My twist on Chicken Cacciatore

There are many versions of this amazing dish so here is my take on it.

Ingredients:

1-2 breasts of chicken
small onion of choice (I used red b/c its what I had on hand) diced
gf pasta of choice
2 cans diced tomatoes or 1 large
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 bell pepper (I used orange because again its what I had in the house)
white button mushrooms (baby bella are also delicious too!)
salt and pepper and crushed red pepper to taste (you can also add some Italian seasoning too!)
splash of favorite wine or in my case I used balsamic vinegar (you can add both too if you're feeling frisky)

While preparing ingredients get your water ready for your pasta. I was always told a watched pot never boils! :) Once the water is going in a large skillet cut up breasts of chicken and saute in olive oil until cooked through. Once just about done take out of pan and let sit.  In the same skillet  saute onion until just tender then add bell pepper then mushrooms until slightly tender. Once the veggies get to this stage add tomatoes and the chicken back in and add the splash of wine/balsamic and let simmer until pasta is cooked according to package directions. Once the pasta is done, drain and add to the skillet of chicken and veggies and toss. I always top with whatever Italian cheese I have on hand which this time was mozzarella and ENJOY! :) Salute!

Perfect Portion Steak and Spinach Salad

I love salad and adding steak to it makes it even better especially when it involves spinach! This is simple and extremely light! I found these perfect portion sirloin steaks at Wegmans and had to try them! They're super easy to grill on your stove top with a grill pan. What I did was let the steak(s) come to room temperature and put McCormick's Perfect Pinch Steak seasoning on both sides. Heat up grill pan with a little canola oil and cook each side about 2 minutes each side (depending on how done you like it). These steaks are super thin with great flavor!! 

You can prepare the salad portion prior too if you wish or prepare while steaks are 'resting' after cooking. You just need fresh baby spinach (I used organic baby spinach from Wegmans) cut up some white button mushrooms, bell pepper (we had green on hand), white sweet onion, cherry tomatoes and seasoned salad with fresh cracked pepper.  

For the dressing take two parts oil to one part vinegar. Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil with great flavor and add balsamic vinegar in a bowl.  Add fresh minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste and whisk.  Slice steak place on salad and pour on dressing and enjoy! Great for any time of the year! 

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Pamela's products)

First time I made Pamela's recipe for chocolate chip cookies and they are SO good!! I think I will make more this week since the recipe says it makes about 20 cookies and my batch came out to about 13 or 14. They are SO simple!!


Ingredients: 
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup white sugar 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1 egg  (I always bake with eggs at room temperature unless recipe says otherwise)
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1-1/2 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
1 cups semi sweet chocolate chips  (I used allergy free mini chocolate chips)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) - I didn't put any in this batch since I didn't have any on hand.


Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl add butter, sugar, egg and vanilla, then beat together. Add Pamela's Baking mix,  chocolate chips (and nuts) mix thoroughly. Place tablespoon sized scoops of dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper, I was out so I used foil and greased it with canola oil). Flatten. I found using the baggy that I greased the cookie sheet with worked great at flattening the cookies without them sticking to either my hand or the back of the spoon. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet. enjoy warmed or even with some ice cream YUM!  You may also want to try other types of chips such as white chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch etc....

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Something my husband used to make all the time and here is my gluten free twist of his recipe.

Ingredients:

one package ground turkey
one small onion of choice (diced)
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce (or one 14.5 oz can)
1 14.5 oz can of kidney beans (or chili beans) do not drain
1 can of rotel tomatoes
one package of simply organic vegetarian chili seasoning
salt & pepper to taste

I always semi-brown the turkey to break it up and add all the ingredients into your slow cooker stirring once everything has been put in. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. We also like to enjoy ours with some cheddar or colby jack cheese.

Grilled Chicken Avocado Sandwich

Was sick of eating the same thing day in and day out for lunch so I grabbed a piece of thinly sliced chicken out of the freezer (let it thaw) some of my gluten free bread; also had some lettuce in the fridge along with an avocado.  I went ahead and grilled the chicken seasoned with pepper on my grill pan - only took a total of 5 mins because it was so thin. Toasted my bread, put some lettuce and organic horizon cheddar cheese on the bread along with honey Dijon mustard. Sliced the avocado and added the chicken. It was delicious!!!