Chicken Spaghetti

This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. When I first looked through the cookbook, I knew I had to try this recipe because the pictures of it just made my mouth water for some reason. Then, I read through the ingredients, saw that it asked for a cut up fryer chicken, and got scared away for a couple months. I just kept coming back to it for some reason, though, so I finally bit the bullet one day and did it. And boy am I glad I did! It was so yummy!

Working with the fryer chicken was a little yucky (so much of it isn't edible!!), but I figured I'd give it a try. The result is very tasty since it's not just white meat.

Chicken Spaghetti

from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

1 cut up fryer chicken

1 lb. spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces

1 jar (4 oz) diced pimientos, drained

1 small onion

1/4 c. finely diced green bell pepper

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup

2 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese

1 t. seasoned salt (Lawry's)

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place fryer chicken into a stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon, keeping the water in the pot. Set chicken aside to cool.

Remove 2 cups of the water (now broth) and set aside. Bring the rest of the water back to a boil and cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain spaghetti and discard remaining water.

Remove chicken from the bones and shred or cut into bite sized pieces. I found this easiest to do with my fingers.

Drain the pimientos, finely dice the onion and the bell pepper. Place the spaghetti, cream of mushroom soup, and 2 cups of the cheese in a large bowl. Add the pimientos, onion, and bell pepper. Then, add the seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Last, add the chicken and the reserved broth. Stir together well and adjust spices if needed.

Pour into a large baking pan (it completely filled a 9x13 dish), and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. cheese. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until bubbly.

This really is a flavorful casserole. It's quite different from any others I have tried. I think next time I will experiment and use chicken breasts and then chicken broth instead of reserved water. It may not be as yummy, but it will be less hassle and probably cheaper (I was surprised at how much a cut up fryer chicken cost!). I'll let you know. :)

Turkey & Spinach Roll-ups

I ended up making dinner for my family tonight. My mom was gone for the weekend with my sister and my other sister and I decided to take care of dinner for her. I totally forgot to take a picture, but here is the picture from Clean Eating magazine's website. Tasty and totally worth the time!

Ingredients:

1 tsp EVOO

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb ground turkey

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes with juice

1 tsp salt

8 pieces whole wheat lasagna

1 10 oz bag frozen spinach, thawed

1 15 oz tub of ricotta cheese

1 egg

3/4 c grated reduced-fat mozzarella

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Turn heat to medium-high and add ground turkey, breaking it up with a spatula until meat shows no sign of pink. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg, then add tomatoes and salt. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring and breaking up tomatoes with a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, rinse and allow to cool in a colander.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Squeeze all remaining moisture from thawed spinach and place in large bowl. Add ricotta cheese, egg and a 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese to bowl. Stir until combined.

Spread 1 cup of cooked tomato sauce into bottom of a 9" x 10" casserole dish. Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you. Use your fingers to spread 1/8 of ricotta mixture across the noodle and roll it up. Place the rolled pasta seam side down, into the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining noodles. Spread remaining tomato sauce over roll-ups, then top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.

Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 5 minutes or until the rollups are browned and bubbly.

Turkey Meatloaf & Turnip-Cauliflower Mash

Delicious! The only other meatloaf that I have ever really liked was a cheeseburger meatloaf, but this was YUMMY! We also really liked the Turnip-Cauliflower Mash. I was a little worried about that because I've made cauliflower mashed "potatoes" before and they weren't very good. This mash had the same texture as potatoes and it was SO filling! We will definitely make it again!

Ingredients (for meatloaf & mash):

1 lb. ground turkey

1 c. onion, diced

3/4 c. natural oatmeal

1/2 c. carrots, grated

2 egg whites, whisked

2 tsp Italian seasoning, divided

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 6 oz can tomato paste

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I would use 1, maybe 1 1/2 next time)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp agave nectar

1 head cauliflower, leaves removed and cut into pieces

2 turnips, skin removed and cut into pieces

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a med. bowl, mix turkey, onion, oatmeal, carrots, egg whites, 1 tsp Italian seasonings and cayenne. Place mix in a 9-inch loaf pan (I just shaped in a loaf).

In another med. bowl, whisk together tomato paste, vinegar, garlic, 1 tsp Italian seasoning and agave. Spread sauce over meatloaf. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Place turnips in a pan with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Steam Cauliflower for 15 minutes in a steam cooker or steamer over a pot filled with 2 inches of water over med-high heat.

In a large bowl, mash together cauliflower, turnips, oil, basil, salt and pepper (I added a little bit of minced garlic to this too). We actually just stuck everything in the blender and pulsed for a bit.

This recipe came from Clean Eating Magazine, July/August 2009. Love this Mag!

Simple, Perfect Enchiladas

That's what the Pioneer Woman calls them. And I'm pretty sure I agree with her. Well, about the perfect part anyway. They are not quite as simple as enchiladas I've made in the past (can you really get more simple than a can of enchilada sauce, some cheese, ground beef, and tortillas?), but the additions she makes are all for the better. They're so tasty that I had them for lunch the next day and then for dinner again, too!

I served ours with refried beans, but I probably should have also made some Mexican rice to round out the meal.

Simple, Perfect Enchiladas (from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook)

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 T. canola oil

2 T. flour

1 large can (28 oz) red enchilada sauce

2 c. chicken broth

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 T. cilantro, chopped

Filling:

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

2 cans (4 oz) diced green chilies

1/2 t. salt

Assembly:

10-14 corn tortillas

canola oil (for frying)

1/2 c. chopped black olives

1 c. chopped green onions

3 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

cilantro, chopped

Directions:

First, prepare the sauce by whisking together the flour and canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow to bubble for about a minute. Add the enchilada sauce, chicken broth, slat, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until ready to assemble.

Meanwhile, brown the beef with the onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the grease. Add the green chilies and salt. Stir to combine, turn off the heat, and set aside.

In a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Lightly fry each tortilla just until soft. This only takes a few seconds if your oil is hot. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Next, dip each tortilla in the sauce carefully using tongs (I had a couple of mine tear, so be gentle ;) ). Set the sauce soaked tortillas on a cookie sheet. Then, assemble enchiladas by placing some of the meat mixture, some olives, some green onions, and a generous amount of cheese on each tortilla. Roll up each one and place in the baking sheet seam side down. (Maybe it's because I'm pregnant and clumsy, but this ended up being a rather messy process. ;) I recommend having all the assembly ingredients readily accessible because your hands will get very messy.)

Once you've assembled all the enchiladas, add the chopped cilantro to the remaining sauce and pour over enchiladas. Top with a generous amount of grated cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly. Sprinkle extra cilantro on top before serving.

I'm pretty sure I could eat the whole pan full of these on my own if I let myself. They're addictive!

"Cafe Rio" Sweet Pork Salads (Complete Recipe)

I finally did it! I've been wanting to try and recreate Cafe Rio salads at home for quite some time. Then, I got a huge craving (really huge, pregnancy style) for them a few weeks ago which was only partially satisfied by going to Chipotle. At that point I knew it was only a matter of time before I decided to be brave and give it a try.

There are a lot of recipes out there that claim to replicate various aspects of the Cafe Rio salad (a quick google search for Cafe Rio recipes will give you a glimpse of what is out there), so after looking at a bunch of them, I decided to try the recipes at Favorite Family Recipes because she had collected all the recipes in one place (the pork, rice, beans, and dressing). Also, I've made things from FFR before, and they've always turned out well!

These recipes absolutely did not disappoint! It was amazing. I took my first bite, and it was like I was back in Provo. Maybe it was a little bit enhanced for me because I'm pregnant, but it was seriously good stuff!

Here's the complete recipe! (Click on the individual components for recipes.)

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salads

Ingredients:

large tortillas (I hear the uncooked ones at Costco are really good, but I've never tried them)

grated cheddar cheese (a small handful for each tortilla)

Cilantro Lime Rice

Black Beans

Shredded Sweet Pork

lettuce (not iceberg, I just bought a bag of romaine)

Pico de Gallo

parmesan cheese

tortilla strips (you can buy these at a grocery store next to the croutons in the produce section)

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

Optional:

cilantro for garnish

lime sections for garnish

guacamole

sour cream

Directions:

Place one tortilla in the bottom of each serving dish (oven safe). You can buy foil dishes like Cafe Rio uses at the grocery store, but we just went with metal pie tins that I had on hand. Sprinkle a small handful of cheese on each one and bake at 375 degrees for about five minutes, or until cheese is melted. Scoop a generous amount of Cilantro Lime Rice and Black Beans on top of the tortilla.

Next, add the shredded pork. If you're silly like me (or if you just really miss Cafe Rio) yell "Extra Meat!" when making your husband's salad. ;)

On top of that add a generous amount of lettuce. And then top it all off with a scoop of pico de gallo, some tortilla strips, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, and a sprig of cilantro for garnish. Serve with tomatillo sauce on the side so that (if you're me) you can keep adding it to your salad as you go because you can never get enough. ;)

I was in a big hurry to eat, so please ignore the sauce splatters and other messes in my pictures. I usually try to avoid showing off the messy-after-cooking kitchen in my pictures. My excuse this time is that Paul was the photographer, and he just doesn't notice these things. ;) Hopefully you will all forgive me once you give these amazing recipes a try!

Oh, and big thanks to Erica over at Favorite Family Recipes! She has provided all of us non-Utah residents a great service by mastering these recipes for us.

Note: I gave this recipe a 1-2 hour time length because I decided not to count the slow cooker time. It was a rather big production, but in the end, I put most of it together in two hours. And I know I'll be a bit faster next time (not looking up recipes at the last second and all that). Enjoy!

Manicotti

I love this dish! I make it the night before so when I come home from school I can just put it in the oven. I usually have a salad and garlic bread on the sid

e. Hope you enjoy it!

1/2 (8oz) pkg manicotti pasta (7 tubes)

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese

1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp parsely flakes

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups tomato sacue

Additional 3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook manicotti pasta according to pkg directions. Drain. Place on foil or wax paper to cool.

In large bowl, stir together cheeses, parsely and pepper. For easier handling, refregerate at leaste 15 min.) Fill cooled pasta tubes with mixture using a small spoon or use large decorator cylinder or disposable pastry bag without a tip to fill the tubes.

Spread 1/2 cup tomato sacue in 7"x11" oblong baking dish. Arrange filled pasta in a single layer over sauce. Pour 1 cup tomato sauce over pasta and cover with foil. Bake 30 min.

Remove foil. Top with grated Mozzarella cheese. Bake additional 10 min or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4

Make ahead directions:

After assembling manicoti, do not bake.

Cover dish tightly with foil, then plastic wrap. Freeze up to two months.

Remove plastic wrap; leave tightly covered foil. Bake 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove foil. Add mozzarella cheese. Bake additional 10 min or until cheese is melted.