The Blonde Diaries

Chicken Parm Soup

This recipe is courtsey of the Rachael Ray Show (www.rachaelrayshow.com) and was aired when Brooke Shields was on the show earlier this year. I am a huge fan of Rachael Ray and her recipes.  Normally all recipes are indeed 30 minutes.  Anytime I have made a recipe and it took longer than 30 minutes it was because of the cook’s error not the recipe taking longer than 30 minutes.  Anyone looking for a good Rachael Ray cookbook should check out 365:No Repeats.  It is definetly the Rachael Ray cookbook to have.

This recipe was very tasty looking and should be perfect for the winter season that has now decided to hit in Houston :(  I will be trying this one out next week.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus some for drizzling

4 chicken breasts, pounded out and cut into bite-sized pieces

Salt and pepper

4 cloves garlic (3 chopped, 1 for rubbing bread)

2 large onions, thinly sliced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 28-oz can chunky tomatoes

1 qt chicken stock

1 cup basil, chopped

8 thick slices Italian semolina bread

1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large pot over medium-high heat with 2 tbsp of the Olive Oil or 2 turns in the pan.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to pot.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until just cooked through.  Remove from the pot and set aside.  Add the other 2 tablespoons of the olive oil along with the chopped garlic, onion,s and red pepper flakes.

Cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Add tomatoes and the stock, bring to a simmer and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Add chicken back to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the chopped basil and stir to combine. 

While soup is cooking, drizzle the sliced bread with some of the olive oil and season with Salt & Pepper.  Place on a baking sheet and toast until lightly golden, about 3-4 minutes.  Remove from the oven, rub each piece with the garlic clove and top with parm cheese.  Place back in the oven for 1-2 minutes.

Serve soup topped with 2 pieces of parm toast or, if you prefer, put the bread on the bottom and the soup on top.

Yields 4 servings.

Side Dish Edition: Holiday Recipes: Old and New

The holidays are my favorite time of year because I can throw my diet out the window and eat whatever I feel like.  Most of the time it also means eating family favorite recipes that I normally don’t have during the “regular” time of the year.  One of my favorite recipes is my aunts version of Broccoli Rice Casserole.  It can be lightened up to a more healthy version with brown rice and skim milk but its the holidays so we won’t do that today ;)  This year my mother picked up a new holiday-party friendly recipe that is similar to the Broccoli Rice Casserole but it adds Cauliflower and takes away the rice.  Its probably more friendly to those on low carb diets.  It was also very tasty and I will be looking forward to this recipe next year.

Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 package frozen broccoli

1/2 cup rice (cooked)

1 can cheddar cheese soup

salt & pepper to taste

milk as desired (probably 1/2 a cup.  Just enough to clean out bottom of soup can)

Combine & Cook in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.  Very tasty with turkey, ham, roast beef, any holiday meal.

Broccoli & Cauliflower Casserole

1 1/2 cauliflowers

4 bunches of broccoli

1 can cream of mushroom/celery/broccoli/chicken soup

1 garlic cheese link

1 can french onion rings

Boil broccoli & cauliflower until cooked yet still firm.  Drain well in colander.

Place broccoli and cauliflower in casserole dish and top with french onion rings

In a saucepan, mix 1 can soup with 1 garlic cheese link until melted (For larger casserole do 2 cans soup and 2 links cheese).  When cheese is completely melted into soup pour over casserole.  Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Early Edition: Holiday Gifts Reviewed

I thought I’d do a little holiday gift review guide since I did request a few of the items I posted in my previous threads and I did get a few cool gifts during my gift exchanges with friends and Mike this week.

Dale & Thomas Popcorn- Talk about a great unexpected gift.  I received a gift package from some online friends that contained the peanut butter & white chocolate drizzled popcorn.  I had never had flavored popcorn until about 2 months ago when I tried some moose munch which was tasty as well but alas there are no Harry & David’s in Houston.  I had been reading online recently about Dale & Thomas since it was mail order and very similar to moose munch and was about to give it a try when it appeared in this gift bag.  After literally ripping into the bag and trying for myself, I am now officially converted and can’t wait to try the 12 pack sampler I ordered at www.daleandthomas.com.  Definetly 2 thumbs up on this gift!

Philosophy Lemon Lip Gloss ->  I’m usually a kiehls/blistex girl but I’ll never pass up a beauty gift.  I received this in my gift box noted above with the popcorn.  I also had to pull it out and give it a try.  It has a slight lemon smell but it is not overpowering.  I would compare it to the smell of a lemon pie or lemon filling.  It was a little thicker than I’m use to but it could be due to the fact that I squeezed a lot out!  I did notice that it was not as sticky as other lip glosses on the market which is definetly a plus especially when it gets windy and you start getting mouthfuls of hair.  I will give it a thumbs up as well.

OPI Nail polish - I was visiting the OPI nail site and trying out different colors to request for Christmas and decided on the most popular “I’m Not Really a Waitress” and “Catherine the Grape”.  Anything with my name spelled correctly gets brownie points.  The first polish, lets call it Waitress, appears to be a deep red in the bottle but when tried on its a very pretty summery pinkish red.  The other polish, Grape, I wasn’t too sure about when first asking because it is purple but when I tried it on this morning it is a beautiful deep plum/purple color and could even be considered work appropriate.  Its more of a browish purple color.  2 Thumbs up for OPI!

And the remainder of my early reviewed items came from www.sephora.com and included the Too Faced Life of the Party mini chronicles palette.  I was not able to see this palette in stores this year so I just took a gamble on it.  It was very pretty when I opened it and very holiday/wintery.  The tones in the palette are your shimmery silver and deep red.  I can see a smokey eye being made using these colors and one of the light silver colors I have in some of my urban decay palettes.  I also found that Mike used the code for the lipgloss ring (free with $25 purchase) and that I was a tiny bit disappointed with.  I can’t complain that it was free but it just appeared to be more black stoned than the gray that it actually was.  Its also a tad bulkier than I was imagining but these are just cosmetic things I can get over.  I’ll probably wear it to dinner tonight just because.  Lastly, it was determined that I liked cranberry smells (??) and I was given the cute little Philosophy Cranberry lotion and 3-in-1 gift set.  I have to admit it is a nice gift set and the smell is also very nice and much better than that gingerbread man scent I bought myself last year.  Maybe Mike knows things about me that I haven’t figured out yet.  Definetly a thumbs up on the Sephora stash.

Have a happy holidays and I will continue my reviews as I get things!

Cheesy Chicken Recipes

Winter in Houston typically means temperatures that reach oh 50 or 60 degrees - brrr when you are use to 90+ degree weather!  Eventhough I do not willingly look forward to this time of year, it does encourage me to bring back some of my most favorite recipes: creamy soups, warm casseroles, potatoes.  

So today, I was looking through files on my computer today and I ran across 3 of my favorite recipes. I tend to copy and paste recipes I run across or personal recipes that I share on message boards in Word documents to save for later.  These 3 recipes tend to overlap in main ingredients which works well if you catch chicken on sale and need to make multiple dishes. 

Chicken Roll Ups 

I don’t know the origins of this recipe.  I just remember going off to college and all the sudden my mother and grandmother started making it and sending it to the dorms with me each month when I would come home and load up.  This is also one of those great recipes that you can add in or change up the veggies included to change the taste and get some added nutrition.

1.  3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (if they are big just do 2) - cook and chop up into shreds/small chunks.  I tend to boil for 30-45 minutes until cooked then I’ll shred with forks.

2. combine chicken with 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese (fat free if you are watching your figure).  I also add in about a cup of broccoli (just microwave the frozen kind and then cut into small chunks) and carrots.

3. Then you will need 2 cans of cresant rolls (I get the pillsbury kind)  Roll out the dough and seal the seems of 2 of the cressants to form one big square. 

4. Place the chicken mixture into the big squares and then roll up and seal the sides and the one long seam. You should make 6-8 rolls.

5.  Then place in a casserole dish.  Next pour a mixture of 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1 cup of milk over the rolls to make a sauce and then sprinkle 1/4 cup cheddar cheese on top. Cook on 375 for 20 minutes.

Chicken Spaghetti

This recipe originated from my great great aunt and was passed down through my grandmother and mother to me.  It is my absolute favorite cheesy chicken recipe and I look for any excuse to make it.  Its fairly straight forward and easy to make.

1.  Boil chicken (2-3 breasts) in water with a couple of bay leaves thrown in.

2. Once done with chicken saute 1 onion chopped in 1 stick of butter (you can cut this in half if you want). 

3. Once they are “cooked” add 1 can of tomato soup, 1 can diced rotel, 1 pound velveta cheese until melted. *Tip* Cut the Velveeta into small inch or half inch chuncks and add in slowly with the rotel and tomato soup so that it will melt smoothly and will not  burn. Then shred the chicken into small pieces (use 2 forks) and put in the cheesy mix. 

4. Cook 1 package of spagetti (vermacelli works best) in the chicken broth.  Drain when noodles are done.  Add noodles to the cheesy mix and bake in the oven on 350 until it bubbles (usually 10-15 minutes).  Then take out and enjoy.

Cheesy Chicken Pot Biscuit Cups      

Lastly is one of Mike’s favorite recipes.  I discovered it from Dottie’s Weight Watchers Message Board and gave it a whirl one night.

1 (7.5 oz.) can of refrigerated homestyle or buttermilk biscuits
1 cup (5 oz.) diced chicken breast
1 (10 1/2 oz.) can healthy request cream of chicken soup
scant 2/3 cup (2 1/2 oz) shredded kraft reduced-fat cheddar cheese (I used the Kraft fat free kind and worked fine.)
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes (I did not have this so I used oregano and basil seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Separate biscuits (in halves) and place each biscuit in a cup of an ungreased 12-hole muffin pan, pressing dough up sides to edge of cup. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, chicken soup, cheddar cheese, parsley flakes, and black pepper. Mix well to combine. Evenly spoon chicken mixture into prepared biscuit cups. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Place muffin pan on a wire rack and let set for 2-3 minutes. Serve at once.  This recipe for those on WW is 5 points per serving with 1 serving = 2 biscuit cups.

Color Wheels for your Eyes

One of the things that excites me the most about makeup is eyeshadow.  Eyeshadow is just so much fun to explore - lots of pretty, shiny colors! lol  The problem is that its such a huge trial and error process for me to find those “just right” shades that make my blue eyes pop or that aren’t too dark/light/bright/etc.  

 If you are not quite the adventurous type or don’t like the buy and return method I tend to use when shopping then look no further than POP Beauty.  POP Beauty has come up with some awesome eyeshadow palettes specially made for your specific eye color.  Each palette contains 12 eyeshadows that compliment your eye color so that your eyes will sparkle and shine each time you wear them.  As you can see they don’t keep you with neutrals either!  I like to my palette as a guide when I want to start easing out into other colors to see which shades will match my eyes best.  POP has developed a few other palettes which are not specific for certain eye colors that are just as fun so definetly check them out!

 As always available at sephora.com and other beauty stores selling POP beauty products.

For the Brown-Eyed Girls

For the Green Eyed Girls

For the Blue Eyed Girls