Learning To Be a Mom: Dinner

Showing posts with label Dinner. Show all posts

A few years ago my husband discovered a delicious Thai restaurant in town, and he immediately fell in love with their curry. He kept telling me we needed to figure out how to make it. I kept putting him off because Thai food is not always my favorite. Then last fall my little sister made us this delicious chicken vegetable curry. It is amazing. It has a little sweet from the coconut milk, and some spice. It is based on a recipe from Favorite Family Recipes, but with a few additions. The ingredient list is a little long, but don't let it overwhelm you, this is actually a pretty easy recipe. We usually half it for our family of four, and we always have leftovers. Which is fine with us because it is yummy for days.

Ingredients:

3 T Vegetable Oil

4 oz. Jar Curry Paste

2 Cans Coconut Milk

1/2 t Ginger Powder

2 T Chopped Cilantro

2 T Brown Sugar

2 T Fish Sauce

1 T Lime Juice

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

1 Small Onion, sliced

4-5 Medium Potatoes, cut into cubes

2 Carrots, sliced

1 Green Pepper, sliced

1 Red or Yellow Pepper Sliced

Sugar Snap Peas, They go in whole. Just add a couple handfuls until it looks like a good amount.

1-2 T Peanut Butter

Siracha Sauce

Red Pepper Flakes

Serve over rice.

Directions:

1. In a large pan, I use my wok, Heat the oil, and add the curry paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add one can of coconut milk, and mix together.

3. Add ginger, cilantro, brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and Worcestershire sauce. Mix in and bring to a boil.

4.Add onion and chicken. Bring to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the last can of coconut milk and bring it back to a boil.

6. Add in the potatoes, carrots, peppers and peas. Mix in the peanut butter. Squeeze in some siracha sauce. There's no real measurement, Sprinkle some red pepper flakes. Stir everything together and simmer for about 20 minutes while all the vegetables soften.

7. Serve over rice.

Just typing this makes me want a bowl of curry right now. It's so good! It's a great meal for fall because it is so warm and filling.

A couple years ago I posted a recipe for pork schnitzel with mushroom gravy, and it is delicious. I have found another equally delicious schnitzel variation to share. And let's be honest, you can't ever have enough schnitzel in your life. We made this weeks ago to celebrate Germany's win in the World cup, and it was so incredibly delicious.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs pork chops

1/2 C Flour

3 T Grated Parmesan

2 Eggs

1/2 t Salt

1/4 t Pepper

2 T Milk

1 C Dry Bread Crumbs

Butter

Oil

Lemon Slices

1. Place thawed pork chops between plastic wrap or inside a ziploc bag. Pound with a meat mallet until very thin, about 1/4 inch.

2. Combine parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper and milk in a medium sized bowl. Pour flour in a separate bowl, and bread crumbs in a third bowl.

3. Coat pork chops in flour, then dip in the egg mixture. Then coat it in bread crumbs. Gently press the bread crumbs onto it to help them stick. Let them rest in a single layer for at least 30 minutes.

4. Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet and add some oil. There needs to be quite a bit of butter and oil in the pan to keep the schnitzel from sticking to the pan. Once the butter and oil are heated cook the schnitzel until browned on each side, about 3 minutes on each side.

5. Squeeze lemon on top for added deliciousness.

*Okay here is the trickiest part of making schnitzel, cooking it all the way through without burning the outside. First you really need to make sure the meat is pounded thin so it can cook all the way through fast. Second tip, heat the oil over medium to medium high heat so it is hot enough to cook quickly, but don't let it get too hot, or your breading will burn and the inside will still be pink.

Okay, that's it. If you want to be super authentic throw some sauerkraut on the plate too. Ours may or may not have come from a can. Either way it was very yummy.

I love Indian food! I didn't know this until I was an adult and willing to step outside of my comfort zone to try some new things. I used to be a super picky eater. I would spend the first 5 minutes of dinner methodically picking out the onions my mom cooked into whatever meal she had prepared. I flat out refused to eat beans of any kind except for green beans. All that changed when I spent 18 months as a missionary for the Mormon church. As a missionary when someone invites you in and offers you food, you accept and eat even if you don't really want it or there is cat hair in it or there is a whole fish with its eyes still in staring up at you from the plate (I swear I'm not even exaggerating.) But the upside is that it forced me to try a lot of new things from a lot of different cultures, and I absolutely fell in love with so many of them.

Indian food became a favorite. It was a sad day when I was really craving Indian food, but had no idea how to make anything. Luckily some very good friends shared their recipe for this delicious chicken tikka masala. It is so delicious!! I'm sharing the original version of this recipe, altered slightly, as found on allrecipes.com. We cut the hot spices in half to make it edible for Sweet Girl. I like it just a little bit spicier, but for now while we are trying to feed little ones too, we have to keep it pretty mild.

Ingredients:
Marinade:
1 C Plain Yogurt
1 T Lemon Juice
2 t Ground Cumin
1 t Ground Cinnamon
2 t Cayenne Pepper
2 t Black Pepper
1 T Minced Fresh Ginger
1 t Salt
3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
Sauce:
1 T Butter
1 Clove Garlic
2 t Ground Cumin
2 t Paprika
1 t Salt
1 (8 oz) Can Tomato Sauce
1 C Heavy Cream

Directions:
1. Mix together the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Preheat the grill and skewer the chicken. Grill until cooked through.

3. While th chicken is grilling, cook the sauce. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the garlic for 1 minute. Add in seasonings, tomato sauce and cream. Bring to a simmer, and simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

4. Remove the chicken from the skewers and add into the sauce. Serve chicken over rice.

I always like to save a little of the plain yogurt to mix into the chicken once it's on my plate. It helps cool the spices just a little bit, and tastes delicious.

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This summer we visited some family in Georgia. It was my first trip to the south, unless you count a layover in the Atlanta airport. As we were planning what we would do on our trip, I said the the only things I cared about was visiting a plantation and eating southern food. Luckily, we got to experience both of these and much more. It was such a great trip. The southern food may have been my favorite. Our family took us to a nice buffet style dinner at the Blue Wilow Inn. They had fried okra, fried green tomatoes, chicken and dumplings, pecan pie. Pretty much everything you need for a southern style dinner. One of my favorites was the macaroni and cheese. It was so good. The best part is that they have a few of their recipes online including their macaroni and cheese recipe, so even though we can't fly out to Georgia every month, we can eat like we're there. I have altered this recipe slightly, but it still tastes authentic.

Side note: I posted another baked macaroni and cheese recipe on here a few months ago. I still love that recipe, and it is different and worth trying. I think we will probably go back and forth between these two recipes. Also, please don't think that we just eat a ton of mac and cheese. I know it isn't exactly healthy, but sometimes it just tastes so good.

Here is what you need:
8 oz Macaroni Noodles
1 t Vegetable Shortening
1 C Cheddar Cheese, divided
1/2 C Cheese Whiz
3/4 C Milk
2 Eggs, beaten
1 T Mayo
1/2 t Mustard

Topping:
2 T Butter
1 C Bread Crumbs

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, adding shortening to the water.

2. After draining the water off the noodles, combine them with all other ingredients. Place in a greased 8x8 pan. Save 1/4 cup of the cheese to sprinkle on top.

3. In a pan, melt butter and add bread crumbs. Coat bread crumbs in the butter and cook until bread crumbs are lightly browned. Spread on top.
Let me explain this picture.I wanted to put bread crumbs on top, but Husband wanted to stick with the original recipe, so we compromised by just putting bread crumbs on half. But after tasting some from both sides, I won Husband over and now we bread crumb the entire thing!

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, and enjoy.

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We always hear about quick and easy recipes for weeknight meals. Well I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I need something even quicker and easier on weekend nights. The weekends just get so busy and then all of a sudden I realize we still need to eat dinner. This crouton chicken became my quick and easy weekend night dinner this weekend. I got this recipe from my friend Nicolette. I like this recipe for a few reasons. First, and most important, it tastes great! Second, it is so easy to put together. You literally can't mess it up. Third it's very inexpensive. It's one of those meals that I especially like to make at the end of the month when the grocery budget is almost gone so I don't have to go to the store.

Here is what you need: (I half this recipe for my family since it's just 2 adults and a toddler, but I'm giving you the full amounts)
4-5 Chicken Breasts
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 C Water
Cheddar Cheese- Sliced or Shredded
1 Box Stuffing
1 Cube Butter, melted
Noodles, whatever kind you want cooked according to package directions.

1. Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch pan and cover with cheese.

2. Mix together soup and water and pour over chicken. Top with stuffing mix and pour melted butter on top.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. If the top starts to look too dark cover it in tin foil and continue baking. I wish I had a picture of what it looks like all together at the end, but I have an intense fear of food poisoning, so the second I pulled it out of the oven I had to hurry and dig out a piece of chicken to make sure it was cooked all the way through, thus destroying the overall appearance.

4. Serve over noodles with a vegetable on the side.

Does it get any easier than that? I submit that it does not! We especially love the crunchy stuffing on top. Mmm mmm good.

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You Are Talking Too Much

I love shrimp! We don't eat it very often because it is a little pricey, but every once in awhile we splurge. This time around it was in celebration of my birthday. On my actual birthday we stuffed ourselves with a humongous breakfast, and we couldn't eat for the rest of the day, so my birthday dinner was pushed until today. It was worth the wait! We got the recipe for this marinade from Husband's brother. I loved going there and having shrimp and salmon. They were kind enough to share their recipe with us when we moved away, and now I share it with you. Use it well.

Here is what you need:

1 C Olive Oil

1 T Parsley

3 T Lemon Juice

3 Cloves Minced Garlic

2 T Tomato Paste

2 t Oregano

1 t Salt

1 t Pepper

2 lb Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined

You need to marinade this for several hours. You could start it in the morning or even the night before. If you're in a pinch you can get away with a shorter marinade time, but it's better if you let it go longer.

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and let the shrimp marinade.

2. When you are ready to grill, thread shrimp onto skewers.

3. Start grilling. (This is Husband's job.) We buy shrimp that is already fully cooked, so basically we are just heating it up and giving it that nice smoky flavor. It takes about 10-15 minutes depending on how you like it cooked.

We like to serve it over rice with some grilled salmon and these yummy grilled zucchini slices that were marinaded in Italian dressing.

Now this says Happy Birthday!

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There are some nights when I am really excited about making dinner and I want to spend extra time making something nice. And then there are most of the other nights when I just want to make something fast. This recipe is one of those quick recipes for busy nights. Luckily it is also delicious. It has a little bit of spice to it, but not too much. It's one we make a lot because we usually have all the ingredients on hand.

Here is what you need:

8 oz.Spaghetti Noodles
2 C Broccoli Florets
1 lb. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks or strips
3/4 C Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
2 T Soy Sauce
1/4 t each: Ground Ginger, Garlic Powder, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, cook chicken on medium high heat. when it is cooked through, add dressing, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta and broccoli, place in a large bowl or back in the empty pot. Add the chicken mixture, and toss together with noodles.

So yummy. So easy.

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Earlier this week I was really feeling fall. The temperatures dipped below 90 degrees for just a minute and I was ready for some soup! I love soup and I miss it all summer long, but eating soup in 100+ degree weather is just ridiculous. Now that it is starting to cool down and I am getting antsy for soup. This delicious white chicken chili recipe came from my younger sister. She works at a sandwich and soups restaurant and she has taught me how to make a couple of their delicious soups. This chili is delicious and a spicy. I cut the spices down to make it better for Sweet Girl.

Here is what you need:

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
2 T Oil
1 Clove Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Onion, Chopped
1 Can Diced Green Chilies
2 Cans White Beans
1 C Water
1 Pkg. McCormick White Chicken Chili Powder
2 T Chicken Bouillon
1/8 t Cumin
1/8 t Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 C Sour Cream
1 C Whole Milk

1. In a large pot saute the onions and garlic in the oil for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the beans, chilies,water, powder, bouillon, cumin, cayenne pepper, and chicken. Let simmer 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Stir in sour cream and whole milk, and serve immediately.

Wasn't that easy? We like to serve this with some type of bread to help with the spiciness. The original recipe calls for heavy whipping cream, but it was just too thick and artery clogging, so we switched it to whole milk. I know that doesn't exactly make this soup healthy, but it makes it a little better I think.

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I love to eat fried foods. They are delicious! I know they are really bad for you so I do draw the line at things like deep fried Twinkies. As much as I love to eat somewhat heavily fried foods, I do not like to make them. My house ends up stinking like oil for days. Plus I am trying to set a good example fore Sweet Girl about eating semi healthy meals. Please don't go back right now and start analyzing the nutrition facts of each recipe I have posted so far. Just know I am mostly trying. Anyway, this fried chicken recipe is wonderful because it tastes incredible and it is not fried at all. I found this in a cookbook that someone left in an apartment we moved into a few years ago. Finders Keepers! I used to make it a lot, but then I kind of forgot about it until last week. I'm so glad I found it again, because it was sooooo good! The original recipe comes from the Cooking With Flavor cookbook.

Here is what you need:

1/4 C Flour
1 1/2 t Seasoned Salt
1/2 t Oregano
1/4 t Black Pepper
1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (As you can see we use chicken breast tenders)
1/4 C Milk
1 T Butter, melted

1. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.

2.In a shallow bowl combine flour, salt, pepper, and oregano. Pour the milk into another bowl. Moisten each piece of chicken in the milk and then coat it in the flour mixture. Place them in the baking dish and drizzle with the melted butter.

3. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Check to make sure chicken is cooked all the way through.

We served it with some acorn squash and husband's incredible mashed potatoes. He is so picky about his mashed potatoes that I just step aside and let him make them. This was a delicious meal, and pretty easy!

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