BBQ Chicken Nachos

There are very few people (that I know, at least) who don't like nachos. I LOVE nachos.  There is a restaurant near us, Chardonnay's, and while most of their food is quasi-mediocre, they have great sangria and great BBQ Chicken Nachos.

I never thought to make the BBQ Chicken nachos myself.  However, the other day, I saw a blog post by Baked Bree where she made them, and she cooked the chicken in the SLOW COOKER!!!  So naturally, I needed to try them!  And they were not only a hit, but they were delicious!!

BBQ Chicken Nachos!

In the slow cooker, I put 3 chicken breasts.  The breasts were huge, so I sliced the in half (so I essentially had 6 thinner breasts), and I seasoned the breasts (top and bottom) with seasoning salt.  Whatever you have is fine.  So -- In the slow cooker, I put the 6 breasts, on low for 4 hours.  A lot of water generated from the cooking (you can discard the water when they're done shredding, and you don't need to flip the breasts during the cook time), and when they're done, they absolutely fall apart.  Just take tongs and a fork and shred them up!

3 massive chicken breasts, sliced thin to make 6 pieces total, all cooked up in the crock pot

Shred that chicken!  After 4 hours on low, the chicken just falls apart!

If you're ambitious, you can make your own BBQ Sauce.  While I AM ambitious, I was too busy today to make my own, so I fell back on Sweet Baby Rays.  I actually used their Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce, and it was delicious!

For toppings on the Nachos, I used the following:

• Chopped Scallions
• Chopped Cilantro
• Chopped Tomato
• Onions & Peppers - chopped and sautéed so they're soft, but still with a little bite to them (I'm not a huge fan of raw onions)
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese (I bought a block of cheese and shredded it myself - it makes a huge difference than when you buy pre-shredded cheese!)

All of these, plus some chips, and the chicken, and you've got yourself some absolutely deliciousness!

Shredded cheese, chopped scallions, cilantro, and tomato, shredded BBQ Chicken, and sautéed onions & peppers

When you're ready, assemble!!!

• Corn Chips
• Shredded Chicken
• Onions, Peppers, Tomatoes, Scallions, and Cilantro
• Shredded Cheese

Repeat for as many layers as you want!!
I layered my nachos (2 layers) on a baking sheet lined with Aluminum Foil.  Once assembled, I stuck the sheet under the broiler for about 5-8 minutes, until everything was heated through and the cheese was melted.

Serve with Sour Cream and Guacamole!  And Sangria!!

Enjoy!!

Homemade Chipotle Burrito Bowls

One of my favorite "fast food" places to go to is Chipotle.  This follows the theory that I might be part-Mexican (not really, but I really do love Tex-Mex food), or it may just be because Chipotle food is quick and easy, and also somewhat healthy.

My favorite dish there is the Burrito Bowl, with brown rice, black beans, chicken, fresh tomato salsa, and guacamole.  Ideally, I really love it with cheese and sour cream, as well, however I reserve those for special days.  I love their burritos, as well, but I find the burrito bowl a less easier to eat, and a lot less messy.

Last night, for dinner, I decided that I wanted Chipotle for dinner, at home.  We live in Seekonk, MA, and while that is pretty much a central location for just about everything, the closest Chipotles are in Providence (on Thayer St, where you can never get a decent parking spot), Cranston RI (in Garden City, which is an easy enough location, but 25 minutes away and the food will be cold by the time I get home), and Raynham MA (which is right down the street from work, but will once again be cold by the time I get home).  Therefore, I decided to put together my own Chipotle at home!

The Layers of Camille's Chipotle Burrito Bowl:

• Brown Rice (just follow the package directions)
• Black Beans (open a can, dump it into a pan, and heat them up)
• Avocado (I smashed up a couple avocado with some lime juice)
• Tomatoes (I cut up a few plum tomatoes, and dressed them with salt and pepper)
• Chicken and Vegetables
• In a large frying pan, I sautéed 1 medium chopped onion, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 green bell pepper.  I let the vegetables get really soft, but not over-browned.
• From the market, I cleaned a small All-Natural Rotisserie Chicken of all the white breast meat, and as much of the leg and wing meat as possible.  I chopped the meat into cube that only a little bit bigger than the size of the onion and peppers.
• I added the meat to the onion/pepper mixture, then I added 1 cup of water, and 1 package of low sodium taco seasoning, and mixed until it all came together.

Then, get layering!!

A scoop of rice, black beans, chicken and vegetables, tomatoes, and avocado!

Delicious, nutritious, and under 600 calories!

Enjoy!!

Home-made "Burrito Bowl" from Chipotle - Brown Rice, Black Beans, Chicken with Onions & Peppers, Tomatoes, and Avocado

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Sausage Breakfast Burritos

Sometimes, there just nothing quite like breakfast for dinner.

Last week, we were very organized in taking either meats or prepared food out of the freezer and having delicious dinners throughout the week.  One of the dinners we decided on was Breakfast Burritos - to be made with some sausage that we had in the freezer.

The breakfast burrito ended up being a delicious mid-week treat, and I know my husband enjoyed them, since he went back for more!  This meal's "I tried something new" happen to work in our favor!!  My recipe is below, but this is really one of those things where you can make it however you want!

Sausage Breakfast Burritos
1 lb Sausage, taken out of the casings (I use Perri Sausage, 1/2 lb hot and 1/2 lb sweet)
5 eggs
Chopped onion
Chopped green bell pepper
Chopped red bell pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste
Soft Shell Tacos, or burritos
Shredded Mild Cheddar
Sour Cream
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Avocado

The Method

• Saute the onion and peppers in some olive oil on the stove, until translucent.
• Take the sausage out of the casings, and add the sausage into the onion and pepper mixture.  Break up the sausage as much as you want (I don't like huge chunks. so I tried to grind it up on the small side) and cook until everything is browned
• Drain the mixture of any excess fat
• Season with salt and pepper, not too much is needed as there are lots of seasonings in the sausage
• Add the beaten eggs and cook well
• Warm the burrito shells or taco shells in the oven so they are warm and pliable.

When the sausage and egg mixture is fully cooked, spoon the mixture into the shells, and top with whatever toppings you prefer!

I used a leftover package of soft shell tacos that came in a taco kit.  This only contains 6 shells, but there is plenty of stuffing for at least 10!  If you don't have enough shells, it's delicious on toasted bread, or even eaten plain!!

Enjoy!!

Super Simple Dinners: Frittata!

The best thing about frittata is that you can put whatever you want in it, and it almost always comes out delicious.

I mentioned before that my sister had the brilliancy to make a "menu" for the week....I did that this week, and "Frittata" was one of the meals on my list.  I decided to leave some wiggle room on the type of Frittata, and when I went to the market I bought a ham steak, asparagus, and goat cheese.  I L-O-V-E goat cheese, by the way.

So how did I make said Frittata?  It's so simple!!

The Ingredients
1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 8-oz Ham Steak, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bunch of Asparagus, chopped into about 1" segments
1 large Potato (or 2, however much you want), chopped
8 whole eggs
6 egg whites
salt and pepper, to taste
2-4 oz semi-soft Goat Cheese

The Method

• Chop the onion and ham into small pieces and saute in olive oil in a large skillet (I used a 12-inch skillet).  Make sure whatever skillet you use is large enough to hold all the ingredients, and is oven-safe
• Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus in water in another pan.  This helps so that you're not adding raw asparagus into the cooked onions/ham.
• Chop the potato and add to the onions/ham (I actually used a baked potato that was left over from some take-out over the weekend.  It was baked, and refrigerated.  So I peeled the skin off, and chopped it up and threw it into the mix.  This made it super easy and quick, since all I needed to do was heat it through because it was already cooked!)
• Add the cooked asparagus, and season with salt and pepper
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, and a splash of milk.  Add this into the ham/asparagus mix.  Mix everything together
• Cut the goat cheese into small chunks and sprinkle on the top of the egg mixture.  I only put cheese on half of mine, because I wasn't sure if my husband would like it (which he did), so I only used 2 oz...
• Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes until the center is cooked and firm!
• Cook for a few minutes, cook, and serve!!

Seriously!  It's the most delicious thing ever!!!

Enjoy!!

Super Simple Dinners: Chicken Caesar Salad

For the past two weeks, I've been in NJ for work.  Overall, it wasn't a fun trip, but did result in 2 visits to my sister's...Which was fun.  The first visit, it was just the two of us, and we had a lot of laughs over dinner and a bottle of wine.  The second visit, Timur (her husband) was home and the three of us had a great dinner and wine.

While I was on my 2nd visit, I helped my sister prepare dinner and noticed something on the refrigerator....Something that I decided I was going to adopt as a habit.  It was a weekly meal list.  The simple act of writing out what is for dinner each night of the week can really make life so simple.  Basically, they decide what they're going to have for dinner over the weekend, and then go to the market on Sunday to buy needed ingredients for the week.

It's the simplest thing - but it takes the guess work out of dinner time...It also takes care of the "I'd really like to make X but I'm missing 3 ingredients."  

So Stephanie...You're a genius.  Just don't let it go to your head.  :o)

So one of the meals on my sister's list was Chicken Caesar Salad.  I got so excited when I saw this because she made it for me once before and I fell in love with it.  She gave me the recipe, but I still haven't made it yet...But I WILL be making it this week!

So here it is!!  (from www.myrecipes.com)

11 cup romaine lettuce 
1 cup red bell pepper
3 Tbsp olive oil 
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
2 tsp Dijon mustard 
1/4 tsp sugar 
1/4 tsp table salt 
1/4 tsp black pepper 
1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s) 
1 1/2 cup(s) plain croutons 
1/2 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese 
2 pound(s) roasted skinless chicken breast

Remove chicken from bones and shred with 2 forks to measure 3 cups meat. 

Combine chicken, lettuce, and bell pepper in a large bowl. 

For vinaigrette: combine oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. 

Pour over salad. Toss well, sprinkle with croutons and cheese, and toss gently to combine.

Enjoy!!

Happy Day!

Today is March 18. Yesterday was St Patrick's day tomorrow is St Joseph's day.

While I am not at all Irish but I am very Italian, I ironically found myself only baking/cooking for St Partick's day this year.

I made an amazing Boiled Dinner.  This was not only my first time making a corned beef dinner, but I also took it a step further and made it in the pressure cooker.  Once again, it came delicious.  Here's what I did:

• In the pressure cooker, place the corned beef with the fattiest side facing up, pour in a bottle of Guinness, enough water to cover the top of the meat, and the seasoning packet (I used about a 2.5 lb piece of meat).
• Secure on the lid, and place the pot on the stove on high-heat.
• When the pop comes up to pressure, lower the heat to as low as it can go while maintaining the pressure.  Let the pot sit like this for 50 minutes.
• At the end of the 50 minutes, let the pot depressurize naturally by removing it from the heat and waiting patiently for the pressure to come down (this takes about 15 minutes).
• Once the pot is depressurized, remove the lid, and transfer the corned beef to a cutting board, wrap it in foil, and cover it with a towel to keep in the heat.  This allows the juices to redistribute through the meat.
• Pour out about half of the liquid from the pot, and add in the vegetables (I used potatoes, carrots, onion, and cabbage).
• Secure the lid back on, move it again to high heat, and as soon as it comes up to pressure, lower the heat again and maintain pressure for 6 minutes.  
• Slice the meat against the grain, and place everything in your serving platter!

My first attempt at a Boiled Dinner - SUCCESS!!

SO easy!  And from start to finish (including any prep time), this only took 2 hours!  If I had cooked this in a regular pot, I would have been in the kitchen for probably closer to 4 hours.  (Note:  The package on the corned beef said to cook the meat for 50 minutes for each pound of meat.  This means that I would have had to boil my piece of meat for 125 minutes, never mind the time to get up to a boil, and then the cooking time of the vegetables, which would have probably been about 20 minutes).  Pressure Cookers are awesome!

Serve with some mustard, and you've got yourself a feast!!

I also made an amazing (if I do say so myself) Irish Soda Bread.  I haven't made it in years, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  It's an incredibly easy recipe that my mom got from a friend of hers long ago, and I haven't made it any other way.

Irish Soda Bread, made from scratch, sliced, and ready to be eaten!!

So now that St. Patrick's day is over, and the non-Irish in me has celebrated, it's time to make some Zeppole and celebrate St. Joseph's Day!!!

Homemade Zeppole that I made a few years ago....It's time for another batch!!

Enjoy!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day.  To me, it's just a Hallmark holiday that makes single people feel bad.  While I haven't been "single" in 5 1/2 years, I still feel pressure about Valentine's Day.

This year, we didn't make plans.  At the last minute, Scott tried to make dinner reservations, but because of the required social convention of going out to dinner on Valentine's Day, the only time we could eat would be at either 5 or 9, neither of which was interesting to either of us.  So we quickly changed the plans and decided to have dinner at home.  

I made a very (stress very) simple dinner of Margherita Pizza, White Pizza, and Molten Lava Chocolate Cake.  Scott brought an amazing bottle of our favorite wine (Chianti Ruffino).  The pizza was delicious, and the Chocolate Lava Cake didn't have much Lava, but we thoroughly enjoyed our Valentine's Night in!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  <3 <3 <3

Nonni's Chow Mein

Sometimes, you just need a big bowl of comfort food.  That's what I got on Tuesday.  Nonni's Chow Mein.  This dish is something that my mom used to make once in a while when I was younger, and I always loved it.  And somehow, in the move of my Aunt and Grandmother (temporarily) into my mother's house, we ended up with about 2 heads of celery in the fridge.  So that means.....Chow Mein!!

This is seriously a very easy dish to make.  In true Nonni form, there are no exact measurements for anything - it's all dependent on what you like.  But I tried to write everything down, and I can't wait to share it with you!

Nonni's Chow Mein

Ingredients

• Sliced Onion (about 2-3, depending on the size)
• Largely chopped celery (as much as you want, we probably used about a whole head)
• 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
• 1 can bean sprouts, drained
• 1 can mixed Chinese vegetables (or just a can of water chestnuts), drained
• Black Pepper
• Cornstarch
• Soy Sauce

The Method to Nonni's Madness

• Put the ground hamburger into a pan with a little bit of oil and break it up.  You don't want the mean to get overly browned - just so it's not pink anymore.  
• Add in the onion, and mix together and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes
• Add in the chopped celery, and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the celery is softened.  
• Add in the bean sprouts and vegetables, and black pepper.  Don't add in the sprouts until close to the end, because they really only need to heat up.
• Mix together a little bit of water, a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch, and the soy sauce and add this into the pot.  This helps everything thicken up a bit.
• Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.  Taste it, and add salt if needed.

Serve the Chow Mein with either white rice, or the Chinese Crunch Noodles.

And ENJOY!!

Homemade [crockpot] Fried Rice

I decided to make fried rice.  No, I've never done it before.  But it's all about confidence.  And faking it.  "Fake it till you make it."  Right?  Right.  

Ok.  This was easy.  Like seriously, easy.  It took all of about 10 minutes to prepare.  And 2 hours to cook. Wait, what?  OHHHH.  I knew that crock pot was good for something!!

That's right, crock pot fried rice!

I got the idea from A Year of Slow Cooking.  Or really, I got the idea from Pinterest.  But whatever.

Everything all in the pot. 

Like I said, this was the easiest thing I've made in a long time.  Here's what I did:

The Ingredients

• Rice (I didn't have any leftover rice, so I made some fresh.  I cooked 2 cups dry rice to make enough for about 4 people)
• Vegetable (Once again, I didn't have any leftovers....So I chopped up some onion, carrots, and red bell pepper.  I also used some green peas).
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

The Method

• Dump everything into the crock pot.
• Mix
• Cook 3-4 hours on low OR 2-3 hours on high

ENJOY!!!

Note:  I made this for dinner and one of my friends needs to eat gluten free.  Well, the soy sauce I had on hand was not gluten free.  In order to not kill my friend, I used all Worcestershire Sauce (about 3 1/2 Tablespoons).  It was still really delicious!!!

Hello from New Jersey!!

Hi All!  Greetings from New Jersey!  I've been here since Sunday evening for a work conference.  It's been really great!  A bit overwhelming because of all the info, but very informative.  I've been able to contribute a lot, and make a lot of new contacts.  Overall, a successful trip!

Tonight I drove up from where I'm staying (The Morris Plains area) up to my sister's house (Westchester County, NY) to have dinner with her and her husband.  It was a little bit of a drive, but we had a lot of laughs and a delicious dinner!

Steph made a sausage and feta cheese quiche, and it was so delicious!

Steph had a log of Jimmy Dean sausage, so we browned up half of it in a pan.  She used half a tube of Pillsbury rolls as the crust of the quiche.  She mixed together the cooked sausage, crumbled feta, onion and olives, and put that evenly over the un-cooked crust.  Then she added 4 eggs mixed with milk over the top.  Baked for about 20-30 minutes, and it was delicious!!!

My awesome sister, posing with her delicious quiche!!

A Masterpiece!!

Spinach Pie

I.  Love.  Spinach.  Pie.

It's one of those things I grew up on (I wrote a book in kindergarten, which I lost and need to find, called "We All Like Food" ...  It won an award, and I wrote about spinach pie).

My family has always made their own spinach pie - it's so easy to make...And much more delicious than a lot of those bakery calzones you can buy.

I love making these, and I can't believe I haven't blogged about them before!  I'm sure I've mentioned them....I guess I just never actually wrote about how to make them.  Well, here they are!!!

Once again, I used Homemade Pizza Dough, but you can use store bought dough, too.  Here's what you need to do:

For two loaves, I usually use 3 10-oz boxes of frozen chopped spinach (or 2 16-oz bags, whichever your supermarket carries).  Defrost in the microwave and squeeze out as much of the water as you possible can, once it has cooled down enough for you to touch.

Cooked spinach, cooling down before getting squeezed

While the spinach is cooling, I spread out enough dough for two loaves (this allows for some rising time).

Put the squeezed spinach into a mixing bowl, and add some seasonings:  Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Olive Oil (you can also add some red hot pepper flakes, if you want).  Also, I would strongly recommend adding some chopped black olives (I forgot to buy them, so these loaves were made sans olives).  Also, you can add some chopped pepperoni, too, if you want....

Mix the spinach and seasonings together, and taste as you go along to make sure there is enough salt, etc....

Squeezed spinach, in the mixing bowl, seasoned and ready to be mixed

Split the mixture in half and spread out over each of the two doughs.  At this point, you can also add some shredded mozzarella cheese (I only added it to one loaf).  Roll up the two loaves, and transfer them to a greased/oiled baking sheet.  Cut slits in the top to allow for excess moisture to escape (it will also prevent the spinach pie from getting big blowouts) and top with some oil for browning.  Bake at 425* for 20-25 minutes, until cooked and browned!!

Spread out and ready to be rolled!

Who can resist a cheesy spinach pie???

Cheesy spinach pie - ready to roll

Spinach pies, ready to bake (NOTE:  I put cheese on top of one of them,  and it  burned....If you want to put cheese on top, make sure you add it about 5 minutes before the loaves are ready to come out of the oven!!!)

Baked and beautiful (even with a bit of burned cheese...)

Cool, slice, and ENJOY!!!

Sausage Loaf

Sausage Loaf.  Most of the time when I talk about this, people look at me like I'm nuts.  I'm sure it can be called anything, Sausage bread, sausage calzone, whatever....

It takes only 3 ingredients to make sausage loaf.  1)  Pizza Dough.  2)  Sausage.  3)  Eggs.

And that's it.  It's SO easy....Yet for some reason, it's often not made.

On Sunday, I made some Homemade Pizza Dough....As I mentioned, we had a family party, and I felt like I needed to bring something.  I made the sausage loaf once before (for a previous party with the same family) and I don't think anyone touched it....I think some people are afraid to try something new.  So I decided that I would make this for us for dinner, and I made Spinach Pie to bring to the party instead.

In any case, it's incredibly easy to make this....And it's so delicious.

Take a pound of hot sausage and remove from the casing (you can also buy it in bulk, if you prefer).  Cook up the sausage in a skillet, and make sure you break up the meat well.  You don't need to add any oil to the pan, there's plenty of fat already in the sausage.  Once the sausage is cooked, drain out any extra fat, and add in 2-3 beaten eggs.  Stir everything together and cook until the eggs are good and cooked.  You don't need to any ANY seasonings here - there are plenty of seasonings already in the sausage.

Cooking up the sausage!

Sausage and egg, ready to go!

Remove the sausage mixture from the stove (I transferred onto a large plate) and allow it to cool down.  In the meantime, take your pizza dough and spread some out on the counter in order to get ready for the sausage mixture.  I spread out enough dough for 2 loaves, and let it sit and rise a bit while the sausage was cooling.

Two pieces of dough, spread and rising, waiting while the sausage mixture cools

Once the sausage mixture is cooled, spread half onto each piece of dough and get ready to roll!!

Spread the sausage mixture onto the dough, leaving room around all of the edges

Fold in the two sides, first.  If the dough is really dry, put a little bit of water on the top so that the dough can stick together

Roll the bottom up, ensuring that there are no holes for the sausage to escape!  Roll 'er up!!

Rolled and ready.

Transfer the loaves to a greased/oiled baking sheet (I put two per sheet) and cut small holes in the top of the loaves to allow for the residual heat to escape.  Spray a bit of oil on top, in order to allow for the tops to brown.  Bake at 425* for 20-25 minutes, until cooked throughout and beautifully browned.

Two loaves, ready to go!  (I made the slits on the top with a pair of kitchen scissors)

Beautifully browned loaves!

ENJOY!!!