Oriental Chicken

Another Campbell's recipe that's worth trying.

Oriental Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup water
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen green beans
2 green onions, chopped

Saute chicken in oil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, heat to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for five minutes. Serve over rice.

*Try assorted oriental veggies or add carrots!

Campbell's Week: Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Super easy!

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack is great!)
6 flour tortillas, warmed
1 small tomato, chopped (opt.)
1 green onion, sliced (opt.)

Heat oven to 350. Stir soup, sour cream, salsa, and chili powder in a medium-sized bowl.

Stir 1 cup of the sauce mixture with chicken and cheese in a large bowl. Divide this mixture up between the six tortillas. Roll tortillas and place them seam-side up in a 2 quart shallow baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the rolled tortillas. Cover.

Bake for 40 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and bubbling. Top with tomato and onion.

Add a little protein and fiber by stirring in 1/2 cup rinsed black beans with chicken before filling tortillas.

Campbell's Week: Citrus & Salsa Pork Roast

Citrus & Salsa Pork Roast

1 jar (11 oz.) chunky salsa
1 large can (11 oz.) Mandarin orange segments, drained
2 lbs. pork tenderloins (or chicken, if that's what you've got!)
1 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)

Heat over to 425. Stir salsa and oranges in a small bowl. Place meat in a shallow 3 quart pan. Rub meat with oil, pour on salsa mixture. Bake for 35 minutes or until meat is cooked through. Remove from pan and let stand for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime.

Try this with peach slices or pineapple chunks! Serve with rice.

On a budget? Check the manager's special section of the meat department for great deals on cuts you wouldn't normally buy.

Chicken Enchilada Pizza

Chicken Enchilada Pizzas

4 flour tortillas (10-inch)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 c. chopped cooked chicken breast
½ c. green salsa (red also works)
1 can (2¼ oz.) sliced ripe olives, drained
1/3 c. sour cream
1 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Heat oven to 400, place tortillas on ungreased cookie sheet, bake about 5 minutes or
until crisp.
2. While tortillas are baking, heat oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Cook onion in oil, stirring frequently, until tender; remove from heat. Stir in chicken,
salsa and olives.
3. Spread sour cream on tortillas. Top with chicken mixture and cheese. Bake 5-6 minutes
or until cheese is melted.

I'm not really a fan of olives, so I substituted a small can of diced green chilis to add some zest!

Back in Business! Thai Chicken Pizza

Sorry for the recipe hiatus: it was finals week here and both computers bit the dust! My rented desktop had to be returned before my husband could graduate (congratulations Eric! I love you!) and my husband's laptop suddenly gave up the ghost.

NOW it's time to get back to cooking (the easy way!). I love pizza, but homemade pizza either requires a lot of work to make everything from scratch or money to buy all of the ingredients. I was so excited when I found these recipes for variety pizzas that use tortillas and other easy to find ingredients.

Thai Chicken Pizza

6 flour tortillas (10-inch)
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 c. chopped cooked chicken breast
1 lb. frozen (or canned) stir-fry vegetables, thawed and drained

1. Heat oven to 400. Place tortillas on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 5 minutes or 
until crisp.
2. Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar; spread over tortillas. Top each with 1/4  c. 
cheese. Spread chicken and vegetables evenly over tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining 
cheese.
3. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until pizzas are hot and cheese is melted.

Updates and Cake Wrecks

I hope you've gotten a chance to try some of the recipes from the past few weeks! They're all tried and trued but up for tweaking. Please let me know if you change something and love it! I made the Taco Quiche the other day with a few revisions and it was great! I prepared the meat the same way, but added a can of corn, a can of black beans, and mexican rice (if you haven't tried the cheapo rice sides mixes, you're missing out!). It was delicious and much improved.

Second bit of news: the 5 Things Cooking giveaway is still going for one more day! Thanks for those of you who have submitted recipes and keep them coming! Please add your votes to the poll in the sidebar as well. I'm always looking for new things to try so they might as well be things that interest you as well...

Third, I have to pass on one of my favorite blogs, which isn't really a cooking blog, but celebrates the worst of professional cake decorating. If you're looking for a good laugh on a gray day, this is it. Cake Wrecks. Check it out--I promise you won't regret it! Click on the "best of" links in the sidebar to see some of the most popular wrecks.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

This recipe is great for chicken or stir-fry veggies. You can pour it over chicken in the crockpot (cook on low 7 hours or high 3.5 hours) or coat breaded chicken for a quick but classy meal.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/4 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. water
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 c. pineapple juice (open a can of pineapple chunks to serve with your chicken or veggies and just pour the juice in)

My favorite combination of veggies includes green and red peppers, thinly sliced onion, and pineapple chunks. Serve over rice and top with low mein noodles for extra crisp!

Taco Quiche

This one comes from a great website geared toward kid-friendly food. Check out Recipes for Moms for more tips and tricks!

Taco Quiche

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 c. shredded cheese
1/2 c. biscuit mix (i.e. Bisquick)
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk

Brown meat with onion, pepper, and taco seasoning. Spread into greased 9" pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese. In a bowl, combine biscuit mix with egg and milk; mix well. Pour over cheese and meat. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

**To make this one healthier and cheaper, use half of the meat and add beans (refried or black) after browning. Less cheese provides the same flavor with less fat! Serve with a side salad and use fat-free plain yogurt instead of sour cream for an extra boost.

***Remember, you can save yourself prep time by dicing a whole onion and storing what you don't use in an air tight freezer bag for next time! Using frozen vegetables lets you saute without adding oil. Also works great for bell peppers--cut a whole pepper into strips and dice before using.

Kyoto Salad Dressing

This salad dressing is amazing! It's a personal favorite as it looks classy, goes on anything from chicken to fruit salad, and has a bit of ethnic flair.

Kyoto Salad Dressing

1/2 c. rice vinegar (sold on the Ethnic aisle--NOT white vinegar!)
1/3 c. yellow mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar (scant)
1 c. canola oil
1 tsp. black pepper

Blend rice vinegar, mustard, salt, and sugar until well mixed. Add canola oil and blend again. Stir in freshly ground coarse black pepper. Pour into glass bottle or salad dressing bottle. Refrigerate.

Takes less than 5 minutes in a blender, chills quickly. Try it with anything!

PF Changs Lettuce Wraps

I think I have a new favorite recipe! I've been waiting to post this one until I tried it--and it really is THAT good.

Lettuce Wraps

4 chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless, frozen is okay)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. white wine (I used white vinegar, rice vinegar, and a pinch of sugar)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
garlic powder (or 5 chopped cloves)
dash of allspice

Put chicken in crockpot with onions and garlic powder. Mix everything else together and pour the sauce over the chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-6, stirring occasionally. Shred chicken ~30 minutes before serving. Serve buffet style in lettuce wraps.

I added chow mein noodles for a bit of crunch and some stir-fry veggies and rice to balance out the meat. Add hoison or plum sauce if needed!

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

Tried and tested!

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

4 lb. chicken
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp. red vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Mix sauce, pour over chicken in crockpot. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. Serves 6.

I halved this for my smaller family. Can be shredded as it cooks. Best served over rice with steamed veggies. Add pineapple for extra zest!

Stir-fry in seconds...

So I'm a huge fan of variety and for that reason I LOVE "ethnic" food. I think by ethnic I mean something other than pasta, because that seems to be the cheapest and easiest for college student budgets.

There are tons of ways to make good stir fry and chinese food, but here are my quick suggestions.

1. Good sauce
2. Chinese veggies
3. Meat optional
4. Rice

Again, I love my rice cooker so I can't imagine living without it, but instant rice is not too bad either and takes about the same amount of time to stir fry.

There are lots of different kinds of veggies that work great for stir fry, I usually buy what is cheapest. In the frozen food section there is usually a bag of "chinese starters" or something like that that includes basics like mini-corn and water chestnuts. The type in a can tends to include more sprouts and such but they both work well.

If I have chicken or pork I add that, but if I don't have it or only have a little, I make up the difference with vegetables and it's still great.

There are lots of different sauces. If you have to pick simply one, I recommend a teriyaki merinade or sauce--it's a common flavor that everyone likes but it's not just salt like soy sauce. I also favor Hoison sauce if you're looking for a little more authentic.

Other than that, it's super easy. If you add a little sauce before adding meat you never have to add oil, which makes it healthier. Saute meat over med-high heat until brown, add veggies and more sauce, cook until medium soft (don't want mushy vegetables!) or until the rice is done. Works great as leftovers as well.

Also, if you check out the foreign food aisle of most grocery stores you will find sauce packets for a variety of chinese food that usually are pretty good. My favorites are sesame, hot & spicy, and honey teriyaki. The sweet and sour are generally NOT good, but I have an awesome quickie recipe for that if you're in the mood!