Oven Fried Zucchini Chips

It is hard to believe that these are good for you. They are so addicting and perfect by themselves or dipping in ranch. I even got my picky fiance, who hates zucchini, to like them. Looks like this dish will be a new normal around the house. This simple recipe calls for zucchini, Italian breadcrumbs, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, salt, flour, and milk. 

Start by cutting your zucchini into slices about one half inch in thickness or smaller.

Cover each piece in flour.

Dip it into the milk.

And finally, cover the zucchini in the breadcrumbs. If you can, try and pack down the breadcrumbs on both sides as much as you can. I added parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt to my Italian breadcrumbs. 

Place the zucchini on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. I like to spray just a little bit of cooking spray on top of them as well to give it an extra crunch. Place in a 425 degree oven and cook for 30 minutes. Watch for the tops to turn to a golden brown.

Enjoy by itself, with ranch, or with whatever sauce your heart desires.

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 large zucchini or 2 small ones

1 1/2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

1 teaspoons of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of flour

1/3 cup of milk

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Cut your zucchini in slices of one half inch in thickness or smaller. 
3. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, and garlic powder.
4. Dip zucchini in flour, then to milk, then to breadcrumbs. Pack down as much breadcrumbs onto the zucchini slice as you can. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until all of the zucchini is covered.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until they turn golden brown. 

Homemade A-1 Mushroom Soup

I recently decided to be a vegetarian(No worries, I will still be posting regular recipes). I realized that I was not incorporating enough vegetables in my diet, so I thought it was time for a change. I am not taking it to the extreme, because as you'll see, I am using chicken broth in this soup. So after my decision, I started looking for recipes that wouldn't completely be drab. I came across this mushroom soup recipe on Pinterest and immediately knew that that was something I would be making very soon. I put my own spin on this recipe, because I always like to jazz things up.

Here are the things you will need. 

Start by finely chopping mushrooms so that you will have about two to two and a half cups.

In a sauce pan, heat up a tablespoon of oil. 

Once the oil is heated, add a tablespoon of butter and lightly saute your garlic on low heat.

 Add the mushrooms, thyme, A-1 sauce, bay leaves, and the barbecue seasoning. Stir and cover for 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add the chicken broth. Let simmer for 10 minutes. After time has surpassed, lower your heat and add your flour mixture. Add a dash of nutmeg and salt to taste. Continue to stir until the soup thickens. If you want a thicker consistency, make a little bit more of the mixture and add.

 

Add the milk, stir, and bring to a simmer. Once brought to a simmer, turn off heat. Remove the bay leaves and serve. Top with some pepper and mozzarella cheese.

Recipe:

Ingredients

2.5 cups of finely chopped mushrooms

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup of vegetable broth

1 tablespoon of A-1 sauce

2 tablespoons of flour dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water

1 cup of whole milk

Dash of barbecue seasoning

Dash of nutmeg

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Shredded mozzarella cheese 

 Directions

1. Heat oil in sauce pan.
2. Add butter and lightly saute the garlic on low heat.
3. Add the mushrooms, thyme, A-1 sauce, bay leaves, and the barbecue seasoning. Stir and cover for 5 minutes on medium heat.
4. Add the chicken broth. Let simmer for 10 minutes. 
5. Lower your heat and add your flour mixture. Add a dash of nutmeg and salt to taste. Continue to stir until the soup thickens.
6. Add your milk, stir, and bring to a simmer. Once brought to a simmer, turn off heat. Remove the bay leaves and serve.
7. Top with some pepper and mozzarella cheese.

Crack Snacks (People Puppy Chow)

I usually like to make this in winter, but decided to try it out for the first Fall instead. I like sending goodies to PC's work for his fellow employees, and I know this would be perfect to bag up for him to take. Hopefully his coworkers enjoy it just as much as I do! 

Here is what you will need for this recipe.

Start by putting your butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in a bowl. You can either microwave or use a double boiler to melt it. (I used the double boiler because I always seem to burn the chocolate in the microwave.)

Once it starts to melt, continue stirring so it doesn't burn. After it is all melted, remove it from the heat.

In a separate bowl, pour some of the cereal into it. 

Start to fold the chocolate into the cereal until well coated.

In a big brown paper bag(or any inclosed bag), put some of the sugar at the bottom. 

Add the chocolate covered cereal. Close up and shake until the cereal is fully coated. 

Continue the past few steps until all your cereal is choc-lafied and sugar coated. 

I bagged it up in snack sandwich bags. These are perfect for party snacks or bake sales!

Recipe:

Ingredients
12 ounce box of toasted rice cereal
1 cup of peanut butter(about half a jar)
1/2 cup of butter
12 ounce bag of milk chocolate chips
3-4 cups of powdered sugar


Directions

1. Melt butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips.
2. In a separate bowl, fold cereal into chocolate mixture until well coated. 
3. Combine coated cereal in a bag with powdered sugar. Shake until the cereal is well covered with the powdered sugar.

Fried Peppers

With all the peppers from my sister's garden, I am trying to find different ways to cook them. Surprisingly when the peppers are fried, they aren't spicy at all.


Recipe:

Ingredients
Several peppers of your choice, seedless and cut into strips
1 cup of flour
2 tablespoons of creole seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable Oil

Directions
1. Heat your oil to 375 degrees.
2. Mix all of your dry ingredients.
3. Toss your peppers in the flour mixture until fully coated.
4. Carefully place peppers into oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before serving.

***For extra crunch, put peppers in flour mixture, into an egg wash/melted butter, and back into flour before frying.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

This is super simple to make. It makes for a great side for dinner. Definitely a way that my mom got me to eat my vegetables as a kid. The spices and vegetables are interchangeable as well.

Recipe:

Ingredients
1 large head of broccoli, cut into spears
1/4 to 1/3 of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese


Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix oil, garlic powder and chili powder into a bowl. Toss broccoli spears until well coated.
3. Place spears onto a nonstick baking sheet and cook in oven for 15-20 minutes. Broccoli ends will be brown and crisp while the stalks will be tender.
4. Immediately after removal from the the oven, sprinkle the cheese over the broccoli.

Chicken, Mushrooms, and Onions in a Balsamic Cream Sauce over Pasta

First off, I apologize for the extremely long name of this dish. To be honest, I really don't know what to call it. I started off the afternoon wanting Chicken Marsala, but ending up making something somewhat different. I remember not too long ago seeing a recipe with a Balsamic sauce, so I thought I'd incorporate that rather than the Marsala wine. Also, PC and I are a big fan of onions, so I threw that in the sauce as well. So if I were rename this dish, I guess I would call it 'Chicken not-so Marsala'.

I must warn you, this dish may give you a food coma afterward. I know I wanted to run some errands after making the dish, but I am very comfortable with how the couch feels right now. :)

Here are the ingredients you will need for this recipe. I pre-seasoned the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic.

First off, start to cook your fettuccine. It is always nice to get the noodles out of the way, that way you aren't trying to play catchup at the very end. (Thanks, Pritch for telling me to use Fettuccine rather than Penne.)

Clean and quarter cut your mushrooms. One thing I learned about cleaning mushrooms is that you are not supposed to run them under water like regular vegetables. You aren't supposed to do this because the mushrooms will absorb the water. So, clean them gently with a wet rag.

Slice your onion.

Throw the onion slices into the pan with a couple tablespoons of butter. You want to caramelize the onions, so cover the pan and let them cook on medium-low for 10-15 minutes.

Once they are brown, remove them from the pan and set aside.

Turn your heat up to medium-high. Add the rest of the butter and brown chicken on both sides (~2-3 minutes per side). Remove your chicken and set aside for later.

Turn you heat back down to low and add a cup of chicken broth. You want to make sure you completely deglaze the pan with the broth. After doing so, stir in the milk and balsamic vinegar.

Add your mushrooms and cover. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. 

Once time has surpassed, add your chicken, turn your heat to medium-high and cover for another 15-20 minutes. 

Remove your chicken once again and add your parmesan cheese and onions.

Once stirred, I felt like my sauce was too thin, so I added a tablespoon and a half of flour. Once your sauce has thickened, pour over your pasta and chicken and serve. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese over it all if you'd like.

Recipe:

Ingredients

3-4 chicken breasts

8 ounces of fettuccine

1 package of mushrooms

1 large white onion

1 cup of parmesan cheese

1 cup of chicken broth

1/2 stick of butter

1 1/2 cups of whole milk

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

salt

pepper

garlic (powder or minced)

1-2 tablespoons of flour (optional)

Directions

1. Cook your pasta and set aside.
2. Quarter your mushrooms and slice the onion.
3. Add the onion and a couple tablespoons of butter. Caramelize your onion on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan.
4. Turn heat to medium-high and add the rest of the butter and chicken. Brown on each side for 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
5. Turn down your heat and add the chicken broth. Deglaze your pan and stir in the milk and vinegar. 
6. Add your mushrooms and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7. Turn up your heat to medium-high and add your chicken. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken again.
8. Stir in parmesan cheese and onions. If you feel like the sauce is too thin, add flour to get it to the consistency you want.
9. Serve sauce over chicken and pasta. 

Spicy Chicken Pad Thai

One of my favorite dishes of all time is Pad Thai. It is not just a dish that reminds me of great flavor but also of good times. My favorite set of twins(Joe & Pat), their wonderful mother(Momma E(Lauri Eversole)), and I are always pursuing restaurants that serve excellent Thai food. While Joe and Momma E stick with the mild dishes, it is usually a battle between Pat and I over the hot sauce to try and make our dishes spicier. Ever since I moved from Illinois, I have been missing those dinner dates. So, I decided to try and make one of my favorite dishes, keeping them in mind.

While I was cooking, I could just picture Joe in my head staring at his watch and asking, “It has been 11 minutes and 46 seconds since we ordered… WHY ISN’T IT DONE YET?”

…And when I added the extra Sriracha to the sauce, Momma E shaking her head and saying, “You are crazy!”

…And when I thought I thought I had too many peppers, Pat whispering sassily, “Is that all you got, Latina?”

So without further ado, I made a spicier Chicken Pad Thai with fresh red chili, jalapenos, anaheim, and poblano peppers from my sister’s garden. I also was lazy with the sauce and bought premade Pad Thai sauce at the store.

Start by boiling water for your rice noodles.

Turn off the heat and add your noodles.

Let them sit for 10 minutes or until they are firm.

Once they have turned firm, immediately drain the noodles. I was extra cautious that they would cook more, so I rinsed them in cold water to play it safe. Keep them aside for later to finish cooking.

Meanwhile, cut up your chicken into small bite sized pieces. Add garlic salt, pepper, and cayenne to your chicken. I always like seasoning early on so the seasoning has a chance to soak into the chicken.

(At the beginning of the summer I planted some peppers in my sister’s garden and I was so excited to take a full bag of them home with me.  This is a perfect dish that I get to add them.)  So cut up your peppers, if you decide to add some, and throw them in a pan.

I added some rice water and covered the pan so they could steam for a bit also.

Either in the microwave or in your wok, scramble one egg and set aside. (I used egg beaters and it tasted fine.)

After your eggs are cooked, start to heat a tablespoon of oil in your wok.

Dump in your chicken and let it cook.

After your chicken has fried, add your noodles and Pad Thai sauce.

Because I am not crazy about the Pad Thai sauce, I added Sriracha to give it more kick and flavor.

Once you notice the noodles have softened, add your eggs and whatever you decide to garnish it with. Because I did not have peanuts or lime which I usually like in mine, I added fresh peppers to give it a fuller flavor to the overall dish. Finally, give it a good mix and serve.

Recipe:

Ingredients

2 to 3 chicken breasts

8 ounces of wide rice noodles

1 egg, scrambled

1 cup of Pad Thai sauce

Several peppers of your choice

1 teaspoon of garlic salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

¼ cup of chopped peanuts (Missing in my dish)

1 lime, cut into wedges (Missing in my dish)

Sriracha (optional)

Directions

1. Boil water in a medium saucepan.
2. Turn off heat and add your noodles. Let noodles sit for 10 minutes or until firm. Drain noodles and keep aside.
3. Scramble your egg and keep aside.
4. Cut up your peppers and brown them in a pan. (If you like, use a bit of water to let them steam and then brown.)
5. Cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with garlic salt, pepper, and cayenne. Heat the oil in the wok and add your chicken. Let fry for several minutes.
6. Add the noodles and sauce. Mix everything up and continue to let the noodles cook until softened.
7. Finish by mixing in your egg, peppers, and whatever garnishes you decide to add.