Tuscan Chicken Pasta

I found this recipe on a money saving site I visit weekly.  In reading through the recipe, I was struck immediately by the fact that this recipe used only ingredients I typically keep on hand.  It is fairly frugal, using a good substitute of ingredients to replace one that is typically costly.  I saved a bit more by using a substitute for another ingredient, which is near enough the original to taste the same.  

The site I visited had this listed as a freezer meal and suggested that you make it in two 9x9 pans.  That was what I'd planned to do but instead, I ended up making it as a regular meal and am freezing the leftovers.

I cooked my chicken first in the crock pot, but you could sub in any leftover cooked chicken if it's not pre-seasoned.  I upped the flavor profile just a little and altered the liquid...in other words I've adjusted the recipe and made it my own take on the original, so I won't be passing credit to anyone else due to all the substitutions.    

This was a huge hit with my family and as I said, there were enough leftovers to freeze and have another time.  Again, I am much amused at how I can take something from the freezer and end up putting back an entire meal, lol.  

Tuscan Chicken Pasta

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 tsps. of minced garlic

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano 

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (not oil packed)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened, cubed

3 cups whole milk

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

4-6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

16 ounces pasta of choice, cooked

Place chicken in the crockpot and cook on high for 3-5 hours or low for 4-6 hours. Once chicken is cooked you can cut it into chunks or use a fork to make thick rustic bits.  Top with seasonings and dried tomatoes.  Stir and continue to cook on low.

To make sauce: Heat milk, cream cheese and butter.  Cook until slightly thickened.  Add sauce to crockpot.  I let mine cook for another hour on low and then switched the slow cooker over to warm.   I added in the cooked pasta about 15 minutes before I planned to serve it.

notes:  The original recipe called only for basil.  I didn't find that gave me quite enough flavor.   

Because I don't use freshly minced garlic, using water packed minced, I did add in the garlic powder just to bring up the garlic flavor a little bit.

The original recipe called for 2 cups of milk.  We like our pasta a little more saucy.  I ended up adding in extra milk.  I didn't have the Parmesan cheese (my daughter brought it to me when she came in from work) and I knew that the cheese was going to cause the sauce to thicken more and then the pasta would absorb quite a bit once it was added.  That extra cup of milk was the perfect amount.

Not only did we get 3 generous and 1 toddler sized portion, but I put aside a full portion for my daughter's work.  I still had enough leftovers to freeze in a 9x9 pan.  The original recipe said to bake at 350F from frozen for 40-50 minutes, if thawed for 30-40 minutes.

I've noticed that there are many online recipes for this dish and most include fresh spinach, which I think would be a delicious addition.

The Good Housekeeping Cookbook Yellow Cake

 

I recently wanted a single layer cake, but I remembered that the Dinette Cake from The Betty Crocker Cookbook, while a favorite is a bit coarse and dense.  Perfect for a Strawberry Shortcake, or a coffee cake like cake with a Broiled frosting but not light and airy like the cake I wanted.  

Since The Good Housekeeping Cookbook was right beside my chair it was easy to find a new recipe to try.  I've linked this cookbook and the other one, too, for those of you interested in checking them out on Amazon.

This recipe is different than most cake recipes.  First there is the question of what fat you will use.  The recipe says that butter will give you a rich flavor, while shortening will give you a more delicate flavor and crumb.  I'd be very curious what coconut fat might do for the cake.  I didn't have any on hand, so I subbed in the butter with a bit of shortening to make the full half cup fat required.

Then there is the question of temperatures. * If using two 8-inch rounds or you want to make 24 21/2-inch cupcakes, then 350F is the suggested temperature.  If using the 9-inch square, then the directions say to temperature should be 325F.

Whatever pan size you choose, do be sure to grease and flour the pan(s) or line with paper cupcake liners.

Yellow Cake

 2 cups flour

2 tsps. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup room temp fat (butter or shortening)

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk

Preheat oven.  See notes above * to determine temperature.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

Beat fat with sugar for five minutes on medium speed.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  

Lower speed to the lowest setting.  Alternate flour mixture with the milk, beating well after each addition.

Pour into greased floured pan(s).

Bake at 350F (8-inch rounds or cupcake pans) or 325F (9-inch square).   8-inch pans bake for 30 minutes (mine took 35 minutes), cupcakes bake for 20-25 minutes and 9-inch square bakes for 40-45 minutes.  

Cool in pan(s) on wire racks for 10 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

I was so pleased at how silky this batter turned out.  The layers are tender and lovely.  I planned to freeze one layer, but it was truly a smaller cake than I'd thought it might be.  

I've debated the difference in baking times, and I'll bet that the longer slower bake time in the 9-inch pan will get you a slightly heavier cake with a consistency closer to a moist pound cake.  I plan to test that theory out one day soon.

I made mine lemon by using lemon extract in the batter for a subtle delicate lemon flavor and iced with a half recipe of buttercream frosting that I flavored with pure lemon juice.  I used only the half recipe of frosting because I didn't want a very rich cake overall, just something with subtle sweetness.

Cheesy Salsa Chicken and Rice

 

This was one of those desperation dinners.  I waited too late in the day to allow for a long thawing of meat.  The weather had changed from a previous forecast and was quite cool, rather than warm.  I had no clue what I might make but what was on the menu didn't appeal in the least.  

Out of desperation something was born that my family raved over.  I thought I'd share that with you all here.

This is a variation on Chicken and Rice but with a fresh twist that made it most welcome on the dinner table.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Chicken for four people (I used boneless skinless thighs, but any boneless chicken would work well)

Tajin seasoning 

1 cup salsa

1 cup shredded cheddar (what I had on hand.  I used a sharp cheddar.  I think Pepper Jack would have been equally delicious)

Prepared Mexican rice (from scratch or a packet.  Mine had been frozen from a previous meal and was thawed.)

I baked the chicken, covered, at 350F until I could easily pull the pieces apart and separate.  I drained off the liquids that accumulated in the bottom of the pan then laid the chicken back out on the pan and seasoned liberally with the Tajin seasoning.  I also added a bit of salt.  I baked about 20 minutes, turned it and then seasoned again on that side.  At about the 35-minute mark, I removed chicken from the pan.  

I spread the rice on the bottom of the pan.  Lay the chicken pieces on top of the rice base.  Then spread the salsa evenly over each piece of chicken and then with cheese.  Bake at 350 for another 10-15 minutes until everything is hot, melted and bubbly.  

We served this with a simple salad and Mexican Cornbread.  Tortillas would also make a great side and you could add beans if you needed to stretch the meal further.  

Mock Chop Suey

 

I got this recipe via Jennifer Brockman of A Country Life.  You can view her original recipe here. It sounded really good to me when she was making it in a recent video, and I thought I'd try it out on my family.  I happened to have all the ingredients including the chow mein noodles on hand.  

She mentioned in the video that the recipe was well over 60 years old.  I am pretty sure I've had it before, made as she shared it.  She'd found the recipe in an old collaborative cookbook, one of those sold by churches or women's clubs.

The recipe I'm sharing below is based on the one Jennifer shared but I'm adding in my variations and I'm including one ingredient that I didn't use, but Katie and I both felt it would be a great addition.  The dish definitely needed the added texture.

All in all, this is a good recipe, uses pretty much basic pantry ingredients and isn't cost prohibitive to make.  

Mock Chop Suey

1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used baby Bellas)

1 cup grated carrot (just something I had already on hand, so no harm in adding it right?)

1.5 cups chopped onion

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 can drained, diced water chestnuts (You really need this crunch in this dish so try to add it.  I didn't have it but next time I make this I will.)

1 cup water

1 tsp. powdered beef broth

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

salt and pepper to taste

Chow Mein Noodles

Brown ground beef, then add in the onions, celery, mushrooms, carrot, and garlic.  I considered adding in some shredded broccoli stalks as well.  I'm a big proponent of adding in all the extra vegetables I can to these sorts of dishes.

Once the meat is browned and the vegetables are soft add in the water, broth powder, soy sauce, soups, rice, and basic measures of salt and pepper. I used a little less salt and a good 1/2 tsp of pepper.  Mix well.  Remove from heat.  

Pour into a baking dish.  Jennifer filled a 9 X 13 pan.  I used two 9-inch square pans and divided equally among the two pans. 

Cover pan.  Bake at 350F for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Remove cover, top with chow mein noodles and bake an additional 10 minutes.

I opted to bake one pan now and put the other pan into the freezer to have as a future entree. I labeled with cooking time and temp for future use.

Mongolian Beef Noodles

 

I'm always interested in trying a spin on a familiar taste profile that is a little less expensive to make.  Six years ago, Bess made an absolutely awesome Mongolian Beef that used boneless Chuck Roast.  It was made in the slow cooker, and it was wonderful.  We asked to put it on a repeating cycle while she and Sam lived here.  Back then, boneless chuck roasts were an inexpensive meat to have on hand.  Nowadays though it's pricey as can be.  In fact, I am seeing more of the English cut or Arm roasts on sale than Chuck Roasts and those are still rather pricey for my taste.  

In the meantime, I was interested when I saw a video of Mandy from Mandy in the Making preparing a version of Mongolian Beef that used ground meat.  She made a couple of suggestions about serving and it sounded interesting, so we tried it.  It was a little lackluster in my opinion.

But I couldn't quite let go of the idea.  I knew that one of her suggestions I hadn't followed and that was to double the sauce ingredients.   Then I came across another blogger's recipe which also sounded good.  I decided to try it again and this time add the touches I'd felt were missing the first time around.  Only I couldn't find the second blogger's recipe when I went to look for it.  So, I grabbed another recipe from a Bing search that came from the website, 12tomatoes.com.  I tweaked a few things based on what I had on hand, then I added all the toppings I'd felt were missing before.

The result was terrific.  It was so good that dibs got called right away on the leftovers a few days later when we were doing a clear out the fridge night.

I used thin whole wheat spaghetti noodles because it's what I had on hand.  I think the broader flatter noodle really would work best with this recipe to give the sauce more surface to cling to.

I used raw grated carrot, fresh lime wedges, chili garlic sauce, green and pickled onions on our bowls of noodles.  That was what I had on hand.  I think you could pickle shredded carrots or have sliced fresh radishes and that would be very nice on top as well.   I know that John would love this dish with slices of fresh cucumber surrounding the plate.  

I served with steamed broccoli but thought after that if I could manage a crisp tender broccoli, it would be good, tossed right in with the sauce and noodles.   Cooked diced baby bella mushrooms in with the beef would be a nice way to extend the meat if you had additional company.  

I think this would make a great rice bowl as well.

Mongolian Beef Noodles

8 ounces Fettuccini noodles

1 pound ground beef

4 cloves of garlic, minced (or 4 tsps. of minced garlic)

1/4-inch slice ginger root, grated 

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

3 tbsps. honey

1.5 tsps. sesame oil

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 c. loosely packed brown sugar

1/4 c. Hoisin sauce, I often don't have this and leave it out

1/4 c. Beef Broth

2 tbsps. cornstarch

1/4 cup water

For garnishing:   raw grated carrot

                              Pickled red onion

                              Diced Green onion tops

                              Lime wedges

                              Chili Garlic sauce

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Salt well.  Add fettuccini and cook according to package directions.

Brown ground beef.  Add garlic and cook for a moment or two.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a gentle simmer.  Make a slurry of cornstarch and water.  Remove pan from heat, stir in the slurry and then return to heat stirring the whole while.

Serve beef over noodles and top as you like.

July 1, 2024 update:  I recently used ground chicken in this recipe and it worked beautifully.  I was blessed to find packages marked down for about $1/pound.  I like ground chicken far better than I do ground turkey.  It's less grainy and takes on the flavors in this dish very well  

The Good Housekeeping Cookbook Pie Crust Recipe

 

I just tried a new pie crust recipe today and I have to say that this might be 'the one' for me from here on.  It turned out really nicely though I skipped one step and failed to take note of another which I'll share below so you will be informed, but this really turned out just lovely.  It was light, golden and flaky.  I used it to top Chicken Pot Pie today.  I'm curious to see how this works as the bottom of a pie in future.

The recipe is unusual in that they call for both shortening and butter.  I've seen recipes that called for one or the other but never both.  In going back later to the front of the chapter on Pie & Tarts, I found this explanation:  The single most important factor in the quest for tender pastry is the fat.  Butter gives a dough rich flavor, crispness and color; vegetable shortening makes it flaky.   We use butter and shortening to give piecrust the best qualities of each.  To keep fat in the dough chilled and firm, use ice water to bring the ingredients together.  And be sure both the butter and the shortening are well chilled. (I failed to chill my shortening).  The pieces of fat should hold their shape.  The kitchen should be cool, too.  If you must make pie on a hot day, chill the flour.

I have to laugh over that last line, ' if you must make pie on a hot day...'.  It's almost like a warning against even trying isn't it?  My second thought was that it would be ideal to have pastry pre-made and chilled in the fridge or keep a few disks in the freezer to take out and thaw to use.  You'd naturally want to thaw it in the fridge to insure it stayed properly cool on those hot days.

Pastry Dough for 1-Crust Pie

Chilling pie dough before baking helps it retain its shape.

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons cold butter or margarine, cut into pieces.

2 tablespoons shortening (remember this too should be cold)

3-5 tablespoons ice water

In large bowl whisk flour and salt.    With a pastry blender (two knives or a fork) cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly after each addition, until dough is just moist enough to hold together.

Shape into a dish; wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight. (If chilled overnight allow to stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to rolling out.)

On lightly floured surface, roll into a 12-inch round.  

Refrigerate or freeze until firm.  Fill and bake as directed in your pie recipe.  Makes one 9-inch crust.

My notes:  I didn't read that the shortening should be chilled.  It was fairly cool in my kitchen today, so the shortening was fairly firm anyway.

I use my KitchenAid mixer and the paddle to cut in the shortening and stop immediately when there are no big lumps, and the crumbs look coarse.

I've always struggled with knowing just how much water to add to get pastry to the right consistency.  I did add the water in one tablespoon increments.  Today it took 4.5 and I literally stopped the very moment the dough started to come together in one ball.  It will still be slightly crumbly, but will hold together once you start forming it into a disc.

Kidney Bean Salad

 

I found this cookbook a few years ago in a thrift store.  The price was low and the words in the title appealed to me for the most obvious reasons.  I love good food and I like cooking budget food.  You can still find this cookbook online.  The publication date is 1971. 

This particular recipe sounded odd, but I was making a complete menu right from the pages of the book.  I'm happy to say that this salad tasted really good!  Yes, these are unusual ingredients to combine to make a salad but there you are.

Kidney Bean Bowl

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained (I rinsed, too)

1/2 cup sliced celery

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon salt

dash pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 cup diced, unpeeled apple

1/3 cup diced process American Cheese

(I used cheddar from Aldi)

Lettuce

Combine beans, celery, onions, salt, pepper, mayonnaise.  Cover and chill.  Stir in apple and cheese before serving.  Serve in lettuce lined bowls.   Serves 8.