Pepperoni - Stuffed Chicken

I had a recipe for this that had a homemade sauce, but I was missing a few ingredients. I made do with what I had and it turned out to be very easy and delicious.

Pepperoni - Stuffed Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 pkg pepperoni
freshly grated parmesan cheese
Ragu Traditional Spaghetti Sauce (or your favorite)

Place each chicken breast between sheets of waxed paper and pound with a kitchen mallet until flattened to about 1/4 inch thickness. (This makes it easier to roll and it also tenderizes it).
Top with pepperoni and cheese. Beginning with smaller end, roll up and secure with toothpicks.
Place in a greased baking dish and cover each chicken breast with sauce. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Flatten chicken breasts with a mallet to about this thickness: Top with desired amount of pepperoni and cheese. Black olives would also be good.

Roll up and secure with toothpicks:

The finished product. I served mine with a small salad. A crusty piece of bread would also be good.

I hope you enjoy it!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This soup is very hearty and nutritious.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

3-14oz cans chicken broth
1/2 cup wild rice
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups fresh mushrooms

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp thyme

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 cup half & half

In a saucepan, combine 2 cans of the chicken broth, rice, carrots, celery, onion and seasonings. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until wild rice is tender but still chewy. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the remaining 1 can of broth and chicken. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir one minute. Add half & half. Combine this mixture with the rice mixture and heat through.

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is very similar to the white bread recipe I posted with my spinach calzones. The difference is the addition of whole wheat flour, pecans, wheat germ, oatmeal, and the optional addition of honey as a replacement for the sugar. You can also make it solely with wheat flour if you want to. And all you South Beachers can use your sugar substitutes. I again used my bread machine to knead the dough and warm it for the first rise. Then I removed it and baked the bread in these individual loaf pans. I particularly like these pans because they are connected. It just makes it easier to get them in and out of the oven. It is also a fun way to prepare your bread for dinner guests because each guest can get their own loaf. This is delicious with honey butter.

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 stick butter
1 cup water
2 tsp salt
6 tbsp sugar or honey
1 egg
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup pecans
2 pkg yeast

Combine ingredients in bread machine. Set on dough setting. After first rise, remove from machine and place in greased loaf pans or muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

To make honey butter, beat 1 stick softened butter with 1/2 cup honey.

Uncommon Powder Room

We moved into our house in September of 2003, after approximately eight months of remodeling. We had some work left to do after we moved in, and our last project was the powder room off the kitchen. We wanted it to be unusual and funky, and at the same time, maintain the warmth we had achieved throughout the rest of the house. I wanted brick on two walls to look like exterior walls, and it took me a while to talk Gil into it (maybe since he was the one who would have to put it up), but thank goodness, he changed his mind. He found this cool brick at Lowe's. It looked like it was old, which was what we wanted. Gil put the pavers up like he would have tile, attaching a lathe to the wall, and applying the grout with a mortar bag. This is how it looked:




This is how it looks now:

The bathroom had wallpaper on the walls that we didn't want, and I never peel wallpaper off, I cover it. So, on top of the wallpaper, I applied sheetrock mud with a trowel on the two remaining walls, as well as on the ceiling. I have done this several times, and it is fun, easy, and inexpensive. After the mud dried, I painted the walls a taupe color, then glazed them with a sienna brown. (The glaze consisted of one part paint to three parts glazing liquid). We don't like bright ceiling lights, so Gil found these lights with shades at Lowe's. I found this circa 1940 mirror at an antique store and Gil hung it from an antique glass doorknob.

As you can see in one of the previous pictures, the existing cabinet was stained. It was also very dated and pretty boring. I added a decorative wood scrollwork piece to the middle panel. Then I painted the cabinet black and oversanded it. I used vintage-looking mismatched knobs for the pulls. Gil made the top out of old heart pine he had retrieved from a chicken coop he'd torn down a few years back. I wanted a vessel sink but we didn't want to pay $600+ for it. So he found a laquered spun bamboo bowl at Southeastern Salvage for $19.99 and drilled it to make our sink. Isn't that amazing?

Gil built a shelf over the window and put an outlet on the wall beside it. We placed an antique fan up there that can be turned on with a switch by the door. He also put up crown moulding.

As a finishing touch, I found a rusted switchplate cover, outlet covers, and a towel rack at At Home in Homewood.

This project required alot of work, which we brought on ourselves, of course, but we enjoy the actual process as much as we do the result. There are great advantages to tackling home projects yourself. I hope this will inspire you to try it!

Pear Muffins

The pear is a delicious, healthy fruit. It is high in fiber and potassium, and also contains vitamin C and phytochemicals. I would personally rather eat a muffin for breakfast than cold cereal, slimy oatmeal, or eggs and greasy bacon. And I would rather eat a saltine cracker than a store-bought muffin. Muffins are just too easy to make to ever feel the need to buy them. Then you can totally control what goes into them. But that's just me. These muffins are made up of several nutritious ingredients, but are not necessarily low in calories, so maybe just eat one at a time. I'm all about portion control and moderation. I never deprive myself, I just don't over-indulge.

These are really good. I hope you like them!

Pear Muffins

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup Kretschmer Honey Crunch Wheat Germ

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1-1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/4 cups nonfat buttermilk

2 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

2 ripe, medium-sized pears. chopped

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients. then add remaining ingredients and stir until blended. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease with cooking spray. Spoon muffin batter into cups. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Beef & Cheese in Won Ton Wraps

Sometimes I feel adventurous and want to create something different out of whatever I have in the kitchen. I did that tonight with ground round, three kinds of cheese, and won ton wraps. This would be a great appetizer if it were done in a mini muffin tin, but I served it as a main course, using a regular muffin tin.

Beef & Cheese in Won Ton Wraps

1 pkg won ton wraps
1 lb ground round, browned and drained
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled into very small pieces
1 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Place won ton wraps in muffin tin with the corners facing up, forming small cups. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Spoon into the won ton cups. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

(Note: The baked cups and filling can be prepared a couple of days in advance and stored in the refrigerator).

The won ton wraps can be found chilled with the produce section or in the refrigerator section of most grocery stores. Place them in the muffin tin like this:

This is how they turned out:

They were delicious. Next time I will try adding either jalapeno or bell pepper. You could also add onion, if you are so inclined.