Honey and Spice Orange Chicken

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Surfing the net.  Looking for some new and interesting chicken dishes.  I get bored easily.  Need constant change in what I cook.  (a dish has to be seriously rockin' for me to cook it more than once a month.)
This one is pretty darn close.  I really enjoyed the stickiness of the honey and the flavors of the spices.  An easy dish to prepare and once it's in the oven you just need to baste every so often.  No monster cooking skills needed.
Serve up a nice side of couscous or a light salad and you've got a great meal that's budget friendly and kid friendly!  

Roasted Chicken with Orange/Cardamom Butter

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Hanging out in my new Saudi house and watching a little Food Network.  SO happy we get this channel!  It's not the same as in the States...as far as actual shows and times go, but we get a few of the faves.
That night, Arti was on.  She was cooking up some chicken that just looked fabulous.  Best part was that I knew I could find all those ingredients here!!  (and you have no idea how hard that can be!)
Quick and easy dish for dinner.  She paired it with some red potatoes, but, they don't have those here.  Seriously.  I just used some frozen veggies we had and sauteed some spinach.  I know, not fancy, but whatever...I've only been here a few days!  LOL
The chicken was really tasty and juicy.  My kids loved it.  I read over the reviews and I adjusted my cooking temps and times.  Turned out great...simple weeknight meal.  :)

Happy cooking!  !سعيد الطبخ

Tuesday: Chicken and Egg Soup with Pastina

Pin It Now! I'm starting to feel the pressure of the move and upcoming craziness.  I want to make my hubby dishes that I know he won't make for himself while we are apart.  However, I also just want to make some nice, simple dishes too.  So, this is one of the later.  Simple, easy, delicious.  It's very similar to an Asian egg drop soup, but obviously with more sustenance.
Tuesday's are such busy days for me with 2 hours spent at gymnastics for the girls (boy, I'm sure going to miss taking them to gym...no gymnastics in Saudi) and then swim lessons right after.  Quick and easy is definitely what is on the menu for tonight.  Don't skip out on any of the ingredients, especially the dill...really gives a fab flavor!  Happy (quick) cooking!  :) 

Monday: Thai Peanut-Sauce Chicken Pitas

Pin It Now! Okay, I admit it...I'm on a peanut butter kick.  Three recipes in three weeks.  Ah well, you eat what you love, right?  This just sounded too good to pass up.  Simple, super quick, tasty.  Check Check Check.
New recipe for Cooking Light, so no reviews on this one either.  (I must be getting more adventurous if I'm cooking food no one else has commented on!)  I'm also going to make my own peanut sauce from this recipe: Thai Peanut Butter Noodles with Chicken
I've never bought the bottled stuff before and not sure how spicy it is.  By making my own, I can control (ah, hello inner control freak) my own spice.


*note, this recipe is for two pitas, so double or triple accordingly


I haven't decided what to make for a side with this....any suggestions?  

Thursday: Rotisserie Chicken Tostada's

Pin It Now! With the in-laws in town, I want to do some impressive cooking.  I catered to my father-in-law last night with a lovely Italian soup.  Tonight, my mother-in-law gets the attention.  She loves Mexican food.  Me?  I'm not really the biggest fan of traditional Mexican food.  However, I like when I can find a happy medium.
We made these a couple of weeks ago, some weekend where we were just kickin' it at the house.  At the time I just wanted something super quick and easy.  We just loved the feta in this.  All the flavors blended really well together and it was a light tasting dish.  Make a side of quac and chips and you've got a great, healthy meal.     

Wednesday: Southwest Chicken Soup

Pin It Now! I'm the kind of person who always reads reviews...on anything.  Computers, camera's, kid stuff, and especially recipes.  Not just to find out if other people liked it, but I also love to see what they did to change things up.  I find a lot of people "like" a recipe, but they've totally strayed from the original.  Not that it's a bad thing to do...I mean get creative and all, but I always wonder if the original was better or is their creation the way to go?  I tend to follow the original, at least the first time around.  I'm able to see what the initial recipe tastes like and then I can decide what to change up from there.  

I spotted this soup, saw it got good reviews and proceeded to read through them.  So, this time, I'm going to stray from my inner control freak and tweak the original recipe by using some of the suggestions from other cooks.  I think it's going to make for a fantastic soup.  Going to crisp some flour tortillas for dipping too.  Happy cooking! 

smokey goodness...mmmmm

Wednesday: Greek Turkey Burgers with "Z" sauce

Pin It Now! I love a killer ground beef burger any day, but there was no way I could eat 4 days worth of beef burgers (and not add to my husband's cholesterol!)  So, bustin' out the ground turkey.  Even though I haven't been too happy with previous Rachel Ray recipes, I'm going to give her another try (actually two this week)
My husband has been begging me to make "Z" sauce for weeks.  Traditionally known as Tzatziki sauce, it's a Greek yogurt sauce that tastes killer on grilled meats.  I didn't care for Rachel's version, so I found a different one to whip up.  
This is a great tasting, healthy burger with tons of flavor.  I'm also making Greek Zucchini for a side (which will taste awesome dipped in the Z sauce.)

I added extra spinach...these were so good!  Don't skip on the cucumber slices...the crunch is great!  And the sauce is just perfect!  Got rave reviews from everyone....keeper!

Friday: Curry Turkey Burgers with Thai Slaw

Pin It Now! Giving Rachel Ray another shot with burgers this week.  My husband loves anything with curry, so these are a big hit.  I also like that the recipe calls for mild curry paste...that way my girls won't have a problem with the burgers.  Making the slaw to go on the side and perhaps some sweet fries (for the girls mostly)


For those of you not familiar with curries...here's a bit of info (courtesy of Wikipeida):

Red curry paste: Red curry paste includes red chili peppers (fresh or dried), shallots, garlic, galangal, lemon grass, coriander roots, peppercorns, salt, shrimp paste and kaffir lime leaf.

Green curry paste: The ingredients for green curry paste are similar to those for red curry paste, except green chilies are often used in place of red.

Yellow curry paste: Yellow curry paste is also similar to both red and green curry pastes, but it is made with turmeric, where it derives its yellow colour, and occasionally yellow chili peppers.

Massaman curry paste: Massaman curry is an Indian influenced curry, and unlike other Thai curries it contains many ground dry spices as ingredients, including cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.

Panaeng curry paste: Panaeng curry is generally more mild than the other types of Thai curry.

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Tacos & Pan-Roasted Corn & Okra

Pin It Now! Taco night baby!  I don't know what it is about corn tortillas...but the smell, the texture, the tastes...oh it's just a little bit of heaven to me!  The hubby prefers flour...but since I'm doing the cooking...I'm vetoing him.  This is a very simple dish with great flavor.  
Corn is still wicked cheap right now, so I'm going to do this simple side to go along with the tacos.  I'm going to cut the okra up smaller than the recipe suggests...thinking the girls will eat more of it that way...who knows.  And, I may just whip up some guac and serve some chips with it.

Chicken Picatta

Pin It Now! Making this dish to go along with a fabulous cantaloupe and procuitto salad.  I've always loved the lemony taste of chicken picatta.  I'm going to mix Giada's version with a Cooking Light version, but you can watch Giada prepare part of the meal below.    

Wednesday: Spicy Peanut Butter Soup with Chicken and Veggies

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No, that's not a misprint..this IS a recipe for PB Chicken Veggie soup.  A friend of mine recommended it and swore to me that it was fantastic.  Never one to shy away from something out of the norm, I figured let's give this a shot.  I read the reviews and I'm going to tweak it a bit to add some spice to it.  (and depending on your personal tastes, add more or less of the cayenne and Siracha)

It's a very versatile dish and you can easily tweak it to what you have on hand.  Most dishes add potatoes (sweet or regular), but hubby isn't a fan, so I left them out.  Would be a nice addition though!

Monday (5/23): Smokey Chicken Tortilla Soup

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It seems it doesn't matter what time of year it is or what the weather is like outside, I'm still always looking for another great soup recipe.  I've never made Chicken Tortilla soup before and I'm looking forward to this one!  It calls for Hominy which I've never cooked with before, but I'm looking forward to trying something new.  What I like best about this recipe is that it's not overly spicy...therefore I don't have to worry about sacrificing taste by removing spices.  On a overcast day like today, this soup sounds like the perfect dinner for my family.

Bet you can't eat just one bowl!  

Wednesday (5/25): Yakitori

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Bless you!...what?  You weren't sneezing?  That's the name of this dish?  Huh.  Okay, I need more info here...what exactly is Yakitori?
Yakitori is a Japanese grilled chicken skewer.  There you go.  Simple right?  Yep.  And tasty too!  I'm going to double the recipe to make sure we have leftovers for lunch the next day.  
This is a great dish to let your kids help with...they can easily thread the chicken and onions onto the skewers.  You can serve this with a side of rice noodles, steamed baby bok choy, or rice.  We'll have some edamame, noodles, and maybe some cucumber salad.
This dish makes a lot of sauce, so noodles or rice would be great to have on the side!  It's also very budget friendly (especially if you can get the thighs on sale)  But feel free to sub chicken breasts too.

May Budget Week! Monday: Simple Roast Chicken

Pin It Now! This week of May I'm dedicating to Budget Week.  Why?  There are hardly any good buys this week at the stores, so it's time to get frugal.  I'm doing my best to find healthy meals for cheap prices, but a few "little too good for you" dishes found their way into my menu this week.  Couldn't help it...they sounded so darn good!  All new recipes again this week...can't accuse be of being boring!  LOL  Looking forward to a great week of food...and the low price tag!


Okay, so don't let the title fool you (or the ingredient list)  I put Simple for the sole reason, that it is...very simple to make.  But the flavors are killer and the bird will be moist and juicy.  You can't get more budget friendly than buying a whole bird.  Throw your chicken in the oven...let'er cook.  Then carve and serve with your fave side dish.  I'm going to make a blue potato and corn hash (corns on sale).  Yum!  

Wedesday: Chicken Flautas

Pin It Now! I have no idea what a flauta is, but I'm cooking it.  I found the recipe on another blog that boasts dinners for under $10.  After browsing, I chose this one.  It's simple to make (although fried and not totally healthy), and cheap.  Perfect for this week.  This recipe even comes with the cost breakdown (thanks 10buckdinners.com!)  However, I'd love to know where she got a can of tomatoes for $0.60!  Now since the majority of our family is "heat sensitive" (sorry hubby), I may just use a jalapeño  seeded and chopped.
We'll have some black beans on the side or some rice.  Maybe chips and guac....  

Menu for May 9-13: Monday: Smokey Tortellini Soup

Pin It Now! A bunch of new dishes again this week.  Love trying new things!  (and the plus is that 99% of the time, I find I really like all of them)  A friend of mine posted on Facebook that I HAD to try this soup.  (and tell her when I'm making it and what I think) So, while at the farmers market, the lovely Italian lady was selling her homemade pasta.  I snagged a package of tortellini's and put this soup first in the lineup for the week.  Already craving dinner tonight.  Bought some bread to use to dip into the savory broth.  Do you have a favorite tortellini recipe?

Wednesday: No Butter Chicken & Couscous

Pin It Now! I was surfing through some other food blogs searching for inspiration...aka recipes.  I found a great one Kayotic Kitchen, she lives in the Netherlands.  http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/   I had fun reading her blog and looking at all her gorgeous pix.  I've never heard of No Butter Chicken before, but when she mentioned that Guy Fieri cooked it, I was sold.  I love the guy (no pun intended)  I know some think he's a little out there...but I think he's fun.  So, anyway, figured I give this dish a shot as well.  Kayotic Kitchen mentioned that she thought there was too much Cumin seeds, so I may cut that back.  Also, I included a recipe to make your own Garam Masala.  (very simple.)

I'm going to serve this with a side of couscous.  Recipe is below.    

Let me know how this dish turns out for you!  :)

Thursday: Chicken and Dumplings

Pin It Now! I can honestly say, I don't think I've ever had chicken and dumplings.  Seriously, not ever.  I suppose I could blame the fact that my father is an extremely picky eater and wouldn't touch a bowl of this with a ten foot pole.  So, in order to ever expand my taste buds, this baby is on the menu this week.  I realize that there are probably a million different recipes and ways to make this, so I basically just found one that sounded good to me and that's what's cookin'.  If you have any fave chicken and dumpling recipes...share them in the "Share Your Recipe" section!  I'd love to hear about them!

Comfort food at it's best...

Friday: Turkey Lasagna

Pin It Now! Thought this would be fun to try and I'll have leftovers for lunch Saturday.  Perfect!  I borrowed this recipe from Food and Whine (another blog)  You'll see her note at the end of the recipe.  Going to have a nice side salad with this to round out the meal.

Wednesday: Roast Chicken Chimichangas

Pin It Now! I swear every time I hear the word "chimichanga" I think of Meet the Fockers.  I just love that movie!  I've never made these before, but it sounded simple and quick.  Going to serve it with a side of black beans and rice.