Passover Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
3 cups matzah farfel
8oz cheddar cheese
6 Tbsp. melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Put in 2 qt. casserole.
3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
4. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer or until brown.

Corny Chicken Bake

Ingredients
2 boxes of cornbread stuffing mix
2 14.75oz of creamed corn
2 celery rib, chopped
4-6 chicken breasts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 tbsp of mustard (I used Gulden's Spicy Brown)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400*
In large bowl, combine stuffing, corn & celery
Spoon into greased 9x13 dish
Top with chicken breasts
Wisk together brown sugar, butter & mustard. Drizzle over chicken
Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes

Dressed Chicken Breasts With Angel Hair Pasta

Ingredients
1 cup ranch dressing
1/3 cup spicy brown dijon mustard
4 chicken breasts, either pounded thin or cheat & use the "scallopini" cut :)
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I usually end up using a little more)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 box of angel hair pasta, cooked & drained

Directions
In small bow, whisk together salad dressing and mustard; set aside
In large skillet, saute chicken in butter until browned; transfer to dish & keep warm
Pour wine into skillet and cook over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan (about 5 minutes)
Whisk dressing mixture into skillet with wine and blend well
Server chicken with sauce over pasta

****NOTES****
This is a HUGE hit in my house. Pre-kiddo's, this dish was reserved for special occasions, special gifts and wow-ing new friends and in-laws :)
We have given the boys the version with the wine, but if you want you can reserve some dressing/mustard sauce and put it over the chicken and pasta
There is always extra sauce left over and we have yet to find something it DOESN'T go well on :)

Chicken Cashew Bundles

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I use Perdue Shortcuts)
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot
3 tablespoons sliced green onions (3 medium)
3 tablespoons chopped cashews
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 cans (8 oz) Pillsbury reduced fat refrigerated crescent dinner rolls


DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 375
In medium bowl, mix all ingredients except dough; set aside
On ungreased large cookie sheet, unroll dough & separate into 4 rectangles
Press each into rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal
Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto one end of each rectangle
Fold dough in half over filling and firmly press edges with fork to seal
With fork, prick top of each to allow steam to escape
Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until deep golden brown

Cauli-Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C Uncooked Spiral Pasta (we use Hodgson Mill's Whole Wheat Spirals w/Milled Flax Seed)
4 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
4 Tbsp butter
3 c milk, warmed
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3/4 head cauliflower, cut into small bites and steamed slightly

Directions
Cook pasta and drain. Set aside.
Cut cauliflower into small bite-sized pieces and steam in a very small amount of water. Set aside.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add flour, salt and pepper to create roux.
Gradually add warmed milk and stir until thickened.
Add cheese and stir to melt.
Combine sauce with pasta and cauliflower and put in a casserole dish.
Bake 350 for 30 minutes.

Stuffed Red Peppers

These stuffed peppers are so yummy without the use of gluten, wheat, eggs or soy.

STUFFING:

1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of ground veal
1 cup of gluten free bread crumbs *
1 tablespoon of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
1 teaspoon of parsley
1/2 cup of ground reggiano parmigiano cheese
1/2 cup of cooked parboiled brown rice
salt and pepper to meet your desired taste


* I used Gillian's Foods Bread Crumbs (wheat, gluten and dairy free) www.gilliansfoods.com



Wash, cut in half and towel dry 4 or 5 red peppers. Stuff and top with your favorite red sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Serve with a salad.

Enjoy!!!

Mojo Garlic Orange Shrimp

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp grated orange peel
1/3 c orange juice

Directions
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat
Add garlic, cook & stir 30 seconds
Immediately add shrimp; cook and stir 3 minutes or until shrimp starts to turn opaque
Add oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, orange peel and orange juice
Cook & stir 2 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through

*Serve over mixed greens, rice, pasta or polenta

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients
3 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c flour
3/4 c milk
1 pkg wide egg noodles, cooked & drained
5 c cooked chicken (approx 1 lb)
10 oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed & drained
2 c shredded cheese

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400* and spray 9x13 dish with Pam
In medium sauce pan, melt butter
Mix in flour
Gradually stir in broth, combine well
Add milk & cook for approx. 5 minutes (sauce will thicken a bit)
Mix chicken & broccoli with noodles and 1 cup of cheese; pour into 9x13 dish
Pour sauce over chicken/broccoli/noodle mix
Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and bake for 20 minutes

Additional Information
To save even more time, I use 2 pkgs of Perdue "short cuts" pre-cooked chicken, diced

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken Lettuce Wraps:


I very, very loosely followed this recipe. I made quite a few changes and while I was extremely happy with the results, the wraps weren't exactly similar to the P.F. Chang lettuce wraps. So if that's what you're looking for, you might want to go to the original recipe. Having said that, here's my version:

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground chicken
4 oz. water chestnuts, minced
6 oz. baby bella mushrooms, minced
1/2 medium onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
Splash rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon spicy brown bean sauce**
Lettuce leaves (we used about 2/3 a head of Bibb lettuce)

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown the ground chicken. When it is about 3/4 of the way done, add the water chestnuts, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Continue cooking, stirring often, until chicken is browned.

Meanwhile, mix all remaining ingredients (except lettuce) in a small bowl. Stir well.

When the chicken is done, add the sauce you mixed in the small bowl. Stir well to coat all the chicken and let cook for about 2 or 3 minutes until slightly thickened.

Place a spoonful of filling onto a lettuce leaf, then roll the lettuce up.

**The original recipe linked above called for red chile paste, but the only brand I could find had peanuts in it, which is a no-go due to food allergies here. So I got House of Tsang brand spicy brown bean sauce. The final recipe was not quite spicy enough. I'd say either use the red chile paste if you don't have to worry about allergies, or add some red pepper flakes in addition to the brown bean sauce.

Spinach Pie

Ingredients
2 pkgs frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
4 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz pkg cream cheese (I use the fat free option)
3/4 c milk
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
1 unbaked pie shell

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375*
Mix all ingredients together, except for half the cheddar cheese
Pour into pie shell and bake for 25 minutes
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake for approx 5 more minutes

Additional Information
For those watching their carb in take, you can always omit the pie shell; still comes out yummy!!

Stuffing Chicken

Ingredients

1 pkg. (6 oz.) Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 cup water

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 small boneless skinless chicken breasts, either pounded thin or cut scallopini

1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. paprika or Old Bay

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine stuffing mix and water in medium bowl. Let stand 5 min.

Stir in eggs.

Place chicken, top-sides down, on large cutting board; spread evenly with stuffing mixture.

Starting at one of the short ends, tightly roll up each chicken breast.

Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish.

Mix soup and milk; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through

Catalina Chicken

Ingredients
2 tsp veggie oil
1/2 C Kraft Free Catalina Dressing
3 tbsp dry onion soup mix
1/2 C Smuckers Sugar Free Apricot Jam
6 Small Chicken Breasts

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350*
Heat oil in large skillet and add chicken.
Cook 4min on each side
Remove from skillet and place in 3qt baking dish.
Mix dressing, jam, and soup mix in small bowl and pour over chicken
Bake for 45min

Cornbread Taco Bake

Ingredients
1lb browned ground beef
2oz taco seasoning mix
15oz canned vegetarian chili with beans
2 C shredded mexican cheese
2 pkg (8.5oz each) corn muffin mix
11oz Mexi-Corn (sometimes called Fiesta Corn), drained

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375*
Mix beef and taco seasoning according to package directions
Stir in chili and 1 cup of cheese
In separate bowl, prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions
Stir in mexi-corn and remaining 1 cup of cheese.
Spoon ground beef mix onto bottom of 9x13 dish
Top with cornbread mix
Bake for 15-20min

Spring Pea-sto

Ingredients
1 lb penne pasta
1 bag frozen peas, defrosted
1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
6 to 8 sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves stripped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup (plus a little more) grated Parmigiano
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of water up to a boil then season water with salt and cook penne to al dente.

Before draining pasta, reserve 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cooked-pasta-water

Place 1/2 of the peas in the bottom of a large serving dish.

Place the rest of the peas in a food processor with the pine nuts, basil, tarragon leaves, lemon zest, cheese and olive oil.

Add a little salt and pepper then process the pesto into rough paste, adjusting seasonings if necessary.

Pour starchy water over peas in bowl then add pesto.

Pour hot, drained pasta over the pesto and toss vigorously to coat and combine.

Adjust seasoning if necessary and serve with extra cheese.

**Side note: the pea-sto sauce freezes REALLY well :)

Stovetop Mac & Cheese

Ingredients
1 egg
5 oz evaporated milk (smallest can)
1 tsp Gulden's spicy brownmustard
5 dashes of Tabasco sauce
1 lb pasta (any shape)
1 Tbsp butter
2 cups shredded cheese (I use colby jack)
Plain Panko crumbs

Directions
Wisk together first 4 ingredients, set aside
Prepare pasta as box directs, drain & return to pot
Stir butter into pasta until melted
Add evaporated milk mixture and cheese, stir until melted
Sprinkle panko crumbs on top to taste

**If extra is left over, the sauce will thicken when cool; just add a little bit of milk prior to re-heating :)

Pork Stir Fry

Ingredients
2 bags of instant brown rice in a bag
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips (beef/chcken/tofu can be subsituted)
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
8 oz sugar snap peas
2 green onions, diagonally sliced
1/2 cup unsalted raw cashew nuts
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground ginger

Directions
Cook rice as directed on package
Heat dressing in large skillet on med-hi heat
Add meat & cook/stir for 2 minutes
Add peppers & peas, cook for 3 minutes stirring frequently
Add onions & cashews, cook & stir for 1 minute
Mix soy sauce, cornstarch & ginger until well blended
Add to meat mixture in skillet, cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently
Serve over rice

Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar (24 oz.) salsa
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400°F
In an 8x8 dish, pour in enough salsa to cover bottom.
Place chicken breasts on top of salsa.
Pour remaining salsa over chicken.
Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 5 more minutes, or until juices run clear

Apricot Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
Italian bread crumbs or panko crumbs
1 cup sugar-free apricot preserves
1/ 2 cup honey

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°F.

In plastic Ziploc bag, combine chicken and bread crumbs. Shake well until well coated.

Place chicken on cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.

Bake for 15 minutes and turn chicken over.

Bake for 10 more minutes.

Mix together preserves and honey.

Pour 1/2 of mix over chicken and bake for 5 minutes.

Turn chicken over; pour remaining mix over chicken and bake for 5 minutes, or until juices run clear.