Friday, July 25, 2008

Chicken & Shrimp with Orzo

I was at the library yesterday, perusing the cookbooks. Saw one I've checked out before, "New Flavors From Your Crockery Cooker" by Better Homes and Gardens, and remembered that it had a ton of great recipes in it. So, I checked it out again, but this time I'm focusing on MSPI-friendly recipes.

The following recipe is one I made a few years ago when I had the book before. It's excellent and would work really well for company. Just serve the feta cheese on the side for those who can eat it.

Chicken & Shrimp with Orzo

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, or diced tomatoes with onion and garlic
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup port wine or MSPI-friendly chicken broth
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 8-oz. pkg. frozen, peeled, cooked shrimp, thawed and drained
1 9-oz. pkg. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and coarsely chopped
2 cups hot cooked orzo
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (for non-MSPI eaters!)

Rinse chicken; pat dry. Cut chicken thighs into quarters. In a 4- or 5-quart crockery cooker place the onion and garlic. Top with the chicken pieces. In a bowl combine the undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, wine or broth, lemon juice, bay leaves, salt and crushed red pepper. Pour over all.

Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Remove bay leaves. Stir in shrimp and artichoke hearts. Cover; cook for 5 minutes more. Serve chicken and shrimp mixture over hot cooked orzo. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

5 comments:

Deanna said...

Great blog!! My son was born in December 2007 and has MSPI. He's on nutramigen (ouch on the pocketbook!). In the past few weeks, we've transitioned him on to Stage 1 baby foods....squash, green beans, peaches, prunes. And then we started noticing how fussy he was and that he was acting like he did before we got him on the right formula. He's having terrible gas and you can tell it really hurts. We took him off of food 2 days ago and have been on formula only...and he's much improved. Have you experienced that with your son? I'm wondering if because their digestive system already has a sensitivy if that will the process longer for eating baby foods (on a regular basis). Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

Andrea said...

Hi Deanna. Glad you found my blog! What brand of babyfood are you using? I've been told to steer clear of Gerber products because cross-contamination with dairy is a problem. Also, give yourself at least a week in between the introduction of new foods. If you see any reaction, then it's possible your baby is intolerant of that food. Check out the Quick Topic message board that I have listed under links. The ladies there are really helpful!

Deanna said...

GERBER!! That's exactly what I've been feeding. I quit using Gerber cereals but didn't imagine that the veggies might be cross-contaminated. I'm compiling ideas for a weekend of homemade baby food making next weekend...I need to up the timeframe on that. I'll definitely check out the quick topic message board...

Thanks so much for the reply!

Andrea said...

Check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com for homemade baby food recipes. I've been making JD's food and did my daughter's as well because it is soooo much cheaper! And, in JD's case, I know exactly what is going into him.

Shanna Rose said...

Thank u so much for your website. It's has helped me so much! I really needed some help to get started with finding decent meals at first. I felt so restricted I was eating the same couple things nonstop at first. Now I have a full menu!
I also wanted to say with the recipe above, Chicken and Shrimp with Orzo, Feta is okay! The cow milk protein intolerance is something that prevents us from digesting anything made from cow'a milk. Gets is made from sheep's milk, so it's fine. I didn't realize this until I was at the pediatrician the other day and mentioned how much I miss cheese. She asked me why!!! And explained that I can have all the goats milk and sheeps milk cheese I want. Now this bit of information will certainly grow my menu even further!!!