January Recipes

Here are the RECIPES I tried in January!

Sesame Chicken from TableforTwoblog.com

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5

Salt and pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes 

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

(I did not use the red pepper flakes, cornstarch, or sesame seeds)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot insert and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
4. When done, remove chicken from stock pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce.
5. Serve hot over a bed of white rice (optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.             (I did make rice to go with it)

This had a really good taste, but was a bit sweet for me (The rice did help balance out the sweetness! Ash loved it though! 

 

 

 Whole Wheat Tortillas from branappetit.com
(I used to buy tortillas about once a week. We have been here now for 6 weeks and I have not had to buy tortillas from the store once! And we like these so much more!!! We even bought a tortilla press to make the process a little easier on me and had Ash's parents bring it for us because I have been making them so much!)

Makes: 12 tortillas (Varies depending on the size you make)

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or a mix of regular whole wheat and white whole wheat (I use all whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup canola or other neutral oil (I have only tried it with canola oil)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup warm water

Directions:

1. In your stand mixer bowl (or any other large bowl), mix the flour, oil, and salt together until the oil is mixed into the flour and the mixture is crumbly. (I use a big bowl and mix it by hand. I also use gloves because your hands get pretty oily if you don't have a mixer.)
2. Add the warm water and keep mixing until the dough is smooth, about 4-5 minutes.
3. Cut the dough into 12 pieces, roll each piece into a ball, and let them rest for 30 minutes, covered.
4. Put a skillet over medium – high heat and let it warm up for 5-7 minutes before adding your first tortilla. The pan needs to be hot to brown the tortilla and cook it quick.
5. Once the skillet is hot, roll or pat out one round of dough on a floured counter or cutting board until it’s the size you want. (This is where I use the tortilla press)
6. Drop the tortilla into the hot pan and let it cook, 2-4 minutes, until the top side starts to puff and the under is golden. Flip over and cook for another minute. Repeat with the rest of your tortillas.
7. Eat fresh or wrap and freeze for later. (We eat them so fast we don't have to freeze them hehe)

         

                     

Oatmeal Chicken with Marinara & Mozz
(I need to come up with a better name because this one is actually mine! I took two different recipes and created my own thing!)
The two recipes that I used were from Skinnytaste.com and Myrecipes.com
Baked Chicken Parmesan
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/04/baked-chicken-parmesan.html
and
Oatmeal Crusted Chicken Tenders
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-crusted-chicken-tenders-10000001227912/

My Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts

1 cup oats

Mozzarella Cheese

Marinara Sauce

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper for Taste

First I put the oats into our magic bullet to blend into smaller pieces. Next, I coated the chicken breast with a little olive oil and added a little salt and pepper. I placed the oats all over the chicken pieces. Then, I put a couple spoonfuls of marinara on top of each piece and topped with a piece or two of mozzarella cheese. Then, I baked them in the oven at 350• for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Went great with zucchini and whole wheat bread!!

     

Whole Wheat Pita & Hummus
Pita from Underthehighchair.com (These really work and YES I made these in our toaster oven!)

1 tablespoon yeast
1 ¼ cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3- 3 ½ cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook, beat to make a batter. Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller. I make all sorts of sizes to suit different snacks and meals. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’.

Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 425F.

With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down on to a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden. Stick around for the first five minutes of baking when the pitas perform their magic and puff up from flat pancakes to proud, four inch high pitas.

These store for up to two days well wrapped or frozen for three weeks.

Hummus

(I may have already given this recipe but its so good its worth putting in again!)

I got this recipe from my Mom who I'm pretty sure got it from my sister Rachel. I may be mistaken but I think she found it in a recipe book that she got in Georgia.

1(15.5 oz) can chickpeas drained, with liquid reserved

1/2 med red onion, finely chopped

2 scant tsp cumin powder

3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 to 3/4 tsp minced garlic

1/4 Cup Tahini

(I have been sautéing the onion and garlic before I put them in the food processor)

Puree all ingredients except chickpea liquid in high powdered food processor or blender (like Vitamix). Gradually add the minimum amount of chickpea liquid to give the mixture a thick, creamy, smooth consistency. Bend until all graininess is gone. Cover and put in refrigerator at least 1 hour. Yields ~ 4 cups. Keeps about 3 days.

Enchilada Chicken Stack (Later we renamed it Tortilla Stack) from Myrecipes.com
(This has become one of Ash's favorite meals!)

Ingredients

• 
  1 teaspoon canola oil 
• 1 cup chopped onion 
• 1/2 cup chopped seeded poblano chile (Left this out)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder (I use fajita seasoning)
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained 
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce with basil, garlic, and oregano (I use plain tomato sauce)
• Cooking spray 
• 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken breast  (Used chicken breasts, cooked them on the stove and then either cut or pulled)
• 1 cup frozen baby white and yellow corn (Used more than a cup)
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 
• 5 (8-inch) corn and flour blend tortillas (Used HOMEMADE wheat flour tortillas)
• 8 ounces shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (about 2 cups) 
• Cilantro sprigs (optional) (Left this out)
• Preparation
• 1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, poblano chile, and garlic to pan; cook 6 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently.
• 2. Stir in chile powder, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Place half of tomato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until almost smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining tomato mixture.
• 3. Coat a 5-quart round electric slow cooker with cooking spray; place 3 tablespoons tomato mixture in bottom of slow cooker. Combine remaining tomato mixture, chicken, corn, and beans.
• 4. Place one tortilla on sauce in slow cooker; pour 1 cup chicken mixture over tortilla; sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese. Top with another tortilla. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken mixture, tortillas, and cheese. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours or until cheese melts and edges are lightly browned. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. Cut into 8 wedges.
• (Disclaimer: It tastes A LOT better than it looks!!!) :D

Slow Cooker Zucchini Ziti from Skinnyms.com
(If you read the Our First Visitor blog then you know the key part of this recipe that you need to pay attention to! If not, here is your lesson for the day: Al dente means "cooked so as to be still firm when bitten." This makes a huge difference when making this...)

Ingredients

• 1 (24 oz.) jar marinara (no sugar added)
• 3 cups whole grain ziti shells, optional penne
• 2 cups fat free cottage cheese
• 2 cups skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 large zucchini (1/4” slices)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil (finely chopped) 
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• kosher or sea salt to taste
• (Left out dried oregano and fresh basil and substituted Italian seasoning)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Pour mixture into slow cooker, cover and cook on low approximately 2 hours, or until ziti is al dente (firm but not hard).

Cover and cook on low for approximately 2 hours or until ziti is Al Dente (firm but not hard).

Stuffed Peppers
(We came up with our own recipe from a couple different ones)

Ingredients
-4 Peppers
MEAT
-1/2 pound Ground Turkey
-1/2 red or yellow onion chopped (We used red)
-2 garlic cloves minced
-1 tsp fajita seasoning
-1/2 tsp season salt
-1/2 tsp cumin
RICE
-1 cup rice
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp fajita seasoning
-1/2 cup of your favorite salsa (We used IGA brand)
OTHER
-15 oz. can corn
-15 oz. can black beans
-15 oz. tomato sauce
-Grated cheddar cheese to top each pepper (Optional)

Directions:
MEAT
Brown meat. Add onion and garlic. Add seasoning.

RICE
Cook rice with seasoning for 20 minutes in 2 cups of boiling water. After rice is cooked, add salsa and mix into rice.

Peppers
Cut tops off of each pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the meat mixture, rice mixture, corn, and black beans together. Then, add 1/2 can tomato sauce.
Put other 1/2 of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the crock pot.
Put the peppers on top of the tomato sauce and fill them with the mixture from the bowl. Add 1 Tbsp of salsa on top of each pepper.
Sprinkle 1 Tbsp grated cheddar cheese on top (Optional)

             

          


Cornbread (Still needs to be perfected) from
We tried a healthy recipe and then tried to make it healthier from there. It ended up a lot drier than we had anticipated, but it still tasted ok! I will probably play around with the recipe next time!

Ingredients:
1 Cup white flour
1 Cup cornmeal
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 Cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400•. Lightly grease 8x8 pan.

2. In a large bowl, add all ingredients from flour to salt. Stir in yogurt, eggs, oil, and honey. Do not overmix, stir only until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 min or until center of bread springs back when gently pressed.

I tried another healthier recipe in February- it was a little better. Better consistency but still didn't have that melt in your mouth taste like my favorite cornbreads ever from Trader Joe's or Canyon City BBQ!

French Bread Pizza
This may sound simple but it changes pizza night up a little bit :)
We did the same thing we always do with pizza (marinara, mozzarella cheese slices, pepperoni, veggies) but we cut the french bread into long pieces and used it as our crust! Then we popped it in our toaster oven on Bake for a couple minutes and dinner was done!