Cheesey Chicken & Rice Dinner

1/4 cup vinaigrette (your fave brand or make your own)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenders
1 can low sodium chicken broth
2 cups rice
1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded 6 cheese Italian blend (or Mozzarella)
Salt & Pepper

Prepare rice according to package instructions (I use Mahatma rice & cook it for 55 minutes in my rice steamer).
Heat dressing in skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle 1 side of tenders with S&P & place season side down in dressing. Sprinkle top side with S&P. Cook all the way thru flipping as needed. (Note: tenders cook quickly)
Remove cooked strips, slice into thirds & return to skillet. Pour in cooked rice & broth. Stir well getting all the bits up off the bottom of skillet.
Stir in cheeses & sprinkle with more pepper.

I served green beans & onions on the side.

Approximately 40g carbs for 1.5 cup serving

My Country Hash

A homemade biscuit with egg, mild country sausage & home fried potatoes cooked together, topped with creamy country gravy and shredded cheddar cheese. Better than Bob Evans!














Homemade biscuits from friend's recipe (previously posted), or you can use canned.
Fried a roll of Mild Country Sausage until done.
Boiled diced potatoes until almost done & then added to the fried sausage to crisp up the edges. Season all with s&p.
I am not a gravy maker, so I did cheat & make a packet of McCormick Country Gravy Mix in a separate pot.
Made an over easy egg for each plate.
Then assembled: split open & butter biscuit. On top spread the the potato/sausage mixture. On top of that ladle on some gravy. Top all that with the egg & sprinkle with shredded cheddar.
You could really cheat with this if you wanted it to go faster (the most you have to wait for are the sausage & potatoes). Packet gravy, canned biscuits, already cooked sausage, frozen home fries, shredded cheddar - it'd be a heat n eat.

Sausage, Pepperoni, & 3 Cheese Calzone

I made this recipe yesterday with only 1 difference. I exchanged the broccoli for 1/2 lb cooked Italian sausage & pepperoni slices. It came out great!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/broccoli-and-cheese-calzone-recipe/index.html

Homemade Biscuits And How to Freeze

I made homemade biscuit dough (with a friend's recipe below) & froze some of them before baking. They came out perfectly. Now we can make & have homemade biscuits in a flash!

This is my friend's recipe:
http://mrsmamahen.blogspot.com/2009/02/winning-biscuits.html

How to freeze them:
1. Cut out biscuits individually
2. Lay flat on sprayed parchment lined cookie sheet
3. Place in freezer
4. Place in freezer baggie when completely frozen
5. Remove what you want (I put them in a small plastic bag) & thaw in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes
6. Bake according to directions

Tips:
This will also work for cookie dough.
Can also roll dough like a cylinder 1st.

Reference site:
http://www.wikihow.com/Freeze-Unbaked-Biscuit-or-Cookie-Dough

"Norman" Chicken

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Normal-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Pork Chop Pie

I leave out the pineapple, but this is a yummy recipe! I serve it with rice & green beans or a salad. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pork-chop-and-pineapple-pie-recipe/index.html

Meatball Soup

One of my favorite recipes! I got it from a friend of mine. Very hearty.

1 lb ground meat (we use beef or pork or a mixture of both) (if frozen, just put in pot, just takes longer to cook)
2 cups rice (not instant or minute rice, we use Mahatma)
6 med potatoes, peeled, bite size
2 carrots, peeled, bite size
1 bell pepper, bite size
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Spices to taste: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, rubbed sage, garlic season all, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning
Lemon juice

Spray soup pot.
Put in all ingredients & spices.
Add enough water to cover.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer for about 2 hours.
Stir often.
Add more water & stir as needed.
After it's done (when meat is done & veggies are fork tender), ladle into bowls & add a squirt or 2 of lemon juice to each bowl. Yum!

Variations:
Add Red or Yellow Bell Peppers
Corn
Celery
Twisty or Elbow Pasta
Can make Mexican rice and put in bowl at the same time you put soup in, just don't add rice to your soup.

Enjoy!

My Weekly To-Do List

I know this isn't food related, but got this from a friend & thought it might be helpful...

Monday
Laundry
Windows
Ceilings

Tuesday
Sweep
Dust
Pick a Drawer (any drawer in any room that needs cleaned out)
Bedrooms

Wednesday
Linens
Bathrooms
Guest Room

Thursday
Mopping
Kitchen

Friday
Vacuum
Laundry
Classroom

Saturday & Sunday
Bowling
Yard
Laundry

For the rooms, it's a good wipe down, straighten up, reorganize, or whatever's necessary.
Windows are like once a month.
Linens every week are towels & every other week are towels & bedding.
The living room isn't on here because I pick up that every evening before I go to bed.
Now of course all of this is subject to change & as needed. :)
And Diamond is in charge of her own things - she cleans her bathroom, her bedroom, & puts away her laundry after I fold it. She's also in charge of the dishwasher.
HTH

Bruschetta

This was the 1st bruschetta recipe I'd ever seen & we loved it! I changed it a bit for us, though. I don't add the tomatoes. And I smash together the garlic & salt 1st.
http://www.sargentocheese.com/recipes/2/bruschetta-mozzarella/
It's a great recipe to have with pasta or salads or soup or as an appetizer to any meal really. It's also nice for finger foods.
Yum!