“Many doctors pay their grocery bill with the money of folks who have eaten too much”- Doctor's Quotes

It has been a while since I have posted any recipes or food posts.

An extremely tight budget is to blame. That- and the fact that cooking is just not near as fun when you are playing pantry bingo... A little B- a little I, combine them and make something edible.

Sometimes it is soup out of a can, gasp. haha

Today I left the house, went to an interview with a temp agency, a job is a job after all. Then another phone interview with a job service.

And I got a little yard work done. And it was a bit exhilarating. A feeling I have not felt in a while.

Of course I do not know if I have a job still and the heavy shadows and burden still hover. However, it was a bright spot.

And so, I cooked. I fired up the old beast of a grill and threw together a mighty fine and healthy meal while simultaneously watering the lawn. A lawn which requires manual movement of a sprinkler and a hose.

It was delicious and I will now share with you all.

If I had to name it? Perhaps

  Mexican grilled chicken?

I used one single boneless skinless chicken breast, and served three.

Cut it into four equal pieces of chicken. Then pounded the chicken out to a thickness of one half.

I do not have a meat mallet so I use my heavy marble rolling pin.
 The chicken seems to stay together better if you place a piece of plastic wrap over it before pounding.

Then season heavily- I used some jerk seasoning and some dried herbs. (Note: Do not salt while cooking as it will dry out the meat)

Place the chicken pieces onto a warm grill. Works best when set to low or med.

Cook on one side just until the outside edges start to turn white. 

Carefully turn over with tongs or metal spatula.

Spoon your favorite salsa onto the top of the chicken pieces. 

( I think you could really change this up for different flavors by using chopped tomatoes with olives for a Mediterranean flavor-  or possibly some basil and Parmesan for an Italian flavor)

Place slices of cheese on top of the salsa. I had colby-jack on hand but again... you can get creative.

Close the lid on the grill and cook just until the cheese melts.

(If your grill doesn't have a lid, you can cover with a metal bowl or lid.

The chicken should be perfectly cooked at this point.

Carefully remove from grill taking care not to lose the toppings.

Serve.

A great healthy meal served with fresh green salad or garden vegetables.

As another variation, I bake it in the oven during the cooler months.

Thought you could all use a healthy, low cost and low maintenance meal. 

Food - Chicken Marsala

Lets lighten things up a bit shall we?
Ever wanted to make a real elegant and great tasting meal in two pans and less than an hour?
What single parent- what parent- what busy person at all wouldnt want a simple, delicious, and impressive meal?

Chicken Marsala-( and roasted vegetables)
( I followed a recipe however, I added a lot of my own changes- so we can call this mine)

For the chicken, I started out with the following: Shown here:

4 chicken half breasts, 1/4c flour, 4Tbsp Olive Oil, 4 Tbsp Butter, 1c Mushrooms (any kind you like) and 1/2c Marsala wine.

Start by placing the chicken breast between two pieces of  plastic wrap or waxed paper.
 Hit it with a meat mallet, or as I did, a heavy marble rolling pin until approx. 1/4" thick.

Cut each breast into smaller pieces. I find it is easier to cut after it is tenderized.

Also trim any excess fat off each breast.

In a shallow bowl, stir your favorite spices into flour. I love Emeril's Essense

But any Italian spice will work,Oregano, parsley, and garlic.






Dredge the chicken through the flour covering both sides thoroughly.







Over med heat, melt butter and heat oil. Add chicken one piece at a time.

Cook chicken for 2 min each side. until lightly brown.




Add the mushrooms around the chicken. I added some chopped green onions for color and taste.






Pour wine onto chicken and mushrooms.
Cover and simmer until cooked through about 10 min.



Transfer to a serving plate.

Pour 1/4c chicken stock into the pan and stir to 'clean' the pan of the bits. Simmer a little longer then pour sauce over chicken. Serve.

Great served with roasted vegetables -recipe to coming soon.

Better late than never- Chili Rellenos

Monday night I made a recipe I have never attempted before- and well, It shows. But, They were delicious!

I learned a LOT about what not to do:

I only bought 3 Anaheim's as this was my first attempt and well, there are only three of us...
I found the prettiest and most robust looking chilies that were available in the market I was at. (which really was not a market at all, but a superstore- OH! The shame)
Placed them into a glass baking dish, and roasted (for the first time ever) chilies.

When the chilies began to make hissing sounds and smelling heavenly, i turned them over to roast the other side.

Lesson learned number 1: Roast chilies a little past the point of hissing. I'm not sure I let mine go long enough.

Wrapped them each in a damp paper towel, to steam, while I concocted the egg mixture.

I separated 6 eggs into two separate bowls.

Then whipped the whites to a froth with peaks. And beat the yolks with a tablespoon of flour and a pinch of salt.

Then I peeled the chilies. This is the part I had the worst time with. I am not sure if it was because I didn't roast them long enough, or if my chilies were not beefy enough. But as I was removing the skins and scraping out the membranes, and seeds, I had a really hard time not breaking through, and every recipe I have found, insists that all your seams are completely closed. They had one simple sliced seam, which I did too, until I tried scraping out the durn seeds. My poor chilies looked like they'd had a visit from the Texas chainsaw chili massacre. So I'm not including a picture.

I decided to fill mine with a mixture of mozzarella, sharp cheddar (I only had pre-shredded), and some chopped green onions I had to get used up. (Lesson learned number 2: hind sight- I think they needed a little more heat- some jalapenos or something, and tomatoes are always good). Filling them, however, was a little but clumsy at best--- but I managed to get the filling inside the chilies. Although the recipes insist that you have no open seams, and I found one later that suggested sealing with toothpicks, I had filling spilling out all over... But I trudged on.

I poured the yellow into the whites, looks so pretty. Stir together.

Then carefully, while holding the chillies together, I rolled the stuffed chilies in, and sprinkled them, with seasoned flour. Then quickly dipped them in the creamy egg mixture. (I was too messy to take photo's)

Lesson learned number 3: This step might have been easier had I not cut my slit all the way down to the bottom of the chili, or if the egg mixture was in a shallow bowl. It was hard to hold the chili shut and dip into a small bowl. But I managed although I was covered in egg, and my chilies (with way too much egg) were quite fat.

But once you doll them up with a little sour cream, some of the green onion and cheese mixture, some Salsa, some fresh garden tomato's and a side of re fried beans with the same cheese on top - lots of protein. and yum!

Rachel was dying for one, but, by the time I got them ready, she had a horde (pack? pride?) of teens at my front door ready for night games again. The teen boys who seem to have bottomless stomach's were commenting on the delicious smell. I felt horrible that I had decided to only make three. I even heard one exclaim as Rachel told them she would go and just eat when she got home, " Really? Cause it smells so good!" Maybe next time boys~