Chicken Breasts with Peppers

I made this a few months ago and loved it!  I took the picture and then promptly lost the recipe so I couldn't post it - so frustrating!!!  But we've been doing some organizing and I finally found the recipe.  It's amazing what you find when you clean.  ; )

Chicken Breasts with Peppers

2 Tb olive or vegetable oil
2 medium red, green or yellow peppers, cut into thing strips
1 tsp garlic powder
1 envelope (or 1/4 cup of your homemade mix) onion soup mix
2 boneless chicken breasts, halved (meaning if you bought them butterflied, or the halves of the breast were connected - cut them into separate halves. You should end up with 4 halves like the one pictured above)
1 c water
1/2 tsp basil leaves

In large skillet, heat oil and brown chicken over medium-high heat.  Remove chicken.  Add peppers and cook, stirring frequently, two minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender.  Stir in onion soup mix blended with water and basil; bring to a boil.  Return chicken to skillet and simmer uncovered eight minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once.  Makes 4 servings.

Adaptations:
For a Food Storage meal- use canned chicken and peppers or another veggie.
For the Crockpot - dump all the ingredients in the pot!  Cook for the typical 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 on low.  You could absolutely use frozen peppers and chicken without thawing first - just toss them in as is!  You may brown the chicken first if you prefer.

Pronto Pups

from Amy

1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (plus 1 or 2 Tbs)

Stir together dry ingredients.  Add milk and egg and stir to a thick batter (add extra milk if too thick).  Warm hot dogs in microwave or boiling water.  Dry with paper towels.  Spear with popsicle sticks, then dip in batter and deep fry until brown.

My Notes:  I cut my hot dogs in thirds and don't use sticks.  I fry at 365F for about 2 minutes.

Taco Rice/Spanish Rice

TACO RICE MIX
In a quart-sized ziplock bag combine the following ingredients:

1 cup long grain brown rice or white rice
2 teaspoons chili powder (wimpy white girl halves this)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each oregano & cumin & garlic powder
2 tablespoons dry onion
Dash red pepper flakes (and you know I omit this)


Seal & Label the bag. Store on the pantry shelf.

To Prepare:
1 package of Taco Rice Mix
1 or 2 tablespoons oil
8 oz can reduced sodium tomato sauce or 1 cup chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
2 cups water

Get out a 2-quart saucepan. Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the contents of the Taco Rice Mix. Sauté the rice and seasonings in the hot oil until the rice is toasty and slightly opaque. Add the tomato sauce and water. Stir it up and bring it to a boil. When it starts to boil, cover the pan with a good lid and reduce the heat to very low. Brown rice will cook in 45 minutes. White rice will cook in 20 minutes. Serve topped with cheese for a main dish, or just like it is as a side dish. This recipe doubles easily. Cook it in a 3-quart saucepan if you double it.

Makes 4 servings.

Variations

To make Taco Style Beans & Rice add a 15 oz can of kidney or pinto or black beans (1-1/2 cups cooked beans) well drained and rinsed, along with the tomato sauce and water. Cook as directed.

To make Taco TVP & Rice Mix add 1 cup of plain TVP and 2 bouillon cubes to the rice mixture. Use the flavor of bouillon that you prefer. When you prepare the dish, increase the water to 2-3/4 cups. Otherwise, proceed as directed. This is a great main dish mix to keep on hand for busy days.

Note: I keep the bag of Taco Rice Mix in a small brown paper bag along with the canned tomato sauce, and sometimes a can of kidney beans too. This keeps the items together in one spot so I don't have to hunt all over the kitchen for that "can of tomato sauce that I know is around here somewhere". You may be more organized than me and always know where that extra can of tomato sauce is, but in case you're not this tip will save some work. Be sure to label and date the paper bag so you know what it is when you see it sitting there on the shelf.

Cheese Enchiladas

This recipe comes from Spark People's recipe site sparkrecipes.com.

I quadrupled the recipe so I could use the whole container of ricotta.  I bagged the rest and froze three additional meals for later.  I placed the sauce, olives and cheese mixture in three separate baggies (quart and snack-size) and then placed all three baggies in one gallon bag so the whole meal was together.  

Sorry about the picture.  We had almost finished eating before I remembered to take a picture!  So here is my son's plate - sour cream and all!

I served this with the Hillbilly Housewife's Taco Rice.  Scrumptious!  I loved this meal!

No Guilt Cheese Enchiladas

12 8-inch Corn Tortillas
1 cup shredded Mexican four cheese blend
1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese
3/4 cup chopped white onions
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
1 can (19 ounces) enchilada sauce
2 Tbsp diced green chilies
3 Tbsp sliced black olives

Pour the enchilada sauce in a skillet and heat. Or make your own - check out the link above!  Dip each tortilla in the hot sauce, coating each side, for a few seconds. Shake off and place on microwavable platter, 3 or 4 at a time, making sure that they do not overlap. Microwave for 20-40 seconds, until soft. (Time will vary according to your microwave oven.) Set aside to cool. I skipped the microwaving and just dipped the tortillas in the skillet that I made my enchilada sauce in.

In a bowl, mix 3/4 cup finely chopped onion (about 1/2 a large onion) I used rehydrated dry onion, ricotta, cottage cheese, green chiles (mild or hot, to taste), and salt and pepper to taste. Add half the shredded cheese (1/2 cup.) Mix with fork until ingredients are blended.

Spray a rectangular casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Place approximately 1/12th of the cheese mixture (about 1/4 cup) on a tortilla and loosely roll. Place seam side down in casserole dish. Repeat until all tortillas are filled. I did this dish as a casserole to save on mess and time.  I placed a layer of dipped tortillas on the bottom of the pan, topped with spoonfulls of the cheese mixture (about 2 1/4 cups total) and topped with more dipped tortillas.  Spread remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas.

Bake for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After 15 minutes, remove and evenly spread the remaining cheese and the black olives on top. Return to oven for 10 more minutes.

Serve hot.

Number of Servings: 6

Big Mac Sauce

I used two recipes I found online to create a copycat Big Mac sauce and was very pleased with the results!  I used mine for a version of their new Big Mac wrap (but with a Boca burger).  Tasty!

From StuffUCanUse.com

Special Sauce

1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons, heaping, French salad dressing
1/2 Tablespoon sweet relish
2 teaspoons, heaping, dill pickle relish
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried, minced onion
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon ketchup
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix everything very well in a small container.  Microwave 25 seconds, and stir well again. Cover, and refrigerate at LEAST 1 hour before using.( to allow all of the flavors to "meld". ) Makes nearly 1 cup...enough for about 8 Big Macs.

I also used a Recipezaar.com recipe for French dressing since I don't have that at home.

French Dressing
SERVES 4 , 1/2 cups

1/4 cup corn or vegetable oil
1/4 cup ketchup
1/8 cup sugar
2 T white vinegar
2 T water
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/16 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor; blend until well mixed.

This French dressing made enough for about 4 recipes of the Special Sauce.

Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I found these cupcakes here after searching for a recipe online that a gal had made and nicely let me sample. I think these would be easy to add whole wheat flour to from food storage.

the Cupcakes...

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine, melted

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (abt 4 medium bananas)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

the Frosting...

2 sticks (1 cup) margarine, softened

12 oz cream cheese

6 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add butter, banana, eggs and vanilla. Stir but do not overmix! This is the secret to yummy muffins! Spoon into prepared muffin pan. This made 12 regular muffins for me as well as a full mini-muffin pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

The frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until combined. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Ice the cupcakes.

I topped with Skor bits - chopped nuts are also yummy!

Quiche

Absolutely one of my favorite dishes! I usually make it when I've made veggies and had leftovers sitting in the fridge for a couple of days that need to be used up.

Of course there are more traditional quiche recipes - quiche Lorraine or a yummy spinach quiche - I love them all! When I make one of those quiches I use the recipes from my Better Homes and Gardens cook book with great success! I actually combined those traditional recipes to make this quiche. I love that I have a yummy way to get some more veggies in our diet and use up the leftovers in the fridge.

1 single pie crust (here is a good quick one - I use it often for quiche when I don't really care about getting the perfect flaky crust. I use my food processor and overmix to my heart's content. If I have a recipe where the crust takes a more prominent roll in the dish I use another recipe that takes a bit more prep)

6 beaten eggs (4 is OK too - especially if you have more veggies and don't want your filling to spill over with the increased volume)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

dash ground nutmeg

1 cup cooked veggies

2 tsp dried onion flakes

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 Tb all-purpose flour

Line unpricked pastry shell with double thickness of foil and bake at 450F for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 4-5 minutes until pastry is dry. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temp to 325F.

Whisk together eggs, milk and sour cream till well combined. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. I always cover the crust to prevent over-browning. Pour filling into hot pastry shell and bake until done. Check at 40 minutes, could take up to an hour.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.