La Du It 2 It: FOOD....nom nom nom

Bud and I like to try new recipes from time to time and last night we tried a couple that turned out DELISH. They are healthier than most of the recipes we typically try out and were very easy to make….even on a week night….when KB was running around like a mad man….taking every utensil out of the kitchen drawers….along with every piece of Tupperware…..and banging his juice cup on our glass table…..and shaking lamps….I digress. I found them both on Pinterest, my go-to for new recipes. The recipes are a cheesy zucchini bake and creamy mushroom chicken. Here is how my evening went down….

First, I got my ingredients ready for the cheesy zucchini bake. Here is the list of the ingredients:

2 medium-sized zucchinis
2 medium-sized yellow squash (side note: I typically don’t like squash)
2-4 TBSP of fresh basil (our grocery store is bush-league so they didn’t have any fresh basil. I just used a crap ton of dried basil that we had at home and it was still good)
2 TBSP of thinly sliced green onion
1/2 tsp of dried thyme (I’ve got too much thyme on my hands….no, you don’t like?)
3/4 tsp of garlic powder (to ward off vampires)
1 cup of mozzarella/romano/white cheese (I used a blend of white cheeses)
1/2 cup of coarsely grated parmesan cheese (I used the stuff you put on pizza instead)
Salt and pepper to taste

Now, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with some Pam (did you say your name is Pan?). Wash the zucchini and yellow squash (not with soap Amelia Bedelia) and cut them into 1 inch, half-moon pieces. If you have fresh basil, wash that up and cut it.

Combine the squash, zucchini, basil (if you have dried basil instead of fresh basil just sprinkle as much as you like in the mixture…I think I put in about 3 TBSPish), thyme, garlic powder, 1/2 cup of the white cheese, and parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly until everything is evenly distributed. Add the mixture to the baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Open your oven and stand back for a few so you don’t burn your eyelashes and eyebrows off. Put that baby in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until squash and zucchini are tender.

Add the rest of the white cheese over the top and put it back into the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until its golden brown on top. YUMMO!

In the midst of making this dish, as if I wasn't already multi-tasking enough, I started the creamy mushroom chickens. The chickens took about 15-20 minutes total to make, so time it out accordingly if you want everything to be ready at the same time. For the chicken dish you will need:

2 chicken breasts, about 5 oz each (I had 3 chicken breasts that were probably a bit bigger than 5 oz and it was still good)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of canola oil
1 shallot, chopped (since we have a bush-league grocery store, I couldn’t find shallots and substituted with a small yellow onion)
1 cup of shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly (mine were pre-sliced and felt I could have added more than a cup)
2 TBSP of white, dry wine (I bought some pinot grigio and pretended I didn’t only need 2 TBSP and got the jumbo bottle….booyah)
2 TBSP of heavy cream
1/4 cup of chicken broth
2 TBSP of thinly sliced green onion

Cut off the gross fat from the chickens and season both sides with salt and pepper (SHOOP!!). Heat the canola oil on medium in a frying pan and add the chickens. Cook for 12-14 minutes, only flipping the birds one time. Transfer the chickens to a plate and cover so they don’t get chilly. Add the shallot/yellow onion to the pan and heat for about a minute. Add mushrooms and cook until tender, 2-4 minutes. Add white wine and stir until reduced and scrape up those brown bits in the pan, adds to the flavor. Pour in the chicken broth and reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the green onion and heavy cream and return the pan to a simmer. Add the chickens back to the pan and coat with mushroom mixture until everything is heated up and ready to shove down your hatch.

And there is our dinner from last night. Add a glass of wine and the meal with be complete! :)