Chicken Scampi

First of all, I seriously have every intention of posting some beef recipes just as soon as our local stores have reasonable prices! I can't quite psych myself up to spend $3/lb for regular ground beef...not even ground chuck! Even chuck roast has been $4-ish a pound...RIDICULOUS! Chicken happens to be the only thing on sale these days and I have to stick to my budget! I am so very proud to announce that my husband got straight A's this semester, so this was our celebratory meal in his honor :) Now, we just have to wait another few weeks to find out if he gets accepted into nursing school to start this Fall. If he receives an acceptance letter, I'm most definitely splurging on some good steaks!!! I also will remain on the hunt for quick weeknight meal ideas, because I'm hoping to work a ton to sock away money for next semester--if anyone has any ideas, please do share!

As for this recipe, I found it to be very simple to prepare and was a huge hit with my family. My husband polished off his plate and I think he took the leftovers for work today and my son requested seconds the night I prepared it. I followed the basic recipe on allrecipes.com, but tweaked it a bit. Would definitely make it the very same way next time! If you enjoy garlic and Italian-style food, this recipe will be right up your alley! (Oh, and did I mention that from start to finish, it took all of 25 minutes?!?)

Chicken Scampi

1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenderloins (I happened to use these, because they were on sale for the same price as the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you could actually just use the boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch wide strips)

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat the butter or margarine and oil over medium high heat, until the butter/margarine melts. Add the parsley, oregano, garlic and salt and mix together in the skillet. Stir in lemon juice and white wine.

Add the chicken and saute for about 3-4 minutes or until chicken turns white on the outside. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. (Watch the chicken carefully...mine was done in closer to 10 minutes). ***Also, you may have to add additional butter/margarine, while the chicken is cooking--I added an extra 1/2 stick***

Serve over pasta or rice. I used one pound of thin spaghetti, because I didn't have any angel hair on hand--this was more than enough for my family of 4.

Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com

Stuffed Green Peppers

My sister, Sarah, made these stuffed peppers several years back and I immediately fell in love with them! We were all up north visiting my parents together and she so kindly offered to prepare dinner...I knew it would be delicious, as she is a wonderful cook! My kids absolutely love the meat and rice mixture and will often make a meal out of that alone :) My VERY picky husband even loves them! My sister served them with mashed potatoes and corn, which is what I've done ever since--definitely great comfort food!

Stuffed Green Peppers

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked white rice
3 large green bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 1/2 - 2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and begin to brown meat in a large saucepan, over medium heat. While meat is browning, place green peppers in a large pot, with enough water to cover. Boil peppers for approximately 15 minutes. Once meat is browned and drained (and while peppers are boiling), add onion, cooked rice, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the large saucepan with the meat; simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Remove peppers from the water and set aside in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture onto each half of the green peppers. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until mixture begins to turn golden brown.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top of each stuffed pepper. Return to the oven and bake until cheese is lightly browned, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Adapted from Allrecipes

Baked Rice

Ordinarily, I wouldn't think to serve anything other than mashed potatoes with turkey, but since we just had mashed potatoes the other day (and potatoes again for dinner last night), I went in search of an alternate plan! My goal was to find a recipe that would be quick and easy--I knew my turkey would be ready by the time we got home from soccer practice, so when I found this recipe, I knew it would be perfect! I got the rice all ready to stick in the oven as soon as we got home, so by the time I bathed my son and cut up the turkey, it was just about time to sit down and eat. By no means is there anything particularly "fancy" about this recipe, but it's a nice alternative to making ordinary white rice on the stove.

Baked Rice

2-3 Tablespoons oil
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups stock

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly brown the rice in oil in a 1-quart, ovenproof saucepan. Bring the stock to a boil and pour over the rice, take caution because this can create a lot of hot steam. Bake covered for 30 to 40 minutes, until rice is tender and fluffy.

NOTE: I used 1 1/2 cups of rice and 3 cups of stock and baked it in a 2 quart glass baking dish--this would be an adequate amount of rice for a family of four.

Source: FoodNetwork.com

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

My husband loves soup...he could eat it almost every day and actually tends to do just that! Even more than his love for soup, is his love for anything "lemon"! This seemed to be the perfect recipe option to please everyone, especially myself, who was wanting to use up some leftover chicken that I had in the refrigerator. To my surprise, the soup was even a big hit with my 3 1/2 year old--his exact words were "Mommy, you made a great soup!" (Talk about melting your heart!) I very much enjoyed the soup, but did feel that the lemon was a tad bit overpowering, as was the amount of soup base that the recipe called for--it tasted a little "salty" to me. I would suggest cutting back a little on the lemon juice and perhaps only adding 4 tablespoons of soup base, instead of 6, but all in all, this was a nice, hearty soup...it would be excellent with a loaf of French bread!

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
6 tablespoons chicken soup base
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup diced, cooked chicken meat
16 slices lemon
8 egg yolks

Directions:

In a large pot, combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, carrots, onions, celery, soup base, and white pepper. Bring to a boil on high, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend the butter and the flour together. Then gradually add it to the soup mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks until light in color. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return the egg mixture to the soup pot and heat through. Add the rice and chicken. Ladle hot soup into bowls and garnish with lemon slices.

Source: Allrecipes