Author Archives: Nicole Glass

About Nicole Glass

Nicole Glass is a full time administrative assistant and a full time wife. Happily married for five years, she enjoys spending time with her husband Aaron and their dog Parker in Northern Nevada. Nicole enjoys running (currently training for her first full marathon), cooking and writing. Her eclectic blog Just Glass On The Outside covers everything from distance running to meal planning for two!

pulled pork

Sandi’s Delicious Pulled Pork Sandwiches

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Less than a year after we were married, my husband and I decided to move into a house with my sister, brother-in-law and their newborn baby.

We saw this as a way to spend time with some of our best friends, as well as a way to save money for the future.

One of the benefits of having roommates, and there were many, was sharing the cooking responsibilities.

Each couple would buy their own groceries, but we usually planned at least 2 nights a week when we would cook for everyone. It was a fun way to try out new recipes or to eat favorites that were usually made by the other couple.

One of our favorites was my sister’s recipe for pulled pork sandwiches. Yum! I would like to say that it is fast, but since this is a slow cooker recipe it does take some time.

This is a good one to set up right before you go to work in the morning or before you start running your errands for the day.

Since we’ve moved out of that house (and out of the state!) this recipe still shows up on our menu at least once a month thanks to my sister!

Sandi’s Delicious Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients:

  • 1 to 1½ lbs Pork Tenderloin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 ½ tsp cinnamon (optional, but trust me- it’s good!)
  • Beef stock (I usually buy 32oz and use enough to cover the pork in the crockpot)
  • Your favorite BBQ sauce
  • Bread, buns or rolls (I recommend King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls!)

Directions:

  1. Cut off any excess fat from the pork tenderloin
  2. Season pork with salt, pepper and cinnamon
  3. Place pork in crockpot and add enough of the beef stock to cover the pork. If you don’t have enough, at least cover half of the pork and turn it over halfway through cook time.
  4. Cook covered on low for 8 hours
  5. After pork has finished cooking, remove pork from crockpot and drain juices.
  6. Pull pork – I normally put the pork in a 9×13 dish and use two forks, but that’s just me. I’ve found it easier to remove from the crockpot, pull it apart and return it to keep it warm.
  7. After pork has been pulled apart, add desired amount of BBQ sauce – coating evenly.
  8. Add pork to your favorite bread or roll and eat up

Enjoy!

-Nicole Glass

 

Chicken Asparagus Penne

Chicken with Asparagus and Penne

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You want a quick meal? How about 20 minutes using just 5 ingredients?  If so, this recipe is for you! This is one of our favorite go to meals because it is quick and easy. Cooking everything simultaneously cuts down on time since only three items need to be cooked, this is a breeze! Mix it up by using something other than asparagus.  I have tried this with various veggies, and enjoyed it with broccoli, as well as cauliflower, but my husband prefers asparagus.  So here we are.  Also, you can omit the cheese if you’d like, which would negate the need to broil this. Since everything is cooked beforehand, you can serve it up right away!

Chicken with Asparagus and Penne

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of Asparagus
  • 12 ounces of Penne Pasta
  • 1 pound of Chicken breast, cubed
  • ½ cup of Parmesan Cheese, shredded
  • ¼ cup Olive Oil

Instructions:

  1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add penne pasta.
  2. While water is boiling, heat up a medium sized skillet with cooking spray and begin cooking cubed chicken.
  3. Steam asparagus. You can do this a variety of ways, so use your favorite. Personally, I place a colander over my pot of boiling water and place the asparagus inside and cover it. Yes, it takes a little bit of skill to stir the pasta, but they cook at almost the exact same amount of time. You can use the microwave if you are more comfortable, it will cook quicker so that is an advantage.
  4. Place steamed asparagus on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
  5. Drain pasta and pour on top of asparagus. Add chicken over pasta.
  6. Drizzle olive oil over top and stir a little to evenly coat pasta and chicken.
  7. Add the Parmesan cheese on top of everything.
  8. Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese browns a little bit.

Enjoy!

Nicole Glass for Glass on the Outside

Creamy Shrimp and Artichoke Casserole

Creamy Shrimp and Artichoke Casserole

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This is another recipe courtesy of my wonderful mother-in-law, Shari, and the amazing cookbook she gave me prior to marrying her son almost five years ago. At my bridal shower, she presented me with a gift that is worth its weight in gold-a cookbook filled with my husband’s favorite recipes! This one is a particular favorite and even though I personally hate seafood, I make this because I love how excited my husband looks when he walks in the house and can smell the dish!

It is so easy and quick (way under 30 minutes!) that I tend to prepare this dish for him if I’m going out of town for the weekend and want to make sure he’ll eat something other than milk and cookies!

Creamy Shrimp and Artichoke Casserole

What You’ll Need:

  • 5 ounces fresh mushrooms
  • ¼ cup margarine or butter (plus a tablespoon to sauté mushrooms)
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup half & half
  • 12 ounces of shrimp meat (approximately)
  • 2 jars (6 ounces each) marinated artichoke hearts
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

First, let me start by saying that this dish cooks extremely fast! By fast I mean that if this dish takes longer than 15 minutes, you are doing something the hard way!! My advice is to measure out all of your ingredients and line them up in the order needed. I wish I was kidding, but I am not. The first time I made this dish I almost ruined it because I was trying to measure out ingredients after things had already started cooking.

How to Make It:

  • Sauté mushrooms in butter: melt butter (tablespoon) in a small pan and add mushrooms. Cook until golden.
  • While sautéing mushrooms, melt butter (¼ cup) into a large pan on medium heat.
  • Stir in flour and salt and cook until smooth and reduce heat to low. (You may need to add a tiny bit more butter)
  • Stir in half & half slowly and bring mixture to a boil. Stir constantly.
  • Stir in shrimp and artichoke hearts. Cook about 5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked thoroughly at medium high heat.
  • Stir in cooked mushrooms and wine, heat until hot.
  • Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

You can serve this dish over rice, as my mother-in-law suggests in my cookbook, but my husband will eat it out of the pan with a slotted spoon if I let him! Really though, you can serve this with a nice salad or grilled veggies, but you might want to start those before you start this dish as it cooks fast!

Enjoy!

Nicole @ Glass on the Outside

Chicken With Butter Cream Sauce

Chicken with Butter Cream Sauce

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I made this dish for the first time recently and was pleasantly surprised with how quick and easy it was. I really think what took me the most time was crushing the Ritz crackers! I don’t have a food processor so it was was just me, a zip lock bag and a rolling pin! Even so, this dish and it’s side, took less than 30 minutes from start to finish and I hope you like it!

What you’ll need:

  • 1lb of chicken tenders **
  • 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers (or breadcrumbs if those are on hand, but Ritz work better!)
  • Olive Oil
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup of half and half, plus 2 tbsp set aside
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp sage
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • salt and pepper
  1. Grind crackers into crumbs either by hand or using a food processor.
  2. Cover each piece of chicken with crumbs (cover well!) and set aside.
  3. Add about 3 tbsp of olive oil to a large pan and cook half of the cracker crumb coated chicken for about  4-5 minutes per side or until cooked all the way through and golden brown on medium high heat. Set cooked pieces aside and cook second half of chicken strips.
  4. Once chicken is cooked, add butter to still hot pan. Allow butter to melt and add chicken broth to mixture. 
  5. Whisk in cup of half and half, as well as spices and bring to a boil.
  6. While mixture is heating, mix the 2 tbsp of half and half with cornstarch until smooth.
  7. Once boiling, add cornstarch mixture and allow sauce to boil until it thickens. Remove from heat.
  8. Cover desired amount of chicken in butter sauce and enjoy!

I served this dish with some oven roasted asparagus and it was fantastic! While my chicken was cooking I tossed some asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Dinner and sides in under 30 minutes!

Enjoy!

Nicole @ Glass on the Outside

** You can use boneless, skinless chicken breast as well, but I found using chicken breast tenders to be easier and faster!**

I love chicken! I’m not afraid to admit it- I love chicken and every now and again I crave chicken tenders. I have tried a myriad of recipes to get the perfect chicken tenders and this one is as close to prefect as I’ve found! This is a meal that I have made in 30 minutes or less, including sides. I love that I can make mashed potatoes or quinoa while the chicken cooks. These are pretty decent sized strips and using the ingredients below will make approximately 8 strips, which is about 4 servings. You may need to adjust depending on the size of your family. Since it is just the husband and I, 4 servings lasts us for days of tasty leftovers!

Parmesan Chicken Tenders

 What You’ll Need:

  • 1 1/2- 2lbs Chicken Tenders
  • 1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 cup Flour
  • 1 1/2 cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)**
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Pepper
  • 6 tablespoons Olive Oil

1. Combine the buttermilk and egg and pour into one shallow dish, flour into another shallow dish and combine Panko and Parmesan cheese into a third shallow dish. 

2. Season both sides of the chicken tenders with salt and pepper. 

3. Dip each piece: first into buttermilk mixture, second into the flour, third back into the buttermilk mixture and fourth into the Panko and Parmesan. Set aside.

4. Once all pieces have been dipped and completely covered, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Cook half of the chicken tenders until they are a golden brown on each side, about 5-6 minutes. Use last 3 tablespoons of olive oil for the last half of the chicken tenders. 

Serve with mashed potatoes, quinoa, veggies or oven fries!

Enjoy!

-Nicole @ Glass on the Outside

** I use Panko because I like the texture more than normal breadcrumbs. You can absolutely use regular breadcrumbs if that is what you have on hand!**

 

Cinco de Mayo Mexican Pizza

Cinco de Mayo: Mexican Chicken Pizza

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Let me start off by saying that at my bridal shower almost five years ago, my amazing mother-in-law gave me a gift that has been worth its weight in gold- a cookbook full of my husband-to-be’s favorite recipes! I think this should be a standard gift because oh my goodness, it’s been fantastic!

I remember him flipping through it saying, “I love that” and “oh man, I love that!” on every page! I know that on any given day I can open this cookbook and bam- something he’d love to eat.

This is another quick meal, assuming you are like me. When I know I’ll need any kind of cooked chicken, I tend to prep it at the beginning of the week. I cook all my chicken breasts so that on the day I need it I can shred it, cube it, ect. This has saved me tons of time!

This meal, once chicken is cooked, should take approximately 5 minutes to assemble and the best part is you can add whatever you want to it! I like to add different spices to it and some hot sauce as well, but this should be as quick as tossing ingredients on pizza dough and sticking it in the oven.

So here you go- Mexican Chicken Pizza courtesy of my mother-in-law, Shari!

Mexican Chicken Pizza

What You’ll Need:

  • Pizza crust  (I use a ready-made)
  • ½ tsp. chili powder
  • ¼ tsp. garlic salt
  • ¼ cup sliced black olives
  • 1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 2-3 tbsp. chopped green chilies, drained
  • Salsa
  • 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
  • ½ tsp. cumin
  • ½ cup chopped tomato, drained
  • ¼ cup finely chopped onions
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, chili powder, cumin and garlic salt, mixing well.
  3. Spoon chicken on to dough evenly. Top with tomato, olives, onions, green chilies, Jack and cheddar cheese.
  4. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-24 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
  5. Serve topped with avocado and salsa.

Your finished product should look something like this:pizza

Enjoy!

-Nicole @ Glass on the Outside