Penne Pasta Dish

Yummy Italian style dish that is also great for people on a Daniel Fast! I used whole grain penne pasta for this, but you can use any kind of pasta of your liking. To add even more great flavor, add some pesto sauce!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1/2 red pepper, diced

*1 jar sun dried tomatoes, drained (about 3/4 cup dry, rehydrated)

1 cup artichoke hearts, sliced

1/3 cup sliced black olives (optional, I don’t like olives so I left these out)

1/3 cup fresh chopped basil

1 box penne pasta, cooked

Preparation:

Sautee garlic in olive oil for a minute or two, then add the red peppers and basil. Cook for another minute or two, then add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives and basil and allow to cook until heated through, stirring frequently.

* I would advise cutting up the sun-dried tomatoes before putting them in the pan.

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Chicken Marsala with Sauteed Spinach w/ Golden Raisins

Well, it’s official…I’m on the dinner making list in our home. haha! Oh wait, I forgot to write that I am back in KY at the moment on what you could call my “1st official furlough”.  It feels wonderful to be home for awhile! It’s kind of fun to be able to bake pretty much whatever I want because there’s no question if I can acquire the ingredients that I need or not.  I can make quite a bit in Thailand, but ingredients can be quite limited.

Anyway, all that to say, I made dinner tonight for my mom and dad and I. We have been trying to come up with more ways to cook chicken, so I’ve been searching the internet like crazy lately to find some recipes. This one I found on Eat Better America. It is very good! We don’t have marsala, so I replaced it with cooking sherry (which is what was advised to use if you do not have the original ingredient. That, or chicken broth)  and it tasted just fine.  We are sauce people, so we actually came to the conclusion to double the recipe for the sauce next time. The recipe also calls for fresh mushrooms, but does not say what kind. I chose small bellas and they were wonderful.

For a side dish, I made Martha Stewart’s sauteed spinach with golden raisins. Very good as well.

Both dishes were amazingly easy to make.  I hope you try them and enjoy them as much as we did! =)

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Country gone Asian

My friend, Christina, and I had lunch together today and I thought that the food we ordered were pretty good examples of what we eat quite often over here. These two dishes are called,  ข้าวผัด (khowpat a.k.a fried rice) and Cashew chicken and veggies. Both are served กับข้าว (with rice).  Please keep in mind that this is what our food looks like in a nice restaurant. Most of the time we order our food to go, so  it’s usually stuffed into little boxes and placed in a plastic bag with a plastic spoon 🙂

~ Fried Rice ~

~ Cashew Chicken with Vegetables ~

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Pretzel Salad

This is a great summer recipe! It can be used as a dessert or part of a regular meal. Best to make the day before you plan on eating it. (The picture below I did not take so that is not exactly what the salad is going to look like, but it is very similar).

 

Preheat oven at 400 degrees.

2-3 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 cup butter

3 TBSP sugar

Press into 9×13 pan. Bake for 8 minutes, then cool.

Beat:

1 8oz. soft cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups cool whip

Spread over cooled pretzel layer. Refrigerate.

Mix together:

2 cups water

(2) 3oz. strawberry jello

16oz. Frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed

Set slightly. pour over pretzel & cream cheese layers. Refrigerate to set.

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Oatmeal Baked Chicken

I’m not usually a meat type of person, but this recipe is an exception. In my opinion this is the best chicken that has ever been made 🙂 . It’s another recipe that has been in our home since I could remember. I will say though that it’s not very good if you are more of a plain person who doesn’t cook much with spices.

~ Oatmeal Baked Chicken ~ 

6-8 chicken breasts

1 1/2 Cups quick-cooking oats

1 TBSP paprika

1/2 TBSP chili powder ( if hot chili powder: 1 tsp.)

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup butter, melted

 Mix all ingredients EXCEPT butter in a gallon sized plastic bag. One peice at a time, toss chicken in the bag to coat with oat mixture. Place on a greased baking sheet and drizzle evenly with butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes. Great side dishes would be green beans, potatoes, and rolls.

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Marvelous Meatloaf

This is the only version of meatloaf that I have ever had in our home since I could remember. Another one of my Mom’s great findings from years ago.  I have included some substitutes with this recipe for those who are watching their figures 😉 .

                                              

1 lb. ground beef – Sub. 1 lb. Lean ground beef

1 cup rolled oats (regular, not quick)

1/8-1/4 cup minced onion – Sub. Dried minced onion(works just as well and doesn’t make you cry 🙂 ).

1/4 cup green pepper, minced

1 egg – Sub. Egg substitute

1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper

1/2 TBSP. Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/8 cup milk – (Low fat milk will work just fine, including rice or soy milk)

1/4 cup ketchup

To taste: 1 tsp. turbinado sugar, 1/8 tsp. garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Shape meat into loaf and place in loaf pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Drizzle more Ketchup over meatloaf. Bake for 40 minutes. Enjoy!  Serves: 6 slices  

 

 

 

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