Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I just received my holiday Kraft Food & Family magazine and couldn't wait to make this recipe. I love the Philadelphia Cooking Cremes. We've been doing the Savory Garlic with diced chicken and egg noodles. This ramps it up and will be added into our dinner recipes.

Here is my modified version:

Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 Tbsp.  oil, divided

3 small  boneless skinless chicken breast halves, sliced into 1 inch strips

2 cups medium egg noodles, uncooked

1/2 lb.  fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup  finely chopped onions

1/3 cup  fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 tub  (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme

1 Tbsp.  finely chopped fresh (optional)

Heat 1-1/2 tsp. oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 to 5 min. on each side or until done (165ºF) and browned on both sides. Transfer to plate; cover to keep warm.

Cook noodles as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, add remaining oil, mushrooms and onions to skillet; cook on medium heat 7 min. or until mushrooms release most of their liquid, stirring occasionally to scrape browned bits from bottom of skillet. Stir in broth.

Add chicken to skillet; bring sauce to boil. Add cooking creme; cook and stir on medium-low heat 4 min. Add drained noodles to skillet, stir. After plating, sprinkle with parsley if desired.

Here is a link to the original recipe and a Kraft photo: 

 Kraft's Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce  

Banana Bread and Chocolate Ice Cream

I love banana bread. Connor loves banana bread. Jon likes banana bread. I've experimented with a few different recipes, found some good ones, but no real keepers. I found this recipe on Pinterest, tried it, and now I have my keeper recipe!

Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the butter mixture. Blend well. Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir well. Stir in the nuts if using. Pour into a well greased loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes then turn onto a rack to cool. Slice and enjoy!

Next time I may add toasted nuts and Nutella.

Ice cream... In the summer of 2002, when I worked at the Belgian Warmblood breeding farm, I bought an ice cream maker. I used it ONCE to make pumpkin custard that didn't set well (I think I rushed it and didn't let the base cool long enough). When I moved back home, it was put in the garage attic and then went missing. I was at my Uncle Roy's house last weekend and saw a familiar box... sure enough, written on top... "Ice cream maker". I found it! Almost 10 years later...

Of course, there was no manual. But, Rival still makes the same model, so the manual was easily found online. I didn't like their chocolate recipe and found another and modified it a bit. This recipe is based on Scoop Adventure's Sinful Chocolate Ice Cream, a dark chocolate recipe. I did not have dutch process cocoa, so used regular cocoa powder because that's what I had on hand. So here is my Lindt Chocolate ice cream recipe:

Lindt Chocolate Ice Cream

2 1/4 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 3.5 oz 70% Dark Chocolate Lindt Excellence Bar, chopped
1 3.5 oz Lindt Bittersweet Chocolate Bar, chopped
1 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(Scoop Adventure's directions) Combine the cream, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk to combine. Heat the mixture, continuing to whisk frequently, until the mixture comes to a full boil (it will start to foam up). Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in the chocolate until it is completely melted. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Pour the mixture into a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend for 30 seconds, until very smooth.

Transfer ice cream mixture to a medium bowl. Place in the refrigerator and chill the mixture thoroughly (at least 4 hours or overnight). Once chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place plastic or parchment over ice cream (to prevent ice crystals) and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

In the maker:

Right out of the maker:

After being in the freezer for a few hours:

This combo is quite good, not overwhelmingly sweet, a bit darker than milk chocolate, but not overbearing. It has Connor's and Jon's stamp of approval! I will be trying quite a few recipes from Scoop Adventures. She has cookies n cream, chocolate peanut butter, Nutella and a nice honey I'd like to try!

New Recipe: Oma's Sour Cream Chicken

I wanted to do something special with this blog this year, aside from the normal family updates and product reviews. I'm going to try to do a new recipe every week. We get stuck doing the same meals over and over. I got a really good deal on frozen chicken breasts and wanted to try something new. Chicken is so versatile and we have it often. My grandma always put mayonnaise on top of the breasts before baking them. I add seasoning and/or parmesan cheese to the mayo and call it simply "Mayonnaise Chicken". It's a favorite here.

This recipe is similar. It's called "Oma's Sour Cream Chicken". Money is tight this week so I wanted to do something with the ingredients I had in the house. Easy.

I preheated the oven to 375. I took 4 thawed boneless/skinless chicken breasts and put them on a foil covered sheet pan. Seasoned with garlic salt and pepper. Spread sour cream on top (use regular, not low-fat), sprinkle seasoned stuffing mix on top. My picky husband didn't want the stuffing, so I did seasoned breadcrumbs for his. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear and meat doesn't appear pink, done.

I served it with long grain rice and sauteed mushrooms. A side salad would have been a nice addition to this. The chicken was nice and tender. The stuffing had a nice crunch.

It was quite good! Even Mr. Picky liked it. Connor didn't eat it, but he's funny with meat at times. We will be making this again.

Here is the link to the actual recipe: Oma's Sour Cream Chicken