Two for the Price of One!

This week will be the week of the chicken!  Since payday is this coming week and we just got home from our road trip, there isn't much in the house to eat.  I looked up a few recipes and decided to use up the bone in skin on chicken breast that is in my deep freezer.  The hubs has to work this week so I had to make sure that I had meals for him to take to work (we all know that a man won't cook for himself, unless you count ramen or soup).  


So for the hubs I made Mustard Chicken.


I took spicy brown mustard and coated the chicken in this (I de-boned and removed the skin first).  I then took fried onions (like the kind you put on green bean casserole during Turkey Day) and covered the chicken with them.  *Note:  next time I will crush the fried onion up more so it sticks better.  I put it in the oven at 375 for 50 minutes.  Since we were not eating them tonight, they cooled then were put into Tupperware for use during the week.  Not sure how they came out yet since I didn't taste any but I will let you all know what the hubs has to say about them tomorrow.


Onto tonight's dinner!  


I made a recipe that I found forever and a day ago that is always a good quickie type of meal. Its called Noodle Soup Casserole, at least that's what I call it.  


Ingredients:

• 1 packet Lipton Noodle Soup mix
• 2 cans of canned chicken (you can also use canned tuna if you like)
• 2 or so cups of frozen green peas
• 2 TBS flour
• 4 cups of water
• 1 stick of butter cut in half
• white bread cut into cubes

Directions

1. Add soup mix to 4 cups of water and bring to boil.
2. Add peas to the soup mix and lower heat.
3. Melt half stick of butter and combine with flour. Cook for 5 min stirring constantly.
4. Slowly add soup and pea mixture to flour and butter, whisk to combine.
5. Drain chicken and add to soup mixture.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Melt the other half stick of butter in a separate pot and add bread to this, saute until all of butter is absorbed and bread starts to crisp up.  
8. Pour soup mixture into a 2 qt casserole dish and top with bread cubes.
9. Bake for 20 minutes and serve.  Grandma's fine china always works best for serving (Chinet)

Now this is a very um, "classy" dish, but if your taste buds are classier you can always use fresh baked chicken cut into cubes or shredded and maybe even a nice fresh Italian bread for the topping.  This is definitely a no frills kinda meal, but is great for a busy weeknight.  Its fast and simple and most of the time all the ingredients are on hand. (Kitchen staples in my house at least!)  

Vacation Eating!

A little bit of background story:


As some of you may know, I had Bariatric surgery this past March.  More specifically I had the Realize Band put in place and am currently on my 3rd fill (total of 6cc of saline injected...half way to full).  Since this I have been having a difficult time relearning how to eat.  OK maybe not quite difficult but not exactly what I expected.  I thought I would recognize what being full meant, and would not be able to eat as much and to a point this is true.  I am having an easier time telling when I am full, or actually hungry vs thirsty.  This however is more training on my part I believe.  The one thing that I am noticing, and have since adjusted my diet accordingly, was the consumption of bread, pasta and rice were causing me pain when I ate them (my 3 FAVORITE food groups).  Now according to my nutritionist I should be able to eat anything I want...and this is true, except that these 3 types of food seem to get "stuck" more easily than others.  I think its because they absorb fluid and then expand.  So I have come to the conclusion that I will cut them out of my diet altogether.  This was not a recommendation from my doctor, although he agrees, but rather a decision based on my experiences with what foods agree with me and what foods don't.  


Onto my vacation!


Our little family decided to take a trip and visit family in DE, PA, and Long Island.  I didn't realize at the time that this would prove to be more difficult than I anticipated.  Because I do the cooking at home I can control what we eat...not so when visiting relatives.  Pasta and bread seem to be staples for mine and my husbands family!  


Night 1 was food on the road.  I don't like fast food but sometimes the convenience factor outweighs the better choice.  Chicken nuggets I figured were better than almost everything else on the menu and could be eaten while driving (as it was my turn). 


Lunch on day 2 was sandwiches.  I ate very slowly and made due. 


Night 2 was at my husbands Grandmothers house.  Spaghetti and meatballs were what was on the menu for the night.  Remember what I said about pasta not agreeing with me?  Well spaghetti falls in that category.  I ate very slow and only maybe 2 or 3 mouthfuls. 

Lunch day 3 was at my husbands other Grandparents house.  We had Tortellini soup and subs.  The soup was so flavorful, and because it was already in a broth, it had soaked up a lot of fluid and made it easy for me to enjoy.  Subs on the other hand were not as easily enjoyed.   


Night 3 was at my husbands Aunt and Uncles.  Skirt steak and Cesar salad was that nights fare.  The food was so very yummy!!!  I am not a big fan of red meat, but the steak was melt in your mouth goodness!  For dessert was a very yummy caramel cake made by my husbands Grandmother.  Unfortunately this got stuck and gave me a horrible case of the hiccups.  Total bummer for me because the cake was extremely good!  


Lunch on day 4 was at an Olive Garden.  I got their soup, salad, and bread sticks deal.  I gave the bread sticks to everyone else at the table and enjoyed my soup and salad. Their salad is the best!  I love the dressing that they use!  The soup was the Zuppa Toscana which I will definitely have again! 


Dinner on Day 4 was at my cousins new townhouse.  Pizza was ordered and I was the difficult one.  I asked that they order me a chicken cutlet.  


Lunch on day 5 was at my Aunt and Uncles and hot dogs were served for everyone else and tomato soup for me!  I think I made out better than they did!


Dinner on day 5 was at my parents house.  At this point I was so tired of traveling I don't remember what we ate!  


Day 6 was Father's Day.  We went to the Lynbrook dinner and had a horrible brunch!  Over priced and poor quality food, not to mention that there was hair in some of the orders!  I would recommend that you never eat here!


Dinner on day 6 was Boston Market.  Meatloaf and Turkey with sides of potatoes, corn, mac and cheese, apples, spinach and more!  After an afternoon on the boat, it was nice not to cook!


Day 7 we went to the Coney Island Aquarium.  We had lunch there.  I ordered Chicken fingers and for park food it wasn't too bad and prices were fairly reasonable.


Dinner on Day 7 and Lunch on day 8 is blurry again!  Lol


Dinner on Day 8 was at my Aunt and Uncles for a a birthday dinner for my cousin who turned 7!  Pizza was ordered (I swear you all hate me!).  I did have one slice of NY pizza because it was just too tempting to turn down. 


The next morning we got on the road and took the long trip home!


My advice to others out there....Be Difficult!  If you have dietary restrictions, stick to them!  Remember:  Those who matter, don't mind and those who mind, don't matter.  Dr. Seuss

Tomato Basil Quiche

Well, here goes nothing!  


I have been toying with the idea of writing a food blog for a while now.  Wasn't really sure if I would follow through or not, but I figure there is only one way to find out.  Hopefully this will be a really great way for me to reflect back on what I have made and what variations I used or should try next time.


I guess I will start with what I made tonight for dinner.  It was called 'Mama Sue's Tomato Basil Quiche'.  I found the recipe on my 'Whats for Dinner' app on my Galaxy Tab (which btw I LOVE!)


Ok so Ingredients call for:

• 5 Eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy cream ....I actually used 1 cup nonfat milk, which was actually 1/3 cup of carnation powdered milk and 2/3 cup of water.  Don't judge, my kid goes through milk so fast that I don't always have the real thing and I have found that this works in a pinch for cooking and baking.
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed...I used 3.  Hey, I like some garlic and I am hoping to steer clear of all those sparkley vampires out there!
• 1 frozen pie crust...I used Mrs Smiths only because it was on sale at the commissary and it was a 2 pie crust package.  Means I can make this again!
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella/provolone cheese blend ..I used the Sargento cause thats all I could find.
• 3-4 plum tomatoes...I only used one because I thought after placing all the tomato slices that 3 or 4 would be kinda extravagant.  I still think that that may be too may, but I would definitely put 2 on there.  On second thought, maybe 3 would work.  I guess it all depends on how much you like tomatoes.  The kiddo loves them, the hubs likes them, and I am starting to come around more.  I am not a raw tomato eater, but if they are cooked right then its a go.
• 1/8-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper...I eyeballed this and put probably the 1/4 tsp amount in, not spicy at all.  
• 1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil...I didn't have fresh so I used the dried stuff, and again eyeballed it but since dried takes up considerably less room than the fresh stuff, I obviously used less.

Ok now here are the directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a bowl beat together the eggs, cream (milk in my case), and garlic.  After having made this once I would also blend in the basil at this point if using the dried stuff.  If using fresh you can add it later on.
3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place frozen pie crust on it.  Layer in the cheese, tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and fresh basil (if you used fresh, if dried remember you added it to the eggs)
4. Pour egg mixture over the top of the layers as evenly as you can.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until the eggs are almost set.  Eggs keep cooking after you take them out of the heat so don't worry if they look a bit jiggly.  (Thank you Alton Brown for teaching me this important bit of cooking knowledge)
6. Set quiche on a wire rack and let cool for about 15 or so minutes.  

So thats pretty much that!  It was a very yummy dinner and would make an awesome brunch too!  The hubs liked it so much that he ate 1/2 of it!!!  

Now you see why I think more tomatoes and mixing in the basil to the eggs.  All in all, it was extremely tasty and I would not hesitate to make this again!