Chicken Noodle Casserole

A number of weeks ago we were having typical winter weather here in NJ--cold, dark, and dreary.  Although, I must say, this weather has been relatively mild so far (knock on wood).  I wanted something to eat that would be warm and comforting--and something with leftovers that I could take to work.  I wanted some type of chicken noodle casserole but I couldn't find a recipe for exactly what I wanted.  So I kind of made one up as I went along.  It turned out pretty good!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast tenderloins, grilled and diced
1 (14.5 oz) box thin spaghetti noodles (I like Ronzoni Smart Taste)
Olive Oil 
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken soup
Milk (I used skim)
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Cook thin spaghetti noodles to al dente, according to directions.
2. Turn stovetop to medium high.  Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of a large saucepan.  Saute mushrooms, onion, and garlic until soft and cooked through.
3.  Add the can of Cream of Chicken and use the same can to measure out 1.5 to 2 cans of milk to add to the sauce pan to desired thickness.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

4.  In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and bread crumbs until the bread crumbs are moist.
5.  In a 9x13 baking dish, add noodles and top with chicken.

Pour sauce on top and mix it a little to make sure the sauce goes all the way through.

Top with bread crumbs.

6.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Stuffed Tomatoes

We had some large tomatoes that needed to be used, so I decided to look up a recipe for stuffed tomatoes to have as a side with the pork loin chops.  I found a recipe on the Food Network website that I used.  It was pretty good, but next time I think I might saute some mushrooms to add in there also.

Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients:
2 ripened tomatoes
Salt
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I didn't have any so I just dashed some dried basil in the mixture)
Black Pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice tomatoes in half horizontally and scoop out pulp and seeds. Salt insides and rest upside down on a sheet pan lined with a wire rack to extract juices, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together bread crumbs, garlic, basil, pepper, 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan and oil. Stuff tomatoes with the filling, sprinkle with remaining Parmesan, and bake until tomatoes are cooked through and tops are golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Parmesan Crusted Pork Loin

In the Omaha Steaks package we got from my dad for Christmas, there were 4 pieces of pork loin.  I don't normally buy or cook pork so I wasn't sure what to do with it.  Whenever I have an ingredient and I'm not sure what to make with it, I always go to the Food Network website and do a recipe search for that ingredient.  I wanted a recipe that was easy and didn't call for "weird" ingredients that I would have to invest in and then possibly never use again.  I found a recipe by Giada for Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops.  It got pretty good reviews online and I had all the ingredients in my kitchen already.  Yay for not having to go to the grocery store.  I served this with a stuffed tomato (recipe to come).  I must say the pork was pretty good, but it would have been a little bland serving it alone (not with the tomato).  So I would say the recipe is decent, but you have to serve it with a side that has a somewhat dominant flavor.

People complained in the online reviews that the crust was falling off the pork during the cooking process or the crust would burn before the pork was all the way cooked.  I didn't really have this problem.  Not really sure why--I just used a medium-high heat and put enough oil in the pan.  I think I used a vegetable or canola oil.  I don't think you want to use olive oil because the oil might burn at higher temperatures.  

Parmesan Crusted Pork Loin

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 cup dried Italian style bread crumbs
3/4 cups grated Parmesan
4 (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick) center cut pork loin chops
Salt
Black Pepper
6 tbsp vegetable or any light colored oil

Directions:
Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend.  Place the bread crumbs in  another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side.

Follow-Up on My Favorite Christmas Gifts

Well Christmas has definitely come and gone and I'm still in love with all my Christmas gifts!  A lot of the things I posted in my "favorite gifts" blog post are getting a lot of use.  Most of all though, the Keurig is the gift I have used the most, at least once a day but usually several times a day. 

This thing is giving my Garmin GPS a run for its money in becoming my new non-human BFF.  Is that weird?  I'm actually not a huge coffee drinker but I have been using it for coffee on my more leisurely mornings, which should be more frequently now because I only plan on working 2 days a week this year.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what coffee K-cups they like the best?  What I use it for throughout the day though is to boil hot water to use one of my 500 teabags (that's only a slight exaggeration).  I love tea (both hot and cold) and I love that I am drinking it more often now. 

Another thing I have been using a lot is my new pajamas.  I've been wearing the pants more than the top because it gets pretty warm with both of them on.  You literally feel like your wearing a soft fuzzy blanket--it's awesome!  Mark says I look like a teddy bear when I'm wearing them.

We have been getting good use out of our OXO storage containers.  We use them for cereal and for snacks and even Mark gets a kick out of using them.  Who knew Mark would be into kitchen storage solutions!  It's kind of annoying they aren't dishwasher safe though--I hate doing dishes.

I must admit that I haven't touched the stand mixer yet.

To be honest, I'm kind of intimidated by it.  I mean look at it--large and looming.  And plus, I don't know what it make in it yet.  I'm not a huge baker for 2 reasons: 1) I usually prefer savory foods to sweet ones; 2) It's hard to bake for just two people.  What the heck am I going to do with 24 cupcakes or 48 cookies?  I know there's savory foods you can make with a stand mixer, I just haven't found a recipe yet.  I've always wanted to make bread, and I think you can do that with a stand mixer, but I have to do a little more research.  In the meantime, it'll continue to sit in the corner of our kitchen counter and mock me.  I need to find a cover for it to show it who's boss. 

As we are in the midst of winter, I am also getting good use out of my new winter accessories.

I've pretty much been wearing one of these scarves everyday.  Mark says I have to wear the Burberry scarf everyday for the rest of my life to make it worth it.  But it just doesn't go well with my blue Columbia jacket on days when I feel like wearing that one.  I try to wear it as much as possible though.

Oh yeah, and these are two of Mark's favorite Christmas gifts:

The Dan Persa (NU quarterback) jersey he is wearing and the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man is a coin bank.  I also got him a canvas print of a picture of Stonehenge that I took in England and a photobook from Shutterfly of our trip to England.

New Yoga Class

 

I started this new Yoga class this past Monday.  It is a class that is offered through the local YMCA and the meeting place of the class is actually in my apartment building.  I have known about this class for a long time, but I never signed up for it for different reasons.  One big reason is that my work schedule was so unpredictable last year that I didn't feel like I could commit to signing up for this class.  I finally decided to as my doctor and my acupuncturist said that I really have to incorporate stretching into my life and I think I have a more predictable work schedule this year.  I've taken a few yoga classes before, so I'm familiar with several of the poses and try to stretch by myself in the evenings.  I thought taking a class would be nice though, just to have that time to myself and also remind me of some of the poses that I could add to my repertoire when I stretch by myself. 

Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of the class, and by class I mean instructor.  She talked almost the entire time on top of this instrumental CD that played the entire time and kept skipping.  Seriously lady, can you not buy a new CD or CD player?  Or get an ipod?  It is 2012 after all.  I only went to one class so far, so I guess I shouldn't be so judgmental.  Hopefully I'll be less bothered by her talking and the CD in the future.  Another thing I wasn't too fond of was that I felt we didn't hold the poses long enough.  I guess maybe there are different types of yoga that I'm not familiar with but I feel like I need a class where you get to spend time in the poses and be mindful of the stretch and of the moment.  In this class, there was a lot of movement and I would rather spend 3 minutes in a pose rather than 3 seconds.  I'll keep going to the class though because I've already paid for it, I don't think it can hurt, and it's in my apartment building so I don't really have a good reason to not go.  

***Update:  I went to my 2nd class yesterday and it was a little better than the first.  She still talks alot, but since I was more familiar with the moves, I didn't have to listen to her as much.  It was slightly more relaxing than the first class, so hopefully it'll continue to get better.