Chili-Basted Chicken w/ Pineapple Salsa, Over a Bed of Homemade Buttery Noodles

Going all out tonight folks!! Initially it was supposed to be GRILLED Chili-Basted Chicken, but as I have an online class starting in 30 min... I may have to improvise by sauteing. Remember guys- when in doubt, saute! Hmmm... I think I may TM that phrase, or whatever it is you do when you want money for people to copy your words. Moving right along... I have the chicken basted, sitting on a pan to be transferred when my saute pan gets hot enough. The "baste-paste", yet another soon to be TM-ed phrase, is made of: Dijon mustard, cayenne, paprika, chili powder, and oil. I'll check back with you when I come to another stopping point!

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The noodles were a complete failure!! I apparently didn't have anymore all-purpose flour, so I decided whole-wheat would work just the same. I don't know if it was the flour or what, but I couldn't even work with the dough as it was just a big 'ol pile of flour cement.



The chicken came out beautiful, but I wish I had had time to grill it. I think the flavor would have been completely different. I also wish I had added more paste to it, the flavor/spice was definitely lacking. But I could definitely sense the match up between the salsa and the chicken, they paired well together! Again though, I wish I had a stronger flavor on the chicken to combat the sweetness of the pineapple.



All-in-all, the flavor was lacking. Not sure this is a make-again dish... I am actually quite disappointed, I had higher hopes for the outcome than what was put in front of me.

Second Shot at Veggie Pizza

The hubby and I decided last night to make Veggie Pizza!! Or, we made pizzas and mine was vegetarian, but that's beside the point. This time I knew what to expect... That the original recipe would have too much dry, and not enough liquid. So I was able to tweak it my own measurements, or what I thought would be a good amount of whole wheat flour! Couple extra additions of flour later, I finally had a great consistency at the original recipes amount... WHAT?! I am not sure what I did the first time, but I will choose to blame the weather. That affects stuff, right?

Anyways, I topped my pizza the same way- tomato slices and spinach underneath a blanket of molten cheese. MMMMMMM! It was positively divine! I am actually going to link the crust here...

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Whole-Wheat-and-Honey-Pizza-Dough/Detail.aspx

Enjoy, my fellow foodies!
KC

Honey-Wheat Pizza

I am doing something completely out of character tonight- starting a blog update in the middle of meal prep! What else do I have to do, besides save the world, while my dough rises??

My hubby is gone for the night on a business trip so I am having my girl Kelli over for a healthy meal- pizza! Well, at least the crust will be half-way healthy :-) It is a honey-wheat pizza crust... kneaded and mixed by yours truly! I am planning on topping it with sliced tomatoes, spinach leaves, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese.

... Pizza crust in the oven... photos and update to come post-consumption...


And the verdict is:
All's well that ends well! Delicious. Magnificent. Great outcome! Just as I had hoped, it was healthy with a side of sweet, sweet honey :-) We ended up nixing the pepperoni, more because I thought about it after I put it in the oven, but this is a minor detail.

I couldn't even wait for the pizza to stop steaming before my first bite because the aroma was just that intoxicating!

The aroma rising off our pizza was so intoxicating, it impaired my judgment and caused me to bite into a slice before the molten mozzarella had settled and the pizza stopped steaming... but I did not care the slightest bit, I was in heaven! Definitely one to make again! Words from this point on seem to fail me, just take a look for yourself at our pizza masterpiece...




Tomorrow... broccoli-chicken casserole!

To Piccata, or Not To Piccata?

The recent lag in posts is mostly due to my slacking as a wife, and deciding I was tired of meal planning. However, I have decided I am tired of running to the grocery store right after work and should resume with meal planning. I mean, who really wants to deal with HEB at 5:30?? 

One of my four recipes for this specific week was- Turkey Piccata. The picture in my wonderful Crockpot Cookbook shows golden brown nuggets of turkey, sitting on a steamy pile of rice and wonderfully placed next to a generous helping of broccoli. Sounds wonderful right? Seems to cover all necessary colors for a meal? 

My first mistake in this meal was deciding the appease my husbands wishes to do away with the vegetable of choice that night. No broccoli = minus green. Second mistake? Not browning the chicken I substituted the turkey for. No golden nuggets = minus yellow. And yes, ladies and gents, there were three mistakes... third mistake? Wondering to myself JUST how crucial the cilantro would be to the final product. It is, after all, just a garnish. Right? 

Maybe I'm getting to ahead of myself here... I will break down the recipe for you. You are to cut breasts into strips and then dredge in flour, salt and pepper. Then, brown on each side of the strips before placing them into the crock pot. Next, you are to pour in a can of chicken broth and the zest/juice of one lemon. Cook on low for one hour, then add in cilantro. 

Oops, that makes four mistakes... forgot the lemon too! 

Hind sight is 20/20. Lemon and cilantro combine for a fresh hispanic flavor. I had neither of these, so I suppose I just had a fresh! The picture was anything but beautiful, but I swallowed my pride and plated up our dinner bracing myself for the look of, "What are you feeding me??" Picture this- soggy pale chicken, on a plate of white rice... the only color being the gold-ish color of the chicken broth. I couldn't even take a picture! Below is a picture of what should have been-

Guess we should've gotten the broccoli :-) 

Till next time, 

KC