Tasty Thursday - 10/11

I have fallen in love with the Progresso Recipe Starters (like you couldn't tell...this being my third post about it) and I wanted to share with you my latest creation...this time using the Creamy Parmesan Basil sauce.  I got the recipe from their website and gathered my ingredients.  I didn't use their ingredients exactly as stated because I pre-cook and shred chickens I cook in the crock pot and I make my own beans and freeze them after cooking.

• Ingredients

  • 2 2/3 cups uncooked penne pasta (8 oz)
  • 2 cups chopped deli rotisserie chicken
  • 1 can (19 oz) Progresso® cannellini beans or other canned white beans, drained, rinsed
  • 1 can (18 oz) Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ creamy Parmesan basil cooking sauce
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup diced tomato
  • 1/4 cup Progresso® Italian style panko crispy bread crumbs

• Directions

  1. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package. Heat oven to 375°F.
  2. In ungreased 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish, place pasta, chicken and beans. In small bowl, mix cooking sauce, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour over top of pasta, chicken and beans.
  3. Cover with foil. Bake 25 minutes. Remove foil; top with tomato and bread crumbs. Bake uncovered 5 to 8 minutes or until top just starts to brown and mixture is bubbly.

Here's the final product (yep, a serving is missing out of it because I couldn't stop the kids quick enough before I grabbed the camera).

This was a great dish, but I recommend the following changes:

• This needed a lot of salt....could be because I chose to use beans that weren't canned.
• It didn't have a lot of zing to it, so next time I make it, I'll add some red pepper flakes to the sauce.

How about you.....have you tried any of their Recipe Starters yet, and if so....did you use one of their recipes or make one of your own?

Tasty Thursday 9/27/12

As an update on last week's post, the venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon.....I made them Sunday night and everyone loved them.  They also reheat incredibly well.  I did make a few adjustments though...

* I marinated in apple juice with a couple packets of spiced cider drink mix included because I couldn't find apple cider at my store.
* I cut each strip of bacon in half and then wrapped.
* I skewered the chunks (5-6 to a skewer) and grilled that way....it was much easier to control and I didn't have to use a ton of toothpicks.
* I only used 1 bottle of bbq sauce because 2 seemed like it was going to be too much.

Here's the final outcome!!



This is my next new recipe to make......

Crock-Pot Baked Apples  
Recipe and photo courtesy of http://skinnychef.com

Ingredients
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons trans-fat free margarine
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider

Directions
Preheat a large crock-pot on high heat and preset it for 3 hours. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, margarine, and cinnamon. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the apple juice or cider. Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.

Get the original recipe here: http://skinnychef.com/recipes/baked-apples
 

Tasty Thursday 9/20/12

Fall is moving in, and around Virginia that means deer hunting season is close at hand.  We are very much about self sufficiency and doing what we can to live off of the land.  I garden each year and can my own vegetables and fruits.  My husband is an avid deer hunter and I normally freeze stew meat, roasts, tenderloin, and ground venison.  I often find that I don't really know what to do with it all other than pot roasts and tenderloin steaks breaded and fried.  This year I plan on canning a lot more of the stew meat and making my own deer/pork sausage.  One recipe I found this week is from AllRecipes.com (my fave recipe site) and it sounds like a super yummy twist on the boring ole tenderloin.

Grilled Venison Backstrap by TIKCUF99 ~ AllRecipes.com 

   
Photo credit from Cyndi at AllRecipes.com


Basically, you're marinating tenderloin chunks twice, once in apple cider and once in bbq sauce. Then you wrap it in bacon and cook on the grill!  I think I'd love ANYTHING wrapped in bacon! I couldn't find apple cider at my grocery store, so hopefully it'll still be okay with 100% apple juice.....we'll see.  I love this recipe because it's taking the healthy venison (which is practically fat free) and wrapping it in heavenly bacon . By grilling it, you're not letting the bacon and tenderloin sit in the bacon fat, it's wrapped enough to flavor it, but a lot of the fat burns off during cooking and goes down into the nasty grease pit under your grill!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds venison backstrap, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 quart apple cider
• 1 1/2 pounds thick sliced bacon
• 2 (12 ounce) bottles barbecue sauce, your choice

Directions

1. Place chunks of venison into a shallow baking dish, and pour enough apple cider in to cover them. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove, and pat dry. Discard apple cider, and return venison to the dish. Pour barbeque sauce over the chunks, cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 more hours.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Remove meat from the refrigerator, and let stand for 30 minutes, or until no longer chilled. Wrap each chunk of venison in a slice of bacon, and secure with toothpicks.
3. Brush the grill grate with olive oil when hot, and place venison pieces on the grill so they are not touching. The bacon will kick up some flames, so be ready. Grill, turning occasionally, until the bacon becomes slightly burnt, 15 to 20 minutes. 

 Do you all have any good venison recipes to share?

Tasty Thursday 9/13/12

I'd like to start a new feature on my blog, called Tasty Thursday, to share great recipes I've found this week.  I would love it if you'd share some of your faves as well!  You can put a link to the recipe or to your Pinterest pin, or just lay out the full recipe for us in the comments field!  I hope everyone loves this feature and look forward to hearing your comments on it.

I've been trying to shed a few pounds recently and have found that it's pretty hard at my age to drop even 3 or 4 pounds without making major changes.  Since I don't really have the motivation to make any life altering changes, and have under 10 pounds to lose, I thought I'd look at how I can make small daily changes that will make an impact over time.  My biggest problem is snacking and dessert (shocker, right)!

I came upon this awesome recipe yesterday on a blog that uses only 2 ingredients to make delicious muffins or brownies!  Click on the title to go to the original blog post where I found the recipes at.

Yum Yum Brownie Muffins



Photo credit: HungryGirl.com

Ingredients: 
1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1 can pumpkin, 15 oz

Directions:
Mix well (batter will be thick, don't try and thin it)
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes
Yeild: 12 muffins or 36 mini muffins


2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins
 

Photo credit: http://sweet-verbena.blogspot.com

Ingredients: 
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can pumpkin, 15 oz

Directions:
Mix well (batter will be thick, don't try and thin it)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes
Yeild: 12 muffins or 36 mini muffins

I plan on making these pumpkin muffins this weekend using spice cake mix to give it an extra little zing.  These don't use oil, eggs, or sugar.  You just use your basic cake mix and add a can of pumpkin to it.  These are also apparently really good for the Weight Watchers Points Plus program also!
Hungry-Girl.com says: (1 Muffin, or 3 minis - 181 calories, 3.5g fat, 37g carbs, 2g fiber, 2g protein -- PointsPlus® value 5*)

Have you ever made these 2 ingredient treats?  Do you have a fave recipe this week to share?