Orange Kalhua Chicken

I was getting a little bored with the usual chicken so I checked out The 15 Minute Chicken Gourmet, by Paulette Mitchell, from the library. It didn't prove to be an overwhelming source of new, mind blowing chicken recipes, but I did find a recipe for Orange Kahlua Chicken that sounded very promising.

Back when I worked at a marketing company, sometimes my boss would take the entire team out to lunch. These lunches always included drinking. Since I am the lightest featherweight drinker ever on the planet (ie just wave the alcohol under my nose and I'm tipsy), and we had to go back to work after lunch, I never partook. One of my co-coworkers had a martini called a Tootsie Roll. This particular recipe contained: vodka, Kahlua and orange juice. I thought that it sounded like a disgusting combination, but she assured me that it tasted just like the tootsie roll candy.

I immediately thought of that luncheon when I spied that recipe for Orange Kahlua chicken. Besides, I had a ton of leftover Kahlua from a cake I made over Christmas, so it was nice to find another use for the booze.

Turns out, the orange and Kahlua are a great combination. It didn't make the chicken taste like a tootsie roll candy though, which is something I was slightly concerned would happen. I guess the magic in that drink happens with the vodka?

The chicken turned out very moist as well. Whether that was from the recipe, or because I cooked it for the correct amount of time, I have no idea.

If you're stuck in a chicken rut, give this recipe a try. It even got a double thumbs up from Blockette.

Orange Kahlua Chicken from "The 15 min Chicken Gourmet" by Paulette Mitchell
3/4 c Orange Juice
1/3 c Kahlua
1 t Orange zest
2 T flour
1/8 t pepper
pinch of salt
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in 1" strips
1 T olive oil

Mix first 3 for sauce in small bowl. Set aside. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow plate. Pat chicken dry, then coat in flour. Heat oil in large pan over medium high heat. Arrange in a single layer. Cook until brown but not cooked though, about 2 minutes on each side. Reduce heat to medium. Pour sauce over chicken. Cook the chicken for about 8 minutes or until cooked all the way through turning once.

Wonton Chips

When I made Egg Roll Soup I only used half of the package of won ton strips. The first time I made the soup other half of the won tons went bad before I could use them. When I got around to eating the frozen leftovers, I bought another package of won tons, but vowed not to let the unused half of a package go bad.Several years ago my best friend told me about this recipe for baked won ton crackers from Weight Watchers. I just cut the won tons on the diagonal so they looked like tortilla chips and sprinkled them with taco seasoning before baking for 3 minutes on each side.

The recipe states to cook them for 2 minutes on each side, but I thought they were under done at that point. I let one batch go for 4 minutes on each side, and they were badly burnt. If you are going to make these, just watch them carefully for the first batch and follow what is appropriate for your own oven.

We ate our won ton chips as a deconstructed taco or nachos. Blockette loved the chips but hated the meal because I made her eat black refried beans. I'm such a mean mommy!

Weight Watchers Wonton Chips
20 item(s) wonton wrapper(s)
2 spray(s) cooking spray
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp thyme, fresh, fresh, chopped
1 Tbsp rosemary, fresh, chopped

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and place wonton wrappers on sheet in a single layer. Bake for 2 minutes; remove from oven. Flip wrappers; sprinkle with garlic and herbs. Lightly coat wrappers with cooking spray and bake for 2 minutes more. Remove from oven and place wrappers on a wire rack to cool. Yields 5 “crisps” per serving.

Thankful Thursday 20.11

1. The bunny eating weeds in my yard.
2. All the beautiful bird songs I hear while typing at my computer, and the intense hunting my cat Boo does as he stalks them through the window.
3. A nice visit with friends.
4. Yanking Blockette's chain.
5. How awesome Blockette played at her soccer game, even though she didn't score and her team didn't win. (They actually had some offence and defence!)
6. Blockette doesn't care if I meet her at the bus in my jammies.
7. Not having to water the plants because the rain is doing it for me.
8. Making tortillas with Blockette.
9. Hilarious Zombie books.
10. Figuring out how to mend one of Blockette's denim jumpers.
11. Finding the crack that went half way across my fingernail before I snagged it on something and ripped the whole nail off.

French Toast Smores

My mom makes the best French Toast. She uses regular bread and loads of cinnamon and boogers. No, not really boogers. She does something secret though because no matter how hard Mrblocko and I try, we simply cannot make French Toast that tastes nearly as good as hers.

I still think my mom makes the best French Toast, but this version of French toast smores from Buns in My Oven is scrumptious over the top alternative.
When I say over the top, this is no exaggeration! Slather Nutella and marshmellows between two slices of bread. Then dip the sandwich into eggs and then crushed graham cracker crumbs. I used the Cinnamon variety. What is there not to love?

It tastes just like it sounds...a smore in a French Toast Blanket. You just can't escape deliciousness with that combination.

I don't think I can justify having this for dinner, or breakfast or any other meal. I might just go into sugar overload. While I most definitely could have eaten the whole thing, it was very rich. Instead of pigging out, I was nice and shared it with Mrblocko for dessert one night while Blockette was at church for youth group. Half of the sandwich was enough to meet the demands of my sweet tooth.


S’mores French Toast from Buns in My Oven makes 1 sandwich
2 slices sandwich bread
handful of mini marshmallows
Nutella
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Beat the egg and milk together in a pie plate or shallow dish. Pour the graham cracker crumbs in a second pie plate or shallow dish. Spread Nutella on both slices of bread. Top one slice with mini marshmallows and then put the other slice of bread on top, Nutella side down. Squish it together a bit. Place the sandwich in the egg mixture and turn to coat. Remove from the egg mixture and place in the graham cracker crumbs, turning the sandwich to coat each side with crumbs.
 Place the sandwich on the skillet and cook until lightly browned and the marshmallows are melted. Let sit for a few minutes before cutting in half.

Tuna melt casserole

I am trying to incorporate more fish into my diet. This is particularly difficult for me considering I can't stand the way fish smells. Usually, the smell is so overpowering that all I taste is the smell. So I've got to find a way to work around that.

Canned tuna is hit or miss with me. Sometimes the canned stuff is so super stinky and other times the smell is very mild. I found this recipe in the book "Family Feasts for $75 a week" by Mary Ostyn. This was one of the books I read in February that got me so angry. After making this recipe I still don't understand how this lady only spends $75 a month on groceries. This casserole was not substantial enough the way it was written.

First off, this recipe calls for 10-12 dry croutons. Um..really? That is not enough to soak up the liquids. I increased the croutons and decreased the liquid and it seemed like a better ratio. I reduced the amount of tuna the recipe called for because I worried about the fishy flavors/smells. Next time I will use the 3 cans that the original recipe calls for. I made a bunch of other changes to the original recipe too. I will post my altered recipe below.

One more thing before I do, this casserole is definitely not a stand alone casserole. I felt it needed at least a side salad. We ate that for dinner the first night and Mrblocko and I did not feel satisfied. By 8:00 both of us were raiding the pantry for snacks. So the next day (since I had planned on this feeding us for two meals) in addition to a side salad, I served our casserole portions over shell noodles. I also added some lightly steamed carrots. That did the trick nicely.

My additions and alterations certainly make this dish fall out of the "$75 a week" category, but it tastes better and that's good enough for me.

My altered Tuna Melt Casserole (adapted from "Family Feasts for $75 a week" by Mary Ostyn.)
2-3 cups of croutons (I make mine from leftover bread. I cube it, store it in the freezer and toast them as needed) (There should be enough bread to fill the entire bottom of a 9x13 pan)
3 5-6oz cans of tuna in water, undrained
one medium onion, minced
1 shallot, minced (I happened to have a shallot that needed to be used, if you don't have any shallots, feel free to use garlic. I happen to like garlic so I would use 4 cloves, minced)
2 ribs of celery, minced
3 T butter, melted
1/2 t pepper
heaping 1/2 t curry powder
2 c milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 c grated cheese, dealers choice (I used Sharp cheddar and Colby Jack)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Spread bread in dish. In a large bowl combine tuna, onions, shallot, celery, butter, pepper, curry, milk and eggs. Pour tuna mixture over bread. Spread the mixture with a spatula, making sure that all the bread is covered. Top with cheese. Bake until the casserole starts to puff up, and the cheese melts, 25-35 min. To reheat leftovers, preheat oven to 400F and bake for 20 min until heated through and cheese gets melty again.

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

Hey how bout some pancakes? Let's pretend to be healthy shall we, and make oatmeal brown sugar pancakes from Baking Junkie. Because well all know that if something has oatmeal in it then it must be healthy. Oatmeal scotchie cookies are my favorite health food. But we aren't making cookies today, we are making pancakes I tell you!I felt the need to doctor this recipe. This recipe contains pancake mix. Now I don't know what type of pancake mix the Baking Junkie uses, but the brand I like says to add 1 1/3 c milk and 1/3 c oil for 2 cups of mix. Baking Junkie's recipe doesn't have any oil and calls for just 1 1/4 c milk. I didn't think that would be enough moisture for 1 cups of mix plus 1/2 cup of oats, so I added the milk and oil that the box suggested.

Also, I used old fashioned oats instead of the quick cooking kind. I used the old fashioned kind because it is so much healthier than the quick cooking variety. Hehehe. Just kidding. It was the only kind I had on had. I just pulsed my oats in the food processor until I thought it looked like quick cooking oats.

These pancakes turned out super puffy, which you can't really tell from the picture. But trust me, they are poofy pancakes. Maybe even the poofiest ever. Or not. What do I know about pancakes?

Overall these pancakes were good, but no substitute for a waffle. Waffles still reign supreme. Yay team Waffle.

(Note to self: Call Park District and suggest "The Waffles" as a soccer team name for the fall season.)


Oatmeal Brown Sugar Pancakes from Baking Junkie
2 cups pancake mix
½ cup quick cooking oats
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
2 eggs
½ tsp cinnamon

Stir together all ingredients. Pour over greased griddle or buttered skillet, making pancakes as large or small as you’d like. Once pancakes start to bubble at edges, flip and continue cooking until cooked through, 3-4 minutes on each side. Makes 5-6 medium sized pancakes.

Zombie Apocalypse

The CDC wants you to be prepared.

Isn't it good to know that our government is spending time planning for the important things? What a relief! I can rest easy tonight.

Remember folks, when given the choice between an ax and a shotgun, always pick the ax. Eventually that gun is gonna run out of bullets and then how will you protect yourself from the ever increasing masses of undead?