Archive | January, 2013

Zaycon Foods Chicken Tenders

16 Jan

This is the first of two Zaycon Foods chicken events that was available here this month, Breaded Chicken Tenders.  It was $1.99 per pound, and came as 2 boxes of 10 pounds of chicken tenders.  Then, each box actually had 2 bags, so all together I got 4 5 lb bags.  Here are 2 of the bags:

10 pounds of chicken tenders from Zaycon FoodsThese are not formed chicken, but cut pieces of white meat that are breaded.  They are not fully cooked, so they do have to be either deep-fried or baked in the oven (400F for 12-14 minutes, or until fully cooked).  They are made by the Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation under the Sweet Georgia Brand, and nutritional information and cooking instructions can be found here.

I made some for dinner tonight, and they were pretty good.  I cooked them for closer to 15 minutes, but I wanted to make sure they got cooked through.  So far, I’m happy with the purchase!

Cooked Zaycon Foods Chicken Tenders

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Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

15 Jan

Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

 

This turned out amazing!  I had gotten spinach from Bountiful Baskets in the juicing pack I contributed for, and wanted to make it with chicken somehow.  So, I started looking through some recipes, and came up with a marinade for the chicken, then topped with spinach and mozzarella cheese.  I wanted them to be somewhat flatter, but didn’t pound them flat very well.  Just meant that it took a little longer for them to cook.  Since I had gotten red potatoes and lemons as well in my regular basket, I thought roasting the potatoes with lemon would be a nice addition.

 

Spinach & Mozzarella Chicken

What you need:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons (or about 1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon rosemary
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

How to make it:

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.  Put chicken on a flat surface in between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound flat.  Place chicken in a gallon size zipper bag and pour contents of the bowl over chicken in the bag.  Seal bag and place in refrigerator overnight, or for at least 1 hour before cooking.

Remove chicken from bag and discard remaining marinade.  Preheat oven to 400 F.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken in skillet for about 5 minutes each side to slightly brown it.  Remove from skillet and place in a baking dish.

In the same skillet, put in the spinach and cook for a few minutes until spinach wilts.  Place spinach on each of the chicken breasts in baking dish.  Next, put shredded mozzarella on top of the spinach on each chicken breast.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked fully through and cheese is melted.

 

 

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

What you need:

3 pounds red potatoes, well scrubbed
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Dice the potatoes, leaving skins on.  Place in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Pour over the potatoes in the large bowl.  Toss to fully coat potatoes.

Spray a foil lined baking sheet with non-stick spray.   Spread potatoes in an even layer on the baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.  Stir potatoes around on baking sheet.  Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are browned and softened.

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Ah, produce!

14 Jan

After being out of town for 2 1/2 weeks for the holidays and not participating in Bountiful Baskets or Sunizona’s FarmBox, my house had no produce!  Well, I take that back, I think my husband had gotten some bananas just before the kids and I got back.  So, I was very excited to get my FarmBox last Wednesday and then Bountiful Baskets this past weekend.

The FarmBox program has a few new items, citrus from Arizona Organic Family Farms, a raisin walnut bread, and hoagie buns.  First, I tried the raisin walnut bread, it’s really great!  I’m going to try some oranges this week and I’m looking forward to it.  Here is how my box looked last week:

Sunizona FarmBox 1/9/2013I picked a cucumber, micro cilantro, red potatoes #2 (non-perfect potatoes), raisin walnut bread, special spelt bread, radishes, green beans, and pink lady apples.  All delicious!  We really, really love the bread.

It was a good haul at Bountiful Baskets this week.  I got the conventional basket and the new juicing pack.  I have a juicer, but honestly, I got the pack more for the extra produce offered in it, it’s all things we love to eat.

Here is the conventional basket:

Conventional basket 1/12/2013Red potatoes, cucumbers, rainbow carrots, avocados, grape tomatoes, sweet peppers, strawberries, oranges, lemons, red delicious apples, golden delicious apples, and Asian apple pears.  I’ve already used the lemons to marinate chicken and potatoes for mashed potatoes.  We’ve been snacking on the peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and apples.  I also made guacamole with the avocados.

Juicing Pack 1/12/2013This is the new juicing pack.  Great mix of fruits and vegetables, celery, kale, baby spinach, carrots, beets, cucumber, limes, ginger, fuji apples, and a lemon.  I may juice some of this, but more likely we’ll just eat it.

Finally, I didn’t contribute for these, but snapped a picture of the 12 lb jar of honey and the 1/2 gallon of coconut oil, just to show what they look like.

Bountiful Baskets honey and coconut oil

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly. I also volunteered and got an extra item for volunteering.

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Sloppy Joe Turnovers

9 Jan

Sloppy Joe Turnovers

 

Yum, yum, yum!  My husband had been talking about having sloppy joes for dinner, so I started looking up recipes for them.  I remembered that Lori at My Kinda Rain had a recipe for Sloppy Joe Turnovers, and since I had a can of Grands biscuits in the refrigerator, I decided to give them a try!  I did use a different filling than she did, but then made them turnovers.  Eventually, I would like to come up with  my own biscuit recipe to use instead of biscuits from a can, but I have some work on my bread and biscuit skills to do first.   I like the turnovers because they aren’t as messy….which I know pretty much defeats the purpose of them being “sloppy” joes, but it’s nice when you have small kids.  I paired this with Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup, and it was a great, filling meal!

 

Sloppy Joe Turnovers

What you need:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can biscuits (I used Grand biscuits, but regular biscuits can be used as well)

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef.  Drain any fat.  Add chopped onion and cook until onions are soft.  Stir in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, yellow mustard, salt, and pepper.  Simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes to let it thicken.

Roll out each biscuit to about 1/4″ thickness.  Scoop about 1/4 cup of meat mixture onto each biscuit.  Fold in half and press edges together well.  Place all on a baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown.

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Sausage, Spinach, and Rice

7 Jan

Sausage, Spinach, and Rice

One of my favorite dishes I make at Thanksgiving is Wild Rice & Sausage Casserole.  And, while it’s great, it’s a little time-consuming considering it has to go in the oven.  So, I decided to try a little variation, use Italian sausage in place of breakfast sausage, add spinach, and do it in the skillet.  Turns out, this makes a nice, quick standalone meal!  The Italian sausage has enough spices that you don’t really need to add any more seasoning.  My kids both gobbled it down!

Sausage, Spinach, and Rice

What you need:

1 pound Italian sausage, hot or mild, casings removed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 pound fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups cooked rice, wild, brown, or white, your choice
Grated Parmesan cheese

How to make it:

Break up and brown sausage in a large skillet.  Add onions, and continue to cook until onions are soft and translucent.  Add spinach, and cook until wilted.  Stir in rice and cook over medium heat for a few minutes.  Serve into bowls and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese onto each serving.

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