mixture to coat. Place on baking sheet.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

This was AMAZING and so simple. This will definitely become a regular on our menu. Enjoy!

Chicken Stir Fry

I didn't really follow a recipe for this.. just kind of threw some things together and put them in the pan. This was just for me and it made a lot! I only used about 1/4 of each veggie too. Enjoy!

Ingredients

* One chicken breast, cut into small strips
* Red onion, cut into bite-size pieces
* Red pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
* Green pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
* Vegetable oil
* Soy sauce

Directions

1. Heat a large pan and add a little vegetable oil. Add chicken and veggies and soy sauce; fry until chicken is cooked through and veggies are to your liking. You'll probably have to stagger the timing of each veggie, as some will be done quicker than others.
2. Serve over cooked rice or egg noodles.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Buffalo Chicken Calzone

Chicken + cheese + hot sauce = our favorite. I found this on the WC board on Ellen's Edibles Blog. It was super easy to make and especially DELICIOUS!!

Ingredients

* 1 lb ground chicken (we used ground turkey b/c the store was out of ground chicken)
* Chicken seasoning to taste (we used Weber's Kickin' Chicken)
* Ground pepper to taste
* 6 oz. reduced fat cream cheese (we used fat free)
* 3/4 cup hot wing sauce (we used Frank's)
* Frozen onion/celery mix to taste (we omitted)
* 1 handful shredded mozzarella cheese or to taste
* 1 handful shredded cheddar cheese or to taste (we omitted)
* 1 refrigerated pizza dough
* Ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing for dipping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put jelly roll pan or pizza stone in oven to warm.
2. Brown chicken and frozen onions/celery. Drain fat and add poultry seasoning, ground pepper and cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese melts. Add wing sauce. Simmer until sauce is slightly reduced. Remove from heat.
3. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out pizza dough.
4. Sprinkle cheese over dough, then spread slightly cooled chicken mixture over half (long ways) of the dough. Roll the dough long ways and seal the dough at the seam. Helpful hint: rather than trying to pull the dough from the parchment as you roll it, lift the parchment long ways so that the entire piece of dough rolls at once without breaking.
5. Cut slices on top of the dough with a knife so steam can escape. Spray lightly with olive oil, or brush dough with an egg wash.
6. Put calzone with parchment on the hot jelly roll pan and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until brown.
7. Once out of the oven, let calzone rest for a few minutes and slice into generous diagonal pieces. Serve with dipping sauce.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Butterscotch Blondies

This recipe originally came from Martha's website, but I changed a couple things when I made them. These were freaking DELICIOUS!! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

* 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 2/3 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 3/4 tsp coarse salt
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup butterscotch chips (I used 1/2 cup butterscotch and 1/2 cup white chocolate and omitted the cashews and toffee)
* 1/2 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped (omitted)
* 1/4 cup toffee bits (omitted)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining and set pan aside.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture. Mix, scraping sides of bowl, until well combined. Mix in butterscotch (and white chocolate), cashews, and toffee.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until golden brown (test with toothpick), about 42-45 minutes (I took mine out around 35 minutes). Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

I read in the reviews on Martha's site that these blondies have a more "cakey" texture than normal. I found this to be true, but they are still yummy anyway.

Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups

I had a craving for lasagna but didn't feel like doing all the work, so I found this recipe on CDKitchen's website.

Ingredients

* 6 lasagna noodles, uncooked
* 6-8 oz. chicken breast strips (cooked)
* 1 jar spaghetti sauce
* 1 cup ricotta cheese
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (we used a little more)
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
* 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (we used a little more)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook noodles as directed on package. Rinse with cold water; drain well.
2. Mix chicken, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg and seasoning; spread 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto each noodles. Roll up tightly. Place seam sides down in a 9-inch baking dish.
3. Pour spaghetti sauce over roll-ups; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake 30 minutes or until heated through.

These were delicious!! Our chicken was a little dry and I ended up picking most of it out - I think these would be just as yummy without the chicken. Enjoy!