Recipe #153: Easy Chicken Marsala

I loved this!  So easy, and the chicken is really flavorful and tender!   Here's my modified recipe- I had to add lots more mushrooms, of course.

INGREDIENTS:

1-1.5lb chicken cutlets (thin sliced chicken)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8oz fresh sliced mushrooms

1 1/4c marsala cooking wine

2tbs butter

Salt, Pepper

Egg noodles, cooked

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in a large pan.  Brown chicken lightly on both sides.  Add soup, mushrooms, marsala, and seasonings.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until chicken is done.  Serve over noodles.

Recipe #152: Stuffed Peppers

I like trying different recipes for the same meal until I find one that I really like.  I am done with the search for the perfect stuffed peppers recipe: I LOVED THIS!  Nick's dinner plate barely had to be washed!  This is my modified version of one I found on allrecipes.com...  (Man I love that site...)

Ingredients

• 4 large sweet red, orange or yellow peppers  (less bitter than green!)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more for more spice)
• 2 cups pasta sauce, plus more for topping
• 2-3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, divided

Directions

1. Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds. Place peppers cut side down on a microwave-safe plate; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until crisp-tender; set aside.
2. In a small skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the rice, parsley, salt, cayenne.  Add pasta sauce. Stir in the vinegar, basil and 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.  Simmer the mixture for a couple minutes.  Spoon into peppers. Place in a greased shallow 1-qt. baking dish. Top with a little more of the pasta sauce.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Serve with remaining sauce and mashed potatoes.

Recipe #151: Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollups

I had almost all of the ingredients for this on-hand already- only had to get the chicken!  This is my adaptation of a recipe I saw on allrecipes, and the sauce is my take on another recipe.  DELICIOUS and easy!

INGREDIENTS (vary amounts according to desired servings):

Thin sliced chicken cutlets

Thin sliced deli ham

Slices of swiss cheese

Seasonings of choice (I used chicken seasoning)

Olive oil

Toothpicks

Cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup

Sour cream

Lemon juice

White wine

Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Lay a chicken cutlet out flat.  Fold a piece of deli ham in half and place on top, then fold a piece of swiss and place on top of that.  Roll the layers up, with the pointed end of the cutlet going on the inside.  Toothpick into place.  Season with desired seasonings.  Repeat for all.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat olive oil in a pan, and place the rollups into the pan and brown well on all sides.

Place rollups into a lightly-oiled casserole dish.  Bake for 25 minutes or till no longer pink inside.

While rollups bake, mix soup, sour cream (about 1/2 cup per can of soup), lemon juice (to taste, about a couple tablespoons), wine (to taste/texture) and black pepper into a small sauce pan.  Heat through and serve over rollups.

Happy Birthday to my Blog!

150 recipes in 2 years- not bad, huh?  I wonder if I would have started such an endeavor if I hadn't been laid off over two years ago... and was watching a simple recipe that Rachael Ray was making (chicken riggies!) that inspired this whole thing....

Thank you to my followers, those of you who actually use these recipes and tell me how they turned out, and my husband, family and friends that try out the results of my cooking!

And thank you allrecipes.com, Food Network Magazine, Cooking Light Magazine, and all my cookbooks' authors for the inspiration :)