Sweet & Savory Thursday ~~ Italian Chicken Tenderloins

If you enjoy easy meal preparation and a scrumptious finished product, then this is the recipe for you!  It's been around for years and whoever dreamed up the idea deserves a medal or something.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 - 16 oz. bottle Fat Free Italian Dressing (I used the Kraft brand, but you can use the variety of your choice)
• 1 - 2 lb. bag frozen chicken tenderloins

DIRECTIONS:

• Dump the entire bottle of salad dressing inside the plastic bag with chicken tenderloins inside.
• Marinate for 6 hours, turning the bag every hour or so.
• Cook on gas grill or cooking method of your choice until tenderloins are thoroughly cooked.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• In the plated display above, I used:
• Baby leaf spinach
• Steamed & lightly buttered yellow crookneck squash dusted with garlic pepper
• Petite Jimmy Lee Bob cukes
• Red seedless grapes
• Smoked Gouda cheese

You can use your leftover tenderloins in other recipes if you have any left over!

Happy Dining & Enjoy!

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Sweet & Savory Monday ~~ Autumn Soup

A bowl of hot soup deserves a warm welcome on these cool, windy, rainy days! Paired up with bread, rolls, or crackers, your family or dinner guests will be happy diners.  I prepared this recipe in a crock pot, but it could be easily cooked on your stove top in a soup pan or saucepan.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp. garlic, diced
• 2 Idaho Burbank Russet medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup corn
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 tsp. salt, optional
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 cup corkscrew noodles or variety of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

• Wash and prepare all veggies
• Place inside crock pot or soup pan/sauce pan
• Fill pan with enough water to cover vegetables
• Cook until vegetables are tender

Here's a nifty 90 idea if you are using your crock pot ~~

Whoever designed these crock pot liners deserves more than a High 5! Before placing the ingredients into your crock pot, place liner inside which helps to make clean up so much easier.

I prefer to make large batches of soups and stews so that I can have left overs. In addition, these containers of soup can be frozen in order to be heated and served at a later date.

This is a great way to get all of your daily servings of vegetables in one fell swoop!  Be creative and add your own favorite veggies.  Another health aspect of preparing your own recipe is the absence of preservatives.  

Enjoy Autumn's bounty and stay warm!

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Sweet & Savory Tuesday ~~ Pomegranate Pasta Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 - 15 oz. can tomato sauce or use fresh tomatoes from your garden
• 1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste or use fresh tomatoes from your garden
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 4 cloves diced garlic
• 2 medium sized onions 
• 1 - Tbsp. dried Italian seasoning or use fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary
• 1 - Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 - tsp. salt, optional
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Puree onions in food processor
• If you are using dried herbs for Italian seasoning, grind them in your mortar and pestle

• Combine all ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan
• Stir until smooth
• Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for at least 45 minutes. The longer you allow the sauce to simmer, the better the flavor will be.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Serve with spaghetti noodles or pasta of your choice
• Pair with tossed green salad and garlic french bread

Pomegranates are loaded with nutrients and antioxidants. For additional information, here is a link:

https://authoritynutrition.com/12-proven-benefits-of-pomegranate/

I have such fond childhood memories of my maternal grandmother, Lenna Grace, sending a box of yummy pomegranates to our family each year for Thanksgiving.  The area in which she lived was very conducive to growing ones with exceptional color and flavor.

If you happen to give this pasta sauce with a new twist a try, I would love to hear from you.  So would my blog readers!

Happy eating in Pomegranate's Presence.

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