Cooked, Cubed Chicken

I usually saute boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a pan to make cubed, cooked chicken to add to recipes, salads, soups, etc. But, I found that sometimes it's easier to cook it in the oven while I'm making something else. I think this will work especially well to make chicken that easily shreds for enchiladas.

boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
a little water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a casserole dish. Add enough water to the dish to barely cover the bottom. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper (and any herbs you like). Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Cut into cubes.

Rachael Ray's Vodka Cream Sauce with Pasta

I've been planning on making this recipe for a few weeks now and I finally got around to it. I really liked the pasta sauce, but my husband did not. I wished it had gotten a little thicker than it was, but I still liked the flavor. It had too much of a tomato flavor for my husband (he hates tomatoes). The recipe makes a ton, so I would cut it in half. I froze about 3 cups of leftover sauce. If you like the recipe, then the freezing directions are in the "Notes" section after the recipe.

Rachael Ray's You-Won't-Be-Single-For-Long Vodka Cream Pasta

salt and pepper to taste

12 oz. pasta, such as penne

1 tbsp. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 tbsp. Butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 cup vodka

1 cup chicken broth

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

20 leaves of fresh basil, shredded or torn

Put a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta. When water boils, add salt and penne. Cook according to package directions; drain.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add evoo, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute garlic and shallots, 3-5 minutes, to develop their sweetness. Add vodka and cook to reduce by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble, then reduce heat to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir cream into the vodka sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove from heat. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Serve immediately.

Notes: Shallots are usually found near the onions in the produce section of grocery stores. Walmart doesn't always have them. If you would like to freeze the sauce, leave out the basil and add when it's reheated later. I added cooked, cubed chicken to my husband's pasta because he won't usually eat meals without some type of meat. The recipe to make cooked, cubed chicken in a hurry is above.

Swedish Meatballs

Ok, so I finally created a food blog and then I don't cook for a week. My husband fried fish one night, we had fried fish sandwiches another, corn on the cob once, and a homemade pizza. As you can see, nothing much to write about that I actually cooked. Yet, finally tonight, I did cook dinner. I do want to take some time in this blog to mention the greatness of making homemade pizzas. Using pillsbury refrigerated pizza crusts in the tube make it super simple, and the best part is that you get to put whatever toppings you want on the pizza. I used the leftover 1/2 lb of pork sausage from the Meaty Cornbread Casserole over the whole pizza. My side of the pizza had black olives and slices of tomato. I made my husband's side of the pizza plain/boring with just the sausage and turkey pepperoni. I don't feel that I should actually write the recipe because I just follow the directions on the pizza crust tube. I also use pizza sauce from a jar, nothing homemade.

Tonight I made swedish meatballs. The recipe was given to us by my mother-in-law. It is really great and everyone loves them. I served them with some rice.

Swedish Meatballs

14 oz. ketchup

10 oz. grape jelly

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 lbs ground beef

2 eggs

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 cup fine bread crumbs

Place the ketchup, jelly, and onion in a medium saucepan. Heat over low/medium heat until ketchup and grape jelly mix together. Do not boil. While the sauce is heating, place all other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and form 1 inch meatballs. Place each meatball in a crockpot. Pour heated sauce over the top. Cook over low heat for 1/2 day (or about 4 hours) until cooked through.

Note: 1 hour on high in a crockpot is equal to about 2 hours on low if you are in a hurry. If in a real hurry, just place the meatballs in a stockpot, pour sauce over them and cook over medium heat until meatballs are cooked through. While cooking, try not to stir the meatballs until mostly cooked through so that they don't fall apart. Meatballs can be made any size. We've even made them the size of baseballs for dinner. Great for parties too. Nobody will believe that grape jelly is the key ingredient!!