Salisbury Mushroom Steaks

Adapted from Bettycrocker.com

This was a cross between meatloaf and salisbury steak to me. Either way it's a great way to use ground beef. The recipe is pretty simple and they tasted great!

Ingredients 
2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
1 lb lean ground beef
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup skim milk
1 large egg
1/2 tsp thyme
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tbs canola or olive oil
1 package mushroom gravy mix (or other brown gravy)

Directions
Finely chop up 1 cup of the mushrooms. In a medium bowl, mix chopped mushrooms, beef, bread crumbs, egg, milk, thyme and half of the ketchup. Shape mixture into 5 large patties or 8-9 small patties (like I did).

In a non-stick skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add patties cooking for about 6 minutes on each side (or until cooked through). When fully cooked brush the rest of the ketchup on the top of the patties.

Saute the remaining mushrooms in the same skillet as the patties or another skillet for about 3 minutes. While the patties are cooking make the gravy as directed on the package.

To serve place sauteed mushrooms on top of patties and then spoon gravy on top of both.

Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms & Zucchini

Adapted from EatingWell

So I want to start off by saying that I know my food & pictures don't always turn out all that pretty in appearance, but that doesn't mean they don't taste delicious! This is a perfect example. It's not as pretty as the picture on the website or pictures you see in cookbooks, but that's b/c I don't like spending extra time on the way it looks (or messing with my camera). I figure it takes long enough to fix the food that as long as it tastes good, then I'm a happy girl! Okay enough about that now I'm starting to ramble lol. This dish was a little time consuming and had a lot of components, but I must say I absolutely enjoyed it!

Ingredients:
6 oz whole-wheat angel hair pasta
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 chicken cutlets, trimmed
1/2 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
2 tbs olive oil
10 oz package mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs capers, rinsed
2 tsp butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

Meanwhile, whisk 5 tsp flour and broth in a small bowl until smooth. Place the remaining flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with salt & pepper on each side then dredge in flour. Heat 1 tbs oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and cooked all the way through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; cover and keep warm.

Heat remaining 1 tbs oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onions, mushrooms and zucchini and cook, stirring, until they soften and start to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate or bowl. Add garlic and wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture, lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in capers, butter and mushroom/onion/zucchini mixture. Toss the pasta with the sauce mixture. Serve chicken on top of the pasta. A little parmesan cheese makes a great topping (optional).