Creamy Chicken Gnocchi

Over the Spring Break someone asked me if I had ever made gnocchi. No, never have made fresh or cooked with pre-made either. I would love to make fresh gnocchi but I just cannot muster the energy to make fresh pasta of any variety. Of course having discussed gnocchi now I wanted it so I made Creamy Chicken Gnocchi with Spinach using store bought found in the same the isle with dried pastas.

Modifications Made:

In making the sauce, the Italian seasoning was substituted with oregano, rosemary, basil, and fennel to equal half teaspoon, and only one cup of Parmesan cheese instead of two.

A whole chicken about four pounds was boiled with onion, garlic, salt and pepper, de-boned, shredded, and contents divided in half. One half for dinner tonight, the other for tomorrow, broth (minus one cup for tonight) frozen for another day with onions and garlic and all.

Fresh chard roughly chopped replaced the spinach as was added the same time the chicken was to allow time to fully soften in the sauce.

Scaled for Likability: Great

Everything was simple about this dish. It was made with simple staple ingredients (minus the gnocchi which is found at almost every grocer so it is simple to find, too), comes together in a simple to prepare cream sauce, and its simplicity in flavors is soul filling. The next time this dish is made, a heaping tablespoon of garlic will be added to the sauce, the chicken will be omitted to create a vegetarian dish, the chard will be doubled and finely chopped, and a dash of nutmeg will be added directly before serving. This dish would also be fantastic with a sprinkling of crunchy bacon crumbles across the top. The crunch would offset the softness of the gnocchi creating a well balanced texture meal.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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