Category Archives: Recipes

Chicken Pasta with Creamy Basil Sauce

Sometimes, some of the best recipes come about by mistake. This was just such a recipe. Picture this: I had decided on spaghetti for dinner. The pasta was cooking away on the stove and the oven was preheating for the garlic bread. I reached into the cabinet for the spaghetti sauce and there was none. Such a rookie mistake, but there I was with spaghetti cooking and no sauce.

I knew I had everything on hand for a cream-based sauce, and they are surprisingly quick and easy. This dish was the result that night, and the entire family loved it.

Ingredients:

1/2 8 oz. package pasta
1 lb. grilled chicken breast
1/2 12 oz package of frozen broccoli
1 can petite diced tomatoes

For the sauce:
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk (2 % or whole)
1-2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp italian seasoning
salt
pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta and frozen broccoli in separate pans. I used spaghetti since that’s what I already had cooking, but I would probably use penne noodles instead when I make this dish intentionally.

2. Grill chicken in a skillet (Cut into one-inch pieces and cook in oiled/buttered skillet over medium heat, approximately 5-7 minutes per side until done and no longer pink.). I highly recommend batch cooking when it comes to grilled chicken, and freezing the extra for a quick meal option.

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a 2 quart pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk well. It should be very thick, almost clumpy. If not, add a bit more flour. Cook the butter and flour mixture for about a minute, whisking constantly. Add milk slowly, whisking briskly while pouring. Continue whisking until mixture is very smooth. Add Italian seasoning, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir frequently, cooking approximately 5-10 minutes or until sauce is thickened. If your sauce is overly thick, add more milk a couple tablespoons at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

4. Combine pasta, broccoli, chicken, sauce, and diced tomato into skillet. Heat through.

5. Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

What have been your best “mistakes” in the kitchen?

5 Things to Make with Leftover Turkey

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You know it’s coming. The Turkey Coma is just around the corner! Crispy deliciousness, whether roasted or deep fried, it’s enough to make one giddy with glee at the thought of eating it for days after.

But once the dishes are cleaned and the last bit of pumpkin pie eaten, the question arises: what DO we do with all the turkey leftovers? And while a turkey sandwich or some soup is certainly a good way to use up the remaining bird, there are some more creative, yet simple ideas.

Pesto Sauteed Veggies and Turkey Sandwiches

This is a bit of a switch up on the “traditional” turkey sandwich.

In a frying pan, saute chopped veggies until soft. Add turkey to warm it up.

Mix pesto with mayo and spread on crusty bread (we love to use ciabatta buns from Costco). Top with veggies, turkey and some chopped feta. Broil until the cheese bubbles (but watch closely!).

Turkey Stock

Just like you would make chicken stock, turkey stock is a super healthy way to use up some of your turkey leftovers – including the bones! Just follow these instructions from Kitchen Stewardship and substitute your turkey bones and meat.

Turkey Pot Pie

After making stock, use some of the remaining meat to make a turkey pot pie. Simply convert your favourite recipe and, you guessed it, substitute turkey for the chicken.

Curried Cranberry Walnut Turkey Salad

For a refreshing change, turn your leftover turkey into a light salad. Chop up 4 cups of turkey into pieces, add 1 chopped celery rib, 1 cup of cranberries, 1 cup of toasted and chopped walnuts, 1/2 – 3/4 cup mayo, salt, pepper and curry (to taste). Mix together and serve.

Turkey Pizza or Pizza Pockets

Using your favourite pizza dough recipe, spread with a light barbecue sauce, sliced turkey, onions and green pepper. Top with a blend of cheeses (mozzarella and cheddar) and bake.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tips for Parenting Food Allergic Kids {Holiday Meal Ideas}

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If your kids have food allergies like mine do, you know the frustration of large get togethers that center around food. It’s just hard. Nothing replaces the feeling of being left out, especially when that is part of every holiday memory you have. Thankfully kids get focused on playing, but there is inevitably time at the table, and that’s hard! Other than skipping the mealtime altogether (which my kids don’t want to do when given the choice), we resolve do the best we can. Honestly, it’s a lot of work for me, but it is always worth it when I see my kids’ plates licked clean of their favorite foods.

I thought I’d share how I do our traditional Thanksgiving meal free of the eight major allergens and corn. Keep in mind, it’s not made to be full of gourmet recipes, but alternatives to the main family meal (because we get together with many other people who cook) that are still delicious but simple to do… a way to include everyone without making an entirely different meal.

EveRy food allergy family has different needs, so find what works here and leave the rest. Use your safe something and make something else work. You know food allergy mamas are the queens of modifying! I’ve been unspecific on purpose, because we all have our own spreads, margarines, oils, amounts etc that work for our specific needs. I’m just sharing how we think out of the box. And I have no photos because I can’t wait until next Thursday to take them all so I can share them with you!

Turkey
I get fresh turkey legs or thighs from the butcher at my higher end grocery store, put them in the crock pot with at least 1 cup of broth or water (more if I want to make gravy), and set them to cook on high for a few hours(less than 4 hours for 4 legs) … I just watch to see when it’s done.*
*I buy meat with no ingredient list, which means nothing has been injected into it. The injected solutions are not corn or other allergy friendly.

Gravy
I keep things pretty simple in the kitchen, as you’ll notice as this post goes on. I have no idea how everyone else makes gravy or what they do to complicate it, but I’m the hired gravy-maker now for our family gatherings, and people keep going back for more. I take the broth leftover from the crock pot (fat included), bring it to a boil (high heat) in a skillet. Turn down to medium-low, and add brown rice flour, whisking consistently (though not necessarily non-stop) as it boils. Keep whisking and simmer for 2-3 minutes while it thickens, repeating this step until it’s as thick as you like it. Salt to taste.

Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a tough thing since so many sweet potato casserole recipes our kiddos will see are covered with marshmallows and loaded with sugar, milk and eggs. What I do now is bake sweet potatoes in their peel (poke with a fork, bake at 425 until they’re soft), peel them, place in small casserole dish, mash lightly with a fork, stir in some liquid (safe milk alternative or chicken broth), add margarine (or your safe spread), then top with brown sugar and cinnamon. It’s okay if they’re loaded with sugar… everyone else’s recipes are too!

Dressing… or is it stuffing?
Either way, I got nothin’ for ya’ because we don’t like it, so I’ve never tried to replace it! (Post a comment if you have a recipe to share.)

Mashed Potatoes
We make our mashed potatoes with chicken broth instead of milk, and safe margarine or oil instead of butter. The chicken broth adds so much flavor, we prefer them over those made with milk and butter now!
Or go really easy (no one will tell your mother) and use these instant flakes! Potatoes only!

Something Green
Ummm, do they really have to eat something green? I suppose to be helpful I’ll add that steamed veggies with a holiday-amount of your favorite spread are permissable. My kids love salad, so when I require them to eat something green at a holiday meal (really, never) I give them that, and it’s really easy to make match for every guest who will attend.

Rolls
Sometimes I make safe rolls, depending on how well I’m doing on getting everything else done… usually that’s not very well, so most years the kids have had toast (on their safe bread), warmed and slathered with their margarine (or whatever you prefer) and honey. If I get my act together a few days early, I make the safe dough or rolls and freeze them to easily bake or thaw Thanksgiving morning. (For gluten free “rolls,” I make the same dough I use for bread and bake it in muffin tins.) Cranberry muffins made safely are perfect too.*
*In quick breads or muffins, I use familiar wheat recipes and sub brown rice flour cup for cup with excellent results. And I use 1T flax meal stirred into 3T warm water for each egg I need to substitute. These make for easy allergy free baking and avail a lot of options!

Dessert
I’ll admit, I’ve tried and failed at a number of allergy friendly pie recipes. The dairy-corn-wheat-egg free pumpkin pie was gross and the dairy-corn-wheat-egg free pecan pie (we’re obviously not nut free around here!) was very runny, though still delicious. I’ve settled on a good old modified apple crisp. Smells like fall as it bakes, and can be loaded with doubled topping for extra holiday fun! Oatmeal raisin cookies are my most successful allergy free cookie recipe, and can be pre-made, frozen and then warmed just in time for dessert too!

Allergy Free Apple Crisp

6 medium tart apples, sliced and peeled
2 1/4 cups turbinado, raw or brown sugar
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups oats (gluten free if you need that)
1/3 cup oil (just enough to coat the topping when stirred)
2 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Arrange sliced apples in pan. Mix all other ingredients and sprinkle over apple layer.
Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned.

Drinks
This might seem like a silly one, but to a corn allergy child, prepared drink options are severely limited. I make sweet tea beforehand to make sure he has something he loves.

A few other tips:
Feed them a snack before you arrive or before the meal. If they’re not starving, their eyes and stomach will be much more satisfied with what they can have instead of what they can’t have.
Fix their plate for them (before you call them to the table) so they don’t have to walk through the line and see what everyone else might be having.
If dessert isn’t an organized event, don’t feel the need to call them when everyone else comes. Leave them playing and feed them their dessert whenever they come looking.
As silly as it sounds, fun holiday paper plates & cups or beautiful china makes a different meal really exciting too… it takes the focus off the food!
Create “matching” food only for the things they like. One year I went to great effort to make a safe green bean casserole… only to be reminded how much my son hates green beans. Now I just “match” the foods I know my kids love. They have a plate full of their favorite foods, and are very happy to not have to eat broccoli! (I avoid any and all food battles on holidays as a gift to my food-allergy-mama self. I encourage you to do the same!)

Most importantly, don’t encourage (or allow) a “poor me” attitude about their allergies. They are tough, for real, but some people can’t run, or hear, or even swallow. Help your children keep in perspective that there is much they can enjoy as a kiddo with food allergies, and all their favorite foods on Thanksgiving are a great beginning!

Now it’s your turn. Share your suggestions or post links to your allergy free recipes here!

{Easy} Slow Cooker Rotisserie-Style Chicken

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The coming of fall usually means the end of the more laid back schedule of the summer. It means school schedules, sports schedules, extra curricular schedules, and fun fall events like pumpkin patches and hayrides. It’s a fun time, but sometimes hard for a busy mom to plan for frugal, healthy, meals around all the craziness.

Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite meals. It’s easy, frugal, and delicious. It’s also incredibly versatile. And, it will make your house smell amazing!

{Easy} Slow Cooker Rotisserie-Style Chicken

Ingredients
-1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs.
-1 recipe herb-butter rub (I have included a choice of recipes below)

Easy Herb-Butter
1/2 packet lipton’s recipe secrets, Savory Herb with Garlic*
4 tbsp. butter, softened

Combine all ingredients.

*I have also used Grill Mates garlic, herb, wine dry marinade mix, and Weber Garlic & Herb dry marinade mix.

Fresh Herb-Butter
4 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 tbsp. fresh parsley
1 tbsp. fresh basil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper.

Combine all ingredients.

Instructions:

1. In the bottom of slow cooker, place balled up aluminum foil. (This will keep chicken elevated above juices. If you’d like to make more of a one-pot meal, you can cover the bottom with carrots and potatoes for the same purpose).

2. Rinse chicken and pat dry, placing it on top of the aluminum foil balls. DO NOT ADD WATER. This is very important in giving your chicken that rotisserie-style taste and texture. The chicken releases plenty of juices.

3. Cover chicken liberally with herb-butter rub.

4. For best results, cook on high for 3-4 hours, until chicken is cooked thoroughly, exact time will vary based on size of chicken. You can also cook on low 6-8 hours.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine does!

More Tips

Reserve chicken drippings and juice to make your own chicken stock for basically free, and much better than storebought! All you need to do is remove all chicken from bones. Replace all bones and any extra skin back into slow-cooker with the drippings and juice. Add water to fill slow-cooker, and cook on low overnight. If desired, you can add more spices for flavoring, and more vegetables like carrots, peppers, onions, celery, etc. for nutrients and flavor. Allow to cool and then store in freezer-safe containers in the freezer until needed.

Leftover Ideas

One of the things I love most about this meal is that it’s so versatile for leftovers. I love it when I can cook one thing and use it for different meals that my family loves, so that it’s easy on me without feeling like we’re eating leftovers all week. This meal is perfect for that.

-Add some chicken together with pasta, california vegetable blend, and alfredo sauce for a baked chicken alfredo.
-Chicken & dumplings using your leftover chicken and homemade chicken stock
-Chicken pot-pie casserole
-Chicken salad sandwiches

You can even freeze the extra chicken for a quick meal any time.

What are some of your favorite ways to use up leftover chicken?

Chipotle Chicken Enchilada Casserole

7 Replies

Looking for a dish that is sure to keep them coming back for more? I was going to make this one with light cheese fat-free blah blah blah blah but I decided to forget it since it’s all homemade ingredients. Does that count? My tummy says it does.

Time from start to finish: about an hour. So give yourself a little time. 🙂 I wish I had taken more pictures but I kept getting distracted and forgot. This truly is one of the best dishes for a family. It’s a crowd pleaser!

Step One: Cook your chicken. I get my chicken in bulk from Zaycon and dice it up before I freeze it. I highly recommend this time saving trick.

I sprinkled Penzey’s Chipotle seasoning on the chicken. YUM. That’s all I have to say about that.

Now,

Place chicken in a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, corn, crushed red pepper, cream cheese, salt and pepper to chicken; toss to combine.
Return pan to medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup onion; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 garlic cloves or 1 TB of diced garlic; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add onion mixture to chicken mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.
Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups onion, remaining 3 garlic cloves, broth, salsa, 1/4 cup water, 3 chipotle peppers and/or jalapeño in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Carefully pour mixture into a blender or food processor; add 2 tablespoons cilantro. Process until smooth. This is your sauce.

AND THE SAUCE IS THE BOSS. Just sayin’.

Here’s where I wish I had more pictures. 🙁 Now it’s time to cook your corn tortillas. I used coconut oil (just a few tablespoons) and I cook them on each side until they are crispy and yummmmy. In fact, I made an extra one to munch on. It’s like having your own freshly made tortilla chips. Ridiculously good.

Now, the LAYERING can begin. Man, my mouth is watering.

Spray your pan and put some sauce down, Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Layer your tortilla quarters on top. Then, spoon your chicken on top of the chips. Then, more sauce, more tortillas, more chicken. Big pan, one layer. Small pan, more layers. You get the idea.

Once you have your last layer of sauce and chips, just sprinkle cheese and bake. Your family will think you need your own cooking show. 🙂

Here’s the quickie version. Let me know how it turns out!

INGREDIENTS:

Cooking spray
4-6 skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (you will use this in thirds) Dried cilantro is okay but fresh is much better.
2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 cup low-fat cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 chipotle peppers
1.5 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper or more, to taste
2 large chopped onion
3 T minced garlic (I use the kind in a jar when I’m in a hurry.)
2 cup chicken broth
1 cup of your favorite salsa verde
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeño pepper
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
shredded sharp cheddar cheese for topping

Here’s how you do it

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
Cook previously diced chicken with a bit of chipotle seasoning or cumin and a little salt.
Place chicken in a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, corn, crushed red pepper, cream cheese, salt and pepper to chicken; toss to combine.
Return pan to medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup onion; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 garlic cloves or 1 TB of diced garlic; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add onion mixture to chicken mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.
Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups onion, remaining 3 garlic cloves, broth, salsa, 1/4 cup water, 3 chipotle peppers and/or jalapeño in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Carefully pour mixture into a blender or food processor; add 2 tablespoons cilantro. Process until smooth. This is your sauce.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tortillas; cook in coconut oil if you have it, 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove tortillas from pan; repeat procedure with remaining tortillas. Cut tortillas into quarters.
Pour a small amount of your sauce into the bottom of an 9×12 glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover with tortilla quarters over sauce.
Spoon half of chicken mixture over tortillas. Repeat layers, ending with tortillas. Pour remaining salsa mixture over tortillas; sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned. Top with remaining cilantro

The flavors of this dish will amaze you—sweet and savory, spicy and refreshing. Our kids all loved it!

Spicy Baked Zucchini Chips {yum}

Crock Pot Chicken Curry Made Simple

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In our house, we love music. My husband was a professional musician for the first seventeen years of our marriage. We still spend a lot of time listening to and playing music. What does that have to do with curry? Well, we match our meal to our music, that’s what! So guess what we listen to when we’re eating curry?

Indian music!

If you’re looking for something to eat with your Indian music, give this yummy slow cooker recipe a try. I’m totally in love with my crock pot, by the way. Crock pots are a busy moms best friend. Mine is an 8 quart cooker and is great for our large family. If you haven’t tried curry in your crock pot, give this a try. By 3pm, your house will smell amazing and you’ll be inspired, no doubt, to turn up the music.

Enjoy!

Put carrots and frozen chicken into the bottom of the crock pot.

In your food processor, add onion, garlic, bell peppers and jalapeño. Start with the veggies—until you get a mixture that looks like this:

Now, go ahead and add all that other stuff.

Blend it all together—it will look like a thick soup. That’s okay. You’re going to love it.

Serve over quinoa or basmati rice. {yum.}

Here’s the short version:

Ingredients

4-6 boneless chicken breast, cut into bit-sized pieces
5-8 large carrots (more carrots = less chicken = $ savings)
1 whole onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 bell peppers, seeded and quartered (less if you’re not a bell pepper person)
1 small can of tomato paste
1-2 cans of coconut milk
2 tsp sea salt
3 T sugar
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 T red curry paste
1 jalapeño

Make it simple

Place chicken breasts (could be frozen) and carrots in bottom of lightly greased pot
Blend vegetables in food processor
Add remaining ingredients to food processor and blend well
Pour mixture over chicken and carrots
Cook on low for 6 hours
Serve over quinoa or basmati rice, cooked in chicken broth

Serves 8

Happy Curry-ing! Let me know how it turns out.

Heidi St. John

Speaking the Truth in Love