White Chicken Chili

Yum. Last week, I wanted it to be fall. I don’t care that I live in Texas so it’s still hot in the middle of October, I want it to be fall! So, I could not wait any longer and I had to make this white chicken chili. Okay, I’m not exaggerating, this stuff is DELICIOUS! It honestly tastes like comfort food, and then you look at the ingredients and realize that it’s all healthy. Amazing, right?

White Chicken Chili

Recipe by Our Best Bites

I call this a chili, but it’s really a soup consistency.
If you want it thicker, just reduce the amount of broth.

1 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 lb boneless chicken, cubed (about 3-4 boneless, skinless breasts)
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 3.5 oz can green chilies
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 lime
1/2 C chopped cilantro
1 32oz box chicken broth

(I straight up copied and pasted this from their website)

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add chopped onion and cook for about 2 minutes- just until it starts to become translucent. While onions are cooking, drain beans and rinse with cold water and set aside. Sprinkle chopped chicken with a little salt and pepper and add to pot. Add garlic as well. Cook until there’s no more visible pink on the chicken, probably 3-4 minutes.

Then add green chills- along with all of the juices in the can. Add beans, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt, and a few turns of fresh cracked pepper. Stir to combine and then add chicken broth.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from one lime and the 1/2 C chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 8 cups of soup.

The picture on their website is beautiful, mine, not so much. BUT, you still make to make this, it is SO good! :)

Have a wonderful week!

-Anita

Kung Pao Chicken!

Well, I haven't posted since May.

Sorry about that! I've been really busy! I have started student teaching and every day I come home exhausted with piles of homework to do (literally, I need to clean too...)!
So far, I've relied on tacos made once a week, eggs, and bowls for cereal for my dinner, but tonight, I decided to actually cook *GASP!* on a weekday! Shocking! Right?

Well, the only reason I even bothered going to the store on a weekday is because I'm out of toothpaste, and if I didn't get some on my way from school, I never I wouldn't get some until at least tomorrow...

I get distracted too easily...BACK TO DINNER!

But something in the store smelt delicious, and the moment I walked in the store, I knew I wanted some real/different food for dinner.

So, I got my toothpaste (oh, and zip lock bags, out of those too!) and started wandering the store. So many things looked delicious, but they would take too long. Then I came across the Sun Bird seasonings. I've made some before, and I decided I would try a new one. I saw Kung Pao chicken and I knew what would be for dinner.

The directions were easy enough, and, they are on the website! (Because, of course, I did not take pictures..)


This is what I did:
It would have been pretty quick if all of the chicken I eat did not come from a giant frozen 3 pound bag. After the chicken defrosted..

-I cut the chicken into small pieces and seasoned them with a little bit of salt and ginger powder, salt and pepper would obviously work :)
-Put some oil in a pan, started cooking the chicken
-While that was going on, I mixed the seasoning packet with 3 little packets of sugar, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and 3/4 cup of water & I cut up 4 green onions
-I guess I didn't really pay attention to the directions on the packet because then I added the green onions, and stirred them around in there for like 30 seconds
-Instead of peanuts, I bought water chestnuts so I could still have the crunch. I drained the liquid from the can and tossed them in there and let them be for about a minute.
-Then I added the seasoning mix, stirred it, and let it thicken for about a minute.

Then, I served it over brown rice!
*Oh! I forgot to mention at the beginning to put brown rice to start cooking. I use minute brand rice so it cooks in about 10 minutes instead of a hour..*

And it was DELICIOUS!

It took about 30 minutes to make total, but it was totally worth it for me, because I wanted real food. (Is it sad that my real food at this point in my life is inspired from a packet? Before, this semester, I used to cook ALL THE TIME! I promise! :) ) It could have been a lot faster if I had a pound and a half of cooked chicken laying around, then you could just use a tiny bit of oil for the green onions/water chestnuts/whatever else you decide to put in there. Then this would have been like a 5-10 minute meal :)

I invited my boyfriend over for dinner to celebrate the momentous occasion of me cooking in the middle of the week, he loved it too! :) I'd recommend these seasoning packets for anybody!


*Esp, busy college kids with stupid gluten allergies who can't order Chinese food when they crave it so they are forced to cook in the middle of the week...* :)

This is great because being gluten free, I tend to really miss Chinese food, so I am really looking forward to trying more of these seasoning packets.

Oh! I also looked on their website, and they have a whole list of these gluten free seasoning packets, if yall are interested.
http://williamsfoods.com/index.php?customernumber=92320939438&pr=Gluten_Free_Products

Hope this can help a busy mom, dad, kid, teenager, college kid, who ever! :)
Speaking of busy, I have homework to do...

Have a great day!

-Anita

Strawberry Cupcakes! :)

Before I developed my gluten allergy, strawberry cake was my absolute favorite! But, I had never made it from scratch before. Finally, about 4 and a half years later, I decided to make a gluten free version, and it was absolutely delicious! Yall are really going to like it! :)

http://www.cakemixdoctor.com/recipe/fresh-strawberry-cake-with-strawberry-cream-cheese-frosting/


For the cake:


* 2 cups (16 ounces) fresh strawberries
* 1 package (15 ounces) yellow gluten-free cake mix (I used the Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix)
* 3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin (half of a 3-ounce package)
* ½ cup vegetable/canola oil
* 3 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line the cupcake tins.

2. Cut the green caps off the berries and mash the berries with a fork or place when in a food processor and pulse until you have a smooth puree, about 10 pulses. You need ¾ cup of pureed strawberries.

3.Place the cake mix and strawberry gelatin in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the strawberry puree, oil, eggs, and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are just incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until smooth, 1 to 1 ½ minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed.

4. Place batter in cupcake tins about 1/2 to 3/4 full.

5. The original recipe was for cake, I baked the cupcakes 18 minutes and they were perfect :) It made 18 cupcakes.


For the icing
( I used the recipe off the Philadelphia cream cheese website, http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philadelphia-cream-cheese-frosting-50972.aspx )

*1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
*1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
*1 tsp. vanilla
*1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups), sifted

you might want to half the icing, because I had plenty left over!

1) Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended.

2) Add the sugar gradually, beating after each addition until well blended.


They were delicious! Highly recommended! :)

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/08/guiltless-alfredo-sauce.html

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese


Toss the milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender.

Process until smooth and set aside.

In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Stand above the pan (but not close enough to scald your face) and inhale. Ahhh...butter and garlic. Okay, now get cooking again. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don't want to burn it.

Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.


When it's nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.

This is delicious! I've made it a couple of times now, and I don't feel bad about Alfredo sauce anymore! Obviously, just sub gluten free flour, and use gluten free pasta :)
it says use low fat cream cheese but I bought no fat, and it turned out just fine :)

it's DELICIOUS!

Daniel's birthday dinner & dessert Lasagna & Red Velet Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Icing

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Since I decided this is more of a successful recipe for me website, I decided to go ahead and put a lasagna recipe that I made for my boyfriends birthday!

I didn't make this at all, I put the website I got it from at the top. definitely not my recipe, thanks pioneer woman! :)

Ingredients

* 1-½ pound Ground Beef
* 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
* 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
* 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
* 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
* 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
* 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
* 2 whole Beaten Eggs
* ½ cups Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
* 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
* 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
* (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Preparation Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9cxBhTj9Nw
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philadelphia-cream-cheese-frosting-50972.aspx

Chicken Cacciatore

So... I basically never post on this website.
I thought that I would have time to write on a blog for other college students so they could save time, I guess I forgot that I too am I college student with a job, school, organization requirements, friends, and family, so I too, do not have time to write on a blog.
I guess this is going to turn into more recipes that I've tried that turned out successfully! :)

Here we go!

Chicken Cacciatore (this is not my recipe at all!) I got it from http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/02/chicken-cacciatore.html Check them out, they're great :)

Here are the directions

Chicken Cacciatore
Recipe by OurBestBites.com

1 lb. chicken breasts or chicken breasts and thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 c. white flour
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and either crushed or halved
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 c. white wine, white cooking wine, or apple or white grape juice. I'll be honest with y'all, it tastes a whole lot better with wine. Just sayin'.
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. salt (omit if using cooking wine; you may shrivel up and die if you add the salt in addition to cooking wine because cooking wine is treated with salt to make it undrinkable)
1 bay leaf
1 c. sliced mushrooms (or more if you love them. Mushrooms are divine in this dish!)
1 green bell pepper, chopped

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic and stir frequently until onions are tender and garlic is fragrant. Remove with a slotted spoon (this is why you need to keep the onion and garlic pieces big), shake off excess oil (you don't have to go crazy here, a little olive oil never killed anyone!), and transfer to your blender. Increase heat to medium-high.

In a large Ziploc bag, combine flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. black pepper. Add chicken pieces, seal bag, and shake to coat pieces with flour. Dump the entire bag into the hot pan and stir quickly to prevent pieces from sticking together. Saute until chicken is golden. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Turn off the heat under the oil, lest you start a grease fire. I am NOT speaking from ANY kind of firsthand experience here... ;) 
Edit: Lately, I've been skipping this step. After coating the chicken with flour, I just put it straight the crock pot, and it tastes exactly the same! Save time! Skip this step! :)

While chicken is draining, add wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, thyme, and marjoram to the onions and garlic in the blender. Blend until smooth. Place chicken and bay leaf in your slow cooker and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3.5-4 hours. When you have about 1/2 hour to go, add the mushrooms and the chopped green pepper. Cook until mushrooms and pepper are tender. Remove bay leaf and serve over pasta.
Serves 6-8.

I of course, made modifications!
-Obviously, used gluten free all purpose flour
-I didn't have a bay leaf so i substituted with an extra 1/4 teaspoon of thyme
-served over gluten free pasta
-used really cheap wine...I'm not sure if that is a modification, but I felt like it needed to be said..
-left out the green bell pepper at the end

My boyfriend said this is his new favorite food, so I'll count this one as a success!

Chili's

It’s hard to be gluten free and to have a normal social life. Most social situations are centered around food, let’s get ice cream after class, let’s get lunch to catch up, let’s all go to dinner, ect. I hate having to always say no, and provide other options. So, I finally decided to try eating out again, so I went to Chili’s, who has a gluten free menu. When I get there, I ask my server for the gluten free menu, and the manager on duty personally delivers it to me, so he is obviously aware of my allergy. I order the guiltless grill sirloin with vegetables. So, I eat it, and it’s delicious (and only $12.99). I’m feeling pretty good about everything, until about 10 minutes after I am done eating...
My stomach started hurting so badly, so I called the manager over. He was like “well, its gluten free” and I was like I just wanted to tell you because there is probably some cross contamination, and then IMMEDIATELY he said “oh, it’s probably because we cook our garlic toast on the same area we make our steaks”
…are you freaking kidding me Chili’s?
He took my meal off the tab, which is nice and all, but I am not satisfied! What is the point of having a gluten free menu if they are not even taking precautions to make sure the food comes out of the kitchen gluten free?! It seems to me that they are knowingly serving gluten free foods to guests who need to eat gluten free, and they just don’t seem to care at all.
Do not eat at Chili’s. Save yourself. It’s literally 24 hours later and my stomach STILL hurts.