Mom Central Food

Pampered Chef's Mexican Lasagna

Run, do not walk.  Gather up all the ingredients for this recipe and make it tonight.  Seriously. 

A friend of mine made it for our family and I have since made it three more times. We love it and it is so EASY!

I especially like to make it when I have a rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from another dish and I am looking for ways to “doctor” it up.  This recipe comes in handy for those moments. It doesn't call for anything fancy, and even better, since everything is already cooked, after you assemble the casserole, you just throw it in the microwave to heat it up.

Perfect for those nights when you don't have much time to whip something up and the kids are clamoring for dinner!

Note: Everything in bold below refers to specific products offered by Pampered Chef. I improvised using whatever I had on hand. For example, I used a 13x9 casserole dish for this recipe.

Mexican Lasagna

(Pampered Chef recipe here)

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, lightly packed
• 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
• 2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 medium onion (about 2/3 cup chopped)
• 1 28-ounce can of enchilada sauce (I used green enchilada sauce for more fun!)
• 12 six-inch corn tortillas 
• 3 cups cooked chicken (diced or shredded)
• fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions;

1. Chop cilantro with
Chef’s Knife

. Place cream cheese in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30-45 seconds or until very soft.

Add cilantro and 1½ cups of the Monterrey Jack cheese; mix well using  Small Mix ‘N Scraper®. Chop onion using Food Chopper; set aside. Spread 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce over bottom of Deep Covered Baker. Pour remaining enchilada sauce into Stainless (4-qt.) Mixing Bowl; set aside.

To assemble lasagna, using Sauté Tongs, dip four tortillas into enchilada sauce in mixing bowl and arrange over sauce in baker, overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese mixture over tortillas using Small Scoop; spread using Small Spreader. Top with 1 cup of the chicken and one-third of the onion. Repeat layers one time. Dip remaining four tortillas into sauce and arrange over second layer. Top with remaining chicken and onion. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup Monterrey Jack cheese.

Microwave, covered, on HIGH 12-15 minutes or until center is hot. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chopped cilantro. Cut into squares using Utility Knife; serve using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories 390, Total Fat 22 g, Saturated Fat 10 g, Cholesterol 105 mg, Carbohydrate 25 g, Protein 26 g, Sodium 710 mg, Fiber 2 g

 

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

Taste of Home Chinese Chicken Stir Fry

I felt like stir fry for lunch the other day, so I whipped some up, using ingredients that I had on hand. 

There is nothing difficult about this recipe. The most time consuming thing was the chopping of the vegetables and the slicing of the chicken. It was easy to pull together and simply delicious for lunch, and beats a sandwich any day!

Chinese Chicken Stir Fry

(based on this Taste of Home recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 small onion, sliced thinly
• 1 12-ounce bag of steamed broccoli
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 8-ounces canned tomato sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• cooked rice (optional)

Directions:

1. Saute chicken breasts in olive oil.  Add red bell pepper, green bell pepper and onion to chicken- continue cooking until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink.
2. While chicken and vegetables are cooking, steam broccoli in microwave according to package directions. 
3. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, tomato sauce, and garlic to chicken.  Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.  Stir in broccoli at the end. 
4. Serve over rice.

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

The hard boiled truth about egg safety and the salmonella recall

By now you must have heard about the egg recall issued from Wright County Farms in response to a salmonella outbreak in 17 states. To find out what brands have been recalled, you can visit eggsafety.org and check their Egg Recall – Affected Brands and Description list.  You can learn more about the egg salmonella recall on their Recall and Egg Safety - Questions and Answers page, too.

Properly handle and cook your eggs

Even if the eggs in your refrigerator haven’t been recalled, you should still be familiar with proper egg cooking methods. A great resource on all things egg related is incredibleegg.org. They recommend that eggs be cooked until the whites and yolks are firm (not runny). For dishes containing eggs, like quiche or bread pudding, cook them until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. (Salmonella is destroyed by the heat of cooking.)

In addition to thoroughly cooking your eggs, follow these simple food-handling practices:

• Wash your hands before and after handling eggs.
• Thoroughly wash any surfaces, cookware and utensils that come into contact with raw eggs – an important step for avoiding cross-contamination.
• Separate eggs from other foods in your grocery cart and in the refrigerator to prevent cross-contamination.
• Keep eggs in their original carton. Do not put them in the egg tray in your refrigerator. This too will help with cross-contamination.
• If you use cloth or reusable grocery bags, you should wash them after use.
• Keep eggs in the main section (not the door) of the refrigerator at a temperature between 33 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Eggs left at room temperature should be discarded after two hours, or one hour in warm weather.

Get more safe food handling tips on the Incredible Egg website.

Mrs. Dash seasoning blends review

I use spices quite liberally and on everything.  I don't like bland food and if something does happen to be bland, you can season it up lickety-split with the right right seasoning blends.

Mrs. Dash is THAT right seasoning blend.

With so many flavors to choose from, it's impossible NOT to find something that suits your taste.

Southwest Chipotle is my current flavor. I season my chicken with it, then baste with BBQ sauce.  On salads, veggies, and pretty much anything in between and my palate is one happy camper.  Other blends that have caught my eye are: Caribbean Citrus (sprinkled on fish and baked), Italian Medley (wouldn't this be yummy mixed with olive oil as a dipping oil for French bread?) and Onion and Herb (mixed with hamburger meat and grilled to perfection).

Also, when you have a minute, check out the Mrs. Dash website- it's chock full of recipes, ideas, product information, cooking tips, a newsletter, and a monthly menu.  I have already bookmarked the site!

Salt-free, All Natural, and no MSG.  Each seasoning blend is a combination of 14 herbs and spices.  What's not to love?

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

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Disclaimer:  Lisa was not compensated in any way to write this review about Mrs. Dash. She just loves the stuff and wanted to share the it with you.

My Chicken Salad - an original recipe

I'm not sure what possessed me to whip up an original recipe today. It's not like I'm NOT busy getting the kids ready for school and still keeping them entertained on a Sunday afternoon. Regardless, I started doing a little of this and a little of that, and the next think I knew, I had pulled together an original recipe for chicken salad.

Of course, this was after I scoured many other recipes, pulling together what I thought sounded good to me.  Doesn't everyone have the same palate as I do?

I thought so.  So here, it is.  An original.  From me.  Yippee!

Lisa’s Homemade Chicken Salad

8 servings - each serving is 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (You could use a rotisserie chicken or do like I did- boil the chicken with carrots, onion, celery, and chicken bouillon; if you go this route, freeze the leftover broth to make chicken soup at a later date)
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red grapes,quartered
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon dill relish
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Chop up chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces in a medium sized bowl.  Add celery, grapes, and pecans. Stir.
2. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, relish, salt and pepper.  Stir together until smooth. 
3. Pour over chicken mixture and mix together.  Spoon over croissants, bread or crackers.

Each serving is 5 Weight Watchers POINTS.

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

Kraft's Tuna Twister Melt and their Big Fork Little Fork iPad app

Kraft Food sent me a loaner iPad to try out their new recipe app. You can read my review of Big Fork Little Fork here.

I made a tuna melt wrap for my kids, Nathan and Lucie, from a recipe on the app. I had to make some substitutions like using a shredded Mexican cheese blend instead of cheddar, and omitting the celery since I didn’t have any. I also used a large 12” tortilla instead of two 6” ones, Kraft Mayonnaise with Olive Oil, and Gedney Organic Sweet Relish that I had in the fridge.

After zapping it in the microwave, I cut it so each child could have half. The kids gave it a thumbs up.

The next time I will “health it up” by using a whole wheat flatbread or tortilla wrap, low or no fat mayo, a lower fat cheese and some veggies, like premade broccoli slaw from the store. The slaw will add some nutrients and fiber, plus a fun crunch.

Tuna Twister Melt

(From Kraft Foods)

Prep and cooking time 5 min

Makes 1 serving, two roll-ups

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup drained canned water-packed tuna
• 1/4 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon KRAFT Light Mayo Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon CLAUSSEN Sweet Pickle Relish
• 2 flour tortillas (6 inch)

Directions:

1. Mix tuna, cheese, celery, mayo and relish. Spread evenly onto tortillas and roll up carefully.
2. Place them seam-sides down on a microwaveable plate.
3. Microwave on high for 20 seconds or until cheese begins to melt.

Nutritional information per serving

• Calories 400
• Total fat 17 g
• Saturated fat 6 g
• Cholesterol 40 mg
• Sodium 1040 mg
• Carbohydrate 38 g
• Dietary fiber 2 g
• Sugars 4 g
• Protein 21 g
• Vitamin A 8 %DV
• Vitamin C 2 %DV
• Calcium 45 %DV
• Iron 15 %DV

Anne-Marie Nichols is the Managing Editor of Mom Central Technology.

Weight Watchers Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh my heaven, these cupcake were just that - heaven! I found them to be the perfect balance of sweetness, freshness and deliciousness. I loved the crunch of the apples and the raisins and the carrots. Adding coconut, cinnamon and orange zest just rounded out this already yummy cupcake. 

We frosted our cupcakes with the frosting here but our entire family agreed that they tasted better WITHOUT the frosting. Enjoy!

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

(source: Eat! Move! Play! by Weight Watchers)

Cupcake ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup canola oil (I substituted unsweetened applesauce)

Frosting ingredients:

• 6 ounces fat-free cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk
• mixed candied fruits for decorating tops (optional)

Cupcake directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
2. Stir the flour, granulated sugar, carrots, apple, raisins, coconut, orange zest, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. 
3. Beat the eggs and oil together in another bowl. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture just until combined.
4. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. 
5. Cool in the pan on a rack 5 minutes; remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool completely on the rack.

Frosting directions:

1. To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat just until creamy. 
2. Spread the frosting over the cooled cupcakes.  Make faces or designs on top of the cupcakes with the dried fruit, if using.

Nutritional information per serving (1 frosted cupcake, without substitutions): 202 cal, 6 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 38mg chol, 262 mg sod, 32 g carb, 1g fib, 5 g prot, 81 mg calc.

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

Slow Cooker Chinese Lemon Chicken

This recipe is brought to by a wonderful blog dedicated to slow cooking recipes by Stephanie O'Dea, a blogger who set out to chronicle 365 days worth of slow cooker recipes. Since her journey was so popular with blog readers, she went on to write her first cookbook, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow. I have been checking out A Year of Slow Cooking and love it.

Stephanie tackles all kinds of recipes and her readers share their take (thumbs up or thumbs down and any variations they made). I already love the slow cooker and now Stephanie has made me love it a little more.

The following is the first recipe I made from her blog - delicioso and a win with the kids!

Chinese Lemon Chicken

(source:  A Year of Slow Cooking)

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces or equivalent
• 1/2 cup flour (or your favorite gluten free flour mix)

1 tablespoon kosher salt (I used only 1/2 teaspoon of regular salt)

6 ounces (1/2 of a can) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (I didn't have frozen lemonade in the freezer but I did have frozen limeade!  Worked like a charm, in  my opinion.)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoon ketchup

olive oil for browning chicken

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into strips or largish chunks, dredge in flour and salt, shake off excess
2. Brown chicken in a skillet with a bit of olive oil. (You are not trying to cook the chicken, just give it some color and get the flour mixture to stick a bit).
3. Place into crockpot.
4. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the top of chicken pieces. 
5. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. 
6. Serve over rice, drizzle with remaining sauce.
   
   When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

Taste of Home Slow Cooker Creamy Swiss Steak

As a family, we eat a lot of chicken, but chicken can get boring when you eat it as much as we do. We'll eat fish from time to time and we'll eat beef of some sort from time to time. 

While visiting my friend Christy last week, she made this recipe for our family.  She swore that her family “just loved it” and that mine would, too.

Well, she was right!  Even my picky eater Sam inhaled the plate in front of him and then asked for more. Any dish that gets my four-year-old to eat like there is no tomorrow is a winner in my book.  Even better, it was simple and easy to prepare!

Creamy Swiss Steak

(Taste of Home website)

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 pounds boneless beef round steak, cut into serving-size portions

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1 cup water

Hot cooked noodles

Directions

1. In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Dredge beef - cover the beef in the seasoned flour mixture. You can do this by dropping the beef into the bowl and turning it so all sides are covered. (Gently shake off any excess.) Or you can put the beef and the flour mixture in a large plastic bag. Seal and shake until the beef is coated.
2. In a large skillet, brown beef in butter on both sides.
3. Transfer to a 3-quart slow cooker and top with onion.
4. Combine soup and water and pour over onion and beef.
5. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat is tender.
6. Serve with noodles. 

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (calculated without noodles) equals 243 calories, 8 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 73 mg cholesterol, 624 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 28 g protein.

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

Chicken with Garlic and Black Pepper

I collect cookbooks like some folks collect wine or angel figurines or stamps. However, the collection of this type of stuff can get costly and it seems that I have a knack for wanting every single new cookbook out there. While my head knows that it is physically impossible for me to peruse every cookbook I own let alone cook from them, I still feel my fingers itching to pick up a cookbook and and everywhere that I see them. This could be problematic.  Then again, publishers of cookbooks - go ahead and give me a call!

Anyhoo, my neighbor had a garage sale and of course, since she is literally across the street from me, I had to go check out her junk. Much to my delight, she had several cookbooks that she wanted to unload. SCORE for me!  This recipe is from that $3 cookbook that I picked up from her. One person's trash is another person's treasure, right?

This recipe is now a treasure amongst my already long list of recipe treasures. It was a hit with all present at the dinner table and yes, there were kids at the table (five, in fact).

Chicken with Garlic and Black Pepper

(source:  Chef Bobo's Good Food Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken thighs (I substituted chicken breasts since it was all I had in the fridge)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 1/2  teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• brown rice (optional)
• chopped fresh mint, cilantro, and basil
• 4 lime wedges

Directions:

1. Wash chicken.  Pat dry with paper towels.  Rub chicken thighs on both sides with pepper.
2. In a bowl combine the cilantro, soy sauce, sugar, chili powder, and garlic.  Rub garlic mixture over the chicken thighs.  Marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour.
3. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add chicken pieces, skin side down.  Cook until the skin is brown and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Turn chicken over.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 4 or 5 minutes more or until chicken thighs are cooked through.
4. Transfer chicken to a cutting board, skin side up.  Cut each thigh into 3 strips.  Serve chicken strips over brown rice if you like, sprinkle with herbs and serve with lime wedges.  If desired, you can make a nice sauce by pouring off the excess fat from the skillet and adding 1/4 cup water.  Boil over medium heat.  Scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon.  Let it bubble and thicken.  Spoon over chicken.

When Lisa Moawad isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.