Balsamic Chicken and Vegetables

Weight Watchers Points: 6pts per serving

This was an absolutely delicious New Recipe Friday recipe. I actually cannot wait to make this again it was that good. A bit too much though. I took the smallest chicken breast and it was still too much to eat, so I gave it to Robin to finish off. I served this with fresh French bread and an Olive Oil Balsamic dip, oh and herbed couscous! Now, the points above are for the chicken and vegetables, not the couscous... I threw the box away (the couscous is Far East brand).

This recipe is a Better Homes and Garden recipe...

ingredients

• 1/4 cup bottled Italian salad dressing
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound chicken breast tenderloins
• 10 ounces fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces, or one 10-ounce package frozen cut asparagus, thawed and well drained
• 1 cup purchased shredded carrot
• 1 small tomato, seeded and chopped

directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, honey, and crushed red pepper. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink, turning once. Add half of the dressing mixture to skillet; turn chicken to coat. Transfer chicken to a serving platter; cover and keep warm.

3. Add asparagus and carrot to skillet. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender; transfer to serving platter.

4. Stir remaining dressing mixture; add to skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Drizzle the dressing mixture over chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with tomato. Makes 4 servings.

nutrition facts

• Servings Per Recipe 4 servings
• Calories 269,
• Total Fat (g) 12,
• Saturated Fat (g) 2,
• Cholesterol (mg) 66,
• Sodium (mg) 323,
• Carbohydrate (g) 12,
• Fiber (g) 2,
• Protein (g) 27,
• Vitamin A (DV%) 0,
• Vitamin C (DV%) 0,
• Calcium (DV%) 0,
• Iron (DV%) 0,

Good friends good meal!

In the first picture.... my BFF and her hubby!

I am a dork and I really don't know the "proper" way to set a table, but this worked for me! I love having friends (or family) over for dinner so I can use all my pretty wedding gifts! Plus, its just fun to entertain! Especially entertaining in my new kitchen!

Other Sides from 1-8-10

Ok, so these pictures were taken with my phone and suck really bad. Tonight's dinner will be much better because I'll be taking pictures with my new awesomely cool phone with a 4mp camera. Mmmm... new phone. Anywho, you can find the salad and dressing in my 2007 blog... as for the others.... the potatoes were the darling Monica's recipe that I can't remember where she got it from and the green beans are The Outback Steakhouse recipe which you can Google.

Sweet-n-Hot Glazed Salmon

Again, so not a fan of fish, but again made it with my "audience" in mind. Though, the did not find this to be spicy at all.... there was none left after dinner. So, I guess it was good like that!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups apricot nectar
• 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (3/4 pound) salmon filet without skin

Directions

1. Preheat your oven's broiler, and grease a broiling pan.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together the apricot nectar, dried apricots, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cinnamon and cayenne. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until reduced by about half. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Remove 1/4 cup of the glaze for basting, and set the remaining aside.
3. Place the salmon filet on the greased broiling pan, and brush with glaze. Broil 3 inches from the heat for 8 to 12 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily with a fork. Gently turn over once during cooking, and baste frequently during the last 4 minutes. Serve with remaining glaze.

Salmon with Pecan Honey Glaze/Crust

I am NOT a fan of fish, but I made this with my "audience" in mind. I tried the pecan crusted fish and it was OK... Lizzy, Jenny and Jen liked it, so I guess that's all that matters.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pecan halves or pieces
• 1 cup honey
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until slightly browned. Stir 2 or 3 times to toast uniformly.
2. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine honey with half of the butter. Stir in the toasted pecans, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes to infuse the flavors. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
3. Melt remaining butter with oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper. Arrange fillets in skillet, and cook until firm to the touch, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Salmon is done when it flakes easily with a fork. Transfer to serving plate, and spoon glaze over top.

Tequila Lime Chicken

This was really good, but would have been better on the grill rather than the "George Forman". This recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens website. Rob and I rate new recipes on a 2 scale... "make again" or "never again". This recipe requires a third scale category of "maybe again on the grill". I added a lot more honey to this to make more of a glaze. I made garlic butter noodles to have with this and they were good!

Ingredients

2 teaspoons finely shredded lime peel

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup tequila

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 tablespoon orange liqueur or 1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

6 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 pounds total)

1 cup hot chunky salsa

1 medium tomato, chopped

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon snipped cilantro

2 tablespoons honey

Directions

1. In a shallow nonmetallic dish combine lime peel, lime juice, tequila, cooking oil, orange liqueur or orange peel, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add chicken to marinade, turning to coat. Cover and chill about 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, for tomato salsa, in a small bowl combine chunky salsa, chopped tomato, green onions, and snipped cilantro; set aside.
3. Drain chicken, reserving marinade. Stir honey into marinade. Grill chicken on an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 5 minutes. Turn chicken and brush with marinade; grill for 7 to 10 minutes more or until chicken is tender and cooked through. (Or, place chicken on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 5 to 6 inches from the heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning and brushing with marinade once.) Serve with tomato salsa. Makes 6 servings.

Seafood Trio

I do not, do not, do not eat seafood, but Rob LOVES it... so when Costco had their fresh seafood stand up just after Christmas I bought scallops, tiger prawn shrimp and a king crab claw for Rob. Here is what I did, and Rob was in love with it!

King Crab: Boil for about 5-6 minutes in salted water and let it drain out for a couple minutes... I find crab legs retain water and you end up wearing the fish flavored water on your clothes... but if you let it "drip dry" for a few its better.

Shrimp and scallops: Saute on medium-high in olive oil and some lemon pepper seasoning. Drizzle leftover seafood flavored oil and lemon pepper over the greens and top them with the shrimp and scallops and serve the crab on the side.

Jelly, Jam, oh who cares, they're all good!

I made wonderful baskets and tins for family and friends this year that consisted of Candied Apple Jelly, Strawberry Jam and Blueberry Jam (among other things, but this is jelly and jam recipes, so deal). These jams and jelly turned out so good, but beware, the strawberry jam is uber duber sweet, but oh so good. Thank you to Alanna for the tips and thanks to my sister for helping me make and can everything! (these recipes are just copied and pasted so excuse the formatting).

Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

4 Cups hulled and crushed ripe strawberries (About 2 quarts of whole berries)
2 Tablespoons of fresh strained lemon juice
7 Cups of Sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 (3-ounce) Pouch liquid Pectin

Directions

In an 8-quart pan, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, and sugar. Cover and let stand for 2 hours.

Remove the cover. Over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the butter. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the entire contents of the pouch. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Skim off any foam.

To prevent the jam from separating in the jars, allow the jam to cool 5 minutes before filling the jars. Gently stir the jam every minute or so to distribute the fruit. Ladle the hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean damp cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings. Process half-pint jars in a 200 degree water bath for 10 minutes, pint jars for 15 minutes.

Blueberry Jam

Ingredients

1 1/2 qts. blueberries (fresh or frozen, thawed/not drained)
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 box Sure-Jel or Can-Jel
4 c. sugar

Directions

Remove stems and crush fully ripe blueberries completely, one layer at a time.(Or blend them coarsley in a food processor.) Measure 4 cups of crushed fruit. Add more berries if necessary. Place berries in a very large kettle and stir in the lemon juice and the Sure-Jel or Can-Jel. Place over high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a hard boil. Immediately add the sugar and bring to a full rolling boil; boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat; skim off foam with metal spoon; stir and skim 5 minutes to cool slightly and prevent floating fruit. Ladle into sterilized glass jars, leaving 1/2" space at top. Seal with lids.

This recipe makes about 7 cups or 3 1/2 pints of jam.

Candied Apple Jelly

Ingredients

4 cups apple juice
1/2 cup red-hot candies
1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin
4 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

In a large kettle, combine apple juice, candies and pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; skim off any foam and undissolved candies. Pour hot liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Chocolate Balls from Heaven

My cousin-in-law makes these delicious chocolatey morsels from heaven for family gatherings. These are Oreo truffles that are to die for! Super simple to make and even more simple to eat! The picture isn't the finished product, they aren't dipped yet... I was taking pictures with my phone and it died before I could get "after" pictures. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1. 1 Package Oreo cookies (or store brand, I used store brand)
2. 1 (8) ounce package of cream cheese
3. Chocolate for dipping in (baker's chocolate or the bags of chocolate you get from Michael's or confections stores)

Directions

1. In your food processor, finely grind the Oreo cookies down until it is a delicious hot mess similar to the consistency graham crackers you'd use to make a crust.
2. In your Kitchenaid stand mixer, whip the cream cheese that you have hopefully let stand until room temperature. Add the Oreos a little at a time allowing each addition to mix.
3. Put the mixture in the fridge for a couple hours to let it stiffen up. Then, pull the chocolate manna of the god's out and use a small cookie scooper to make balls. Roll them a little bit to make sure they won't fall apart. After your balls are made dip them in melted chocolate and allow to harden for an hour or so.
4. When they are hardened up, go ahead and start munching... and curse me after you've eaten about 10 of them in a row.

Cake Balls... on a stick...

I have a recipe backlog and I have been wondering where to start, so I chose to start with cake balls because the name makes me giggle. A friend posted a link to this recipe (Bakerella) on her facebook, so I decided I would make these to add to the goodie baskets! These are deliciously sweet and really a one-at-a-time eater! My pictures are NOT as pretty as Bakerella's.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

Directions

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Also, only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

Delicious Ratatouille

So I decided that I felt like trying Ratatouille. I have to admit it is because of the Disney movie. So I did a google search on Ratatouille, and after weeding through websites about the movie, I found a couple recipes. The recipes for this dish are almost all the same, same ingredients but some recipes had it as more of a stew rather than a bake (yup, like what was in the movie). I wanted to do a bake, so I picked a recipe from Allrecipes. This dish was very good on its own served with some steamed white rice, but would be really good paired with some kielbasa or another type of sausage.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil (I used about 4 tbsp because the eggplant sucked it all up)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2" cubes
• Salt to taste
• 1 c grated Parmesan cheese (I used about 1/3c to cut back on fat)
• 2 Zucchini, sliced (I used 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash)
• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 2 c sliced fresh mushrooms (I used whole shiitake mushrooms)
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, sliced

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of casserole dish with 1tbsp of the olive oil (I used my Pyrex glass deep pie dish and it was perfect).
• Heat remaining olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until it is lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Saute until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
• Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle some of the parmesan cheese over eggplant. Layer zucchini/squash in an even layer over the eggplant. Lightly salt and sprinkle more parmesan cheese. Continue layering in this fashion with onion, mushroom, bell pepper and tomatoes covering each layer with salt and parmesan cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Lebanese Chicken with Curry Couscous

OMG... this was absolutely the most fantastic chicken dish I have made in a really long time! I am stuffed, but still drooling at the thought of making this again. Rob thinks that it needs some spice to it, but I found it to be just perfect. I cheated with the couscous and got Far East Curry Couscous... perfect substitute and much quicker to make than curry couscous from scratch.

Please, if you are reading this... you absolutely must try this recipe... I want to make it again tomorrow!!! LOL

Ingredients:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breast (I made 2, recipe calls for 4)
• 1/3c chopped onion (I used white onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2tsp finely shredded orange peel
• 1/2c orange juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice (I added a dash extra because I love the allspice)
• 2 tbsp honey
• Orange wedge and mint leaf (optional)

Directions:

• In large skillet cook chicken, onion, garlic and butter over medium heat for about 6 minutes or until chicken is brown, turning once. Add orange peel, orange juice and salt to the skillet, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon and allspice onto chicken and add some to the juice mixture, drizzle honey over chicken and into juice. Simmer on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has reduced to a glaze type consistency.
• Make couscous while chicken cooks
• Serve a small mound of couscous with chicken breast on top and drizzle with extra sauce (I made enough sauce for the full recipe and Rob and I ate every bit of it... if you like saucier chicken then maybe add a touch more orange juice, honey and spices).

Chicken with Saffron Cream Sauce

This is my recipe of the week, well, until Thursday when I make Lebanese chicken with couscous. This recipe is from Better Homes and Garden and is fantastic. There are a lot of things going on with the cream sauce, but it isn't overpowering at all. My only suggestion, if you don't like a tomatoey sauce is to cut back to 1 to 1.5 teaspoons rather than 2 full teaspoons... that's my plan next time around! Oh, and I used boneless chicken breast rather than chicken pieces (thighs, drums and breasts).

Here goes...

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 to 3 Lbs chicken pieces (thigh, breast, drum) I used 2 large boneless chicken breasts instead
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 c whipping cream
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1 bay leaf (whole)
• Pinch of Saffron threads

Directions

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, cook chicken in hot butter for about 5 minutes on each side until it is browned. Drain off any fat (no fat if you use boneless chicken breast)
• In small mixing bowl, while chicken cooks, combine whipping cream, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and Saffron. Mix well with whisk.
• Pour cream mixture over chicken in skillet. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked to 180 degrees. Remove chicken from the skillet and keep warm. Boil sauce gently for about 5 minutes or until it reaches desired thickness. Discard the bay leaf.
• To serve, arrange chicken on platter (or plate) and spoon the sauce over the chicken.

I served this with chicken flavored rice and fresh asparagus (steamed). I spooned a little of the leftover sauce over the asparagus. Delish!

Christmas is coming...

This year is a harder year at the Ahlgrim house with the economy tanking so bad. So, this year for Christmas, rather than spending hundreds of dollars we don't have on gifts people won't like, we decided that baking is the way to go! I will be blogging this weekend as I make and can strawberry jam, candied apple jelly, and make chocolate truffles, rice crispy treats and chocolate chip cookies.

Recipes to follow!!!

Ginger Chicken Noodle Bowl

I got this recipe off Better Homes and Gardens website. Again, this is a stock picture... mine really didn't look this pretty. I personally think this recipe could have used a little more of the stir fry sauce (which comes in an 8oz bottle for about $2.99) and a little more ginger.

Ingredients
2c dried Chinese Egg Noodles
1/4tsp Ground Ginger
1/3c Bottled Stir Fry Sauce
1c Fresh Sugar Snap Peas (cut up)
1c Sliced Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms
1sm Sweet Red Pepper, chopped
2tsp Peanut Oil for cooking
5oz Cooked Chicken Breast, Sliced (about 1 cup)
2tbsp Broken Cashews

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Mix ginger into the stir fry sauce, set aside.
2. In large skillet cook peas, mushrooms and sweet peppers in hot peanut oil over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add cooked noodles, chicken, stir-fry sauce and cashews. Toss together and heat through.

Yield 3-4 Servings.

Peppered Bacon and Tomato Linguine

The photo is a stock photo... I couldn't find my camera. This dish is very good with a little grated parmesan cheese on top. Mind you, it is not low-cal considering you add some of the bacon grease to the pasta.... but it is so worth it.... delicious! (from Allrecipes.com)


Ingredients
1lb Peppered Bacon (diced)
1/4c Chopped Green Onion
1tbs Garlic (minced)
2cans Diced Tomatoes
2tsp Dried Basil
2tsp Salt
Ground Black Pepper (to taste)
2 packages Linguine Pasta
1/4c Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserve drippings and set aside.
2. Saute green onion and garlic in bacon drippings over medium heat for one minute. Stir in tomatoes, basil, salt, bacon and ground black pepper. Simmer 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta using package directions
4. Toss hot pasta with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Yeild 8 Servings

The Kitchen is DONE!!!

Well, I now have a new kitchen to call my very own. It is so gorgeous I can't stand it! 1 year of blood, sweat and tears and it was very much worth it in the end. Now that the kitchen is done I'll start blogging more (actually, 2 recipes to follow this).

The above pictures are not the best pictures, but it shows the new countertop and tile backsplash and new home for my Kitchenaid, my awesome silverware drawer and our new table!!!

Holy Crap!

I can't believe I haven't been on here since December 2008!!! What is wrong with me? Oh, I know... we've been remodeling our kitchen so I stopped blogging during that process... well, we're almost done with the kitchen so I'll start blogging again at that time!