Comfort Food...

Au gratin potatoes with smoked sausages (again) and peas.

Yum!!

Sesame Chicken Tenders

This was seriously so good I need to put it into regular rotation! And it was all done on a spur of the moment.

Sesame Chicken Tenders Featuring New York Riesling!

I did a Google search for "chicken tenders recipe" and found this one on cooks.com.



It's very easy. A quarter cup of toasted sesame seeds goes into a big bowl.



A quarter cup of soy sauce follows.



2 teaspoons of brown sugar are next.



Next comes the ginger. Personally, I find fresh ginger to be a pain in the ass most of the time so I use the jarred stuff. Honestly, in something like this it's just as good really.



2 teaspoons of this, too.



I didn't have any sherry so I decided to gamble and open the bottle of Riesling a friend gave us from New York. He had given this to us about 4 years ago, if you can imagine.



Hmmm...



Still good! So let's add 2 teaspoons to the bowl.



Add some freshly ground pepper.



Thinly slice two green onions. (I'm seriously sensing a theme of "2" here in this recipe.)



Now - guess how many! - 2 garlic cloves, chopped, go into the bowl.



The recipe calls for chicken breasts but I used tenders.



Cut them into bite-sized pieces and add them to the bowl.



My hands were already chicken-y messy so I just used them to mix the chicken with the marinade.



Let it sit in the marinade in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Then put the whole thing on a cookie sheet and under the broiler for 7 minutes.



Turn them over and cook them for another 5 minutes, or until done. You'll want to get them before they get crispy but cooked.



Delicioso!

My Son's Birthday Dinner...and Dessert!

Enchiladas with rice and (fat free) refried beans.

Dessert:

Cherry Simplicity

20 oz. can cherry pie filling
vanilla cake mix
12 oz. cherry Coke (I used Cherry Coke Zero)

Preheat your oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the cherry pie filling out into the pan and distribute evenly. Sprinkle the cake mix over the top of the pie filling. Pour the cherry Coke over the cake mix evenly. Cook in the oven for about 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.





Delicious!!

Pasta Night!

Pasta with marinara and hamburger, salad, and crescent rolls.

This is how to make a typical weeknight dinner in my house.
Ingredients:
Salad mix
Hamburger
Jarred pasta sauce
Pasta (in this case, from Trader Joe's)
Crescent Rolls



First I cook the hamburger in a pan.



I decided to add some seasonings. Garlic first:



Then Italian Seasoning:



And, finally, some salt.



Put some water on to boil and salt it. I cover it with a lid so it boils faster.



While the water is heating to a boil and the hamburger is cooking, start the crescent rolls.



Roll them up...



...and manipulate them into a crescent shape as best as you can.



The hamburger is now completely cooked so add the pasta sauce.



Mix the sauce into the hamburger thorougly.



Finish rolling all of the crescent rolls and pop them into the oven.



Meanwhile, start assembling the salad. The lettuce goes into the bowl first.



The parmesan cheese follows the lettuce.



Next, the croutons go in.



Finally, the dressing needs to be added to the bowl.



Mix it all up until the dressing has coated the lettuce.



Once the water is boiling, add the pasta.



Rolls are done so fetch them out of the oven!



Wait for a while until the noodles are done and then drain them with the aid of a colander.



Put the sauce into the pasta...



...and mix it all up!





What is a typical weeknight meal in your house?

Au Gratin Potatoes

Au gratin potatoes with cheddar smoked sausages

It was so good!!



This is comfort food to me. I made two boxes for my family of five and followed the directions aside from shorting the water required by 1/2 cup. If I put the required water in I find the end result tends to be way too watery. This was perfect! Saucy but not runny.

Mexican Skillet Meal Extraordinaire!

The husband and I cooked an impromptu meal together. We fed (haha) off of each other and had lots of ideas. They all came together and made a beautiful meal! I was going to make a different recipe but didn't have all of the ingredients so we had to make it up as went along with stuff we already had.

I started with the following ingredients:
ground turkey
2 cans pork 'n' beans
vegetable broth
wild rice mix
barbecue sauce
red onion



First, chop the red onion. It doesn't have to be precise at all.



Add it to the skillet that has some hot olive oil in it.



After the onions have softened, add the turkey breast.



Break it up into chunks as it is browning.



Add about 1 1/2 cups wild rice mix.



Then, add some barbecue sauce. I don't know how much...enough to coat and flavor the mixture so far.



Add 2 cups of vegetable (or chicken) broth. I used vegetable broth because that's what I had in the refrigerator.



Next, add the two cans of pork 'n' beans.



Ooh! An inspiration! Corn! We need a vegetable in here.





Time for a Guinness? Nah. Time for a vodka and soda.



Another inspiration. This time, it's from the husband and it's mild, chopped chile peppers!





My inspiration: the Ortega Fiesta Seasoning I purchased from the Grocery Outlet a couple of months ago. I didn't measure...I just sprinkled...





Stir it all up and let it simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes. You'll want to stir it occasionally so it doesn't stick.



At the end, I remembered I had cilantro in the refrigerator. A life saver! Or shall I say, "savor". Haha.





Here it is...a thing of beauty. I didn't think it would taste nearly as good as it does. It does need a little crunch. Maybe next time I'll try to add some jicama. Yum!!