Recipe List - Main Courses & Sweet Surprises

Inspired by my charming and beautiful friend at Learned Happiness, I am going to share my favorite recipes here on my blog.  You now will know what keeps the SweetLee family so well-fed and happy.

Most of these favorites have been collected from cookbooks and magazines over the last decade and have worked their way into my rotation - some of them more than once a month, some of them once in a blue moon.  But I am excited to share my favorite kitchen experiences and hope to learn some of yours.  (I'm already planning to try a curry chicken recipe next week that I saw on her blog.)


Chicken

• Parmesan Dijon Chicken [Betty Crocker] - golden, juicy, wonderful
• Easy Parmesan Garlic Chicken [Kraft] - even picky eaters will love this
• Grilled Cuban Chicken with Black Bean and Mango Salsa [Weight Watchers] - our new fav chk dish, requires overnight marinating. I challenge you to leave a morsel on your plate. 
• Maple Pecan Chicken [BC] - maple syrup, mayo, panko crumbs, & pecans (yum)
• Oven-Fried Tortilla Chip Chicken Drumsticks [Womans Day] - good with salsa and spanish rice
• Skillet Chicken & Chickpeas [WD] - butternut squash, raisins, almonds, cilantro, onions - AWESOME. Serve w/ couscous.
• Cajun Chicken & Rice [WD] - andouille & chicken, I add shrimp at the end, fast to make, lots of leftovers
• Ring of Fire Grilled Chicken [Alton Brown] - the best grilled "BBQ" chicken ever, uses whole fryer chk
• Chicken Nicoise [BC] - I like to peel my pearl onions first, so this one can be a pain to prepare, but the kalamata olives make it worth it.  I use way more of both of those ingredients than the recipe calls for.
• Lemon-Dill Chicken [BC] - hubby likes this one with oven-baked breaded fresh okra
• Grilled Chicken with Avocado, Tomato, & Corn Salsa [WD] - a nice cool Summer chk dish
• Caesar Chicken with Feta [BC] - cook chk in skillet in a 1/4 cup of caesar 10min, turning once, cover, and top with feta and grape tomatoes a couple of minutes before finished
• Pesto Chicken [BC] - cook chk in 1/4 cup butter 10min, turning once, cover, and top with pesto and mozzarella a couple of minutes before finished
• Fresh Herb Chicken [BC] - cook chk in 1/4 cup chk broth 10min, turning once, cover and top with fresh basal, dill, or chives (or a combination)
• Chicken Stuffed Shells [WD] - the first recipe I ever clipped out of a magazine 9 years ago, big hit. boil jumbo shells, drain and cool, choose best 20, fill with a mix of cooked ground chicken, 1/2 cup parsley, 1/4 tsp each salt&pepper, and 3/4 cup parmesan.  Layer tomato sauce in greased casserole dish, place shells, drizzle with more sauce, cook under foil in 400-degree oven for 30min or until bubbly
• Chicken A la Orange [Mrs Dash] - requires frozen OJ and fresh oranges, it needs to be tweaked to be a real repeat dish, but I've never gotten around to it

Soups, Stews, & Chilis

• Potato Soup w/ Kielbasa [mine] - In stock pot, saute 1 onion (diced), 4 stalks of celery (diced), pinch of salt, in butter until softened and translucent.  Add 4 potatoes (cubed/diced) and enough hot water to cover veggies.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer while you cook up 14-16oz turkey kielbasa (diced) in a skillet.  Add 1 can of fat free evaporated milk to pot along with meat.  Simmer for 30-45min.
• Minestrone [Mable Hoffman] - This is our famous "romance-a-strone" that Hubster made for me the first time I went to his apartment.  My suggestion: use 1 Tbsp of salt instead of 1 tsp.
• Skillet Chili Mac [About.com Southern Food] - an easy take on a classic dish
• Family Favorite Chili [BC] - I always add a teaspoon of cocoa powder to this and serve it up with quick, easy cornbread
• Chicken Tortilla Soup [WD] - I make this ALL the time.  Crumbled tortilla chips and Rotel tomatoes with cilantro & lime give this one flavor and crunch.  Garnish with cilantro and more corn chips.
• Chicken & Chickpea Chili [Weight Watchers] - this link isn't the exact recipe, but it's close.  My version has less green bell pepper, flour, balsamic, & spices and I have no complaints. We love this hearty comfort food over brown rice.  It's pictured below just as I added the raw chicken to the vibrant peppers.

Turkey

• Turkey Tetrazzini [WD] - This one is a beast requiring a lot of attention during cook time, but the payoff is worth it.  Artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, fresh mushrooms...OMG.
• Applewood Smoked Turkey Tenderloin - I make one of these pre-fab tenderloins when I need something hands-off.
• Turkey Kielbasa - sliced, browned in skillet, one of our family favorites
• "Sausage Pasta" - Crumbled Turkey Sausage and Prego Sauce over Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Pork

• Pork Wellington [Alton Brown] - a labor of love, but sweet and wonderful. puff pastry and prosciutto wrapped tenderloin stuffed with dried apples, seasoned with salt/pepper/thyme, brushed with egg wash, cooked to golden brown
• Skillet Barbecue Pork Chops [BC] - great use of leftover pasta sauce for a DIY BBQ sauce, we like it with garlic toast
• Fried Pork Chops [mine] - dredge pork chops in flour, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, oregano and fry in vegetable or canola oil until brown and cooked through
• Cajun-Style Spiced Pork Chops - quick way for me to season pork for the Foreman grill, though I usually go way overboard on it
• Bratwurst & Spatzle [mine] - cook brats in the broiler 12-16min, giving quarter turn every 3-4min, saute spatzle with butter and garlic salt until al dente and starting to brown
• Dijon Crusted Pork Chops with Egg Noodles [WD] - I like to chop up the pork chops and toss them with the noodles and veggies
• KellyO's Haluski [Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives] - cabbage, onions, butter, egg noodles, bacon, garlic salt, parmesan - a Polish feast

Beef

• Spicy-Sweet Steak & Onions - skillet steaks rubbed with brown sugar & chili powder, onions sauteed in butter. heavenly.
• Beef Provencal [Frank R. Blenn] - from an ADA cookbook, delicious zucchini and tomatoes tossed with garlic, basal, and olive oil over cubed steak
• Burgers (Foreman Grill) & Oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries
• Best Steak Marinade in Existence [AllRecipes.com] - yeah, it is.
• Stuffed Bell Peppers - I don't know where I found this recipe, but it's basically steam the seeded, halved peppers until crisp tender, brown a pound of beef, add onion, more bell pepper, cooked rice, seasonings, and tomato sauce. Stuff, cook uncovered for 30min, sprinkled with parsley and cheddar cheese.
• Beef Burritos [mine] - I season my beef with cumin, salt, chili powder, pepper, & a little cornstarch to thicken, and cook it up with lots of onion, then add drained black beans and corn, serve with cheese, salsa, guac, crumbled tortilla chips, and high fiber tortillas.
• Pot Roast [mine] - pretty standard. 4+lbs of chuck roast, seasoned with salt/pepper/oregano, in slow cooker for 8-10hrs on low setting with carrots, onion, quartered red potatoes, with either a little water or beef broth

Fish

• Tilapia or Salmon w/ Garlic & Herb Seasoning & Salt [mine]
• Pecan Crusted Catfish [WD]
• Balsamic Maple Glazed Salmon - whisk together 1.5 Tbsp mayo & 1.5 Tbsp balsamic vin, then add in 1 Tbsp honey,  1.5 tsp sesame seeds, 3/4 tsp oregano, 3/4 tsp olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic. Glaze top of salmon, place in greased pan, skin side down and bake for 12-18 minutes at 375-degrees.

Meatless

• Tomato Artichoke & Herbed Feta Pasta [Meatless Mondays] - soooo good, but I'm a sucker for artichokes
• Eggplant Pepper Pasta [Meatless Mondays]

Sweets

• Best Chocolate Chip Cookies [AllRecipes.com] - they are. hands down.
• Outrageous Double Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies [BC]
• Excellent Oatmeal Cookies [AllRecipes.com]
• Come 'Ere Pudding Pie [Aarti Sequiera] - chocolate ginger pie with homemade whipped cream
• Impossible Berry Pie [dLife] - I use blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
• Key Lime Pie [Pompeii]
• Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake [Alton Brown]

Ambivalence

I've held off making a genuine contribution to the Word in Your Hand project for a long time.  When I first joined TuDiabetes, instead of choosing one word and writing it on my hand with a permanent marker, I scribbled a few words about pregnancy and control on some paper with the shadow of my hand hovering over them, but it wasn't the same as really participating.  In a sense, I'll admit that it was uber-creative, but in my heart, I knew it was also pretty darn non-committal.

Declaring one singular word on my hand in permanent ink is something I haven't been able to do for the three years that I've belonged to the D.O.C.  I have too many words to describe how I feel about diabetes.  And those words "may change every 20 minutes, / along with my blood sugar."  I am normally an extremely positive person, but my words for diabetes all trend toward the negative.

If I jotted down the first words that come to mind when I think of my relationship to diabetes, I'd have a lot of "un" words:

unpredictable

uncontrollable

unbalanced

unfair

I'd also have words to describe how diabetes makes me feel or words for its most challenging moments:

pendulum

roller coaster

volatile

debilitating

But the problem with these aggressive words that storm to the tip of my tongue is that they lack context and make me sound like I have settled for a life of hopelessness.  They describe what diabetes IS and what it DOES without describing what I've done IN SPITE of those feelings.

I want to be a role model and dip into my inspiring teacher words:

strong

motivated

successful

healthy

But none of those thinly whispered words of empowerment speak to my real internal emotional struggle.  None of them reflect how unforgiving diabetes can be.  They are just words that describe my attitude.  My brave face.

So I'm back to my ambivalence.  Do I give a nod to the optimistic destination or to the painstaking journey?  Do I whine to the world about how hard it is or do I buck up and pull on those bootstraps?

At the end of the day, I think I worry most about what other diabetics will see in my hand.  I worry about what my doctor would see in my hand.  I worry about what my husband and my daughter would see in my hand.  I'm supposed to be experienced at this, trying harder, seeing better results.  I don't want them to see the way I vacillate between the two extremes -- the high and the low, the cold realism or the sweetness-and-light.

I stare at my finger-pricked hand, curled in a question mark.

I just want them to see a human being making the most of a life in spite of an obstacle that made an otherwise superwoman feel exceptionally human and mortal.

And then I think I have it.