Chicken and Sweet Potatoes and Shallots

Last weekend is when it all started. I just want comfort food. Its still in the 90’s here but the thought of warm dishes that are hearty and make tons of leftovers, is right up my alley right now. While perusing Paleo Plan I was trying to get ideas for something fresh to eat. The usual chicken seasoning,with roasted sweet potatoes just wasn’t cutting it out anymore. I came across this sautéed of chicken breasts in coconut oil and shallot fry and mashed sweet potatoes on the side. No dairy, no gluten, no wheat, I never thought food like this could taste so flavorful and it is so simple to prepare.

These sweet potatoes were simply seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and my favorite a dash of cinnamon. I decided to leave the skin on the potatoes for extra nutrition and a rustic home cooked feeling. I had fresh sage lurking in the refrigerator and subbed that for the fresh rosemary. It was a pleasant swap and paired deliciously with the shallots. I got a good 4-5 meals out of this dish. It was so easy to make and bring to work as lunch. I will definitely be making this again!

Please visit Paleo Plan for the recipe Chicken and Sweet Potatoes and Shallots.

I’m off to enjoy this beautiful second day of fall Sunday. Spin class at 8am, coffee afterwards and FOOTBALL!

Fallon

I Keep Saying I’m 25 but Really I’m 26!

Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cake. They make the best!

Birthdays come and go. We all get older and we all say, “Oh I don’t want to celebrate.” Well I know I’m one of them but deep down in my heart I know that it is a good excuse to just go out and have fun. Drink, fun dinners, silly laughs, dancing etc. Just today I had a compliment, someone thought I was 20. Umm thank you! Hehe. I get that a lot actually and I’m taking it!

My birthday was on July 30th and I actually had a weird fear of turning 26. In 4 years I’ll be 30, is what I kept repeating in my mind. Well it happened, I turned 26. I think I will be okay. This birthday was probably one of the best birthdays ever. I felt like a princess the whole day and it was the people I surround myself with. I never felt so good and so loved. Thank you to everyone who came to my dinners and had a few drinks with me. Thank you for the fabulous birthday cards too!

I know it has been a minute since I’ve made a post. I always use the excuse I’m really busy but I’ll just be honest. I don’t have the heart of cooking like I once did. I try to continue loving it and blogging about what I’ve made but I had to force myself to do it. It just wasn’t feeling right. I don’t cook as much as I use too. Thank goodness my mom has learned how to cook because I’d be drinking smoothies for dinner every night! I want to change the feel of my blog. I want you guys to know my personality and who I am. I tend to be very random and my posts will become very random. The blog will still focus on food but I’ll add in other tidbits like workouts and cool projects I’m working on. How does that sound? Perhaps a blog name change will be in the future as well!

Summer Veggie Slaw, from my favorite blog, Proud Italian Cook: http://prouditaliancook.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-veggie-slaw.html

I sent my mom the recipe and she made it for my birthday dinner. Boy was this delicious!

My favorite Spinach and Mozzarella Turkey Burgers and honey mustard chicken.

Honey mustard glaze: dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper. Season raw chicken with salt and pepper, grill and then glaze chicken while grilling.

My birthday meal! The only thing I cooked were the sweet potato fries and protein.

Dessert!

The best ice cream cake ever. It had a layer of vanilla ice cream, brownies, and a buttery toffee ice cream with huge chunks of heath bar and swirls of caramel. Whip cream icing and sprinkles! Oh and my Happy Birthday Fallon was in fudge, not the icky artificial frosting stuff! <3

Adios my friends!
Fallon

Cheddar Beer Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

What to do with leftovers of cheddar beer chicken? I think I ate that every single day for lunch and dinner last week. It was so flavorful and satisfying. It tasted amazing as a taco salad or in a burrito with the simple flavors of avocado, lettuce and Greek yogurt.

I was really craving a baked sweet potato for lunch the other day and thought that be the perfect vessel for this chicken. I cooked several sweet potatoes until their sugar started to burst from their skin. I topped them with spinach, cheddar beer chicken and honey goat cheese. The sweet and savory worked really well for this chicken. The extra kick of hot sauce was a nice surprise.

Cheddar Beer Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
By Fallon

Ingredients:
4 Sweet potatoes
1 cup of cheddar beer chicken
1 large handful baby spinach, chopped
Honey goat cheese
Hot sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and clean sweet potatoes. Bake sweet potatoes on a baking sheet for 60 minutes or until soften and sugar starts to burst from skins.

Combine chicken and spinach and heat on stove top till hot. Once potatoes are done, remove and cut horizontal. Place chicken mixture in middle and top with crumbles of goat cheese and a couple dashes of hot sauce.

Today is the Superbowl and I’m going for the GIANTS all the way! 

Who are you rooting for?

ENJOY!
Fallon

Crockpot Cheddar Beer Chicken Tacos

Lately trying to find a balance has been quite a challenge. I want to do everything but at the end of the day, I’m lucky if I get to the gym and eat dinner. I like being busy but it comes to a point where being too busy isn’t too good either. Balance between work and having a life is very important. How do you balance long work days to have a life? I really need a vacation and I don’t see that in my future right now :(

What I do find time to make is delicious meals like this meal, Crockpot Cheddar Beer Chicken Tacos. The lovely Jessica from How Sweet It Is has the most creative mind when it comes to cooking, like lots of flavors that just work together. She has inspired me to be more creative in the kitchen and to try new things. I bookmarked this recipe because beer and chicken in a Crockpot sounded quite interesting. Trust me, it is delicious and you’ll want to eat it for lunch and dinner! I use the chicken as a salad topping, corn tortilla tacos and burritos. 

  
My favorite lunch as of late: Beer chicken, lettuce, avocado, onion, Greek yogurt and salsa verde wrapped in a brown rice tortilla.

My job can be quite entertaining most days. There is a station where you check in rental cars that are being returned after their rental is over. When people come to Las Vegas they are here for a good time, they drink, eat and party all night! These people purchase alcohol to have in their hotel rooms but when flying back home, they have to leave it  behind. We get a lot of alcohol left over and they like to leave it with us. Last night I lucked out and came home with a 12 pack of beer. The first thing I thought of was making the cheddar beer chicken! ;)

To get the recipe for Crockpot Cheddar Beer Chicken Tacos you must check out Jessica’s awesome website, How Sweet It Is.

Now time to go make a burrito for work! I think I’m on day 3 of burrito eating ;)

Fallon

Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with Grilled Chicken Breast, Roasted Tomatoes and Green Beans

Long title but in reality it was the easiest meal ever. Make sure to grill some extra chicken breasts from a previous dinner and save to use for other meals, like this pasta dish. The tomatoes and green beans can be roasted at the same time in a 425 degree oven, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil infused with garlic, sea salt and fresh black pepper. Takes about 20-25 minutes to roast vegetables and in the mean time you can be boiling water and cooking the pasta.

I used a thick noodle like pappardelle and it is infused with lemon pepper. Very light and refreshing. You can find it at my favorite store, Trader Joe’s. If you can’t find it, just use linguine. Boil water and cook pasta till al dente. Strain and add back to pot with chopped chicken, roasted tomatoes and green beans. Mix well and serve with goat cheese.

30 minutes later dinner is ready!

Buon Appetito,
Fallon

Grilled Basil Chicken Breasts

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this marinade for chicken breast. I usually let the chicken sit overnight till dinner the next day or in the morning till dinner that night. Something about the red wine vinegar really tenderizes the chicken. The fresh basil really shines through the recipe and works great with an Italian side dish. Mike isn’t a big chicken fan because of how it can get so dry when being cooked BUT this recipe he loves. It is absolutely tasty and keeps the chicken very moist. I found the recipe from Pam at For The Love of Cooking. She uses skinless chicken thighs instead but it clearly works with skinless chicken breast as well.

Grill Basil Marinated Chicken Breasts
Adapted from For The Love of Cooking

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I used a garlic oil)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a zip lock bag add the oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Whisk together and gently place the chicken in the bag. Close the bag and squish everything together. Place in the fridge for 3-12 hours under a plate incase there is a hole.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 20 minutes prior to cooking. Heat an indoor grill pan or your outdoor grill. Cook chicken over a medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Cook chicken till juices run clear and no longer pink in the middle. Rest meat for 5 minutes before serving.

Buon Appetito,
Fallon

Pecan and Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken

Here is ANOTHER fabulous recipe from Tara of The Foodie and The Family. She takes a chicken breast and presses a pecan/goat cheese mixture on top and bakes it in the oven. I tweaked mine slightly by using a grainy mustard and adding a little honey. I’m sure the honey isn’t primal but it was delicious. My boyfriend has a hard time eating chicken, especially if it is dry so I wanted to make sure it had a little more flavor. The pecans went perfectly with the goat cheese. It was crunchy, sweet and savory all at the same time. If you don’t like goat cheese, I’m sure cream cheese would work since it is almost the same consistency. This meal was very satisfying and I enjoyed having chicken that was different from a typical grilled piece of chicken.

I some what halved the recipe and and still had leftover of the pecan/goat cheese topping. Remember to preseason the chicken with salt and pepper.

Pecan and Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken
Adapted from The Food and The Family

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1-2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons clover honey
1 cup raw pecans, crushed
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the honey, crushed pecans, goat cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Put the chicken breast onto a baking sheet that has been oiled with olive oil or use a nonstick foil/parchment paper. Season with salt and pepper on both sides and brush the chicken breast with mustard. Press the pecan/goat cheese mixture onto the top of the chicken breasts. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

 

Yum yum,

Fallon

Honey Mustard Chicken

Looking for a light dinner during the hot summer? This meal will answer that problem. Chicken tenderloins marinated in a honey mustard mixture and can be cooked in a skillet or grill pan. Serve it up with a roasted vegetable and brown rice. This meal will make you feel good and your waist-line too.

I found this recipe… I don’t know! I just found it printed in my book and it sounded good. I served it up with brown rice with a sauté onion and 1 teaspoon of curry powder. It was super flavorful but was missing something, perhaps coconut or ginger? My  boyfriend isn’t the biggest chicken fan but approved of this recipe (minus the rice, he gave that 2 thumbs down). It was moist and very tasty. I marinated the chicken in a Ziploc bag all day, until I came home from work and heated up our indoor cast iron grill pan. The easiest dinner I’ve made by far.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Ingredients
2 lbs chicken breast tenderloins
1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons honey
2-3 teaspoons course ground mustard (Grey Poupon)
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 handful cilantro, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

Direction
Mix all ingredients together inside a Ziploc bag. Marinate for at least an hour, overnight or before heading into work. Cook/grill chicken till juices run clear. Serve with brown rice and a roasted vegetable. I roasted up carrots with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Yum yum!

 

Enjoy!

Fallon

Baked Chicken Taquitos

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for way too long. Luckily Cinco de Mayo came around and I had an excuse to make some Mexican food. I’ve made beef taquitos in the past, but never with chicken. No matter how many times I will make taquitos the corn tortillas always crack. I’ve tried the microwave version with damp paper towels and in the oven covered in tin foil. Crack, crack, crack. This recipe had a different version of softening the tortillas. By dipping them in warm chicken broth for 1 to 2 seconds. I know this method is used for enchiladas but with oil instead. I liked the idea but do you think it worked? No! The tortillas actually broke in the broth and I had to fish them out. Baked taquitos are delicious but you have to put a lot of toppings on top to cover their cracked mess. ;)

I needed one of these to relieve the stress of cracked tortillas!

The best guacamole ever.

My boyfriend and I enjoyed these taquitos with a loads of homemade guacamole, plain Greek yogurt, salsa and spinach. He is not a fan of those store bought roasted chickens but when time is limited they are great to pick up. I love using them in recipes like this because it makes the meal come together quickly. The additional seasonings added to the chicken enhanced the flavor for a more inspired Mexican dish. I had extra seasoned chicken left over and it worked great as a salad topper that I took to work during the week. (I only ended up baking 9 taquitos, but the recipe does make 12 whole taquitos.)

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Adapted from Wholefoods

Ingredients

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped sweet onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

Dash of ground cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (makes the dish)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I had vegetable broth on hand instead)

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese or crumbled queso fresco

Toppings: chopped spinach, homemade guacamole, plain Greek yogurt, green onions, chopped tomatoes, salsa and/or hot sauce.

Direction

Preheat oven to 425 degree F and oil a 13x8 glass baking dish. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onion and cook until starting to soften and turn translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir to combine and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, until fragrant. Take from heat and stir in cilantro and chicken. Set aside.

My little work station, right to left. Apartment kitchens can be so complicated sometimes!

Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a skillet or pot wide enough to hold tortillas. When broth simmers, dip tortillas briefly, one at a time, just to soften, 1 to 2 seconds. Lay tortilla on a work surface and spread 2 or 3 tablespoons chicken mixture over bottom third. Top with a tablespoon of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Spray or brush tortillas lightly with oil and bake until crisp and lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Enjoy,

Fallon

TSRC: Lime Chicken Tacos

I’ve been holding a secret for a few weeks now and today I’m going to tell you what it is. I’m now a member of The Secret Recipe Club! Our wonderful host Amanda from Amanda’s Cookin came up with this idea to be assigned a blog, you can cook/bake any recipe from the assigned blog and then on a certain date reveal the blog that was given to us and the recipe we made. The catch is we can’t share with anyone who’s blog we have, it has to remain a secret. I like how simple the system is and figured it be a good fit for my first “blog club.” If you’d like to become a member of The Secret Recipe Club click this link and fill out the form.

My first secret blog comes from a very talented lady, Tessa from The Cookin’ Chemist. Let’s just say I had a hard time choosing which recipe I wanted to make. Everything looked so delicious and I will be trying out more recipes. I went with Tessa’s Lime Chicken Tacos because #1 they sounded good and #2 it comes together quickly. I’m back to work and my boyfriend likes a good dinner each night, I knew this would be the perfect meal. I don’t mind spending extra time in the kitchen on a day off but when I’ve been working all day and being on my feet the whole time, I want to be in and out of the kitchen quickly!

I made several substitutes to the recipe. I actually didn’t have sugar (don’t worry I picked up some the following day after I made these tacos) and used this Stevia as a substitute. You couldn’t even tell the difference.



Instead of shredded lettuce, jack cheese and sour cream, I used shredded baby spinach, avocado and plain Greek yogurt. I also added a bunch of fresh cilantro to the chicken.


Lime Chicken Tacos
From The Cookin’ Chemist

Ingredients
1- 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 lime juiced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
10 (6 inch) whole wheat flour tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded baby spinach
1/2 avocado, diced
Salsa, Hot sauce
Plain Greek yogurt

In a medium sized bowl combine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onions, garlic, cilantro and oregano, Set aside. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat add a little oil and cook chicken until done.

Next, add the liquid lime mixture to sauté pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Warm tortillas and add chicken mixture evenly to each one. Top with avocado, tomato, salsa, spinach and Greek yogurt.

I served my tacos with a side of cilantro lime rice.

 

Delicious meal. My boyfriend enjoyed it a lot. He said he never had chicken tacos with so much flavor and juiciness! I enjoyed the leftover chicken on top of salads for work lunch. I will definitely keep this in rotation with weeknight dinners.

Can’t wait to see what everyone else will be posting. I wonder who has my blog this month? :)

Fallon

Enchiladas de Pollo

If you are having a hard time figuring out what the title says it is simply Chicken Enchiladas ;). Living in El Paso, the Spanish language is really popular out here. The only Spanish I remember is from high school and college. I’m telling you now, I WISH I continued learning the language because it would be so helpful to know. Plus it be cool to know another language. If you have the opportunity to take on Spanish, do it!

I transferred my job out here and it is very close to the Mexican border. We get a lot of Mexican citizens and all they know is Spanish or broken English. So I’ve been forcing myself to remember what I know and I’m always asking how do you say this etc. It is a challenge but I’m happy to accept it! Como se dice…

During the super bowl my boyfriend’s SIL decided to make some Chicken Enchiladas. She is Mexican and learned a lot from her family to carry on their Mexican traditions in the kitchen. I told her teach me true Mexican food! I knew she makes killer enchiladas, so I was excited when she told me that was what we were having for the super bowl. I took some notes, along with pictures and followed her in the kitchen. It honestly is easy to make a homemade enchilada sauce! I won’t ever by the canned stuff again, unless it is a true emergency. The taste was authentic, smoky, slightly spicy and had the freshest taste you could imagine.

She will cook up the onions and garlic, while she is rehydrating the red peppers in boiling water. Everything will then be transferred to a blender and pureed. Adding in some of the red pepper liquid to make for a smooth consistency. Some salt and pepper can be added for taste. Once it the way she wants it, not too thick or thin, she will strain it. Takes out all the pepper skins, to make for a perfectly smooth sauce.

This is a “secret” ingredient. You know how Italians put sugar in red sauce to cut the acidity… Well Mexicans use chocolate!

Her chicken breasts are seasoned and baked. Once they are cooled off, she shredded the chicken and mixed it in with some red enchilada sauce.

  

In a saucepan she heats up a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil, to heat up the corn tortillas. I asked her if this was a step to skip and she explained to me it the best way to make the corn tortillas more pliable and the sauce will stick to it  better. The chicken mixed in sauce is placed in a corn tortilla and rolled into a casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and baked in an oven preheated to 400 degrees F, to heat it through and melt the cheese.

  

We placed our chicken enchiladas on top of romaine/spinach, green onions, diced tomatoes and a squeeze of lime juice.

            

It was face rocking delicious! I hope to try this out on my own one day, if I can remember all the steps. ;)

Have you ever made your own enchilada sauce? I honestly think it is worth the extra time in the kitchen to make it fresh. The canned sauces put all this weird stuff like corn/soybean oil and flour?!?! The only oil in her sauce was from cooking up the onions and garlic (extra virgin olive oil) and no added flour to thicken it up. All natural baby!

Enjoy,

Fallon

Chicken Sorrentino Penne

Usually on Sunday I like to have a drink while I cook! I think it makes the food taste extra better. ;) My choice was rum and coke, one for me and one for my babe!

Sundays around here are lazy days for us! We all sleep in and end up lounging around the house the rest of the day. The girls are cleaning, doing laundry and thinking of what to make for dinner. While the guys well, they play video games the majority of the time. I try to get in a workout, bake something and/or get dinner going. Like this meal for Chicken Sorrentino Penne (I couldn’t find fusilli, so penne it is). My favorite Cake Boss now has his own TV show called Kitchen Boss. I love his show because he makes original Italian recipes and his taste is right on when it comes to flavors.

This particular recipe he made called Chicken Sorrentino Fusilli immediately caught my eye because it is casserole style, has a good amount of protein, breaded eggplant and pasta. This meal has everything and more you could ask for. The only thing is, it is VERY time consuming. I literally spent 5 hours making it (with prep work involved) and we spent 30 minutes eating it. This meal is so delicious but be prepared to spend most of your day in the kitchen making it. It requires several steps but in reality it is simple to prepare once you do get through all the steps. My favorite part about this meal was the breaded eggplant, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella cheese. I also made the Roasted Asparagus with Crispy Breadcrumbs to go with it and a caprese salad minus fresh basil (it was bad at all the stores we went too). I can’t wait to make this meal again when I have extra time for it.

Cut tips and use a potato peeler to peel the ends a little. No strings!

The theme of this show was Date Night. It clearly was only enough for 2-3 people. I ended up doubling this recipe so it could serve at least 6 people.

Chicken Sorrentino Penne

Adapted from Kitchen Boss

Ingredients

2-3 halves boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 crushed clove garlic

2 small eggplants

4 thin slices prosciutto

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced

1/4 cup grated parmesan

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

4 cups marinara sauce (homemade or a favorite store brand)

1 pound penne pasta, cooked al dente

Few leaves torn fresh basil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with foil and cooking spray to bake the eggplant on.

Sprinkle the chicken breast halves with salt, pepper, drizzle with olive oil and turn to coat with the crushed garlic. Let rest while you prepare the sauce and eggplant.

In a small saucepot, heat the tomato sauce and warm through.

 

Peel the eggplant and slice across the width into 1/4 inch rounds ( I ended up cutting them horizontal). Please the breadcrumbs and the flour each in two shallow plates. Crack two large eggs into a bowl; separate the yolk from the two large egg whites and beat. Dip each piece of eggplant first into the flour, tapping off excess, then into the beaten egg, allowing excess to drip off, then lastly, coat in crumbs. Place the eggplant onto your baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray into the preheated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp edges. Take out and set aside while finishing the chicken.

Heat a cast iron grill or skillet pan oven medium high heat. Grill or sear the chicken breast on each side until nicely marked but not cooked through. Set aside.

In a bowl, toss the penne with 1/2 of the marinara sauce- enough to coat well and sprinkle with a little grated parmesan. Place in the bottom of a 9 x 13, lightly oiled baking dish. Place the chicken pieces side by side on top of the pasta. Top each piece of chicken with a slice of prosciutto, then place the eggplant on top and the sliced mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through- approx. 10 minutes. You can brown the cheese with a quick turn under the broiler. If desired, top with remaining sauce, parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

To make the Roasted Asparagus with Crispy Breadcrumbs click this link HERE.

 

As you can see I slightly prepared my eggplant a bit differently from Kitchen Boss’s version. I simply used whole wheat flour, added some egg whites and baked it instead. If you want to fry up your eggplant go ahead, it will be extra delicious!

I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as we enjoyed it here on our lazy Sunday.

Buon Appetito,

Fallon