Fiesta Lime Chicken

I came across this recipe on A Few Shortcuts and thought it sounded absolutely delicious.  We buy our chicken in bulk from Sams, so I'm always trying to find new chicken recipes to try out.  This one was a hit in our house and I have made it multiple times since I came across it.

Don't exclude the lime from the recipe.  I didn't have one the second time I made this recipe, so I didn't use it.  I didn't realize it was going to make that much of a difference until I bit into it.  The chicken tasted so bland.  So make sure you have the lime or some lime juice.

For the rice, the original recipe uses her own version of Fiesta Rice.  Instead of making my own rice, I've been using the packaged mixes.  I've used both Mexican rice and Taco rice and prefer the Mexican.  So, stuff the chicken with whatever Mexican type rice mix suits your fancy.

Fiesta Lime Chicken

2 chicken breasts (thick enough that it can easy be stuffed)

1 lime

1/2 Tbsp. EVOO

1/2 c. rice

1/2 c. shredded Mexican cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Slice a pocket into your chicken breasts so that you will be able to stuff it.  Do not cut all the way through to the other side.

Come the juice from the lime, olive oil, and some salt and pepper to make a marinade.  Pour this over the chicken breasts.  Let marinate while you prepare the rice (about 30 minutes).

Prepare rice according to the directions.

Discard the marinade and place chicken on a plastic cutting board.  Stuff each breast with a couple tablespoons of rice and some cheese.  Adjust ratios to your tastes.

Place chicken in an oven safe dish and sprinkle tops with some more cheese.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  I like to add a little more cheese to the last 5 minutes of cooking time to melt a little extra.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Fall is my favorite time of year.  Mostly because I love everything pumpkin and this is the time of year when you can find all that.

I had about a cup of pumpkin leftover after making some pumpkin butter, so I went on the search for a pumpkin recipe that I could use it up with.  That's when I came across iced pumpkin cookies.  And they are absolutely delicious!

Sorry for the horrible picture.  These were the last two cookies left and I had forgotten to take a picture.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients; set aside.

In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and mix until creamy.

Slowly mix in dry ingredients.

Drop on cookie sheet with an ice cream scoop.  Flatten slightly.  These cookies will not spread much at all.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

While the cookies are baking, make your glaze by combining powdered sugar, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.  Add more milk until you get to a drizzling consistently.

Cool the cookies completely and drizzle icing on with a fork.

Recipe adapted from Delicious Melicious.

Chicken Pastina

We are huge pasta eaters in our house, but we often get tired of the same dish all the time.  So I'm always on the search for new Italian dishes for us to try.  I stumbled across this Chicken Pastina Bake on Chef Mommy and thought it sounded yummy.  

J loved this dish, but I personally found it a little bland.  I'll probably make it again, but next time I'll only do half a can of diced tomatoes and half pasta sauce.

Chicken Pastina

Serves 4

1 c. pasta (I used penne)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 chicken breasts, cubed

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 can diced tomatoes with juice

1 c. shredded mozzarella

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4 c. bread crumbs

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (I used shredded, but you could also use grated)

1 Tbsp. butter

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Cook pasta until al dente.  Drain.

Put olive oil in saute pan and cook up chicken.  

Put the chicken into a bowl with the cooked pasta.  Add tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Place the mixture in a greased baking pan.  

Sprinkle bread crumbs and Parmesan over pasta mixture.  Dot top with butter.

Bake until golden brown, which takes about 30 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Chef Mommy.

Pizza Bites

I'm not a huge fan of frozen pizza or even homemade pizza.  If I eat pizza, it needs to come straight from a delicious restaurant.  I saw these pizza bites on Annie's Eats though and thought they looked pretty delicious, so I had to try them out.  Well, I  ended up loving them and can't wait to make them again!

I'm sure you could also add different things to the filling to suite your preference.  I did half pepperoni and half cheese.

Pizza Bites

Serves 2

Pizza dough -- Enough for one pizza

Grated mozzarella cheese (or you can use cubed like the original recipe)

Pepperoni

Olive oil

Italian seasoning

Garlic salt

Grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a circular cake pan or pie plate with PAM.  Separate the pizza dough into even sized balls (mine made 13, but I'm sure the amount would change by which pizza dough recipe you used).  

Roll one of the dough pieces out into a small 4-5 inch circle.  Put some grated mozzarella cheese into the center along with a couple slices of pepperoni.  Pull the edges of the circle up over the filling and pinch together.  Put the ball into the pan seam side down.  Repeat this process with the rest of the dough balls.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil and then sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and grated Parmesan. 

Bake until golden brown.  Serve right out of the oven with pizza sauce.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

French Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Filling

I didn't really have time to make a homemade cake for Jason's birthday, so I used a bunch of store bought items and put them together to make a delicious cake.

I took a store bought french vanilla cake and cooked it up in two 9" circular pans.  After they came out of the oven, I let them cool for a couple hours.

When they were cool, I leveled off the bottom cake with a bread knife.  

I took some store-bought raspberry jam and cooked it down in the microwave for a couple minutes to make it spreadable.  Then, I spread it on the bottom layer of the cake.  

After I put the cake together, I covered it in store bought buttercream frosting.

It turned out absolutely delicious even though it was all store bought products.

Country Fried Steak

My mom handed her Country Fried Steak recipe down to me when I left for college.  It is the best Country Fried Steak I have ever had and try to cook it as often as I can.

Cube steak is a very cheap cut of meat, so this is a great budget dish that you can cook for your family.  Not the healthiest dish though, so I wouldn't try it if you're watching your weight!

I don't really follow a recipe anymore, so ignore the lack of measurements.

Country Fried Steak

Cube steaks (one steak per person)

Ground red pepper

Salt and pepper

Eggs

Milk

Flour

Ritz crackers

Vegetable oil

Liberally season your cube steaks with salt, red pepper, and black pepper.

Pour enough oil into a small frying pan to cover your steak.  Heat to medium-high.

Set up a breading station.  I always use tupperware for mine.  Have one container with flour, one container with a mixture egg and milk, and a last one with a 1 to 3 mixture of flour and crackers.

Bread one steak at a time.  Coat a steak on both sides with flour.  Then, move it over to the eggs and milk mixture and make sure it's liberally covered.  Then, put into the flour and crushed cracker mixture and bread it.  Make sure to coat the entire steak with the breading.

Place steak in pan and cook until golden brown.  Flip halfway through.  

Repeat with the remaining steaks.

Hubby's Birthday Dinner

J's birthday was a couple weeks ago and I made a delicious dinner for him.  He loves Southern home cooking, so that's what I provided.  Since his birthday was on a weekday and I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to cook, I took a lot of store bought shortcuts.

The menu for the night involved:

Country fried steak

French fries

Mac n' Cheese

Then we had french vanilla cake with a raspberry filling and buttercream frosting.  I'll post about this later on in the week.

I love my country fried steak recipe.  It's absolutely delicious.  Neither of us like gravy, so I always omit that from the traditional country fried steak.  I plan on posting this recipe later in the week as well.

I was going to make my own mac n' cheese, but as I was shopping for the ingredients, I ran into a new Kraft Mac n' Cheese dish.  

We tried out the Old World Italian with Parmesan and Romano cheese sauce.  Everything you need is provided in the packet.  You cook up the pasta and then rinse it.  While it's draining, cook up some milk (I used evaporated to make it richer) and seasoning mix in a pan until it thickens.  Then, mix in the cheese sauce and the pasta.  After it's combined, put breadcrumbs on top.  

It's absolutely delicious!  Cheaper and just as good as homemade mac n' cheese.  We will definitely be purchasing this again. 

All in all, it was a delicious meal and the hubby really enjoyed it.  

What's your husband's favorite dish?

The Omnivores Hundred

I got this list from Very Good Taste and thought it was interested.

Here's the directions:

Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

 

 

Wife on a Budget's Omnivore Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Carnival Dream Cooking Demonstration

The Carnival Dream has a specialty restaurant called The Chef's Art Steakhouse.  It's a high class restaurant and they cook some of the highest quality beef.  I have never dined there because the portions are so big, but I've heard that's in an amazing experience.  

The first sea day on our cruise, they offered a cooking demonstration where you could go and watch the chefs in the Steakhouse cook some of their dishes as well as show you how to plate them.  This demonstration was free of charge, but was only open to a limited number of people, so you had to get there early.  As we walked in, they handed us a recipe book so we could follow along as the chefs were cooking.  After they finished cooking each dish, they brought out samples for us to try.

The first dish they cooked for us was a Mushroom Cappuccino.  I'm not a big mushroom fan, so I automatically thought I was going to hate this dish.  There's no way I could have eaten the soup without the bread, but the mixture of the bread and the soup was extremely well done.  Not a horribly strong mushroom flavor at all.

The next dish we had was a salad of baby spinach, fresh mushrooms, and feta cheese.  I love spinach, so I was really excited about this dish.  I barely ate any of it though, because the feta cheese taste was too strong.  I learned I do not like feta cheese.

The entree they served us was Broiled Supreme of Free Range Chicken served with fried potatoes and macaroni and cheese.  This dish was absolutely amazing.  The chicken was so moist and flavorful.  The potatoes were fried to perfection and the mac n' cheese was to die for.

The dessert was a delicious Tiramisu.  Tiramisu is my husband's favorite dessert ever, so he was giddy to see this on the menu.  It was made with Grand Marnier which gave it a really delicious flavor.  I'm not a big Tiramisu fan, but I definitely licked the bowl clean on this one.

I'm so glad we went to the cooking demonstration.  I was able to try dishes that I never would have picked off a menu on my own and I also got to bring the recipes home to make them myself.  It was definitely an eye opening experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance.

Carnival Dream Main Dining Room (Post #5)

We went to the dining room one last time on the last night.

I had to have the Ceasar salad one more time before we left and J had a Fetoush salad.  My hubby learned that he isn't a big fan of blue cheese.

For entrees, I had the panko crusted shrimp, which is absolutely amazing.  Definitely one of the best dishes on Carnival.  J had the prime rib that night and again it was fatty.

For dessert, we both had the Grand Marnier souffle, which is one of the most decadent desserts I have ever eaten.  I could eat that every night of the week.

Tomorrow I'll let you take a look at a cooking demonstration we attended in the specialty restaurant on board.

Carnival Dream Main Dining Room (Post #4)

This dinner was by far the best we had the entire cruise.  Everything was absolutely delicious!

For an appetizer, we both got fried mozzarella.  So delicious!

For the entrees, I had a rack of lamb and Jason had farfalle with cream sauce.  The lamb was so moist and juicy.  Some of the best lamb I have ever had.  I probably could have eaten a couple more servings of it.

For dessert, I had the bitter and blanc and J had the tiramisu.  Bitter and Blanc is a bread pudding with vanilla and dark chocolate.  Absolutely delicious!  Ignore the bite taken out of the tiramisu.  J forgot to take a picture.

Carnival Dream Main Dining Room (Post #3)

The next night I ordered my other go-to appetizer on Carnival, which is their Ceasar salad.  Some people complain that it has too much anchovy taste, but I really enjoy it.  Their croutons have the perfect crunch to them too.  J ordered the chicken tenders marinated in thai spices.  He said they were good, but a very small appetizers.

For our entrees, I ordered the veal parmigiana and J ordered the penne with tomato and vodka sauce.  I learned that night that apparently do not like veal.  I barely ate any of my dinner and I actually ended up getting sick later that night.  Not sure if the sickness had anything to do with the dinner, but I like to believe it did.  So this was my first and last night of ever eating veal.

For dessert, I had the infamous warm chocolate melting cake.  I've finally learned to make it at home, so I don't ordered near as much on a cruise as I used to.  J ordered a chocolate raspberry creme cake that he absolutely adored.

Carnival Dream Main Dining Room (Post #1)

I'm going to split this up into multiple posts throughout the day since there's so many pictures.

Let me start off by saying that the food in the main dining room is absolutely amazing.  We ate in there as often as we could.  We were in there for breakfast almost every day (one day we ordered room service) and at in there all but 2 nights.  Absolutely delicious and couldn't have asked for better food or service.

Here's a picture of the dining room.  The decorations are absolutely gorgeous.

The first night, we didn't eat in the main dining room because we were waiting on a better seating assignment. 

So, the first night we ate in the main dining room was the second night of the cruise.  The second night is normally formal night, so we got all dressed up and went to get us some delicious food.  The always serve lobster and prime rib on the first formal night, so you know you're going to be stuffed.

For an appetizer, I had the shrimp cocktail and J had a farmer's salad.  The salad cocktail on Carnival is to die for.  Their cocktail sauce has just the right amount of spice to it.

My husband is a big steak fan and he hates seafood, so he always misses out on the tastiest foods on formal night.  He ordered spaghetti carbonara which actually turned out to be really delicious.  I ordered both lobster and prime rib.  The prime rib had a lot of fat on it, so I was pretty disappointed about that.

The maitre de came by the tables during dinner to ask how everything was.  He also recommend the Caramalized Apples for dessert.  Since the maitre de recommended them, we ordered them thinking they would be the best dessert.  We were so disappointed.  The caramel sauce on the side was absolutely disgusting.  Definitely would not eat this dessert again.

Cruise Buffet

There are so many options on a cruise ship, that you do not want to spend your time only eating at the buffet.  We never ate the buffet for breakfast, ate there almost every day for lunch and snacks, and then only ate there once or twice for dinner.

When you first board the cruise ship, the only place open is the lido deck buffet.  I had heard that Carnival introduced a pasta bar onto this ship, so we wanted to try it out before everyone else knew it existed.  Sadly, it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be.

Jason tried out the chicken alfredo pasta and he loved it.  I had penne pasta with clam sauce and it just wasn't as good as I hoped for.  The pasta was not cooked all the way through and there were barely any clams at all.

Sadly, I don't have pictures of most of the food we ate on the Lido Deck.  I really slacked off on that part.

Our original seating assignment for the Main Dining Room had us sitting with 8 other people, so we decided to skip out of dinner the first night until they could get us a table for two.  We went up to the Lido Deck and I was very disappointed with the choices.  They had a lot of the same food as the dining room, but they had been sitting on a buffet line for so long that it didn't taste near as good.  I wish they would have had a few more options since it is supposed to be an alternative to dining in the dining room.

I'm a huge lover of the pizza on Carnival ships, so most days I ate margherita pizza and french fries.  Absolutely delicious and the perfect thing to fill you up after being the Caribbean sun.

There was a Mongolian Grill on board that my husband had to check out.  You stand in line and put all the mix-ins that you want into your bowl.  When  you get up to the cook, you had him your bowl and he cooks everything on a flat top grill right in front of you.  J said it was delicious and would definitely try it again.

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this part of the series.  I promise tomorrow I'll make it up for you because I took a picture of every single dish we ate in the Main Dining Room.

Favorite Kitchen Tools

Marta Writes did a post about her favorite kitchen tools, so I thought I would share mine with you.  Make sure to go check out Marta's list too.

• Pasta spoon/stirrer (I used to have two and my hubby melted one.  Now I realized how often I use them because I always have to wash the one I have)
• Tongs (I used this for everything!  They're great to have to cook stuff up on my indoor grill or to flip chicken in a pan)
• Indoor grill/griddle (We can't have a grill at our apartment, but I love grilling up a steak.  This tastes just as good!  Pain in the butt to clean though)
• Wooden cutting boards (I got mine from Ikea for under $10 and they are fabulous.  I can leave them on the counter because they're pretty and they're great to quickly chop up fruits and veggies.  Really easy to wash too.)
• Rubber spatula (I use this all the time for baking and cooking.  I use it to make pasta sauce and also to mix up batters.  Very versatile.)

What cooking items can't you live without?

On the Hunt for Pumpkin

I'm a self-proclaimed pumpkin-aholic.  Give me a pumpkin pie and I could easily eat the entire thing myself.  This weekend, I decided that I needed to bake with some pumpkin.

So, off I went to Publix to find pumpkin.  I wanted to make some delicious pumpkin scones and then some pumpkin biscotti with the leftovers from the can.

Well, guess what they didn't have any cans of?  

Apple.  Nope, plenty of that.  

Blueberries.  Plenty of that as well.  

Pumpkin.  None at all. 

I remember we had a huge shortage last year because of something that went bad with the crops, but there were plenty during the holidays.  Why take it off the shelf now?  Pumpkin is not just a holiday food.  Some people (like me), like to eat it year round.

So, now the hunt for pumpkin begins.  If I have to, I'm going to go to every store in town to find me a can of pumpkin.

And I'm going to remember to stock up heavily next holiday season.

Menu Plan Monday

We're going to be going out of town this weekend for Memorial Day this weekend, so our menu is quick and simple.  I don't want to buy too much food because I don't want it to spoil while we're gone.  So I'm doing quick and easy meals that don't require too much.

Monday

Dinner: Pancakes, Bacon, and Hash Browns

Tuesday

Lunch: Sandwiches

Dinner: Turkey and Ham Paninis

Wednesday

Lunch: Sandwich (A), Chef Boyardee (J)

Dinner: Pasta

Thursday

Lunch: Sandwich (A), Chef Boyardee (J)

Dinner: Frozen Pizza

Friday

Lunch: Leftovers (J), Frozen Meal (A)

Sesame Chicken

J loves Chinese food, but I'm not a big fan.  I would rather have good 'ole American meat and potatoes or Italian pasta every day.  But, since he loves it, I try to make it every once in a while.

I came across this recipe for Sesame Chicken on The City Girl Cooks and it looked delicious.  And after reading over the instructions, it looked like something I would like.  There was nothing weird in there that I don't normally eat.  So off I went to cook this meal.  

And guess what.  It was absolutely delicious!  I actually liked it more than J.  He said it was a little bland and needed more sauce.  I will definitely be making this again, with a little extra sauce on the side to pour over his food.

 Sesame Chicken
Serves 2

A couple cups of brown rice (I just estimate how much we'll eat)
1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 egg white
1/8 c. cornstarch
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Olive oil (to heat in the pan)
Broccoli

1. Cut chicken into small chunks.
2.  Heat oil in pan over medium heat.
3. Whisk egg whites and cornstarch together in a bowl.  Coat each piece of chicken in the mixture.
4. Cook chicken until golden brown.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. While the chicken is cooking, cook your rice according to the directions on the box.
6. Mix honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic together in a small bowl.
7. Steam broccoli to desired doneness.
8. After the chicken is cooked, pour your honey/soy sauce mixture into the pan and toss to coat.
9. Add broccoli to pan and toss to coat.
10. Serve sesame chicken and broccoli over rice.


Recipe adapted from The City Girl Cooks

Double Stuffed Chicken Breast

My husband and I love Italian food, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it.  I halved the recipe since there are only two of us. It was kind of a labor intensive dish, but it was totally worth it.  I will definitely be making this recipe again.

Double-Stuffed Chicken Breast

Serves 4

- 1/2 c. small shell pasta (Make sure to get small shells.  I used the medium shells and they were too big.)

- 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1/2 c. ricotta cheese

- 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

- 1/2 c. chopped parsley

- Salt

- 2 large eggs

- 2/3 c. breadcrumbs

- 4 8-10 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 3 c. marinara sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tinfoil. 

2. In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta for 4 minutes; drain and rinse with cold water.

3. Transfer pasta to a bowl and add the mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, and 1/2 c. parsley; season with salt.

4. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs.  Place the breadcrumbs in another shallow bowl.

5. Butterfly the chicken so you have room to stuff it. 

6. Stuff the pasta-cheese mixture in the chicken.

7. Dip the stuffed chicken in the egg, then roll in breadcrumbs.  Place on baking sheet.

8. Bake chicken until it reaches 165 degrees, about 50 minutes.

9. While the chicken is cooking, heat the marinara sauce.

10. Serve breast on bed of sauce, topped with remaining parsley

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine.