Category: Dinner

Appetizers · Dinner · Dressings & Marinades · Lunch

Salad Dressings & Marinades

mamasheenasLeave a comment

Avocado cilantro:

1 avocado

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 tbsp lime juice

A pinch of salt (1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

2 tbsp water (more if needs more thinning)

Put all ingredients into food processor or blender and blend until creamy smooth. Keep in air tight container for up to 4 days in refrigerator.

Red wine vinaigrette:

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp honey or guava

Put all ingredients into mason jar and shake shake shake! Put over table salads!

Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp sugar

Put ingredients Into mason jar and shake shake shake! Enjoy!!

Chicken · Dinner · PASTA

Creamy tomato rigatoni & herbed chicken

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

1 pound uncooked rigatoni

1- 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1- 28oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup yellow onion chopped

4 garlic cloves minced

4 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp butter

1 cup heavy cream

2-3 cooked chicken breast sliced

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp basil

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tbsp crushed red pepper

First cook noodles, drain and set aside in a serving bowl.

In sauté pan drizzle with olive oil then drop in sliced cooked chicken. Add 1 tbsp oregano and 1 tsp basil and garlic salt and mix well. Heat chicken until starting to brown then remove and place into serving bowl.

For sauce: in pan used for chicken, drizzle with olive oil and add 2 tbsp butter, sauté onions and garlic until translucent. Then pour in crushed tomatoes, and diced tomatoes, Add in 1 tsp basil and 1 tsp oregano, 1 tbsp crushed red pepper and salt to taste. Bring to a boil then add in heavy cream and mix turn off heat and stir for another minute or so. Pour sauce over noddles. Top with fresh chopped parsley and fresh grated Parmesan cheese. (If you like a little heat serve with crushed red peppers)

That’s it serve with cooked chicken, garlic bread and side salad! Enjoy!

Chicken · Dinner · Soups

Chicken Enchilada Soup

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

2 cups shredded chicken (or any leftover chicken will work)

1- 28oz can diced tomatoes

1- 28oz green enchilada sauce (mild or spicy if you want even more of a kick)

1- 6oz can diced green chili’s

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

4oz cubes valveta

3oz cubes cream cheese (1/3 a brick)

1 yellow onion diced

4 garlic cloves minced

4 tbsp olive oil

1- 16oz can black beans (drained & rinsed)

(You can add a can of corn if you would like also)

1 tbsp taco seasoning

Avocado for topping

Cilantro for topping

Lime wedge for serving

Okay so I had left over shredded taco chicken and some cheese dip that I needed to use up. So I made this soup. The valveta and cream cheese are the base of what the dip was so if you don’t want to use these in soup they are not a must but they did add a little extra “Yum” to this soup! 😉

So first chop onion and mince garlic and drizzle pan with olive oil and sauté until tender. About 4 minutes. Then add in the chicken, chicken stock, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, valvet cheese, cream cheese and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil. Once that is boiling add in the black beans, green chili’s and corn if your adding corn. Bring back to a roaring boil for 2-3 minutes then add 1 cup heavy cream. Stir well and let heat another minute. Put into bowls top with fresh avocados, cilantro and lime wedge. (Sour cream if you would like to) serve with tortilla chips! Enjoy!

Makes 10-12 1/2 cup servings

Appetizers · Dinner · Dressings & Marinades · SeaFood

BlackBerry Salmon with chard kale over sticky rice

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

For sauce: 1/2 cup frozen blackberries 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1/3 cup lime juice, 1 tsp red pepper flakes. 1 tsp fresh grated ginger

2- 4oz salmon fillets (one for each person if serving as a meal) you decide on size to slice them in. If doing as an appetizer cut into 2 inch cubes. Then sear, if you don’t cute prior when you go to cut it will fall apart and you won’t have nice cubes to top each sticky rice cube.

4 cups fresh kale (if serving dinner size portion 2 cups if serving as appetizer)

4 cloves chopped garlic

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cup sushi sticky rice (or brown rice)

Garlic salt to taste

Fresh blackberries for garnish

First cook your rice as directed. Planning for 1/2 cup of rice per person if doing a meal or a table soon of rice for an appetizer.

In a pot bring blackberries and all other ingredients “for sauce” to a boil and stir continuously. In a medium heat boil for about 4-6 minutes until sauce begins to reduce and you can see sauce thickening. Turn to low and let simmer another 4-5 minutes then remove from heat and let sit.

In a cast iron pan drizzle bottom with olive oil. Salt and pepper each salmon fillet well then drop flesh side down into pan and sear for about a minute and a half until a nice golden sear is appearing. Flip over and sear the skin side down for another 2 minutes until skin is nice and crispy. Remove from pan and set into plate. In same pan you cooked salmon add 2 tbsp butter and a little more olive oil. Drop garlic into hot pan and let began to soften about 30 seconds, then drop in fresh kale sprinkle with salt and cover. Let char for about 45 seconds on high heat, stir and let cook another 15-30 seconds then remove and set into plate, remove as much garlic with it as you can.

To assemble first put down a dollop of sauce then add rice. You will want to have a round or cylinder measuring cup to pack the rice to hold its mold. If doing a half cup use half cup measuring spoon (meal potion) If doing appetizer size use a tbsp measuring spoon. Once you have rice set onto serving plate sprinkle with a little garlic salt (not much) then top with kale and garlic then seared salmon and last a tbsp of sauce. Serve with either charred Brussels or broccoli! Enjoy!

Appetizers · Chicken · Dinner · Dressings & Marinades · PASTA · SeaFood · Side Dishes

Roasted garlic & thyme

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

Garlic heads (as many as you want to bake) 😉

1 tbsp olive oil (per garlic head)

2-3 thyme sprigs per garlic head

Salt for sprinkling

Roasted garlic there is nothing like it! Here is a simple way to get amazing flavor and add to many dishes or sides!

Take tin foil (enough to wrap around garlic heads) Cut tips of garlic bulbs off so that each piece of garlic is expose on top. Place thyme down on foil and garlic on top. Drizzle with olive oil so that the oil runs into all the garlic clove pieces. Salt the tops and drizzle a little more oil on side into foil. Wrap and place into a pre heated oven @350 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes, if you want a sweeter garlic bulb continue to roast an additional 15 minutes allowing to Caramelize. Remove and squeeze the ends of each garlic piece and it will pop out. I like to add the garlic to hummus, mix into butter and spread into a baguette or keep in olive oil to use when I need. I will take and each the heads plain. (I know I know you have to be a garlic LOVER for that and I am) 🤗

Check out my roasted hummus garlic recipe.

Or to store garlic in olive oil place garlic into a glass mason jar fill so garlic is covered and put on lid. Make sure you keep in refrigerator as it can cause botulism if left on the counter. (No one wants any of that) Take out when needed end as always, Enjoy! 😊

Chicken · Dinner

Easy chicken cordon bleu

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

2 large fat chicken breast or (I sliced into three thin layers) or 3 regular size chicken breast cut in half. You want them pretty thin!

2 cups mozzarella cheese

6 slices Swiss cheese

6 ham slices (I used pre cooked sliced ham)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp parsley flakes

4 garlic cloves chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp butter

3/4 cup flour

Salt and pepper

Okay I know this looks like a lot but and it’s going to be overwhelming but it’s not. First slice chicken into thin 1/4″ thick and 4oz pieces, roughly. (thin😉 you want them pretty thin)

Okay so salt and pepper and sprinkle each side with parsley flakes. Then pour flour onto a plate and dip each side of chicken into the flour and coat each side. In a cast iron skillet heat half the oil and half the butter. Add chicken and brown each side of chicken, remove from pan and set aside into plate. (Chicken won’t be cooked through so don’t eat at this point) next add remaining butter and oil and add chopped garlic and sauté a few seconds. Add in the ham (I have 6 slices of ham that i chopped into strips) let sauté 30-45 seconds to brown then remove and place with chicken in plate. Leave as much garlic as possible in pan. Then add in the remaining flour from the plate about 3 tbsp to butter in pan and mix well. In bowl mix chicken broth, Dijon and lemon juice mix well. In small increments pour in liquid and whisk vigorously until flour mixes with juice, make sure the flour isn’t clumping. Bring liquid to boil and then add back to pan the chicken and ham. Let boil 3 minutes then top each piece with Swiss cheese and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with parsley and place into oven at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted and begins to crisp on top. Remove from oven and place on top of couscous for serving. Take some of the sauce and spoon a few tablespoons over top.

I served with couscous, for that I mixed together 2 cups chicken stalk 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp Dijon mustard with 1 tbsp parsley flakes. Bring liquid to a boil and pour in 2 cups couscous and stir, remove from heat cover and ready in 3 minutes. (You must addv😌 these ingredients to shopping list on top as they are not factored in) 😉

For asparagus cut off the ends and add to a pot steam in water for 4-7 minutes depending on how thick it is. Sprinkle with garlic salt, Parmesan cheese and squeeze 1/2 lemon over top. Serve hot! (Same for this add to shopping list! 😉👌) Enjoy 😊

Appetizers · Chicken · Dinner · Dressings & Marinades · Low Carb Dish

Crispy baked wings

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

4 lbs chicken wings and drummies

1 bottle franks red hot

1 stick salted butter

Celery stalks

Carrots

Ranch dressing

For crispy baked chicken this is the way to go! Make sure chicken is thawed. In a stock pot bring 8 cups water to a boil. Drop in chicken and boil for 8 minutes drain and then pay dry each chicken wing. It’s important to remove as much water as possible to get nice crispy chicken. Heat oven to 450 degrees and on a non stick pan stay well with cooking spray. Place chicken in single row into pan and then bake for 15-2″ minutes in middle rack. Make sure the chicken is looking nice and golden brown then remove from oven flip each piece and cook another 5-7 minutes until both sides are a nice golden brown. Remove and place into bowl. In a measuring cup pour 1 1-/2 cups hot sauce and add stick of butter place into microwave and heat, stir until butter is melted and smooth with hot sauce. Pour over top of chicken wings and coat each one. Slice celery and carrot sticks and put ranch into serving bowl. Pour chicken into serving tray and arrange celery and carrots and place ranch. Enjoy!

Chicken · Dinner · InstaPot · Low Carb Dish · Lunch

Quick shredded chicken (Mexican chicken)

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

4 medium chicken breast (4 cups shredded)

1 yellow onion diced (1 cup)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 tbsp garlic salt

6 tbsp butter or bacon grease

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup fresh Cilantro

I like to buy bulk packs of chicken and cook in bulk. So when I buy a big pack of chicken for the week I will pre cook the chicken, leave some whole and shred some. I freeze them and take them out when needed for fast cooked chicken. You can also place chicken in pressure cooker and set to 8-10 minutes and cook chicken, remove and shred.

Once you have shredded chicken your almost done. In a sauté pan add butter or bacon grease to pan and sauté onions until translucent. Add the chicken to pan and 1/2 cup chicken broth. (When I freeze pre made chicken I freeze broth with it 😉) or just use boxed broth. Add in taco season packet, garlic salt and chopped cilantro. (Keep some for garnish) let simmer for 4-6 minutes for seasoning to meld with chicken. Salt and pepper to taste. To keep warm for serving(tacos, use for nachos, or burritos) place into crock pot on low! Enjoy

I like to have a taco bar for easy parties. Serve with shredded lettuce, grated cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced jalapeños, sliced back olives, salsa, sour cream and cilantro. Can also serve a side of beans and rice! 😉

Appetizers · Dinner · Low Carb Dish · Lunch · Side Dishes

Stuffed jalapeños with bacon & pomegranates

mamasheenasLeave a comment

You’ll need:

6-8 Large jalapeños

6oz cream cheese

1 tbsp dry ranch seasoning

Cooked bacon bites

Fresh pomegranate

First slice jalapeños lengthwise and take out seeds and membrane. In a microwave safe bowl place cream cheese and heat so it is soft and stir until smooth. Add in ranch seasoning and mix well. Take a spoon and fill each jalapeño with cream cheese. Place into a baking sheet add 4-6 pomegranate seeds to each jalapeño then place into oven preheated to 375 degrees. Bake for 7-10 minutes until skin of jalapeño begins to wrinkle. Remove add bacon bites to top and garnish on serving tray with extra bacon bites, pomegranate and fresh parsley. Enjoy!!