Meal Monday: Chicken Fried "rice" - a winner!

In my quest for paleo-ish, healthier dishes, I stumbled upon this recipe from The Lemon Bowl, Sriracha Chicken Cauliflower "Fried Rice".  

I'm not going to repost the whole recipe - if you want it, you should go give Liz some blog love, because this isn't the first of her recipes that has been a real winner.

I did make a few changes - no white onion because they bother my stomach and no sriracha because we didn't have any well, we did but it expired 2 years ago #fail.  Instead of chopping up carrots, I bought a bag of the frozen peas and carrots and used 2 cups. This was perfect.

I loved this meal.  It really tasted just like fried rice.  I can't explain it.  Maybe it was the sesame oil or something but this dish will definitely making another appearance.

A note about the cauliflower rice.  There is a video in the link that shows how it's done.  Cut it up, throw it in a blender, fill the blender with water, blend and drain. DONE.  I might have tried to squeeze more of the water out because it didn't crisp up quite enough, but for my first attempt, it worked for me.  This also made excellent leftovers the next day.
Have you ever had cauliflower rice?

Meal Monday: Best Chicken Strips EVER #recipe

This is yet another recipe I found using Ziplist and it was published by The Lemon Bowl.  I was a bit worried that my kids would detect the Dijon mustard but they ate them up and this has now entered our usual rotation.  It's super fast, easy, and really is delish.

Baked Chicken Fingers with Panko and Dijon

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast cut into strips
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, grated (I used jarred, minced garlic and that worked great)
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil (maybe a little more)
1 Tbsp paprika

1. Preheat oven to 475* and lay a metal cooling rack on top of a baking sheet lined with foil (the foil is optional but makes cleanup easier).  Spray with non-stick spray.

2. In a small bowl, combine mustard and garlic.  Using a small brush, gently "paste" the chicken strips with the garlic mustard.

3.  In a shallow bowl or on a plate, use a fork to combine panko, salt, pepper, oil and paprika.  Add mustard coated chicken to crumbs one at a time and press evenly to coat all sides.

4.  Place panko coated chicken on metal rack lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned, turning once about halfway through cooking time.

5.  Serve with the dipping sauce of your choice.  I thought these were great with honey mustard.

We eat a lot of chicken breast at our house and I'm always trying to find quick, yummy ways to cook it.  What's your favorite way to serve chicken?

Winner Winner Curried Chicken Salad Dinner

First things first! The "Winner Winner" portion of today's post.

Congrats to Brooke for winning the Suddora Headband giveaway for declaring her goal: "I want to cut an hour off my marathon time"!  (The awesome training runs Brooke has been posting leave me no doubt she can do this.)

And now the Chicken Salad Dinner!

I've had this can of chicken in my cupboard for far too long and decided yesterday that I wanted to make Chicken Salad.  I wasted time perused Pinterest for awhile but never found any recipes that a) I had all the ingredients for, or b) sounded good to me.

So I did what any red-blooded American would do and I made up my own recipe based on about 5 of the ones I found.  (I'm not a good enough cook to completely wing it.)

I give you Curried Chicken Salad with Apples, Raisins and Almonds

Ingredients:

1 small red apple (I think I used a Gala apple)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup cold water

Large can chicken (about 2 cups cooked, chopped. Leftover rotisserie chicken would work great too)

1/4 cup chopped celery (about 1 small stalk) - not pictured because I threw it in at the last minute

1/2 cup light mayo (I imagine you could try regular mayo or Greek yogurt as well). Use more if you want a creamier salad.

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/2 tsp curry powder (add this much and if you want more curry flavor, add some more to taste after mixing it)

1/4 cup slivered almonds (or any chopped nuts will do)

salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Core and chop the apple, leaving the skin on.  Put it in a bowl with the lemon juice and water and set aside.

2. Add remaining ingredients in another bowl and gently mix.


3.  Drain the apples well and add them to the chicken mixture.

please excuse my horrible food photography skills

4.  Refrigerate for an hour or so to let the flavors blend.  Serve on a bed of lettuce, Ritz crackers (my personal crack of choice), bread, in a pita, on a croissant, whatever floats your boat.

This was probably one of the simplest recipes I've ever thrown together with just stuff I had in the house.  You could easily change it to suit your tastes by adding different fruit (I LOVE pineapple in chicken salad but you have to drain it very well), spices, nuts, etc.

Now a completely random question because we're on Mid-Winter Break from school but stuck at home because I didn't think ahead to plan a trip...Where would you go if you had a 4 day weekend? I'm thinking 4 days in the Mayan Riviera sounds perfect right about now.

Meal Monday: Curried Chicken Salad with Apples

I saved this recipe to ziplist quite a while ago but never got around to making it. That changed yesterday. You can find the original recipe plus ziplist plug in here. Her pictures are also much better than mine, but I don't claim to be any kind of food photographer & I do my best with my little eye phone. In any case, I give you

CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD with APPLES

Ingredients:
8 oz cooked chicken breasts - cubed (I used a large can of Swanson chicken, drained)
4 celery stalks - minced
1 apple - diced
1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt (I used Chobani fat free plain)
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt


1. Wisk together yogurt, curry powder, lemon juice and salt in a medium bowl.


2.  Add chicken, apples and celery.  Toss well then refrigerate for a while to let the flavors blend.

this picture is terrible - I am sooo sorry

3.  Enjoy!


I really liked this one - the curry gives the chicken salad a nice kick and it's a really pretty color - but I think something is missing.  Next time I make it, I'm going to try crushed pineapple instead of the apple and see how that works. I think grapes would be good too.

What's your favorite addition to chicken salad?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meal Monday: Orange Chicken

This is a recipe I originally found through ShrinkingJeans. I made it a few weeks ago and I loved it, but my kids weren't thrilled. They're weird though, so yours will probably think it's great. Super fast, easy to throw together and have on the table in under 45 min.

Orange Chicken

2 pounds chicken breasts (I usually don't use this much)
1 green pepper
3/4 cup light Catalina dressing
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 Tbsp beef bouillon or beef broth
2 Tbsp onion flakes
1/2 tsp celery seed



Preheat oven to 350*

Cut chicken and green pepper into bite-sized pieces.

Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Toss chicken, green pepper, and sauce mixture in a 9x13 pan.



Bake at 350* for 30 min or until chicken is done. I added a little corn starch/water mix to the sauce after 30 min & put it back in while the rice cooked to thicken the sauce a bit, but that's totally optional.


Serve over brown rice with a side of broccoli.


(I promise it tastes better than it looks - my food photo skills are seriously lacking)

Do you have an easy, 30-minute recipe that you like to serve on busy nights?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meal Monday: Chicken Caprese Pasta

This was Sunday night's dinner, and while certain members of the family didn't rave about it, I thought it was pretty darn tasty.

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts
1 box (12 oz) bow tie pasta
1 container grape tomatos, halved
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into little squares
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste


1. Grill or sauté chicken until done & cut into bite-sized pieces.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta as directed on the package.
3. Make the sauce by cooking the oil, balsamic, salt & pepper over medium to low heat until it reduces a bit.


4. Put chicken, pasta & tomatoes in a large bowl.
5. Add sauce & toss to coat.


6. Add cheese & basil right before serving.


7. I served this with some broccoli and oven baked "fried" mushrooms. Very yummy.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thankful Thursday: Ziplist #recipe

If you don't know what Ziplist is, you should check out that link right there. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Welcome back! I have found Ziplist to be invaluable, not only for making my grocery lists, but for discovering new recipes. It's super easy to use - just create an account and start making your shopping lists.  You can search for recipes and add the ingredients right onto your list.  Even email, tweet, and FB your recipes.  On NYE, I tried a winner. So much a winner that even the husband said, "you need to post this wherever it is you post winning recipes!"

I guess it's your lucky day, because I'm definitely posting this one!  I'll even make it easy by writing out the recipe for you.
I give you: 

BBQ Beer Chicken in the Crockpot!

This is a Ziplist screenshot

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 large - I used 4 giant ones from Costco)
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup beer (any kind you like: dark, light, amber, whatever - I used Shock Top End of the World Wheat which has some nice chili and chocolate tones) Bummer on the amount though - you'll have to drink about 4 ounces of beer :)
• 4 cups (32 ounces) of barbecue sauce (any kind you like - I used KC Masterpiece since its ingredients start with tomatoes)
• hamburger buns
• coleslaw

Instructions:

• Add everything to the crockpot except the chicken (and obviously the buns and coleslaw).  Stir to combine.  Add the chicken to the crockpot, spoon the sauce on top so all the chicken is covered and has some sauce on it.
• Cook on low for 6 hours (every crockpot is different, so yours may take more or less time - start checking it around 4 hours). Stir a couple times throughout if you want (I didn't). After 6 hours (or when the chicken is done but not overdone and mushy - mine took about 5), shred the chicken and add it back to the sauce in the crockpot.  Toss chicken with the sauce and let it sit for 15 min so it can absorb some of the sauce.
• Serve on buns topped with coleslaw. Have some fries, a salad, whatever to make it a meal. Maybe throw in a vegetable if you feel so inclined. Drink some more beer - preferably the one you used in the recipe and put it in your favorite pint glass.

This was absolutely delish.  Everyone in the family loved it (except the girl who wasn't home to try it). The recipe says it's pretty forgiving and versatile - you can use broth, fruit juice, different beers, whatever and it will still turn out great.  If you use a very thick sauce, you might want to add more beer, but I didn't and I think the consistency was great.  We ate this again on Tuesday while watching some bowl games and it reheated great.  I even have some in the freezer that I'll pull out for a meal next week.  (Obviously, this makes a lot. Recipe says it serves 8-10.)

Have you every tried Ziplist?  Any favorite recipes I should add to my list?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Menu Monday: Easy White Chili

It's definitely becoming fall up here in West Michigan & one of my favorite fall foods is chili. The possibilities are endless. This is probably the easiest chili recipe EVER and can be made on the stovetop or in a crockpot. The bonus? Only 5 ingredients!

• 2 large or 4 small chicken breasts, diced up & cooked.
• 1 large jar of great northern beans, liquid included.
• 16 oz jar of your favorite salsa (this jar is too big but I didn't use it all). The hotter the salsa, the more heat your chili will have.
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• 8 oz shredded monterey jack cheese

Dump everything into a big sauce pan and heat it on low, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is all melted and the chili is hot.
You need to watch it so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.  Trust me. I've learned this one the hard way and nothing sucks more than burnt cheese.  If you cook this in a crock pot, you could probably start with the chicken raw but I've never done this.  You might need more liquid, too.  When I crockpot it, I still cook the chicken first and then just heat it on low for a few hours.

Serve with some tortilla chips and maybe a salad if you're feeling the need for some greens.  You can add more cheese on top, sour cream, whatever floats your boat.

Enjoy!  Do you have a favorite 1 pot, minimal ingredient recipe you want to share?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Menu Monday: Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

A couple weeks ago I published a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread & asked what other types of recipes you'd like to see. Melissa requested an easy crock-pop recipe, so here's the easiest one I have! I believe I received a version of this recipe from Brooke but I've tweaked it a little.

Crock-Pot Salsa Chicken

A couple, good-sized chicken breasts (frozen are totally fine, in fact, frozen is best)
1 16oz jar salsa
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
Frozen corn (or a can of corn)
1/4-1/2 cup rice

Put the chicken in the crock-pot.
Dump everything else on top.
Cook on low 6-8 hrs or until the chicken is done & shreds with a fork.
Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, whatever you like. You can even wrap it in a tortilla if your little heart desires. Add a salad & you have an uber-easy weeknight meal with essentially no prep time.

Enjoy!


PS - It's Monday and I'm being "Miss Elaine-ous" over at The Miss Elaine-ous Life! You should go visit :-)