Baked Chicken and Spinach Pasta

Chicken.  Good.

Pasta.  Good.

Cheese.  Gooooood.

Spinach?  Good for you.  (Also growing on me and maybe will someday qualify for 'good' status.)

Recipe: (from Pinterest via Bitchin Camero)
1 pound pasta (I used Barilla Plus Penne)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pounds), diced
1/4 cup olive oil
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
5 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Set a large pot of salted water to boil.  Once it comes to a rolling boil, cook pasta until just al dente (about a minute or 2 less than package directions).  Drain.

While the pasta is cooking, set a large skillet over medium heat.  Heat the olive oil and add chicken.  Brown the chicken on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and simmer with chicken until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Add the salt, spinach, and white wine to the chicken and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, until spinach is wilted.

Toss the pasta with the chicken and spinach mixture.  Add to baking dish.

Cover with cheese and bake for 25 minutes.

Verdict:
It has potential.  Maybe.

Maybe I had it built up too much in my mind, but this just did not live up to expectations.  Essentially, it was lacking a cohesive ingredient to flavor the noodles and 'hold' them together.  There is no sauce.  And all the cheese is on top.  So while the top of the dish looked all gooey and golden brown and delicious, the middle of the dish was..... Noodles.  Unflavored noodles.

I suppose this could be fixed by adding a sauce.  Alfredo would be delicious but unhealthy.  Tomato would be healthier and probably also good.  It might also help to stir some of the cheese in rather than just have it on top.  Or maybe mix some cottage cheese into the chicken-spinach-pasta mixture...

On the other hand, there are so many other delicious baked pasta recipes and chicken-with-pasta recipes and chicken-with-spinach recipes and chicken-with-pasta-and-vegetables recipes that I'll probably table this one for...... as long as it takes me to stop finding new recipes to try?

Oh wait.  That could be never...

On to the next (and hopefully more successful) experiment!

Spinach. For Breakfast.

Say what?

I like to think I have a pretty balanced diet.   Not perfect.  But pretty darned good.  I actually eat and enjoy a wide variety of vegetables.  I love fruit.  All fruit.  I honestly can't think of an exception.  I like foods with healthy fats like fish, almonds, and olive oil.  I choose whole grains over white flour products.  Greek yogurt is now my go-to choice over the higher sugar varieties I preferred in the past...

I'm turning into my mother.

Yikes.

(Hi, mom!)

But still, the only time I find myself eating vegetables is at dinner.  And while I do tend to eat a lot of vegetables at dinner, it really wouldn't kill me to fit in a serving or two earlier in the day.  To that end, I've noticed a lot of recipes lately for so-called 'green smoothies' for breakfast and/or lunch and thought, why not give this a try.....

There are lots of options out there and I sort of made this one up based on what I had been preparing as a breakfast smoothie on occasion already, the recipes I had read online, and what I had on hand in the fridge.

"Recipe":
1 cup skim milk
1 sliced, frozen banana
frozen blueberries
2 handfuls spinach
2 scoops of Shaklee Cinch vanilla shake mix

(Without a shake powder there are lots of alternative protein options like a tablespoon or so of peanut butter, some plain Greek yogurt..... Options I'll probably try sometime but this is what I've got for now.  And of course, you can always modify for whatever fruit you do or do not have on hand and experiment with soy milk, almond milk according to your preference.)

Add all ingredients to blender and blend, blend, blend!

Verdict:
Less than 5 minutes to make and would be super convenient if you needed a breakfast on the go.  Keeps me full till I'm ready for a mid-morning snack.  Packed with nutrients (and a serving of vegetables!).  Endlessly flexible.  And, just like everyone in internet-world promised, the spinach did not alter the taste - I blended everything but the spinach first and tasted it that way just to be sure.

Mine was not quite as powerfully green as some pictures I've seen, but I think that may have been because of the blueberries.

While I don't tend to have breakfast smoothies too often in the winter (my hands are perpetually icy cold and holding a cold beverage doesn't help that fact), I will keep this in my repertoire and be making again and again in the future.

Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

Green beans have long been one of my favorite vegetables.  You wouldn't know if from reading this blog though.  I've posted about them exactly zero times and cooked them exactly once in the last seven months (seven months?  where did the time go?).

This void needed to be quickly rectified, and this recipe found on Pinterest was the perfect opportunity!

Recipe: (This one is sooooooo simple I'm typing it from memory...)
12 ounces of green beans for 4 servings
olive oil
sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
parmesan cheese

(I only made enough for two, so I also cut down the garlic powder to 1/8 of a teaspoon.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Wash, trim, and pat dry green beans.  Add green beans to baking tray.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper, salt, and garlic powder.  Toss to make sure coated evenly.

Roast in oven for 10 minutes.  Shake the tray and turn.  Roast for another 5 minutes.  (I also cut the baking time for half the amount down to 6 minutes, turn, then 4 minutes.)

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

Verdict:
Yum!  I love green beans in their purest state, I really do.  In fact, when I'm cleaning and trimming them, I almost always sneak a raw one or two.  And usually I just prepare them with a quick steam, maybe a little balsamic vinegar.  This recipe was just as simple yet full of interesting flavors.  I don't know that there is any vegetable that can't be improved with a dash of garlic powder and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

So if you're a green bean fan, and even if you're not, you should give this recipe a try.  You'll be delighted!

Homemade Fish Sticks

I have a love/hate relationship with fish sticks.

I love them because you can dip them in ketchup, and I love anything that gives me an excuse to eat more ketchup.

I hate them because typically they are processed and have way too much breading that to be honest isn't all that tasty and I mean really can you actually tell what kind of fish (or for that matter, parts of a fish) are under all that breading.  And I like to know exactly what I am eating.  Thank you very much.

Enter the homemade fish stick.

Recipe: (from How Sweet It Is)
makes 12 fish sticks
3 tilapia (or other white fish) filets*
2 egg whites, beaten
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Lay a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with olive oil or other non-stick spray.  Cut each tilapia filet once down the middle then in half, making four 'sticks' out of each filet.  Season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, beat the 2 egg whites.  In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.  Dip each fish stick in egg whites then panko mixture, pressing to adhere.  Lay on the wire rack and spritz with olive oil.

Bake for 10 minutes, flip, then bake for 10 minutes more.  Serve hot!

*I had thawed 5 filets already, so I prepared all three of them and still had lots extra of both the egg whites and panko mixture, so don't feel limited by the '3 filets' rule...

Verdict:
First of all, I had to use two baking sheets (because I also made some sweet potato fries), a wire rack, and two bowls...  Then there were the salad fixings.  Oh my was that more than more poor counter space can handle.  About 1 mixing bowl and two baking sheets more than my counter space can handle.

I think I would make homemade fish sticks again when I have more counter space (let the house hunt begin!) because I did enjoy them.  Apparently Alex is not a fan of tilapia, so I would try another kind of fish....

But all in all, they were not greasy, perfectly breaded, and I loved the flavor of the parmesan in the breading.  I mean I still dredged those sticks through copious amounts of ketchup...  I go through ketchup withdrawal in the winter.  And that whole tartar sauce thing?  Not in this house!

These sweet potato fries were the perfect side dish.  And, bonus, they cooked at the same temperature and for the same amount of time!  Um, how often does that happen?

Pork and Pumpkin Stew (and something far more exciting)

Although I have loved making all sorts of new, from-scratch type recipes this year, ever once in awhile you need a good 'starter.'  I love perusing the shelves at Williams-Sonoma and on any given day find half a dozen things that would be neat to try.  Of course I limit myself and actually this little jar is the first food item I have bought from there.

It's not a recipe so much as it is simply following the directions on the jar (which, oh heavens, I very nearly messed up.  true story.), but everyone needs a little no-fail meal help from time to time.

Step one: Purchase a 3ish pound boneless pork shoulder roast

Step two: Cut said roast into 1 1/2ish inch cubes

Step three: Brown said cubes in a skillet with olive oil over medium high heat, about 8-10 minutes per batch

*You can continue preparation in your oven with a Dutch oven or in your slow cooker.  I chose the slow cooker since I wanted this meal to cook while I spent the afternoon at work, and although my work is about 15 steps from my front door, I just didn't think leaving the oven on was a swell idea...

Step four: Misread the directions on the jar and think that the stew needs to cook in the slow cooker for 8-10 hours.  Realize your mistake just in time (before starting slow cooker at 10am) and see that in fact only needs to cook for three hours.  Whew.

Step five: Put browned pork chunks and jar of Pumpkin Stew Starter into slow cooker, cook on high for 3 hours.

Step six: Enjoy!

Serving suggestions on the jar included serving over mashed potatoes, but I thought about it and realized my feelings toward mashed potatoes are just sort of eh, so I served over egg noodles instead.

Verdict:
Um, you know, good.  Especially for something so simple.   I wouldn't necessarily say, "Go!  Run!  Buy this now!"  But I would buy it again if it happened to be in the store next fall.  The consistency was a bit more soupy than I had envisioned.  Something mashed potatoes may have helped.  But the pork was tender (nothing worse than dry pork) and the sauce was a little sweet with a hint of cinnamon that sort of took me back to the glories of Michigan in the fall....

Oh, and we may have enjoyed our stew with a side of this:

Because Alex signed a contract, and we are officially moving back home this summer!!!!!

And you know what that means?  Aside from family and friends and new house and no more bi-monthly 4+ hour I-75 commutes?  I won't need recipes to remind me of Michigan in the fall because I will be in Michigan in the fall!  And truly, there is no better place to be in the fall.

Happy Diva.

Chicken with Brussels Sprouts in Mustard Sauce

I've been finding the need for fairly quick meals lately as I've been going to the gym in the afternoon with Alex more and more often.  By myself, I am not a huge gym fan.  I really like my at-home workouts with Jillian Michaels DVDs.  I always feel like the drive there and back is kind of a waste of time (all 5 minutes that it is).  I like getting changed out of my sweaty workout clothes right away.  And I pretty much just don't like being around other people.

I know, I know.  That sounds so curmudgeonly....  But I get really irritated by the blasting music from the aerobics studio.  (Is it that hard to close the door?)  I can't stand 'family night' when all the treadmills are taken over by 12 year olds walking at a 2.2 with no idea what they are doing and basically wasting a perfectly good piece of workout equipment.  And I know working out isn't supposed to be a beauty contest or anything, but I hate when I get the smelly old man using the elliptical next to me...  That grunts.  Really loudly.

Even worse, the Rec Center that we use actually tries to limit people to 30 minutes on cardio equipment.  I'm sorry, but I just don't find that sufficient.  I need a solid 40 minutes to feel like elliptical / treadmill time takes the place of Jillian.  Usually I just ignore that rule.  But I always feel a little guilty when doing so.  And the last thing you should feel after a solid, sweaty workout is guilt.

However, I've decided to try and start incorporating some running into my workout and found a 20 minute treadmill workout online that combines walking intervals with increasingly faster running intervals.  This requires trips to the gym.  And if I'm going to go with Alex, I have to wait until he gets home from work.  If he gets home between 4 and 5, after a workout and shower, we're pretty much ready for dinner.  Right.  Now!

I found this recipe on Pinterest (surprise, surprise!) and it immediately appealed to me as a quick and easy healthy post-gym meal.

Recipe:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup fat free, low sodium chicken broth, divided
1/4 cup unfiltered apple cider*
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
12 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

*Finding apple cider in Ohio in February is probably not going to happen.  I did look at the grocery store but came up empty and subbed apple cider vinegar instead.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Heat a large, oven-proof skillet over high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet.  Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper; add to pan.  Cook until browned, about 3 minutes.  Turn chicken; place in oven.  Bake at 450 degrees for 9 minutes or until done.

Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.  Heat pan over medium-high heat.  Add 1/2 cup broth and cider (or apple cider vinegar); bring to a boil; scrape pan to loosen browned bits.  Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 4 minutes or until thickened.

Whisk in mustard, 1 tablespoon butter, and parsley.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add brussels sprouts; saute 2 minutes or until lightly browned.  Add remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup broth to pan; cover and cook 4 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Serve sprouts and chicken with sauce.

Verdict:
First of all, after all that planning (and, ahem, ranting), Alex came home from work ready to complain, watch TV, and drink wine.  So no gym.  Next time.

Second, to those of you who know my eating habits, this may seem like an odd recipe choice.  I don't like mustard.   I never use mustard.  Much to my parents' bewilderment, I persist in drowning my hot dogs in ketchup.  I know, it's un-American.  And while this recipe, mustard and all, sounded appetizing, the thought of mustard on a hot dog is still gag-worthy.

Both Alex and I loved this meal.  The chicken was well cooked, moist and tender.  The sauce brought a bit of a tangy zing to the meal.  I did sub apple cider vinegar for unfiltered apple cider out of necessity..... Using apple cider may cut the zing.  Also, in the online reviews some people mentioned adding a tablespoon of brown sugar to cut the zing.  But personally, I liked the zing and don't feel the addition of sugar would be necessary to our tastes.

Pan cooked brussels sprouts are a favorite of mine, and I liked the touch of chicken broth added to the pan.  In the future, I will probably omit the butter from that stage and just use a little extra olive oil.  Personal preference.  I also cooked the sprouts about 3 minutes longer than indicated and after eating them thought they could have been cooked even a bit longer than that.  But my stove is a piece of you-know-what and most online reviewers mentioned that they thought the sprouts cooked particularly quickly.

Also, back when I was registering for wedding gifts, one pan my mom said was an absolute must-have was a skillet that could go from stove to oven and back to stove.  In the last 6-almost 7 months, I have needed said skillet for stove-to-oven purpose exactly zero times...  But it certainly came in handy for this recipe, and I was glad to have the right equipment!

By the way, when you take your skillet out of the oven, it will be HOT.  And it will remain HOT while you are using it to cook the mustard sauce.  So you probably shouldn't grab the side of the skillet to shift on the burner like you normally would when cooking a sauce.

Not that I know anyone who would do such a thing...

Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna

Feeding my Pinterest addiction has led to many, many new recipes to choose from.  It's getting difficult to decide which ones I want to try, so I decided to base my decision on which one I had at least some of the ingredients for.  Since I had a partially used box of lasagna noodles in the cupboard, this won for next recipe in my oven!

Recipe:
Cooking spray
9 uncooked lasagna noodles (I used whole grain)
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (I subbed 1 teaspoon dried)
1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I chose artichokes packed in water rather than marinated)
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 28 ounce jar pasta sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (I made do with 2 cups)
1 (4 ounce) package herb and garlic feta (which I couldn't find, so I used sundried tomato and basil feta)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  If needed, spray 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook lasagna noodles until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high.  Saute onion and garlic about 3 minutes, until onion is tender-crisp.  (I used olive oil in the pan instead of cooking spray.)

Stir in broth and rosemary; bring to a boil.

Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach; reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in pasta sauce.

Spread 1/4 of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan; top with 3 lasagna noodles; top with 3/4 of a cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with artichoke mixture and mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.

Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more or until cheese is bubbling.  Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting.

Verdict:
Absolutely loved!  Everything was perfectly cooked.  Some of the online reviews said it was too watery, but I followed the liquid amounts exactly and did not feel it was a problem.  Despite being meatless, Alex had second helpings, which is always a good sign.

I was a little worried about the night that I had planned to make the lasagna because I also planned to go to the gym with Alex when he came home from work.  This is not a '20 minute meal,' and I did not want to be eating at 8 o'clock....  The easy solution was to plan ahead, so I made the lasagna earlier in the afternoon and left it in the refrigerator.  When we came home from the gym, all I had to do was pop the baking dish into the oven!  Plus, the  not insignificant cleaning process was taken care of earlier as well, so I didn't have a sink of dirty dishes after eating.  That always makes the meal more enjoyable.

My le Creuset covered baking dish was the perfect choice for baking this.  I didn't feel the need to use cooking spray, and I was right.  No sticking at all.  And since it comes with its own cover, I didn't need to mess with aluminum foil etc.

I will definitely be keeping this recipe on hand and expect it to become part of our regular meal rotation!