Mas Pollo! Recipes #76-78

I miss Washington. I miss Cougar Football games. REAL COUGAR football games. I miss being surrounded by other WSU fans. But most of all... I miss teaching.

I was having a real "Woe-is-me" kind of week last week. The kind where you have to force yourself out of bed and to work, try not to cry when you get denied for the fiftieth time on a prospecting call, walk-of-shame your way out of the stadium following the WSU/BYU game. So I decided to cook, and bake, and find the things that I have loved about married life so far. Because sometimes that's all you can do to keep your head afloat.

So what do I love about life right now?

1. I love my husband. I love how much love he shows me. I love that he appreciates my quirks, compliments me constantly, and gives me hugs to wake me up in the morning. He is the best.
2. I love family coming to visit.
3. I love my birthday, and all the love I was shown this week! [the big 2-6. Bleck.]
4. I love cooler weather, new sweaters, and riding boots.
5. I love my new set of curlers, and the volume my hair has now.
6. I love that my husband tries to love watching old episodes of The O.C. as much as I do.
7. I love replacing my summer Scentsy scents with Warm Apple Pie.
8. I love that Halloween decorations are coming into the stores.
9. I love surprise interviews [shhhhh...]
10. I love that my husband is almost done with this MCAT madness.
11. I love XBOX Kinect dancing games.
12. I love Friday night sushi dates.
13. I love the Republican National Convention... and Ann Romney.
14. I love sleeping in.

I also love the following recipes. I needed more chicken in my life... so I found some awesome chicken recipes. Enjoy!

Recipe #76: Honey-Dijon Chicken Tenders with Zucchini Rice (as found on http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com)

Yes. That is MY actual dinner.

Ingredients:

1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
3 tbsp. butter, melted
heaping 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. honey
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced vertically into strips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet and set aside.
      - Seriously, coat that sheet in oil, or everything WILL stick to it. Consider yourself warned.

2. In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, Dijon mustard and honey; whisk until well combined.

3. Place the chicken strips into the mustard-butter mixture, then into the breadcrumbs. Coat evenly. Place onto the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the zucchini rice (see below for recipe).

Ingredients:

1 cup long-grain white rice
1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
3 tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.Cook rice according to package directions. 
     - A special shout out to the Roberts family for buying us THE BEST rice cooker in the world... and for my Korean missionary husband. Seriously, I've never had such great rice.

2.Remove from heat, add butter and sprinkle zucchini over the rice. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork. Salt and pepper, to taste.
     - Also, a separate shout out to Mindy for her awesome zucchinis she gave us. Now, I just have to find a recipe to use the other GIGANTIC zucchinis we have,,,

This was a great recipe. A little much for two people though. I think Stephen had lunch for a solid two days after this dinner, which works for me... plus, I'm sure he's tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We dipped ours in honey dijon mustard, and a combination of BBQ sauce and Frank's Red Hot Sauce. So good.

Recipe #77: Oreo Pudding Poke Cake (as found on http://www.thecountrycook.net)

This one isn't.

I had a BAD Friday at work. So I baked. Why wouldn't I?

Ingredients:

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix- I used Pillsbury... because it's cheap. Do I need a better reason?

Ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil and water)

2 (4 oz.) packages of Instant Oreo pudding

4 cups milk 

Crushed Oreo Cookies 

Directions:

1. Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9x13 pan.

2. Just before cake is done, start making pudding. In a medium bowl, add milk to pudding mixture and continue to whisk until most of the lumps are removed. Let pudding mixture sit for about 2 minutes. You want it to thicken slightly so it isn't overly runny but not fully thickened into pudding.

     - And then try not to eat it all before using it on the cake.

3. When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or a straw. 

4. Pour pudding mixture over warm cake. Spread it out with a spoon and gently push down on the
pudding to help get it into the holes. Allow the cake to cool for several minutes on the counter then put
into the fridge to set up. 

5. Once the cake is set, spread crushed Oreo cookies on top. Keep refrigerated.

... and then quickly find sister-in-laws and an adorable family you just met to eat it all, so you and your husband don't instead. Seriously. Stephen and I WOULD'VE finished this all off if I hadn't brought it to a picnic at Liberty Park.

Recipe #78: White Chicken Enchiladas (as found on http://joyful-mommas-kitchen.blogspot.com)

And this is me ALMOST forgetting to take a picture. But remembering JUST after dinner.

Ingredients:

10 soft taco shells

     - My recipe only filled 8 medium soft shells, so heads up.

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

     - The author behind this blog says that she likes to use pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli counter. Because I am too cheap for such luxuries (*sigh*), I opted to use two chicken breasts and marinate them in Frank's Hot Sauce, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.  

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

     - So following my chicken marinating, I put the chicken breasts on the Foreman Grill. Once they were cooked through, I shredded the chicken and mixed it with the cheese. It worked out great, and the chicken was super flavorful.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

     - Use a large saucepan, I learned that lesson quickly.

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

SO GOOD. And this fed us for dinner Thursday, lunch Friday, dinner Saturday, and lunch Sunday. You get a lot of bang for yer buck! And when we made re-fried beans and served them along with chips and salsa, holy cow, so much awesome food. This one is a keeper!

So life has it's ups and downs. But at least dinner is always taken care of.