Category Archives: Cooking

Chicken Avocado Spring Rolls

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 12 July, 2014 None comments

Vietnamese rice paper rolls are healthy and oh so delicious. They will forever remind me of visiting my sister when she worked in the seminary building at Multnomah University. I used to go visit her all the time and we would go get these Rice Paper Wraps for lunch dates and we absolutely loved them. The great thing with Vietnamese food is it also fills you up. Long gone are the days of visiting my sister at work but new are the days for lunch dates with homemade Chicken avocado spring rolls. :)

Ingredients:

Rice Paper
Chicken, shredded
Rice, cooked
Avocado
Carrots
Cucumbers
Fresh Basil
Lettuce
Soy, teriyaki or sweet chili sauce

Fully submerge rice paper in lukewarm water for a good 30 seconds or until soft, sticky and pliable. Using a plate works just great. Transfer to a dry surface.

I used my cutting board and stretched out the rice paper to compile vegetables on.

Layer rice, chicken, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, basil and avocado.

Fold up the short ends as you would a burrito and than roll tightly from one end to the next.

Dip your spring rolls in teriyaki sauce, soy sauce or sweet chili sauce.

Serve with Roasted Cabbage as a side. Yummy yum yum! This meal is one of my favorites.

Roasted Cabbage

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 11 July, 2014 None comments

This is the best, healthiest side dish you could make for any summer meal! It is super tasty and carb free! :) I’ve been making this for awhile and cabbage is only $0.66 at our local market. You can’t beat that for a side dish for an entire family and then some.

My husband and I can get sick of the usual stir fried veggies and opt for a different take on a vegetable side. This is great for those nights you can’t think of anything and want something quick!

Ingredients:

1 head of Cabbage, halved
EVOO
Garlic Salt
Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper

Cut cabbage in half.

Slice into large chunks.

Lay cabbage on foil lined baking sheet

Drizzle with EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic salt

Sprinkle to taste

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly roasted.

Yummy

Serve with Chicken Avocado Spring Rolls.

Tractor Cake

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 10 July, 2014 None comments

My sick little baby trying to have a good birthday! :(

My son had his birthday a couple weeks ago and as you all know, we headed to the beach to have our trip be quickly interrupted with an ER visit. Although, the first couple days were great, the last two were horrible. I state that very matter-of-fact as they were legitimately horrible.

For my sons first birthday, I didn’t get the pleasure of making his cake as we had moved 1 week prior and we were hosting dinner at our house. I also had planned a friend birthday party the following day at the zoo with lunch and cake. I had very little time to do much more than that. So, this year I was adamant that I would make my son a cake he would love; tractors!!!

I used two bread pans and baked the cake and manipulated the cake in more ways than one to turn it into a tractor. It was pretty challenging to say the least, but it worked out. I will also state that this is the first time I’ve ever made a cake into something other than a circular pretty cake. Practice makes perfection– so I hope!

I used Kit-Kats for the wheels and smoke stack.

Moment of Truth: Manipulating a cake isn’t the easiest thing, especially for the first time. You make a mistake and you must keep going. Though there are many imperfections, I was thrilled to have it resemble a tractor that my son would be utterly happy about. :) The older he gets, the better I will become! :)

Creamy Chicken Rolls

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 8 July, 2014 None comments

Tuesdays Comfort food recipe goes to Creamy chicken rolls. I haven’t forgot it is summer and especially haven’t forgot to enjoy it to the fullest and trust me I have! But sometimes you want something not so healthy, not so “right” and not so crunchy from the mass amounts of vegetables you pile on your salad in hopes to fill you up longer than 30 minutes.

This recipe came to our table on an overcast evening when I was craving something not-so-healthy. My mom was in town watching my niece last month while my sister worked and her daddy was out of town. They came over for dinner and were able to enjoy this comfort food while my mom enjoyed her grand-kids.

Creamy chicken rolls are the best on a cozy day when you want some delicious comfort food and do not want to prepare all day long; delightfully doable. My sister also brought over garlic cheesy bread from Papa Murphey’s as she received a bunch of coupons for them for free. It was delicious and full of calories that fit right in with this dinner.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey
½ onion, diced
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp minced garlic
4 ounces cream cheese
1 can olives, chopped (optional)
3/4 tsp paprika or chili powder (I prefer spice, add less if you so desire)
1/4 tsp red pepper chili flakes (optional)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp garlic salt
2 packages crescent rolls
1 cup shredded cheese

Cook turkey with onion, parsley and minced garlic until no longer pink.

Add in 4 ounces of cream cheese.

Stir in slowly.

Once melted, add chopped olives and paprika.

In a separate bowl combine cream of chicken, sour cream and garlic salt. Use 1/3 of the mixture and spread on the bottom of a greased 9×13 baking dish; reserve the remainder.

Spread about 1/4 cup mixture onto each crescent roll.

Roll up and place in pan.

Squeeze them in where ever they will fit. :)

Layer the top with remainder of cream of chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until crescent roll is fully cooked.

I served this with baked corn and jasmine rice.

Sausage Cabbage Wraps

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 6 July, 2014 None comments

As usual my brain can’t always come up with creative ideas that aren’t boring and original. I wanted something and pasta kept coming to my brain as we haven’t had pasta in awhile. I wasn’t in the mood for pasta either but couldn’t think of anything else. Than I took a version of pasta cream sauce and flipped it around to make some yummy sausage cabbage wraps.

It turned out very good and had just enough spice without being overbearing.

Try it for yourself and see… let me know your thoughts.

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian Sausage
1 cup kale
4 tbsp cream cheese
1 cup milk
¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Celery, chopped
1 cup red, green, yellow or orange peppers, diced

Sauce:

You will make 2 batches of this sauce. One for the vegetables and a second for the wraps as a dipping sauce. (See note below)

2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ tbsp Sriracha sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp Brown Sugar*

In a medium sauce pan, add celery peppers and sauce excluding brown sugar. Heat over medium heat until tender. Set aside.

In a separate large skillet, add meat and cook through.

Add in cream cheese

Stir in Kale and turn off burner.

Kale should wilt slightly.

And lastly, turn heat off and stir in cheese

And milk. Let it rest on the burner to help heat through. The cream cheese and milk help offset the spice.

To serve, take a large leaf of cabbage and layer with veggies, meat and Chinese noodles. Drizzle additional sauce on top.

*For the sauce on top of the wrap I use the same sauce as above, doubling the recipe and add 1-2 tsp of brown sugar to make for a great dipping sauce.

Or for appetizers simply use a smaller piece of cabbage and roll up and close with toothpicks.

Pot Roast

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 3 July, 2014 None comments

“Meat loaf, beat loaf, double meat loaf. I HATE meat loaf.” Have any of you ever seen a Christmas Story with Ralphie? His little brother chanted this saying over dinner will forever remind me of my deep hate for meat loaf as a child. Or shall I say meat in general–I hated.

Chanting this song over dinner reminds me of the days I hated eating meat. My mom was the best cook in the world so I would fill up on all her incredible side dishes and opt out of anything that came from an animal…unless… it was a hot dog. :)

My new found love for meat is sticking around forever and that is why tonight you should make my delicious pot roast. Your crock pot will do all the work for you except make the gravy. :)

I grew up in small town no-mans-land where you grow your own meat and live off the ground. I had a hard time with this as I hated meat for 26 years of my life. I literally hated meat. I was not a vegetarian as I had a deep love for hot dog. But on the other hand, hamburgers, steak, pork, roast, anything and everything that required a slab of meat to be your dinner, was definitely not appealing to me. Truth be told, I did not like the taste of the meat. It had nothing to do with raising a “friend” and sending them off to the butchers. I never grew attached to our livestock as they were quickly turned into dinner and were stinky ol’ animals.

Years of homegrown beef and pork was something I missed out on. Becoming pregnant brought out the essence of who I am that I never knew existed. A girl who loves crispy bacon. juicy hamburgers and a good medium rib eye. Okay. This may not be the essence of who I am, but pretty darn close. I have a new found obsession with steak, hamburgers and bacon that cannot be explained. I could eat steak 5 nights a week.

Anyway, now that my new found love as arrived and seems to be staying forever, I opted to make pot roast for dinner. I was preparing dinner for my family while preparing an entirely different meal for a dear friend who just had her 4th baby. Cooper and I went to visit them in the hospital this past weekend and got to enjoy the presence of baby Matthew while only being a mere 36 hours old. He was tiny and adorable; definitely made me miss the days of a tiny little infant. :(

While I was focusing on their dinner, I wanted to make something as incredible as pot roast but without all the hassle; crock pot it was. I knew making two separate meals would be time consuming so I opted for something so delicious and yet allowing my crock pot to cook for me while I made their dinner.

Pot roast is always delicious especially with potatoes and gravy and while leftovers are wonderful, a pot roast sandwich is always on my list of must haves. Our roast came from Costco, they have really great meat and though they can be a bit spendy, you get a lot of meat. I bought two roasts awhile back and froze them both, you could not even tell they had been frozen by how tender they were.

Ingredients:

1 medium pot roast
Garlic salt
2 tbsp garlic, minced
Italian Seasoning
Thyme
Parsley
Salt & Pepper
3 cups potatoes, diced
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, diced

Place roast in crock pot with 1 cup water and turn heat to low. Season with garlic, minced garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, parsley and thyme. Chop potatoes and mushrooms. Place on top of roast.

Add onions and celery.
Season with additional seasoning if you wish, and drizzle with EVOO.
Cook on low heat for 6 hours. When ready to eat, spoon out all vegetables and roast and use the drippings to make gravy (click here for recipe).
If you have leftovers, use the roast and gravy to make the best sandwiches EVER! YUMMY!

Meat loaf, beat loaf, I LOVE meat loaf now as well as anything that has come from an animal. :)

Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 2 July, 2014 None comments

Asian Chicken Salad usually consists of Roman Noodles for the crunch and although I have had that from time to time and do enjoy it, I decided to opt out this time and go for a “bang” with no Roman but still Crunchy Asian chicken salad.

The homemade dressing with the delicious crunch was exactly what I had been waiting for all day long. I made it in bulk to eat throughout the week and my husband and I absolutely love it!

Ingredients:

4 cups Green Cabbage, chopped
1 1/2 cup Bok Choy, Chopper
1 cup cucumbers, diced
3/4 cup celery, chopped
1 cup romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup radish, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
Chicken, chopped (rotisserie chicken works great)
Chinese noodles, for topping

Asian Dressing:

2 tbsp Soy Vay Teriyaki*
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp srracha sauce (½ tsp if you prefer a little less kick)
2 tsp brown sugar
4 tsp sesame oil

Chop celery along with the leafy greens. Place in a large glass bowl.

Chop romaine.

Add in bok choy.

Chop cabbage and mix together.

Add in cucumbers, carrots and radishes.

Mix well.

After ingredients are mixed, add in cilantro.

This salad will keep in large glass bowl for 4-5 days allowing for small meals throughout the week. Only add the dressing to your individual portion to keep the salad fresh.

In your serving bowl that you are preparing to eat, add salad mix and chopped chicken (optional).

To make the dressing combine all ingredients in a small bowl to save throughout the week as well. Spoon one to two spoonfuls on top of your salad and mix well.

Toss your salad with Chinese noodles and slivered almonds.

This is a great side dish or main dish salad. It’s very refreshing and definitely filling. We have been addicted to this for the past week and a half and still have not got sick of it. :)

*If you do not have a teriyaki marinade, than use 4-5 tbsp regular teriyaki as it’s less rich than the marinade.

Honey Glazed Carrots

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 July, 2014 None comments

These honey glazed carrots are a guarantee in our household. My son loves them and they aren’t bad for you. Honey is a great sweetener that isn’t horrible for your body. This is a great way to get a little vegetables with a twist to the raw crunch that gets tiring.

Ingredients

Honey
Carrots

Simple as that. Two ingredients and an oven. :)

For easy clean up I thoroughly love to line most everything with foil to make it easier on me. Line a broiler pan or cookie sheet with foil and scatter carrots on top. Sprinkle globs of honey throughout the carrots and bake at 450 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

I prefer my cooked carrots still with a bit of a crunch. :) Enjoy!

Creamy Bacon and Chicken

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 July, 2014 None comments

This is a simple go to meal whenever you haven’t planned in advanced. I made this last week and it is ALWAYS a hit in our family. Simply place frozen chicken in the crockpot and begin to cook throughout the day with a little help along the way. :)

This was a day I had the kids and was extremely exhausted between the three little munchkins and planning for my dad and sons birthday get away. This meal couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts (frozen works great)
1 Italian Sausage Link (Bratwurst works great too)
1 can cream of chicken
1 cup sour cream
½ lb bacon
Rice

In a crockpot place frozen chicken and sausage on medium-high heat for 1-2 hours. Once chicken has begun to thaw, season to desired taste.

Once fully cooked, remove meat from crockpot and slice into decent size chunks.

Return to crockpot.

Add cream of chicken soup and turn to low heat or if your crockpot has a “keep warm” button, use that.

1 hour before dinner, broil bacon until fully cooked and crisp. Cut bacon into medium chunks and stir into crockpot. I do this an hour or so before serving to help release the bacon flavor into the cream sauce.

Right before cooking, add in sour cream and mix well. Serve over rice.

Simply and delicious! Enjoy!

Pizza Pockets

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 29 June, 2014 None comments

“WHAT??” Pizza pockets are incredible but when you buy them from the store you probably are eating 50 delicious ingredients that may not be so delicious for your body. I love a good pizza pocket and they will forever remind me of driving to Central Washington with my sister. We used to drive the long drive and stop at the half way point at a truck stop. This truck stop had the best pizza pockets to date. I don’t know how to express the incrediblness (not that that is a word) of this pocket without you actually trying it. You may be asking, how can a pizza pocket actually be delicious when it comes from a truck stop? Well, let me tell you. “It is the best I’ve ever had!!!” I’m confident my sister could verify that. :)

My sister called me on her drive to visit my parents a few weeks ago as she stopped to embark on this incredible pocket. She was reminding me of our journey together, years past. It’s probably been about 4-5 years since I actually have had it! I miss them, oh do I miss them.

Today I made a delicious pizza pocket but considering I do not hold a truck stop at my house, they are nothing alike, but they are worth making. :)

Ingredients:

Pizza Crust or Pie Crust (Homemade or store bought)
Pepperoni
Cheese
Onion, finely minced
Salami
Olives (optional)

For the crust, follow the instructions for preparation on the link above.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once the crust is made, roll dough out onto a floured surface into a rectangle.

Slice dough into rectangles.

Top with cheese

Pepperoni, salami, onions or any additional toppings.

Once you’ve added all your toppings, fold over and begin to braid the edges to hold together.

Place on a greased foil lined baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 11-15 minutes or until lightly brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

Serve as a delicious snack with blackberry lemonade. :)

OR make additional and individually wrap and freeze. Place in toaster oven when ready to eat until nice and crispy. :) My husband loves these as snacks in his lunch.