Tomato Basil Chicken

I stole the pic from Picky Palate, but have adapted the recipe.

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

1/4 cup KRAFT Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing, divided

3 roma tomatos, finely chopped

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil leaves

PLACE large sheet of heavy-duty foil over half of grill grate; heat grill to medium heat. Meanwhile, place chicken in resealable plastic bag. Add 2 Tbsp. dressing; seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with dressing. Refrigerate 10 min. Remove chicken from bag; discard bag and dressing.

GRILL chicken on uncovered side of grill 6 min. Meanwhile, combine remaining dressing, tomatoes, cheese and basil.

TURN chicken over; place, cooked-side up, on foil on grill. Top with tomato mixture. Close lid. Grill 8 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

Great with angel hair pasta. You could also substitute some balsamic vinegar and olive oil for the dressing.

Chicken Tortellini Bake

mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

16 ounce package of cheese tortellini (my advice is to use the fresh, not frozen, variety - the kind you find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store b/c they taste better and it cuts down on boiling time since the noodles aren't completely dry. I got mine at Costco)

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups (about 2 chicken breasts) chicken cut up into bite size pieces

3 green onions finely chopped, white and green parts

2 tablespoons flour

8 ounces (1 cup) chicken broth

8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms

3/4 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat with good results)

8 oz (2 cups) shredded Monterey jack cheese (to be honest, any combination of cheeses, like cheddar, mozzarella or monterey jack would be good)

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook tortellini for 2-3 minutes (this is if you use the "fresh" tortellini from the refrigerated section, just do a little longer if you use the frozen)

Drain and set aside.Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Brown the chicken for 1-2 minutes and add the fresh mushrooms and green onions, cooking until chicken is done and mushrooms are golden brown. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened. Mix in sour cream until mixture is creamy and slightly thickened.Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray. Pour tortellini in bottom of 9X13 pan. Sprinkle half the cheese over tortellini. Put cooked chicken/sauce mixture on top and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.Bake covered with tin foil at 350 for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for additional 15 minutes until bubbly and golden brown around the edges.

Ham and Pasta Skillet Dinner

Ham and Pasta Skillet Dinner
mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

1 pound small tube or shell pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups fully cooked ham, diced (I used rotisserie chicken because that's what I had. It was good, I think I'll try it with ham next time I have extra ham)
1 large sweet red pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (i just used a couple of tablespoons of dry parsley)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions - only cooking until al dente since pasta will continue to cook and soak up liquid when added to the skillet. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat until butter is melted. Add pepper, onion, and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender, about 4-6 minutes. Add ham, basil and oregano and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth (or stock) and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half (at first it looks like it will be way to "brothy" but never fear, if you are patient, it will reduce!). Stir drained pasta into ham and vegetable mixture (I cooked a full pound of pasta but only added about 3/4 of the cooked pasta to the skillet so the other ingredients weren't lost). Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and toss. Sprinkle parsley and remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the pasta. Serve immediately.

Lemon Chicken and Pasta

I've made this winner of a recipe a few times and it is fabulous. Like the other one I posted, it's an easy one-skillet pasta dish. The lemon chicken recipe is from the Lion House Cookbook and the pasta recipe is from mykitchencafe.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy!

Lemon Chicken
1 pound chicken breasts
2 Tblsp honey
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1 Tblsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated lemon peel (I put this in the first time I made it, but haven't since and I don't think it makes much of a difference for the marinade, but don't forget to add it into the pasta recipe below!)

glaze for chicken
1/2 c. water
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1 Tblsp honey
1 Tblsp cornstarch
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules

Arrange chicken breasts in glass dish (or just a gallon sized ziploc bag). In small bowl combine first five ingredients. Pour over chicken, cover, and marinate in refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Grill on hot grill or under broiler until no longer pink (I just cooked it in a pan on the stove) The second set of ingredients is for a glaze to put on top. However, I just mixed my chicken in with the lemon pasta below so I didn't use the glaze. If you want to make the glaze you mix all the ingredients and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, stirring after every minute until sauce is thick and clear.

Lemon Pasta

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (16 ounce) package tube pasta (I used rigatoni)
1 cups heavy cream (you can use evaporated milk and it's still good, just not QUITE as good)
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONSIn a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.Stir chicken into cooked pasta, along with the cream, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

Also, I'm sure you could make this a bit healthier by throwing some broccoli or asparagus into the pasta at the end. I'm not always a big fan of leftovers, but this makes great leftovers.

Where's the love?

As Kelsey and I are both dealing with teething children and zero sleep, somebody else is going to have to start us out this month. Anybody?

Skillet Chicken with Broccoli, Pasta and Parmesan

I don't really have any fruit recipes right now, but next month I'll post some other great dessert recipes I have. But, I was making up my menu and shopping list for the week and thought I should at least post a couple of my favorite recipes that I'm making this week. I got it from mykitchencafe.blogspot.com. I've found a lot of great recipes on this blog.

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares

Table salt and ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

4 medium cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

12 ounces ziti, penne, or bow-tie pasta. Original recipe called for 8 oz, but the blog author I got this recipe from increased the amounts to feed her family, so you can scale it down. I just make the recipe with the amounts listed and we have leftovers; this reheats great.

4 1/4 cups water

2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

4-5 cups broccoli florets (depending on how much broccoli you want)

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped coarse

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (asiago was the cheese in the original recipe and can be interchanged, but I always have parmesan on hand so I used that)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I've used bottled and it was fine)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook for 1 minute without stirring. Stir the chicken and continue to cook until most, but not all, of the pink color has disappeared and the chicken is lightly browned around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.Add the pasta, 3 cups of the water, and the broth. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the liquid is very thick and syrupy and almost completely absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.Add the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and the remaining 1 1/4 cups water. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli turns bright green and is almost tender, 2-3 minutes.Uncover and return the heat to medium-high. Stir in the cream, parmesan, and reserved chicken with any accumulated juices and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked and heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, passing more grated parmesan at the table, if desired.

Pancakes

Ok, so this isn't officially from the orchard, maybe a tropical orchard. :)

My kids LOVE pancakes, and I'm always trying new things to make them healthy. Here are two recipes to get you started. I use a wheat mix (Krusteaz), but you could do homemade as well.

*Note- If using a mix, you need to adjust the amount of water listed on the package due to the wet ingredients added. My recipes are adjusted.

This is a pic of Linc, post-pancakes. He had syrup everywhere! All clean.

Banana Pancakes: (Makes 12-13 4-inch pancakes)

2 cups wheat pancake mix

1 cup water

2 pureed bananas (you can mash, Carmen just hates chunks)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Butter both sides immediately after cooking

*You could also add nuts if your kids are more daring than mine

Sweet Potato Pancakes: (Carmen's favorite hands-down)

2 cups wheat pancake mix

1 cup water

1/2 large sweet potato, cooked and pureed

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, but pps is better)

Mix well with wire whisk. I like to wrap my sweet potato in plastic wrap and throw in the microwave for about 6-8 minutes to cook. Then scoop out the insides and mash or puree. Butter both sides while cooking or right after. These end up tasting like pumpkin pie pancakes, and are so good for you!