Chicken Tikka Masala

I got this meal idea from Emily. THANKS EMILY!! She recommended it to me because it was fast, simple, requires no measuring, cheap, and sooooooo tasty. She knows me so well :)

Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Chicken breasts, diced to bite-size pieces
Garam Masala seasoning (mix of cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander)
Jar of Tikka Masala Sauce

Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and season with garam masala, salt and pepper. Brown chicken and cook through. Add tikka masala sauce. Serve over rice or along side some naan (flat bread).

I got all the ingredients from Target. In case you're looking, I found the naan in the bakery section, not the bread. I loved the garam masala because it added serious flavor to the chicken. And for the sauce I used the Patak brand. Later I found out that the sauce had all natural ingredients - meaning pronounceable and recognizable ingredients! I found some recipes to make tikka masala sauce from scratch...maybe someday I'll try them, but for now I really like the ease of opening a jar and pouring it right in. This dish (minus the rice cooking time) took me less than 10 minutes to make.

I know, I know

I know...pictureless posts are a drag. I wish I could take pictures of my food with my awesome new camera, but considering the time of day I actually cook my food and the lack of natural light in my house makes it hard. No amount of flash can do the food justice. Perhaps when I repeat some of these dishes, I'll have better luck and update the posts later. But for now you'll just have to trust me :)

Albondigas Soup

We love this soup three ways:
1. from 3 Margaritas
2. from Auntie Barbara
3. this way:

Grandma Salazar's Albondigas Soup

This is a Cooking Light recipe, so when it gives you the directions on cooking the meatballs, it uses cooking spray. I found this to be a complete mess b/c the meatballs kept sticking to the pan. I gave up and just used veggie oil and ended up completely satisfied.

By the way, this is not a quick meal...so plan ahead.

Onion Baked Salmon

This is a super easy dish that I got from my Uncle Ricky. They say you should never trust a skinny chef, so you can TOTALLY trust Uncle Ricky :) The best part is you don't have to measure anything!!


Salmon Fillets
Mayonnaise (low-fat if you like)
Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Line baking dish with foil and arrange fillets in a single layer. Spread some mayonnaise on the top side of each fillet (less for crispy onions, more for moist onions). Sprinkle each fillet with the onion soup mix. Bake for 15-20 minutes until fish flakes with a fork. Enjoy!

Italian Meatballs

We kind of got tired of the same old spaghetti and meat sauce but didn't really want to sacrifice cost. So the new twist was meatballs, but we've never been really satisfied with the frozen ones we usually get from Costco. Instead we tried the homemade stuff which was much better. The only sacrifice here is it takes just a little longer to cook. The recipe we used was for Mama Iuliucci's Famous Meat-a-balls.

Let me know if you have/find a good recipe for Italian meatballs. We're always up for trying something different. For now, we might stick with this recipe and may try it with the Italian Spaghetti Sauce recipe Grandma Googie gave us.

Note: I didn't feel like frying anything and since it was soooooo cold, we baked them on a broiling rack (so the fat could drip away) at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

French Toast Souffle

This is pretty easy to make and it's one you can make ahead of time. Thanks Emily!

French Toast Souffle

Easy Chicken Chili

This is another one of those meals we make with Rotisserie Chicken that is super tasty. It's a pretty quick meal and low fat, too! I got it from my Betty Crocker: Simple Winter Meals Magazine.

Ingredients
1 T olive oil or veggie oil
1 medium onion, chopped (~1/2 c)
1/2 c chopped red bell pepper
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 c water
2 c diced rotisserie chicken
2 cans (15.5 oz each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 c sour cream, if desired
Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

In 4 qt. saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.

Stir in soup, broth and water. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, sirring frequently, until smooth and well blended. Stir in chicken, beans, chiles, oregano and cumin. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, sirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

Top each serving with sour cream and cilantro.

Notes:
-You could cook your own chicken, but why bother?
-You can substitute the fresh bell pepper and onion with 1 c frozen bell pepper and onion stir-fry. I like this idea b/c bell peppers are cheaper frozen and in this soup you don't notice the difference.
-I've made this soup without certain ingredients (i.e. rotisserie chicken, only one can of beans) and it still comes out fine. In fact, we (Alex and I) agree it's way better with one less can of beans and maybe just one cup of rotisserie chicken.