Kim in the Kitchen

This post is for my friend Carmen! She sent me a recipe about some grilled tomatoes, and together, we made up our own recipe for Stuffed Tomatoes. She came over one evening and we brainstormed. She’s made them several times trying to tweak them some more. It’s just missing something to us. They’re not bad though. If you have any suggestions, please post!

3-4 whole, ripe tomatoes
1 large can of Tuna (or 1 cup of your favorite meat) (Carmen used chicken)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
Salt, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic (all to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse tomatoes well. Slice off the top and remove any visible core and throw those away. In a medium size mixing bowl, scoop out the insides of the tomato (make sure you don’t mess with the wall of the tomato, it needs to be able to stand on its own), set aside. To the mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, your choice of meat, onion, and any of the spices you want to create the filling. Mix well. Now, carefully scoop the filling back into the hallowed tomatoes. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Place on a baking pan (I used my Pampered Chef stone wear) and bake for 15-20 minutes. The tomatoes will be slightly mushy to the touch.

Serve as a side or as a main dish.

I wonder how it would taste if you added Stove Top Stuffing, bread crumbs, or oatmeal… Maybe I will have to experiment! Happy baking!

I have come to realize that I need to branch out on what I cook. Most of the things I’ve posted here have been about chicken. And this post is no different. I just discovered ground chicken about a month ago, so of course I’m going to try it with everything!

1 lb. ground chicken
1 lg. can Veg-all (I used 1 jar of home-canned veggies my dad gave me)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 med. onion, diced
1 sm. can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1 T olive oil
Garlic salt, table salt, pepper, random spices you find in your cabinet (I like to experiment with the flavors. Just add a dash of anything but I pretty much put Garlic Salt on everything…)

In a medium skillet, heat oil and add ground chicken and onions. Cook until golden brown; drain. In a large pot, mix all ingredients together, including the chicken and onions and cook on med. heat until it boils; reduce heat and cover pot. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve warm and enjoy!

You may serve with corn chips, cheese, sour cream, or whatever floats your little soup boat!

This is probably my favorite thing to cook and eat! There’s chicken, there’s cheese, there’s pasta. And all the different spices… Ah! I’m craving it now. Luckily, I have leftovers that are lasting me through tomorrow! I made this recipe last Saturday night. My mom, nephew, aunt, uncle, cousin, and boyfriend all came over for a small get-together. My aunt brought her homemade, made from scratch, AMAZING banana pudding. My mom brought a salad and sweet tea. My aunt had heard so much about this meal from my mom and other family members that we scheduled a date a month in advance for them to come up. Enjoy!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 T olive oil
1 t each of thyme, rosemary, and parsley
salt & pepper
1 1/2 c. of your favorite tomato/marinara sauce
1/2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
16 tbsp. parmesan cheese
8 oz. of your favorite pasta

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. (Or as high as it will go.)

To prepare the chicken, butterfly each breast by placing your hand on each and running a knife (carefully) through each horizontally. Set aside.

Next, prepare the herbed olive oil. Combine the teaspoon each of parsley, rosemary, and thyme with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Now, heat a skillet over medium to high heat. Brush each chicken cutlet with the herb oil. Brown the chicken cutlets in the skillet until done, about 2 minutes per side. As they are finished, transfer them to a baking dish (I put mine in my Pampered Chef stoneware!)

When all of the chicken cutlets are done, pour the tomato sauce over them and top them each with the mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Put it in the oven and bake until cheese melts and is slightly golden brown and bubbly, about 3 to 5 minutes.

You can also add to or take away the amount of chicken, sauce, or cheese you use. I doubled the recipe and ended up making WAY too much pasta (but I just didn’t look at what all I was putting in…). If you’re on a low-carb diet, ditch the pasta and serve with steamed broccoli instead.

Hi, everyone. My name is Sarah, and like Kim, I love being in the kitchen. Kim is one of my best friends and maid of honor, a marvelous cook, and she’s been generous enough to allow me to be a contributor to her super fun blog! This is my first entry, and I actually made this for Kim and some of my friends who helped put together invitations for my wedding a couple of weekends ago. I think it was a hit, and I certain I will be making it again!

This super easy and yummy pie recipe was a result of my recent Nutella obsession. For those of you who don’t know what Nutella is, it’s a chocolate hazelnut spread that’s the consistency of peanut butter and it’s the best thing ever. Seriously. Once I tried it, I never looked back. Nutella on bread, crackers, with strawberries, right out of the jar…. Which led me to adapt this recipe originally for peanut butter pie for Nutella. I will be continuing on this journey to create even more Nutella wonders…. I can only imagine the brownies, cookies, cakes that will spring forth from my Nutella craze!

Sarah’s Simple Nutella Pie

Ingredients:
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened and at room temperature
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup + 2 heaping tablespoons Nutella
16 ounces Cool Whip
1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (or you can use 12 mini graham cracker pie crusts for individual pies, like I did)
Toppings of your choice

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, Nutella, and Cool Whip until well blended. (The orginal recipe said to use just 1/2 cup peanut butter, but I added 1/2 cup plus two heaping tablespoons Nutella for a more intense flavor. You may want to start with a 1/2 cup and adjust to taste). Pour into the pre-made pie crust. Next, top the pies however you’d like. I topped mine with a drizzle of melted Nutella (just nuke a couple tablespoons in the microwave in 10 second increments until its melted) and some more whipped cream. You could also try topping with chocolate syrup, chopped hazelnuts, the sky’s the limit! Refrigerate for at least one hour and enjoy.
The pie filling also makes a delicious dip for fruit, graham cracker sticks, etc. Yum!

Thanks for reading!

Sarah
http://frugalandfabulous.wordpress.com

Two Fridays ago, I made this simple meal for my boyfriend and his parents since they were in the process of moving. I had to bring my own pots, pans, and utensils. But I forgot to bring a knife, oil, and butter.

10 oz. Basil Pesto in the tub (got mine at Target, 2 7oz. tubs)
1 12oz. box Farfalle pasta
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 T. canola/vegetable/olive oil (not a huge deal which)
1 bag mozzarella/parmasaen cheese

Cook pasta as directed on the box. In a medium size skillet, heat oil; add the chicken breasts. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes each side, until golden and fully cooked in the middle. Cut up the chicken into 1 inch cubes (I had to cut them in the pan I was using because I forgot to bring my cutting board. Luckily, I was using a cast iron skillet!). Drain the pasta, add the chicken and pesto and about 1/2 cup of the cheese. Top with cheese to serve. Bread and a side salad go great with this!

This is one of my favorite things to make when I go hang out with a big group of girls. Guys love it to though (well, except for Nate, as usual). It’s very easy and very simple! Always a big hit!

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup peanuts (optional) (I don’t usually put these in)
6 cups plain Chex cereal (or Crispix cereal)
1 cup powered sugar

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate for 1 minute. Stir and heat an additional 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in peanut butter and peanuts. Gently stir cereal into chocolate/PB mixture until well coated.

Place powered sugar in a large bowl with a lid. Add coated cereal to sugar and close the bowl. Gently toss cereal mixture until well coated, holding tightly to the lid. You may also use a 2 gallon storage bag in place of the large bowl. I just don’t have those, but I have 2 large bowls to choose from! Store in airtight container. Makes about 8 cups.

I love waffles. I love my waffle maker too! I need to put up pictures of all my favorite appliances! I’ll get to that soon hopefully! Nate came over yesterday before church and I made breakfast. Here’s the recipe I used. I halved the original recipe because I knew we couldn’t eat all those waffles! And the first time I made them a couple of weeks ago, I used Baking Soda instead of Baking Powder (I really thought that’s what I read), and it had a metallic taste to it. So, just don’t try to substitute one for the other FYI!

1 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 egg
2/3 c. skim milk
1/8 c. vegetable oil

Preheat waffle iron as directed by the manufacturer. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; mix until well blended. In a small bowl (or I used a coffee cup like my momma did when I was growing up), beat egg slightly and add milk. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Poor the egg mixture into the well and mix until it is smooth. You make the well so that it is less clumpy. Add the oil and stir (the oil makes it really shiny!). I spray my waffle iron w/ non-stick spray before I pour on my waffle mix so that it comes out without a problem. Pour about 1/2 c. of batter onto a hot iron for a single waffle. Close iron and cook until brown and crisp.

This should make 6 servings. One serving is 1/2 waffle. However, since I was just making it for 2 people and didn’t want to deal w/ leftovers or sit by the waffle iron, I just poured half of this batter on the waffle iron for 2 sets of waffles! You just need to make sure you let it cook a little longer than normal, but not too long. Keep your eye on it!

Each 1/2 waffle (not mine, obviously) is 134 calories and 6 grams of fat. It has 191 mg of sodium, 16 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of protein. You may substitute 2 egg whites or 1 /4 c. egg substitute for 1 egg to lower the cholesterol.

For a variety, you can add pecans, chocolate chips, fresh chopped blueberries, or fresh chopped strawberries before you add the egg mixture.

Serve with your favorite type of syrup!

(pics to come soon)

Last night, I made this soup from my Kraft Foods magazine. I picked it out because it has 3 ingredients, it looked easy to make, and my boyfriend hates vegetables, so I thought this would mask the taste under the cheese (he LOVES cheese, too).

1 16 oz. pkg frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrot blend
2 14 oz. cans fat free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
12 oz. Velveeta cheese product, cut up (use 2% to reduce fat and calories)

Pour chicken broth and vegetables in a large sauce pan, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Mash vegetables with a potato masher to desired consistency, or you may use a hand mixer (that’s what I did, but the carrots were pesky!). Stir in Velveeta and cook 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and soup is heated thoroughly, stirring frequently (you don’t want it to scorch). Makes 6 1-cup servings.

I ate it with saltine crackers, but I think it would have gone well with cornbread. You may even want to top it shredded cheese. I also added a pinch of garlic salt because I’m a big fan of that.

For the original recipe, go to www.kraftfoods.com and type in “Velvety Vegetable Cheese Soup”. (The link that was originally posted did not work.)