Quick Fettuccine Cacciatore

This recipe brought me back to the reason I love to cook.....because the food is so good! It came from the Spring 2006 Kraft Food and Family magazine. It looks like the Food Family magazine is sending out it's Summer 2006 issue! I'm pumped for some new recipes! I used regular spaghetti and Basil seasoning instead of the fettuccine and fresh chopped basil. Tim had seconds on this dinner so you know it's good. I definitely give this recipe a 5!

8 oz. fettuccine, uncooked
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup each: sliced green peppers and sliced mushrooms
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian Mozzarella/Parmesan Cheese Blend
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir until no longer pink. Add peppers and mushrooms; cook 3 min., stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes with their liquid and the dressing. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

TOSS pasta with the chicken mixture; sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Parmesan-crusted Chicken

Well from last weeks near disaster seafood lasagna of which 1/3 still remains in our fridge....and will eventually just make its way to the trash.....here's a better recipe! It comes from the Everyday Food magazine (one of Martha Stewart's spin off magazines). I got it for free in the mail and didn't subscribe for it so don't hate me for using it! It turned out pretty good. The picture I have is not the one used in the magazine.....they don't have the recipe on their website anymore...dumb....oh well. So it will look different than this picture but it gives you an idea. Also when it calls for fresh lemon juice make sure you use a real lemon and squeeze out the juice. If you don't have one then the little lemon bottles work but use less than what it calls for because that stuff is strong! Anyway I give this recipe a 4 ENJOY!

4 slices firm white sandwich bread, torn into large pieces
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh parsley
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten (poor egg)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets (I used chicken breasts so it takes more time to cook them)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1. In a food processor, pulse bread, parmesan cheese, parsley, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper until fine crumbs form. Transfer mixture to one shallow bowl; place egg in another bowl.

2. One at a time, dip each chicken cutlet into egg, let excess drip off, then dip into breadcrumb mixture. Press on crumbs firmly.

3. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook cutlets, two at a time, adding remaining Tbsp oil for second batch, until cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side.

4. Wipe skillet clean. Add lemon juice and 1/4 cup water, cook over low until steaming. 1 minute. Add mustard. Remove pan from heat and stir in butter until combined. Serve cutlets with sauce.

No-Fail Baked Seafood Lasagna

This recipe comes from the Spring 2006 issue of the Kraft Food and Family magazine. It's funny that this recipe says it's a "no-fail" recipe because this happened to be one of those recipes that Tim said "wasn't bad, but wasn't his favorite". I thought for sure it would be a hit because it had shrimp in it, which is Tim's favorite thing to eat. I thought it was pretty good but it was a little too sweet. The recipe calls for just a little bit of nutmeg and I used imitation crab meat instead of canned crabmeat which already has a slight sweet taste to it. So instead of nutmeg I think I would just add salt. We'll be adding salt to the leftovers. I give this recipe a 3.

3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Cottage Cheese
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
9 lasagna noodles, cooked, drained
1/2 lb. fresh or thawed frozen cleaned medium shrimp (31 to 35 count), cooked
2 cans (6 oz. each) crabmeat, drained, flaked

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Melt butter in large saucepan on medium heat. Add flour; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Gradually add milk, mixing well after each addition. Bring to boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; simmer 3 to 5 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan cheese; set aside. Combine spinach, cottage cheese, 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese and the nutmeg.

SPREAD 1/4 of the Parmesan cheese sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan. Cover with 3 of the lasagna noodles and layers of 1/2 each of the shrimp, crabmeat and spinach mixture; top with 1/4 of the Parmesan cheese sauce. Repeat layers, starting with the noodles. Top with remaining 3 lasagna noodles, remaining Parmesan cheese sauce and the remaining 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil.

BAKE 25 min. Uncover; bake an additional 20 min. or until lasagna is heated through and top is lightly browned. Let stand 10 min. before cutting into 12 pieces to serve.

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas

Last night I made a dish from a recipe I got on the Pillsbury website. It won the prize for the America's Favorite Recipe at the Pillsbury Bake off so I thought I'd try it out. It was awesome! You hardly even noticed that it was a vegetarian dish. It called for red enchilada sauce so I went to the All Recipes website for a recipe on that since that was the one ingredient I didn't have. So I made my first vegetarian dish and my first try at enchilada sauce. I'll post both recipes here. I think it turned out great! We had some people over for dinner that night and when I told them it didn't have any meat in it, they were like "are you serious?". It was pretty funny. Anyway I give both of these recipes a 5!

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits in juice, drained, 1/3 cup juice reserved
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (12 oz)
1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso® mild enchilada sauce
8 whole wheat flour tortillas (8 or 9 inch)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
8 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pineapple, beans, green chiles and salt. Cook and stir until thoroughly heated. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup cilantro and 2 cups of the cheese.
2. Spoon and spread 1 tablespoon enchilada sauce onto each tortilla. Spoon about 3/4 cup vegetable mixture over sauce on each. Roll up tortillas; place seam side down in baking dish.
3. In small bowl, mix reserved 1/3 cup pineapple juice and remaining enchilada sauce; pour over entire surface of enchiladas in dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Spray sheet of foil large enough to cover baking dish with cooking spray; place sprayed side down over baking dish and seal tightly.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, removing foil during last 5 to 10 minutes of baking, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Top each baked enchilada with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 teaspoon cilantro.

Ten Minute Enchilada Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.

Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.

Philadelphia Cherry Danish Dessert

Coming to you live from the Kraft Food and Family Magazine, holiday 2005 issue...are you catching the trend? I love this magazine! And did I mention it's free! I love that part too. So yesterday I decided to make a dessert....now can that really help my waistline? I think not but did it taste good? You better believe it! I mean who doesn't love dessert and you all know how much I LOVE cherry pie filling! I give this recipe a 5!

2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls, divided
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 egg white
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can (20 oz.) cherry pie filling
3 Tbsp. milk

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Unroll 1 of the cans of crescent dough into 2 long rectangles. Place in greased 13x9-inch baking pan; press onto bottom of pan to form crust, firmly pressing seams together to seal.

BEAT cream cheese, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the egg white and vanilla with electric
mixer on medium speed until well blended. Spread onto crust; cover with pie filling. Unroll remaining can of crescent dough; separate into 2 long rectangles. Pat out to form 13x9-inch rectangle, pressing seams together to seal. Place over pie filling to form top crust.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown; cool slightly. Gradually add milk to remaining 3/4 cup sugar, beating with wire whisk until well blended. Drizzle over warm dessert. Cut into 24 rectangles to serve. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Bruschetta 'n Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Tonight's meal again taken from the Kraft Food and Family Magazine, spring 2006 issue. It turned out great! I thought it was going to be hard to make but it was quick and easy and I even made Tim pound the chicken flat....how nice was he to offer help :)

The recipe calls for 8 pieces of chicken but I only used 4 because let's face it, we don't need to eat 8 pieces of chicken and I don't need 6 pieces left over to eat the rest of the week. It worked out fine with four, I just poured the rest of the mixture on top of it when I baked it. I give this recipe a 5!

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

1-1/4 cups KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

8 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 lb.)

1/3 cup KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Combine tomatoes with their liquid, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the basil and dry stuffing mix; stir just until moistened.

PLACE 2 chicken breast halves in large freezer-weight resealable plastic bag. Pound chicken with side of heavy can, rolling pin or meat mallet until chicken is 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken breast halves, adding 2 at a time to bag. Place chicken, top-sides down, on large cutting board; spread evenly with stuffing mixture. Starting at one of the narrow ends, tightly roll up chicken. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish. Drizzle evenly with dressing.

BAKE 40 min. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake an additional 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F) and cheese is melted.