A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake

I baked this Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake as dessert when a couple of  good friends came over to dinner.  In full disclosure, not only did they come to dinner, they brought dinner.  I needed a special dessert to stand up to Janell and Jerry's wonderful lasagna, which we've had before and knew would be delicious treat.   However, did I get a photo of it? No. Did I forget to try to wheedle her recipe out of her? Yes.  Another time.

But I digress. I was talking about Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake.  Wanted something citrus to offset the richness of the pasta but nice and sweet as an ending note to the meal. This works quite well.  The orange and cranberries are tart in a sweet velvety, almost pound cake-like texture.  Perfect with a glass of milk to catch up with old friends over.

The cake is a simple straightforward two bowl method, well, two bowls and a cutting board when you count the fruit. Preparation is creaming the wet ingredients, followed by adding the dry ingredients, and stirring in the cranberries.   The most time consuming part is the zesting the oranges and chopping the cranberries up a bit.  The cranberries are then tossed with a little flour to help keep them suspended in the batter, instead of racing to the bottom. The only "odd" addition is a bit of corn starch to help lighten up the batter a bit and create a finer crumb.

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I'm a firm believer in Ecclesiastes' saying "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.."  It's true for everything in life, including the sometime mundane things in life like cooking.  I love spending hours in the kitchen making long, complicated recipes....when I'm in the mood. But there are just as many days when I just want to put dinner on the table without a fuss or other days when I crave something cheesy, comforty, and gooey and uncomplicated.  Today was a comfort food day: all the taste of Chicken Cordon Bleu in a velvety sauce, without all the fuss.

I've made a couple of cordon bleu casserole recipes and the idea is pretty simple, very genius, really.  Instead of taking all the time and effort to pound out chicken breasts, fill them, roll them up, bread them, sauté' them, and then bake them....you layer those same ingredients in a casserole dish and serve it up.  Definitely not as elegant and pretty, but it's the same yummy eats in a fraction of the time. Some recipes go to the trouble to bread and pre-cook the chicken bits, some don't. Some heavily spice, some don't.  My recipe is different in one crucial way: the sauce.  Most Cordon Bleu Casseroles are put together with cream of chicken soup.  Mine uses alfredo sauce to pull those simple, easy layers together. 

Gene, the hubs, is my best taster.  He's always honest even if it's not what I want to hear.  Tonight, he thanked me at least three times.  He'd been in the mood for something cheesy, gooey, comforty too.

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal Squares

There's nothing like warm, chewy, full-blooded (so to speak, yikes!) oatmeal dense enough to eat off of a napkin along with a cup of ginger lemon tea while reading a good book on a cold winter's morning.  No wimpy packets of water-soaked microwaved oatmeal here!

Pumped up for extra protein with 2% milk and 3 eggs, these oatmeal squares are a full meal of oat-y yumminess and chunks of apple in every bite. After my second bite I jumped up to grab my  camera and blog again after a (like my age, not gonna say numbers) hiatus from my camera and food words.  

So good the extras will be cooled down, cut, wrapped in waxed paper, and placed into a container for the freezer so Geno and I can grab and heat them up in the microwave any morning or any time they sound like the perfect breakfast or snack.

Pork and Snow Pea Stir Fry over Grits

Besides healthy, my key themes these days seem to be "quick", "easy", and "adaptable", as in, what's already in my fridge/pantry?  But don't forget tasty. Of course the ultimate is, always is: does it taste yummy?  This meets all of those requirements.  On the table in the time it takes to cook grits, stir fry is always adaptable.  Don't have pork chops? Try chicken, beef, or shrimp.  Don't have snow peas? Try sugar snap peas, fresh green beans, or asparagus.  Mushrooms? Onions? Carrots, Celery? Any and all of the above if you have them (and if you're in the mood to chop them all).

The grits is a little different. Normally, you would serve stir fry over noodles or rice, but I was simply in the mood for something different and this worked to a "T".  The creamy grits were the perfect counterpoint to the savory pork, crisp snow peas, and earthy mushrooms.  We will definitely be eating this again--and soon!

 

Easter Side: Sweet Potato and Roasted Peeps Casserole

Got the ham? Check. Got the chocolate bunnies?  Got the green beans? Check. Got the deviled eggs? Check.  And to go with all that? How about some serious yum with a little bit of humor?  CHECK! 

Click here for the recipe:  Sweet Potato and Roasted Peeps Casserole

Chicken Bacon Pasta Carbonara

Pasta Carbonara is one of my favorite "go to" recipes for getting delicious food on the dinner table FAST!  The addition of the chicken breasts up the protein value and give a little more "bite" to the pasta for staying power so we're not back in the kitchen in an hour looking for snacks.  And my favorite part is that three simple eggs for a rich sauce that tastes decadent without the addition of butter and/or cream.   Simple. Easy. Delicious.  And good for us.  That's a winner.  The recipe is made for 2 but it's easy to double it for a family of four (or extra servings for lunch the next day.)

Click for the chicken-less version: Pasta Carbonara recipe

Chicken or Pork Teriyaki (Slow Cooker, Stove Top, or Baked)

 

 Look at the second photo much more than the first. I was having camera trouble at the time but didn't want to put off posting this recipe. It was so good. Gene went back for seconds...and then thirds.   Maybe that's not the way to run a diet but, I swear, I only had one serving!  And then get any for lunch the next day because it was gone.   Just kidding. No worries. I'll make it again in a couple of weeks. 

 

Baked Chicken (or Beef) Fajitas

 

We've all seen the recipes on Pinterest that look great but turn out only so-so, IF we're lucky.  This is one of the good ones.  So easy; so fast; so delicious!  The concept is easy, cut chicken (or flank steak) into fajita strips and the vegetables into strips, and then toss with a little olive oil and seasonings and bake.  That's it.  They were dynamite.  My next project:  tortillas from scratch.

 

 

Baked Chicken (or Beef) Fajitas

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse, inspired by multiple Pinterest photos

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4  (5 oz) chicken Breasts, cut into chunks or strips  (Great use for flank steak as well)

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips

1 large onion, cut into crescents

4 oz fresh mushrooms, quartered

2 Tbsp  olive oil

1 lime, juice and zest

2 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Chili powder

Optional:  1-2 tsp red pepper flakes

8-10 Fajita sized Tortillas

Garnishes:  Lettuce, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos or green chilis, or Avocado Salad (more of a Mediterranean twist, but delicious with this)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Prepare chicken and vegetables and place in bowl or directly into 9"x 13" baking dish. 

2) Pour/sprinkle rest of ingredients over top and toss all the ingredients together until seasonings evenly coat the chicken and veggies.

3)  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are nicely roasted.  Turn once in middle of cooking.

Chicken, veggies, and seasonings can also be prepped the day or morning before and left in a bowl or baggie to marinate prior to baking.

Nutrition per 2 tortillas and 1/4 fajitas:  Calories:  386;  Protein:   34;  Carbs:  39;  Fat:  11;  Fiber: 4.

Sauteed Tilapia Fillets with Orzo Pilaf

 

 Nothing says eating fish has to be boring...even when it's simply prepared.  These seasoned Tilapia fillets were easy, quick, and absolutely delicious!  Served with a 20 minute orzo PACKED with vegetables and this Cranberry, Orange, and Candied Pecan Salad on the side, it was both satisfying and so very healthy for us.

 

 

Bananas Foster Oatmeal for the Rice Cooker or Slow Cooker/Crockpot

 

 Mmmm....so tasty any morning but especially for us this morning when the forecast called for a wintry mix with maybe an inch of snow but what we got was....I'm not sure but a lot more than that!  Thanks to Jason and Samuel next door for clearing our walkway and driveway!

What a nice day to putter around the house and maybe sneak a few chapters of the book I'm reading!