CEIMB: Chicken with Mango Barbecue Sauce

This week's chicken with mango barbecue sauce was chosen by Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen. I was super excited about this recipe because I love barbecue sauce and I was so excited to make my own! This sauce was very different than I imagined it would be at the outset but it was really good. The sauce was much thicker than I thought it would be. I substituted a green pepper for the red pepper and I used about a tablespoon of tomato paste and a splash of water in place of the tomato sauce. Otherwise, I pretty much stuck to the recipe. Maybe the changes resulted in a very thick sauce? I cant wait to see how everyone's sauce turned out!

I baked my chicken instead of grilling it. I was too tired to tackle cleaning the grill pan after cooking the chicken so I opted for the easy way. I baked the chicken in a covered dish for about 40 minutes and then finished it off under the broiler! It was excellent! The cats loved it!

Plus, I am using the extra barbecue sauce today to make barbecue pork. I left the pork and sauce cooking in the crock pot today. I can't wait to get home and see how it turned out!

Aggie, thanks for picking a fabulous recipe this week!

CEIMB: Greek Style Stuffed Peppers or Cooking Disaster...you be the judge

The recipe this week was chosen by Ali of The Healthy Hostess. I was excited about a stuffed peppers recipe because the stuffed peppers I usually make tend to be very boring ...onions, ground turkey breast, squash, zucchini, salt pepper, red pepper flakes, and a little melted Swiss or mozzarella cheese. They are good, but not very exciting.

So, needless to say, I was excited about a new recipe that changed things up a bit. I even went out on a limb and bought bulger wheat. I still don't know what it is, but I am the proud owner of virtually an entire box of it!!

As for the recipe -- I used ground chicken because Publix was all out of ground turkey breast. I also substituted diced tomatoes for stewed tomatoes. I didn't even realize this was a substitution until my dear friend Peggy explained the difference to me the other day. Thanks Peggy! So come to find out I use and will continue using diced tomatoes in everything I make. Really, the diced v. stewed thing is something I just don't have time for! So, other than these 2 changes, I think I followed the recipe to a T. I made the peppers on Sunday night and got them all ready to go for baking on Monday night. Monday night I rushed home and added the tomatoes and feta and threw the tomatoes in the oven. 70 minutes passed, 90 minutes passed and at the 2 hour mark, I finally decided to call them done. They were brown on top and looked very delicious. Granted, cat food was starting to sound pretty good by that point too. So, I sliced into the pepper and started eating it. My first impression was that it was very bland -- nothing that some salt and pepper couldn't fix. I also thought that the meat mixture turned out a little dry and dense. So, even though it wasn't not my favorite stuffed pepper, it would fill a hollow space and I wasn't going to complain too much. That is until I realized that the meat mixture in the peppers was no where close to being cooked -- in fact it was still raw ground chicken! Great, I thought -- just what I need...salmonella. So, into the trash the peppers went.

I think I will stick to my boring old stuffed peppers recipe, because there was way too much disaster involved with this one for me to ever think about making it again. Plus, I usually cook everything before stuffing the peppers which eliminates the "still raw in the middle" possibility.

Thanks Ali for picking this recipe. I hope everyone else had more luck with their stuffed peppers than I did!

Luckily, for desert I had one last lava cake to eat! I will have to post a picture of this creation later! Oh, and no sickness to report after eating not just raw chicken, but raw ground chicken. Im counting my lucky stars!

CEIMB - Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

This week's recipe of fish tacos with chipotle cream was chosen by Nick, Sarah and Geoff from Imafoodblog. I have always been somewhat skeptical of fish tacos. I am not sure why, but I am. I'm somewhat picky about fish...so maybe that leads to not so much wanting to order a fish taco. People always say they are good, but eh, if they are...I have always decided that I would just have to miss out. The cats are much more a fan of fish than I am. They were super excited about another seafood pick!

Well in the spirit of being a good food blogger, I decided to give the fish tacos a go. And I must say, maybe fish tacos aren't so bad. In fact, they are really good. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are SPICY!!!! I mean wow...who knew??? I slapped a tablespoon or so of sauce on the taco (in an attempt to cover up the fishiness) and I wanted to cry my mouth was so on fire!!! Note to self...a small amount of sauce will do.

I used tillapia and added some avocado and tomatoes to the mix of veggies decorations for the tacos. While they are somewhat different, I am glad I decided to make them. I can't wait to see what everyone else has to say about the tacos!

Now I just have to figure out what to do with 28 more corn tortillas!! Enchiladas??? Any other suggestions?

Thanks to Imafoodblog for picking fish tacos this week. Maybe I will actually go out on a limb and order them at a restaurant sometime soon!

CEIMB - Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens

This week's recipe of Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens was chosen by Joanne of Apple Crumbles. I must first admit that I had no idea what bok choy looked like. I was dilligently reading the veggie signs in Publix trying to locate said bok choy. As soon as I found, I immediately knew that I was not going to like it. Why you ask -- because it wasn't firm, but it wasn't soft either. Its a texture thing.

I thought the bok choy itself was very bland. I just realized that I forgot to put the sesame seeds on top of the bok choy. Maybe they would have added some flavor, but they would not have changed the unfortunate texture of the bok choy. I now know what the one veggie I always pick out of chinese food is!

On a positive note, I really liked the mixture of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. The combination would be great on stir fry veggies. Thanks Joanne for the recipe pick this week. While bok choy is not my favorite veggie, I definitely like the stir fry sauce and will try it on other vegetables.

CEIMB: Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes

The week's recipe of Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes was chosen by Pamela of Cookies with Boys. This was one of the recipes I was eyeing a few weeks back when it was my turn to choose the sacred recipe of the week. While it sounded good, I just couldn't decide how I felt about shrimp and feta together. I love them each separately...but together???? I really was not sure. Well let me tell you that shrimp and feta are FABULOUS together! I absolutely loved this recipe and it was so so easy to whip together on a week night. I stopped off at Publix on the way home to grab some shrimp and feta and I was good to go.

As to the actual recipe, I only used one can of tomatoes instead of the two cans called for. In place of the other can of tomatoes I used about 1.5-2 Tablespoons of tomato paste, 3/4 to a cup of white wine and then just a splash of water to ensure that there was enough sauce. Also, I used dried dill and parsley instead of fresh herbs. I reduced the amount of herbs, but really though the dried herbs along with the tomato paste gave the dish a really deep flavor. I was torn over whether to serve the shrimp over pasta or crusty bread. I decided on making a little bit of both and they were both great!! I liked the linguine because it added substance to the dish. The buttery crusty bread was great for soaking up all the tomato sauce and feta!

Thanks Pamela for picking a fabulous recipe this week! This is definitely something I will make again and again!!

CEIMB -Sesame Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

The recipe this week was chosen by Jessica of Johnstone's Vin Blanc. This recipe was very easy to make and very yummy!! I am usually not a fan of chicken thighs, but I found some skinless, boneless thighs and decided to give them a try. I also cooked a boneless chicken breast in case I didn't like the thighs. I love, loved the marinade. It was so easy to make and the chicken was so flavorful after sitting in the marinade for about an hour. I was a little worried about broiling the chicken since the broiler in my oven is about 2 inches from the flame!!! Yikes! No worries though, the chicken cooked very quickly and turned out great. I definitely liked the boneless chicken breast better than the chicken thighs. Thanks for picking a great recipe this week. I will definitely make this again and again!!

CEIMB - Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This week Cathy of The Tortefeasor chose Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip! Great pick for Superbowl weekend. However, I am such a slacker this week and did not have time to make this recipe. I have been in Delaware all week tromping through the snow and didn't get around to cooking anything this week.

Cathy and I work together and hands down, Cathy is the funniest person I have ever met. Seriously, if you are not laughing by the time you finish reading any one of her blog posts, something is seriously wrong with you! Cathy, I am so sorry I am such a slacker this week. I will have to bring you cookies and a various assortment of cooking items to make this one up to you!

I hope everyone enjoyed the recipe!