Baby Potato and Grilled Chicken Salad

I love a good meal.. especially one that is easy and packed with VEGGIES!

This is our Baby Potato and Grilled Chicken Salad

Ingredients

3 Grilled Chicken Breasts sliced

1/2 package Baby Potatoes

2 Radishes

1 red onion

1/2 container cherry tomatoes halved

1/2 cup green beans cut

1/2 cup frozen peas (slightly defrosted but cold)

2 cups red leaf lettuce

1 cup arugala

1 cup olive oil

Juice from 2 lemons

salt and pepper to taste

Start by mixing your greens and tomatoes

Add in your potatoes and grilled chicken, beans, peas, radish and red onion.  I cooked my potatoes in the microwave with

1 tsp butter and seasoned with Adobo.

Add in olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and of course you can always add our optional shredded provolone!

It's an easy nutrition packed dinner with lots of veggies and great use of leftover grilled chicken

Enjoy!
I am sharing with

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Rockin Roast!

Oh my Tummy LOVED this dinner! 

Sundays are usually our family day together.  We have either my parents or my inlaws over basically every weekend.  This means lots of cooking.  So this Sunday I made my very first roast.. I wasn't scared.. I just dove right in.  Now Mr. Pinkapotamus said that I did it wrong as I was making it.. but then he SHUT right UP when he tasted it!  So here's how you make this little dish of yumminess!

Ingredients

1 Roast

2 yellow onions

5-8 potatoes

lots of yummy carrots

Kosher salt

Pepper

Rosemary

Start with your roasting pan... I used my pretty corningware white one.  Cut up two onions and the potatoes depending on how many people you are feeding and toss in some carrots for taste and color!  Season with kosher salt, pepper and rosemary!

Then in a pan heat 2 TBLS butter and 1 TBLS canola oil. While the pan is heating I always trim the fat.. off the roast.  When the pan is hot, brown the roast on all sides which sears the edges and locks in all the juice. 

Season well with kosher salt and pepper.  I also sprinkled it with dried rosemary.  Fresh would have been better.. but alas I was OUT!

Once the the roast is browned move it to the roasting pan on top of the vegetables. 

Take the sauce that is in the pan and deglaze with 1 cup red wine. 

Then pour this over the top of the roast and bake in a 350 degree oven until it reaches the desired temperature of 160 degrees!

Here is how it looked out of the oven!

So what are you still doing here?  Go to the store buy a roast and get roasting!

I am sharing with

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Everything Your Garden Grows Chili

I am a Reformed Vegetarian!  Yes.. it's true.. I was a vegetarian for 5 years.. until I got pregnant with my daughter.  She made me crave everything animal starting with BACON!  So now.. even though I love to eat MEAT I also love everything VEGETABLE!  So here is my super yummy "Everything Your Garden Grows Chili" that is the best of BOTH worlds.. seriously!

Ingredients

1 red onion

1 package mushrooms

1 red pepper

1 zucchini

2 tbls canola oil

2 lbs chop meat

2 15.5oz cans beans (kidney & black)

seasoning of your choice (chili powder, cumin, adobo)

salt and pepper

In a large pan saute your meat until brown.  Season with salt, pepper and adobo.  When the meat is cooked set aside.  Heat oil in saute pan. 

 While the pan is heating up chop all of your veggies. 

Saute your onion until lightly browned then add mushroom. 

Season with salt and pepper and adobo. 

Then saute pepper and zucchini. 

Add the meat back into the pan along with the beans.

Now add in your spices.. chili powder, cumin, adobo and hot sauce to taste.  I used a special fajita seasoning that my brother sends me from CA in place of the chili powder and cumin.  Don't forget the hot sauce! 

Mix it up.. be daring.. it's chili.. you really can't mess it up!

Bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for atleast 1/2 hour. 

Then serve it up with some sour cream, shredded cheese and chips!

Yum-O!

Don't you just love the way it looks?  Just like eating a rainbow! 

Bon Appetit!

I am sharing with

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Old Lady SPICY Chicken!

Gotta start my week out right by saying a HUGE thanks to several lovely ladies for featuring my diaper trike this week!  This was one of my favorite projects.. so thanks to Jami at The Blackberry Vine @ http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/ and to Jill  at Creating My Way to Success @ http://jembellish.blogspot.com !  Also a HUGE thanks to Kati @ The Multi Purpose Life for Shooting me a BLOG AWARD!  Keep on the look out.. you might be next to get one! (hint.. hint.. check back tomorrow!)

This makes me sooo happy.. now on to the POST~

This post is NOT in offense to ANY old ladies out there!  In fact, old ladies are some of my favorite people, like my Grandma who is 90!

That is my little guy walking my Grandma!  Too cute!

This recipe is lovingly named "Old lady Spicy Chicken" for the lady whose name we did not get, who gave us this recipe at a party!  She was AWESOME and an AMAZING cook!  Also it is Kinda fun to say it!

(Also if any of you like the Frank's red hot commercial with the old lady who says, "I put that S*** on everything" .. it makes it all the funnier!)

So onto the recipe!

Ingredients

1 cup of olive oil

1 package of skinless boneless chicken

2 small cans of tomato sauce

Frank's red hot

cayanne pepper

salt and pepper

Start by heating up 1 cup of olive oil in a large sauce pan. 

Cut up chicken into bite size pieces. 

Then cook until no longer pink and season with salt and pepper. 

Add in the two cans of tomato sauce, Frank's red hot to taste (I can't tell you an exact amount as it depends on how SPICY you like it.. I like a lot so I add about 10 - 15 generous shakes!), and a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes. 

Let everything come to a boil, then simmer covered for about an hour. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice with a salad!  Yum-O!

Hope this puts some spice in your week!

I am linking this to the Show off your stuff Party @ http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/

Love,

Pinkapotamus!

Pot Roast.. Italian Style!

Growing up we were a meat and potatoes family.  Every Sunday night my parents would make a pot roast.  You know the kind.. served with carrots, potatoes and brown gravy.  I loved it.. but now that I am an adult and my tastes have changed.. so has my Pot Roast.  My hubby is half italian and together we made this awesome combination of deliciousness to make our Pot Roast.. Italian Style!

The Ingredients:

1 Pot Roast ( I buy the biggest one I can find when it is on sale for $1.99 lb)

1 35oz can crushed tomatoes with basil (I like Tuttorossa)

1 onion chopped

1 shallot chopped

1 package of mushrooms sliced

3 Tbls canola oil

1 Tbls butter

3/4 cup red wine

1 Tbls italian seasoning

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of peas (optional)

Heat your oil in a large pot.  Saute your chopped onions until translucent. 

While the onions are cooking trim the bottom layer of fat from the pot roast and season with salt and pepper.   Move the onions to the outside of the pot then add the pot roast and the butter. 

 Brown the meat on all sides. 

 Once the meat is browned add the mushrooms and saute.  Then deglazed the pan with red wine.  Add the peas, italian seasoning, bay leaves and salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil then lower heat to low and simmer atleast 5 hours with the lid on.  Once the meat is tender and falls apart bring the sauce to a boil and reduce to desired thickness. 

I love to serve this dish over penne and topped with a generous helping of parmesan cheese.  And don't forget the bread to soak up all of the delicious sauce!

Hope you enjoy!
I am linking this recipe to FireFlies and Jellybeans Show Your Stuff Party @ http://www.firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Souper Soup for Sunday!

Nothing could be finer than creamy soup at the diner!  Being from NJ diners are a staple of teenage life and beyond.  I can't tell you how many hours I spent drinking coffee, hanging with my friends and eating cheese fries with gravy. 

Now as an adult I love the diner for its soup.  It has saved me many nights of cooking, especially on Sunday when they have my favorite creamy turkey soup!

So here is my own version of Creamy Chicken Leek Soup that tastes just like it came from the diner!  And by the way.. once again.. it is not LOW FAT.. but atleast lower fat!

Ingredients

The Soup

4 Chicken breasts

1 onion

2 cups of baby carrots

4 stalks celery

3 leeks (cleaned really well so it doesn't taste sandy)

2 64oz cans of chicken broth

3 TBLS canola oil or olive oil

1 cup rice

salt and pepper to taste

The Rue (yes I have posted this before but it really versatile!)

1/4 stick butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk (your choice of % I use 2%)

salt and pepper to taste

I make the soup first so that it has time to simmer during the day.. the longer it simmers the better the flavors.  First heat the oil in a large pot.  Then chop the onion and saute, add a little salt. 

Once browned saute all of the vegetables. 

Pour in both cans of chicken broth.  Then add the chicken.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Let the soup come to a boil then turn the heat down to low and let it go!

About a half hour before you are ready to serve the soup add the rice and make the rue.

To make the rue, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. 

Once the butter is melted add the flour and whisk. 

 Once the flour and butter are combined add all of the milk..

do NOT let the flour mixture burn!  Stir constantly until the milk comes to a boil.  Then add salt and pepper to taste, turn the heat down to low and simmer covered for 1/2 hour.   Stir occasionally. 

Once the rue is done add it to the soup and Viola!  You have a creamy soup that is buttery and thick without using cornstarch as a thickening agent. 

We like to be really bad about this soup and top it with a pat of butter and some fresh ground pepper!  Hope you enjoy this souper Sunday soup as much as we do!

I am linking this recipe up the the Creative Chick Parade @ http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/2010/09/creative-chick-parade-day-four-recipe.html
and at Show Off Your Stuff Party @ http://www.firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
and at All Thingz Related @ http://allthingzrelated.blogspot.com/
Love,

Pinkapotamus