chicken – Cremona's Kitchen

Mushroom and Leek Creamy Chicken

May 6, 2020 2 Comments

This weekend we walked 40 acres that is for sale. Matt had been eyeing this property for quite a while and finally convinced me to see it. Within the first couple of minutes, I got why Matt wanted us to see this. The land reminded me so much of the walking trails and bluffs in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where Matt and I met. The property is a great mix of forest, ravines, and open spaces. Matt, the boys, Ellie, and I walked the land, and Matt showed me where the house would be built, where the shop and sawmill would go, where we would build a treehouse. It felt like the land was destined to be ours.

But then we started reading the township ordinances. And holy hell, there were so many. Ordinances mandating that you can’t build an accessory building before a primary residence. Ordinances about not allowing you to run a business from your property. We would need so many variances. Honestly, it makes me crabby. People should not be jerks and be considerate of their neighbors. People should also be able to do what they want with their land.

Based on what we heard from the township, it doesn’t look good that they would give us any variances. It feels like we may be back to the drawing board. After 3 long years of looking for a new house, it’s exhausting. So many people have accused us of having too high of expectations but honestly, our “must have” list consists of very little: 2 stories, at least 3 bedrooms on top level, on more than 5 acres, acres are not just an open field. That’s it. I don’t feel like we are asking for too much. It just feels like it isn’t out there. Which seems unreasonable. Sigh.

So sometimes you just need an easy win. Everyone likes chicken. And an excuse to open a bottle of wine on a Wednesday. This recipe checks both those boxes, tastes incredible, and can be made in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients

1 pound chicken, tenders or breast, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
1-2 leeks, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/6 cup white wine

Directions

If you are using chicken breasts, slice them down the middle so they are thinner. If you are using tenders, those should be thin enough. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
Grab a large skillet and toss 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil into the skillet. Melt over medium heat. Once melted, add in chicken. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Do not clutter the skillet so you’ll want to probably divide the chicken, cook it, remove from skillet and place into a covered plate to stay warm. Then cook the second half. Remove second round of chicken from skillet and keep warm in the covered plate.
In same skillet, add in the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to melt. Add in leeks and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are soft and leeks are limp–around 5 minutes.
Add in wine and cook for about 2 minutes. Mix in heavy cream and cook until sauce gets thicker. If you want extra thick, add in another tablespoon of butter. Place chicken back into the skillet and toss until chicken is warm and well-mixed with sauce and veggies.
Serve chicken covered with the sauce, leeks, and mushroom. Enjoy!

Slightly modified from: Foodie Crush

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Baked Chicken Tacos

March 22, 2020 No Comments

Ok, so the last two weeks have gone entirely not as all as I expected. Thanks to the Coronavirus, life as we know it has not been the same. I started working from home full time. Court has been cancelled. I do not go to the grocery store to get those last couple ingredients to make a meal. Substitute with what we have or make something else. There are no trips to Target. Sunday church and then brunch at Red Cow is no longer our Sunday Funday. All the restaurants are closed. Church is live streaming from our living room. The boys and Ellie do not go out on their daily adventures. Museums and zoos are closed. Playgrounds are off limits. Beyond playing in the backyard, our family has hunkered down and stayed at home.

It feels like we are constantly living in the calm before the storm. So far everyone in our house is healthy. Our friends and family are healthy. I read about hospitals running out of medical supplies. That medical staff is overworked, and there are not enough beds. And it just doesn’t feel like that is what is happening in our city, our state, our country. That is something that happens somewhere else. But surely not here. It just doesn’t seem possible. But that simply is not correct. It is happening. It is happening here. And I am just lucky that I cannot wrap my mind around it because I haven’t had the misfortune to need medical help. And man, I hope it stays that way. I hope I have a hard time placing the realities that too many people are currently facing for as long as possible. Because that reality is too scary to stomach.

Those realities weigh on my mind. I have always been a worrier. When I was little, I use to have a hard time grappling with the concept of “forever.” That we would be in heaven forever. For so many people, heaven gives you a sense of peace and calming. But the idea of being somewhere forever made me panic. If I am being honest, even writing about it right now is starting to make my heart race. I have always been that person who may be a little too sensitive to cope with certain realities. This pandemic is not doing my heart any favors. I worry about my babies getting sick. I worry about Matt getting sick. I worry about me getting sick. I worry that this pandemic shut in will last a year or more. That my children will miss out on childhood moments that everyone should experience. I could go on and on and on.

Cooking calms me. Cooking something I know my family loves calms me even more. This is that recipe. Because everyone loves tacos.

Ingredients

Hard taco shells, flat bottomed ideally
Shredded, cooked chicken (if possible, I get a rotisserie chicken and shred that)
Refried beans
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Black olives, sliced (optional)
Lettuce, shredded (optional)
Salsa of choice (we like to mix mango, corn, and red/green)
Sour cream (optional)
Guacamole/avocado (in my book, this is never optional. what is a taco without guac or avocado?)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grab a hard shell and coat the inside bottom of the shell with refried beans. Layer in chicken and cheese. Place into 9×12 or 8×8 glass hot dish container. Once all taco shells are filled, place into oven and cook until cheese is melty–about 5 minutes.
Add in toppings as desired.
Enjoy!

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Mediterranean Chicken Rice Bowl

August 25, 2019 No Comments

Serious question: how do you parents get your kids to bed? It is 10:30 and the boys are still wide awake. They’ve been laying in the dark for the past twoish hours. But that doesn’t matter. They are still rolling around, giggling, not closing their eyes. Matt is currently being held hostage in the bedroom, sitting in the rocking chair waiting for the boys to finally fall asleep. It doesn’t seem to matter what bedroom routine we have. The boy are impervious to our tricks.

Ok, but beyond typically bedtime, I just haven’t been my normal self in the kitchen. Guys, I’ve been in a funk lately. No researching of new recipes. No wandering around the grocery store looking for new food to incorporate into a recipe. Not looking forward to trying new dishes. Not really sure why. But then last week, I texted Matt before I left the office to put some rice on (because I refuse to cook my own rice). I stopped at Trader Joe’s, walked around the store, and picked up chicken and tzatziki sauce. I didn’t have any particular recipe in mind. But for the first time in a while, I was in the mood to experiment.

And I came up with this. It isn’t anything too crazy or fancy. But the boys eat it. Matt really liked it. It was exactly what my soul needed. Perhaps this recipe will rejuvenate your meal rotation as well.

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Broth

August 8, 2019 No Comments

I spent this spring on maternity leave. Which meant I had all day to prep for dinner. And for the first couple of weeks, I had sincere plans to make elaborate meals, fancy desserts, and snacks. But then I didn’t. Because I have three kids. So sure, I may have had the time to tackle a multiple step recipe but yeah, I have three kids. I have no hands. I am constantly breastfeeding. Someone needs a glass of water or milk. Someone is screaming that a toy is no longer in his grasp. While I may have all day to cook, life is anything but simple. Dinner recipes need to be as uncomplicated as possible.

That’s where soup comes in. The idea of tossing all the ingredients into a pot, letting it simmer (maybe checking on it periodically to stir, but maybe not)–yeah, I can handle that and breastfeed a baby while wiping a toddler’s butt (yeah, that happened. Sorry, Ellie!)

a substantially more relaxing nursing session.

And when making soup, why not stick with a classic: chicken noodle. I am all for making as much of your recipe from scratch when you can–especially when it’s not super complicated. Making your own chicken broth is stupid easy. Literally, you throw full chicken in a pot of hot water. Leave the chicken in hot water. Come back later and take out the chicken. And wah lah, you have chicken broth. Even with three young children, this is manageable.

So anytime we get a rotisserie chicken, there’s a good chance homemade chicken noodle soup is on the horizon. Here’s some unsolicited advice that you do the same.

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Fully Loaded Veggie and Chicken Hotdish

May 3, 2019 No Comments

Gah, I am in love with my maternity leave! Every morning, around 7:15, I am woken up by JR and Max very loudly demanding breakfast or that I hold them. They roll around in our bed, driving Matt insane (as he wants to keep sleeping). Many times, I am nursing Ellie so I lay in bed feeding her while Matt makes the boys oatmeal. Eventually, we make our way out of bed. We slowly get ready for the day. I wash my face, brush my teeth, put in contacts. There is no rush. We have no deadlines.

Eloise and I spend our mornings checking emails, listening to podcasts, drinking coffee, watching the boys play. Our afternoons are spent grocery shopping, taking short walks, running errands. And of course, lots and lots of nursing, burping, changing diapers, cleaning off spit up.

Some days are more stressful than others. Taking care of a newborn and two toddlers is not always easy. Max and JR are still learning the nuances of sharing. Maxwell still nurses at night (but he would love to nurse all day). But without having work on my plate and knowing that my workless days will come to an end, the toddler tantrums are easier to stomach. After all, I get to spend my days with my children. These little people I created with the person I love the most. These little people who love me so much. These little people who have so assignments or deadlines for me to accomplish anything.

And each afternoon, instead of fretting on whether I have had a productive morning full of billable hours, I get to start planning what home cooked meal I’ll be making my family that night. Gone are the days of planning a meal around the fact that I get home from work at 7:00 p.m. No recipe is off limits. If our pantry is missing an ingredient, I can go to the grocery store. If the recipe takes several hours, that’s ok. I can start cooking early.

The slow, mostly relaxing days bring me so much comfort.

Minnesotans express love with warm casseroles we call hot dishes. So this meal reminds me of family. It is full of hearty veggies and cheese that remind you of a dinner you ate sitting at your grandmother’s kitchen table with your siblings. Or a meal you’d share with friends in the church basement at a pot luck.

Typically hot dishes call for canned soups, which are full of salt and aren’t that healthy. But this hot dish subs the typical cream of mushroom condensed soup for Greek yogurt, eggs, and milk. Honestly, you can’t taste the difference but your waist line will. All over, this is a great hot dish.

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Avocado Chicken Salad

April 16, 2019 No Comments

When I am pregnant, I never get too worried about my weight gain. I don’t eat too terribly. I don’t eat as if I am eating for two. I work out 5 days a week. I try to stay active. Each time, I gained 45 pounds. Sure, this technically is more than what is recommended (35 lbs is the top) but I see no reason to lose sleep over the weight gain. I feel healthy.

Of course, now starts the hard part: losing the baby weight. For me, the first 15 lbs drops off right after the baby is born. Another 10 falls away shortly thereafter thanks to breastfeeding. But those last 20 lbs don’t leave without a fight. And honestly, after JR’s and Max’s births, I didn’t lose all 20 lbs before I got pregnant again. This time I am hoping it will be different. And not only because it is likely that we won’t have a fourth baby (never say never because who knows).

three weeks postpartum. no considerable change from week one.

I’ve read that getting back into shape is 20% working out and 80% diet. No idea how accurate that is but it feels right. I have always been great about working out and relatively crappy about keeping a clean diet. It’s not that I don’t eat healthy. It is just that every day I also eat something arguably too sugary, processed, or salty. Right before I wrote this, I shoved three gummy worms and three pieces of chocolate into my mouth. Despite the fact that I ate healthy the rest of the day. I ruined my healthy day in less than three minutes. Clearly, I need to strengthen my willpower. So, what should I be eating instead of my children’s treats for going potty on the potty?

My new go-to lunch meal has been this avocado chicken salad. I’ve made this salad twice since Eloise was born, and she is only three weeks old. It is a heartier salad than most so I stay full longer. You can easily add more ingredients to the salad or keep it simple. The salad does call for bacon, which you can sub for turkey bacon, use just a strip or two, or get rid of all together, depending on how healthy you want to be.

So now starts my journey into losing the 20 lbs. Cross your fingers and toes for me. My sweet tooth will not be kind to me. I need all the help I can get.

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Lemon and Garlic Whole Chicken

June 30, 2018 No Comments

It’s no secret that I am a working mom. It is something I am deeply proud of. I love being a lawyer, just as I love being a mom. But most nights, I do not get home until 7:00. If I start making a full dinner from scratch once I get home, we typically don’t sit down to eat until after 8:00. As much I’d love to tell you that I pre-plan our weekday meals, that would be a lie. There are weeks where I am great. There are lots of weeks where I am not.

I am not a fan of take-out or even eating out in general. It’s expensive. It’s not as healthy. And I usually end up feeling disappointed for overindulging or because of the quality of the food for the price. Plus two little boys in a restaurant can be exhausting. We try to avoid it whenever possible.

So on nights when we haven’t planned dinner, our go-to meal is a rotisserie chicken. The boys love it. It’s not ridiculously overpriced. It’s not wholly unhealthy. But like most things, I’d prefer to make it myself than buy a premade meal. Of course, there is no way I’d have time to roast a whole chicken on a weekday. But I still wanted to try out a homemade version. So last weekend, Maxie and I picked up a raw chicken and decided to make our own rotisserie chicken of sorts.

chicken, lifestyle, main dishes, recipes

Moroccan Chicken with Chickpeas

March 17, 2018 No Comments

Ok, so yesterday I came to a realization. I’m chubby. I might even be fat. Ugh, fat. It hurts writing that. As if putting it down in words somehow materializes something that otherwise would not exist. Unfortunately, that isn’t how it works. My body is squishy regardless if I acknowledge it on this blog.

Now for someone who has seen me since I’ve pushed out my babies, this shouldn’t be news. If anything, confusing on how I have gone for over a year since the birth of my youngest son and I am only now just realizing that I am a chubby girl. But honestly, for the last year I am lived completely oblivious to this reality. My lack of awareness of my own body size is the result of many factors. But really, it can be boiled down to one single truth.

I suffer from a high self-esteem. Much like my mother, I live my life with complete confidence in myself. For the majority of my life, I have been blindly self-assured of who I am as an individual, appearance and all. And frankly, it has served me well. As a whole, I am almost always happy with my life because I am largely confident in my life choices. I’ve gotten job offers, made friends, found stylish clothes that fit. When I was single, I never had an issue getting a date. Overall, if I really wanted it, I would will it to happen.

So after having my baby boys, sure, many of my clothes still didn’t fit. But that didn’t mean I was chubby. My hips have shifted. Or I am not that far off from where I was (oh I am). Because in my head, I wasn’t overweight (oh I am). I was in complete denial.

This isn’t the first time my body imagine has not matched reality. When I went to college, as a quintessential overachiever, I gained 30 pounds.

Yet, I remained as confident as ever. I went through three full years of undergrad before I actually realized that I was chubby and needed to rethink my habits. I won’t forget the day it hit me. I was sitting in a class, talking to a girl who lived in my dorm who was friends with my roommate. She was telling me a story about someone. Or trying to see if I knew someone. That part of the story has faded. But the rest of our conversation, I can close my eyes and find myself sitting in that classroom. There were no desks, and the plastic chairs made a giant circle outlining the room. It was right before class as we made what I had amounted to nothing more than small talk. She began describing this girl she was talking about to me.

“She is a little bit of a bigger girl. You know, like you.”

Those words stung. In that moment, I wanted to cry and run out of the classroom. I replayed her words over and over in my head on my walk back to my room after class. I had to get them out of my head. So I joined Weight Watchers. lost the weight, and got myself down to 128 pounds. I was fit, healthy, and happy.

This time, she hasn’t been around to bring me back to reality. So I am not sure what happened to snap me out of it. But yesterday, I realized that maybe I was a bit farther away from my pre-baby weight than I’d like, and I need to kick it into gear if I want to feel confident in my skin by summer (and more importantly, my Italian vacation with my husband).

So I am embarking on the 8 week total body challenge on the Strive with Megan app. It includes a daily 22-28 minute workout and a meal plan. It’ll be tough. Mostly because Matt loves snacking and I love to be part of the party 😉 But I’ve done it before. So it’ll happen again.

We tried one of the meals from the 8 week meal plan, and it was delicious! I tweaked it a bit to make it our own, including adding rice because otherwise Matt would have claimed there was just not enough food. It was simple to make, and the ingredients are mostly items that you would find in your kitchen on any day. Matt put this on his: make again list.

[ps: I don’t plan to share other variations of the meals from the Strive app but I encourage you to get the app yourself!]

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts

December 4, 2012 No Comments

Christmas time is here! Wow, that was fast. Wasn’t I just picking out costumes for Halloween and picking fresh veggies from our garden? Gah, life has a way of catching up with me! So I spent the past weekend going to Kohl’s and stocking up on new Christmas decorations. My living room, kitchen, and tv room are slowly becoming decked with jiggle bells and mistletoe.

And in that spirit of giving, my husband bought me a new purse, wallet, and clutch for winter. I’m a big believer in having a summer purse, a fall purse, a spring purse, and a winter purse. I blame my mother. Her purses were always inspired by the weather.

I wanted to show my gratitude by making something special for Matt. Matt loves wings. Whenever I find a recipe that has some spin on buffalo wings, I bookmark it. Of course, I also have a wing tooth–I love the salty, spicy flavor of a good batch of wings. Unfortunately, so do my thighs. Hence, looking for the same tasty flavors minus the hefty calories. This stuffed chicken is exactly that! A low-calorie option to deep fried wings.

chicken, main dishes, recipes

Sesame Encrusted Baked Chicken

October 9, 2012 No Comments

I finally have joined the rest of the world–I own a smart phone! After years of free phones that can hardly text, my phone is fully functional, complete with GPS and Words with Friends. But the best part of having a smartphone is the camera! For the past couple of years, I’ve had to bug Matt for his phone whenever the urge for a photoshoot struck. Now I can whip out my own phone without the hassle of convincing Matt to fork over his.

My last recipe required so much prep work and cooking time. This recipe is much more worker-friendly. The ingredients are all ones that you can normally find in your cupboard. It was a simple, yummy meal that I recommend on those busy nights.