Super yummy recipe from Rachel Ray that Kimberly suggested to me the other day. I'm just giving the basics of the recipe, but if you want the full version, go here. This version is slightly different than the recipe in the cookbook I followed, but basically the same.
Here's my basic version:
Melt 1tbsp butter with 1 tbsp EVOO in a medium saucepan. Saute 1/4 chopped onion for 2 minutes. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of brown rice and cook for 3 more minutes. Add 3 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 20 or until rice is tender.
Heat large skillet over high heat, add 2 tbsp EVOO, add 1 and 1/2 pounds cubed chicken, season with 2 tbsp grill seasoning, then brown chicken. Once chicken is cooked, either remove it from pan or move it off to the side of the pan. Add sliced onion, sliced pepper, 4 chopped garlic cloves and cook about 3 minutes. Mix chicken back in and add 1 tbsp ground chipotle powder, and 1 tbsp ground cumin. Mix. Add 2 tbsp honey and 1/4 cup real maple syrup. Mix. Add chopped cilantro or parsely and 1 cup raw cashews.
Serve chicken over rice.
Yumm-O!
Note: I used slightly less maple syrup because I didn't want it to be too sweet, I was in the mood for spicy. However, I wish I had used the full amount. It was really good, but I don't think the full amount would make it too sweet.
Kid-Friendly Note: I think this is a great meal to make for families with kids even if you're hesitant because of the honey and nuts. Since they are added right at the end, it is a perfect meal to make and simply take a little of the chicken and veggies out of the pan before you add the honey, syrup, and nuts.
Enjoy! I know my family certainly did!
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Snacktime
Our first Healthy Mommy, Happy Family get together didn't go quite as planned, but Michele and I had fun talking about healthy snack foods for our kids.
Here are a few suggestions:
~Plain Yogurt (recipe to follow) - Starting with plain yogurt and then adding fresh fruit or whole grains is much healthier than buying the flavored stuff in the store.
~Applesauce (recipe to follow) - When buying applesauce, be sure it does not have anything in it except apples and water. Most jars in the store have extra sugar added. Apples are so sweet on their own, you just don't need the extra sugar.
~Raw veggies - Raw is healthier than cooked, but if your child is too young for a crispy veg, steam them just for a moment. Steam, don't boil. The more water you use, the more nutrients you lose. Another version of veggies that we do quite often for snacks or lunch is frozen vegs. Just the cheap bag of mixed chopped veggies. When I buy a bag, I pour a serving into small containers and put them in the freezer. That way, when snacktime comes, all I have to do is pull out a pre-made bowl, stick it in the microwave for a minute and it's done!
~Guacamole is a great dip for veggies and crackers.
~Hummus is also a great dip for veggies and crackers. (See recipe in previous post.)
~Nut butter on apple slices or celery sticks.
~Fruit smoothie - You kids will think they are having desert, but it can be totally healthy if you do it right! Just blend together fresh or frozen fruit along with some plain yogurt. Add some pure fruit juice if necessary (I love V-Fusions because you can throw some veggies in there, too without anyone ever knowing!)
~Low-fat cheese sticks - This is a great fix for a snack attack in the grocery store. Instead of reaching for the Animal Crackers, reach for some cheese. It's even got protein to help reduce cravings later.
~Dried fruit - This is one of our favorite snacks at the moment. I'll put out a couple different fruits and some whole grain cereal and my Baby Dude just munches while he plays.
I love making my own yogurt. It is so easy; It is such a money-saver; and I know it is all natural. Here's my recipe:
Pour 8 cups of milk (I use 4 cups whole, 4 cups 1%) into your CrockPot. Turn it on LOW for two and a half hours. Turn it off, but leave it as is for another three hours. Take out two cups from CrockPot and mix with half a cup of already made yogurt. Pour mixture back into CrockPot and stir together. Cover with towels to keep heat in and allow to sit for 8 more hours. Then it's done! Yes it takes a little while, but most of the time you don't have to do anything to it. It's super easy.
My newest super easy CrockPot adventure is homemade applesauce. This couldn't be easier. I made it simply because I had several apples that were going to go bad before I had a chance to eat them. Here's the "recipe":
Slice, core, and peel apples. (I used 7. Use as many as you want.) Throw apples in CrockPot. Add approximately 1/4 cup of water for every 4 apples. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, approximately the juice from one lemon for every 4 apples. Turn CrockPot on low for 4 to 6 hours. My apples were plenty mushy by 4 hours, but it will depend on your CrockPot. They should be soft enough to just mush them with a fork and there you go! Could that be any easier? I'm not sure that you actually need the lemon juice, but I used it. And the applesauce is so yummy! It is so much tastier than the loaded with sugar stuff that you get from the store. Fresh, Natural, Pure. Yum!
Do you have any other great snack ideas?
On another snacktime note: Be sure to have set snacktimes. If you allow your child to snack throughout the day then they are not likely to be hungry to eat the nutritious meal you have cooked.
Most books recommend two snacktimes, one morning, one afternoon. Personally, this doesn't work for us. If we snack that much we aren't hungry for lunch or dinner. The meals end up being another version of a snack. Typically we either do breakfast, snack, late lunch, dinner; or breakfast, early lunch, snack, dinner. Find out what works best for your kids and stick to it. Snacktime is very important especially when it comes to little ones.
What do you eat for snacktime?
Here are a few suggestions:
~Plain Yogurt (recipe to follow) - Starting with plain yogurt and then adding fresh fruit or whole grains is much healthier than buying the flavored stuff in the store.
~Applesauce (recipe to follow) - When buying applesauce, be sure it does not have anything in it except apples and water. Most jars in the store have extra sugar added. Apples are so sweet on their own, you just don't need the extra sugar.
~Raw veggies - Raw is healthier than cooked, but if your child is too young for a crispy veg, steam them just for a moment. Steam, don't boil. The more water you use, the more nutrients you lose. Another version of veggies that we do quite often for snacks or lunch is frozen vegs. Just the cheap bag of mixed chopped veggies. When I buy a bag, I pour a serving into small containers and put them in the freezer. That way, when snacktime comes, all I have to do is pull out a pre-made bowl, stick it in the microwave for a minute and it's done!
~Guacamole is a great dip for veggies and crackers.
~Hummus is also a great dip for veggies and crackers. (See recipe in previous post.)
~Nut butter on apple slices or celery sticks.
~Fruit smoothie - You kids will think they are having desert, but it can be totally healthy if you do it right! Just blend together fresh or frozen fruit along with some plain yogurt. Add some pure fruit juice if necessary (I love V-Fusions because you can throw some veggies in there, too without anyone ever knowing!)
~Low-fat cheese sticks - This is a great fix for a snack attack in the grocery store. Instead of reaching for the Animal Crackers, reach for some cheese. It's even got protein to help reduce cravings later.
~Dried fruit - This is one of our favorite snacks at the moment. I'll put out a couple different fruits and some whole grain cereal and my Baby Dude just munches while he plays.
I love making my own yogurt. It is so easy; It is such a money-saver; and I know it is all natural. Here's my recipe:
Pour 8 cups of milk (I use 4 cups whole, 4 cups 1%) into your CrockPot. Turn it on LOW for two and a half hours. Turn it off, but leave it as is for another three hours. Take out two cups from CrockPot and mix with half a cup of already made yogurt. Pour mixture back into CrockPot and stir together. Cover with towels to keep heat in and allow to sit for 8 more hours. Then it's done! Yes it takes a little while, but most of the time you don't have to do anything to it. It's super easy.
My newest super easy CrockPot adventure is homemade applesauce. This couldn't be easier. I made it simply because I had several apples that were going to go bad before I had a chance to eat them. Here's the "recipe":
Slice, core, and peel apples. (I used 7. Use as many as you want.) Throw apples in CrockPot. Add approximately 1/4 cup of water for every 4 apples. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, approximately the juice from one lemon for every 4 apples. Turn CrockPot on low for 4 to 6 hours. My apples were plenty mushy by 4 hours, but it will depend on your CrockPot. They should be soft enough to just mush them with a fork and there you go! Could that be any easier? I'm not sure that you actually need the lemon juice, but I used it. And the applesauce is so yummy! It is so much tastier than the loaded with sugar stuff that you get from the store. Fresh, Natural, Pure. Yum!
Do you have any other great snack ideas?
On another snacktime note: Be sure to have set snacktimes. If you allow your child to snack throughout the day then they are not likely to be hungry to eat the nutritious meal you have cooked.
Most books recommend two snacktimes, one morning, one afternoon. Personally, this doesn't work for us. If we snack that much we aren't hungry for lunch or dinner. The meals end up being another version of a snack. Typically we either do breakfast, snack, late lunch, dinner; or breakfast, early lunch, snack, dinner. Find out what works best for your kids and stick to it. Snacktime is very important especially when it comes to little ones.
What do you eat for snacktime?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Another Money Saving Recipe
Did you see my post on my other blog about the homemade yogurt and how it saves us so much money? I tried another recipe today that is so much less expensive than buying the finished product at the store...Hummus!
I love hummus, but I don't buy it as often as I would like because it's just too expensive for how quickly it disappears (into my belly). If you've never tried hummus, I highly recommend it as it is a great alternative to dip chips, crackers, veggies, or whatever into instead of some mayo-based dip. And since it's made from a bean, it has at least half a protein in it. Add whole wheat crackers, carrots and celery to it and you have yourself a very healthy lunch!
I've started playing around with dried beans which is why I decided to try it. I was buying a whole bunch of different beans to play around with and saw the bag of Garbanzo beans (also called Chickpeas) and threw them in the shopping cart. There was a recipe on the bag for Hummus, so I just stuck to that to start with.
The basic recipe is this: Soak the beans overnight. Simmer the beans for two hours. I then started with my homemade tahini - I knew this was part of the recipe (it called for 2tbsp Tahini), but I had no idea what tahini was. I looked in the store and couldn't find it (that's a whole other post...stay tuned). So I looked it up online and tahini is just ground up sesame seeds and oil (EVOO or sesame). Since I always have sesame seeds around (for sushi) and EVOO, I decided I would just make my own. So I pulsed the sesame seeds and EVOO in the food processor, then started adding the cooked beans once the tahini was as pasty as I thought I could get it. You mix in lemon juice, salt, garlic, paprika, and cumin and there you have it. Super simple and incredibly cheap. I can hardly believe I paid $4 for a container of it so many times when I can make the same amount so easily for about $0.50!! Added bonus - I'm reducing plastic in my carbon footprint that I would otherwise have purchased with the hummus in it. This way I'm using my reusable bowls.
I ran the taste test past Dr. Dad and he approved!!
I love hummus, but I don't buy it as often as I would like because it's just too expensive for how quickly it disappears (into my belly). If you've never tried hummus, I highly recommend it as it is a great alternative to dip chips, crackers, veggies, or whatever into instead of some mayo-based dip. And since it's made from a bean, it has at least half a protein in it. Add whole wheat crackers, carrots and celery to it and you have yourself a very healthy lunch!
I've started playing around with dried beans which is why I decided to try it. I was buying a whole bunch of different beans to play around with and saw the bag of Garbanzo beans (also called Chickpeas) and threw them in the shopping cart. There was a recipe on the bag for Hummus, so I just stuck to that to start with.
The basic recipe is this: Soak the beans overnight. Simmer the beans for two hours. I then started with my homemade tahini - I knew this was part of the recipe (it called for 2tbsp Tahini), but I had no idea what tahini was. I looked in the store and couldn't find it (that's a whole other post...stay tuned). So I looked it up online and tahini is just ground up sesame seeds and oil (EVOO or sesame). Since I always have sesame seeds around (for sushi) and EVOO, I decided I would just make my own. So I pulsed the sesame seeds and EVOO in the food processor, then started adding the cooked beans once the tahini was as pasty as I thought I could get it. You mix in lemon juice, salt, garlic, paprika, and cumin and there you have it. Super simple and incredibly cheap. I can hardly believe I paid $4 for a container of it so many times when I can make the same amount so easily for about $0.50!! Added bonus - I'm reducing plastic in my carbon footprint that I would otherwise have purchased with the hummus in it. This way I'm using my reusable bowls.
I ran the taste test past Dr. Dad and he approved!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Incredibly Yummy
This recipe is thanks to Kelly and Southern Living. I pulled some chicken breasts out the other day for dinner, but couldn't decide what to do with it. So I called Kelly because she always has some good recipes up her sleeve. She sent me several and I chose this one.
It is so amazingly simple, quick and convenient, I literally had to procrastinate in making it. I knew Mark would be home right around 6 o'clock, so I normally start dinner around 5 o'clock. Well, I started this one and realized how quickly it would be put together so I sat down and read a magazine for a little while first! Crazy! And yet it's so good, Mark asked me where I got it! He thought maybe it was something my mom had made, frozen and given to us and all I did was heat it up. Or maybe I had bought it pre-made or something. He was quite impressed when I told him it was all from scratch and all from my kitchen (not to mention all within about 30 minutes)! And it's pretty much all stuff that I normally have around the kitchen. That's my kind of meal!
Enjoy!
Pan-Fried Chicken-and-Ham Parmesan
topped with Sauteed Grape Tomatoes
over Garlic-Herb Butter Pasta
(sounds good, huh?) :)
Chicken -
Super easy, huh? Trust me, it is! So go cook something yummy for dinner!
It is so amazingly simple, quick and convenient, I literally had to procrastinate in making it. I knew Mark would be home right around 6 o'clock, so I normally start dinner around 5 o'clock. Well, I started this one and realized how quickly it would be put together so I sat down and read a magazine for a little while first! Crazy! And yet it's so good, Mark asked me where I got it! He thought maybe it was something my mom had made, frozen and given to us and all I did was heat it up. Or maybe I had bought it pre-made or something. He was quite impressed when I told him it was all from scratch and all from my kitchen (not to mention all within about 30 minutes)! And it's pretty much all stuff that I normally have around the kitchen. That's my kind of meal!
Enjoy!
Pan-Fried Chicken-and-Ham Parmesan
topped with Sauteed Grape Tomatoes
over Garlic-Herb Butter Pasta
(sounds good, huh?) :)
Chicken -
Ingredients
- 4 (6-oz.) skinned and boned chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 thinly sliced smoked deli ham slices (about 1/4 lb.)
- 4 (1-oz.) fresh mozzarella cheese slices
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Whisk together egg and 2 Tbsp. water. Dredge chicken in flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in breadcrumbs, shaking off excess.
2. Cook chicken in hot oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden. Top chicken with ham and cheese.
3. Bake chicken in skillet at 350° for 8 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve over Garlic-Herb Pasta; top with Sautéed Grape Tomatoes.
Pasta -
Garlic-Herb Pasta: Cook 8 oz. vermicelli according to package directions; drain. Toss with 1/4 cup Garlic-Herb Butter. Season with salt to taste. Makes 4 servings.
Garlic-Herb Butter: Stir together 1/2 cup softened butter; 1 large garlic clove, pressed; 2/3 cup chopped fresh basil; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; and 1/4 tsp. salt until well blended. Use immediately, or cover and chill up to 3 days. For longer storage, form into a log or press into ice cube trays, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap; freeze up to 1 month. Makes 1/2 cup.
Tomatoes -
Ingredients- 1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
Preparation
1. Sauté tomatoes and next 3 ingredients in hot oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat, and stir in basil.
Super easy, huh? Trust me, it is! So go cook something yummy for dinner!
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