July 2009 Weddings
Kate&Mark
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Recipe Swap Round-Up: Easy Weeknight Meals
What recipe did you have? (Include the link!)
How did it come out?
Re: Recipe Swap Round-Up: Easy Weeknight Meals
I had Honey Dijon Chicken Tenders, submitted by Katie - http://www.pink-parsley.com/2011/08/baked-honey-dijon-chicken-tenders.html
They were so good! I'm a huge fan of chicken fingers dipped in honey mustard, so this baked-not-fried version was awesome for me. Total comfort food without actually being that bad for you!
Kate's Recipe Box || Relatively Bookish
I'm so glad you liked them! It's one of my favorite recipes. And, they freeze really well, so I usually make extra and then we can have them another night!
I made Lindsay's recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Ragu: http://www.motherthyme.com/2012/02/slow-cooker-pork-ragu.html
I thought it was really tasty, and so nice to have dinner ready when I came home from work! I didn't do the step of browning the meat because I wanted to get everything ready the night before so that I could just drop it in the crockpot in the morning before I left for work, and I was worried about browning the meat and then not cooking it right away. Of course, then I went off to work without putting the crockpot into the base -- luckily my mom lives close and was driving by our house that day anyway, so she put it in for me. I think the browning would have added even more flavor, but it was good regardless. I did think it was a little bit watery, so next time I might add more tomato paste, or less chicken stock, or both.
I had Cole's Fajita Ranch Chicken Wraps
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/meat/fajita-ranch-chicken-wraps/
This was the epitome of "easy weeknight meals". We buy our meat in bulk and freeze it so I just had to take out a couple of frozen chicken breasts the night before to defrost. Then from start to finish, including the cutting of the chicken and peppers, I literally had dinner on the table in 15 minutes. I used store bought salsa because I had it on hand. DH is a ranch-a-holic, so he added extra ranch to his, but I was very impressed with how flavourful and easy this was. I'll definitely be adding it to the rotation! Thanks!!!!
I had Maria's Sesame Chicken
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/sesame-chicken-recipe/index.html
It was very easy and both DH and I really liked it. I did change it up slightly, based on the reviews on the foodnetwork site. Instead of marinating the chicken, I just made a sauce with the marinade ingredients by heating them on the stove, and I added some garlic to the sauce. I also sprayed the chicken with olive oil spray instead of using the butter. We put the chicken over rice. Next time I will add maybe broccoli to make it more like a stir-fry.
We had just bought chicken the day before, so it was already in the fridge. Other than thawing the chicken if you have it frozen, the only work involved was cutting up the chicken. I am usually slow when chopping and dicing, so the fact that there was nothing else to chop up made this super fast and easy for me! I see us having this again in the future.
I made Alissa's recipe:
Pesto Chicken Melt- serves 4
These can be served as "open-faced" sandwiches with only half of a roll, or as a regular sandwich.
8 strips bacon
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (about 8 oz- we usually just use leftover chicken)
1/4 cup purchased, sun-dried tomato (or just regular) pesto
1/4 cup slivered red onion
ciabatta rolls
4 Tbsp. mayo
8 thin slices tomato
Black pepper to taste
1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Preheat broiler with rack 6 inches from element. Cook bacon in skillet over med. heat. Transfer bacon to paper-towel lined plate. While bacon is cooking, combine chicken, pesto, and onion in a bowl.
To assemble sandwiches, spread cut sides of rolls with 1 Tbsp. mayo. Top each with 2 tomato slices (or amount preferred) and season with pepper. Place 2 strips bacon over tomatoes. Arrange 1/2 cup chicken mixture on each serving. Place sandwiches on a broiler pan or baking sheet, broil 3-5 mins. Top each sandwich with 1/4 cup cheese. Return pan to oven and broil until cheese begins to brown, 3-5 mins.
I hate when people review recipes and say, "but I changed all these things." So I feel bad that I made some changes, basically because of what I could find in my discount grocery store. We only had shredded mozzerella or cheddar (I used mozz) and I got whole wheat bulkie rolls. I broiled the sandwiches in my toaster oven 2 at a time -- warning: Don't do this with the top on because it will burn and your house will stink -- not that I did that! We just replaced the tops and it was awesome. DH kept saying over and over again how good these sandwiches were. I used the packages of cooked chicken and it really was super easy to make. The longest part was cooking the bacon -- but obviously you could make bacon for breakfast and just save some cooked bacon. I will 100% make this again!
Thanks Alissa!
Jenny McCarthy = Former Playmate and MTV host
Pediatrician = Doctor with extensive experience and education on children.
Bumpies = Don't get me started!
I know who I get my health advice from!
What are you looking at?
I made Kate's recipe: Bubble Up Pizza!
http://passthesushi.com/quick-dinner-fixins-bubble-up-pizza
I made it with Italian sausage and bell peppers as the "toppings" because that's our favorite kind of pizza. It was sooooo good! and very quick and easy. It was a really nice alternative to pizza when you want something more homemade without all the work of making real dough.
Whenever I have meat browning, I do it the night before... just brown it and put it in a separate container the night before and toss it all together in the morning.
Yeah, that was my plan, but I was reading up on the safety of partially cooking meat and then putting it in the fridge. I decided not to risk it but maybe next time I'll be more daring!