Creamy chicken soup with shell pasta

The weather got a little chilly this week and when that happened the urge for comfort food set in quickly. No, not potato chips, although that's usually my 1st choice haha. This time I was craving something hearty, easy to make but rewarding. I knew I had some chicken broth in the pantry but what else could I pull together? Luckily making these dish takes some basic pantry staples so I could make a nice soup to ward off the chills.

Here are the ingredients I used to make this soup:

1 1/2 of the 32 oz. cartons of Progresso chicken broth reduced sodium
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup small pasta shells (uncooked measurement)
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup peas frozen or canned (I had canned on hand)
1 piece of smoked bacon
1/3 cup heavy cream (optional) -to make creamy if preferred
cornstartch (optional) - to thicken if preferred
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 bay leaves
1 tsp poultry seasoning brand as linked below
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp oregano
dash chipotle powder (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil for cooking chicken
For fast dumplings I used 2 leftover uncooked pillsbury flaky biscuits cut into wedges

To season chicken I used:
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Mccormick poultry seasoning
Mccormick rotisserie chicken seasoning
dash of oregano

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The first thing I did was prepare my pasta and cut up all my veggies and set aside for later. Then I cut the 2 chicken breasts into slices and then rubbed a moderate mixture of poultry seasoning and rotisserie chicken seasoning onto them once cut. I then heated a pan on medium high heat with the olive oil and a dash of salt and black pepper in the pan. Once pan is hot add the chicken in a single layer if possible for even cooking. Once one side has started turning golden flip over. Continue cooking until completely cooked and no pink remains in center. Once finished set these aside to cool abit.

Next in a taller stock pot I combined 1 tbsp olive oil along with 1 tbsp of butter with dash of salt and pepper on medium high heat. I then added the chopped carrots and bacon slive and cooked them several minutes before adding the chopped onions. I cooked these veggies until they started to soften up abit. Once ready, I then added the chicken broth and bay leaves and brought to a simmer.

While that's cooking abit I went back to the chicken and cut into hearty bite size pieces. The hard part is not eating a bunch while you are cooking..yum and yes guilty of pinching some chicken!  I then added the chicken to the pot and placed lid on and reduced heat to medium and let cook about 10-15 minutes or so.

Now it's time to add the peas and cooked pasta shells to the pot. You can add as little or much of these as you prefer. At this time you can add the optional cream. I usually like to thicken it up abit by adding a mixture of cornstarch and water to the soup. (mix 2tsp cornstarch with 3 tbsp water in a small bowl, mix well). This is something I just prefer. Feel free to leave the cream and cornstarch mixture out.

More optional goodness.... I had 2 uncooked pillsbury flaky biscuits left over from the can and I didn't want them to go to waste so I cut them into small wedges, floated them on top of the soup and placed lid back on. Let them simmer with the soup until they cook and firm up. They float on the surface and gives it a nice finishing touch.

All thats left is to dish up a bowl of comfort! I must have been hungry, I got a little picture happy on this post! Enjoy - Curvy Cook

Trying new things

One thing I am learning as I discover new things I am capable of in the kitchen is not to be afraid of trying new things. I've come to think of it all as one big learning experience. For example, last night I was talking to my friend about chinese food of all things. Of course this set off the craving bell in my head and instantly I wanted some vegetable egg foo yung.

In the past I would have thought nothing of ringing up the old chinese take out and having instant gratification on my doorstep but now as budget doesn't allow much of that I had to envision this dish in my head. I mean I know for the most part what's in it when I order it. How hard could it be to make it? Answer...not very hard at all and luckily I had enough ingredients to pull it off. The sauce on the other hand came out ok but was missing a sweet note. This I will have to figure out next time.

The egg part came out surprisingly yummy and I even surprised myself with how incredibly easy this was. However next time I will use a smaller pan so it is easier to flip. These are the kinds of things you learn as you just get in the kitchen and give it a go. All in all my experience was fun and delicious. So get in the kitchen have some fun and don't be afraid of trying new things. You might surprise yourself. ~Curvy Cook

Ps. I made 2 patties one with regular eggs and the one pictured I made with egg beaters. They both tasted great! Once I perfect the sauce I will post a recipe :)

Chicken in a garlic red pepper cream sauce

Last night I wanted to make something different with chicken breasts besides my usual chicken marsala, so I took to the fridge and started going through crispers and shelves to see what I could concoct. All the while hoping for it to come out tasting great. With minimal ingredients I was able to whip up a pretty tasty meal.

To make this you will need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

6 cloves of garlic

1/3 cup of diced red bell peppers

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp of ground oregano

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese -can use more or less, adjust for consistency as needed

kosher salt and ground black pepper

olive oil for cooking

large frying pan with lid

The first thing I did to prep for this was to butterfly the chicken breasts by slicing through from the side but stopping before cutting entirely. That way it can be folded out to lay flat in the pan. It makes it abit easier to do this if the chicken is just a little firm from the freezer still. You will definitely need a large pan to fit these in or you can make a smaller serving if needed. I then let them continue to thaw for a short while, placed 1 at a time into a large ziploc bag and with the flat side of meat mallet pounded them abit to flatten slightly. Once all were done I set aside and moved onto the veggie prep.

First I finely chopped up about a 1/3 cup of red bell pepper and set aside. I wanted this dish to have a great savory garlic flavor so I took 2 of the largest cloves of garlic and made slashes to release flavor but did not cut all the way through. Refer to this handy photoshop picture I devised. The remaining garlic cloves I made into very thin slivers and set aside.

What I had in mind was to slowly infuse the garlic flavor into the olive oil by placing these two large sliced cloves into the pan that I had added 2 tbls of olive oil along with the tablespoon of butter to. I also added a pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper to the pan. Bring heat up to medium and keep stirring garlic, butter and oil mixture periodically so as the butter and garlic doesn't burn. If it appears to be caramellizing, turn it down. We don't really want browning at this point, just the garlic fusing flavor with the oil and butter.

Once the garlic has softened slightly and you can smell the delicious garlic aroma it's time to add the chicken breasts to the pan along with another pinch of kosher salt. Increase heat to about medium high. Unfold the butterflied portions and lay flat in pan. Allow one side to slightly brown and then turn over and do the same to the other side. At this point they should not be cooked through, just browned slightly each side.

Now reduce the heat and add the cream, red peppers, and remaining thinly sliced garlic and oregano, keep stirring to mix up the garlic flavor into it. At this point I placed the lid on and frequently stirred it. I let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Always keeping an eye on it. If it needs more cream, feel free to add more. It is going to reduce abit when we add the parmesan. The chicken should be about done at this point and should feel firm to the touch. Go ahead and reduce the heat a little more to a low heat. Now we can add our shredded fresh parmesan cheese. I added it a little bit at a time stirring constantly to melt and distribute it evenly. Adjust as little or as much as you need to firm up the cream sauce. Just make sure the heat has been reduced otherwise the cheese will burn very fast and make a pan cleaning nightmare. Stir stir stir.

Then simply place the chicken on your plate and spoon a little of the sauce on top and it's off to creamy garlic happyland!! -Curvy Cook

Mmm Snickerdoodles

For some reason or other, I am on a cinnamon kick lately. Sometimes I like to justify certain cravings with the body's natural sense of knowing what it needs. I decided to search the health benefits of cinnamon. I mean, c'mon there has to be some, right? Indeed there are. Check out this cool link showing some of the benefits of cinnamon.

Ok, so snickerdoodles aren't the pinnacle of health but they are in a way a comfort food with their delicious aroma and taste. The craving hit me early in the evening so I hit the pantry to see what I had available. Luckily I had all the necessary ingredients on hand, which is wonderful because otherwise I would be making cinnamon toast right now instead. Not the same....really not the same lol.

I came across this snickerdoodle recipe from Martha Stewart this past Christmas and I am hooked. I have come to the conclusion that when I make a cookie gift, it's gonna be these gems.

Here is the basic idea of the recipe in photo form however for the actual recipe please visit the snickerdoodle recipe link in the above paragraph. I don't want to anger the Martha Stewart empire by printing it here for you lol. The last thing I need is to suffer the wrath of Martha *grin*

After the ingredients were sifted, creamed, combined I basically just made a little assembly line as shown. They really are that easy to make. In retrospect, I could have spaced them a tad further on the sheet but otherwise they came out delicious. I use AirBake cookie sheets, they seem to work fine for me but you could use a regular cookie sheet and a silpat if you have it. One of these days I will buy a silpat. I really really want one :) Ok after blogging about these, I can hear the tupperware of them downstairs calling my name! ~Curvy Cook

Flirty Aprons

Maybe it's just me but when I put my apron on, you know some serious cooking is about to go down. I'm a woman on a mission armed with spatulas, tongs and saucepans oh my!

The apron I have right now has a vineyard type theme and I am generally happy with it but I bumped into the FlirtyAprons.com site and after seeing all the cute aprons they had, I am thinking it may almost be time to retire mine or at least give it a well deserved vacation.

So far, I think this one is my favorite, along with the cherry blossom style. Now that I think about it, this would also make a fanastic gift! ~Curvy Cook

Women's Chic Pink Apron

Mini Chicken Meatballs

As I mentioned in an earlier post I'm not much of a red meat eater so often I use chicken for recipes that traditionally use beef. One of my go to quick appetizers to make are my chicken meatballs. These would be great if you are throwing a tapas party just add a plate of decorative toothpicks and viola! The day I made these I was in abit of a hurry and just used a jar of "Classico fire roasted tomato and garlic" sauce I had in the pantry for the marinara dip. If you are feeling "saucey" you can always make your own yummy sauce to go along with these.

The ingredients are simple and few but make a great tasting morsel. To make these you will need the following ingredients.

1 lb. ground chicken breast
1 large clove of garlic minced
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/8 cup seasoned breadcrumbs. I used Progresso Italian Bread crumbs. I used garlic & herb  since it was in pantry but you can ideally use the Italian seasoned variety.
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 small egg whisked or -- I used 1/8 cup Egg Beaters for convenience (also makes this healthier)
Olive oil for cooking.

Ok time to remove your rings and get your hands messy! Mix until all ingredients and spices are combined well. If you find your mixture to be abit runny you can always add a few more breadcrumbs or a little more egg if it is too dry. This part takes abit of judgement.

Next I set a plate aside and rolled the meat mixture into small approx. 1 inch meatballs and place on the plate ready to go into the pan. Once I've rolled out all the balls, I place a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a pan and heat on medium heat. Once oil is hot, I add my meatballs to the pan allowing one side to slightly brown then I flip with my fave silicone tongs by Cuisipro. If you don't have these, I really recommend them for use on your nonstick pans.

I then reduce the heat to slightly lower than medium heat and place a lid over. Periodically checking for uncooked spots and rotating meatballs as needed. Be very careful as the onions will caramelize very quickly and can in an instant, burnalize! lol. You want browning but not burning :)

When cooked internally these will feel firm to the touch. You can have a look at the center of the largest one to ensure the inside has no pink. That's really all there is to it. Simply plate and serve with your favorite marinara dipping sauce or add to spaghetti as a nice finishing touch. I'm thinking about adding some fresh herbs to these next time I make them. I will post some results when I do! ~Curvy Cook

Had a "crunch tooth" today Crispy leftovers wontons!

Leftovers Wontons

I was on the computer this afternoon when the sudden urge for the delicious filled wontons I get at a local Thai restaurant hit me. I happened to have the ingredients on hand to make my copycat version as well as some new ideas I tossed together utilizing leftovers in the fridge. I ended up making 3 different wontons.

The first was a shredded pork roast with veggies wonton, secondly a chipotle chicken wonton and last a cream cheese, crabstick curry wonton. The first 2 were just leftovers I had from crock pot pork roast and chicken tacos I had made earlier this week. The last was my Thai copycat. I also made a dipping sauce to go along with.

My faves ended up being the Thai ones and the chicken chipotle wontons. The pork roast ones seemed to dry up abit once fried. I may have overcooked those ones.

It really is simple to make these delicious little packets of yumminess. If you have a deep fryer it's super easy. I used vegetable oil at 375 degrees. If not you can prepare on a stove in a deep pot with about an inch and a half of oil. Make sure you use a cooking thermometer for your oil temp.

All that you need to have on hand are your ingredients, wonton wrappers and a little dish of water for sealing them.

Here are the ingredients I used for the Thai wontons. I only made a small batch so you would need to adapt the ingredients to your taste and batch size.

Whipped cream cheese

Thai curry powder

imitation crab sticks chopped finely

dash of ground red pepper flakes

dash of turmeric

dash of coriander

Mix ingredients well in a bowl.

To prepare the wontons, I simply used a large flexible cutting board and made a little assembly line. Place wonton flat on board add a small spooful of mixture to the center of the wonton. Dip your little finger in the dish of water and wet 2 adjoining edges. Carefully fold over and seal wonton edges firmly. I made a little diagram to show this. By dark lines are wet, I mean the dark yellow lines :) The dotted line is just the way you fold it over.

Once your oil is up to temperature drop a few in slowly. I kept an eye on them and turned once so that both sides were golden. Take out with tongs or straining ladel, allowing oil to drain then place on paper towels. I usually cooked 4 at a time to avoid overcrowding which will lower your oil temp.

While I was waiting for my first batch to cook, I made a dipping sauce to go along with the wontons. I combined light corn syrup along with mirin rice wine vinegar until I got a thinned consistency. Again the ratio depends upon the quantity you make. It needs to be stirred very well to combine the two. The consistency it is best at is slightly runny. I then mixed in a pinch of ground red pepper flakes and half a teaspoon of thai chili garlic paste.

The imitation crab wontons came pretty close to what I enjoy at my local Thai restaurant so it definitely took care of the pesky "crunch tooth" I had. The chipotle chicken ones were delish too but that recipe will have to wait till another time. I hope this helps you take a new look at your leftovers and inspires you to create new recipes to enjoy. ~Curvy cook

Day trip to BBQ heaven

Being in Texas has many perks, one of which just happens to be fantastic BBQ.  Recently my husband and I took a day trip to Lockhart, Texas or otherwise known as the bbq capital of Texas. There are two BBQ establishments that we have visited so far but we find ourselves always going back to the first one we tried which is Black's BBQ. I'm kicking myself now for getting so enthralled in the finger licking goodness and forgetting to take pictures of the food. I suppose that just means we will have to go back, right?! I did however snap a couple shots on the way out.

I have to say the brisket is my favorite along with the pork ribs. They offer many other bbq'd meats as well as a little sides bar and bbq accoutrements. Eating here is kind of like stepping back in time and I imagine the place has not changed much. The owners are always so friendly and welcoming. It isn't just the food that makes us come back, it's the experience and hometown hospitality. So, if you are ever in the area, stop on in and enjoy some fantastic pit smoked bbq at Black's.

Still cooking

I apologize for lack of recent updates. If it isn't another project, it's probably just procrastination. I have been cooking now more than ever with our (husband and I) efforts to save money and not eat out. I think my main reason for not always blogging what I'm cooking is that I am what is known as an eyeballer kind of cook. If I'm not using a recipe, I am making things up which means I toss a little bit of this and a pinch of that into a bowl and get creative. Unfortunately this isn't too recipe sharing friendly, so when I go to blog it becomes abit of a challenge to recall measurements of my pinches and dashes lol. That is something I will definitely need to work on. I like to think this also gives you abit of freedom to adapt things to your liking also.

With that being said, I will post a yummy little rice dish that is great for leftovers and is a really affordable meal.

I believe I had some leftover boneless porkchops that I wanted to turn into something a little more substantial but you can use chicken too.

I first cooked some white rice in 1cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of water and I also added a dash of turmeric for color (optional). Once this was finished cooking I removed from heat and placed aside in a bowl to cool.

Meanwhile I cut up a piece of bacon into small pieces and sauteed in pan with some chopped onion on a medium heat. Once the onion was halfway cooked I added spices, (detailed below) shredded carrot, finely sliced mushrooms and shredded cabbage and let cook down.

Normally I add a pinch or 2 of kosher salt, ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, 1-2 tbs of soy sauce and a pinch or two of Dynasty Chinese Five Spice Powder. You can feel free to spice to your liking. Once the mixture is near finished cooking down add the leftover (precooked) chopped up boneless porkchops or chicken and also add the rice back and combine together well until heated through. You can also scoot the rice mixture to one side of the pan and scramble an egg in the open side and mix into the rest of the rice once cooked. This is optional but makes for a typical fried rice dish.

The dish is really easy and works great for combing leftovers with inexpensive ingredients for a hearty warm meal. It's also easy to adapt for a vegetarian dish just omit the chicken broth when cooking rice, omit bacon and perhaps substitute tofu or grilled portobello mushrooms for pork/chicken. Enjoy! ~Cc