Hamburger Steak with Mushrooms and Broccoli & Cheese

HAMBURGER STEAK with MUSHROOMS:

1. Pat out hamburger patties, sprinkle with salt, black pepper and garlic powder
2. Cook in skillet over low to med-low heat, slowly so it will crust
3. Flip when the liquid really starts to come out of the meat
4. After flipping, add a few dashes of worchestershire sauce; cook until done
5. Put sliced and washed mushrooms into a skillet with about 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil
6. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper; and cook over medium heat; stir
7. Add a small splash of vegetable stock; cook over med-low heat until liquid is absorbed
8. Serve hamburger steak with the mushrooms on top

BROCCOLI & CHEESE:

1. Wash and trim broccoli - about 2 to 2.5 cups
2. Put in water in pot on stove; bring to a simmer and cook until the broccoli is as tender as you like it
3. In another small pot, melt 3 Tbsp of butter
4. Slowly add 1-1.5 Tbsp of flour while wisking - it should become thick and smooth
5. Slowly add 1/2-3/4 cup of milk (I use 2%) while continuing to wisk
6. Add 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar (or whatever kind of cheese you wish) and stir til completely melted
You can add more cheese if you need to make the sauce thicker...just keep adding small amounts until it gets to the consistency and flavor you like.
7. Add black pepper to sauce and stir well
8. Drain broccoli and serve with the sauce poured over it

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Ryan poured the cheese sauce over his hamburger steak, too, which he said was fantastic. ;-)

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon & Garlic Asparagus with Vegetable Flavor Orzo

GRILLED SALMON:

2 salmon fillets, skin on the bottom
Lawry's or Kroger Teriyaki 30-Minute Marinade

Place salmon in a small shallow dish, and pour marinade over it. Let set for 30-45 minutes, and grill for about 10 minutes - til fish flakes easily.

ASPARAGUS:

Wash asparagus and cut off the "woody" stems. Place in foil, top with 1-2 Tbsp of minced garlic and several splashes of worchestershire sauce (amount is up to you - we coat spears well and have a small amount of it pool up in the bottom). Grill on top rack - if available - for about 20-30 minutes.

ORZO:

1/2 Cup of orzo
1 - 1.5 Cup of unsalted vegetable stock
Garlic powder, parsley, black pepper, salt

Put stock in small pot on stove. Add a few dashes of garlic powder, light sprinkling of parsley, about 1 tsp of black pepper and 2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and add orzo. Let boil hard for about 10-11 minutes and then simmer until liquid has completely dissolved.

This orzo is my new masterpiece - we loved it! We'll make it again soon and mix flavors. I may add it to rice to make our own Rice-A-Roni sometime soon, too.

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Grilled Sesame Ginger Chicken and Pineapple Soy Veggies

I am lovin' the weather and the grilling of the burgers, chicken, fish, veggies, etc. I love the easy prep, the less mess and clean up almost as much as I love the charcoal flavor. Here's another easy chicken and veggies meal...

CHICKEN:
2 large or 4 small chicken breasts
Lawry's or Kroger brand Sesame Ginger 30-Minute Marinade

Marinade the chicken in a bowl with the Sesame Ginger completely covering it for about 30 minutes. Grill for about 15 minutes, turning over throughout. Pour a little bit of the marinade (fresh from the bottle - not what the chicken was soaking in) to coat the chicken...sort of like a barbeque sauce and serve. You can leave this last step out; it's not a necessity, but it definitely makes for a stronger flavor.

VEGGIES:
2 of each: red, orange, yellow baby bell sweet peppers
1 box of sliced and cleaned white/button mushrooms
1 cup of pineapple tidbits in 100% juice - don't drain
1/2 of medium yellow onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Crushed red pepper flakes
Soy Sauce

"Gut" and slice the peppers into rings. Put pepper rings, mushrooms, pineapple & juice and garlic into a bowl and stir. Sprinkle red pepper flakes (amount is up to you) over veggies and splash in about 2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce - just enough to lightly cover everything - and stir again. Put in foil packet and grill. Put on the top rack, if available, about 10 or 15 minutes before you put the chicken on the grill. Take it off after the chicken is ready.

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I also made some mashed potatoes for Ryan using 1 russet potato, about 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1 Tbsp of butter and a few dashes of garlic powder. Boil potatoes til soft, drain, add all other ingredients and mash/mix together with fork or potato masher.

You could serve the chicken over rice and the veggies on top or the chicken on top of the veggies...sort of like a stir fry dish. All these flavors complemented each other very well, and I always LOVE the spicy-sweet combination.

Grilled Hot Dogs and Veggie Packs

I love grilled veggies, but I'm not crazy about kabobs. Maybe I don't know what I'm doing, but I feel like they get dried out too easily when grilled in the kabob-fashion. (Plus, I always lose some yummies falling off the stick.) So, instead, I prefer mixing the veggies up in a foil packet for grilling.

VEGGIES:
1 zucchini
1 box of button mushrooms
1 yellow baby bell pepper
1 red baby bell pepper
1 orange baby bell pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp butter
Black pepper

Wash vegetables. Slice zucchini in "rounds." Remove mushroom stems. Hollow out the peppers and slice into rings. Put all veggies into a bowl with the garlic and butter (cut up into smaller pieces), stir well. Add several dashes of worchestershire sauce, stirring well. (The amount of sauce is up to you. We coated all the veggies with it pretty well.) Add black pepper - amount to your liking - and stir well again. Place on foil, fold and seal into a packet. Place on grill - top rack, if you have that option. Leave on grill for about 30 minutes - until the veggies are the texture you like best.

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The hot dogs were all beef, natural hot dogs from The Choppin' Block. Grill them until you achieve the color you want. Ryan also put the buns on the grill to warm them up. Perfect spring grilling meal!

Grilled Bone-in Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Preparation of this meal is almost too easy, but...patience is a virtue when grilling bone-in chicken on a charcoal grill. :)

FOR THE CHICKEN:

2 chicken halves (ours came from The Choppin' Block)
1/2 bottle of Lawry's or Kroger Brand Hawaiian 30-Minute Marinade

Place chicken in a large bowl or dish and pour the marinade over it. Let it set for about 30 minutes to an hour. Grill. (I have no grilling tips or directions...that's all Ryan. I can tell you that it took about 30-45 minutes before the chicken got to the appropriate temperature.)

LIGHTER POTATOES:
Cube and boil two small potatoes (skin on) in salted and "garlic-ed" water (add about 1/2-1 Tbsp of garlic powder). When they are soft, drain, and mash with about 1/2 tbsp butter and chicken stock. The amount of chicken stock varies - depending on your liking. Just add in splashes. Add salt and black pepper.

GRILLED BROCCOLI:
Trim and wash the broccoli. Braise them in salted water on the stove until they are slightly soft, drain. Toss them in olive oil and minced garlic . Place on the grill for about 5-7 minutes.

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Sour Cream Parm Chicken

Warning: This chicken is soooo yummy and almost too easy.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb of chicken breasts
3/4 to 1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1 Tbsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients - other than the chicken - in a large bowl and stir well. Place the chicken in a glass baking dish. (I lined my dish with foil and lightly coated it with non-stick spray.) Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the chicken. It shouldn't be too thick, but cover the chicken entirely so that you can't see it. Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes. Then, broil on low until it begins to brown the tops. When they were done, I sprinkled on some paprika and parsley.

For our veggie, I cut a zucchini into round slices and halved them. I placed them in a non-stick spray treated glass baking dish and topped with a light sprinkling of basil, Tony Chachere's More Spice, onion powder and italian blend shredded cheese.

Ryan also diced and cooked up some potatoes in the skillet. He used olive oil in the skillet and added Chachere's and salt when they were done.

A delicious and EASY Sunday meal! :)

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Orzo with Chicken and Broccoli

Shocking...I am blogging about another dish with chicken and broccoli!

I was telling Ryan that I realize, now, after working on the blog, that we eat A LOT of chicken and broccoli meals. He agreed, but he pointed out that we don't often repeat ourselves. So, here is our latest chicken-broccoli dish, which we had for supper last night.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large chicken breasts or 3-4 small ones
1 head of fresh broccoli, trimmed
2 servings of orzo pasta (follow directions on the packaging for the serving size - for this meal, though, Ryan used a slight bit more than what the packaging called a serving)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Vegetable broth, about 1/2 cup
Water, about 1/2 cup
Monterey Jack cheese, a block or shredded
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Salt and black pepper

STEPS:

1. Cube the chicken and brown in a skillet with the garlic, salt and pepper to taste
2. Put the veg broth and water in a small pot on the stove and bring to a boil; add the orzo and cook for the amount of time the packaging indicates
3. Braise the broccoli in salted water til it is as tender as you prefer
4. When the orzo is ready add monterey jack cheese; Ryan grated a block and used about 1/4 cup; stir well
5. Make a "bed" of orzo on a plate and top with the chicken and broccoli; lightly sprinkle parmesan (optional) on top & serve

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How creative are we with our chicken and broccoli dishes?? ;-) We REALLY liked the orzo. This was our first time using it, and we will definitely try it again. I think my next project will be making homemade rice-a-roni with the orzo and rice. I'm sure I'll tell you all about it!

Homemade Hamburger Helper: Cheeseburger Macaroni

We really, really like Hamburger Helper because it's so easy and pretty tasty. But, lately, I've been reading a lot about the foods we eat - what's healthy, what's not - and I'm trying to cut out foods that are pre-packaged or processed, etc. My first project towards this was making our own Hamburger Helper.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb of lean ground beef
1.5 cups of uncooked whole wheat macaroni
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp paprika
1.5 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
.5 tsp black pepper
1 cup hot water
2 cups skim or 2% milk
1-2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded (amount is really up to you)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown meat, remove from heat and drain well - blot the meat with paper towel to make sure all grease is gone; Also, wipe out the skillet and return the meat to it
2. Mix all the powder ingredients together and add to the meat
3. Add the hot water, milk and macaroni; Stir; Bring to a boil
4. Place a lid on the skillet and turn heat down to simmer for about 10 minutes - until pasta is al dente; Stir occasionally
5. When the pasta is the texture you like it, remove the skillet from heat
6. Immediately add the cheese and stir into the mixture - start with 1 cup and add more to your liking, if you wish
7. Let it set for a few minutes to thicken and cool

You could add mushrooms or diced tomatoes or anything you like to this dish. I prefer it simple with a green veggie on the side. We, of course, had fresh broccoli. All I did was braise it in salted water in a small pot on the stove.

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This was pretty spot-on to the flavor of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni. I did add more pepper at the end, after I tasted it, as well as a few light sprinklings of salt. Try it with your own flavors, and let us know how it turns out! Be sure to always use the cornstarch...it's your thickening agent.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

This recipe is perfect for a weeknight meal because it is so quick and easy to put together. (It serves approximately four.)

What you'll need...

2 large or 4 small chicken breasts (approximately 16 oz total), cubed and browned with salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion, finely diced and sauteed til clear
1.5-2 cups steamed broccoli
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup of shredded cheese - you can use any kind...I used a combination of six cheese italian and mozzarella b/c that is what my refrigerator had available to me
Italian Bread Crumbs or Panko - I used Italian last night
2 cups of uncooked instant brown rice

What to do...

1. After your chicken is browned, chop it to finer pieces and put in large mixing bowl.
2. Add sauteed onions, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, broccoli and cheese to the bowl. Stir to combine all ingredients well.
3. Pour the mixture into a glass baking dish that has been lightly treated with non-stick spray.
4. Lightly sprinkle bread crumbs over the top.
5. Bake (uncovered) at 350 for 30 minutes.

For the rice, cook as directed on the box. You don't have to use instant or brown, but those are my preferences. Cook enough for the number of servings you need at that time. I only needed two servings, so I only used one cup - just follow directions on your box of rice for serving size guidance.

I like to add flavor to my rice. Instead of cooking in water, I use chicken, beef or vegetable stock, and to the stock, I add a tsp of olive oil, one half to one tablespoon of whatever seasoning I want to use, salt, black pepper and parsley. I bring that to a boil and add the rice. Then, follow directions for cooking time. With instant, I simmer for about 10 minutes - until all the liquid is gone.

For this meal, I used 1 cup of chicken stock and 1/2 Tbsp of garlic powder in the rice.

When everything is ready, evenly spread a serving of rice over your plate, and then scoop out the casserole and spread it over the rice. Below is whatcha get!

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We loved this, and we will definitely be having it again! Also, we'll probably try it with different ingredients and maybe pasta or orzo instead of rice some time. That's the great thing about casseroles with cream of chicken - anything can go and taste delicious! ;)