Oven Hot Dogs

We had these for dinner last night, and they were SO GOOD I could not wait to post the recipe. I only kind of found it through Pinterest.com. Something I had pinned took me to foodgawker.com and that's where I discovered this. Let me tell you, foodgawker.com is a pretty cool website too. I could spend hours and hours looking at pictures of tasty food. It actually makes me sad when I think about how many amazing recipes there are out there that I'll never try. Sigh.

Anyway. Even though I know how awful hot dogs are, I can't stop eating them. I know they're full of nastiness, but it's one of the few foods that I don't care what the ingredients are. Okay, it may actually be the only one. I went through a long phase when I was younger of not eating hot dogs. Then I had a grilled one at a barbecue at one point in college I think it was, and I was reeled back in. Why are hot dogs even more awesome when cooked on a grill? I don't know. When I saw this recipe I thought it looked super tasty and definitely worth a try. She has great step by step pictures on the original blog post, too.

Oven Hot Dogs
Source: In The Wabe blog via foodgawker.com

8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
1 can of chili
1/2 an onion, diced
cheddar cheese
mayonnaise
mustard
sweet relish

Line inside of hot dog buns with mayonnaise and sweet relish. Evenly add mustard. Fill with hot dogs and squish into a 13×9″ baking pan.

Top hot dogs with chili, cheese, and diced onion. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Carefully remove from the pan with a spatula.

*****

There were some mixed reactions when my family saw what was for dinner. Boy #1 had soccer practice last night, and the husband is the coach, so they weren't home while I was getting dinner together. The husband was ecstatic when he saw these. Boy #1 was less than enthused to say the least. He said he wasn't going to eat dinner. I told him then he could go to bed. What can I say, sometimes I'm mean mommy like that. He decided he'd just eat the hot dog. When he was done with the hot dog I said he at least needed to try the bread. Wouldn't you know he ended up loving it and eating every bite. Darn kids. So this ended up being an overwhelming hit at our house and definitely something I will be making again. Oh, and since we count calories in our house, in case anyone is curious these worked out to just be 321 each--using whole wheat hot dog buns, turkey hot dogs, turkey chili, and reduced fat cheese. I thought that was a pretty good calorie count for something as decadent as chili dogs!

Now, you'll have to excuse me as I go eat one of the leftover dogs for lunch...

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

I've decided to try a new format and put a picture of whatever I made at the top of the blog post. We'll see how I like it. Let me know via comment if you feel passionately about it one way or the other.

We've been having some amazing dinners lately (thank you, Pinterest.com!), but I just haven't had a chance to update my blog. Normally my blog time would be done in the afternoon while Boy #2 naps, but I've been having to workout then, so my computer time ends up getting considerably shortened. Okay, except for Pinterest because I'm marginally obsessed with it. So as I get some time here and there in the next couple weeks, hopefully I can get a few of these awesome dishes posted!

This is, of course, a recipe I found via Pinterest. It sounded fantastic just from the name and then when I read the blog post about it I knew I had to make it. I had slated it for the husband and I to have for dinner on one of our Friday date nights.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta
Source: Pears, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour blog via Pinterest.com

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 {4 oz.} can diced green chiles
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 {10 oz.} cans green chili enchilada sauce
2/3 cups red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese {I used colby & monterrey jack}
1 cup sour cream
Penne pasta

Optional toppings:
Avocado
Green Onions
Black Olives
Tomatoes
Sour Cream

Cook chicken, drain, and shred. Meanwhile boil pasta according to package and chop the veggies. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic & red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, & enchilada sauces. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Now toss in the sour cream, but whatever you do, DO NOT bring to a boil! Cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through. Drain pasta & return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well. Serve and garnish with avocado, tomato, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream.

*****

This was so, so, so, so easy. And it was so, so, so, so tasty! Obviously it made a ton, so we were eating it pretty much all week for lunch, but neither the husband nor I minded. It was that tasty! the only thing I would change would be to maybe add the cheese in before the shredded chicken. The cheese kind of made the chicken stick together in large clumps which was a little annoying.

Oh man, this was so good. Just thinking about it and typing this out makes me want it again. You know that's the sign of a good meal!

Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce

*GASP!*

A blog update?! Can it be true?! We've been having a lot of yummy dishes lately, but I just haven't had time to get on my computer and give my blog some love. I started doing the P90X workout series a few weeks ago (today was Week 4, Day 5, to be exact), and I have to do it during Boy #2's naptime which is when I would normally update my blog. The things I give up for fitness. Using up precious naptime for exercising is starting to get old, but what am I going to do. Tonight I got an early start on the component of dinner that will take the longest, the husband and Boy #2 are watching a show about sharks (or "darsh" as my baby calls them) that my brother sent, and Boy #1 is upstairs showing King Koopa who's boss. I figured it was the perfect chance to get in at least one entry.

So, with that all out of the way, I've wanted to try this recipe for quite awhile, but I always ended up coming across it when I was doing no carbs. I guess technically I could have substituted the wine for chicken broth, but since the wine is part of the title of the recipe, I figured it was pretty necessary. One night last week we opened a bottle of white wine that neither the husband nor I were really excited about, so I figured it was a perfect time to try this. It's from one of my favorite blogs, skinnytaste.com. I don't know why people seem to have the idea that healthy food can't taste good. Goofballs.

Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce
Source: skinnytaste.com

8 chicken tenderloins, 16 oz total
2 tsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup fat free chicken broth
salt and fresh pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 200°. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge in flour.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat; when hot add 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil. Add chicken to the skillet and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink. Set aside in a warm oven.

Add additional oil and butter to the skillet, then garlic and cook a few seconds; add mushrooms, salt and pepper stirring occasionally until golden, about 5 minutes.

Add wine, chicken broth, parsley; stir the pan with a wooden spoon breaking up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook a few more minutes or until the liquid reduces by half. Top the chicken with the mushroom sauce and serve.

*****

I love a dish that comes together quickly and easily. And it smelled fantastic while it was cooking. My parents always used to saute mushrooms in white wine, so the smell is a fond memory for me. Yum. Boy #1 isn't big on sauces (weird kid...but he's my weird kid, so I can say that), so I just gave him chicken, but the rest of us LOVED the sauce and the mushrooms. Boy #2 couldn't stop eating the mushrooms. he kept trying to steal them off my plate. I didn't have chicken tenderloins to use, so I just used chicken breasts and sliced them thin and into tenderloin-type pieces. This was really fantastic, and it's definitely something I'd make again! It looks really fancy (and tastes fancy), but it was super easy. Those are some of my favorite things!

The original blog post suggested serving this with baked rice and peas, so I gave it a go. I have found my new favorite way of cooking white rice. I don't know if I've shared that I have issues when it comes to cooking white rice, and her method was super easy and really good. Boy #1 isn't usually a rice fan, and even he ate it this way.

(Please forgive my less than stellar pictures...I'm having some issues with the speedlite on my camera that I can't quite figure out, so I haven't been able to use it.)