Skillet Smothered Chicken, Peppers, and Onions for Two

This is one of our  household staples.  We have it like once a month.  It is totally not healthy, but oh soo good and super easy, depending on the side you make!

 

Ingredients:
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1- 2 peppers, diced or chopped (or 1-2 cups frozen peppers- mixed or green)
• 1 large onion, diced
• Cheddar cheese
• Olive oil
• Cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)
• Cast iron fajita or smaller round pans (as many as people you are feeding)
• Wooden cutting boards to use as skillet placemats on at table

 

Directions:
1. Pound chicken until thin (I do this in a plastic zip lock bag)
2. Season both sides with Tony’s and set aside
3. Heat up skillets, add a bit of oil
4. Sear both sides of chicken, remove and set aside
5. Heat oven to 400*
6. Divide up peppers and onions to each person’s taste
7. Add peppers and onion to individual skillets, allow to cook until tender
8. Place partiality cooked chicken on top of veggies
9. Top with an ample amount of cheese
10. Place in oven and bake about 20 minutes
11. Serve the piping skillets at the table- on wooden cutting boards- restaurant style
12. Enjoy!

I usually make garlic mashed potatoes and serve that as the side. Totally not healthy- but oh so good!

 

Skillet Smothered Chicken

Read Full Post »

Meatless Stuffed Zucchini

We liked the stuffed Zappy so much that when I was given a huge zucchini that was too big for my biggest 16 qt stock pot, I decided to try making stuffed zucchini a different way.  I also decided that I wanted the dish to be more hearty since it was more side dish like the other way, so I added cooked brown rice, pasta sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

 

This turned out awesome, and it also froze well since it made more than we wanted to eat over a few days.  We already unfroze the other half and it tasted perfect, just heated it up in the microwave actually and it was good to go.  Even my husband liked it and he said he hated zucchini.

 

On a side note- I decided I want us to try to eat more whole grains, so I have now switched to brown rice, but brown rice is a real pain to cook, so after a few tries that were ok, but took F O R E V E R I finally bought a rice cooker.  It was a super investment, works great and now I cook the largest amount of brown rice, which is 12 cups and freeze it in 2 cup bags to thaw when needed.  So simple!  I feel like Susie homemaker some days.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium or 1 large zucchini
• Olive Oil
• ½  c chopped mixed peppers- fresh or frozen (green is fine too)
• 1 small onion- diced
• 1-3 heaping tbls garlic- minced
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• ¼ c parmesan cheese (shaker kind is fine)
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2-4 tbsp breadcrumbs, plain
• 2 cups brown rice (cooked)
• Pasta sauce
• Mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

1. Slice zucchini(s) in half horizontally and run a knife around the inside edge of each half, about ¼-inch from the skin, to loosen the pulp
2. Scoop out the pulp with a spoon, leaving the zucchini shells
3. Chop the pulp
4. Heat a bit of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat
5. Add the zucchini pulp, diced peppers, onion, and a pinch of salt to the skillet, and sauté until tender, drain liquid
6. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, stirring frequently
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit
8. In a bowl, mix beaten egg, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, bread crumbs, parsley, and cheese
9. Add the cooled pulp mixture and rice (cooked), mix thoroughly
10. Place the zucchini shells in a lightly greased lasagna pan or casserole dish
11. Fill each half evenly with the mixture
12.   You can now place in refrigerator and do the rest later or next day, if needed
13.  Top with jar or so of pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese to taste
14.  Heat oven to 400*F (if coming out of fridge place dish in oven during preheat- set timer when it comes to temp)
15. Bake for approximately 30- 45 minutes, serve hot and bubbly

Meatless Stuffed Zucchini

Read Full Post »

Stuffed Round Zapallito- Zucchini- Zappy

Hello blog world- I’m back!  So sorry this has taken me a while to get back to, I swear I have been taking pics of my food and writing up basic recipes, but just haven’t found the time to post.  Well it is time to start again.

After we moved across the country- well actually we moved more in a vertical pattern, from NOLA to Sheridan, Wyoming, I got kinda busy.  We bought our first home- woo hoo!!  Then I had to get my kitchen settled and go shopping so I could cook.  Well, the kitchen got painted (the whole house is painted actually) and my kitchen is basically settled, except for a wall mounted pot rack which is still in the “thought” process point of being.  I have a few ideas but it needs to be strong since I want to hang my beautiful cast iron on it.  I’ll post pics of the kitchen when it is cleaned up.

Anyways- when we moved here quite a few very generous parishioners gave us veggies from their bounteous gardens, which was awesome, but I had no clue what a couple things were, let alone what to make with them.   So I did one of the things I do best, I researched.  This Zapallito, or Zappy as it is called here, was the first veggie.  It turned out good but I expedited the process in my next recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium zapallito (round green zucchini- looks like green pumpkin)
• Olive Oil
• ½  c chopped mixed peppers- fresh or frozen (green is fine too)
• 1 small onion- diced
• 1-3 heaping tbls garlic- minced
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• ¼ c parmesan cheese (shaker kind is fine)
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2-4 tbsp breadcrumbs, plain

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot filled with salted water to a boil
2. Place the zapallito in water and cook until tender but still firm, about 12-14 minutes
3. Transfer the zapallito to a plate or cooling rack if you have one, and allow to cool enough to touch
4. Slice in half horizontally and run a knife around the inside edge of each half, about ¼-inch from the skin, to loosen the pulp
5. Scoop out the pulp with a spoon, leaving the zapallito shells
6. Chop the pulp and drain the liquid; leave pulp sitting in a colander to drain, and save for later
7. After hollowed out, place the shells upside-down on the plate or cooling rack with a towel underneath so that the excess liquid can drain
8. Heat a bit of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat
9. Add the diced peppers, onion, and a pinch of salt to the skillet, and sauté until tender and lightly browned
10. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, stirring frequently
11. Add the reserved pulp, and sauté for about 2-3 minutes
12. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit
13. In a bowl, mix beaten egg, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, bread crumbs, parsley, and cheese
14. Add the cooled pulp mixture, mix thoroughly
15. Place the zapallito shells on a lightly greased baking sheet or in a casserole dish
16. Fill each half evenly with the mixture
17. You can now place in refrigerator and do the rest later or next day, if needed
18. Heat oven to 400*F (if coming out of fridge place dish in oven during preheat- set timer when it comes to temp)
19. Bake for approximately 20-24 minutes, serve hot and bubbly

Stuffed Round Zapallito

Read Full Post »