I'm back! I've been pretty busy lately - trying to get a few websites built (I will work for myself someday!!!! well, I hope so... I wish I were a coder, this would all be so much easier) and moving next week, not to mention looking for a new job - is taking its toll.

But I've still been cooking! I haven't made much new - but I thought I would write a little about what I've done recently...

Easy Baked Chicken Parm

This is pretty easy - you can do it two ways, fry the chicken in canola or peanut oil first- making sure that you have flattened the chicken out a little first to make it cook quicker - or just cook in the oven.

To fry:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Flatten out chicken to around .5" thick

Coat with flour

Coat with egg

Coat with breadcrumbs (italian seasoned)

Heat Canola or peanut oil

Fry chicken until almost done and the breading is browned.

For oven:

Preheat oven to 400

Coat chicken with bread crumbs

Cook chicken until almost done (about 20-25 mins), coating will probably not become as brown as the frying method.

Add some tomato sauce - any kind will do, use your favorite

Add some fresh basil (optional)

Add some Fresh Mozzarella cheese to top of chicken

Add some salt and pepper

Cook until cheese is fully melted and starting to brown.

Thats it!!! Not much to it. The 2nd method is a little healthier, but both are easy to make and taste great!

Easy Thai Peanut Chicken

This is really easy to make if you buy Thai Peanut Sauce at your local store.

Noodles:

1) Get some asian rice noodles - or use angel hair pasta

2) Cook noodles until done

-You could use rice too if you want

While noodles are cooking, do the chicken:

1) Cut up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite sized pieces

2) Heat peanut oil in pan until hot

3) Fry chicken in hot oil until done

In the meantime, toast some sesame seeds for a few mins in a pan over med-low heat - until brown.

Mix Chicken Pieces with Peanut Sauce - put over noodles - and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top!

Easy to make, tastes great - and something different! After cooking the chicken, you could also drain out most of the oil and stir fry some veggies like sliced carrots, snow peas, broccoli, etc.!

Should make a good amount of food - and this is something that you can easily make for just one person.

Wow - beena while since I posted something here. I've been out looking for new apartments around the NYC area - something I would not want to go through again... want to try to find a place without a broker? Good luck - I had no luck with Craigslist or any other non-broker service! We actually went to see a 'one bedroom with private garden' place that was $1495/month - great deal we thought . So did about 20 other people. When we walked into the place, if it was more than 100 sq feet I would be surprised! It was so small the room would have enough for a twin bed, if that! I don't even think that would fit in the 'living room'. It was hilarious! Oh well - we ended up spending more than we wanted to each month, but at least we have a great place... price you pay for living in the city I guess.

I haven't really made much that was new for a while - between New Years and things going on I've just been making basic things like chicken sausage and rice, or other meals that aren't really 'receipes'.

I did make Chicken Paprikash the other night, and it turned out pretty well despite my ghetto version of this receipe - my Mom used to make this when I was a kid (I'm hugarian and this is a Hungarian dish). I'm sure there are more 'official' receipes for this out there, but I thought that this was quick and easy and fit the bill close enough - plus it was cheap and pretty tasty... and cost maybe $10 to make at least 8 meals+!

Chicken Paprikash:

What you need:

1 Large Pot to put everything in
1 pot for cooking pasta

48 oz chicken broth
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 oz of sour cream (I used reduced fat)
2 jars of sliced mushrooms (optional)
4 Tbl Paprika
2 tsp cumin and 2 tsp curry powder (this is optional, i just threw it in because I like those two spices with paprika)
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 pkg egg noodles (I tend to buy the 'No Yolk' brand - less fat and cholesterol)
4 bay leaves
1/4 cup+ of flour to thicken mixture, mixed in a seperate small bowl with some water until all lumps are gone.

What you do:

1) Bring to a boil chicken broth, adding bayleaves
2) Bring to boil pasta water - cook pasta until al dente, 6 mins or so
3) Cut up chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces
4) Once broth is boiling, add chicken and spices, turn down heat to simmer
5) Cook until chicken is fully done - about 8-10 mins, remove bay leaves
6) Add sour cream, and flour mixture - stir in
7) Add mushrooms, cooked noodles - let simmer for a few more mins until heated through


Thats it! Easy, pretty tasty, cheap, and it makes at least 8 servings - not bad!

Well I hope once we move I don't have to just eat Rama noodles for every meal (only 25 cents though!!!) - on a positive note this blog will list even cheaper meals, hopefully giving some inspiration to other poor want-to be chefs out there!