It's what's on the Inside that Counts!

So I know what you’re all thinking.  “Wow!  These ladies are perfect in every way!”  Well, this dinner blog is to show that we aren’t always perfect, but we learn, we move on, and best of all – our food STILL is delicious!

For this particular dinner night, we made Chicken Pesto Calzones.  They did not seal properly (we remembered to seal them with egg whites only after the fact).  Not picture perfect, but still delightfully delicious!

Chicken Pesto Calzones

-1 lb cubed chicken

-1/2 cup pesto

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 medium onion

- 1 T. basil

-1 T. parsley

 - salt and pepper to taste

- Frozen Bread Dough

- Egg whites

-Directions: Cook chicken, onion and garlic until onion is translucent and chicken is thoroughly cooked, then add remaining ingredients, then cool in fridge 1 hour. Thaw bread dough and let rise per package directions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut bread dough into 6 balls, and roll out with rolling pin. Place 1/2 cup filling in each, and seal with egg whites. Cook 25 minutes, or until browned.

 

Next we made Saltine Heath Bars.  Let me tell you people, this recipe is SO easy…if you just pay attention during the 15 minutes it takes to make!
 

Saltine Heath Bars

-1-2 sleevesSaltines

-2 sticks butter

-1 cup brown sugar

-1/2 – 1  cup chocolate chips (you can judge)

-chopped nuts (pecans, peanuts, cashews…your choice!)

Directions:  Arrange saltines on a cookie sheet lined with foil (make sure your cookie sheet has edges!  If you think just folding the tinfoil to create an edge, you will likely have a mess in your oven afterwards) 

Over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together, bring to a boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly (DO NOT add more brown sugar even if you think it looks watery.  It will become grainy if you do)  When you take them out of the oven and set them on the stovetop, make sure you turned the burners off or you'll have a pan like this (as you can see I also did not have an edge on my sheet...lots of issues here).

 

Pour mixture over crackers.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes (no longer!).  Remove from oven, and sprinkle chocolate chips across the top.  Once they start to melt, spread them across the crackers/bars.  Top with chopped nuts and refridgerate for at least an hour (or freeze).  When ready, cut into squares and enjoy.

And then there was our salad, our saving grace.  Nothing can go wrong with salad!

Simple Spring Salad Recipe

Juice of 1 ½ oranges
Juice of ½ lemon
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon fine grain salt

4 handfuls of salad greens
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
1/3 cup black olives, pitted (we left these out)

Directions: Whisk together the juice of 1/2 orange, lemon juice, most of the red onion, olive oil, and salt. Taste, and add more lemon and/or salt as you see fit.

Peel the remaining orange and cut into segments, removing any seeds you might encounter. Set aside.

Toss greens with a generous splash of the dressing. Add the orange segments and walnuts and toss again. Taste and add dressing as you see fit. Serve salad topped with the remaining red onion and olives (if used).

 

So our calzones tasted wonderful even though not fully sealed.  Our heath goodies…what we were able to salvage from the smoking oven disaster of 2013, were pretty good.  And the salad...a delightfully fresh way to spring into summer (as we wait for the warmer temps!)

Crunchy Chicken Broccoli Bake and Spring Salads

As much as we wish, it is not spring out yet. It may be almost May, but mother nature just can't seem to let winter go this year. Last week we comforted  ourselves with delicious new recipes as we try our hardest to be patient and wait for spring. 

 One of the many fun things about this blog is that we can keep track of what we make each week. At the end of every successful Girl's Dinner Night, we laze around full to the brim and try to think of what to make next week. Granted, we could have written it down, but whatever, we've been doing it almost 3 years now, so we're bound to forget from time to time... 

Crunchy Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups chopped cooked chicken

1 can (10 ¾ ounces) condensed cheddar cheese soup or homemade condensed cheddar cheese soup 

½ cup milk (use even if you are using homemade soup)

Dash ground pepper

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen broccoli cuts, cooked and drained

1 can (2.8 ounces) French fried onions

Directions:

1.  Stir the cooked chicken, soup, milk, pepper, broccoli and 2/3 cup of the onions into a 1 ½ quart casserole.  Cover.

2.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until hot. Stir the mixture.

3.  Sprinkle the remaining onions over the mixture.

4.  Bake for 5 minutes more until the onions are golden. Makes 6 servings.

Who doesn't love those fried onions? This is a comfortingly  crunchy casserole style dish. So simple to whip up and delish!

Is it Spring Yet? Salad

-3 cups mixed greens

-2 mandarin oranges, sectioned

-3 strawberries, diced

-1/2 cup almonds

-2 green onions, chopped

-1/2 cup feta cheese

- Raspberry Vinaigrette

Directions: Divide ingredients evenly in three bowls and add dressing to taste.

We needed color to brighten up this dark spring. This is just an amalgam of colorful and flavorful fruits and veggies to help us think summery thoughts.We also did a spring dance, which is the opposite of a rain dance and meant to bring the sun out from behind the clouds. hey, it can't hurt, right? ;)

Next week's menu: Mexican fusion night: Taco Pasta, guacamole and Tex-Mex truffles!!

"Pasta, Salad, Dessert, OH MY!"

Last week, or perhaps it may have been the week before (I'm a little late in posting!) we had yet another very successful dinner night that ended with satisfied bellies.

 

 

 

Cheesy Creamy Chicken Alfredo

prepared by:  Stephanie

(makes 4 servings)

 

4 small handfuls fettuccine

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (cause that's how we roll)

1 -2 Roma tomatoes

 

Directions:  Dice chicken into bit size pieces and cook thoroughly.  Dice tomatoes so they will be ready when time. Fill large pot slightly over half-full with water and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add noodles and keep burner on medium-high.   In separate saucepan, stir together cream, butter, and cream cheese until melted.  Add mozzarella if you choose (or...put it on top of the noodles before pouring the sauce on).  Check noodles (can take about 10 minutes, but best to check stiffness.  Should be very bendy and a little sticky)  Add Parmesan and garlic powder and simmer on low for roughly 10 minutes (won't hurt to go longer).  Add the cooked chicken and diced tomatoes to the mix.  Add parsley flakes for garnish!  Serve up your dish!

 

 

Different Garden Salad

prepared by:  Kala

 

1 head chopped Romain lettuce

banana pepper rings

1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1 Tablespoon Parmesan per salad

croutons

salad dressing of choice (we used Honey Mustard Chipotle and it was GOOD!)

 

Directions:  Combine ingredients in 4 bowls in and mow!

 

Chocolate Pudding w/ Strawberries

prepared by:  Sabrina

 

1 box instant chocolate pudding

12 medium sized strawberries

2 Cups cold Milk

Cool Whip!

 

Directions:  Easy Peasy.  Whisk together pudding mix and cold milk.  Pour equal amounts into 4 containers and place in fridge to set.  Takes about 10 minutes.  Slice strawberries.  Place berries on top of pudding and top with cool whip!  YUM!

 

Phase 1:

 

Phase 2:

 

 

What are we going to make next week?  We are not even sure yet!  A surprise to us will be our surprise to you!

 

 

 



"Soup's On!"

"Soup's On!" is what my mother used to say when dinner was ready.  It always bothered me considering we never actually had "soup" but supposedly this is a common expression meaning simply "Dinner is ready".  Well, this time, we did have soup and so I found it a more appropriate time to say "Soup's On!" and in good time too, as Old Man Winter has finally dropped in to say hello to the Northland!  We enjoyed our warm soup accompanied by delicious cornbread muffins and salad! 

Spicy Chicken Corn Chowder

Prepared by: Sabrina

3 Large Chicken Breasts (cut into bite sized pieces)

3 Tablespoons Butter

I Diced Red Bell Pepper

1 Diced Green Bell Pepper

1 Diced Small Onion

1 Bushel Green Onions

5 Diced Baby Red Potatoes

2 Cans Cream Corn

5 Cups Water

3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

I Tablespoon Minced Garlic

Up to 2 Tablespoons Red Pepper Flakes (beware...start small like 1/2 Tablespoon or none at all if you do not care for spicy)

2/3 Cups Sour Cream

Directions: In large pot, saute chicken and veggies in the butter until cooked.  Add the water and bouillon cubes and cook on Medium-High for about 10 minutes.  Add the cream corn, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook for about 10 more minutes.  Next add the sour cream and stir.  Voila!

Parmesan & Herb Cornbread Muffins

Prepared by: Kala

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Cornmeal

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Stick Melted Butter

1/3 Cup Honey

1 Egg

1 Cup Buttermilk

1/2 Cup Parmesan

1 teaspoon each:

Basil, Garlic Powder, Oregano

Directions: Preheat oven to 350.  Line and spray muffin tins.  Combine wet and dry ingredients separately (leaving Parmesan and herbs out), whisking to combine.  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then fold in the Parmesan and herbs  Bake 20 -25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Pear Salad

Prepared by: Stephanie

1 Cup Chopped Romain

1/4 diced Pear (fresh or canned)

6 Wasabi Soy Almonds

2 Tablespoons Chopped Red Onion
1/3 Chopped Avocado

Bleu Cheese Dressing

Directions: Toss ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!
 

As usual, dinner night was amazing, and warmed our bellies during the cold evening.  Next week, we're doing dinner sandwich style!  Stay tuned!

 



Pizza Party!

The great thing about homemade pizzas, is you can make them often, and rarely repeat.  There are so many options with homemade pizza.  Tonight we prepared 2 pizzas, and because I wasn't thinking clearly, I provided a garlic bread...just to ensure we had enough carbs.

 

For these pizzas you may use storebought crust, or prepare your own!

Crust: You may used storebought, or prepare your own!

1 Cup warm water

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast

3 Tablespoons Olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 Cups flour

Directions: Mix water, sugar and yeast until dissolved. Next add in the olive oil and salt. Then stir in the flour until mixed together. Let stand for 10 minutes.  Pat dough onto pan or stone.



 

Pizza #1:  Margherita Pizza

Prepared by:  Kala

 

Ingredients: 1/2 Cup chopped Basil

1 Sliced Tomato

1 Ball of fresh Mozarella

Olive Oil

Salt

 

Directions:  Brush the crust with Olive Oil

Add the Mozarella, Basil, and Tomato

Top with Salt

 

Bake at 400 degrees and check ever 5 minutes after 10 minutes (varies based on crust)

 

 

 

Pizza #2: Fiesta 'Za  (okay that was made up)

Prepared By:  Stephanie

 

Ingredients:  Chili Lime Marindade( 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, 2 Tablespoons garlic mixed togther)

1/2 lb chicken breast in bite sized pieces

1/2 - 1 Jalapeno

1/4 Red Bell Pepper

1/4 Green Bell Pepper

1/4 Yellow Bell Pepper

1 Cup (give or take) cheese of choice

Olive Oil

 

Directions:  Cook Chicken and marinade in the chili lime sauce.  

Brush the crust with Olive Oil.  

Add a light coating of cheese. 

Add chicken.

 Add chopped peppers and chopped jalapeno (judge amount by how spicy you like it!) 

Top with more cheese!

 

Bake at 400 and check every 5 minutes after 10 minutes.

 

 

 



"Simple" Garlic Toast

Prepared By: Sabrina

 

Ingredients: I loaf French Bread

1/4 Cup Softened butter

1 Tablespoon Tastefully Simple Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning

(yes, it's true...sometimes I like to plug my own products)

 

Directions:  In small bowl mix butter and seasoning.

Cut french loaf in two (top and bottom)

Spread seasoned butter on each 1/2 of the loaf

 

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (add cheese if desired)

 

 

 

And so we ate until we were stuffed with delicous carb goodness as we laughed watching "The Best of Chris Farley".  What could be better?  Up next week: enchiladas!

 

 

 

 

 



Thai and Indian Fusion night!

We decided it was high time we had Thai and Indian food for girl's dinner night, and boy was that an awesome idea! There's only a handful of Thai and Indian joints in town, and they cost  a fortune, so we made our own  feast for a fraction of the cost.

 

When I think of Thai food, I think pungent smells, beautiful presentations and daring spices.

 

Indian food calls to mind delicious blobs of flavor. And while the word blob doesn't necessarily cause one to salivate, it totally looks like delicious blobs of food, don't you think? So we made a little Thai, a little Indian, and it was the perfectly delicious combination.

Main Course, by Sabrina:

 

Jalfrezi Chicken

 

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 grated yellow onion
• 2 chopped garlic cloves ( or 2 teaspoons Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic)
• About 1 – 1 ½ pounds chicken breast
• 3 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter…I think butter would work as well)
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
• ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken, and season with turmeric, chili powder and salt. Fry gently, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently and turning the chicken.
2. Pour in the tomatoes with their juice, cover the pan, and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Uncover, and simmer for another 10 minutes to let the excess liquid evaporate.
3. Add the ghee, cumin, ground coriander, ginger and cilantro, and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes. Serve the chicken pieces with sauce spooned over the top. (serve with Basmati or jasmine rice)

 



Delhi Saag

-2 cups spinach

-2 cups mustard greens

- 1/3 cup minced onions

-1T. resh grated ginger root

-1 t. lemon juice

-1 t. salt

-1 hot pepper

Directions: Saute onion and peppers in 1 T. olive oil, then add greens and ginger root and saute until cooked down over low heat 10-15 minutes.

 

 

 

 Here's the roadmap to our delicious plate o' Indian and Thai food. We just bought Naan bread, but it's really easy to make if you feel up to it, and millions of recipes are all over the internet. The chicken was spicy and the Saag, Naan and rice really cooled it off and complimented it very well.

 

Dessert by Kala

 

Ma-Muang Sobey (Mango Sorbet)

 

-1 pound ripe mango, peeled, pitted, chopped

-2/3 cup sugar, cooked down in one cup water until dissolved.

 

Directions:

 

 Blend the mango with the cooled syrup in a blender until mixture is smooth. Put it  in the freezer for about an hour until mixture is slushy, then remove and reblend. Return to freezer 30 minutes at least before serving.

 

 

It took me a while to find a Thai dessert that didn't consist of elaborately carved melons and strategically placed berries, because I just didn't have time for that just now. Luckily, I found an awesome Thai cookbook with this sorbet recipe in it, and it was really easy to make and went  great with the flavorful main course flavors.

 

 

Cocktail by Stephanie:

 

Hello Kitty

 

- 1.5 oz shot vodka

-1.5 oz shot Ty-Su citrus liqueur

-8 oz.  Lemonade

 

Directions: Combine ingredients in tumbler and drink.

 

 

And I just love the name of this drink, being a devout Hello Kitty enthusiast. The glowing bottle of citrus liqueur is just plain fun. It has a button on the bottom to make it glow like radioactive alien juice. It was a semi-sweet cocktail with the tart lemonade to make it a great pair for our Thai/Indian fusion night. A great drink indeed that will go in the cocktail recipe book for a night when you want something a little fun and fresh.

 

All in all it was another success, we had high hopes for this night, and it was executed with finesse. As winter promises to show up soon, dinner night gives us something to do and look forward too on humpday. 

 

Next week: Fondue! How many things can we melt and dip in them... We'll find out!

 

 

 

Tonight's menu: Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Popovers and Spring Green, Wasabi Almonds and Craisin Salad

There are three main elements that are of the essense when planning a Girl's Dinner Night:

#1: A good menu. Every week after our satisfying and amazing dinner, we chat about what to make the next week. In the two years we've been doing this, we've only had a few duplicates. But not because we're not super creative ladies, because we wanted quiche again or pizza. Who doesn't, right?

#2: Everyone brings a dish that fits the theme, and you take turns doing the main courses to fit whomever has the most time or ambition each week. Or a very bustling social calender, etc. etc.  You also rotate houses, for a change of scenery, or a premium cable show's availability, for example.

#3: An earnest desire to forget about the work week, and or bitch about it a bit, and drink a beer or glass of wine with your delightful friends. Your cooking improves, your social skills improve, and you have a 65% less chance of going postal at work because you're feeling much more grounded after a night of Thai food and cheesecake. Hey, it's science folks, I can't make these statistics up.

 Dinner night is fun, and we proclaim every week we're so excited for next week's creations. We've also been saying that our dinner night's are very worthy of a blog, so we've finally started one.

This week's menu consisted of Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Popovers and a Spring Green and Crasin salad that is an awesome side dish. It was perfect timing, because the day ended up chilly, and soup and bread were just what the doctor ordered.

Main Course: By Kala

 

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

-2 cups cooked chicken, diced

-2 cups wild rice, cooked ( u use a crock pot and it cooks very well within 2 hours)

-3 cups chicken stock

-1 medium onion, chopped

-2/3 cup flour

-1 cup cream of mushroom soup

-3 cups milk

-2 cups swiss cheese, shredded

-1 cup diced carrots

-1 cup diced celery

-2 bay leaves

- 1/4 cup parsley

 

-Directions: In a large  soup pot melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bay leaf, and cook until onion is translucent, about 7 minutes. Add chicken, mushroom soup  and carrots and cook another 5 minutes. Add wild rice and broth, and cook 15 minutes, do not boil. In a small pan heat milk until warm and whisk in flour, after combined stir into soup and cook another 10 minutes, stirring often. reduce heat to low and stir in swiss cheese, salt, pepper and parsley before serving.

 

 

Hearty wild rice soup is the best on a chilly day. It reminds you that winter and fall aren't so bad, because hey, there's soup!

 

 

 

Meaty chunks of chicken and  wild rice and a creamy cheesy base, this is my favorite wild rice soup recipe I've ever made, and I've tried a lot of them

 

 

 

Side Dish #1:By Sabrina

 

Popovers:

 



Popovers are a delicious and easy flaky delight you can make from ingredients which are common household staples:

 

-3 Eggs

-1 Cup flour

-1 Cup milk (2% or whole work best)

-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tablespoon melted butter

-2 tablespoons chilled butter.

 

*If you do not have a popover pan, you can use a muffin tin, - they just turn out smaller and slightly more dense.(and will make 12 instead of 6)  If your popover pan is not non-stick, make sure to spray with some PAM or grease. 

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Once oven is warm, place the pan (empty) in the oven for about 2 minutes to warm. 

Mix together all ingredients except for the chilled butter.

Cut the chilled butter into 6 even pieces.

Remove pan from oven and place each pad of butter in each one of the cups.  Place pan back in oven for about a minute or until butter bubbles.

Pour the batter in the popover cups (about 1/2 full for each one).

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes

After 20 minutes REDUCE HEAT TO 325.  Bake an additional 15-20 minutes. 

 

 

This is us being impatient and peeking at the popovers... Hurry up!!!

 



 

These hollow goodies can be served with a pat of butter inside which melts all around the center of the roll, or experiment and stuff them with other treats (like cheese!) Or marshmallows, or ice cream, or jelly... We came up with several hundred things that would be good inside popovers.

 

Side dish #2: By Stephanie

 

Spring Greens Salad with Craisins and Wasabi Almonds

(3 servings)

 

- 3 cups spring greens

-  1/2 cup chopped red onion

-1/2 cup blue cheese

-1/2 cup craisins

-1/2 cup wasabi almonds

- raspberry viniagrette

Directions: distrubute ingredients evenly  over three plates and add dressing to taste.

 



 

 

An awesome, flavorful accompaniment to a hearty fall meal. In the immortal words of girl's dinner night, "We win!" it was a successful and delicious dinner night.

 

Next week's menu: Brinner, it's what's for dinner! Homemade pancakes, Breakfast fries, Mimosa's, and probably something else... Stay tuned!