New York Renovator

With hat in hand, I offer my sincerest apologies to those of you who have asked for my Chili recipe and I have neglected to send it to you. I FINALLY posted the recipe on my cooking blog, Wow Chow Cooking. (My daughter made up that name for the cooking blog, isn’t it catchy?!). Sorry it took me sooo long, but I finally took a photo while making it this time, and finally remembered to do it! Enjoy!

(You may notice that the photo watermark has the wrong blog on it. :-p I wasn’t paying attention when I was cropping and editing the photo, as I was also helping one kid with phonics, another with bar graphs, another with Kepler’s laws of motion, and another with laundry at the same time! lol!!)

I concocted this Chicken Riggies Recipe after eating it at the Hotel Utica in Utica, NY. Chicken Riggies is a local creation– a very yummy creation– in Utica, NY. “Riggies” is the local slang for rigatoni pasta. Here in Central New York, there are a lot of Italians and, therefore, we have a lot of terrific Italian recipes. I am not Italian, but I grew up in an Italian home in an Italian area of NY. So, I cook a lot of Italian dishes. Here’s one of my recipes. I initially posted this on my New York Traveler blog, where it was Stumbled and was plastered all over the Internet.

As with a lot of Italian dishes, the ingredients are largely “a little this” and “a little that.” That’s how I cook. Chicken Riggies is a chicken and tomato cream sauce with sherry. If you like creamier sauces, add more cream; if you like a spicier dish, add more cherry peppers; etc. This is a great recipe to experiment with, because you can do so much with it. Here’s how I like it (which is: less creamy, more tomato-y, and less saucy).

Chicken Riggies
Feeds an army or 3 to 4 Italians

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 3 or 4 hot cherry peppers (from the jar), seeded and chopped (add less or more if you are a glutton for punishment)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 cans (28 oz. or so) diced tomatoes
• 4 leaves freshly chopped basil, or 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup sherry (optional; I always add it)
• 4 to 5 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces*
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup light cream (depending on taste)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)
• 2 1-lb. boxes of penne rigati or rigatoni

* I usually pre-boil the chicken breasts for about 15 minutes, just as they are turning tender. However, in the summer, I grill a few extra chicken breasts, cube them, and freeze them specifically for this recipe. I simply pull them out when it’s Chicken Riggies time. The grill flavor really comes out for this dish. [...]

All the fancy schmancy rigamarole about vitamins, supplements, organic foods, non-organic foods and etc got you baffled? Yeah, me too. Here’s a really neat site to help us out of our bafflements (and I love the title, too): The Whole Story.

It’s a website dedicated to educating everyone how to eat healthier. They have a special supplements podcast right now, called “The ABC’s of Supplements,” detailing the in’s and out’s of everything supplements. It’s done by a nutritionist, Malia Curran. She unravels some of the mystery of the terminology and regulation of supplements, answers questions, and more. This is a good one– if you’re into heavy-duty nutrition, you’ll want to check it out.

I’ve frequented this site several times in the past, for their recipes and information on various nutritional foods. It’s a very good site! If you are interested in anything food (and we all are, at least as far as eating is concerned!), then you will like the site. I’ve never heard any of the podcasts, though. They do sound interesting. It’s the online cooking show that I like! The site is an extention of Whole Foods Market, one of the leading organic and natural foods supermarket. At the site, you can check for store locations, find tips and facts, recipes, products, and loads more stuff! It’s a great place to send homeschooled kids to for their home economics lessons, too.

Happy New Year!

How’s it working, with you using up all those leftovers from the holiday meals?

Yeah, me neither.

Well, I have some good news for you. I was scouting out deals at local stores (I tend to do my yearly gift-giving shopping after the holdays, when sales are to be had), and found this:

This is THE best casserole recipe book, ever! I just *hate* casseroles. :-p They are usually too heavy, too creamy, and too dry. So I rarely make them. But what else can you do with leftovers?! I found this book, Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of Casseroles. It was in the clearance shelf at TJ Maxx (amongst the stale candles, ice cream makers and mini air tools). It was selling for $20 there, originally, but I got it for $5.99! Not even Amazon can top that price!

The recipes are pretty good, and are organized into meatless, potluck, side dish, poultry, bread, dessert, and etc. There are some good tips and resources in the front of the book. Looks like a good one, with over 380 recipes! Not too bad for $6, eh?

I have a great recipe for you! It’s a “cheap” recipe, too. I haven’t made it in so long, and decided to do it again this week. So I thought I’d share, because sharing makes you feel good inside, HA! .

Chicken, Shrimp, and Pasta

Will serve a small army or 3-4 Italians

4-5 chicken breasts, deboned and skinned
5 pounds of pre-cooked shrimp (frozen bags of cooked shrimp are perfect- just thaw before using)
i bag (10 oz) frozen string green beans
chopped fresh basil or dry basil
olive oil
2 pounds spaghetti, cooked
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Throw in a large wok with enough olive oil to coat the chicken.
Throw in the green beans and shrimp. Add more olive oil if mixture gets too dry.
Add basil, and salt and pepper to taste.
When chicken is done and the beans and shrimp are cooked thorough, toss into spaghetti and mix.
Serve with salad greens and bread!

It’s a yummy meal and so easy to make. You can even get varied and add other ingredients.

“Anyone who can read, can cook,” my mother used to say. She had the best cookbooks, too. So I’m always on the prowl for good recipes. Because my family is getting tired of Baked Ziti and Tuna Casserole, lol. I did a stint with Mexican recipes for a while (always popular in the summertime), but as autumn comes upon us, I am looking for comfort foods. And oh wow, did I hit the jackpot! Someone linked to Pioneer Woman Cooks. Holy cow, how did I ever not see this blog before. The lady who runs the site is hilarious, too. I am in love with her brisket recipe.

Going to try it tomorrow. I’ll try to remember and take photos. But if you’re looking for some great ideas and recipes, or just want to read some fun and entertaining blog posts, check out her blog. It’s a hoot!