Fettuccine Cacciatore

This recipe is from a 2007 Kraft Foods catalog full of recipes. Someone used to give me these and they always had great recipes. If anyone knows if Kraft still makes these or where I can get them, PLEASE let me know!

This recipe only takes about 25 min and is really good! It makes 4, two cup servings.

Ingredients

8 oz fettuccine, uncooked

2 tsp EVOO

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup EACH green pepper strips and sliced mushrooms

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup Kraft Zesty Italian OR if you thought you had Italian and didn't you can make this delicious Italian dressing recipe which I've used multiple times (subbing real minced garlic for garlic powder)

1/2 cup Kraft shredded Italian/Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

(Hands down, best Italian dressing, ever. Tastes like a nice Italian restaurant's house dressing)

1. Cook pasta as directed on package.

2. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet, on medium high heat. 

3. Add chicken. Cook and stir until no longer pink. 

4. Add peppers and mushrooms, cook for 3 min.

5. Stir in dressing and tomatoes. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes).

6. Drain pasta, toss with chicken mixture, sprinkle with cheese and basil. 

We also made some garlic pita bread and salad to go with ours :) 

Ginger Shrimp with Mushrooms

I loved this recipe because it was different. Instead of using regular noodles or rice, I used rice noodles and it definitely worked for this recipe. The recipe called for "oyster mushrooms" and I wasn't sure what that was nor did I care to search for them so I just used regular sliced mushrooms which worked just fine.

Ingredients

2/3 c chicken broth

2 tsp sesame seeds

3 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

3 tbsp vegetable oil

3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

7 cups of mushrooms

1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 garlic cloves

cooked rice or noodles

1. In a bowl, stir together broth, sesame seeds, ginger, soy sauce, hot sauce and cornstarch until well blended. 

2. Add 2 tbsp of oil to a large wok. Stir fry carrots for 3 min and remove from wok and set aside.

3. Add remaining oil to the wok and stir-fry the mushrooms for 2 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside. 

4. Add the bell pepper, shrimp and garlic to the wok and stir fry for an additional 3 minutes until shrimp turn pink. 

(I added some really thinly sliced onion that was already in the fridge)

5. Stir in the sauce cook until mixture bubbles and add carrots and mushrooms to the wok. If you cooked rice noodles, toss them in with the sauce to coat, if not, serve the veggies and sauce over rice. 

Super Bowl Menu: Southwest Veggie Pizza and Zucchini Fries

The roommate and I could have cared less about the game this year, honestly. However, we felt we should watch it anyways and even though it was just the two of us, we felt we needed a little party food while still trying to keep it healthy.

The pizza was a MAJOR success but I'd definitely change the way I made the zucchini fries if/when I make them again so I'll tell you how I made them and then how I'd change it!

Pizza Ingredients

1 16 oz, whole wheat pizza crust

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 small zucchini, chopped in small pieces

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp olive oil

1 (11.5 oz) jar of black bean dip

1/2 cup pico

1 cup (4oz) shredded pepper jack cheese

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

Zucchini Fries

3 zucchinis, cut long ways in "fry" shape

1/2 cup fine panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Vegetable Oil

Salt

(these are to FRY the zucchini pieces, the next time, I would coat the zucchini pieces and place them in the broiler until the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs brown. Instead of vegetable oil, just coat the pan in cooking spray)

1. For Zucchini: combine bread crumbs and cheese in a quart or gallon sized ziploc bag. Dip zucchini into egg and place in ziploc bag, toss to coat. To fry, place in hot vegetable oil in skillet, to roast/broil, place on pan and cook to above instructions. The reason I would choose not to fry the zucchini (other than to make it more healthy) is because the oil just kind of washed all the cheese and bread crumbs off the zucchini and soaked the zucchini in oil. I HATE MUSHY VEGGIES!!! So, I recommend broiling :)

2. For Pizza: Heat oven to 350. Place pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

3. Cook carrots, zucchini, garlic and mushrooms in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. 

4. Spread bean dip over pizza crust. Top with pico and veggies. Cover with cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese melts. 

5. Let cool, cut and serve

"Easy Peasy" Chicken Pot PIe

I decided I needed to steal the term, "easy peasy," from 2 of my favorite people, Fashion Momma and Semi-Homemade Suzie, because they use it quite often. Plus, this recipe is super easy and it's definitely a comfort food for a nasty rainy day, and this past Saturday was.

If you have noticed, lately I've spread out from my normal Everyday Food, Martha Stewart recipes and have scoured my pantry full of cookbooks for new recipes.

You can find the Chicken Pot Pie recipe I used here, on the Cooking Light website. It's actually for small ramekin sized pot pies but I just made a large one.

Ingredients

 1 package of 2 Pillsbury Pie crusts

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1tsp sage (I chopped up about 6 leaves of fresh sage because I had it)

S&P

2 chicken breasts, cut in small pieces

1 10 1/2 oz can of low sodium cream of chicken soup

10 1/2 oz of water (refill the soup can)

1 1/2 cups of frozen mixed veggies (I used the ones with lima beans, green beans, carrots, corn, and peas)

1 cup of mushrooms, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425

2. In a pie dish, place one pie crust onto the dish as listed on the box and bake for 10 minutes

3. Combine flour, sage, S&P into a ziploc bag and add chicken, toss to coat. 

4. Heat a skillet over med-high heat. Coat with oil or cooking spray. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in water, veggies, mushrooms and soup. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook about 10 min.

5. Spoon chicken and veggies into pie crust.

6. Cover with second pie crust and fold edges over to seal. Vent pie crust with fork.

7. Bake for another 10-20 min (based on how brown you want the pie crust). I baked mine for about 15 minutes.

Sorry I couldn't get a good "plate" picture! It fell apart on the plate and didn't look picture worthy but it was delicious to eat, especially with a little hot sauce on top!