Chicken and Rice Chowder

This is another one that Layne ended up cooking for me.  It was good...a little on the bland side, but good.  It made a TON of soup, so Layne served it the next night with some added macaroni so the kids would eat it.  Last night he used it for Hawaiin Haystacks.  It was pretty good.

Asian Orange Salmon - Must Try!

1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
3 TBS. lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, pressed
6 salmon fillets

In a large plastic, zipper-topped bag, combine first six ingredients and mix well.  Add fish and marinate in fridge for an hour, turning bag occasionally. 

Preheat broiler.
Transfer marinade to a bowl.  Place salmon on broiler pan and cook about 4-6 minutes on each side (depending on the thickness of your fish and your broiler)  Baste fish with marinade every time you check on it.  When fish flakes when tested with a fork, it's done.

***My sweet husband made this for dinner last night since I wasn't feeling up to it.  We don't have a broiler though, so he marinaded it, sprayed the pan with PAM, put the fish in skin down and fried it with about 4 TBS of marinade with lid on (low-medium heat).  This produces a fish that steamed.  Once the marinade is boiled off, the fish should be done.

I think Kennedy and Matt were too tired to eat, but Hyrum ate even more than I did!  It was resaurant-good!

Texas One Dish

    I thought this was a really yummy recipe.  However, my friend made it a few weeks ago and the rice wasn't cooked all the way.  She found a website that had corrections for the recipes and the correction was to be sure and cover it.  I did cover mine and cooked it 10 minutes longer and our rice was still crunchy.  The recipe calls for brown rice which takes quite awhile longer to cook.  I think next time I'll make it I'll either precook the brown rice or use minute rice.

Will I Make it Again?  Yes.

Stuffed Quesadillas

These were really yummy and really easy!  Here's the recipe:

1 TBS. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch strips (or smaller)
Salt and pepper to taste
12 flour tortillas
6 oz. low-fat Jack cheese, shredded
Salsa (your favorite)
Cilantro, chopped
Low-fat sour cream

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and chicken, salt and pepper to taste and saute' till chicken is thoroughly cooked.  Remove chicken and onions and set aside.

In that same skillet, heat a flour tortilla.  Spread a little cheese on the bottom, top with a portion of the chicken and onions, top with a little cheese and another tortilla.  Once it's cooked on the one side, flip it over to continue cooking.  Cut into quarters and serve with salsa, chopped cilantro and sour cream.

Will I Make it Again?  Yes!

Red Beans and Rice

   This was another really easy recipe and really good.  It had kielbasa (sausage) in it, so my kids liked it and it was very filling with brown rice.  The sausage was from turkey and chicken so it wasn't as fattening.

Will I Make it Again:  Yes!

Crock Pea Soup

     This was the best pea soup I've ever had (okay....the only pea soup I've ever had).  It was pretty good.  I stuck 7 ingredients in my crock pot and then had time to make some delicious Lion House Rolls to go with it.  It turned out to be a pretty tasty meal........however, Layne said it looked like slimy brains and then Kennedy could barely choke down a few bites. 

Will I Make it Again?  Yes, but there was an option to throw a ham bone in with it and I definitely think that would add more flavor....I've just never cooked with bones so it's a little foreign to me.

Baked Rigatoni

Wow....I REALLY liked this dish and so did my kids PLUS it is pretty easy to make.  I am going to share this recipe because I think it's so yummy and I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. 

 - 1/2 pound extra-lean ground beef
- 1 cup oats
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I ended up using marinara sauce)
- 1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
- 3 cups rigatoni (cooked)
- 1 cup part-skim milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet, cook beef until browned and crumbled.  Drain rease and blot beef well with paper towels (with this step the fat grams will be lower than what shows up in the nutritional info below). Add oats to beef and stir well to incorporate. 

Add spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, and rigatoni to the beef and mix well.  In a 11x7-inch casserole dish, add your rigatoni mixture and top with cheeses.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted.  (Since my casserole dish has a lid, I went ahead and covered it).

Per Serving:
372 Calories; 14g Fat, 25 g Protein; 36g Carbs; 3g Dietary Fiber; 43g Cholesterol; 488mg Sodium. Exchanges:  2 grain; 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 vegetable; 1 1/2 fat.

I think I just figured out how to make my crock pot lasagna NOT so runny....add oats.

I am also going to remember this recipe for when I need to take dinner to someone.

Will I Make it Again:  Umm, probably once a week.  I really liked it.

Moroccan Fish Tangine

     I don't know if I didn't like this one because I just don't like fish that much or if it's because I used tilapia.  The recipe called for whitefish fillets.  I have no knowledge of fish and other than salmon, I don't usually like it. 

Will I Make it Again:  Probably Not.