MISC – Page 209 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

CHICKEN COUNTRY CASSOULET

CHICKEN COUNTRY CASSOULET
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, diced
1 pound fat sausages of choice, cut into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons butter
1 large Vidalia onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 carrots, sliced
1/2 pound snap peas, washed and deveined
1/4 cup fresh minced parsley
1 14-ounce can petit diced tomatoes, basil, garlic & oregano
1 tablespoon Classico sun-dried tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried
2 +/- cups chicken stock
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs**
salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Brown the bacon until browned and crumbly in Dutch oven casserole dish. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Add chicken and sausages and brown on all sides. Remove from fat and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic and cook 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add the carrots, snap peas and parsley, sauteing 3-4 more minutes.
Add tomatoes, tomato puree, spices and salt and pepper to taste.

Add meat back in.
Add enough of the stock to just cover the meat and veggies, you don’t want things swimming around too much. You can always add more stock during the cooking if needed.

Cover dish and cook 1 hour.

Add more stock if necessary. Spread crumbs over the top and cook uncovered for 40 more minutes or until browned.

**Try adding other vegetables such as broccoli or white beans for variety. I used crushed Ritz crackers today and they worked reallllllllllllllly well as a substitute!

Magic Brownie Bars

Hello Dollies, Seven Layer Bars, Magic Bars, these delights have many names and all of them delicious. This is my take on this old favorite, and it’s super quick and easy to put together as it starts with a brownie mix of your choice. Actually, all of the ingredients used to build these bars can be individualized. I used three types of chips, but you could use just one, two, or even use more than three! Have fun and make them taste like magic!

Magic Brownie Bars
1 family size brownie mix
1+1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
1 cup coarsely chopped & toasted pecans
2/3 cup each semi-sweet morsels, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups coconut nut
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 13×9 pan with parchment or foil, so that edges extend on sides of pan.
Toast pecans in 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes, toss with 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon salt; set aside.
Mix brownie mix, melted butter, and egg together to make a stiff dough; press into bottom of prepared baking pan.
Layer the following ingredients onto brownie bottom: graham cracker crumbs, pecans, semi-sweet morsels, butterscotch chips, and white chocolate chips, and coconut.
Pour entire can of sweetened condensed milk over top.
Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes, remove from pan, and cut into squares.

IT’S TASTE & CREATE TIME – SLOPPY JOES

The whole purpose of Taste and Create was, and has been, and continues to be to create a community of bloggers who test each others’ recipes and share links. The participants of the event are paired together and try a new recipe from one another’s blog. This month my partner is Debbi from Debbie Does Dinner Healthy. Hubby requested Sloppy Joe’s for football food so I decided to try Debbi’s recipe and compare it to my beef version to see if hubby noticed a difference.

Debbi’s Hearty Sloppy Joes
Adapted from The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch
3 pounds ground turkey
2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 cup carrots, finely diced
1 cup celery, finely diced
1 cup zucchini, finely diced
1 cup red pepper, finely diced (about 1 medium)
2 cups onion, finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 – 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 tablespoon tomato paste
2/3 cup ketchup
3 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar, not packed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

In a large pan, cook ground turkey. When ground turkey is about half way done, add the veggie and saute along with the ground turkey. Cook until ground turkey is done. Drain if necessary. Season with salt and pepper as they cook. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 10 – 15 minutes. Serve with buns or 100 calorie Arnold Select sandwich thins.

Divide into 2 containers for 2 meals. Freeze one for another quick and easy meal. When ready to eat, thaw completely and either warm on stovetop, slow cooker or in microwave. 6 huge servings per container.

Total calories = 3062 calories for whole batch
12 servings = 255 calories without bun per serving**

While Debbi’s recipe tasted great yo me, hubby said he could tell the difference (what is it with guys and their beef?) Next time I’ll try half turkey, half beef and see if he notices a difference.

Here’s my beef recipe:

These are always a crowd pleaser.
HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOES
1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
1 1/2 pound beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic, jar
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon beef base

Heat olive oil and add ground beef.
Generously salt and pepper.
Brown beef, onion and garlic. Drain.
Add brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, steak seasoning and beef base. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add tomato paste and tomato sauce.
Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Serve on fresh baked buns.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???

We’re HUGE football fans! Football season seems like it just started! (where does the time go?) And yet the final playoff games are here. And you know what that means – it’s time for tailgating again, serious football food and game day buffets.

Bring over your best appetizers and your biggest appetite and oh don’t forget the Brewskis to go with it all.

Tailgating Time will be posted every Sunday at noon and open all week for you to add your football favorites. We’ll play each and every week until Superbowl Sunday and then have a big party. I can’t wait to see what you’ll be bringing! We’ll host a big Superbowl party here at OUR KrAzY kitchen.

It’s Tailgating Time!
HOSTED BY:
Martha at Seaside Simplicity

Tamy at 3 sides of Crazy
Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet

Debbie at Dining with Debbie
& at OUR KrAzY kitchen

Would you like to be a host of Tailgating Time too?

Leave a comment here with your email, at OUR KrAzY kitchen or with Martha over at Seaside Simplicity so we can send you the code and add you to the host list – more exposure, more links, more football food and more fun!!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???

Bring over your best appetizers and your biggest appetite and oh don’t forget the Brewskis to go with it all.

It’s Tailgating Time!
HOSTED BY:
Martha at Seaside Simplicity

Tamy at 3 sides of Crazy
Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet

Debbie at Dining with Debbie
& at OUR KrAzY kitchen

Would you like to be a host of Tailgating Time too?

Teriyaki BBQ Beef or Chicken with Broccoli Noodle Bowls

Last week we had an amazing Chinese-inspired dish at our house so I thought I would try another Chinese dish this week. This is the epitome of being a home cook in that I just used what I had and I improvised.

Teriyaki BBQ Beef or Chicken with Broccoli Noodle Bowls adapted from Rachel Ray

For the BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup beef or chicken stock

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce or low sodium teriyaki sauce

1/3 cup honey or agave syrup

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 palmful coarse black pepper

1 1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled

For the steak or chicken, veggies and spaghetti:

1 cup frozen shelled edamame

3/4 pound flank steak or boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 bundle broccolini or 1 small head broccoli

Salt

1 pound whole wheat or whole grain spaghetti

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil

4 scallions, very thinly sliced on an angle

Directions: Place the ingredients for the barbecue sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes to thicken and concentrate the flavor a little. Remove the ginger root.

Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Pour a cup of edamame from the freezer into a bowl to defrost. Add the meat to the freezer to firm up, about 15 minutes.

Trim the broccolini or broccoli and cut into 2-inch pieces. Add salt to the boiling water and cook the broccolini or broccoli to tender-crisp, 5 minutes. Remove the broccolini with a spider or slotted spoon and drain well. Drop the pasta into the water and cook to al dente.

Remove the meat from the freezer and slice it very thinly on an angle, against the grain if you’re using beef.

Heat the oil, a turn of the pan, in a large skillet or wok over high heat until smoking. Add the meat and stir fry until brown. Add the edamame and broccolini or broccoli and pour in the sauce. Drain the pasta and toss into the skillet to combine.

Serve in bowls topped with scallions.

Modifications:

-I just used a bag of stir-fry veggies instead of cutting up broccoli/edamame.

Here is what you’ll need:

Put all of the “wet” ingredients into a saucepan. Let it come to a boil and then turned down to a simmer. Put some water on to boil for the pasta.

Chop up 3 cloves of garlic.

Cut about a 1 inch piece of ginger root, peel it, and throw it in with the wet ingredients.

Throw the garlic and ginger root in. Add the pasta to the boiling water.

Thinly slice beef, on the grain.

Cut up some scallions or green onions.

After about 20 minutes, pull the ginger root out of the sauce.

Put the canola oil in a wok or pan and get hot. Add the beef until brown.

Add the vegetables.

Add the sauce.

Drain the spaghetti and then add to the pan.

Here’s what you’ll end up with:

Another successful dish! The honey really adds to the teriyaki sauce and we actually loved the diversity of the frozen stir-fry vegetables rather than just broccoli and edamame.

OLD FASHIONED MEAT LOAF

OLD FASHIONED MEAT LOAF
MEATLOAF
3/4 cup heavy cream
6 slices white bread, crusts removed, but retained
2 pounds hamburger
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated aged cheddar
1/4 cup minced parsley (fresh)
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Jumbo eggs, beaten
5 slices bacon
SAUCE
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Frank’s sweet chili sauce
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour cream over bread slices and allow it to soak for several minutes until mushy.
Add beef, onions, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, celery salt, sea salt, white pepper and parsley.
With clean hands, mix the mixture together until uniform in consistency.
Add beaten eggs and mix again.

Form into mixture into a loaf. I use an actual loaf pan and then lift it out.
Line a jelly roll or broiler pan with foil. This avoids a huge mess.
Place loaf in center.
Lay bacon slices over top of the meatloaf.
Arrange retained bread crusts along edges of meatloaf about an inch away to absorb the grease and liquids that cook off the meatloaf.

Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together.
Spread half the sauce over the top.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Spread remaining sauce over the top.
Bake another 15 minutes.
Discard bread edges.
Enjoy.

The Big C and a movie that shows you both sides – THE DOCTOR with WILLIAM HURT

THE DOCTOR – Dr. Jack McKee is a doctor with it all: he’s successful, he’s rich, and he has no problems…. until he is diagnosed with throat cancer. Now that he has seen medicine, hospitals, and doctors from a patient’s perspective, he realizes that there is more to being a doctor than surgery and prescriptions.

I found this to be a great movie back in 1991, now in 2011 I’m really glad I saw it then and am seeking it out to re-watch. This movie gave me an idea of the type of doctor I hoped to find when I began my own search after being given a diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer. For many of us we work our way through our lives trying to figure out the whys and why nots of everyday things. I truly believe I was brought here to help care for my aunt so that I would be in the right place at the right time for one of the best Cancer treatment facilities in the country.

I believe I have found my “Dr. Jack McKee” and in the hospital that Dr. Jack McKee hoped to build. In just the past week I have had tests and diagnoses that no one ever wants to go through or even hear about, but yet I have more hope now and have been treated with more kindness and dignity than ever before.

While I’m still grappling with the whys and why nots and about to go through a horribly invasive surgery with a long recuperation time and a yet unknown treatment plan, I do have hope because of my doctor and her positive outlook and I plan to explore some facts and possible ways to avoid your being in my shoes in the future in many future posts in as positive a way possible.

PAN SEARED CHICKEN BREAST with APRICOT RUM GLAZE

PAN SEARED CHICKEN BREAST with APRICOT RUM GLAZE
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup apricot pineapple jam
8-12 dried apricots, finely sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet.
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken pieces.
Brown chicken, turning once, until cooked through – about 4-5 minutes per side.
Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Reduce heat and add onion, sauteing until tender.
Add apricots, rum, wine, lemon juice and vinegar, simmering until reduced by half.
Add jam, blend well and simmer to desired consistency.
Serve over chicken and white rice with fresh kiwi.

DON’T BUG US MOM!

SMOTHERED BBQ CHOPS

Hi there, Tamy from Classic Good Eats Thursday here covering for Kris who is way under the weather. I hope you all like it. We loved this recipe that I adapted from the Flavor section of the local newspaper. Be sure and stop by my food blog, Always Eat On The Good China for other tasty recipes.

SMOTHERED BBQ CHOPS
2 + 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup BBQ sauce
4 3/4 inch bone-in pork chops
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced on an angle
1/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut
1/3 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
1 lemon, thinly sliced (optional)
salt and pepper to taste