Tapioca pudding

My dentist canceled my appt for today, which means no crown for my back molar until it's rescheduled and nothing crunchy any time in the foreseeable future.

So I tried my hand at tapioca pudding.

The Kraft minute tapioca recipe is as follows:
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons minute tapioca
- 2 3/4 cups milk
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients but vanilla in medium saucepan. Let stand five minutes.

Bring mixture to a rapid bowl on medium heat, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Stir and serve.

But I never follow directions. So my ingredients look like this:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons minute tapioca
- 2 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg well beaten
Combine as directed. Let stand.
Before heating, add one cup diced strawberries.
After boiling, add 1 teaspoon almond extract instead of vanilla and a pinch of nutmeg.

Yum! Oh, this is delightful.

Parmesan pasta florentine

My husband is trying to perk me up after we've all had a rough weekend. My physical health is not what it should be and after working close to 15 hours already this weekend (and two more days to go), he wants to help and make a nice meal.

He looked through my family favorites cookbook and he managed to find three options, two of which he thought looked too complicated. He suggested:

- omelet (the easy one he knew he could handle, why didn't I just pick this?)
- chicken française (more complicated AND our chicken is frozen)
- Parmesan pasta florentine (easier than chicken française)

I picked the pasta. And then I realized I don't think it's in this blog. The recipe is from an old Kraft promotional cookbook.

The Kraft recipe for Parmesan pasta florentine:
(mine is always vegetarian, they use chicken broth. Because really, how can you make something this green and put it chicken broth?)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup chicken broth (I usually use vegetable or even spicy Thai vegetable, but today i'm advocating the use of the liquid in the can of spinach)
- 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained (today I used 13.5 ounces canned spinach and used the liquid to replace the broth as I mentioned earlier)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion (I normally omit, or through in some chives instead)
- 2 garlic gloves, minced (I had to use the jarred garlic as I still have no fresh, bad me)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 8 ounces linguine, cooked and drained ( I often use rotini)

Place milk, broth, and spinach in blender.
In saucepan, or in a big French skillet if you're me, sauté the onions and garlic in the butter. Add spinach mixture and cook for five minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add cheese and pepper, stirring one minute until slightly thickened.
Pour onto pasta.

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

 After a long weekend working on my take-home final (I spent 15 hours at the computer), I recycled that store-bought chicken my mother-in-law presented as dinner Friday. Yesterday, my daughter spent the day with a friend (meals included) and more or less lived on Christmas cookies and then we had Taco Bell for dinner when she arrived home early and unexpected. 

For breakfast, we had gingerbread man (nothing healthy there) and gave the daughter some apple juice and cheddar cheese. By lunch, I had the final complete and emailed off to my French professor so I thought I'd treat the family to a real meal.

My husband bought cream cheese while Christmas shopping yesterday so that's the only item for this recipe that came from outside the house. They turned out a tad saucy but that's because I put in too much liquid. (I'll explain as I progress here.) It was so yummy my daughter asked for seconds and we didn't have any more burrito shells thawed so we poured the sauce over tortilla chips for her. That suited her just fine. The leftovers I will use as sauce for spaghetti, since it's so juicy and protein rich.

This recipe is adapted from a free Kraft cookbook I picked up at the grocery store during the 1992 Olympics. Their recipe is from the Champion Chicken chapter. Creamy Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas. Now, as usual, I veered greatly. I don't think I can post the original recipe without confusing what I made. So, I'm posting mine.

Use Up that Gross Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

1 clove garlic, sliced; 

1 tablespoon butter; 

1 teaspoon olive oil; 

leftover chicken; 

1/4 cup half-and-half; 

1 can petite diced tomatoes (and the liquid);

1 teaspoon spicy Indian chili powder; 

1 teaspoon ground cumin; 

1 teaspoon basil; 

8 oz cream cheese; 

3 oz mild cheddar; 

3 oz extra sharp cheddar; 

about 1 cup fresh broccoli; 

tortillas

In a fairly large saucepan, heat oil, butter and sliced garlic over medium-low. After a minute or two, when the aroma begins, add the half and half and spices. Cook for a couple minutes. Add tomatoes (if you don't want it as juicy as mine, pour off the liquid first). Add broccoli, chopped as small as possible. Add cream cheese and cook over medium for about five minutes. After the cream cheese melted, I added my chicken into the pot, but you can leave the chicken plain and pour the sauce over it. I like giving the chicken a chance to absorb the flavors. After a few minutes, add the cheese. When cheese melts, dish onto tortillas and serve.