Make Your Own Hot Pockets: Italian Chicken & BBQ Chicken

Ok, not fair (fare? jeez, I should know that) to say I'd post two more hot pocket ideas, hold out on you, and then make a bigger deal of them than they are. Here's how it goes:

For Italian Chicken-

Do everything from the past post EXCEPT instead of adding salsa add marinara sauce. Still cook out most of the liquid, so the marinara sauce gets super thick and sticks to the chicken and veggies. Replace Mexican cheese with Parmesan cheese. Presto, that's it!

For BBQ Chicken-

Do everything from the past post EXCEPT instead of adding salsa add Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. Again, cook out as much liquid as you can which means the BBQ sauce sort of caramelizes on the chicken (=awesome). I even used the Mexican cheese in this, though I am sure Pepper Jack would be good too. When I reheated a left over BBQ one it seemed a little dry (it had lots of extra crust), so I just dipped it in some more SBRs.

I liked all three, I loved the salsa chicken pockets and the BBQ chicken pockets.

Just in case you didn't catch it yet- I really think the key is to have the ingredients pretty dry when you put them in the pockets. I'm also still not sold on pie crust as the best way to go about this, but I know it is much better than puffed pastry, and pizza dough seems too heavy though maybe not if you got it thin enough. I'll have to keep trying...

Headed out of town tomorrow, but fully intending to test recipes on the family so I'll keep you posted! I have a blueberry dessert in mind that I am anxious to experiment with :)

Make Your Own hot pockets: Salsa Chicken

So I had a pie crust laying around... you know, since they come in packs of two. What did I use the other one for? Why do I own pie crust? Oh yeah, the mini poptarts.

Anyway, I decided I wanted something different and home made hot pockets sounded just right. Now I made 6 out of one pie crust, but if you wanted them to be the whole meal you'd probably want to plan of 4 per crust. I feel like any food wrapped in pie crust is a splurge, so I kept them small and paired with fruit or salad. I made three kinds, but I'll give you the amounts of each thing to make them all one kind. Look for Italian chicken and BBQ in the next couple days.

Salsa Chicken hot pockets

1 refrigerator pie crust (I guess you could make your own...)

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, and cut into about 1/2 of what you'd call bite sized

1/2 c. peppers, I used red and green bell peppers, finely chopped

1/4 c. onion, I used yellow, finely chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2-3/4 c. salsa (less if runnier, more if chunkier)

1 c. Mexican blend cheese

Keep the pie crust refrigerated until you are ready for it! It needs to be cold going into the oven. Heat your olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic and stir that around just for about 30 seconds, then add peppers and onions. Stir all this around and then let cook for just a minute or two. Add chicken. Cook uncovered for a few minutes, then cover and let cook just until chicken is done. Remove lid and let ALL the liquid cook out. Add salsa and stir until everything is well mixed. Again, cook ALL the liquid out.

Wait, cook out ALL the liquid? Then why did I put the salsa in? For the flavor of course! It makes the chicken so yummy that I could (read:did) eat it straight out of the pan! But you need all of the liquid out before you put this in the pie crust so it doesn't make the dough gooey. Once all the liquid is cooked out, remove this mix from the pan and set aside to cool completely.

Once the salsa chicken veggie mix is totally cooled (i.e. not even the least bit warm!), take out your pie crust. Unroll it from the wrapper and place on parchment or wax paper, then use a rolling pin (or glass or whatever you have) to roll it just a bit thinner. I just rolled in until I had more of a square than a circle. Use a pizza cutter to cut twice as many squares as the number of pockets you are making (4 pockets= 8 squares, 6 pockets= 12 squares). You will want the "top" squares to be bigger than the "bottom" squares by about 1/2 inch in length and width.

Place your bottom squares on a lined baking sheet (I used parchment, but I'd guess foil would work, ungreased!). Layer the cheese on top of the bottoms (1/4 c. for 4, 1/6 c. for 6). This will help protect the bottom crust from some of the moisture bound to come out of the chicken mix. Then top the cheese with 1 to 2 Tbsps of the chicken mix. Wet one side of a top square with your fingers, then place the damp side down over the chicken mix and push the crusts together (the water will help hold them), then use a fork to crimp the crusts together all the way around. You will want to be able to seal it all the way around, so adjust your chicken mix amounts as needed. Use the fork to poke small holes in the top of the pocket so it won't bust open. You may have left over chicken mix which is not a bad thing, just grab a chip or a fork and eat up, or toss in a salad or a wrap.

Bake in a 450 degree oven about 7 minutes, or until you get a nice brown around the edges of each pocket and a firm, but white crust in the middle. Then turn the oven down to 300 degrees for another 7 minutes. I suggest letting them rest a couple of minutes before serving (1. to avoid lava filling tongue burn and 2. not to loose any of the yummy stuff running out).

I like to mix some taco seasoning with light sour cream to have with these, especially if you feel like they are a little dry. It is taking all the will power I have not to go eat all the ones left in my fridge! A leftover hint: I individually wrapped the left over ones in foil for storage in the fridge, then just popped one in the toaster oven inside the foil for a few minutes to reheat.

Blueberry Lemonade Bites (lightened up)

Wow, it's been a whole week out of the kitchen and my sanity is feeling it, so I have multiple experiments going today! I am also looking forward to going to visit family for a week or so starting Wednesday...I need more people to test recipes on. Since the make-your-own hot pockets aren't done yet, let me tell you about the Blueberry Lemonade bites.

Now, to be honest, these were heavily inspired by a Kraft Food & Family recipe and a few similar recipes floating around, though I definitely lightened it up. Beware: these require delayed gratification. It's been a challenge all day! Takes about 15-20 minutes to get everything together, then about 4 hours in the fridge.

Makes at least 36 mini muffin size bites (I don't know exactly because I made 12 little ones and 6 big ones and disposed of some extra...I only need to eat so many)

mini muffin paper liners

4 sheets Low Fat graham crackers (not 4 little rectangles...16 little rectangles=4 sheets)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 packet Sugar Free Lemon Jello, unprepared

3/4 c. boiling water

2 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese

3 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (or somewhat thawed)

4 oz. Cool Whip Free

1 c. blueberries

Use a food processor (or a zip lock bag and a coffee mug) to crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs, mix thoroughly with melted butter. Spoon into mini muffin papers, then pack down into the bottom of the paper. Pop in the oven at about 350 for just a few minutes. Remove and set aside (or in the fridge if you are impatient) to cool.

While the crusts cool, stir together boiling water and jello for two minutes until dissolved. Set aside. Use a hand mixer to soften cream cheese (No really, trust me, you are going to want to bother with the hand mixer), then beat in lemonade concentrate. Beat in dissolved jello mixture until thoroughly mixed (make sure this isn't too hot at this point). Fold in Cool Whip Free and blueberries (if you so desire). This took me a long time to get the Cool Whip to mix into the very liquidy mixture. I have an idea to fix this in the notes below.

Spoon lemony-blueberry mix into crusts. Refrigerate for 4 hours. The results are tart and lemony and yummy. The little crunch on the bottom is great and the fluffy, lightness on the top is wonderful.

Next time: After I was too far into this recipe to turn back, I saw a recipe for a similar idea that made use of yogurt. Next time I'll replace the cream cheese with Greek yogurt. I am actually thinking I could use 1 1/2 cups of vanilla Greek yogurt, stir the lemon Jello powder straight into the yogurt, then fold in 2 cups of Cool Whip Free...I'm just not sure how well it would set up. Anyway, what I did this time is good, but I'm more likely to have Greek yogurt on hand than cream cheese. I'll let you know how this works out when I get to try it this way, or you let me know if you beat me to it!

Check back soon for the results of 3 different types of homemade hot pockets :)

Green Bean Casserole, minus the mushroom soup junk

I think all green vegetables should be prepared in a way that ends like a trail mix, like that yummy salad with apples, walnuts, and craisins. So that inspired a green bean casserole with a trail mix feel.

Servings: 2 (but maybe only 1 if you hadn't been eating dump-it-and-leave-it BBQ chicken straight from the crock pot for hours)

Cooking and leftovers: Prep time was about 5 minutes, cooking about 20, but might be longer if you are making more. I'm guessing it will be fine leftover if it gets re-heated in an over or toaster oven.

2 cups fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed, and snapped into approx. 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/8 c. red onion slices (more or less to your preferences)

1 tsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. walnut chips (almonds would probably work too, but they make me sick :(

2 Tbsp. craisins

salt, pepper, cooking spray

Clean and prep the green beans while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees. You'll want a pan that fits all of this in one or two layers (I used my little 4x8 glass rectangle), so hunt that out. Spray pan lightly with cooking spray. Toss in green beans and red onions. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt (sea salt if you have it, I don't) and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, stir contents, and then toss walnuts and craisins on top. Cook another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle again with salt and pepper to taste. Green beans should have just a bit of firmness when you bite them, onions are soft. Be sure everyone gets some of the trail mix-y stuff in their serving!

The sweet, salty, nutty, freshness is delightful. Enjoy.

I have a running list in my head of quick tips and short cuts that aren't really a whole post, but certainly make my food life more enjoyable.

Chicken & Sprouts

I'm back and so are the Brussels sprouts. Yummy! Ever since my cousin Amanda mentioned a friend who sautes sprouts I have been trying to come up with a reason to try it. Here it is:

Sorry, I have no idea on the time or leftover-ness of this one. I'm still recovering from travel. :)

about 2 servings, I'd serve it with bread.

1 Tbsp walnut chips

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut to bite size pieces

10-15 sprouts

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp butter

white cooking wine (optional)

Start with all the cutting/chopping/dicing. Chop the Brussels in half, then half again, then a few more times to get dime-ish sized pieces. Dice the garlic cloves.

Heat a pan over medium heat. Toss in walnut chips and let toast for a couple minutes. Remove and set aside. Spray pan with non-stick spray and add chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook thoroughly, remove, and set aside. Melt butter in pan, add garlic. Cook for a couple minutes, then add Brussels. Stir, toss, and otherwise mix around. Cook until a few pieces of Brussels just start to brown. Add back in chicken and walnut chips, sprinkle with salt and pepper. This is where I added about 1/4 c. of cooking wine, adding another flavor to the mix and cutting a little through the butter. BUT, I think I would have also been quite pleased w/o it. Serve it up! The Brussels flavor comes through as fresh (and a little bit sprouty), the chicken is delicious, the walnuts add a little crunch, and I found it to be very filling.

So when I shop I look for the various meats packed in "value pack" size, but 'em cheap, and store what I don't need for a given week in the freezer. Well, I am declaring it purge-the-freezer week. I'll be experimenting with cube steaks, pork chops, and tilapia. I'll keep you posted :)

outta the kitchen...what to do?

Well I didn't want you to think I'd abandoned the blog already. I'll be out of the kitchen for a few days at a conference in Rhode Island. I've never been to RI, which I consider New England, but geography was never a strong subject for me. (I'm hanging out in the airport and every time they announce boarding for Chicago I want to jump on...would anyone notice? I'd be so close to Indy) Anyway, I guess I'll have to experiment and seek inspiration on the road. I'm guessing seafood will make up the local cuisine, so we'll see what I end up eating.

Happy weekend!

Brownie Sundae Pops=defeat

I once lived in Asia. And when the "plumber/electrician" came to work on getting us hot water, he told us "installation be defeated." That's what I think when I admit defeat.

So my sister and I were talking about Bakerella's adorable cake pops and trying to come up with other yummy combinations. Now I don't know who thought of subbing in ice cream for the frosting, but I'll give Hillary that credit. Two days after we were kicking around ideas, I needed a sanity-seeking project and decided to tackle this idea. However, after some thought I decided I don't think the cake and ice cream will maintain any separateness. So, I decided to try brownies+vanilla ice cream+chocolate coating= Brownie Sundae Pops (well balls cause I didn't have sticks, but pops sounds better). And here's what happened:

1 8x8 pan of cooked and cooled brownies

2-3 c. vanilla ice cream, softened

chocolate for coating, I just got the bark stuff

Seems simple enough, right? I let the brownies totally cool, then cut them into small chunks. I put the ice cream and about half the brownies in the food processor and ran it long enough to incorporate the brownie into the ice cream, but not totally disintegrate the brownies. Then I folded in the rest of the brownie chunks by hand (so I had different size pieces). I put all this back in the freezer for several hours.

Once the brownie-ice cream mix got firm, I attempted to roll balls from it. I used spoons and my hands, neither was great, but I got close-enough shapes. As fast as possible I put these balls (not touching each other) back in the freezer. Unfortunately, the balls never froze hard. Might be my freezer, might be all the messing with them, I'm not sure.

My plan was to get the balls really, really frozen. Then I'd melt the chocolate bark, let it cool until it was thick but not hard, and dip/coat the frozen ice cream brownie balls. The coated balls go back into the freezer to freeze up and stay there until time to serve.

But this didn't work out. I'll be trying again, but if you get to it first, let me know how it works out!

To make up for this one, I'll post a couple healthy (or at least low cal) recipes the next couple days :)

Chicken Sandwich Awesomeness

Today has been rough. I don't think I've had that intense or that many different emotions in one day in a long time. Funny given I was teaching about toddlers and their varied emotions today. All this sent my head spinning, so my feet took control and carried me to the kitchen. Three projects later (well still wrapping up one), I feel like I have a little bit of a handle on things. And dinner was delicious.

First, I made these little mini-pop tarts. Not my own experiment, someone else's, but awesome just the same.

Then I took some inspiration from the Pioneer Woman and put my own twist on her delicious sandwich. Now she lives on a cattle ranch, but I am more of a chicken girl. After making this recipe of hers, I started playing around with my own. The results were yummy (and way more guilt-free than mini pop tarts and the other project-in-the-works).

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: About 20 minutes?

Leftovers: not sure yet, but I am thinking they'll need reheated in a pan on the stove, not microwaved

This makes about enough for 3 sandwiches: (Sorry I didn't measure well, I told you it was a rough day.)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts trimmed and cut into thin slices

1/2 green pepper, sliced into thin strips

1/3 yellow onion, sliced into thin strips

2 cloves garlic, diced

white cooking wine

Worcestershire sauce

chicken bullion, dissolved in about 1/2 c water

olive oil

butter

chili powder

Tabasco or other hot sauce type sauce

Heat about 1 1/2 Tbsps of oil in a large pan/skillet. Toss in garlic, peppers, and onions. Saute for a couple minutes, then add about a 1/4 c. cooking wine and let cook until peppers and onions are no longer crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add another 1 tsp. of oil to the pan. Place chicken in pan one layer high, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes, turn, and finish cooking. Set this aside and continue cooking chicken until all is done.

At this point I rinsed/wiped out the pan. Add about 1 Tbsp of butter, let melt. Add all chicken and vegetables back in and sprinkle lightly with chili powder, then add chicken bullion broth, another 1/3 c. or so of cooking wine, a teaspoon (or more if you like it) of Worcestershire sauce, and a few sprinkles of Tabasco. Now I don't have Tabasco, but I have a Chinese Sichuan sauce that is really spicy, so I added a few drops of that instead. Stir all this and allow to simmer for a few minutes, making sure there is liquid remaining. If all the liquid cooks out, add more bullion broth or white wine (or both!).

Grab your favorite (or easily located) bread, toast it just a bit, and scoop on the chicken, peppers, and onions. Be sure some of the liquid in the pan makes into onto the sandwich, even if it means eating with a fork! If you are the cheese eating type, I think a slice would help this sandwich. I also have hopes of making a garlic aioli someday that I think would be perfect on this. Enjoy!

There is something about slicing vegetables that is good for the soul. And something about them sizzling in a pan that is so satisfying. This, my friends, is why I find sanity in the kitchen. Some people meet with the Lord in nature, I think I do in the kitchen. It's like something about creating puts me in tune with the Creator. I'll share about the still-in-the-works project tomorrow!

dump it and leave it BBQ chicken

So after a week of what I am calling a heat wave (and the rest of NC is calling summer), it was time to cook something that wouldn't heat up the whole apartment. Here I must give shout outs to Mark and Erika F. for introducing me to the beauty of crock pot cooking (w/pulled pork) and Craig B. for nudging me towards my love of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. This recipe is so easy it doesn't even count as cooking.

Time: prep: 5 min if chicken is already trimmed

cook: approx 3.5 hrs on high, 5.5 on low

Leftovers: Freezes very well, reheats well.

A crock pot is a must for this one! Mine has choices in size, so I just use the 2 (quart?) setting.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (thawed or frozen, but trimmed!)

1 Tbsp. vinegar (I use plain old white vinegar)

1/4 c. brown sugar

about 3/4 c. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to start (you could probably sub in another kind, but I make no taste promises if you do...this stuff is the best!)

Ok, get ready. This is your big cooking moment. Dump chicken in crock pot. Dump vinegar over chicken. Dump brown sugar over chicken. Dump BBQ sauce over chicken (this is the one thing I forgot to measure, but the top layer of chicken was mostly covered...you can always add more later). Put the lid on the crock pot, turn the crock pot on low (or high if you are in more of a hurry), and leave it. Resist the urge to stir. Resist the urge to cut chicken smaller with kitchen scissors. Resist the urge to mess with it at all (unless the crock pot has run out of liquid, then pour in more sauce, but this has never happened to me.) At the end of 5 hrs (on low, or 3 on high), remove lid and gently push the edges of one chicken breast with a fork. If the chicken begins to fall apart easily, use two forks to "shred" or pull apart chicken. This should be very, very easy. If not, continue cooking and check back in half an hour. Shred all chicken in the crock pot, stir, lower setting (to low or warm), and let cook another half hour. And there you have it, you're done! And it is so worth the wait!

Serving suggestions: by it self, on a sandwich, on a salad, in a wrap, over a potato (topped with more BBQ sauce), straight from the pot...

Let me warn you, once you fall in love with this, you will stop buying the little normal bottles and start buying the jugs (like you are running your own school cafeteria). Don't be embarrassed, just pass along this super easy, super delicious, and super-great-for-making-ahead secret and know that you will have caused another to make the little-bottle-to-big-jug switch :)

Chocolate Cherry Brownies

STOP! Before starting this recipe, go eat a Hershey kiss. Wait, you're making this because you are out of Hershey kisses and you have a major chocolate craving and it's been a few long days teaching undergrads so you are seeking some sanity in the kitchen and the heat wave has you determined not to go back out to the grocery store? Well then, prepare to eat the gritty, chocolaty, sugary mix about 1/2 way through using your finger. I warned you. (Oh and read the whole thing including the "What I'd Do Differently" section before starting)

I cooked this in a cupcake pan (in an attempt to control myself and not eat it all today), so this recipe makes 6 brownies-in-a-cupcake-pan. It might make more if you don't eat so much of it in the gritty,chocolaty, sugary mix stage :)

You'll need:

8 fresh cherries, pitted, and diced

5 Tbsp unsalted butter

just under 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

just over 1/2 cup white sugar

2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt (I don't even measure this, I just too some in my palm then in the bowl)

splash of vanilla

1 egg

1/4 cup flour

Fill a small sauce pan 1/2 way with water. Cover with a heat safe bowl. Put butter in the bowl and let it begin to warm. Stir in cocoa powder, sugars, and salt. Continue stirring as butter melts and mix ingredients. This is the gritty sugary chocolaty mix I kept eating with my finger. Let this get warm-hot (where you stop eating it with your finger), then remove from water and cool. Add vanilla. Then add and stir in egg. (Don't do this when the mix is too hot, I think you'd end up with chocolate scrambled eggs). The mix should turn more glossy and smooth. Stir in flour, then add diced cherries and continue stirring until ingredients are all combined. Bake in cupcake pans (or not, any brownie-type pan will be fine) at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. Note: my cherries were pretty dry. If you are adding in a bunch of cherry juice, you may need to add more flour. The cherry flavor is minimal (or missing, see below), but this totally hits the spot for chocolate!

Things I'd do differently: I would use only powdered sugar, replacing the granulated sugar with powdered. Also, the cherry flavor did not come through much, so I would either leave the cherry pieces bigger or pick different cherries. I used California cherries, but something more tart would have been nice with the very rich chocolate. You could aways swap the cherries for some other brownie mix-in.

Brussel Sprouts...no really!

So I meant to make brussel sprouts to go with my dinner, but then it was suddenly 7 and I hadn't started them and I was starving. I guess they'll wait until tomorrow. But this is a repeat experiment so here's the plan:

For 1 serving:

about 6 brussel sprouts

1 tsp of olive oil (about an additional 1/2 tsp for each additional serving)

sea salt and garlic powder OR garlic salt

black pepper

1 tbsp finely chopped walnuts (chips)

Cut the end (where the core starts) off the brussel sprouts and peel off a few outer layers if they look rough. Soak sprouts in water for a few minutes, then rinse once more. (supposedly they can be really dirty, I've never had that unfortunate experience.) Now here is the innovative part- chop 'em up! That's right, cut them in half so you have a flat side and then cut them in half again (now you have quarters). Cut each of those pieces about three times, then use your hands to separate the leaves a little more. Toss all this in a small glass baking dish. Drizzle on the olive oil, then shake or stir (or use your hands) to make sure they get coated evenly. Sprinkle with pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, and walnuts. Stir or shake again to mix it around. Bake/roast in the oven on about 400 degrees until the first few start to turn brown on the tips. (If I had made this today I would remember how long and tell you, but I don't). You won't want to overcook because they shouldn't be dried out. Give 'em another fluff with a fork after they are out of the oven and enjoy!

Brussel sprouts? yep! love them. And no, they were never forced on me as a child. As a matter of fact, I think I first forced them on my mom. But I've long heard the tough part about them is the texture and chopping them up changes that. The walnuts add a bit of crunch too. And if you read for long, you'll discover that I think any vegetable can be fixed if you get it spicy enough or garlicky enough. And I see nothing wrong with not mentioning to family members that this delicious little roasted veggie is a brussel sprout.

***A note on doubling, etc. the recipe- the 1 tsp of olive oil coats both the sprouts and is enough to keep anything from sticking to the pan. However, I'd suggest only adding an additional 1/2 a teaspoon for each additional serving. Remember 2 things with olive oil: 1) you can always add more. 2)olive oil is good, embrace it.

now I'm hungry and wishing I had made them after all...