Chicken Parmesan Mini Meatloaf

My grandma makes a delicious turkey meatloaf. So following in her footsteps, I decided to try making chicken parm mini meatloaves. They look like little meatloaf cupcakes. 

Before baking

After baking

Ingredients

2 packs of ground chicken
1 medium egg
1/2 cups Italian breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
2 teaspoons minced garlic 
onion, chopped
1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
marinara sauce
shredded Mozzarella cheese
olive oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese (use your hands to mix it well)
3. Divide chicken mixture into muffin cups filling 2/3 way full
4. Top each muffin with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until cooked through

Orange Chicken

I wanted to make an Asian dish I have never tried before since I don't order Chinese food. This turned out amazing!

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of orange juice
zest of 1 orange
3 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of minced ginger

Directions

1. Cube the chicken into bite-sized pieces
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan until simmering
3. Add half the chicken and cook until browned
4. Take the first half out and set it on a towel while you cook up the second half (the towel will help the chicken not get soggy)
5. While the rest of the chicken is cooking, in a bowl mix the orange juice, orange zest, oyster sauce, honey, and ginger. (for the orange zest, I took a cheese grater and scrapped the orange over it--this allows the skin to scrap off into the sauce aka zest)
5. Remove the second batch of chicken and blot with a towel to remove excess oil
6. Leave any small crunchy bits in the pan, pour the sauce into the pan
7. Mix the sauce so it thickens, then add the chicken bites and toss throughout the sauce and heat it through

Pumpkin-Sage Cream Sauce

This recipe is great for the fall. I'm a fan of anything pumpkin (except pumpkin pie), so I needed to make this!

Ingredients

Minced garlic
1/2 diced onion
2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree
1 1/4 tsp sage
salt and pepper
1 cup of evaporated milk (the original calls for heavy cream--evaporated milk is a healthier alternative)
nutmeg
Pasta of choice (I used whole wheat rigatoni)

Directions

1. In a medium-sized pot, sautee garlic and onion in olive oil
2. While sautee that, boil the pasta water
3. Add vegetable broth, evaporated milk, pumpkin, sage, and nutmeg
4. Stir gently to combine the ingredients
5. Allow to simmer until all of the flavors are combined--about 10-15 minutes (allow the sauce to thicken)
6. Follow the directions on the pasta box to cook the pasta
7. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl, then add the pumpkin sauce to it, sprinkle with a bit more nutmeg

Chicken Empanadas

These came out excellent! Definitely worth a try.

Ingredients

Empanada Discs (I used the Goya ones located in the frozen Spanish foods section)
Ground chicken
Taco seasoning (I used low-sodium taco mix seasoning)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 chopped onion
Olive oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Spray the skillet with the cooking spray
2. Add ground chicken, chopped onion, and garlic
3. Sautee chicken until brown/cooked then sprinkle taco seasoning over the chicken (make sure all the chicken is covered with the seasoning)
4. Once the meat is fully cooked, lay out the empanada discs
5. Evenly fill each disc with chicken then fold each stuff empanada in half (After I folded them, I pressed the edges using a fork...then I sprayed each empanada top with cooking spray)
5. Bake the empanadas in the oven at 375 degrees (about 15-20mins or until golden brown)
6. Serve with salsa or guacamole

Pad Thai

I love Pad Thai! I figured let me try this at home. While the real thing is the best, this turned out pretty well. My dad thought it was delicious and he's a big fan of Thai food.

Ingredients

1 box of rice noodles (gluten free) or whole wheat angel hair pasta 
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of sesame oil
6 tbsp of honey
6 tbsp of soy sauce
green onions (scallions), chopped
cilantro, chopped
peanuts (I omitted the peanuts)
2 scrambled eggs (I added the egg because real Pad Thai has eggs)
bean sprouts (I added this because real Pad Thai has bean sprouts)
carrots, chopped

Directions
1. Scramble the eggs/cook them, set aside
2. Chop green onions, cilantro, and carrots
3. While chopping, boil the noodles 
4. Heat both oils in a pan, whisk in honey and soy sauce
5. Add carrots, green onions, cilantro, scrambled eggs, and bean sprouts to pan, saute them lightly
6. Drain the noodles and place in a large boil, then add the oil/veggie/egg mixture to the bowl and toss

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I never order Chinese food because every time I eat it, it makes me quite ill. I blame the oils and terrible MSG in the food. Therefore, any Chinese recipes I find...I make them work for me! This is a delicious and easy one to make.

There are 2 steps to this recipe--start with the chicken then the sauce.

Chicken Breading:


3-5 chicken breast
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

1. Rinse chicken, trim off fat or extras and then cut into 1 inch cubes. 
2. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken into cornstarch and coat all the way and then into eggs. 
3. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken until browned. Place in baking dish.

Sauce:
3/4 cups white sugar
4 Tablespoons ketchup

1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

1. Whisk until smooth. Then pour evenly over chicken. 
2. Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides and then put in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. 
3. Turn chicken and then cook for 15 more minutes.

Healthy snack

If you are looking for a really healthy non-dairy snack, try this! It only has three ingredients---chia seeds, coconut milk and blueberries!

Lemon & Dill Chicken

This dish was good but if you are not an onion fan, you may not like it. It is a Greek inspired recipe.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use as many as you want, I usually cut the chicken breasts in half in order to make them thinner)

Salt & freshly ground pepper 

3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons flour
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon lemon juice (I added a lot more lemon juice--I determined the amount by taste)

Directions

1. Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. 

2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the chicken and sear until well browned on both sides (do not over cook it because you will be returning the chicken to the pan later). Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil.

3. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. (try not to burn the onion and garlic)

4. Whisk broth, flour, 1 tablespoon dill and lemon juice in a measuring cup and add to pan. Cook, whisking, until slightly thickened.

5. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan. Let it simmer until the chicken is cooked through.

6. Transfer the chicken to a place and season the sauce with salt and pepper and spoon over the chicken. Garnish with the remaining dill.

 

A simple and oh so delicious recipe!

So for almost a week, people have been telling me how amazing this chicken dish looks and it sure was! I have also been asked for the recipe multiple times...so here it is!

Chicken & Artichoke Casserole

Ingredients

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup of mayonnaise
Garlic powder (I used quite a bit)
skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I cut them in half)
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1 bag of frozen spinach (the original recipe called for a package of crimini mushrooms but I replaced them with spinach)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, and garlic powder together in a bowl.
3. Arrange chicken breasts in a baking dish.
4. Top with artichoke hearts and spinach. Spread cheese mixture over the artichoke and spinach layer.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 30 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Homemade Butternut Squash Soup

Because today was so dam and cold, I decided to make a delicious homemade butternut squash soup for dinner! It came out quite well. 

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cups low sodium chicken stock
Nutmeg
Fresh sage
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups of evaporated milk (the original recipe calls for heavy cream...but I like to use evaporated milk because A. it is a healthier substitute to heavy cream and B. it is easier on my lactose intolerant tummy)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add onions and saute for about 5 minutes.
2. Add a couple fresh sage leaves and remove after 3 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock and butternut squash. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes until the squash is soft. Add mixture to a blender (in batches if needed) and blend until smooth. 
4.  Add a the evaporated milk
5. Mix in a touch of nutmeg, salt, and pepper and you're ready to eat.

I baked some biscuits and buttered those up, before dipping them into my soup.