Category Archives: Entrees

Bow Tie Pasta with Italian Sausage

Posted in Entrees, Pasta, Recipes by

So I have a confession to make.  You see, Mina hates sausage in his pasta. I was tired of doing pasta with a simple meat sauce…so I decided to try to be sneaky by taking the sausage out of it’s casing and I treated it like ground beef to make a pasta sauce.  So when I came to serve dinner, I didn’t mention that there could possibly be sausage in the pasta… just to see if perhaps he would give it another chance. Sneaky sneaky, I know. And  well, I failed. I suppose it was a worth a try though!  He noticed the sausage and wasn’t a fan. On a more positive note, I liked it and so did a friend who was having dinner with us!   So, if you’re a fan of sausage then I think this recipe is worth trying!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spicy or sweet Italian sausage (I used spicy)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 can (15 ounces) tomatoes, diced
  • 3/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, crumbled
  • 1 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crumbled
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 8 ounces bow-tie shaped pasta, or farfalle
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
1. Remove Italian sausage from casing.
2. Heat olive oil and brown garlic, onion, and sausage.  Drain excess fat.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
4.  Cover and put on low, allowing it to simmer for about 20 minutes.
5.  Cook pasta and drain water. Mix sauce and cooked pasta together.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
I ran out of lettuce for a traditional salad, so on the side I made a cucumber, tomato (I had red and yellow tomatoes), feta cheese, and dried cranberry salad.  I seasoned it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and some parsley.  It was delicious!

Stir Fry Overload

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Yesterday for dinner my friend Mary and I made some chicken and vegetable stir fry.  I think we made enough to feed a small country.  It’s an Egyptian thing…Egyptian mothers only know how to cook for armys of people and I think I have inherited this gene.  I rarely can get the portions right.  I guess the theory is, I’d rather everyone be stuffed and have tons of left overs then for someone to walk away from the table a little hungry.  Crazy, I know.

Anyways, I think I went a little (by a little, I really mean a lot) overboard on the fresh veggies I bought to put in it: broccoli, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms, carrots, onions, zucchini, eggplant, sugar snap peans…I couldn’t help myself but pick up every vegetable I love. This combination worked out perfectly! It couldn’t have been better.

I’m not going to make an ingredient list for this recipe, because everyone likes different vegetables.  So I’ll just walk you through the steps of how I put this all together!

1 Get some rice cooking. Rice typically takes awhile to cook so I started that first.

2. Chop 1 pound of  chicken breast into cubes.  Season with 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp ground red pepper (for spice)

3. Brown 1/2 cup of chopped onions and cubed chicken in pan.

4. While chicken is browning, chop vegetables in to cubes. Add about  tsp of olive oil to lightly coat vegetables, along with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and 1/2 tsp red pepper (same spices that were on the chicken!).

5.  Put vegetables in separate pot on medium-high heat. Allow vegetables to cook through, mixing regularly.

Mary while mixing the vegetables, "I feel like a real housewife of Columbus."

6. Add 1/2 cup of soy sauce.  (I had a lot of veggies, so this might be too much soy sauce for you!) I used a light, low sodium soy sauce from the grocery store.  It was perfect.  Some soy sauces are too salty.  So taste yours before adding a ton to your veggies.

7.  Once veggies are cooked down and tender.  Add chicken.

8.  Serve on rice.  Dig in and enjoy!

After dinner a group of us went and saw a comedy show at the funny bone.  Mina got to see the third love of his life (#1. Me, #2. Diesel) Tommy Johngin.  He says I’m jealous of his love that he has for Tommy…but that’s not true.  I know I’ll always be number one.  Overall it was a successful dinner followed by a successful evening of friends and laughter. What more could I ask for?

Tommy's the one in plaid!

 

Chicken Enchiladas

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Tonight was Mexican night in the Doss household! We had chicken enchiladas and beef nachos! Yum! I even made Mina wear a sombrero throughout all of dinner and only speak in Spanish…just kidding.  Although that would’ve been pretty entertaining.

Tonights recipe isn’t all that healthy for you, but the enchiladas were full of flavor and everyone seemed to really enjoy them. Hope you enjoy them too!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound chopped chicken
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can reduced fat cream of chicken Soup
  • 1 (8 ounce) container light sour cream
  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 2 cup of your favorite salsa
  • 1 chopped green onion
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
  • 1 tsp ground red pepper (*optional, add for spice)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp back pepper
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1/2 cup of refried beans (or black beans)
  • 10 low carb tortillas
Instructions:
  1. Heat oil in pan.  Brown onions and chicken.
  2. In a medium sized bowl mix together cream of chicken, sour cream, corn, salsa, green onion, diced tomatoes, red pepper, pepper, salt, shredded cheeses, and cooked chicken.
  3. Warm up tortillas in microwave.  If using black beans add to mixture in bowl.  If using refried beans, line tortillas refried beans.
  4. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture from bowl.  Place filled tortilla, seal down in a large  baking dish.  This recipe makes a lot! It made about 10 full sized tortillas.
  5. Top tortillas with extra filling and extra shredded cheese.
  6. Cover with foil and bake in oven on 350 for 40 minutes.
  7. Dig in and enjoy!
We had some friends join us for dinner so I also made a plate of nachos on the side!

Stuffed Green Peppers

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Brace yourself for an AWESOME recipe. I made green bell peppers stuffed with ground beef and rice for dinner tonight.  Growing up my mama always made these for dinner.  She gave me her recipe and I swear I was following it, but mine never turned out as good as hers.  The stuffing always dried out.  Perhaps I wasn’t putting enough love in to it. But tonight, I had no such problem! I combined my moms recipe with a couple other ones that I found online…mission successful.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 3 large green peppers
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1/2 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 can diced tomatoes (8 ounces)
  • 1 can tomato sauce (16 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup rice
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper (*optional, added for spice)
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used a blend of cheddar and mozzarella)
Instructions:
  1. Cut tops of green peppers off. Chop off enough of the tops of the green peppers to have 1/4 cup diced green pepper. Remove seeds and membranes from inside of peppers.
  2. Place whole green peppers in pot of boiling water, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Remove from pot and invert on paper towel.
  3. Heat olive oil in skillet.  Brown onions, ground beef and 1/4 cup of chopped green pepper.  Drain off excess fat.
  4. Add 1/2 can of undrained, diced tomatoes, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, rice, water, salt, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and black pepper to ground beef mixture in skillet.
  5. Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and cover until rice is tender.  I used brown rice, so it took about 45 minutes for my rice to cook. (white rice should take ~20 minutes)
  6. Stir in cheese.  Sprinkle salt on inside of green peppers. Stuff peppers with meat and mixture.
  7. In a casserole dish deep enough to hold green peppers up right, add remaining 1/2 of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water. This will act as a “bath” for the stuffed peppers to finish cooking in.
  8. Place stuffed peppers in casserole dish. Sprinkle peppers with a little extra cheese. Cover and bake on 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
  9. Dig in and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Risotto

Posted in Dental school, Entrees, Recipes by

Goodbye summer quarter, hello summer break! Today we finished taking our last final and boy did it feel good.  We only get  a few weeks off, but I’ll take what I can get!

I was feeling lazy and didn’t really feel like cooking anything special. So I made this easy creamy chicken risotto recipe that I have made in the past.  It’s a pretty simple recipe! I like it because you can add different vegetables that you have available in your fridge.  Today I added mushrooms and carrots, but I’ve also done broccoli and zucchini in it in the past.  Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
  • 1/2 small chopped onion
  • 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut up in cubes
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
  • 2 cups of chicken broth (I used water + chicken boulion cubes)
  • 1 small carrot, chopped
  • 1 cup mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup uncooked rice*
  • Black pepper to taste
Instructions:
  1. Heat oil in pan.  Add garlic, onion, and chicken until browned.
  2. Add cream of mushroom, broth, carrots, mushrooms, and cheese.  Heat to boil.  Stir in rice. Add black pepper to taste.  Cover and cook on low for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
  3. Dig in and enjoy!
*Just a heads up.  When comparing white and brown rice, brown rice requires more water and longer cooking times because of their outer bran coating.  If you notice that your risotto is drying out, then add a little water to moisten.

Pepper Steaks

Posted in Entrees, Recipes by

This is a quick and easy steak recipe that I love! I’m always so busy and don’t always have the time to make elaborate meals, but this dish never fails to turn out delicious and satisfying.

Ingredients:

  • Small steaks (a little larger than the size of a deck of cards)
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 medium onion
  • Steak seasoning of your choice (I used Montreal Steak seasoning)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of pepper
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 425.  Line glass baking dish with foil.
  2. Marinate steaks well with seasoning of your choice and place in baking dish.

  3. Chop onions and green peppers in to large chunks, toss in salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Cover steaks with onion and green pepper mixture .
  4. Cover with foil and bake on 425 for 30 minutes, or until steaks are cooked to your liking.
Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Helloo world!

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A few years ago I decided to start a blog, but then I lost touch with it and I wasn’t truly invested in it.  This time, it’s different! Not only have I made a commitment to a friend, Sarahlicious (check out her blog!), but I also have a focus.  What’s the focus, you ask?  Duh, cavities and cravings.

I am currently a second year dental student.  Dental school has pretty much taken over life.   While I know I’m in the right place, doing the right thing, it’s definitely not easy.  I am sure you’ll hear me whine a lot more about it.   Just tell me to suck it up and get over it.

Aside from teeth, I love love love baking.  It’s become a passion of  mine over the years.  I bake when I’m happy, sad, stressed, bored…. you get the point.  More recently, however, I have decided to branch out and make it my mission to find yummy, healthy recipes (sometimes they’re not completely healthy …but they’re always yummy!) I hope that I can share my new cooking experiences and recipes with you. I also hope that my hubby (Mina, checkout his website, he’s a tv junkie!), will enjoy being the guinea pig for these new recipes 🙂

The recipe I want to share today is Baked Lemon Chicken and it was a huge hit! I got the recipe from allrecipes.com, but I tweaked it a bit.  I hope it turns out as delicious for you as it did for me! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1cup seasoned bread crumbs
  • 4 (4 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Instructions:
  1. In a shallow dish, combine the butter, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Place bread crumbs in another dish. Dip chicken in butter mixture, then coat with crumbs.
  2. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Put on broil for 5-8 minutes, just to let the top get a little brown and crunch