Cashew Chicken

Another Pinterest find:)
http://www.daydreamkitchen.com/2012/09/crock-pot-cashew-chicken/

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breast tenders

1/2 cup cashews

1 garlic clove, minced

4 tbsps rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

4 tbsps ketchup

Directions:

1. Combine flour and pepper in a large resealable food storage bag.
2. Add chicken and shake to coat with flour mixture.
3. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Brown chicken 4 mins while flipping sides.
5. Place chicken in slow cooker.
6. Making the sauce: combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl.**we doubled the sauce 
7. pour over chicken and cook (on low!) for 3 to 4 hrs.
8. Add the cashews and stir.
9. Combine with rice for the complete experience.
10. Pour the sauce over the chicken and the rice.

Spinach and Mushroom Chicken

"Smothered Chicken"

http://baconbuttercheesegarlic.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-special-meal-for-my-valentine.html

Found this on Pinterest! It was so yummy! Josh and I loved it:) 

FOR THE CREAMED SPINACH:

1 large bag of spinach leaves

4 ounces cream cheese

1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 T red onion, minced

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE SAUTEED MUSHROOMS:

8 ounce package of mushrooms, sliced

1/2 stick butter(I didnt add this)

2 T olive oil

1/2 C white wine(I didnt add this)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE CHICKEN:

4-5 boneless chicken breasts

8-10 slices Mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/8 inch slices

1 T garlic powder

1 T seasoned salt, like Lawry's

1 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Sprinkle the garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper on both sides of the chicken.  Bake for 16 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the creamed spinach.  Over medium-high heat, melt 2 T olive oil in a skillet.  Add in the onions and saute 2-3 minutes.  Add in the spinach and garlic.  It will shrink ridiculously.  When it's cooked through, stir in the cream cheese and parmesan cheese.  Continue cooking and stirring until the cream cheese is melted.  Remove from heat.

For the mushrooms, melt butter and 2 T olive oil in a skillet.  Put the mushrooms in and cook until browned all over.  Don't season with salt until they are browned or they will never brown.  Deglaze the pan with the wine.  Add in the garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until most of the wine is cooked out.

Flip the chicken pieces over.  Divide the spinach and mushrooms over the top of each breast.  Lay two slices of cheese over each piece of chicken.  Cook another 12-14 minutes or until cheese is browned and chicken is done.

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I think this is a copy-cat recipe for the one at Zupas:)

http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2012/07/wisconsin-cauliflower-soup.html
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk**
1 1/2 cups water**
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
Directions:
-In a large saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and water.
-Add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.
-In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. {Don't let this step deter you from making the soup! Blending it is really easy and so worth the extra 3 minutes. The most annoying part are the added dishes!} If you have an immersion blender, use it- it literally takes less than a minute to blend. 
-Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Serve soup with remaining cheese as a garnish.


*The lady who posted this said that it would be good with Ham or even fresh tomatoes as a topping. We had some ham that we diced up and put in. It was great with club crackers :) 

Avocado Egg Salad

Found this one on Pinterest and we really liked it. I might even not add the curry next time for a my bland cravings.. but it was still good.  

http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2012/06/family-and-food.html

Ingredients:

-4 Hard boiled eggs

-1 large avocado, cut in cubes

-2 Tbl Mayo

-1 tsp Curry

-Salt and Pepper to taste

*We added lettice and tomatoes to ours and it was good. Oh and Josh added a little bit of lemon juice too which was good. 

Louisiana Chicken Pasta

http://obreinfamily.hubpages.com/hub/Cheesecake-Factory-Louisiana-Chicken-Pasta-Recipe#

Ingredients:

Chicken:

5 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

Olive oil

1 1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1 cup milk

4 T flour

Cajun Sauce:

3 T butter

1 small red bell pepper chopped

1 small yellow bell pepper chopped

1 small red onion chopped

3 T minced garlic

1/2 t crushed red pepper

1/2 t cayenne pepper

1 T Cajun seasoning salt

1 1/4 pint heavy whipping cream

1 cup chicken broth

4 T fresh Basil minced

1 Package bow tie pasta

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup mushrooms sliced

Directions

1) Wash and drain your chicken breasts. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on your counter. Place your chicken on top of the plastic wrap. Layer a piece of plastic on top of the chicken breast. Use you mallet and pound your chicken pieces one by one to 1/4 inch thick. Place aside.

2) In a large skillet on medium heat melt your 3 T butter. Add your yellow; and red pepper;onion; mushrooms and saute till crisp and tender.

3) Add your minced garlic, red pepper, cayenne pepper, and Cajun seasoning salt. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

4) Add whipping cream, and 1 cup of chicken stock. You want to simmer this until sauce reheats and thickens slightly about 5 minutes.

5) Add 1 cup Parmesan cheese, and minced basil to sauce stirring well. Reduce heat to low and simmer as the sauce thickens.

6) Mix your breadcrumbs, flour, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese together and place in a bowl.

7) In another bowl place your milk.

8) Dip your chicken in breadcrumbs mixture and then in the milk, and then one more time in the breadcrumb mixture.

9) Place olive oil in a frying pan to where it is a 1/2 of an inch thick.

10) Heat the olive oil in the pan till it gets hot and pan fry your dipped chicken breast one by one in the pan on medium heat until golden and crisp. Add more olive oil if needed.

11) Place the cooked chicken on a plate and stick in the oven to keep warm while you are making the pasta.

12) Cook bow tie pasta in a large pot of boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite.

13) To serve place pasta on a plate. Top with the cream sauce and then the cooked chicken. Add a little more sauce on top of the chicken and you are done.

**It has a spicy kick to it, but it was still really good. This has been Josh's favorite recipe we have done so far i think. lol. It does take a while to make though. I am wondering if it will be quicker once you do it more. 

Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/honey-mustard-pretzel-chicken/

Ingredients

4 cups hard pretzels (like sourdough), coarsely crushed

1/2 cup neutral tasting olive oil

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup honey (Iike clover or orange blossom)

1/4 cup bottled water---Bottled water?? lol. I used the tap water.. 

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar--- I didnt have this, so I used reg white vinegar

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 + 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts--- I tenderized the chicken a bit

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Set a wire rack (like an oven-safe cookie rack) over a large rimmed baking sheet. 
2. In a food processor pulse the pretzels until coarsely ground (small crumbs with some small pretzel pieces) then add them to a large, shallow bowl. Wipe the crumbs out of the food processor.
3. Add the oil, mustard, honey, water and vinegar to the food processor and pulse until smooth.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the flavor to suit your own tastes by adding more mustard or honey.
5. Pour half of the dressing into a large shallow bowl and add the chicken breasts. Turn to coat them evenly then dredge them in the pretzel crumbs using your hand to pat them on if needed.
6. Set them on the wire rack and bake 20 - 25 minutes or until cooked through (internal temperature 165 - 174 degrees F.).
7. Let the chicken sit 5 minutes before serving with the remaining honey mustard dressing.

**We dont own a cool rack thing for the oven, so we used a normal glass casserole dish and we just had to cook it longer. I think we ended up cooking it for like 40 minutes instead of 20. 

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/spinach-lasagna-rolls.html

Ingredients: 

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Pollyo)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and fresh pepper
• 32 oz tomato sauce
• 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

**For the Cheese, I used what Parmesan Cheese I had left in the fridge and just bought a bag of a mix cheeses like Parmesan, Moz, and all sorts of other cheeses and called it good. And it was good. lol. So really you can do what ever cheeses you want:)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Rollcarefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.