Chicken, Lemon, Dill with Orzo

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100

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I cant believe I made it to 100 posts! This started as a whim and a way to organize my recipes without cluttering my kitchen. I never though anyone else would be interested in what goes on in my kitchen. For those who have cooked with me, commented, or just lurked I thank you for your time. Going forward I hope to offer some cool give-aways and promotional items and get some feedback on what you would like to see. Thank you all so much~

I made another eh-dinner tonight. So it's good thing I have some recipes stored up waiting to be blogged about. This recipe was totally in my wheelhouse. Anything that takes minimal time to prep, uses basic pantry ingredients, and gets such great results is a favorite in this house. I am actually making this meal again this week because I loved it so much...ok I blew the verdict but if since I have some meals saved up if it wasnt delicious I would skip it. I love love love that you can just throw it all in a baking dish and totally forget about it and after 40 minutes you have dinner. The flavors were really great. The chicken was also really tender. There isnt anything I would change about this recipe.

Chicken, Lemon, Dill with Orzo Bake

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 pound chicken tenderloins, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound orzo

2 cups crumbled feta (4 ounces)

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill

lemon zest, from 1 whole lemon, plus the juice from entire lemon

1 cup grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, bring broth, 3/4 cup water, butter, salt, and pepper to a boil.

In a 3-quart baking dish, combine chicken, orzo, feta, dill, lemon zest and juice. Pour broth mixture over orzo and stir once to incorporate.

Bake until orzo is tender and cooking liquid is creamy, 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Nanny's Goulash

Nanny's Goulash

I have to be honest I am not sure who Nanny is and I have no idea where I got this recipe from. But its a repeat recipe in our house. I like it for the following reasons

1. Its really quick & easy to make
2. You get meat and veggies all in one dish
3. You only use one pan
4. It uses all ingredients you usually have in your pantry/fridge

So for me its pretty much a home run. I serve it over mashed potatoes or rice. Tonight I cheated and used Ore Ida steam and mash potatoes. I just wasn't in the mood to peel, chop, boil or mash. They aren't as good as homemade, but close enough for me. As a side note about the steam and mashers, the sweet potatoes are much better then the regular.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound lean ground beef -I use 93% lean
1 (8 ounce) package fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 zucchini, thickly sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped

DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Remove beef with a slotted spoon and discard fat.
Return skillet to stove, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in mushrooms, green and red peppers, squash, onion, paprika, basil, garlic salt, and pepper; cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to medium. Stir in beef and tomatoes; simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Changes I made: I omitted the mushrooms. Why you ask? Because I don't like Mushrooms so if they are in a recipe I don't put them in. Its kind of stupid because I know they don't really taste like anything but its my own food hang-up and I cant get past it. I also added a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce. I think it gives it a bit more pep. You could also add a few splashes of beef broth if you had it handy, some minced garlic would be good also.

Reviews: Since I have made this a bunch of times before, it gets the highest honor in my house. Its just a good comfort meal that never disappoints. It has earned the toddler seal of approval but tonight he was only interested in the mashed potatoes and eventually I made him some store bought turkey meatballs too. * I don't do this often but the birthday boy had a not so good lunch either. I was kind of insulted that he would rather eat the yucky meatballs but I wont hold it against him.

if you add a candle to mashed potatoes its a PARTY

And I felt bad that Jackson was getting all the limelight so here is Miss Amelia after she enjoyed her yummy dinner of Squash and Rice Cereal