Chicken Posole and Pumpkin Chip Cookies

By Natalie

This weekend we fell off the wagon big time. On Saturday, I had Whataburger AND Taco Bueno. Micah had Whataburger AND Chick-fil-a.  On Sunday, I was determined to eat at home. Except we had no food.

I checked my google reader and found the Chicken Posole recipe from Eat at Home. I had almost every ingredient except carrots. Her recipes are always HUGE; she has a large family. Be sure to half them! I tweaked her recipe just a bit.

Chicken Posole

• 2 frozen chicken breasts
• 1 can of hominy (if you don't have hominy, use corn)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of jalapeno salsa (you can find this in the Hispanic foods, if you can't look for chopped chiles)
• 3-4 carrots, sliced & peeled
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• salt & pepper

Add all ingredients to crockpot and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I served it over rice, I do not recommend this. You can serve it with tortilla chips. Sour cream and avocado would probably be good on top too. Since I did not have any carrots, I used frozen ones. This was a sad choice. Real carrots are much better!

For dessert we had Eat at Home's pumpkin chip cookies. Remember how I said to half every recipe? You'll want to half this one for sure. I made about 4 cookie sheets worth. Our co-workers are going to love us.  Having a double oven really came in handy!

What's your favorite fall dessert?

Indian Chicken

By Natalie
  

In Boston, we went to an Indian restaurant with the most delicious sauce. I wanted to eat the sauce with a spoon! I think I made something similar with this tomato-yogurt sauce. Micah said that it doesn't taste like the sauce at all. What does he know?

The day before I made zucchini pasta and had so many vegetables that I saved some to serve as a side with this Indian dish. I poured some of the sauce on the veggies to tie it all together. I also served naan. Bread is so good.

I used boil-a-bag rice as a short cut. I boiled the rice in chicken broth and one clove of garlic (minced). I'm unable to cook rice without making a huge mess. I pretty much only have boil-a-bag rice on hand.

You can find the recipe for Indian chicken here from Foodie Bride.

2 Meals 1 Sauce

By Natalie

On Monday, I made Tilapia Puxa Vida from Baked Bree. The sauce was so fresh.

First you chop some onions, jalapeno, and roasted red peppers in the food processor. Can you believe it? I actually used onions!

 Then sautee the veggies with garlic, 1 can of roasted tomatoes, and 1/2 can of coconut milk.  Then pour the tomato mixture over the tilapia and place in the oven.

I cooked it for 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  I cooked it at a higher temperature than Baked Bree recommended. I'm impatient.

Side note: I finally found out the secret to Road House's baked potatoes. Road House has the best salty potatoes. First, I always microwave my potatoes for 3-4 minutes. I sprayed Pam on the outside of the potato then rolled it in kosher salt. Wrap them in foil. Then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Do you have any baked potato secrets?

The recipe made so much sauce, that I refrigerated it and used it today. This was even after I halved the recipe. I flew by the seat of my pants for this recipe today. I boiled some egg noodles that I had lying around in the pantry. I sauteed some chicken breasts that I sprinkled with s & p, and Tony's. I reheated the sauce, assembled it all together, and sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top. It was really simple, and will be great reheated.