Sweet and Hot Pork and Pineapple Stir-fry

Source: One Dish Meals

Yet another recipe from the lovely One Dish Meals Cookbook. There certainly are some good recipes in that book. H and I have found that we love stir-frys, and really enjoy when pineapple is included. So when I saw this recipe I added it to the weekly menu.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 4 T brown sugar (doubled)
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch (doubled)
• 1/2 tsp ginger (doubled)
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (doubled)
• 1/2 cup water (doubled)
• 3 T soy sauce (doubled)
• 1 20 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained, reserving 2 T liquid (doubled liquid, and added 8 oz. can of pineapple)
• 3/4 lb. boneless lean pork, trimmed of fat, cut into think bite-sized strips (had nearly 2 lbs of meat)
• 1 16oz pkg coleslaw blend (accidentally bought 8oz. bag)

Preparation

• Cook rice in 1 1/2 cups water as directed on package, omitting margarine and salt.
• In a small bowl, combine 3 T brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup water, soy sauce and pineapple liquid. Mix well.
• Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add drained pineapple chunks; sprinkle with remaining 1 T brown sugar.
• Cook 5 minutes, turning chunks occasionally.
• Remove skillet from heat, and remove pineapple from skillet. Set aside.
• Spray skillet again with cooking spray. Add pork and cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.
• Add coleslaw blend. Cook and stir 3 to 6 minutes until pork is no longer pink and cabbage is tender.
• Add pineapple and cornstarch mixture to skillet. Cook and stir 3 minutes or until pork is glazed and sauce is slightly thickened.
• Serve over rice.

Next Time- Definitely wish I had bought the correct size bag of coleslaw blend. Otherwise this dish really lived up to the title "hot" pork. That really was the only dominate flavor, that my tongue was on fire. So perhaps between cutting down a bit on the red pepper flakes and having a better portion of coleslaw this recipe will be better. Loved that there was plenty of sauce.

Chicken Stuffed Shells

Source: May '08 Cookbook

Another fabulous recipe from a fellow May Nestie. This time the credit goes to Chatham Bride. She's the one that actually put the cookbook together and did all the hard work. So I'm happy to finally make one of her recipes.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chicken flavored stuffing mix, prepared
• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped (shredded mine)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Miracle Whip girl)
• 18 jumbo shells, cooked
• 1 (10 3/4 oz) can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 2/3 cup water (used milk)
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• about 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine stuffing, chicken, mayo, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
• Spoon into cooked shells.
• Arrange shells in a greased 13x9 baking pan.
• Mix soup and water, pour over shells.
• Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and sprinkle mozzarella over the top.
  

Note: Try adding your favorite vegetables in with the chicken and stuffing. Peas or broccoli would work well.

Next Time- This was pretty good. Vegetables would definitely add something extra to this. The cheese was great on it as well.

Roasted Pork 'n Vegetables

My 50th post!! Yay!!

Source: One Dish Meals

Who doesn't love roasted vegetables? Pork tenderloin was on sale, so when I made my menu and grocery list I added this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2-3 pork tenderloins, about 1 1/2 lbs.
• 16-20 new potatoes, about 2 lbs, cut in half (used red skin potatoes)
• 6-8 carrots, about 1 lb., peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, cut into wedges
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 tsps. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried sage leaves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp pepper (used seasoning salt)

Preparation

• Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Generously spray roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place pork tenderloins in sprayed pan. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of 1 tenderloin.
• Place potatoes, carrots, and onion around tenderloin.
• Drizzle oil evenly over tenderloin and vegetables.
• Sprinkle with rosemary, sage and pepper.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees and vegetables are tender, stirring vegetables occasionally.

Next Time- This turned out really good. My piece of meat was pretty thick, so it took longer to cook. So perhaps cutting the meat into smaller pieces would work better. The flavor turned out good, and both the meat and vegetables tasted great.

Smothered BBQ Ranch Chicken

Source: My Happy Meals

When I have chicken tenders or the like it is always a hard decision to choose between dipping in ranch or bbq sauce. Well this recipe made it easy, BOTH! While it isn't fried chicken, and it is smothered and not dipped, you still get the best of both worlds.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup BBQ sauce
• 3/4 cup fat free ranch dressing
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• a sprinkle of chopped bacon
• handful of chopped scallions

Preparation

• Mix ranch and bbq sauce together
• Pour over chicken in frying pan.
• Let simmer for 30-35 minutes until cooked.
• Top it with shredded cheese, a sprinkle of chopped bacon, and a handful of chopped scallions.

Next Time- This was great. The extra sauce was great poured over the chicken, then topped with the garnishes. Nothing needs to be changed.

Easy Taco Casserole

Source: One Dish Meals Cookbook

This is another One Dish Meal. H and I love tacos, really any Mexican food, so when I saw this recipe I knew we would love it! Sure enough we did. The recipe didn't call for the sour cream, but we always have it in the house, plus have it on our tacos, so we used it as a topping.


Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onions
• 1 pkg taco seasoning
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 16oz. can refried beans
• 1 8oz. jar taco sauce (used chunky salsa instead)
• 2 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips
• 7 oz. (1 3/4) cup shredded cheddar cheese (used more, definitely)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• sour cream

Preparation

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• In medium skillet cook ground beef and onions over medium-high heat until beef is throughly cooked. Drain.
• Stir in taco seasoning mix and water; simmer 10 minutes.
• In medium bowl, combine refried beans and taco sauce.
• In ungreased 8-inch square (2-quart) baking dish, layer 1/2 the bean mixture, 1/2 the beef mixture, 2 cups tortilla chips, and 1 cup of the cheese.
• Top with remaining bean mixture and beef mixture.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• Top with remaining tortilla chips and cheese.
• Return to oven; bake an additional 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Serve with lettuce and tomatoes (and sour cream).

Next Time- This turned out really awesome. It comes together really easily, and pretty much has everything that we put on our tacos. The sour cream added a cooling and just extra something to the dish, so I would definitely recommend having some on hand.

Bourbon Chicken

Source: May '08 Nest Cookbook

Another great find from my May Nestie Cookbook. An awesome recipe from Bella, who has her own food blog. I made this just before leaving for a weekend, so that H wouldn't starve. LOL! So I got like 2 bites before we had to leave. The bites I got were awesome!! Very good Chinese!!!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (used 2 large breasts, just over a lb.)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (used garlic powder)
• 1/4 tsp ginger (used ground ginger)
• 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 C apple juice
• 1/3 C light brown sugar
• 2 T ketchup
• 1 T cider vinegar
• 1/2 C water
• 1/3 C soy sauce
• 1 T corn starch

Preparation

• Heat oil in large skillet.
• Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
• Remove chicken and set aside.
• Add remaining ingredients (mixing corn starch with water before adding to skillet), heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
• Return chicken and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Serve over hot rice and Enjoy.

Next Time- The flavor for this was awesome. The correct amount of chicken would be better. The flavor was a bit hot, so cutting down slightly on the red pepper flakes would be better.

Old-Time Tuna Bake

Source: Pillsbury One Dish Meal Cookbook

Finally decided to pull out one of my cookbooks and use a recipe from there. This book has so many great recipes, and I wasn't sure where to start. Since I had most of the ingredients already on hand I added it to this week's menu.

Ingredients

• 7oz. (4 cups) uncooked wide egg noodles
• 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of celery soup
• 1 (12oz.) can evaporated milk or 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1 T instant minced onion
• 1 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1 1/2 cups frozen sweet peas, thawed, drained
• 1 (2.8oz.) can french-fried onions

Preparation

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook noodles to desired doneness as directed on package. Drain, rinse with hot water.
• In ungreased 2-quart casserole, combine soup, milk, onion, and salt. Add cooked noodles, tuna and peas; mix well. Cover.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven; stir well.
• Sprinkle with french-fried onions.
• Bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes.

Next Time- This was just really good. Nothing needs to be changed. It had great flavor. Leftovers were pretty great too.

Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole

What an easy recipe. Very American I have to say.

Source: Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• burger seasoning to taste
• a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
• 3/4 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 (16 ounce) package frozen French fries
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake french fries on baking sheet for 10 minutes while preparing beef.
• In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until beef is no longer pink. Drain off excess grease, and add seasonings and Worcestershire sauce.
• Return to the heat, and stir in the mushroom and cheese soups until well blended. Heat through, and remove from stove. Transfer the mixture to a 8x8 inch baking dish. Cover the ground beef mixture with a layer of partially cooked French fries.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven (mine took much less - maybe only 15 minutes?). When the fries are golden brown, remove the casserole from the oven, and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to the oven, and bake just until cheese has melted.

Next Time- I used Restaurant Style fries that were good, but they were kinda flimsy. I'd try using sturdier fries, or even waffle fries next time. This had a really good flavor, and was super easy to put together. Some frozen veggies mixed in with the meat wouldn't be a bad thing.

Laughing Cow Chicken

Source: My Happy Meals

I made a recipe similar to this last week. I really liked the Laughing Cow Cheese. So I decided to go ahead and make another one.


Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally 3/4 of the way through (so you can stuff the inside) (used 4)
  
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow light cheese, one per breast (I used french onion)
• Italian seasoning to taste
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
  
• Handful grated parmesan cheese
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Open each chicken breast up and spread one wedge of Laughing Cow inside the middle. Sprinkle Italian seasoning inside to taste. (I actually mixed my cheese and Italian seasoning in a bowl before spreading it on the chicken to give a nice even flavor) Fold chicken back over to original shape.
• Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish. Spray each chicken breast with cooking spray and then dip in bread crumb mixture to coat. Place on baking sheet.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Next Time- The biggest thing I would change is my choice in Laughing Cow Cheese. The French Onion is good, just not as good as the Garlic and Herb. I also may have used a little bit of a heavy hand with the Italian seasoning. Nothing wrong with the recipe, just my choices.