Favorite Chicken!

This is another recipe I tried from the I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening book. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it is now my new favorite for chicken! The recipe called for goat cheese, which I was going to use, but when I went to use it I realized it was 3 weeks expired when I bought it!(glad you're on top of things, Walmart) I ended up using tomato basil feta by Atheno's instead, and don't think I will change a thing!




The recipe said to use an oven safe nonstick skillet, which I don't have. I ended up browning them in the skillet and then transferring to a baking dish, and it worked just fine.I did bake them for quite a bit longer than the 5-9 minutes it said it should take, but my chicken breasts were a little larger.

4(4 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil spray
1/2 cup canned, drained fire roasted tomatoes
2 ounces goat cheese(I used the tomato basil feta I mentioned earlier)
Fresh basil for garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 350. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place medium oven safe nonstick skillet over high heat, mist with spray when hot, add chicken. Cook chicken just until outsides are golden brown, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove pan from heat and top each piece of chicken with 2 tablespoons of the tomatoes, followed by about 1/2 ounce of cheese. Transfer skillet to oven and bake chicken until it is no longer pink inside and cheese is melted, about 5-9 minutes. Top with basil, serve immediately.

*The nutritional info in the book says that these chicken breasts only have 171 calories each!

Source: I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening

~Kiss The Cook

Boneless Honey BBQ "wings"

XP from my personal blog!

This is from the I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening book. I don't know why it never occurred to me to cook chicken this way, but it's so simple and delicious! This will be added to list of quick work night meals.



Boneless Honey BBQ "wings"

1 lb chicken tenderloins
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil cooking spray

Combine BBQ sauce and honey in small bowl, set aside. Sprinkle garlic powder, salt and pepper over chick and toss to combine. Place large nonstick skillet over high heat, lightly mist skillet with spray and add chicken strips(they should sizzle). Cook about 2-3 minutes each side, until cooked through. Turn heat to low, add BBQ sauce and gently stir until coated. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes and then toss again.

Source: I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening

~Kiss The Cook

Oreo Cupcakes

I have been wanting to make these Oreo cupcakes for awhile, and finally got around to it. They were a little time consuming to make, but they're so yummy!



For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I quarter them)

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish:
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves(I didn't use these, just sprinkled the crushed Oreos over top)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla extract. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

Source: Annie's Eats


~Kiss The Cook

Mexican Casserole

Obviously, I have a thing for Mexican food lately! I made this casserole for dinner tonight and it was a big hit. The only thing I did differently was that I didn't know what ranch style beans were, so I used re-fried beans. It actually turned out awesome and I personally will continue to make it that way in the future.



Source: Sing For Your Supper

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 10-12 ounce bag tortilla chips, crushed
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 package taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water
sour cream and salsa for serving

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and drain off fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, onion, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through.

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly.
Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and salsa.

Chicken Enchiladas

We had these for dinner last night, and they were awesome! I was a little worried they would come out tasting too ranchy, but I probably wouldn't have guessed that was what was in them if I didn't know. I actually liked that they weren't soaked in enchilada sauce like the other recipe I use.



Chicken Enchiladas
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 cup Ranch salad dressing
Flour tortillas
Salsa to taste
Shredded cheese(I used a mixture of fiesta blend and sharp cheddar because it is what I had)

Cook chicken breasts(I tossed mine in the oven, but cook any way you want) and shred chicken after it has cooled a bit.

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix half of the ranch and sour cream. In a smaller bowl, mix the other half of the ranch and sour cream. Add the shredded chicken to the large bowl and mix well. Spread about a tablespoon of the plain mixture over the tortilla to cover evenly. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla, and then as much salsa and cheese as you would like. Roll up tortilla, and place seam side down in prepared baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes. I made 8 large enchiladas but the recipe says you should be able to make 10-15.

I also sprinkled a little salsa and cheese on top before I baked them because we prefer it that way.

Source: Annie's Eats

~Kiss The Cook

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

This is actually thanks to my awesome NSA! I received a package from her today that included this:

An adorable dish towel set, oven mitt and pot holder, and a cookie cookbook!

In the book I saw a recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies and decided to try them out tonight. They are like a brownie in a cookie. They definitely make the cut for my Christmas cookie tins!



Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Mix together cocoa, white sugar and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, stir in vanilla. In separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into cocoa mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least 4 hours or until firm enough to form into balls.

Preheat oven to 350, line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place confectioners sugar in shallow bowl. Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls. Roll dough balls in confectioners sugar until completely coated. Place on cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 8-12 minutes, just until edges are firm. Do not over bake. Let stand on cookie sheet for a minute, transfer to wire rack to cool.

Recipe is from The Great Cookie Book by Nordic Ware

~Kiss The Cook

Palmiers

This recipe comes from The Way The Cookie Crumbles. Possibly one of the easiest cookie recipes ever. It took me maybe 10 minutes of prep. They are delicious!


Original Recipe

Turkey Pasta Salad, Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

This recipe actually comes from the Betty Crocker website. It is really a chicken pasta salad, but I used turkey because it is what I had on hand. I also used rotini instead of bowtie pasta.



Chicken Pasta Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

3 cups uncooked farfalle (bow-tie) pasta (8 ounces)
6 1/2 cups frozen broccoli florets
2/3 cup refrigerated Alfredo sauce (from 10-ounce container)
1 jar (7 ounces) roasted red bell peppers, drained and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (6 ounces) refrigerated diced cooked chicken breast
1 can (11 ounces) Mexicorn whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained


1.Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli for last 3 minutes of cooking. Rinse with cold water; drain.
2.In small bowl, mix Alfredo sauce, bell peppers and salt. In large bowl, mix pasta, broccoli, chicken and corn. Add pepper mixture to pasta mixture; toss until coated. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving.

~Kiss The Cook

Peanut Butter Frosting

I made cupcakes tonight for Justin to take to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I cheated and used a boxed cake mix because I just didn't have time to do it from scratch. I decided to make the peanut butter frosting that everyone raved about last time, and I think it was even better this time! I chopped some Reese's cups up and sprinkled them on top as well.

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and chopped reese's on top


Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Put sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in mixer. Mix on medium low until creamy, scraping with spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high until the mixture is light and smooth.

Original Recipe

~Kiss The Cook

Best. Turkey. Ever.

Seriously. I am working on Thanksgiving, so Justin and I had our own little "Thanksgiving" dinner today. I tried a new recipe when I made our turkey today and it turned out amazing! It is a little time consuming, but well worth it. The meat comes out extremely moist and with just the right amount of flavor. SO GOOD!



Perfect Turkey
I used a 13 lb turkey and just adjusted the amount of ingredients a little.

1 (18 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine

1.Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt. Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or overnight.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.
3.Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.
4.Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

Original Recipe

~Kiss The Cook

Donut Muffins

This is a repost from my personal blog, but I haven't cooked anything exciting lately due to my work schedule. I have posted about these before in the community.




Donut Muffins

1-3/4 cup Flour
1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoons Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/3 cups Oil
3/4 cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
3/4 cups Milk

FOR THE TOPPING:
1/4 cups Butter
1/3 cups White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.

Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

Original Recipe

~Kiss The Cook