Slow Cooking Thursday: Tuscan Chicken and Beans

This is a very flavorful dish. Serve with some warm crusty bread and a green salad for a complete meal.

Tuscan Chicken and Beans
Serves 6

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut in 1″ cubes
1 red pepper, diced
1 can cannelini beans, drained
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 ounces spaghetti

In a crockpot, layer onion, garlic, carrots and celery on the bottom. Add the chicken next then the peppers, beans, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Add spaghetti sauce and water. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender and cooked.

Cook the linguine according to package directions. Serve chicken on top of pasta.

For more slow cooker meals, hop over to Sandra’s blog.

Fish Parmesan

My take on an old Italian classic, Chicken Parmigiana using fish instead. This is simple and delicious.

Fish Parmesan
Serves 6

5 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper — to taste
3 tablespoons butter
6 fish fillets — fresh or frozen
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

On a dinner plate, combine flour, cornmeal and seasonings. Melt butter in a shallow baking dish. Dredge fish in flour mixture and place in baking dish. Turn fish to coat with butter; then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Slow Cooking Thursday: Chicken Fried Chops

Oh yeah, this is some good stick-to-your-ribs food!

Chicken-Fried Chops
Serves 6

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 pork loin chops, trimmed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/3 cup water

In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt, mustard and garlic powder; dredge pork chops. In a skillet, brown the chops on both sides in oil. Place in a slow cooker. Combine soup and water; pour over chops. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. If desired thicken pan juices and serve with the pork chops.

For more slow cooker meals, hop on over to Sandra’s blog.

Baked Ravioli

This is a simple, yet delicious dish. It can easily be adapted to make smaller, individual size meals if desired.

Baked Ravioli
serves 8

1 pkg frozen ravioli (you can use meat or cheese filled)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Spaghetti sauce (jarred or homemade)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a 13×9″ baking dish with Pam cooking spray.

Cook the ravioli as directed on the package and drain well. Toss the ravioli with melted butter in the prepared baking dish. Mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and pepper together. Toss this with the ravioli. Sprinkle with parsely, if using.

Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, or until the ravioli is hot and golden brown. Serve with the warmed spaghetti sauce poured over top.

Italian Fried Fish

This is from a wonderful cookbook Saving Dinner. My family has loved every single recipe I’ve tried from this book

Fish Romano

Serves: 6

3/4 cup white wine

1 teaspoon thyme

4 cloves garlic — pressed

6 fish fillets (white fish)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup Romano cheese — grated

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

salt & pepper — to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large zipper-topped plastic bag, combine first 4 ingredients. Add fish, seal bag, and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning bag occasionally.

Meanwhile, combine flour, Romano cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in another large zipper-topped plastic bag. Remove fish fillets from marinade (discard marinade) and add them to the flour bag, close bag, and shake to coat evenly with flour mixture.

In a skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add fish and cook 6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

BBQ Corned Beef Sandwiches (aka Sloppy Joes)

It may seem strange to add corned beef to this, however it adds such an interesting taste to this mix. The texture of the corned beef is similar to the hamburger when cooked. You honestly don’t realize it is in there, but it sure is missed if this is made without it. My mother used to make this meal for me and my brother. She kept the corned beef ingredient secret from us. I didn’t realize this was the “secret ingredient” until I was grown and asked for the recipe to make for my own family. You can decrease the amount of chili powder if your stomach is sensitive to this ingredient.

BBQ Corned Beef Sandwiches
1 pound hamburger
1 small onion, chopped
1 can corned beef
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 cup catsup
1 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Brown ground beef and onion in skillet. Drain off excess fat. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer until thick. Serve on buns. Yield: approx 10 sandwiches

I usually serve this with chips and veggies or fruit for a quick meal.

This recipe is easy to make into a double or triple batch and divide up into freezer containers. Just remember to take it out of the freezer in the morning to allow it to thaw. I usually reheat in the microwave.

Beef Taquitos

I first got this recipe from an email loop called Friendly Freezer. I’ve received many yummy, tried and true recipes from this group. I try to find out who first submitted the recipes to give proper credit. This is daughter number two’s favorite dinner.

Beef Taquitos
Recipe By: Dawn Flynn from “Friendly Freezer”

5 pounds roast beef
onion soup mix
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
garlic powder
onion powder
1 1/2 cups picante sauce OR salsa OR 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
flour tortillas (lately I’ve been using eggroll wrappers, it makes for a lighter dish)

Cook roast in roasting pan, pouring onion soup mix dissolved in 1 cup water over it.
Cook 325 degrees for 34-38 minutes/pound

Let cool thoroughly overnight in fridge.

Finely chop roast beef ( use a food processor) and mix with cheddar cheese, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, picante sauce and onion in a large bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Portion 1/4 cup mixture onto each flour tortilla in the lower 1/3 of the tortilla. Roll up tortilla.

Heat electric skillet to 300 degrees covering bottom with oil. Fry taquitos with open edge down to seal. Turn over fry other side. Serve hot with condiments.

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares

Another favorite from my own childhood that has become a favorite of my own children. My oldest daughter would request this, along with homemade mac & cheese for her birthday dinner every year. It is definitely NOT a low fat-low calorie dish, but it is delicious. My mother first found this recipe in a Pillsbury Cook-Off Recipe book from the 1960’s.

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoons chopped chives or onions
1 tablespoons chopped pimientos (optional)
1 8 oz. can crescent rolls
3/4 cups seasoned croutons, crushed

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and 2 tablespoons butter (reserve 1 tablespoon) until smooth. Add next 6 ingredients. Mix well.  Separate crescent dough into 4 rectangles, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto center of each rectangle.  Pull 4 corners of dough to top center of chicken mixture, twist slightly and seal edges. Brush tops with reserved tablespoon of butter; dip in crouton crumbs. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in 350 degree oven 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

When all my children are home, I double this recipe. My second daughter doesn’t like the crescent dough crust, so I spoon out a little of the filling and put it in an individual baking dish and bake it for her. There is more than enough filling to spare for this.

I’ve experimented and found a way to prepare this to have in the freezer. Simply prepare the recipe as directed, only bake the squares for about 10-15 minutes, just until set but not brown. Cool the squares and flash freeze them on a piece of foil or waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Once each square is individually frozen, package them in freezer bags. You can then take out as many as you want to bake (1 or many!), place them in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until browned. You can cook them from the frozen state.

Gnocchi

A few years ago, my husband and I were watching a cooking show on PBS. This meal was made and we thought it sounded good. However, we didn’t write the recipe down! So we went from memory and tried to make it. As it turns out, my son just loved it, althought the rest of the kids didn’t. This is definitely not a low-carb, low-cal meal. It is simple and filling.

Gnocchi

Serves: 6

1 package frozen gnocchi (I have a hard time finding this frozen now, I can find this in the fresh pasta area of the store)
16 ounces cottage cheese
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

Cook gnocchi as directed on package. Drain. Add 3/4 to full container of cottage cheese. Add crumbled bacon. Serve piping hot.

Serve this with a crispy Italian-style salad and crunchy bread and you are good to go.

French Toast Casserole

Every once in awhile, we like to have breakfast for supper. I never seem to be able to actually make this dish for breakfast, so my family only knows it as a supper dish. This is so easy, and so yummy.

French Toast Casserole

1 loaf Cinnamon Swirl Bread, cubed (8 cups)
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
powdered sugar

Place bread cubes in greased 3-qt shallow baking dish. Mix eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight. Uncover. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

NOTE: May use the following adjustment:
1/2 loaf stale Italian bread, cubed
1/3 cup white sugar mixed with 1/4 cup cinnamon.
Mix together and let sit abou 30 minutes. Proceed with rest of recipe.