Pasta with peas and chicken

I came up with this recipe a few weeks ago when it was snowing non-stop and I didn't wanna go anywhere but to work and then home. I just wasn't in the mood to go grocery shopping. Snow doesn't agree with me anymore and so I don't feel like driving anywhere even to the store. We had more than 12 inches of snow that time, and believe me, it wasn't easy shoveling the driveway. By the time you are done and can get your car out of the driveway, you feel like you just wanna go inside the house and rest. Lol.. Anyway, so I didn't do my grocery shopping that week. And I finished all my fresh veggies in the fridge. And almost emptied my freezer. Meaning, I was running out of food to cook. As you all know, or maybe not (hehehe), I'm not a big fan of canned goods. I much prefer fresh or frozen one rather than canned veggies or meat. I don't know. Even if they say it is canned fresh, its still not fresh to me. And based on experience, all canned veggies are overcooked or soggy. But well, I didn't have a choice, either open a can of veggies/meat or go grocery shopping. I looked out my window and decided to get my can opener and look in my pantry. I have a selection of beans, green beans, sauces, green peas, corn, tuna and canned chicken. I also have a few packs of egg noodles. I asked my daughter if she wants pasta and she said yes but not with red sauce. Hmmm, so it has to be pasta with the canned chicken and veggies sauteed in olive oil. It is so easy to come up with a dish with only three main ingredients. I cooked this dish twice already since that snowy days. My daughter loved it and kept requesting for it.

Curious? Here is the my simple recipe for Pasta with peas and canned chicken

Ingredients

1     lb        egg noodles, cooked al dente (8-9 minutes)
1    can       green peas
1    can       white chicken

1    tsp        chili powder
1    tsp        minced garlic
1    tsp        salt
1    tsp        pepper
1/4 cup      olive oil
1    small   onion, chopped

Procedure

Cook the egg noodles al dente, set aside.

In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic, add the drained chicken in can and the green peas.

Add the cooked eg noodles, season with chili powder, salt and pepper.

Serve with toast or garlic bread.

This recipe is so easy to make, it takes only 30 minutes to prepare. Very simple and only needed three main ingredients. Since I cooked it several times now, I ran out of canned chicken. But I was thinking I could used canned tuna or salmon with this recipe. And instead of egg noodles, I could use penne or mostaccioli. That will be another experiment, right?

Chicken Stew

I have tried a lot of sweet pickles, but I especially like Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips. It tastes like no other. And the juice, I could even drink it. After finishing one bottle, I would throw the juice away, while shaking my head. I thought, what a waste. Until an idea came to mind. Why throw it, when I could use it on dishes that needs vinegar?

I called my recipe chicken stew, but it's actually adobo (a Filipino dish) with potatoes and carrots. I always put veggies on my adobo, so I don't need to cook a veggie dish whenever I have adobo for dinner. I have also tried using pineapple juice on adobo instead of vinegar. It makes it sweeter so there is no need for me to add sugar (yes I add sugar on my adobo recipe). So using the extra juice from the pickles is actually a good idea since it is vinegar based but is sweeter and tastier with all the spices on it.

The recipe is basically an adobo recipe with a little twist, so its pretty simple to cook. As mentioned, instead of vinegar, I used the juice from Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips. I also added potatoes and carrots, some extra pickle chips. If you have bell pepper, you can also add in on the stew.

Safie's Old fashioned bread and butter chips and their other products are available online at www.safiespecialtyfoods.com. You could also check Amazon, your local meat market if they have it, because I'm not sure if it is readily available in the store.

Below is my recipe

Ingredients

2        lbs           chicken ( thigh, legs or wings)
1        cup          Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips juice
4        pcs           Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips, chopped
3        pcs           medium size potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2        pcs           medium size carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1        pc             small ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
1        pc             small onion, peeled and chopped
3        pcs            bayleaves
2       tbsp            soy sauce
2       cloves        garlic, chopped

Procedure

At the bottom of  a pot or saucepan, arrange the chicken pieces

Add Safie's pickle juice and soy sauce

Add the pickles, onion, ginger, garlic and bayleaves

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes

Add potatoes and carrots. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender

Serve with rice.

French Toast Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich

It's December and everybody is so busy with Christmas decors, gift shopping, and meal planning etc. On top of our daily routine as mothers, we have to squeeze in all of these into our busy schedule. I get you moms out there, it gets overwhelming, and making healthy but affordable snacks for our kids can be stressful sometimes. I mean what else to serve our kids, who want varieties all the time and avoid them saying ' this again?!!"

I'm not claiming I made up this snack, I saw it a few days ago at The Chew, their guest was Ayesha Curry. She said she made this sandwich to her kids all the time. I changed a few things and made my own version of the sandwich. I have done a different version years ago, it was French Toast Grilled Cheese sandwich.

Am I right to say we can never go wrong with peanut butter jelly sandwich? Kids and adult alike love it! It is a healthy snack and affordable. But even kids can get tired of eating it all the time. So when I saw Ayesha Curry French toasting PBJ sandwich, I'm like... why didn't I think of that? Because I thought of French toasting grilled cheese sandwich a long time ago. Anyway, I didn't see much of the show so I didn't know if she put cinnamon on it. And I changed one ingredient, instead of corn flakes, I used Rice Krispies cereal. For two reasons, first, I want to be different and make my own version, and secondly, I ran out of corn flakes and only have Rice Krispies, Cherrios and Frosted Oat Cereal with marshmallows.  So Rice Krispies it is. 

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

4    slices         white bread (or wheat bread)
1    pc              egg
1    cup             2% milk
1    tbsp           cinnamon powder
1    cup            Rice Krispies cereal
Peanut butter
Jelly spread of your choice
Butter

Procedure

Make a peanut butter jelly sandwich. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the egg, add milk and cinnamon powder.

Soak the sandwich in the egg/milk mixture. Then coat with Rice Krispies

Melt butter in a pan, fry the sandwich. Brown both sides. Approximately 2 minutes each side.

Serve with maple syrup and apple slices.

You could also make this recipe with ham and cheese sandwich, cheese and tomato sandwich or whatever sandwich you feel like toasting. It's just so fun experimenting and getting good results!!

Pumpkin Pie

So Halloween is over and we are basically done with the pumpkin that our kids carved or painted. I usually just throw the pumpkin a few days after trick or treat. But this year, I thought it's such a waste throwing it, and I hate wasting food. I just didn't know what to do with it. What can you do with pumpkin? A lot of things actually. The most obvious one would be pumpkin pie. You could also make pumpkin soup or pumpkin pancake, which by the way is available now at Egg Harbor Café until January if I'm not mistaken. I always order it but then it is only available for just a few months starting October. Anyway, back to pumpkin pie. This is what my daughter chose when I asked her what she wants me to experiment on, she wasn't too crazy about the soup or the pancake.

Anyway, before you can use your fresh pumpkin for your pie recipe, it has to be baked first.  Use a pumpkin that was painted on and not the one that was carved because the meat must be dirty already especially if it is sitting outside your front stoop. Wash your pumpkin well, dry it, take the stem out by banging it on the side of the table or counter. Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop the gut and seeds out and lay it face down on baking pan with parchment paper. Bake the pumpkin for 1 1/2 hour at 375 F.  Don't throw the gut and seeds like I did, I realized that the gut can be used for pumpkin soup and the seeds can be roasted.

Once cool, scoop out the meat. making sure no skin are included. Mash it well. You will be needing 2 cups of it. Depending on how big your pumpkin, you will probably have enough meat for 2 pies. Or you can make one pie and use the rest for your soup recipe. I'm actually thinking of experimenting on pumpkin soup next.

Here is my pumpkin pie recipe

Ingredients

2        cups       cooked pumpkin meat, mashed
1        can         condensed milk
1 1/2  tsp          cinnamon powder
1/2     tsp          salt
1/2     tsp          ginger powder
2        pcs          whole eggs
1        pc           Pillsbury pie crust
whipped cream for toppings

Procedure

Preheat over to 425 F.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, add salt, ginger and cinnamon.

Add in the condensed milk and pumpkin meat.

Pour over your pie crust.

Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes.

Then reduce the temperature to 350F then bake for another 45minutes.

Cool before serving. Best served with whipped cream.

My daughter said it is delicious, She wolfed down one serving in under 2 minutes. She even asked for another serving. This is after she ate dinner. So I guess it is a success!!!