Monthly Archives: January 2012

Chicken Piccata, a Makeover, and Stalking

Posted by emmarudolph in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

As you can see, nevernothungry is getting some changes. It’s only mid blog makeover, but still, I hope you’re even a little bit as excited as I am. Special thanks to Hanna Bulger at good girl graphics for her creative eye and expertise!

You know what I love about Chicken Piccata? Everything! Lightly breaded, tender slices of chicken breasts in a delicious wine and lemon sauce with tart capers. Add a glass of Pinot Grigio and a side of whole wheat pasta and I’m heaven. (I ask myself everyday how I ended up a 30-year-old mother in the body of a college student…. scroll to the bottom of the page for more boring stuff about me)

What’s awesome about this piccata recipe is that you can easily substitute the chicken for virtually any other protein. Shrimp or mahi-mahi are equally delicious and compliment the piccata sauce well. Buying frozen fish is cheapest (Trader Joe’s has exceptionally low prices) but make sure the fish is fully defrosted before cooking. A side note on capers: For those of you who haven’t had capers before, they’re basically a combo of olives and pickles in the form of tiny, juicy balls. They add a nice salty taste to the sauce.

My poorly documented chicken piccata

My poorly documented chicken piccata

A much more appetizing photo of chicken piccata (http://homecookinginmontana.blogspot.com/2010/04/chicken-picattaquick-dinners-part-1.html)

A much more appetizing photo of chicken piccata

Chicken Piccata

Makes 4 Servings

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil -  one quart extra virgin olive oil runs about $5 at most grocery stores and will last you a long time
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour-  a 4 pound bag costs about $2-3 and will last you a long time
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs -  $2 for 15 oz.
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts -  about $3-5 or $5-7 for organic chicken
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable stock -  $1.50 for a standard sized 28 oz carton
  • 1/4 cup white wine -  a cheap $3 bottle works fine
  • 1 large lemon -  about $1
  • 3 tablespoons capers -  about $3 a jar

Approximate cost: $7.50, which makes 4 servings at $1.87 each

Approximate cooking time: 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 300. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. In a shallow bowl, combine flour, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Cut chicken lengthwise into strips, approximately 1-2 inches wide. Coat both sides of chicken in flour/bread crumb mixture. If mixture does not adhere well, add a little lemon juice to the chicken before coating.

Chicken should look like this before going into the hot pan

Chicken should look like this before going into the hot pan

Cook chicken in pan, five minutes on each side until coating is crispy and chicken is white through the center. Place skillet in oven.

Chicken should look like this before placing in oven

Chicken should look like this before placing in oven

In a separate sauce pan, heat stock and wine over high heat. Cut lemon into thin slices and add to simmering sauce. Add capers and let boil for about 5 minutes. If thicker sauce is desired, stir in whole wheat flour until consistency is reached.

Piccata Sauce

Piccata Sauce

Remove chicken from oven and combine with sauce. Serve hot!

A terrible photo of my chicken piccata, 5-minute zucchini, and roasted squash

A terrible photo of my chicken piccata, 5-minute zucchini, and roasted squash

Enough about piccata, more about me! I’ve been doing a lot of stalking lately. Stalking blogs. Food and fashion mostly, like these ones:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

http://www.hungrymeetshealthy.com/

http://galmeetsglam.com/

http://www.mystylepill.com/ – (give me this girl’s wardrobe!!!)

AND lots and lots of friends’ blogs for study abroad. So jealous of all you guys bopping around Europe and South America! To think it was almost exactly one year ago I left for Spain.

At least I’m still getting a little travel in… I’ve just returned from an amazing weekend in southern Florida. My friend and I took a spontaneous road trip to watch the Wellington Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). WEF is basically a giant horse show that attracts the most elite, and often international, riders. I was in equestrian heaven! Every horse/rider combination I’ve ever been in admiration of since I can remember was there. And I got to stalk them in the flesh! Although 24 hours of my weekend was spent in a car driving from Charleston to Wellington and back, the few hours of 85 degree Florida sunshine I was able to enjoy were absolutely perfect. Undoubtedly the best part of the weekend was eating real French crepes (banana and nutella) and watching the big eq! Amazing!

The dorkiest photo ever but I felt it was a must for my first time WEF experience

The dorkiest photo ever but I felt it was a must for my first time WEF experience

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, a special request to my adored readers. If you have a Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, a blog, whatever would you PLEASE help me spread the word of nevernothungry.com by posting the site on one of your pages? Thank you, thank you, thank you

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup and a Chocolate Tasting

Posted by emmarudolph in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been suffering from serious writer’s block lately. Not ideal for blogging and especially not ideal for passing three writing-based classes. On top of having absolutely no genuine creative thoughts as of lately, I’m also on day 10 of a cold that just won’t seem to go away….uh oh, I’m doing that thing where bloggers just whine about their lives. Better get to the good stuff. Chicken tortilla soup will make all your woes go away! MAKE THIS! It will make you feel good; it’s healthy, hearty, and DELICIOUS! Just look at that….

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Soups recipes can be difficult, time consuming, and use lots of complicated kitchenware. This recipe is not. If you are so fortunate to be the proud owner of a Crock-Pot, you can simply place all the ingredients listed below (*instead of roasting the pepper, cut off the top, remove seeds, and cut into strips) into the Crock-Pot on high for 3-4 hours. Before serving, cut the chicken into pieces. Add garnish, as you would with the stove-top cooked version

Makes 5 Hearty Servings

  • 1 bell pepper -  about $1
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts -  about $3-5 or $5-7 for organic chicken
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil -  one quart extra virgin olive oil runs about $5 at most grocery stores and will last you a long time
  • 1 yellow onion, diced -  about $1
  • 4 garlic cloves, diced -  I like to buy pre-peeled cloves to make life easier, about $1.50 for one bulb
  • 1 4-oz can diced green chilies, drained – about $1.50
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional) -  an average 13g costs about $3-4 and will last you for years
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (optional) -  an average 13g costs about $3-4 and will last you for years
  • 1 can hominy, rinsed and drained -  about $1.50
  • 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes -  about $1.50
  • 1 1/2 quart chicken broth (6 cups)  – about $4

For the Garnish:

  • 2 corn tortillas, sliced lengthwise into fifths -  about $3 for a pack of 12 (you can freeze what you don’t use)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped -  about $2 for a large bunch/ 1 oz
  • 1 lime, sliced -  about .70¢
  • 1 avocado, sliced -  about $1.25

Approximate cost: $15, which makes 5 servings at $3.00 each

Approximate cooking time: 45 minutes

A side note on hominy: Hominy is a grain, it’s like corn, and its kind of confusing so read about it here. What I can tell you is that hominy makes this soup incredibly filling (that’s a good thing!) and its unique and y’all should be branching out in your culinary endeavors….

This is hominy.

This is hominy.

Preheat oven to 400. Wrap one bell pepper in tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes, until slightly browned.

Your pepper should look something like this

Your pepper should look something like this

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the chicken breasts, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until breasts are cooked through. The chicken should be white through the center.

Not very appetising, I know but this is step 2

Not very appetising, I know but this is step 2

Drain and set chicken breasts aside to cool. Chop into bite size pieces. You can also shred it with your fingers. Oooh fun! Remove bell pepper from foil (CAREFULLY, it’s hot!) and let cool. Cut off stem, remove seeds, dice pepper.

Starting to look yummy again (I hope)

Starting to look yummy again (I hope)

Place a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and diced yellow onions. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes until onions become translucent. Add diced garlic and drained diced green chilies, chili powder and cumin. Stir.

Onions, garlic, diced chillies

Onions, garlic, diced chillies

Add diced tomatoes, drained hominy, chicken stock, diced chicken, and pepper.  Stir and bring to a boil

Add diced tomatoes, drained hominy, chicken stock, diced chicken and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil

Add diced tomatoes, drained hominy, chicken stock, diced chicken and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil

Prepare garnish

Cut ingredients like so

Cut ingredients like so (*not shown: lime)

Place garnish on the bottom of a bowl, squeeze in lime juice, serve soup hot on top of garnish

Pouring soup on top of garnish

Pouring soup on top of garnish

Finished product! Tada!

Finished product! Tada!

On a side note…. I’ve just broken my almost one month hiatus from chocolate! Don’t ask me what I was thinking. All I know now is I can not live without chocolate. So to celebrate my re-entrance in the chocolate world, I had a little chocolate tasting. Not quite as glamarous as it sounds- pathetic, really since I’m in my room, alone, with a glass of milk. Here’s what I got

chocolate heaven?

chocolate heaven?

I HIGHLY recommend the ‘Lake Champlain Peppermint Crunch Dark Chocolate’ with real chunks of peppermint in it….OMG!

This and That

Posted by emmarudolph in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , ,
A new semester has begun. 8am classes have become a tormenting part of my routine as well as devouring open-faced pb&js en route to class. Already, the tone of this semester is busy, busy, and you guessed it, more busy. So busy, in fact, I couldn’t even get it together to write a proper recipe. So below I’ve offered some of my best tips for quick snacks, lunches, and some useful $ saving links.
HealthIER Tuna
Instead of turning tuna, an uber-healthy, cheap, and easy meal, into a vehicle for fat (i.e. America’s favorite: MAYO), try this yummy mayo subsitute. Way less fat content and more flavor (believe it or not!)
  • 1 can tuna, drained
  • 1 tablespoon nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • pepper to taste

Even Better Tuna!!
As my wonderful and intelligent, but occasionally culinary-challenged, roommate reminded me the other day, making a delicious sandwich is not something that comes naturally to the average college student. So, if you are one of those kids in need of expanding your horizons beyond ham and cheese, look no further! This sandwich is satisfying, easy, and fulfills three major food groups: vegetables, grain, and protein.

  • 2 slices whole grain bread
  • 3 oz of tuna (see recipe above) or sliced turkey
  • ¼ of an avocado
  • handful of spinach or dark lettuce leaves
  • thinly sliced yellow onion
  • salt and pepper

Toast the bread, spread avocado on one slice. Place spinach on toast. Place tuna on top of spinach, followed by onion and salt and pepper. Place toast on top….eat

1 Minute Homemade Dressing
This dressing (which is actually a vinaigrette) is a staple in my house. Super easy to make and has a very light taste that goes with almost any salad. I find it’s much easier to keep these three basic ingredients in my kitchen rather than a bottle of dressing that goes bad quickly.

Makes 4 Servings

  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar

Whisk all ingredients together

Helpful Websites:

The Most Common Cooking Mistakes: http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-questions-tips-00400000064986/print-index.html

Great $$ saving tips: http://www.thekitchn.com/15-money-saving-163431