Chicken with mushroom wine sauce and pasta

 (From Tina Thomas)

6 chicken tenderloins (seasoned with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning
4 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
10 oz. of coursely chopped mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
1/3 cup of dry white wine
little less than a cup of heavy cream
dash of ground nutmeg
cooked pasta of your choice (I used Texas Gourmet Pasta's whole wheat mushroom linguine)

add 1 tablespoon of butter in pan on high heat and sear the chicken tenderloins about 3-4 minutes on each side, set chicken aside.  Clean out the pan and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat, saute the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes until tender.  Add the mushrooms and cook until they change color and start to turn brown.  Increase heat to medium high and add the wine, simmer until the wine has reduced about 2/3's.  Lower heat to medium low and add the cream and nutmeg, simmer about 5 minutes, do not boil.  Cut the chicken into about 1 inch pieces and add to the sauce, simmer another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve over cooked pasta of your choice and add shredded fresh parmesian cheese.  Enjoy! 

Note:  I actually came up with this recipe today and tried it out, amazing!  We inhaled it.  I'm sure that you could try it with olive oil instead of butter and half and half instead of the cream to make it a bit healthier, but I like it nice and fattening and bad for you....lol

Tilapia Filets with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

 (from Sara Kollar)

Ingredients

Creamy Mushroom Sauce:

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups sliced baby portobello mushrooms (cremini)

1/2 cup sliced scallions

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 pint heavy cream (I used about ¾ of this, not the full amount)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and black pepper 

Tilapia:

6 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets

1/3 cup Jamaican jerk seasoning marinade

Directions

Tilapia: Heat large skillet to medium or medium/high heat. Spray with non stick cooking spray. Rub filets with jerk seasoning. Saute tilapia for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through and flaky. Remove from heat.

Mushroom Scallion Sauce: Melt butter in a large saute pan. Saute mushrooms and scallions for about 3 minutes. Stir in wine and heavy cream. Season with garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Stir until sauce thickens slightly. Keep warm until ready to serve. Serve over Tilapia.

This would be great with couscous or rice with a side salad or steamed broccoli.

Catching Up

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. It's not that recipes weren't coming in, or that I didn't have things I could post. It was that the site had made changes that messed up my access and now it seems they've finally gotten it straightened out. So, here goes...

XOXO -Misty

Tina's Chicken Stock Recipe

Here is my recipe for home made chicken stock.  It can be used for the base for anything that calls for chicken stock or broth.

1 chicken carcass (you can used a whole chicken and just remove the meat from it after it has boiled for about 20 minutes and use it for other recipes or freeze it for later use)
1 carrot, chopped coursely with leaves and stem
2 celery stalks, chopped coursely with leave and stem
3 parsley stems with leaves
1 turnip, cut up coursely
1/2 sweet yellow onion, cut up coursely
3 green onions with white and green, cut up coursely
2 pieces of fresh ginger cut about 1/4" thick
2 cloves of garlic cut in half
about 10 whole black peppercorns
1 tsp of dried rosemary or 1 TBSP of fresh
1 tsp of dried thyme or 1 TBSP of fresh
1 bay leaves
about a tsp of cajun seasoning or to taste
salt to taste
water

Boil the carcass, veggies, herbs, and seasonings in enough water to cover it for 2-3 hours.  Strain the broth.  Add the liquid back into the stock pot and cook it down about 1/3 to condense it.

Homemade Frito Pie

I know most people just pop open a can of Wolf Brand when they want Frito pie, but that always leaves me feeling like I need a shower after I eat it. It's what I call "Eatin' Dirty". Other meals in this category include anything from the pre-made frozen foods section at the grocery store, anything with the word "helper" in the title, and anything from a fast food place...so basically anything good. This chili makes a TON so once it's made it's just as convenient as the canned stuff (mostly) and a whole lot better for you. Plus, I'm able to sneak in all the veggies and my kids don't mind. There are 2 places I "play" with this recipe a little: the meat (you need 3# total pounds and one of them should be Italian Sausage for the flavor, but you use whatever you want), and the beans (you need 45-60 oz. - yes, Sarah, that is a lot of beans, but stick with me and you'll see where I'm going with this - you pick your favorites. I usually stick with black and pinto). Also, if you want a drier chili so your chips won't get extra soggy drain the liquid from anything canned.

2# Ground Beef (I use ground turkey to make it healthier)

1# Italian Sausage (sometimes you can find this as regular ground meat, but if all you can find are the links those will work, too, just take the casings off and crumble the meat into the pan)

1 medium sized Sweet Onion, diced

1 Green Bell Pepper, diced

45 oz. canned Diced Tomatoes

1 T Cumin

1 T Chili Powder

15 oz. can Black Beans

15 oz. can Pinto Beans

15 oz. can Kidney Beans

(I just use 1 30 oz. can of Black & 1 30 oz. can of Pinto for mine)

1 package Chili Seasoning

2 C chopped celery (leaves, too)

Corn chips of your choice (FRITOS!)

Toppings of your choice



Brown meat, drain & set aside. Over medium heat saute onion, bell pepper & tomatoes. Add cumin & chili powder, & cook for 8 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add the beans, meat, chili seasoning & celery. Let simmer & slow cook for 4 hours. (NOTE: to cook faster, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer for 20 minute, or until celery is tender.) Serve over chips and top as you like. We use shredded cheddar, sour cream and diced green onions.

Tina's Tuna Steak Salad

Pan seared tuna with avocado and a cilantro lime sauce.

2 big handfuls of cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, sliced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger (I use a bit more)
1 garlic clove, grated or minced
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons soy sauce ( I used low sodium)
pinch sugar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 sushi quality tuna steaks
1 avacado, sliced

in a mixing bowl, combine the cilantro, jalapeno, ginger, garlic, lime, soy sauce, suger, salt, pepper, and 2 T of olive oil...I whisk this together.

heat skillet over med high heat and coat with remaining 2 T of olive oil. season tuna with salt and pepper. lay the tuna in the hot oil and sear for at least one minute on each side to form a slight crust. pour 1/2 of the cilantro sauce on the tuna in skillet.

Now the recipe says to service the tuna sliced with the avacado and drizzle the remaining sauce on the plate. what i do is mix the remaining sauce with rice wine vinegar and service the tuna and avacado sliced on top of a green salad and use the sauce with the vinegar as a dressing. it's super good!

Dinner Tonight?

Well, Tina just sent in a recipe that sounds really good. She's making it tonight and when she takes a pic and sends it to me I'll post it. For now, though, what's everyone else making?


Tonight, we eat light. It's a "Make Your Own Salad" bar night. Gotta shed some of the pounds we've been putting back on with all this yummy food we've been making.