Potato/Corn Chowder with Chicken

Ok so I know the picture isn’t that great. I’ve lost my camera so I’ll I have right now is my cell phone. Ugh. Anyway. This wasn’t a previous recipe. I just added things I knew would taste good together. So I’ll list the ingredients. When you decide to make it just use your eyes and your taste buds!

Ingredients (Roughly) :

3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
Can of White corn with chipotle
Chicken Broth (At least a box and a half?)
Some fresh yellow bell pepper
1 celery stock
1/2-1 purple onion
Sliced Carrots
3 Medium-Large Potatoes
Half a bag roughly of pasta Egg noodles
All purpose seasoning
Garlic powder with parsley
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
About 2 tbsp. Butter

Shredded Cheddar and Saltines to garnish :)

Directions:

Add all vegetables, noodles and Chicken stock into a crock-pot. Begin seasoning with all the spices, salt & pepper.

Cook the chicken separately in a pan. Use olive oil or butter to coat the bottom of the pan. Add Cooked chicken to the crock-pot.

Dice up the potatoes and add the to a pot of boiling water or you can use some of the chicken stock. Once the potatoes are cooked. Smash them as much as you can. This will give lots of creamy texture to your soup. Once you’ve smashed them all up. Add to the crock-pot. Let simmer on low for about 20 minutes and serve with a little bit of shredded cheddar and some Saltines :)

Pasketti with an Evoo and Orange Juice Reduction

I eyeball everything and taste as I go along.

Ingredients:
Angel Hair Pasta
Evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
Tropicana OJ (no pulp)
1 fresh tomato (diced)
Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning (I bought mine at Sams)
Garlic Powder with Parsley
Salt
Saltine Crackers
Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Remember it all depends on how much you want to make. Use your eyes and taste buds as a judge.

Saltine Cracker “Bread Crumbs”: Crush up (finely) about 6-7 Saltine crackers. I used the bottom of a cup.

Boil some water in a pan. Add the Pasta once it comes to a boil.

In a separate pan add EVOO (roughly 3ish Table spoons) and roughly 2 table spoons of OJ. Turn to low-medium heat. Add the Garlic powder with parsley, spicy spaghetti seasoning and diced tomatoes. Once you see the liquid start to pop or bubble, turn heat to low. Keep on heat until you’re ready to serve pasta.

Once pasta is done (takes roughly 5 min tops), drain and add it back to the empty pan. Pour in EVOO and OJ reduction with spices and tomatoes to the pasta. Stir well. Then add the Saltine Cracker “bread crumbs”. Add a little salt to tie everything together.

Serve and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

Ammu’s Chicken Salad

1 red bell pepper
2 cups chopped celery
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 large white onion -chopped
1.5 lbs cooked and diced boneless chicken breast
1 bottle ranch dressing

using Ranch dressing instead of Mayo cuts down calories and fat a lot. And you still get that great chicken salad taste!

Thanks to my grandma (Ammu) who forgot to get mayo and used ranch dressing instead. Props to her creativity :)

Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

Ingredients:
-Bertolli’s Tomato & Basil pasta sauce              -Angel Hair Pasta
-1 lb ground beef (I used Laura’s brand beef)    -1/2 white onion
-1 cup mushrooms (optional)                          -Garlic with parsley powder

Directions:

1. Take a big sauce pan and fill almost half way with fresh cold water. Place on the stove at high heat and season the water with salt.
2. Next pour Bertolli’s Tomato & Basil sauce into a medium size sauce pan. Turn heat on low.
3. As your water is heating to boil and your sauce is heating, you will need to add 3 table spoons of olive oil to a skillet set on medium-high heat. Then, dice half of a white onion. Once you’ve done this, and the skillet is hot, add the pound ground beef to the skillet with the onions.
4. Cook them together…cutting the meat as it is cooking so it’s about the same size as the onions.
5. Sprinkle the Garlic with parsley powder all over the meat and stir it in… continuing to cook the meat.
6. Now, the water should be starting to bubble up and boil. Once it’s doing this, add the angel hair pasta.
7. While the pasta is cooking, which doesn’t take too long, add the cooked meat and the sauce together.
- You may add mushrooms if you’d like.
8. Your pasta should be done cooking by now. Strain the water out and place the pasta back into the same pot it was cooked in.
You can add the meat sauce to the pasta if you’d like. Here I’ve made two sauces (above) Some people like mushrooms and some don’t. So tonight I did not add the sauce to the pasta until it was plated.
9. Plate the pasta!
10. Pour the meat sauce on top and Enjoy! :)

*I learned how to make spaghetti from my Dad. I love all pasta and all versions of spaghetti, but in the end.. my Dad’s is the best.

**You can always sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top :)

Gumbo

Ingredients:
1.5-3 lbs of cooked boneless, skinless, chicken.
1.5 lbs cased Italian sausage, diced or rolled into little balls
1.5 lbs kielbasa sausage sliced
1.5-2 lbs of peeled shrimp
4 cups chopped onions (roughly 1.5 large white onions)
2 cups chopped celery
3-5 cups of fresh okra
1/2 cup sliced baby carrots
2 cups chopped green peppers (2 peppers)
1/2 yellow pepper chopped
1/2 red pepper chopped
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup olive oil (I use Bertolli)
7.5-8 cups chicken stock
All purpose seasoning blend (to taste)
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
Chili Powder (to taste) I roughly used 2-3 tbsp.
2 cups chopped green onions
white rice

Directions:

Sautee the white onions, peppers, carrots, celery, garlic, and okra in a large pot until they are tender. You will need a separate little pot to make your roux. Here you will need to put your equal amounts of Olive oil and whole wheat flour. Stir continuously (on no higher than medium heat) til thick and a dark chocolaty burnt brown color (about 5-7 minutes). Add the chicken stock to the vegetables in the large pot. Once the roux is done add it to the pot also. Next add the cooked chicken, kielbasa sausage, and cased sausage. (Do not add the shrimp yet). After you’ve added the meat add the spices (cayenne, seasoning blend, salt, pepper, chili powder). After you’ve added the spices and your roux is done, go ahead and add the roux to the large pot with everything else. Make sure to boil the gumbo, as soon as it boils, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for an hour.

After an hour has passed, move the gumbo into a slow cooker/crock-pot and use the lowest setting possible. Do NOT add the shrimp yet. Cook over night and serve the next day (I started cooking roughly around 4-5pm). This allows all the flavors to blend together and make the gumbo incredibly delicious.

Next Day: Cook the white rice (how ever much you want). I seasoned the water for the rice with salt and all purpose seasoning blend.This recipe makes A LOT of Gumbo. A few minutes before serving you will want to add the shrimp to the crock-pot. You can’t cook shrimp any longer than 2-3 minutes or they will be overcooked and will not taste that great.

Serve on a bed of rice.

Enjoy:)

MEXI-CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1 large onion
3 medium tomatoes (or 2 cans rotel-1 mild, 1 hot with habanero)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 lbs cooked chicken breast
6 white corn tortillas
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Add olive oil to the dutch oven on medium-high heat.
Dice one large onion, add the the dutch oven and cook until tender.
Add the tomatoes. Or in this case I used 1 can of mild rotel with green chilies, and 1 can of rotel with habaneros.
Next you’ll want to add the cooked chicken to the pot, along with the chicken broth, cumin, salt, dried oregano, and chili powder.
Lightly grease a 7x11x2 inch pan/dish.
Add the chicken mixture to the bottom of the dish.
Add the white corn tortillas.
Add the cheese.
Repeat the layers until the dish is full. Then Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.



Enjoy :)

yields 8-10 servings

So these are meatballs that I made in my own homemade BBQ Sauce/marinade! 

The Recipe:

1 can of chunky tomato sauce with the oregano, garlic, and basil mixed in.

2 tblsp brown sugar

2 tblsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tblsp onion, minced

1 tblsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tblsp molasses

And Italian style meatballs : these can be found in your freezer section of your local fresh market :) 

Mix all ingredients in a large kettle. Bring to a slight boil then add the meatballs. However much you’d like. Let sit over night so the flavors come together and then serve the next day or so :)

Lemon Cooler cookies :)
And about 40 of them :)

Bell’s Peppered Sandwich

1. Take 2 slices of Wheat sandwich thins and spread Chipotle mayo on each side.
2. Then take two slices of oven roasted deli turkey and place on one side.
3. Then layer lettuce, red bell pepper, red onion, and a slice of pepper jack cheese on the same side.
4. Place in toaster oven til cheese is melted.
5. Cut in half, serve with chips and enjoy :)

Just baked about 36 oatmeal raisin cookies :)