Homemade Rice-A-Roni

Since I had never heard or Fideo or Fideo Cortado type pasta, I thought I would post a picture of them. I found these at my local Super Wal-Mart in the pasta isle (American Beauty) and the Mexican/Latin isle (La Moderna). The American Beauty brand is Fideo Cortado (Fino) and is thinner and longer than the La Moderna Fideo brand. The American Beauty was also more expensive at .62 for 7 oz. The La Moderna was .48 for 7 oz. If you already have angel hair pasta at home, use that and break it into 1/2 inch long pieces.

Rice-A-Roni (Chicken Flavor)

by Rachelle Cox

1/2 cup raw Fideo or Fideo Cortado (or angel hair pasta broken into 1/2 inch long pieces)
3/4 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
3 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine or oil
1/8 tsp seasoning salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp onion power
1/8 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp instant chicken bouillon

In medium skillet sauté broken pasta pieces and rice in butter, stirring constantly, until the pasta is golden brown. Carefully pour in water, spices and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Chicken Pesto

Menu:

Pesto Chicken
Rice-a-Roni
Peas (or other vegetable)

Pesto Chicken
by Your Homebased Mom

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C pesto
2 oz. shredded part skim mozzarella cheese (1/2 C)
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Spread 1/4 cup of the pesto in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Lay chicken breasts over pesto in an even layer and spread remaining pesto on top of chicken. Cover baking dish with foil and bake chicken until cooked through – 20-25 minutes. Uncover and top with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, 5 more minutes. Serve hot.

Chicken Katsu

Since Jeff was out of town and can't eat fried foods, I made this for the boys last night. They loved it! The chicken doesn't have much taste by itself, but the sauce is what makes the dish. I didn't use the sauce below, but bought Kikoman brand Katsu sauce from the Ethnic isle in the grocery store. Served with rice it's great!

Chicken Katsu
by All Recipes

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup oil for frying, or as needed

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the flour, egg and panko crumbs into separate shallow dishes. Coat the chicken breasts in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip them into the egg, and then press into the panko crumbs until well coated on both sides. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the hot oil, and cook 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Slice chicken into thin strips and top with a drizzle of sauce. Serve remaining sauce on the side for dipping.

For Deep Frying:
Heat oil in deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fry breaded chicken breasts in preheated oil until golden brown and no longer pink in center, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.

For Oven Baking:
Traditionally this dish is fried, but if you must, the chicken can be oven baked. Follow the breading directions, place them on a cookie cooling rack on a cookie sheet and baked for about 20 minutes at 350. They won't turn out dark golden but should be crispy.

Katsu Sauce
by All Recipes

1 cup ketchup
4 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, mustard powder, garlic powder, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to blend the flavors before serving.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Yummy!

My best friend from High School came into town and had dinner with us last night. It was wonderful to see her again, and to meet her beautiful family! Of course, I used this as an excuse to make one of my "to try" recipes. I used the cake recipe from Bakerella and the frosting recipe from Your Homebased Mom. The cupcakes were very moist and tasted great! Of course the cream cheese frosting didn't hurt either :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (10.625 oz or 10 5/8 oz)
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside. Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with another wire whisk. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full). It will make 24 cupcakes. Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!

For Cake:
Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans. Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover in plastic wrap while the cakes cool. Then make the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, slightly softened
8 oz cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined, then add the vanilla.

I've also used this frosting on them and it's equally as delicious!!

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
by Food Network

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 2 TBSP whipping cream (I didn't have any, so I used half-n-half)

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Ice and enjoy!

Creamy Baked Chicken Breasts

I made this a few nights ago and Takeshi said "That looks GOOD!". Which, you have to know, is something he never says about my cooking. Needless to say, I was very pleased. We made rice with this and put some of the extra sauce on our rice. It wasn't gourmet, but it was very good and very easy.

Creamy Baked Chicken Breasts

8 chicken breast halves
8 slices Swiss cheese (I used provolone)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup herb seasoned croutons, crushed
1/4 cup melted butter

Arrange chicken in a lightly greased baking dish. Top with cheese slices. Spread soup evenly over all and top with crushed croutons. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake uncovered 45-50 minutes in a 350 oven.