Cilantro Rice (Easy) & Citrus Chicken (Easy)

I made both of these recipes tonight and YUMMY! The rice is hands down the best rice I've ever had! LOVED it. It was a huge hit in this house so I thought I would share!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ask-aida/cilantro-rice-recipe/index.html

Here is the chicken recipe (I used bonesless skinless chicken breasts)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/citrus-garlic-roasted-chicken-recipe/index.html

Enjoy!

Balsamic Chicken (EASY)

I modified this recipe: here to make the follow recipe:

Balsamic Chicken (EASY)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup soy sauce
2 tsp dried rosemary
3 garlic cloves halved
2 - 3 bonesless skinless chicken breasts

Combine the balsamic vinegar, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary and garlic cloves in a large re-sealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken breasts to the bag and seal with as little air as possible. Place in refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours. (I just put mine in a Tupperware container that was deap enough for the chicken to be submersed in).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place the chicken in a small baking dish lined with foil. Back 30-35 minutes.

While that is cooking place the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a full boil to kill the bacteria. Reduce the heat and simmer and cook until it thickens up, should take until the chicken is done baking.

Then I cooked up enough wholewheat thin spaghetti for my family and when that was done cooking I put the remainder of the now boiled marinade over the pasta and toss. Then top with the chicken. YUMMY!!! It is kind of sweet but it was SO good! My boys couldn't get enough of it!

AMAZING Whole Wheat Bread (EASY-MODERATE)

I got this recipe from our Bishop's wife. She gets to make it MANY loaves at a time but I halved the recipe since that's all that would fit in my mixer. After her's cools she cuts in and then freezes it and says it comes out just like fresh bread. If you cut your loaves into 20 slices that makes them 1 pt each for Weight Watchers or 3 pts for two pieces. This is CRAZY moist and amazingly yummy!

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD (EASY-MODERATE)

6 cups potato water (very warm -- I make it just hot enough so I can't keep my wrist under the water) (read below for info)
1/2 cup oil (I used vegetable oil)
3/4 cup honey
3-4 eggs (beat them)
2 tbsp. yeast
3/4-1 cup gluten (you can find this by the flour in the supermarket)
tbsp. salt
9-13 cups flour (I used entirely whole wheat flour)

Potato water? After you make regular mashed potatoes, save the water you boil the potatoes in. I just put mine in glass jars I had lying around from pasta and stuff. I put the water right from the stove into the jars and put the lids on them and they sealed. Apparently this is THE ingredient that makes the difference! Who would have ever guessed?

Mix above ingredients in your mixer with the dough hook and mix until it leaves the bowl and is one large ball. Add flour if it doesn't make a ball until it does.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and put your dough in it. Cover with a dish towel and place in a warm place away from drafts. I usually heat my oven up to 350 degrees and just place my dough on the stove. Let rise until it doubles in size (about an hour).

Then beat down and separate into thirds. I spray my counter with Pam and work the dough on the counter until I get it into a nice loaf shape. Spray your loaf pans with Pam. Place the dough into your pans. Place back into a warm place away from drafts and put a dish towel over them an let them rise another half an hour or until they double again.

Bake for 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool on a cooling rack. ENJOY!

Puffed Wheat Squares (EASY)

These are a treat I grew up with and have learned that it is kind of a Canadian thing. I don't know many Americans that have had this before. I love it! There are only 3 pts per serving (Weight Watchers), and a serving is an 8th of the recipe which fills a 9x13 pan :) YUMMY!

PUFFED WHEAT SQUARES (EASY)

Boil the following together for three minutes: (I usually melt my margarine first)

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine (I use low fat)
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour over 6-8 cups of puffed wheat. Flatten into a greased 9x13 pan like you would with rice krispie treats.

You can find puffed wheat at Wal-Mart in the bagged cereal section on the top shelf. It is sometimes hard to find. I also found it at Albertson's once.

Enjoy!!!

Lemon Cilantro Chicken Salad (EASY)

McDonalds has a super yummy southwest salad. This is my version of it.

Lemon Cilantro Glaze

2 1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar (or splenda)
1/4 cup cilantro
juice from one lemon

Mix above in a pot and boil until it reduces to about half the amount. Then I mixed it in my food processor (a blender would work) to emulsify it a bit more and chop up the cilantro a bit more and I added the juice from another lemon. Let cool.


Lemon Cilantro Chicken Salad (EASY)

One head of lettuce (I used iceburg)
3/4 cup frozen corn
1/4 medium green pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
15 tortilla chips
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
cayenne
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or a mexican blend would work well too)
1/4 cup black beans

I sprinkled salt, pepper and cayenne on the chicken just on one side and I was very generous with the amount. Then I place under the broiler for 20 minutes (flip about half way through).

I sauteed the corn, green pepper and onion in a frying pan with a bit of Pam until the onions were translucent.

I layered, lettuce, corn mixture, black beans, chicken, 2 tbsp of lemon cilantro glaze on the chicken breast, tortilla strips and cheese.

I didn't need any salad dressing on mine with the glaze, but Brian put ranch dressing on his. Be warned, this is REALLY sweet. You could cut the sugar in half and you would still be fine. I liked it.

ENJOY!

(for those on Weight Watchers, the entire salad if you use fat-free cheddar cheese is 8 pts. If you use Splenda instead of sugar it would only be 6 pts for the whole thing).

Christmas Recipes

I posted all of my favorite Christmas recipes on my other blog last year, so rather than putting them here, I'm just going to link them:

http://mommyiscrazyblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-recipes.html

Thanksgiving - Sweet Potato Casserole (EASY)

I don't like sweet potatoes. This recipe make them taste like candy, so I will eat them this way :) YUMMY! This recipe is from my sister-in-law.

Sweet Potatoes (EASY)

BOTTOM LAYER:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (I'm guessing this is 2-3 large sweet potatoes)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk

Mix the above ingredients.

TOPPING:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
5 tbsp melted butter or margarine

Place bottom layer in 9x9 pan, it will be runny. Spinkle with topping. Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

NOTE: I double the bottom layer and put this in a 9x13. You don't need to double the top layer, though.