Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings

While I love nothing more than making things from scratch, there are times when I am all about the quick and the easy. This recipe kind of developed when I was in a hurry and did not have time to make the dumplings from scratch and cut up all the vegetables myself. This is also one of those meals that is easy to change up in that you can use any kind of vegetable you like.

For this time I used a bag of frozen corn, peas, carrots and green beans but in the past I have used a frozen Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrot mix and then added in some frozen corn. Whatever you happen to like or have on hand will work. Instead of the refrigerator biscuits I have also used the frozen kind that come in a bag. Whichever ones you use I learned it is definitely better to pre-bake them a bit before adding to the crockpot. They just take way too long to cook otherwise.

I don't always add the cheese but it does give it a really nice flavor.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken tenders
3 cans Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 small onion, chopped
1 can of skim milk - fill an empty soup can
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
1 can of refrigerator biscuits
season to taste

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray.

Place chicken tenders, mixed veggies (you can use whatever frozen mixed veggies you wish), chopped onion and cheese in the crockpot. In a large bowl place all the soup and one can's worth of milk and blend till smooth. Pour over the chicken and veggies in the crockpot.

Cover and set on high for 2 hours. Stir and scrap sides and cover again. Turn down to low and cook another 2 to 3 hours.

Take biscuits out of the can, place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 350°F oven until just barely turning brown. Do not overcook them, you want them just slightly undercooked.

Remove from oven and place 6 of them in a single layer over the chicken mixture in the crockpot. With a large spoon, ladel some of the sauce over the top of the biscuits. Cover and cook an additional 30 min to an hour.

Serves 4 - 6 people.

Meat Loaf With Tomato Relish

Meat Loaf is one of those recipes that everyone makes differently. My kids were always asking me to write down my meat loaf recipe but I found it was hard to put down on paper exact measurements because I don't know that I ever made it exactly the same way twice. Just like Spaghetti Sauce or a good stew, you just throw in a little of this and add a bit of that. Oh I had the basic ingredients that I would add each time but I also experimented a lot over the years too.

This is a meat loaf recipe that I don't make as often as my personal one because it takes a lot of prep work but every now and then when I feel like changing things up a bit I will make this version. It comes from Tyler Florence of The Food Network and I saw him make it a couple of years ago. He said this was his dad's recipe for Meat Loaf. The only thing I changed in this is Tyler's recipe calls for putting a few strips of bacon on top of the meat loaf and baking it until it is crispy. I don't add bacon to mine but everything else is the same.

MEAT LOAF WITH TOMATO RELISH
==== Tomato Relish ====
extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 clove garlic
2 bay leaves
2 red bell peppers, finely diced
2 tomatoes, halved, seeded, & diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 (12-ounce) bottle ketchup
3 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
salt & freshly ground black pepper

==== Meatloaf ====
3 slices white bread
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 eggs or 1/2 Cup egg substitute
leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut crusts off of the bread and tear into chunks.

Coat a skillet with a 2-count of oil and place over medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, and bay leaves for a few minutes to create a base flavor. Throw in the red peppers and cook them for a couple of minutes to soften.

Now add the tomatoes; adding them at this point lets them hold their shape and prevents them from disintegrating. Stir in the parsley, ketchup, and Worcestershire; season with salt and pepper. Simmer the relish for 5 minutes to pull all the flavors together. Remove it from the heat; you should have about 4 cups of relish.

Place the torn white bread in a bowl and add the milk to just barely cover, swish the bread around in the milk and let it sit while you get the rest of the ingredients for the meat loaf together.

This is where you get your hands dirty! In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef and pork with 1 1/2 cups of the tomato relish, the eggs, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add the soaked bread to the meat mixture. To test, fry a small 'hamburger' patty of the meatloaf until cooked; the patty should hold together but still have a soft consistency. Taste the patty for seasoning.

Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Transfer the meat mixture to the center of the cookie sheet and form into a log about 9 inches long and about 4 inches wide. Coat the top of the meatloaf with another 1/2 cup of the tomato relish.

Bake the meatloaf for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the meatloaf is firm. Rotate the meat loaf while it's baking every now and then to insure that it cooks evenly. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it cool a bit before slicing. Serve with the remaining tomato relish on the side. Unbelievably moist!

Banana Bread

Does anyone remember the early days of the Food Network when it was just about cooking and showing us recipes? There were no live audiences or bands or competitions, just a chef or cookbook author showing us a new recipe each day or demonstrating how we could feed our family for just $100 a week. They didn't have many shows so they repeated a couple of times per day but they were good shows and I collected some really good recipes during those times. Recipes that I still use today.

This recipe for Banana Bread is one of them. I think the show was called Chef Du Jour they had a different celebrity on each week and that celebrity would share their own personal recipes. This Banana Bread recipe comes from Comedian Joanne Worley and it's delicious. Very easy to make, super moist and a great way to use up those bananas that are turning black. This bread never lasts very long in our house.

BANANA BREAD
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Butter
2 eggs (I used 1/2 cup Eggbeaters)
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°F

Grease loaf pan.

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. In another bowl cream together the butter and bananas and whisk in the eggs. Add to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Pour into loaf pan and bake about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Make sure toothpick comes out somewhat clean in the center.

Cool and slice.

Lazy Sunday Afternoons and a Good Coffee Cake

Finally we had some great weather today. While not cool by any means, the fact that it never got higher than the upper 80's was still a milestone. This has been a very looooong hot summer and today actually felt like the start of Fall. There was a strong breeze and the sky was blue and clear, it seemed like the perfect day to bake a nice coffee cake and relax with the hubby. Ok so the hubby threw out his back and was confined to bed but it's great to have a captive audience!

I found this wonderful recipe at Big City, Little Kitchen and just changed a few things to make it a bit healthier. I probably would have swapped out the 1 cup of sugar for Splenda's baking sugar substitute but I did not have any. For the brown sugar in the topping I used half regular brown sugar and half of Splenda's Brown Sugar.

As the original poster from Big City, Little Kitchen stated, this cake has a dense, moist interior and lot's of streusel. This one is definitely a keeper!

♦

CINNAMON-CRUMBLE COFFEE CAKE
==== cake ====
1 stick unsalted butter, softened ( I use Smart Balance's Butter Blends Unsalted Butter)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup fat free sour cream

==== topping ====
2/3 cup light brown sugar (part Splenda Brown Sugar and part regular Brown Sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

To make cake: cream butter and sugar. Lightly beat eggs, vanilla, and our cream, then add to butter mixture. Whisk together dry ingredients, then add to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.

To make topping: whisk together the 3 ingredients; set aside.

Pour half of batter into bundt pan, smoothing with a spatula so that it covers the bottom of the pan. Distribute half of the topping mixture over the batter. Spoon the remaining batter into the pan, carefully smoothing with a spatula so that it covers the topping. Sprinkle remaining topping over the batter, then bake for 45 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes, then carefully reverse onto a plate. Place another plate on top (which is actually the bottom of the cake), and reverse again, so that cake is, finally, facing up on a plate.

Ortega Fiesta Bake

I thought I would make something a little spicy tonight and this is an old favorite of ours. I can't even remember where I found the original recipe but I have been making it for years. I lightened it up a bit by using turkey meat and low fat cheese and when making the cornbread mix I used egg substitute and skim milk.

I apologize for the horrible photo, but I am limited in space so I have no camera angles or lighting to choose from and all my dishes are packed away.

ORTEGA FIESTA BAKE
1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 cup onion; chopped
3/4 cup mild salsa
2 T. taco seasoning mix
1/4 cup water
1 can whole kernel corn; drained
3 whole canned jalapenos; chopped
1 8 1/2 oz.pkg corn muffin mix
2 cups low fat cheddar cheese; shredded
1 4oz. can diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350°F

Brown meat in skillet and drain. Add onions, taco seasoning, water, salsa, jalapenos and all but 1 cup of the corn. Cook for 10 minutes. While that is cooking make the muffin mix according to package. The cornbread mix I use calls for one egg and 1/3 cup of milk. I use egg substitute for the egg and fat free milk. Then add one cup of the cheese, the remaining 1 cup of corn and the can of green chilies, mix well.

When meat is done spread evenly on the bottom of a square or small rectangle baking dish. Sprinkle on remaining 1 cup of cheese and add the cornbread mixture, spreading evenly over the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Vegetable Beef Soup

My mother-in-law has been making this recipe for years but I could never get her to write it down so tonight I sat and made it with her and wrote down everything she put in it so I could preserve the recipe for myself and my kids.

It's very easy to make and tastes sooooo good. This is perfect for a cold rainy day but since we have rain about 1 day a year out in this horrendous desert we have to settle for a cold windy day, those we have plenty of in the winter.

VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP
1 lb stew meat
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can peas
1 can green beans
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cup frozen corn
3 medium red potatoes
4 cubes beef bouillon
1 cup baby carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
2 cups frozen broccoli cauliflower mix
1 tablespoon parsley
4 1/2 cups Water
pepper and garlic powder to season
oil for browning the meat

In a 5 qt dutch oven or pot, brown the stew meat in a little bit of oil. After it is brown add the onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until they are tender.

Wash and cube the potatoes, about 1 in chunks, do not peel the potatoes first. Add to the pot.

Open and drain the cans of peas and green beans, add to the pot.

Add the remaining ingredients except the water and bouillon.

In 2 cups of the water, break up and dissolve the bouillon cubes. Add to the pot along with the rest of the water. Stir just to mix everything and cover. Let simmer on low heat for a couple of hours at least. You can also add this to a crock pot and let simmer on low for several hours.

Simple Turkey Burger

For my lunch today I made something quick, easy and healthy. I keep lean turkey patties in the freezer for whenever I am in the mood for a quick simple burger.

SIMPLE TURKEY BURGER
1 lean ground turkey pattie
1 slice of pepper jack soy cheese
2 slices of tomato
1 T light mayo
1 double fiber whole wheat English muffin
Thin slice of onion (optional)
Seasoning of your choice

In a small skillet sprayed with cooking spray cook your turkey pattie until it is no longer pink inside. Turn it once to cook each side and season however desired. (I like spicy so I use red pepper flakes and garlic powder). Flip one more time, place your cheese on top and turn off the heat.

While the cheese is melting lightly toast your English muffin and spread with the light mayo. Place your pattie on one half and top with the tomato slices and the other half.

You can add ketchup, mustard or any other condiment if you wish.