KITCHEN KREATION: Cheesy Chicken & Spinach Bake

I have had this casserole recipe rolling around in my head for about a week and finally decided to give it a go. After making the donuts, I decided that I would go ahead and cook our meal for the weekend since I was in such a cooking mood. That way, breakfast, lunch, and dinner would be done all before 10:30. Yes, you read right, BEFORE 10:30.

That left the rest of the day to completely veg out, which I did... LOL

Hubby said our lunch/dinner casserole was great. It was even better today for dinner accompanied with a delicious side salad and a piece of garlic toast.


INGREDIENTS

32 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar Ragu Light Parmesan Alfredo sauce
1 can Campbells Healthy Choice Cream of Mushroom sauce
1/2 medium onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 cup fat free (or low fat) mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
salt & pepper - to taste
cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook whole wheat pasta according to package directions. When done, drain and set aside.
3. Lightly spray skillet with cooking spray.
4. Wash, pat dry, and cut chicken into bite-sized 1 inch pieces
5. Cook chicken in skillet until almost cooked through (should still be able to see some pink).
6. Toss in onions, stir and cook until tender.
7. Make a small clear space in skillet and add garlic. Cook until fragrant, approximately one minute.
8. Stir well to combine all ingredients.
9. Spray 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
10. In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken and onion mixture, whole wheat pasta, alfredo sauce, cream of mushroom soup, and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
11. Add Italian seasoning and stir well to combine.
12. Pour mixture into glass baking dish.
13. Add additional 1/2 cup of cheese to top of mixture.
14. Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray, and cover baking dish.
15. Cook for approximately 30 minutes or until cheese is all melted & bubbly.
16. After done, let sit for 10 minutes and enjoy!

KITCHEN KREATION: Baked Cinnamon Donuts with Vanilla Glaze

Yum. Yum. Yum.
Since moving up north where there is a Dunkin' Donuts literally on every other corner, I have been fighting this intense urge to give in and have one of those delicious deep fried pieces of sugar covered dough...
(sigh...)
The hubby and I have been doing so good with our workouts that I just didn't want to cave. I know myself and if I give in once, I'll keep going back. Deep fried donuts are like crack to me. Y'all don't want me to end up looking like Pookie from New Jack City, right???

Trust and believe, that is NOT a good look for ANYBODY!!!

So, like anyone else with an addiction, you recognize it and don't put yourself in a situation where you can be tempted. Above all else, you have to stay strong and believe that you can get through whatever cravings are running through your head at that time. So far that's what has been working for me.

So, even though they have a donut shop on every other corner up here in Philly. I have refrained from getting one. I'm quite proud of myself for that, now that I think about it...
Anyway, back to the recipe.

A few months ago, I was on my girl Kristin's blog at IowaGirlEats.com and she was talking about the wonders of baking donuts to make them healthier for you, in other words, "delicious and nutritious". I immediately ordered one of the Wilton donut pans from amazon that she mentioned in her post but never had the chance to make any donuts until this morning.

The recipe came from Kate who has a page on foodbuzz. Her recipe can be found here. I looked at the recipe and thought, hey, I have everything on that list, I'll make those for Saturday morning. Imagine my dismay when I woke up bright and early this morning to realize that I didn't have any all purpose flour. I had cake flour, but no all purpose flour. Who does that? I mean, really...

Before I got too disappointed, however, I looked at the back of the Wilton's donut pan and lo and behold they had a basic donut recipe using cake flour.
Did anyone else hear the angels singing this morning? LOL

I immediately started measuring and whisking things together. What resulted was a delicious dozen of donuts that came out moist, semi-healthy, and they helped to kick that deep fried donut craving right in the butt. Here's my adaptation of both recipes, let me know what you guys think...

INGREDIENTS - FOR DONUTS
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar (feel free to use the equivalent of Splenda)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup skim milk
3/4 tsp white vinegar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, melted (use real butter for more calories)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS - FOR GLAZE
2 Tbsp skim milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan bring together the milk, white vinegar, vanilla, egg, and butter.Cook over medium-heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until the butter melts, about one minute. Remove from heat.
4. Add the milk mixture into the flour mixture; mix until combined.Fill each donut cup approximately 2/3 full.
5. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of teh donuts spring back when touched.
6. Let cool in pan before removing.

While the donuts are cooling, start working on the glaze.

FOR GLAZE:

1. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium-heat, stirring until everything is combined and there are no lumps.
2. Set the saucepan in a bowl with hot water.
3. Dip the doughnuts into the glaze, one at a time, and set on a rack, glaze side up. Be sure to place something (parchment paper, wax paper, etc) underneath the rack because some of that glaze will drip off.
4. Re-dip until you have the glaze thickness you like and enjoy!

Now wasn't that easy???

KITCHEN KREATION: General Tso's Chicken

Family, I'm back! Tonight I decided to try my hand at making Chinese at home again. Hubby's favorite dish whenever we go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant is General Tso's Chicken. As a matter of fact, the decision as to whether we will be back or not is primarily based on if the restaurant has a good General Tso's. It has to combine the exact right amount of sweet and spicy in order to score my hubby's affection. If the General Tso's is not up to par, there is a good chance that we will never be back.

The problem with the General Tso's that is sold in the restaurant is that it is battered and deep fried then smothered with a sweet sauce. There might be 2 or 3 broccoli sprigs thrown on just to say that there are vegetables on the plate. The caloric intake of a plate of General Tso's tends to average around 1300 calories with a staggering 3200 mg of sodium! Since hubby is being dragged along in my attempts to make us both healthier, I decided to make his favorite dish at home with my own little spin on it.

To start off, there was no batter anywhere near my chicken. It was also pan fried with about a tablespoon of oil versus being deep fried in oil. I also did not use any MSG and used low sodium sauces as much as possible. Hopefully my version is at least a little healthier. We'll find out when I calculate everything on SparkPeople. Hope you enjoy my healthier version!

INGREDIENTS
2-3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken
12 ounce bag of frozen broccoli
½ onion – sliced thinly
1 clove garlic – minced
½ tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp corn starch
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce

1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil (stir fry oil)
2 Tbsp cooking sherry
1.5 tsp hot chili garlic sauce
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
water


DIRECTIONS

1. Make sauce by adding chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cooking sherry, hot chili garlic sauce, and hoisin sauce to bowl. Stir well until rice has dissolved.
2. Rinse chicken well. Cut into bite sized 1 inch pieces.
3. Pour in ¼ cup soy sauce & 2 Tbsp corn starch. Mix well and marinate for 5 minutes.
4. While meat is marinating, prepare vegetables. Thinly slice ½ yellow onion.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in hot wok. Add chicken and sauté until browned. Remove from wok and let drain on plate with paper towels.
6. Add another Tbsp of vegetable oil to wok. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Saute until tender and fragrant.
7. Add chicken to wok and stir well to incorporate flavors.
8. Make thickener slurry by mixing 2 Tbsp cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Should just have enough water to dissolve the cornstarch. Stir well until dissolved and add to sauce.
9. Stir sauce well and add to hot wok.
10. Bring chicken and sauce mixture to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.
11. Serve with rice and enjoy!

This just in, according to SparkPeople, for six servings, my version only has 301 calories and 1404 mg sodium. That's a big improvement from the numbers in the restaurant, but I will have to tweak this a little more to get the sodium levels down lower. May omit the dark soy sauce next time and the soy sauce used to marinate the chicken. I think next time I will just coat the chicken in the corn starch and saute it up that way. Will keep you posted.

I checked again and if the soy sauce used to marinate the chicken and the dark soy sauce is omitted, the sodium levels drop down to 799 mg. I think I can live with that...


Hubby gave this one two thumbs up and said that if I keep this up, I'm gonna give the local restaurants a run for their money. LOL!!!

New Delhi Indian Restaurant: Philadelphia, PA

LOCATION: 4004 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
www.newdelhiweb.com

For phase 3 of our date day, the hubby and I went to this amazing Indian restaurant located near the University of Pennsylvania. My brother told us a while ago that this was the best Indian food that he had found in Philly, so of course we had to try it. Let me tell y'all, that food was so doggoned good, I am convinced that SOMEBODY'S grandma absolutely had to be in the back cooking. Everything was so well seasoned. Hubby ordered the buffet, and I ordered from the menu.


From the buffet, he had both meat and vegetarian dishes and there wasn't a single thing that I "sampled" from his plate that I did not like. (hehehe)


I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala in medium heat with a side of garlic naan bread.
OH. MY. WORD.


Is "deliciousness" a real word? Because that is the only word that I can think of to describe that plate. Yummy spiciness, succulent chicken, tender pieces of basmati rice, oh and we can't forget the garlic naan. I think that was pure heaven on a plate. We will definitely be going back. Especially since apparently, the buffet changes from day to day. Hubby says that he has to go back to taste some of the other entrees. I'm sure that his research will be purely for scientific purposes and to help me out on my blog posts.
Riiiiigghhhttt...
LOL




So anyway, if you are up in the Philly area, check out the ambience and the food at the New Delhi Indian Restaurant. It won't disappoint.

Honey's Sit & Eat: Philadelphia, PA

Location: 800 North 4th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123-2207
http://www.honeys-restaurant.com/

I know, I know, fam, I have truly been missing in action. Well, that's because the hubby and I recently moved out of Missouri and are now living up on the east coast. This weekend was the first weekend in over a month that we didn't have anything too pressing to do, so how did we spend it? We had a day-long date! Talk about fun times!

To start our date off, we went to Honey's Sit & Eat located in Northern Liberties right here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We found Honey's from a review online talking about their breakfasts. It was featured on Food Network on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri.
Even though he ate the Chicken Chili Frito Pie on the show, it gave us the idea to see what yelp.com and urbanspoon.com had to say about this cool little spot.


Both sites had really good reviews for their breakfast and brunch. So, to start our date day off right, we went to Honey's to try their breakfast. The reviews online were right on point. I had the Huevos Ranchero with scrambled eggs. It was so good. I couldn't eat it all because they give you such a monstrous portion. The eggs were layered on top of some spicy beans and crispy corn tortillas. It had a small side of lettuce with pico de gallo sitting next to it. A dollop of sour cream and a scoop of jalapenos on the plate made the perfect condiments. I think I was supposed to have some salsa with it but everything was so good and the beans were already spicy, I didn't even really miss the salsa. I seem to vaguely remember mentioning that fact to my hubby as I was stuffing my face full of this delicious meal.


Hubby decided to be adventurous and ordered the Bubby's Brisket 3-Egg Omelet. It came with their special slow-cooked brisket and had spinach and carmelized onions folded into the eggs. Hubby asked if he could have cream cheese added too and man, did that make a difference! The cream cheese added this extra creaminess to the omelet. I'm thinking about doing that at home from here on out. Try it, folks, you will be pleasantly surprised. Don't even get me started on the home fries with peppers and onions or the potato latke. Notice the latke didn't even make the pictures, it was so good, by the time I thought about snapping a shot of it, it was half-way gone. LOL!!!


All in all, we both definitely recommend Honey's Sit and Eat. I can't wait to go back for lunch or dinner one of these days because the breakfast did NOT disappoint. Happy Eating!


After breakfast, hubby and I went to see the final Harry Potter movie in 3D at the Imax theater, we did a little shopping, and for dinner, went to this AMAZING Indian restaurant. Reviews on that to follow. Hope everyone else is having a great weekend! We sure are!!!

KITCHEN KREATION: Okra & Sausage Stew

As promised from yesterday's post, today's recipe is a healthier version of a Southern Classic. I decided to experiment with okra tonight by making an okra & turkey sausage "stew". I actually combined a couple of recipes found on YouTube. The first came from Ateyaa titled, Okra, Shrimp, Sausage, Fresh & Dried Shrimp, & Crab. Click on the link to watch her video. She had a LOT of stuff going on in her version and since the hubby doesn't like seafood, I decided to omit all of that. The other recipe came from a southern cooks cookbook with a similar recipe which didn't have the meat but suggested to add the corn and stewed tomatoes. What resulted was a delicious blend that I made a little healthier by adding smoked turkey sausage instead of smoked pork sausage. I also used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light" and cooking spray instead of the butter and oil. As stated in the previous blog, I am not a fan of okra or tomatoes, but I am finding myself experimenting more and more with new recipes and new vegetables. Even I liked this one. Try it out and let me know what you think.

A friend of mine from grade school saw the picture and thought that it looked kind of like a thick gumbo to him. That got me thinking again... I bet this would be really good over some rice and made a little spicier with some cayenne pepper. Sounds like a plan for the leftovers. Hubby and I just ate it straight like this in a bowl and man was it good. Hope you like it!


INGREDIENTS

2 packages frozen cut okra (12 oz)
1 package frozen kernal corn
1 medium onion - chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes
8 oz can tomato paste
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light
1 Tbsp flour (optional)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 package Smoked Turkey Sausage
cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of light butter in large skillet.
2. Add okra, onions, and vinegar to skillet. Cover and saute over medium heat for approximately 20-30 minutes stirring frequently until okra is no longer slimy.
3. Add corn and tomatoes to mixture. Stir well.
4. Add salt, pepper, and flour. Stir well to blend seasonings. The flour will thicken the sauce.
5. Reduce heat, cover skillet, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Spray another skillet with cooking spray.
7. Chop smoked turkey sausage and saute until browned lightly.
8. Add turkey sausage to okra mixture and mix well.
9. Can eat plain or over rice.

KITCHEN KREATION: Watermelon Lemonade Spritzer

Back to Monique's blog at YesDivasCanCook. This delicious drink came from her video entry to Recipe Lion, found here. I'm not sure if it was a contest or not, but she added it to her email for summer recipes. Since I happened to have some watermelon already chilling in the refrigerator, I thought I would try this yummy looking drink. It was pretty easy to make and tasted amazing! Of course I changed it a bit by adding a little coconut rum to it. Trust me, it was great! LOL

Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
16 oz. Seltzer Water
3-4 cups watermelon – cubed
2/3 cup hot water
½ cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your watermelon is)
½ cup fresh lemon juice – equiv. to 2 large lemons
2-4 oz Coconut Rum (optional)


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine sugar with hot water to make simple syrup. Stir until sugar has dissolved, set aside.
2. Add chopped watermelon to blender, puree until chunks are gone, approximately 1 minute.
3. Strain watermelon puree in mesh strainer to remove pulp and seeds over your serving pitcher. May have to use a spoon or spatula to stir the watermelon to press juice through strainer.
4. Add simple syrup and lemon juice into serving pitcher. Stir to combine.
5. Pour seltzer water into serving pitcher. Stir well.
6. Add coconut rum to mixture and stir well (optional).
7. Pour into glasses directly over ice.
8. Garnish with a slice of lemon or a watermelon wedge and enjoy!

KITCHEN KREATION: Fresh Tomato Pie

Ok blog family, I know I have been missing in action lately, but I am truly blaming it on the fact that things have been really busy and hectic around here. I narrowly missed not one but two tornadoes this past week, I got to fly to Philadelphia to visit some family, and then had to come back and put my car in the shop. Wooo! It has been a crazy week...

So anyway, I decided to make it up to my dear hubby who has been so supportive and patient with the craziness around here. Tonight I decided to make my BBQ Chicken pizza which he loves and I decided to experiment with a new drink (the Watermelon Lemonade Spritzer). Thanks, Monique, it was AMAZING!!! I also tried another one of her recipes the Fresh Tomato Pie. Now keep in mind that I am NOT a fresh tomato eater at all and even I had to say, dang, this is good! Tomorrow, I will be experimenting again with an Okra and Sausage Stew (and no I don't eat okra either). Of course all recipes have my spins on them based on what we like to eat over here, so be sure to stay tuned!

The tomato pie recipe actually came from the YesDivasCanCook blog email, but she said that she will put up the video in a few weeks. Here is my slightly adapted version of her recipe. If you like tomatoes or even if you like Italian food, you have GOT to taste this! It tasted like everything that should go in spaghetti without the actual pasta. Hubby gave this recipe two thumbs up and as the self-proclaimed tomato hater of the family, I even had to admit it turned out really delicious. Hope you like it.


INGREDIENTS

Pie Crust
5 tomatoes, seeded & diced
1/2 small red or yellow onion – sautéed
1 clove garlic - minced
3 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup Light Mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat free mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
fresh basil, chopped (optional)
cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Press pie dough into 9-inch pie dish plate and poke holes in crust to prevent crust from rising.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.
4. Sauté onions in skillet using cooking spray until tender.
5. Add minced garlic to onions and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute. Stir well.
6. Season diced tomatoes and onions with Italian seasoning, oregano, salt & pepper. Stir well to coat the seasonings. Taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly.
7. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and spread evenly.
8. Mix mayonnaise and cheeses in small bowl.
9. Spread mixture evenly over the onion and tomato mixture.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden.
11. Top with fresh, chopped basil (optional)
12. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.
13. Serve warm or cold.

NEW NOTE: Hubby just had his 2nd piece and said, "Babe, you just made a pie out of tomatoes and it's the freakin' bomb!" LOL

I just entered all the data for this recipe into the SparkPeople recipe calculator and 1 serving (1/8 of pie) is only 221 calories! It would probably be even less if I used fat free mayo (may have to try that next time).