Shredded Chicken Nachos

So I wanted to fix something yummy, easy, and would go over well with everyone. This is far from your eatery recipe. Not greasy, no canned veggies, and cooked with love.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Jalapeno Peppers
Bell Peppers Assorted Colors
Mexican blend shredded cheese
3 Tomatoes
Green Onion
Avocado
Diced Garlic
.5-1 Tbsp Cumin depending on intensity desired
.5-1 Tbsp Badia Sazon Tropical depending on intensity desired
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
EVOO First Press
Lime Juice
Tortilla Chips

Step 1:
Prep veggies, slice and dice how you like it does not matter. Dice tomato and place in bowl, add 1.5 Tsp lime juice, and green onions. Pinch of salt and black pepper. Let sit.

Step 2:
Boil chicken until slightly pink, drain, rinse off, and shred. Place in hot olive oil with spices and 3 cloves diced garlic. Toss around until meat is slightly browned.

Step 3:
Place tortilla chips on baking pans, place chicken on top spread evenly. Evenly cover with cheese. I do not like nachos to be too greasy so I use just enough to cheese when melted it covers with a thin layer. Add tomato mixture, bell peppers, and Jalapeno's. Bake on 350 until cheese is melted all the way.

Cut up Avocado and place on some chips, adds a nice flavor!

Leftover Turkey Bake Oh So Good!

Ingredients:
Leftover Turkey
Leftover Mashed Potatoes
1 Tsp Thyme
1 Tsp Garlic
Fresh Green Beans
1 regular sized package of bacon cooked to a crisp
Freshly Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Freshly Grated Asiago
Whole Milk Mozzarella
Fresh Baby Bella Mushrooms

Step 1:
Place potatoes and turkey in oiled baking dish. Mix together well, add turkey and potatoes for desired consistency. Mix in Thyme and Garlic.

Step 2:
Blanch green beans for 2 minutes, remove, drain, let cool. Grate cheeses.

Step 3:
Cook bacon to a crisp, drain off grease, crumble into potato and turkey mixture. Add green beans and mix well. Cover top with cheeses to desired amount or just enough to cover the top. Bake on 350 until cheese is melted

Enjoy!

Chicken, Shells, and White Sauce

Ingredients:
Medium Shell Pasta
1 Large carton light cream (1 quart)
1.5 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano freshly grated
1.5 cups Asiago cheese freshly grated
3 chicken breasts thawed
2 cups chopped spinach
3 cloves garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil First Press
1 Tbsp Litehouse freeze dried Italian Spice
Sea Salt
Black pepper

Step 1:
Place cream, cheeses, pinch of salt, pinch of black pepper, and seasoning into sauce pan. Cook on medium until sauce thickens and cheese melted all the way.

Step 2:
Boil noodles, drain, and rinse.

Step 2:
Cut chicken in thin pieces saute with garlic and olive oil, until lightly browned. Add to sauce. Add spinach and let simmer for 15 minutes or until spinach is all the way cooked. Add noodles and mix well.

Delish!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
Red Bell Pepper tops cut keep caps, leaves seeds in
Black Beans canned or home cooked, I use home cooked
Yellow Corn
Rice
Sirloin Steak sliced thin
Lime Juice
Cilantro
6 Roma Tomatoes
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Sugar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Step 1:
Dice tomatoes add cilantro, 3-4 drops lime juice, pinch of salt, pinch of black pepper. Let sit for about 10 minutes add black beans, and corn, a pinch of sugar, and rice. Mix well.

Step 2:
In hot oil, sear steak, toss around for about 30 seconds, place in salsa mixture. Stuff peppers with mixture, place caps back on, back on 375 until skin begins to wrinkle on the peppers.

Add toppings as you want them, I used tortilla chips

Hearty, healthy, and filling!

Rigatoni and Things

So I like to take Italian dishes and make them a bit healthier for you.

Ingredients:
1 Box Rigatoni Pasta
1 Large carton light cream (1 quart)
3 Cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2.5-3 cups part skin milk Mozzarella
4 Cups chopped spinach
1 Tbsp Litehouse freeze dried Italian seasoning
Extra Virgin Olive Oil First Press
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Step 1:
Place cream, 2 Tbsp Olive Oil, cheeses, a pinch of sea salt, and a pinch of black pepper into sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until sauce thickens, do not burn cream with heat too high, make sure all cheese is melted. Stir often. Add cheese as needed to thicken. Place chopped spinach into sauce let simmer on low for 5-6 minutes.

Step 2:
Cook pasta, drain, rinse, and place into baking dish, poor sauce over, mix well. Make sure pasta is covered well with sauce inside and out. Add mozzarella cheese, bake on 350 until cheese is melded and golden.

Serve with a light salad.

Now eat up, enjoy, oh so good!

Garlic Bread BBQ Sandwich

Ingredients:

3 lbs boneless chicken breast
American Cheese
French Hamburger Buns
4 cloves diced garlic
Butter
Honey Sweet BBQ Sauce, Any Type that you prefer
Mixed veggies
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Step 1:
Boil chicken breast until slightly pink, shred, and place in crock pot for 4 hours on high.

Step 2:
Melt butter with garlic, spread all over halved buns, bake until toasted, melt cheese on buns add BBQ chicken

Step 3:
Place frozen mixed veggies in pan, add a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, cover and let cook until veggies are done but not mushy.

Enjoy!

A few bits of info

Those who are close to me know I use Huy Fong sriracha hot sauce all the time, the flavor is amazing, the spice level is mild but enough to give a tingle, and I use it often. However do not confuse this is true sriracha which is tangier and sweeter than the rooster sauce we know here in the states. There are some very good premade sriracha sauces at the asian market. You may go through a few to find one that has a good balance of sweet and spicy. I do know how to make this homemade but it can be labor intensive. I will put up the recipe for a traditional sriracha sauce as soon as I can.

Stuffed Cubed Steak Marinated in Asian Sauce

054.JPG">
So I love Asian and well I have not cooked a lot of it lately because I wanted to give some other things a try. But this turned out awesome enough to put up online. I hope you enjoy this we much as we did.

Ingredients:
Thin rice noodles cooked
Cubed steak cut into smaller pieces that can still hold ingredients
Thinly cut carrots
Sweet onion
Soy Sauce
Sesame Seed
Chow Mein noodle
Fish sauce
Lime juice
Unprocessed sugar
Sriracha hot sauce
Sesame oil

Step 1:
Mix weel 4 Tbsp fish sauce, 4 Tbsp soy sauce, 4 Tbsp lime juice, 2 Tbsp sugar. Marinate steak in this mixture for 30-40 minutes.

Step 2:
Roll cubed steak around carrots and onions, not too much that the steak will not stay wrapped. Place in hot sesame oil with the seem down first, roll around and sear on all sides. Take out sprinkle sesame seed on top and place on oiled cooking sheet, bake on 350 until beef is done.

Step 3:
Place on bed of rice noodles, add hot sauce and chow mein noodles, fresh, tasty, and well cook it you tell me what you think!

Not So Normal Thanksgiving Twist

Mandi does so much for my creativity when it comes to food and well this dish is dedicated to her. For those of you who do not know my wife Mandi is truly an Angel, the most beautiful person I have ever met.

Ingredients:
3 cups Deli Sun dried tomato Turkey, or if you can find the one we used its amazing, Archer Farms Raspberry and Orange Rubbed Turkey breast
6 slices creamy Havarti cheese
Fresh spinach
Freshly grated Asiago cheese
Olive Oil
4 Large sweet potatoes cut into small chunks
1 large flat bread loaf
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Cilantro
Real Butter
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
Black pepper

Step 1:
Place all ingredients on flat bread, starting with the thyme, cilantro, spinach, turkey, havarti, and then asiago, lightly oil pan with some extra virgin olive oil. Bake on 350 until all cheese has melted.

Step 2:
Place sweet potato chunks in boiling water, cook until done, mash in some butter to taste, salt to taste, and black pepper to taste. Do not over do the seasoning or you will take away from the flavor of the potato itself.

You may need a towel to wipe up your drool! Bon Appetit

Italian Heaven and Cheese Bread

I am not a huge fan of cooking Italian, a lot of it can be very heavy, when I do cook this type of cuisine I like to make it fresh, healthy, and oh so good.

Ingredients:
3 thawed sliced in strips chicken breast
Italian bread crumbs
3 eggs
Fresh Basil
Freshly grated Asiago cheese
6 chopped roma tomatoes
2 tbsp Litehouse freeze dried Italian seasoning
Angel hair pasta
6 diced garlic clove
1 tbsp unprocessed sugar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Cuban bread sliced
Butter
Whole milk mozzarella


Step 1:
Place 4 cloves diced garlic in hot olive oil, let cook a few seconds to bring out the flavor even more. Sear chicken on both sides in olive oil and garlic. Let chicken cool. Beat 3 egss, dip chicken in egg, then place in bread crumbs inside a plastic bag, shake well to coat evenly.

Step 2:
In a 350 degree preheated oven, place the chicken on an oiled baking sheet, bake until chicken is done, brush olive oil as needed on the chicken. While this is baking start the pasta and sauce.

Step 3:
In a saute pan place diced tomato, seasoning, and enough olive oil to coat pan, cook tomatoes down, do not worry about the skins, do not cook too long as to turn the tomato into mush, you want chunks. Add sugar as needed to reduce bitterness of the tomato as needed. A pinch of seal salt and mix well.

Step 4:
Take butter, 2 cloves diced garlic, 1 tsp rosemary, and melt butter down with the ingredients. Take your sliced cuban or french bread, lather with butter mixture using cooking brush. Toast evenly on both sides. Add whole milk mozzarella and you have some awesome bread!

Step 5:
Place baked chicken on a bed of pasta, lather with sauce, top off with freshly grated Asiago, and fresh basil. Let sit for about 5-6 minutes so the juices from the sauce get into the breading of the chicken

Enjoy!
Take

Beef and Noodles

So I would call this beef stew but it is not really that at all, but whatever you want to call it it is hearty, healthy, and delicious.

Ingredients:
2 lbs stewing beef chunks
Egg noodles
Frozen mixed veggies
1 medium can low sodium Campbell's cream of mushroom
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Step 1:
Place beef in crock pot with enough water to cover plus 2 inches, salt and pepper to taste, I usually use about 1/2 tbsp salt and 1/2 black pepper, cook for 4-6 hours or until the beef is fall apart.

Step 2:
Do not drain beef broth, add frozen mixed veggies, and cream of mushroom, let simmer for about 15 minutes or until the soup has completely mixed with other ingredients, add cooked egg noodles, and eat up.

The great thing about this dish is that you are keeping all the vitamins and minerals all in the soup since you are not boiling the veggies in water then eating them, or draining the beef broth.

Spicy Chicken Ciabatta

I love to try new things and experiment and this sandwich turned out very juicy and full of tasty goodness.

Ingredients:
3 thawed chicken breast halves
1.5 tbsp Goya Tropical Seasoning
6 slices god quality pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
1 large ciabatta bread loaf
fresh sliced tomato
romaine lettuce
olive oil
3 cloves diced garlic

Step 1
Saute chicken in with garlic, about 1 tbsp olive oil (just enough to have a thin layer coating the pan) and Goya seasoning sprinkled evenly over the chicken. Cook until chicken is fully done.

Step 2
Lightly oil a cookie sheet with olive oil, place the ciabatta loaf halves crust down, place chicken breast on, add pepper jack and cover chicken, on the other half add the cheddar, bake until the cheese in melted, let cool for about 3-4 minutes, add lettuce and put the two halves together, cut to the size you would like and enjoy!