Ham and Cabbage Skillet

I'm not a huge fan of the traditional boiled ham and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner.  I also don't like Corned Beef and Cabbage.  Honestly, I am Irish!  :) 

When I eat ham, I tend to only enjoy it if it's a spiral cut ham from either Heavenly Ham or Honey Baked Ham.  Or if it's in the form of deli meat.  Even then, I'm picky about it. 

I will, however, eat ham steak.  And I do enjoy that!  MMmmm! 

In the past, Joe and I never really did anything to "celebrate" St. Patrick's Day.  Well, besides wearing a green shirt to avoid pinching! 

Now that we have Grace, I want to celebrate all the special occasions in little ways.  You know, heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine's Day and stuff like that. 

Grace is still too young to even realize that it's a special occasion and she's just starting on table food, so this year was "practice".   We were out yesterday during dinner, so I put off making our St. Patty's Day dinner until tonight.  I really enjoyed it and think it will be a keeper.  Not only for St. Patty's Day but as another way to serve ham steak throughout the year. 

Ham and Cabbage Skillet

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs. butter
• 3 potatoes, scrubbed and diced
• 2 cups onion, chopped
• 2 cups carrot, chopped
• 4 cups cabbage, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• Mrs. Dash, paprika, black pepper,  to taste
• 1 lb. ham steak, diced 

Method:

• Boil potatoes in a pot until tender, drain.
• In a skillet, melt butter and cook onions and carrots until onions just begin to become translucent. 
• Add cabbage and cook for about 2 minutes.
• Stir in water.  This will help the cabbage cook and also deglaze the pan. 
• Cook until vegetables are tender.
• Season to your liking and combine well. 
• Add diced ham, heat through.  
• Mix in the drained potatoes.  You may want to add another Tbs. of butter. 
• Cook a few minutes more. 

If you happen to make the traditional boiled ham dinner.  This would be a great way to serve the leftovers.  Just drain the juices, add to a hot skillet with melted butter and saute until slightly browned.  

Crock-Pot Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Do you know there are several recipes for Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic posted all over the Internet? 

Seriously, I didn't realize it until I decided over the weekend that I wanted to prepare this dish for dinner on Monday night.  You can find some version of this recipe pretty much anywhere:  Food Network, Bloggers, Allrecipes, etc.! 

With the help of my friend (in real life) Lisa, I was able to decide on a combination of flavors that would work for me. 

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic with Roasted Potatoes & Onions

Ingredients:

• 3lbs. potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 3 cups onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced 
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 4 bone-in split chicken breast (approx. 4 lbs.)
• 33 cloves of garlic*, peeled
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. pepper

This is a photo of the raw chicken layered in the crock pot on top of the potatoes and onions.

Directions:

• In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and onions with the sliced garlic, olive oil, rosemary and thyme. 
• Spread the potato and onion mixture evenly on the bottom of a large crockpot.**
• Use the same large bowl; toss chicken pieces with the olive oil and the remaining ingredients.  Fit a garlic clove or two into open spaces in the chicken breast (optional). 
• Fit the chicken parts in the crock pot on top of the potatoes and onions. 
• Place lid on top and cook on low 6-8 hours.***

This photo is the chicken after it cooked in the crock pot for 5 hours. 

See the nice roasted garlic? 

Mmmmmm!

Notes:
     * I was tired of peeling garlic at this point, we never missed the other cloves! 
   ** I reserved the potatoes and onions to use for another meal later this week. 
 *** I cooked this on high for one hour, then turned it to low for 4 hours. 

I really enjoyed this recipe.  The flavors were wonderful!  The chicken was a teeny bit dry, I'm thinking that I layered too many potatoes and they didn't allow for the chicken to baste in the cooking juices.  But I like that we were able to eat it like a nice piece of roasted chicken.  Sometimes meat is too tender when cooked in the crock pot.  At least to my liking.  I think I will try this combination of spices with a whole chicken the next time.  With less potatoes on the bottom.

When I began deciding how I wanted to season the chicken and prepare everything, I knew the chicken wouldn't fill the entire crock pot.  I remember someone telling me that they cook their chicken and potatoes at the same time in the oven.  I thought that was a great idea, but decided that the garlic potatoes along with the garlic chicken would be a bit much for one meal.  So, I came up with a plan for those roasted potatoes. 

Be sure to check back to find out how I used those potatoes and onions in another meal!

I will be sharing this blog post on the following carnivals this week: 

• Crock-Pot Wednesday
• Food on Friday

Asian-Style Pepper Steak: Take Out Fake Out

Joe picked up some London Broil the other day after seeing a really good price in the Acme sale ad.  I was trying to decide what to make using one of the packs of meat and I decided on Pepper Steak.  Instead of using my recipe, I decided to try my friend Lisa's recipe. 

But true to my usual form, I didn't follow her recipe completely!  Mainly, due to the fact that I didn't have all of the ingredients.  Plus, she makes her recipe in the crock pot.   I didn't have much luck using the crock pot for Pepper Steak in the past, so I used my dutch oven on the stove.  Other than that, I didn't stray from the original recipe TOO MUCH! 

You'll want to check out Lisa's recipe if you plan on using the crock pot to prepare this meal.

Here's my version of Lisa's Asian-Style Pepper Steak: 

Asian-Style Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs. London Broil, diced
• A-1 Steak Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp. beef bouillon granules
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp.  sesame oil 
• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
• 4 Tbsp.  Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce*
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 1-2 red bell peppers, chopped

Directions:

• Marinate diced meat in A-1 Steak Sauce, overnight. 
• Remove meat from marinade with a slotted spoon and add to hot olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven with the cayenne pepper and salt and pepper, over medium high heat to brown the meat.  
• Mix the bouillon granules with the boiling water and add to the pot along with the the remaining ingredients. 
• Bring to boil. 
• Cover and reduce heat. 
• Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes to a half hour. 
• Add peppers and oinons, continue to simmer until veggies are tender.
• Serve over your favorite white or brown rice. 

*I didn't realize we were out of soy sauce.  After searching for substitutions, I found an easy solution to my problem on allrecipes.com.  I found out that for a 1/2 cup of soy sauce, you can mix 4 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce with 1 Tbsp. of water.  Since I only needed 1/4 cup, I cut that in half.  I didn't miss the soy sauce at all! 

This dish was excellent!  I may never switch back to my recipe again! 

As it was cooking, I tasted the sauce to see if it was tasting like I thought it should taste.  I was so tempted to call Joe and ask him to pick up egg rolls on his way home from work.  I resisted!  But I'll be buying some frozen egg rolls from Costco or Trader Joe's to keep in the freezer just for this meal! 

I served this over white minute rice with a some steamed broccoli on the side.  I really enjoyed this Asian-inspired meal.  I think I will make this often when I crave take-out but can't fit it in the budget.  It's a very frugal meal if you manage to get a decent sale on the meat.

This post is linked to Taste the World hosted by Alison at Hospitality Haven. 

Click the button below to find more Chinese inspired meals. 

Pasta with Sauteed Chicken and Vegetables

When we were first dating, my husband and I would go to this really cute Italian restaurant a couple times a month. After the restaurant closed, I really missed my favorite dish. So, I tried to create my own.

Here's what I came up with:

Pasta with Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
• olive oil
• garlic
• carrots
• peppers
• onion
• 1 -2 bags of baby spinach
• broccoli
• Italian seasoning
• crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lb cooked pasta (I usually use linguine or penne)

Directions

• Saute chicken in hot olive oil until slightly browned
• Add onions, peppers, garlic and carrots, Italian Seasoning and crushed red pepper.
• Saute until onions start to appear translucent.
• Add spinach, more garlic and oil if needed. I usually add a bit of oil and spices with each new addition.
• Saute until spinach is limp.
• Stir together, add more Italian Seasoning and crushed red pepper (if you like) and cook about 5-10 minutes longer.
• Add broccoli and cover. Cook until broccoli is to desired doneness.
• Add to hot, cooked pasta.

Notes: I've also made this with chicken stock in place of the oil. Zucchini and mushrooms are also good added to this dish. I didn't include measurements for the veggies, I usually just wing it every time I make it. Once I subbed bacon for the chicken and it was really good!

If you decide not to add oil with each addition, or if it seems like there's not enough "sauce" to cover the pasta, then the following recipe may come in handy:

• 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

• Saute garlic in hot oil until slightly golden.
• Add red pepper flakes, saute for about 30 seconds.
• Pour over pasta and veggie mixture. Toss until evenly coated.

This dish is really good served along with a salad and garlic bread.

Easy Tomato-Bacon Pasta Sauce

This is a yummy pasta sauce that is a step away from the traditional tomato and meat sauce that we normally eat.

I read about this recipe on the Parents Magazine website. I was hooked as soon as I read the first ingredient: BACON! MMmmm! I knew I had to make this recipe.

Easy Tomato-Bacon Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb bacon, diced
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

• Cook bacon in saucepan on medium heat until cooked through, but not crisp.
• Drain bacon on paper towels. DO NOT WIPE OUT PAN.
• Turn heat up to medium-high.
• Add tomatoes (with liquid) and the seasonings, stir.
• Cook for 5 minutes (simmering vigorously), stirring occasionally.
• Remove from pan, add peas, sour cream and drained bacon.
• Serve over your favorite, cooked pasta. (we use linguine)

Notes: I've gotten the bacon a little crispy on occasion and it's just fine. When it's added to the sauce it softens up a bit. Also, I've let it simmer a bit longer than the 5 minutes. Sometimes I let it go for about 10 minutes.

I like to serve this with a salad and some garlic bread. We usually get dinner for 2 nights from this recipe.

On weeks that I put this into our menu plan, I like to also plan a night for breakfast for dinner, to use up the other half of the bacon.

Also, this can be a frugal meal if the bacon is bought on sale or in bulk from Costco.

I will be sharing this recipe with the following blog carnivals:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tasty Tuesday