Spicy Chicken Wraps

For the past few months, I've been making chicken wraps. They're one of my favorite things to both  make and eat, but every time I made them I felt like I should write down the recipe for my blog. No time was ever convenient, however, and I kept putting off the task. Finally I decided that I was going to write down the recipe and photograph the process, and here we are.

These chicken wraps are very simple and pretty healthy; you can use whole wheat flour for the wraps, and you are cooking the lean white chicken breast in extra virgin olive oil. You can top the wrap with yummy spinach or some cheese, or just eat it plain. However you decide to devour this meal, I promise you one thing: you will be very full and satisfied when you are finished!

Cut your chicken into uniform sized pieces, between half an inch and an inch. Put the chicken in a small bowl and combine the spices and extra virgin olive oil, mixing them gently until the chicken is evenly coated in oil and spices. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for the time being.

 

As your chicken marinates, mix together your flour, salt, and water to flour a slightly stiff ball of dough. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. If you find that your dough isn't collecting into a ball, add water a teaspoon at a time until you have reached the desired consistency.

 

Once you have your ball of dough, set a frying pan on the stovetop to heat at medium-high. As you wait for the pan to heat, cut your ball into three equal balls.  Lightly flour the countertop and roll out the balls into flat, round wraps, about seven inches or so across. 

 

Once your wraps are done, place one in your heated pan and wait about a minute. Once your dough starts to bubble up a little, that side is finished. Flip the dough and repeat for the second side. Be careful not to leave the wraps on for too long, or they will burn and taste a little bitter.

 

Repeat for the next two wraps, placing the finished wraps into a closed plastic bag. The trapped heat will help the wraps stay soft and not get hard and crack when bent.

 

Clean out your frying pan, set it back on medium-high heat, and wait until a sprinkle of water makes your pan sizzle. Pour in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and once the oil hits the heat it should become more fluid very fast. When this happens, place your marinated meat into the pan carefully, so that you don't splash hot oil on yourself. Using a wooden spatula (that's what I used, but feel free to use something else) move the chicken around frequently so it doesn't burn. The chicken will cook quite fast, and in a few minutes you can remove a piece of meat from the pan and cut into the middle. If there is any pink whatsoever, the chicken isn't finished. Put the chicken back into the pan and keep checking every minute or so until the meat is white all the way through. At this point, remove the chicken from the stovetop and put the pan on a hot pad on your counter.

 

I like to angle the pan a little so all the oil flows to one side of the pan, letting the chicken drain a little as they sit on the higher side of the pan.

 

 

Yields 2-3 servings
Ingredients:

Wraps:
1 C. white or whole wheat flour
1/4 t. salt
1/4 C. and 1 or 2 t. water

Chicken Filling:
1 large chicken breast, thawed
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 t. chili pepper
Dash of black cracked pepper
2 T. extra virgin olive oil

An additional T. extra virgin olive oil for cooking chicken

Cut your chicken into uniform sized pieces, between half an inch and an inch. Put the chicken in a small bowl and combine the spices and extra virgin olive oil, mixing them gently until the chicken is evenly coated in oil and spices. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for the time being.

As your chicken marinates, mix together your flour, salt, and water to flour a slightly stiff ball of dough. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. If you find that your dough isn't collecting into a ball, add water a teaspoon at a time until you have reached the desired consistency.

Once you have your ball of dough, set a frying pan on the stovetop to heat at medium-high. As you wait for the pan to heat, cut your ball into three equal balls.  Lightly flour the countertop and roll out the balls into flat, round wraps, about seven inches or so across. Once your wraps are done, place one in your heated pan and wait about a minute. Once your dough starts to bubble up a little, that side is finished. Flip the dough and repeat for the second side. Be careful not to leave the wraps on for too long, or they will burn and taste a little bitter. Repeat for the next two wraps, placing the finished wraps into a closed plastic bag. The trapped heat will help the wraps stay soft and not get hard and crack when bent.

Clean out your frying pan, set it back on medium-high heat, and wait until a sprinkle of water makes your pan sizzle. Pour in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and once the oil hits the heat it should become more fluid very fast. When this happens, place your marinated meat into the pan carefully, so that you don't splash hot oil on yourself. Using a wooden spatula (that's what I used, but feel free to use something else) move the chicken around frequently so it doesn't burn.

The chicken will cook quite fast, and in a few minutes you can remove a piece of meat from the pan and cut into the middle. If there is any pink whatsoever, the chicken isn't finished. Put the chicken back into the pan and keep checking every minute or so until the meat is white all the way through. At this point, remove the chicken from the stovetop and put the pan on a hot pad on your counter.

I like to angle the pan a little so all the oil flows to one side of the pan, letting the chicken drain a little as they sit on the higher side of the pan. Take out your wraps and fill two or three of them with the chicken, and feel free to add spinach, cheese, or anything else that strikes your fancy. I've only ever eaten these hot, but I'm sure they'd taste great cold as well. Enjoy!

A Tribute to Audrey Hepburn

Twenty-three years ago today, on January 20th, 1993, Audrey Hepburn died from cancer. She was only sixty-three years old.

My interest in Audrey Hepburn began early this summer after I happened, quite by chance, to watch a few movies, back to back, that starred Audrey. I'd always known about her; I mean, who HASN'T seen, or at least HEARD of, My Fair Lady? So while I knew about Audrey, I'd never had much interest in her life, but after seeing her moving and wonderful portrayals in Roman Holiday, Charade, and How To Steal A Million, I was hooked!

 

 

 

What first drew me to Hepburn was her beauty and her exquisite fashion sense! She dressed so elegantly, smiled so radiantly, and was loved by everybody. This superficial interest in looks and clothes drew me to start reading little bits, pieces, and facts about Audrey, and then I read Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Soul, by Sean Hepburn Ferrer (the oldest of her two sons) and Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris, as well as a few small books filled with glossy pictures and little facts about her life.

Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4th, 1929, and she originally wanted to be a ballet dancer, but WWII stopped that dream. She lived through the brutal Dutch Nazi occupation, and when the war was over she came to England. Audrey soon discovered that being a ballet dancer was not in the cards for her, but instead of sinking into depression she found work at the theater, and from there slipped into British films and finally made her way to Hollywood, where she starred in Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck as her first American movie.

 

After Roman Holiday, Audrey was made. She married twice in her life, having a son by each marriage, but although she was in huge demand she only made a few more than twenty movies in her lifetime, putting her career second to being a wife and mother. Audrey didn't care for Hollywood, and spent as much time as she could at her house and gardens in Switzerland.

After her second divorce, she entered into a relationship with another man and never married. Audrey spent the last years of her life as the special ambassador for UNICEF, visiting Africa, Vietnam, South America, and many other places. She made a total of eight trips to Third World countries, drawing enormous attention and support of the starving people there. It was after her last visit, this one to the country of Somalia, Audrey became ill, and died soon afterwards of appendiceal cancer.

 

I love Audrey Hepburn because of amount of importance she placed on being a good wife and mother; reading of the sacrifices she made for her family inspire me when I think of the future family I want to have someday. Also, everyone loved Audrey because she was gracious, kind, and gentle, and those are all traits that I struggle with quite frequently. While Audrey Hepburn wasn't perfect, I find the good in her life uplifting and inspiring.

My Ramblings

I've been wanting to expand my blog a little to accommodate the thoughts that come and go so quickly in my head, so I've created a new page called Ramblings. I hope you all enjoy it!

Summer Pesto Baguettes

Earlier this summer, I made pesto from the basil in my herb garden and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I remember my great-grandmother talking about something she had eaten once; pesto, tomato, and cheese on a baguette slice. It sounded wonderful to me, so I purchased two long, crunchy baguettes, took my fresh pesto from the fridge, picked a few red, ripe tomatoes from the garden, and set to work. It took me a few tries to perfect this little recipe, but I am quite pleased with it, and I hope you enjoy it too. This is more of "throw together" recipe, but I believe it can be replicated with great success.

 

 

Yields 10 servings 
Ingredients:
One long baguette
One or two large fresh tomatoes, cubed
1/2 C. Fresh pesto
1 C. Mozzarella cheese, cubed (use more or less cheese as desired)
Butter
Salt
Black Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your baguette into 3/4 in. slices and butter one side. Place the buttered side down on a parchment-covered pan. Lightly salt and pepper the top of the bread, and add a thin layer of pesto. Top the slice with three or four small tomato cubes; do the same with the mozzarella cheese cubes. Place the pan in the oven for about ten or fifteen minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Spicy Cheese Pretzel Sauce

Have you ever been making pretzels at home and wanted a nice cheese sauce to dip your pretzels into? After all, you've gone to the all the work of making tasty pretzels, and you want to enjoy them to the fullest! This cheese sauce is very quick and easy to make, and is yummy as well; it will taste great with both homemade and store-bought pretzels, but I've only used it with homemade pretzels.
This sauce has a distinct cheese flavor, but the chili powder gives it a nice edge. The sauce also thickens pretty quickly as it cools, so make sure to use it right after making it.

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder.

 Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns.

 

 After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Yields 7 servings
Ingredients:
8 slices of American Cheese
1/4 C. milk (I used skim because that's what I had on hand, but I recommend 2% milk)
1/4 t. salt
1 t. chili powder

 

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder. Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns. After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Heart of Italy Spaghetti Sauce

My great grandmother was Italian, and she had the best spaghetti sauce recipe in the world! It is rather sweet and popping with flavor! My grandma also used that family recipe, my mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, and I enjoy making it as well. For a recipe to have traveled four generations and still be going strong is proof of a good recipe!
Just to clarify, this is not my creation, but I thought since my family enjoyed it so much, I'd write it down for the world to use. This does take longer than just opening a jar of sauce and heating on the stove, but it's easy and well worth the extra bit of work!

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces.

 Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot.

Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined.

 

 Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

Yields enough to fill a seven quart crockpot
Ingredients:
4 lbs. thawed hamburger
1/2 and 1/8 C. garlic powder
1 6 lb. 9 oz. can tomato sauce
2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 C. sugar
1 C. parmesan cheese

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces. (I use a large fork and/or a Pampered Chef hamburger chopper.) Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot. (This recipe fills a seven quart crockpot, but I used an eight and a half quart crockpot.) Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined. Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

This spaghetti sauce is now ready to be served! You can serve it right out of the crockpot, or freeze it and use it another day. While it tastes fabulous fresh, I find that it tastes even better the longer it sits; it's one of those things that improves with time.

Pink Sherbert Slushy

This is the perfect summer treat: colorful, cold, and sweet with little sourness. This super easy slushy, has only three ingredients: pink sherbert, instant pink lemonade, and ice cubes. Just pop this components into your food blender and you'll have a summer snack or dessert that children and adults alike will love!

Combine the lemonade, sherbert, and ice cubes in your food blender. Turn the blender on for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the slushy is lump-free and well mixed. You may have to stop the blender once or twice and give the ingredients a stir yourself.

 

 Serve immediately for best tasting results.

 

 

Yields 3-5 servings
Ingredients:
1 1/8 C. instant pink lemonade, prepared
1 1/4 C. pink sherbert
25 ice cubes

Combine the lemonade, sherbert, and ice cubes in your food blender. Turn the blender on for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the slushy is lump-free and well mixed. You may have to stop the blender once or twice and give the ingredients a stir yourself. Serve immediately for best tasting results.