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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

CrockPot Chicken Canneloni

I am running out ideas for hubby to take for lunch. I like to try different things to keep the interest level up. I also want things that the posse will eat. The criteria I work with are: must have meat in it (meatless meals not met with great enthusiasm from the posse), must be easy to chew (for the little people of the posse), and must be tasty. I bought a box of oven-ready canneloni on sale a few weeks ago. Canneloni are basically pasta tubes that can be stuffed and cooked. Sounded appealling, kind of like a lasagna with less noodle.

From the recipe on the box and the internet I pieced together a recipe that would work in the crock. It was very tasty and cooked surprisingly quickly. The only issue that I had was that the pasta doesn't really maintain its shape. I expected nice little round tubes of stuffed pasta but it was certainly more of a layered lasagna consistency. Perhaps it would be better done in the counter top oven but everyone ate it. It was even more tasty the next day.

You will need:
  • 1 box oven ready canneloni pasta
  • 1 chicken breast sliced thinly
  • 500 ml 1% cottage cheese, drained (this is supposed to be ricotta cheese but apparently they don't sell it in my small town)
  • 1/2 bunch spinach chopped or 1 package frozen spinach drained and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 jar spaghetti sauce
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • olive oil
  • 1 cup grated cheese of your choice (I used marble cheddar)

Saute chicken breast in a small amount of olive oil until cooked. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl mix together cottage cheese, parmesan, salt, pepper, basil, chopped spinach, eggs and half the grated cheese. Dice cooled chicken and add to cheese mixture. Mix well. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of CrockPot (I used a 3 quart crock). Stuff cottage cheese/chicken mixture into each canneloni tube and place into crock. Cover layer of canneloni with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce and continue layering canneloni until you have used all of the cottage cheese mixture. Cover top layer of canneloni with thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Cook on High for 1.5 hours or Low for 3 hours. Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, sprinkle the top with remaining grated cheese.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter is Officially Here

Looking outside this morning to about 15 cm of snow I think that winter is officially here. We have been battling the most outrageously cold temperatures here lately too! It has been hovering between -11 C and -20 C! With the windchill it has been averaging around -18 to -24 C. I realize that this is balmy for some regions of Canada but this is unusual for the relatively moderate climate of our part of the country. We are usually (un)lucky to get a few centimetres of snow 3 or 4 times a winter. We rarely end up with a white Christmas but looks like we will have one this year. Now where did I put that snow shovel?

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Roast Chicken and Veggies Counter Top Oven Style

It's only December and my new found enthusiasm for the CrockPot is starting at wane. I am simply feeling too lazy lately to get the evening meal together in the morning. December will do that.

December weather here is most bizarre. Most of the month is cloudy and the wind is always blowing to some degree. We have yet to see any snow but you can feel it lurking. Days that we do see the sun, it mysteriously disappears by 1:30 pm. We usually have more snow in January but at least we see the sun more frequently.

Yesterday I decided to blow the dust off of the counter top oven and roast a chicken. This is a great one dish meal with your sides cooking right along with your chicken! The trick with a counter top oven is to cut the chicken in half. Not only will it fit in the small oven but it also cuts down the cooking time over cooking a whole bird.

You will need:
  • 3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
  • 1.5 cups baby carrots
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 1/2 zucchini, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 chicken, halved and excess fat removed
  • kosher salt
  • chicken spice (The one I use is a combination of coarse kosher salt, garlic powder, rosemary, white pepper corns, marjoram, oregano, sage and thyme in a ratio of 1:1 for all ingredients and placed in a spice mill)
  • olive oil
  • low sodium chicken broth
  • flour

Lightly grease shallow roasting pan with olive oil. Place veggies on roasting pan and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Rub olive oil on all surfaces of the chicken. Grind a light sprinkling of chicken spice over both sides of chicken. Place chicken on top of veggies, skin side up. Roast in counter top (or conventional oven) at 350 C for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked and juices run clear. Remove chicken and veggies to a platter and tent with tin foil. Deglaze roasting pan with chicken broth and thicken with flour/water paste to make gravy. Serve with a side salad and you are set!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Parenthood Changes- Can you relate?

I received this in an e-mail the other day. Oh so true!

Yes, parenthood changes everything. But parenthood also changes with each baby.

Here are some of the ways having a second and third child differs from having your first:

Your Clothes

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

The Baby's Name

1st baby: You pour over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites.
2nd baby: Someone has to name his or her kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.
3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points.

Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Sleeping

1st baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first six - eight weeks
2nd baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first two weeks
3rd baby: Goes right from the hospital nursery into their own room

Baby Book

1st baby: You religiously make entries every day, carefully noting the number of spit-ups and bowel movements for the first year
2nd baby: You enter a few facts each week but stop after 6 months
3rd baby: You buy the book but enter the child's name, birth weight, and length on the first page

Diapering

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing a coin

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays. 2nd child: When 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: When 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!