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Mustard Sauce Watercress Chicken

June 8, 2010 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
mustardchicken


What You Need:

3 tsp olive oil, divided
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1/2 tsp garlic minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C of flour
3/4 C of chicken broth
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
1 tbsp chives, snipped
1 bunch of watercress


Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes or until soft, shaking the pan occasionally.
Add the garlic and stirring constantly cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Place the tomatoes and garlic into a serving bowl.
Add the remaining oil to the skillet and coat the chicken with the flour.
Cook the chicken 5 minutes per side or until no longer pink in the middle.
Remove the chicken to a plate to keep warm.
Stir the chicken broth into the skillet scrapping any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Whisk in the mustard and sour cream then simmer 1 minute or until beginning to thicken.
Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the chives.
Arrange the chicken pieces over the watercress on a serving plate.
Arrange the tomatoes over the chicken then pour the mustard sauce over the top.

Makes 4 servings

Watercress has a lightly peppery taste which accents this chicken well. Cleaning watercress is simple. Just cut 1 inch off the bottom before untying the bunch. Rinse under cold water and drain. It can be left whole or torn into small pieces.

Preparation Time: approximately 10 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 14 minutes 30 seconds
Total Time: approximately 24 minutes 30 seconds

Nutritional Information: (approximate amounts per serving)
Calories 215; Fat 6g; Saturated Fat 2g; Carbohydrates 9g; Protein 29g; Fiber 1g;
Cholesterol 70mg; Sodium 451mg

Filed Under: Chicken, Dinner Ideas, Health Concious, Recipe Cards, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Schwan’s Home Delivery Rewards Program

February 11, 2010 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment

Times are tough in today’s economy.  People are struggling to pay the bills, buy the groceries and still eat nutritious meals.  I know in our house, dinner has always been a challenge even before the economy went into the tank.  I am a work at home mom, and with two kids under foot I need to be able to make nutritious meals that don’t require the day be spent in the kitchen.

Have you heard about the new program from Schwan’s Home Service called “EAT FOR FREE”™? I love SCHWAN’S® products, quality and convenience and want to share this incredible new program with you.

You may know Schwan’s Home Service from the delicious foods they deliver right to your front door in their famous INCA GOLD® trucks. You may have only heard of them, and thought about ordering…  I recommend giving them a try, you won’t be disappointed!

Now they are making life easier by creating a program that allows you to eat for free.

The “EAT FOR FREE”™ Program is a rewards and loyalty program where you refer friends and family and earn back rewards on their online purchases. I am excited about the opportunity to start receiving free food each month by referring friends and family… it’s so easy there’s no reason not to.

Enrollment is fast, simple and free, click the link to learn more. Click Here

Rewards are simple to earn and delicious to redeem. So start referring, redeeming and eating for free today!

Enjoy.  Just a friendly tip from a fellow busy mom trying to provide quality nutrition to her family at a price that stays in our budget.

siggy

Filed Under: Frugal Cooking, Today's Kitchen Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Host a New Years Eve Potluck

December 17, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
confetti

confettiBring your family and friends together on New Years Eve with a potluck dinner. Each household can contribute something when you have a potluck dinner. That way, the responsibility of the food is not on just one person or family.

If you are fortunate enough to have other members of your family around, plan a potluck dinner to bring in the New Year. Begin by setting your plan in motion.

Start with the planning. Find a time when everyone can meet to hash out the details. You can come up with a menu together and then divide it into parts so that each household knows what they are bringing. Begin with what you may already have in your home. If anyone has paper goods, sodas or the makings of a dish, that will save money.

Set the time. Keep in mind that family members may have other activities planned for the evening. Usually earlier is better. Decide which family will host the dinner. You can rotate each year so that no one is missed.

Pre-dinner fun – Bring everyone together an hour or two ahead of time to spend quality time together. One activity that gets everyone up and on their feet is interactive video games. Anyone have a Wii in the house? Playing a game like Guitar Hero or Super Smash Bros. Brawl will fuel the appetite.

Don’t forget the card games. Families can have a great time playing Hearts, Rummy and Spades. For the kids, there’s Old Maid, Go Fish and Uno to name a few. Make it interesting and play for a golden prize of candy or small change.

Potluck – What are you serving that smells so good? Set up a table where everyone can serve themselves buffet-style. To avoid a messy rug or floor, place drinks in the kitchen on the counter along with cups and a bowl of ice. Using paper products makes clean up easy for the hosting family.

If you live in the south, no New Year’s meal would be complete without the traditional foods that may bring good fortune in the year to come. These include black-eyed peas for wealth, pork for prosperity and cornbread for gold.

Dessert will put the finishing touches on your potluck meal. Each family can bring their own offering for the after-dinner treat to add variety. The taste of these endless treats will give a sweet touch to your New Year celebration.

Post-dinner fun – Before everyone gets away, try this activity. Go around the room and let each person tell one thing that they would like to accomplish in the New Year. Now, your family can help encourage you to meet that goal over the next twelve months.

A potluck dinner is a great way to get friends and family together to ring a New Year. Have some food, some laughs and make new memories that you can treasure for a lifetime.

Filed Under: Desserts, Today's Kitchen Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Create a New Years Eve Dinner with the Kids

December 15, 2009 By The Recipe Mom 1 Comment
celebrate

celebrateNew Years Eve is a time to celebrate. If you plan to spend at least part of it at home with your family preparing dinner together is a good place to start. Here are some ideas for cooking up some tasty treats for that New Years Eve dinner.

Deciding on the Menu

Some people choose to have a special dinner on New Year’s Eve. The menu for this special meal should be decided with a little input from everyone. One idea is allowing everyone to come up with their most favorite dish and include it in the menu. You could end up with pizza and teriyaki chicken. It might be a menu of nothing but sweets.

The important thing here is that you do it together. Your kids have a lot of good ideas that you may have been missing out on. This could be the start of a great new family tradition.

All the Prep Work

Going to the grocery store will probably be a must. Make a list of what everyone needs for their dish. Check your cabinets to be sure you don’t already have something. That will save you money.

Just one or two family members need to shop. The others can be preparing the kitchen for the upcoming cooking fest. It’s divide and conquer here so that everything gets done.

Decide what equipment and utensils you have available. There may be a lot of dish washing going on if everyone needs to use a giant mixing bowl. You can purchase another or stagger your meal prep so that you can share.

Do as much ahead of time prep work as you can. For instance, pork chops can be marinated early and placed in the refrigerator. Pizza dough can be created and rolled out well in advance of making the pizza.

Creating the Chef

Everyone will need an apron and you can go for the full effect by supplying the family with hats. Give each family member their own apron before they get cooking. Personalize them with their names. Aprons will keep your clothes from getting messed up and you get to look stylish at the same time.

Rules of the Kitchen

Don’t forget to explain the rules of the kitchen especially if this is the first time your cherished family is in the kitchen.

1. Wash your hands well with soap and water after handling meat
2. Use soap and water on the counter to clean when you are done at a work station
3. Kids, ask parents for help when it comes to using the stove
4. Any other rules that make the work flow along easily and will keep you all safe.

Cooking with the family can be fun and create memories. On New Year’s Eve it is a spectacular way to ring out the old and ring in the new.

Filed Under: Today's Kitchen Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Slow Cooked Mixed Fruit

December 9, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
cherries

cherriesWhat You Need:

2 (29 oz.) cans of sliced peaches, drained well
2 (29 oz.) cans of sliced pears, drained well
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained well
1 (15 1/4 oz.) can apricot halves, drained well and sliced
1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling

How to Make It:

In a slow cooker place the peaches, pears, pineapple and apricots.
Add the cherry pie filling and stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
Cook covered on high for 2 hours or until heated through.

Makes 16 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 10 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 2 hours
Total Time: approximately 2 hours 10 minutes

Serve this mixed fruit compote on a cold Christmas day and warm their hearts as well as the tummies. This is a great side dish to serve with any meal.

Filed Under: Christmas, Dinner Ideas, Recipe Cards, Side Dishes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Celebrate With a Christmas Buffet

November 12, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
dinnerbuffet

dinnerbuffetA holiday celebration most definitely means a lot of food will be available. It’s the way we celebrate together. This year, hold a Christmas buffet. It saves time and energy and is a way to avoid leftovers filling up the fridge.

A sit down dinner can be a part of our tradition at Christmas time. Everyone gathers around a large table and shares good memories and delicious food. Who says that every dish known to man has to be on that table? Why no enjoy your Christmas dinner buffet style.

There are benefits to buffet style dining at Christmas and other holidays. A buffet makes reaching to fill a plate much easier because there is no passing of dishes from one to another. Cleanup is much easier with a buffet and there are less leftover, if any, to try and get in the refrigerator. Buffets are also a lot of fun to put together and enjoy.

Even if you have a small space, you can set up a buffet. The main course tables can be positioned in the dining area. Desserts can stay in the kitchen displayed on the counters. Keeping drinks on the table avoids everyone clamoring for them at once and spilling them.

As the host or hostess, you and your family can serve the buffet meal or allow everyone to fill their plates as they please. If you are on a budget and have counted out servings per person, it might be better if you served portions to everyone

These items are necessary to have on hand when serving a buffet style meal. Liquid fuel or Sterno, buffet racks, serving pans, serving utensils along with paper plates, cups, napkins and plastic silverware are all a part of a buffet style dinner.

To avoid burning the food, place the serving pans into a larger pan with about an inch of water. Light the Sterno about 30 minutes before the meal is to begin to be sure that the food stays warm.

When setting the table lay out the napkins and silverware. Place the plates next to the buffet where they can be easily reached. Leave the cups next to the beverages with someone available to fill those cups when necessary.

When the first plate of food has been served, you can set down and enjoy the meal too. Your guests can serve themselves when it comes to seconds. Clean up is a breeze. Have to go boxes available for any leftover you may have. This makes it easier for guests to enjoy a treat once they get home.

The Christmas buffet is a wonderful idea to take the work and cleanup out of a holiday meal. No one will mind and in the end it means you can enjoy a few minutes of special time with them this year.

Filed Under: Desserts, Today's Kitchen Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Filled Cornbread Coffin

October 10, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
breadcoffin

breadcoffinWhat You Need:

2 (8 1/2 oz.) pkgs. corn bread mix
2/3 C of milk
2 eggs
1/4 t black paste food coloring
1 T of canola oil
1 sweet red pepper, sliced
1 Serrano pepper, seed and chopped very fine
1/3 C onion, chopped
2 (15 oz.) cans vegetarian chili

How to Make It:

The oven is set to preheat to 400 degrees.
Spray generously the bottom and sides of a 9×5 loaf pan with a non stick cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl put the corn bread mix, milk and eggs and whisk until well blended.
Blend in the food coloring.
Put the batter in the prepared loaf pan.
Bake in the 400 degree oven 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Slice off the top one fourth of the cooled bread.
Remove the middle of the bottom piece, leaving a 1 inch shell.
In a skillet over medium heat put the oil, both types of peppers and the onion.
Cook 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Set aside 1/4 C of the pepper mixture.
Stir the chili into the remaining onion mixture and cook 10 minutes or until heated through.
Fill the hollowed out bread coffin with the chili mixture.
Spoon the reserved pepper mixture evenly over the top of the chili.
Put the top one fourth of the bread back on top to from the coffin.

What a fun and scary way to serve your chili on Halloween night. For an even scarier tought use ketchup and place the letters RIP on top of your coffin or make your own scary saying if you prefer.

Makes 6 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 30 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 18 minutes
Baking Time: approximately 30 minutes + cooling
Total Time: approximately 1 hour 18 minutes + cooling

Filed Under: Dinner Ideas, Halloween, Kid Friendly, Lunch Ideas, Recipe Cards, Recipes, Soups and Salads Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Spooky Face Burgers

October 8, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
monsters

monstersWhat You Need:

8 (4 oz.) ground beef patties
8 buns
8 slices of American cheese
8 slices of thin deli ham
16 sweet pickle slices
Ketchup

How to Make It:

Set the oven to preheat the broiler.
Use a cooking spray and lightly spray a broiler pan.
Lay the patties flat on the prepared pan and broil 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes.
Turn the patties over and cook 6 more minutes or until the patties are cooked through.
Drain the patties well on paper towels.
Lay the bottom half of the buns on a serving platter.
Place one cooked burger onto each bun half.
With a sharp knife cut the cheese in a zigzag manner to look like teeth.
One piece of the cheese is placed on each burger with the teeth hanging slightly over the edges.
Fold the ham to resemble a tongue and place over the first piece of cheese so it hangs slightly over the edge.
Place a second piece of cheese onto the folded ham tongue.
Place the top half of each bun onto the sandwich.
Attach the sweet pickles to the top of each bun for eyes and place a dab of ketchup in the middle of each pickle.

Weather permitting these burgers can be grilled instead of broiled. Your monsters will look a little scarier when the burgers are charred. You can use green olive slices with pimento instead of the sweet pickle slices and ketchup for the eyes if you prefer.

Makes 8 burgers

Preparation Time: approximately 25 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 11 minutes
Total Time: approximately 33 minutes

Nutritional Information (approximate value per burger):
Calories 480; fat 28g; sodium 1,260 mg; carbohydrates 24g; sugars 7g; protein 36g

Filed Under: Beef, Dinner Ideas, Halloween, Kid Friendly, Lunch Ideas, Recipe Cards, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Creepy Crawly Hot Dogs

October 2, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
hotdogs

hotdogsWhat You Need:

1 (16 oz.) pkg. hot dogs
1 T of canola oil
1/2 C of ketchup
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t spicy brown mustard
1 T brown sugar
6 hamburger buns

How to Make It:

Slice all the hot dogs into 8 strips each.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and stir in the hot dog strips.
Cook the strips 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until nicely browned.
Stir the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and mustard into the hot dogs.
Dump in the brown sugar and stir until well blended.
Cook the hot dog mixture for 5 minutes or until completely heated through.
Cover the bottom half of the buns with the hot dogs and cover with the top half before serving.

Kids and adults will talk about these creepy sandwiches for a long time as well as enjoying every single bite. If you prefer regular mustard may be used instead of the brown mustard. You may also add a dash of liquid smoke to the sauce.

Makes 6 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 10 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 13 minutes
Total Time: approximately 23 minutes

Filed Under: Dinner Ideas, Halloween, Kid Friendly, Lunch Ideas, Recipe Cards, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Monster Eye Deviled Eggs

October 1, 2009 By The Recipe Mom Leave a Comment
devilledeggs

devilledeggsWhat You Need:

3 C of hot water
2 T red food coloring
1 T of white vinegar
6 hard boiled eggs, cracked but not peeled
1/3 C of mayonnaise
2 t Dijon style mustard
1/4 C of green onions, chopped fine
2 T cilantro, minced
12 ripe olives, sliced
1 t ketchup

How to Make It:

In a large mixing bowl put the water, food coloring and vinegar and whisk until blended well.
Add the unpeeled eggs to the mixture and if the water does not cover the eggs completely add more hot water.
Allow the eggs to stand in the colored water for 30 minutes.
With a slotted spoon remove the eggs, dry and peel.
Slice the eggs in half lengthwise.
Carefully remove the yolks from the eggs and place in a small bowl.
Place the egg whites on a platter.
Coarsely mash the egg yolks with a fork.
Add the mayonnaise and mustard and stir until well combined.
Stir in the onion and cilantro.
Spoon the yolk mixture into each of the egg whites.
Press a slice of olive into the egg yolk mixture then add a dab of ketchup to finish off the eye.
Cover and place in refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

These are gruesome looking deviled eggs but they taste really great and will be the hit of any party. They have the best bloodshot effect if served within 2 hours of preparation.

Makes 1 dozen

Total Time: approximately 25 minutes

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Filed Under: Appetizers, Dinner Ideas, Halloween, Kid Friendly, Lunch Ideas, Recipe Cards, Recipes, Side Dishes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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