Baby it’s cold outside! This week it hasn’t gotten over 7 degrees here. And, when you factor in the wind chill factor it’s bone chilling cold!  It’s the kind of weather that makes you want to snuggle in and not leave your warm house. It also makes me crave comfort food. I found this recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Tortellini Casserole in a magazine. It looked so good and sounded even better. And, since we’re on a broccoli kick this week, I thought it would be perfect for a frigid day.
chicken
Kickin’ Chicken Panini
If you’re looking for a great sandwich that is packed with bold flavors and a little kick, give my Kickin’ Chicken Panini a try! This sandwich has everything you’ve ever dreamed of in a sandwich! It’s bold. It’s sweet. It’s melty. It’s crunchy. It’s got a kick. And, did I mention that it has bacon?!? It’s pure sandwich nirvana.
Italian Wedding Soup
In the winter, I have a love affair with soup. It tickles my fancy and it warms my soul. OK, I don’t know about the soul part, but it makes me feel good and I love it!
I especially love soups that are full of hearty goodness. Lots of veggies. Rich broth. And, of course a little cheese doesn’t hurt either!
I have a particular affinity for Italian Wedding Soup. Maybe it’s my Italian heritage coming through. Or, maybe it’s because I love the little meatballs? It’s probably the meatballs! Until recently, I never made my own Italian Wedding Soup. I thought it was too complicated. You have to make a broth and then dozens of little meatballs. It was one of the dishes that I would rather order out. Until recently.
I took the best parts (according to me) of several recipes and combined them all to come up with this one.
Pasta Cordon Bleu
I hope everyone had a happy Easter! One of the things I love about holidays is leftovers! I have my favorite go-to recipes that are great for leftovers, but I’m always on the look out for new things to try. I found this recipe for Pasta Cordon Bleu on Pinterest and thought it would be a good way to use up leftover Easter ham. It seemed to be a fun take on Chicken Cordon Bleu only in a casserole!Â
Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper-Garlic Sauce
Raise your hand if you LOVE garlic! Me! Me! Me! That must be what initially drew me to this recipe. Just look at the first ingredient….20 cloves of garlic. It’s a good thing my husband and son really love garlic too, considering how much we go through in this house. I love garlic in any way, shape or form. I’m curious though…I’ve never had black garlic. I’m wondering what it’s like, but the grocery stores in my area don’t carry it. Have any of you tried black garlic?
Slow Cooker Chicken Parm
A few weeks ago, I featured Crock Pot Chicken Parm by The Rickett Chronicles on my weekly recipe and craft linky — It’s a Keeper Thursday. It looked so good, and I’m a sucker for a new slow cooker recipe! I’m determined to build up a good stock of delicious recipes that use Big Red (my slow cooker).
Her recipe included a second recipe for Roasted Roma Tomatoes. I just had to give that a try too! I’ll be posting that recipe in a day or so — be sure to check back! Trust me…you won’t be sorry you did!
Roast Chicken with Carmelized Shallots
I’m always on the look out for good chicken recipes that I can whip up on a weeknight. And, I’m always drawn to recipes that have sauces, or other components, that I can assemble the night before so I can cut down my pre-dinner prep time! I found this recipe in “the pile”. I must have printed it from a website or blog, but I don’t know where — for some reason, the site didn’t print. Maybe I cut and pasted? Oh well.
Chicken Canzanese
A few weeks ago, we had a (much needed) lazy Saturday. No birthday parties to go to. No errands to run. Nothing to do but putter around the house and catch up on some DVRed TV shows. I wound up watching one of my favorite public television shows — America’s Test Kitchen from Cook’s Illustrated. This is one of my favorite cooking shows, made by the folks who bring me 2 of my favorite cooking magazines — Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country. I love their scientific approach to all things food!
The episode that caught my eye was for Chicken Canzanese (can-zan-ay-see) — a classic slow cooked comfort food.
King Ranch Chicken Casserole
For months now (maybe even years), I’ve come across recipes for King Ranch Chicken Casserole in various magazines, cookbooks, websites, and blogs. I even saved a few in my pile to make a later time. But, for some reason, I’ve never made it. I don’t know why.
I decided it was time to try this recipe. I was in the mood for a casserole — there’s something about casseroles and comfort food — so I thought, “what the heck?!”
Is It a Keeper?
Why, oh why, did I wait so long to make this recipe? Everyone loved it! It was creamy and cheesy with just a little hint of heat. Mmmmm! I really loved the flavor that the corn tortillas added. There was even a debate about who got to take the leftovers for lunch the next day!
Savory Onion Chicken
My family loves chicken! S0, I’m always on the look-out for quick and easy chicken recipes — something that can be whipped up after a long day at work and not wear me out so that I’m too tired to fold the three loads of laundry that are awaiting my attention.
I found this recipe in “the pile” and it looked promising. It came from a Taste of Home email that I received.Â
Chicken Cobbler Casserole
The other day, I was looking through “the pile” for casserole recipes and I came across this little gem! I think it originally came a Southern Living magazine.
You know, I was born and raised in northeastern Pennsylvania, but I’ve always thought that (deep down) that I was born on the wrong side of the Mason Dixon Line! I love all things southern — the food, the hospitality. I love it all. And, I live vicariously through my Southern Living magazines!
OK, back the casserole…I pulled this recipe out with a few others (like Chicken Cannelloni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce — which, if you haven’t already tried it, you MUST!) to try on a brisk fall day.Â
Chicken Cannelloni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
So the weather’s getting cooler here in northeastern Pennsylvania and that means it’s time for things like football, the cider mill and warm comforting casseroles! I sifted through “the pile” and came up with a couple of contenders for dinner tonight — Chicken Cobbler Casserole and Chicken Cannelloni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.
I decided to go with the cannelloni tonight, but, rest assured, the Chicken Cobbler will be tried and tested by my fearless taste-testers very soon!
Chicken Cacciatore
My son loves Chicken Catch-en-torry! And, I love to make it. This is one of those recipes that tastes like it simmered all day, when in reality, it’s done in about 3o minutes!
I love the sweetness of the tomatoes and the tenderness of the chicken. And, you definitely need some good garlic bread to sop up the extra sauce!
This is one of my family’s favorite dinners! I hope that it becomes one of your family’s favorites too!
Chicken Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese
I’m always on the lookout for dishes that I can pre-make for my work lunches. So when this recipe popped up in my inbox I thought I would give it a try.Â
Open Faced Chicken Caprese Sandwiches
My husband works a swing shift as a crime fighter so some nights, it’s just Joey (my 4 year old) and I for dinner. Tonight was one of those nights.
Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers
Photo by Jim Hitchcock
I found this recipe in one of the many cooking e-newsletters that I receive. It sounded and looked great so I thought I would give it a try.Â
Southwest Salad
My favorite salad of all time is the Cobb Salad at Brixx Grille and Tavern in Scranton! The other night for dinner, I was craving this salad but couldn’t run out and pick one up. Fortunately, I had most of the ingredients on hand so I tried to re-create it at home.Â
Homemade Takeout: Kung Pao Chicken
I absolutely love Chinese food! But everytime I tried to make it at home, the results were mediocre at best. In my previous attempts, I would use chicken, various vegetables and bottled stir fry sauces. Not impressed. Not even a little.  When I found this recipe for Kung Pao Chicken I thought I would give it one more try.Â
Penne Gorgonzola with Chicken
Photo by my husband!
After a stressful day at work, the mere thought of having to cook dinner is exhausting. It’s nights like these that I like to have a few simple dinner ideas up my sleeve. You know…the ones that you can usually pull together from basic ingredients in your pantry and the ones that don’t make a kitchen full of dirty dishes.
Chicken Stew with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
For this week’s taste test, I pulled out a recipe that I’ve been dying to try for some time — Chicken Stew with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables. I came across this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine (October/November 2009) and it found its way into “my pile”! It appeared that this recipe would take a bit of time to make since I had to roast the vegetables before making the stew. My plan was to have this as a weeknight dinner so I did a little prep work on Sunday afternoon.
