Smoked Turkey and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

For a while now,  I wanted to make Chicken Cordon Bleu, but I wanted to change a couple of things in the recipe.  I wanted a healthier version without sacrificing flavor. Chicken cordon bleu  usually has a bread crumb crust and is stuffed.

 I decided to make it without the bread crumbs and use low fat cheeses.  Making small changes to food we enjoy eating will eventually pay off.

Roasted Sweet Dumpling Squash

Since the Fall season started, I've been in the mood to cook Squash.  This squash is called Sweet Dumpling.  It has yellow skin with bright orange or deep green stripes.  It's super cute and flavorful when baked in the oven. The flesh is starchy with a slight corn flavor.  This size is perfect for stuffing too, but I decided to just glaze it with some honey and roast it in the oven.

You can find this squash right in the produce section of your supermarket.  During this time a year, you can find them pretty much anywhere. 

Take a spoon and scoop out the seeds.  I kept the seeds, I'm going to dry them and hope that I can grow a plant next year.

I am super happy with the results..the honey gave the squash a nice glaze.  The Sweet Dumpling is living up to it's name, it's really sweet and delicious.

Ingredients

2 squash cut in half, remove and discard seeds

1 tsp of olive oil

salt

1/4 cup of honey

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F

Season the squash with olive oil and salt.  Place on baking sheet with skin side up.  Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes  remove from the oven and flip the squash, brush  with honey and put back in the oven, now skin side down, and bake for another 15 minutes, until tender and the honey has caramelized.  Enjoy with your favorite side of protein.

Apple Cake

For the last couple of years, I've made this cake for Thanksgiving.  Super easy to make and it's really delicious.  The original recipe calls for caramel on top, but I think that it would make it too sweet.  The cake is super moist and delicious, a sprinkle of confectioners sugar it's all it needs.

Candy Apples

With all of the apples I got at the farm I decided to make some Candy Apples.  Candy Apples take me back to when I was a kid.  Growing up in Connecticut, every 4th of July the carnival would come to town.  My two favorite things at the carnival were the fried dough also known as funnel cakes with confectioners sugar and the candy apples. 

A Day at the Farm Apple Picking

During this time of year, I love going out to the farm to pick apples right from the trees, and buy pumpkins to decorate my home.  I had called my sister in South Carolina and asked her to find out where we can go apple picking in her area.

We decided to head to South Carolina for the weekend in search of apples and pumpkins.  We ended up in York, SC, at Windy Hill Orchards.  This is the same area where I had gone peach picking a couple of months ago.

We were really excited to spend a day with the family.  I love this time of the year, and this was the perfect thing to do on the day before Fall season began.

As we enter the first thing I noticed was this scarecrow..it looked a little drunk.  You can make your own scarecrow and take it with you for $10.00. 

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary and Garlic

Lately, I have been cooking like a mad woman.  Cooking and baking is what I love to do.  There are so many dishes that I one day would like to make and share with you.  Cooking for me is like therapy to my soul.  My mom was an excellent cook and so are my aunts.  I take after them.

My mom used to make chicken and pork in many different ways. From her, I learned that you can take the most inexpensive piece of meat and transform it into a delicious dish.

Today, I decided to make Roast Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary and Garlic.  Perfect combination of flavors.  I love rosemary and garlic together, the more garlicky the better.


My hubby likes pork, but he likes it better with some kind of sauce.  So, I decided to make this pork tenderloin with a side of  roasted sweet potato rounds, and make a gravy out of the juices from the pork loin.

Penne Rigate Pasta with Turkey Meatballs

My husband and I went to lunch with a couple of friends and we had an awesome time. I had a very light lunch and by 6 o'clock I was already starving.  I wanted to make something quick and so I went for Penne Rigate Pasta and Turkey Meatballs.

These meatballs are made using lean ground turkey meat instead of ground beef and veal.  It's a healthier choice and I love the fact that the turkey is not really greasy.

Simple Brown Rice

Brown Rice has become a staple in my house.  Coming from a Puerto Rican household..rice is an every week, maybe twice a week dish. But, I wanted to start eating healthier, and brown rice is so much better than white rice.

Recently, I started eating brown rice.  The first time I made it I was happy with it..but it was missing something.  The flavor I was looking for was not there.  I also wanted the rice to come out soft and fluffy and not hard and dry.

I came up with this recipe and it worked for me.  Adding the red peppers and the chicken bouillon made a big difference in the taste.  The cooking process took a little longer that regular white rice, but at the end it was worth it.  Now I'm making this rice at least once a week. 

Ingredients:

 2 cups of brown rice

1/4 cup of chopped red peppers
2 tbsp of tomato paste
1/2 packet of chicken bouillon

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

1 cup of water

1 tbsp of olive oil

salt to taste

In a saucepan on medium heat add the peppers, tomato paste, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, water, and olive oil.  When it starts to boil add the rice and salt to taste.

Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes.  Set to simmer and cook for an additional 30-40 minutes. Stirring again after 15 minutes. After that, DO NOT uncover the pot until the rice has already been cooking for at least 30 minutes. Check on rice, if it's still a little hard cook a little longer.  Enjoy!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds

I'm always looking to create good and simple recipes.  These Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds could not be any simpler, and full of taste.  Instead of mashing the potatoes, I decided to just cut them in rounds and season with a little olive oil, salt and garlic.


During this time of year I like to cook different kinds of vegetables.  I love sweet potatoes, squash, rutabagas and parsnips.  These vegetables are always great as a side dish.

The sweet potatoes were tender inside and slightly sweet.  This was a great change from just baking them whole, because it created a soft crust that was full of flavor from the garlic.  

I love the colors, bright orange with these yellow marks...Perfect for this time of year.

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup olive oil

2  pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced and cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F

Spread the sweet potatoes in one layer in a shallow baking pan. Combine the olive oil, minced garlic and salt, and spread over the sweet potatoes.  Make sure to season all of the rounds.   Bake until golden, for about 20-30 minutes.

Blackened Grilled Pork Chops

I couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted to cook today.  Chicken seems the obvious choice...but I wanted to make something that had a little spice to it..not too much.  I'm not a fan of extremely spicy foods, but a little kick, I'm okay with.

Once again, I pulled out one of my Cooking Light cookbooks and I came across this recipe.  The recipe I found was actually for Blackened Chicken, but I didn't want to make chicken.  So, I decided to make Blackened Grilled Pork Chops.