I do dearly love my kitchen gadgets. Almost every time I've bought something new for the kitchen, Carolyn will poke fun at me - for my air popcorn popper, salad shooter/chopper, grilled cheese maker, bunt pan, the list goes on. I tell her that she is not obligated to partake in their glory. I grew up with all those items, so when I moved to college and had a microwave and a stove top burner and had to make grilled cheese in a skillet, it was ok, but it was never quite right. And microwave popcorn's got nothin' on air popped. You can add however much salt and butter you like - unlike microwave, which I find rather grossly over-seasoned. Maybe it is a bit silly to have so many kitchen gizmos, but I use them, and they make my life that little bit easier. Like making dinner tonight - instead of chopping up or trying to shred carrots by hand or with the cheese grater, I just popped them into my salad shooter and voila! 3 carrots shredded as the recipe called for in a mere few seconds. Glorious. I suppose what would be appropriate to follow this is a series of pictures of me posing with my kitchen tools. Alas (or maybe Thank God), dear readers, that is not forthcoming.
I will share with you, however, something I did the other day that made me very happy. I am a fan of lists and organization (even if I'm not the cleanest person around - I have so much stuff), and I was going through my Pinterest Good Lookin' Recipes Board and felt completely overwhelmed. It had all the recipes I wanted to make, with all the ones I've already tried mixed in. And as there were over 500 pins, it took quite a while to sift through the pictures trying to find what I was looking for - original links for these posts, names of dishes, etc. So, I went and made a NEW board: Pinterest Food Challenge - Recipes I've Made So Far. This way, even if I haven't blogged about it yet, you can keep up with what I've made, which week it's from, and I can easily find the source material. I went through my Good Lookin' Recipes to re-pin and then delete. I also found I'd pinned certain recipes 2 or 3 times, so I did a bit of deletion there, as well. As I blog I'll post the corresponding post onto the actual pin - maybe my site will get seen by more people, too! Next will be condensing - since I've realized not everything on Good Lookin' Recipes is something I'll actually make - but rather cool stuff or things to help around the kitchen. I'm not sure which I'll keep and which I'll move to a different/new board, yet. But with this little tidy-up has come a re-invigoration for my goal. I have some fun new recipes to try out and foist upon my cast! :)
In the meanwhile, enjoy the following recipe from Wk 7.
I will share with you, however, something I did the other day that made me very happy. I am a fan of lists and organization (even if I'm not the cleanest person around - I have so much stuff), and I was going through my Pinterest Good Lookin' Recipes Board and felt completely overwhelmed. It had all the recipes I wanted to make, with all the ones I've already tried mixed in. And as there were over 500 pins, it took quite a while to sift through the pictures trying to find what I was looking for - original links for these posts, names of dishes, etc. So, I went and made a NEW board: Pinterest Food Challenge - Recipes I've Made So Far. This way, even if I haven't blogged about it yet, you can keep up with what I've made, which week it's from, and I can easily find the source material. I went through my Good Lookin' Recipes to re-pin and then delete. I also found I'd pinned certain recipes 2 or 3 times, so I did a bit of deletion there, as well. As I blog I'll post the corresponding post onto the actual pin - maybe my site will get seen by more people, too! Next will be condensing - since I've realized not everything on Good Lookin' Recipes is something I'll actually make - but rather cool stuff or things to help around the kitchen. I'm not sure which I'll keep and which I'll move to a different/new board, yet. But with this little tidy-up has come a re-invigoration for my goal. I have some fun new recipes to try out and foist upon my cast! :)
In the meanwhile, enjoy the following recipe from Wk 7.
Confetti Chicken Pasta in Spicy Cream Sauce (Orig. Recipe)
Box Penne Pasta
Olive Oil
2-3 Chicken Breasts, cubed
salt and pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
chopped garlic
Veggies (anything you have on hand - I used red, green, yellow, and orange peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms)
Spicy Cream Sauce
2 TBLS butter
2 TBLS Flour
2 C Milk
red pepper flakes - adjust according to your taste for spice :)
1 pkg Feta Cheese
1. Start cooking pasta. In a skillet over medium heat, season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until brown. Remove to a large bowl.
2. Add more oil and cook the onion and garlic for 2 min. Add in other vegetables and cook a few minutes - until desired texture (I like mine done, but still with a bit of crunch). Remove veggies to the large bowl of chicken.
3. In the same skillet, melt butter then toss in the flour and stir, cooking 1-2 minutes.
4. Slowly add in the milk, mixing to avoid lumps. Sprinkle in the red pepper and simmer until it begins to boil, stirring occasionally. When the sauce begins to thicken, turn off the heat and mix in the cheese until it's deliciously melted.
5. You can either mix everything together in the skillet or a large bowl, or pour the sauce over individual servings. I added the chicken/veggies back into the skillet and mixed them all up. I put my pasta in a bowl and topped with the mixture.
This recipe is incredibly delicious! And I like to think it's healthy because of all the veggies ;)
Box Penne Pasta
Olive Oil
2-3 Chicken Breasts, cubed
salt and pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
chopped garlic
Veggies (anything you have on hand - I used red, green, yellow, and orange peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms)
Spicy Cream Sauce
2 TBLS butter
2 TBLS Flour
2 C Milk
red pepper flakes - adjust according to your taste for spice :)
1 pkg Feta Cheese
1. Start cooking pasta. In a skillet over medium heat, season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until brown. Remove to a large bowl.
2. Add more oil and cook the onion and garlic for 2 min. Add in other vegetables and cook a few minutes - until desired texture (I like mine done, but still with a bit of crunch). Remove veggies to the large bowl of chicken.
3. In the same skillet, melt butter then toss in the flour and stir, cooking 1-2 minutes.
4. Slowly add in the milk, mixing to avoid lumps. Sprinkle in the red pepper and simmer until it begins to boil, stirring occasionally. When the sauce begins to thicken, turn off the heat and mix in the cheese until it's deliciously melted.
5. You can either mix everything together in the skillet or a large bowl, or pour the sauce over individual servings. I added the chicken/veggies back into the skillet and mixed them all up. I put my pasta in a bowl and topped with the mixture.
This recipe is incredibly delicious! And I like to think it's healthy because of all the veggies ;)
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