Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake

Fast meal to throw together that absolutely anyone could throw together...  Even my life partner! :D

You could cook your rice ahead of time, like the night before, and then mix it in with everything and put it in your dish.

I'm also a fan of dicing up some jalapeño and throwing that in there, too :)

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 4 cups Cooked Brown Rice
• 3/4 cups Frozen Corn
• 15 ounces, fluid Can Black Beans, Drained And Rinsed
• 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt (or Sour Cream)
• 4 ounces, fluid Can Green Chilis
• 1/2 cups Salsa
• 1 cup Low-fat Cheddar Cheese, Plus More For Topping
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro For Garnish

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except for cilantro and mix thoroughly to combine. Make sure the yogurt and cheese are stirred in throughout the entire bowl. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Transfer to an oven-safe dish and top with extra cheese if you would like. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

To make this process easier you could use Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice. It can also easily be made ahead of time and reheated.

Copy Cat Panda Express Sweet Fire Chicken

Brent and I are total suckers for Panda Express so if I can try to make similar meals at home we're all about it.

I actually didn't fry the chicken the way the recipe called for - I dredged my chicken up and placed it on one of my silicone baking pans my lovely mother gave me and baked those puppies for 25 minutes at 350˚F.  I'm totally lazy so I'll shake my chicken chunks in flour in a ZipLock bag, take them out, dip them in the egg and then throw them back in the flour and shake it up and then pick them out of there.  I don't have time to work one piece at a time, not to mention the amount of gunk you get all over your fingers...
I'll still include the directions if you care to fry it.

Here's what you'll need:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups diced pineapple, fresh or canned
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce, or more, to taste
2 green onions, thinly sliced

For the chicken:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Working one at a time, dredge chicken in flour, again, pressing to coat.

Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet, 3 or 4 at a time and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 2 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add bell pepper and pineapple and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 3-4 minutes.  Stir in chicken and Thai sweet chili sauce until well combined.

Garnish with green onion and serve immediately.

White Chicken Chili

This is a delicious feel-good meal.  It's perfect for cool nights and it actually comes together really quickly and it's even better the next day.

I realized that I totally forgot to take a picture after it was all done cooking - so this picture I took is prior to the sour cream and whipping cream being added.  Still looks good, though! :)

Brent and I actually prefer this recipe over the white chicken chili with quinoa, but that one is still pretty good, too.  That one's just not as "chili" like.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chiles
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir chicken, onion, and garlic into the hot oil until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 10 to 15 minutes.

Mix Great Northern beans, chicken broth, green chiles, salt, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and cayenne pepper into chicken mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 30 minutes.

Remove chili from heat; stir in sour cream and whipping cream until incorporated.  Check the temperature, if it needs to be warmed up a little more, turn the heat to low and stir until heated to desired temperature.

Meyer Lemon French Toast

I had the pleasure of flying down to Florence, AZ to visit my parents on Friday, December 4th.  I stayed for 10 days and it. was. awesome.

I met their neighbors, saw my family, ate great food, saw beautiful sites, and drank lots of beer.  :)

Perk #1 of living in Arizona:  It's always warm.  Even when it's cold it's warm.
Perk #2 of living in Arizona:  Citrus fruits!  Growing IN YOUR YARD!!

There's several other perks, but really, those are the 2 biggest reasons.

Mom and Dad's neighbors, Dennis and Judy, have a sweet dog named Sophie.  Dennis and Judy also have a lovely Meyer lemon tree growing in their back yard.  They had a bumper crop this year and the branches are literally bowing under the weight of all of the lemons.  Dennis is working on making his own limoncello.  He let me take some lemons home AND he gave me a recipe for Meyer Lemon French Toast.  He said it's currently his favorite way to eat French toast.

I was excited to make this as soon as I got home so I made it for supper tonight.  I got home yesterday and was in no position to be an adult and make food, so we went out to eat.  Tonight...  Tonight we feast!

This is an amazing recipe.  The tanginess of the lemon paired with the sweetness of the syrup is incredible.  I used pure maple syrup, not the plastic jug stuff.

Here's what you need:

4 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest (one lemon will provide about 1 Tbsp of zest)
2 Meyer lemons, juiced and divided (use the zested lemon and juice an additional one)
1-1/2 tsp Kosher salt
8 slices of day-old sourdough bread
4 tbsp butter (I only used 2)
2 tbsp powdered sugar


In a large mixing bowl whisk all four eggs together, add the cream, milk, lemon zest, half of the lemon juice vanilla extract and kosher salt and blend well.

  

Allow each slice of bread (I used Master English Muffin Toasting Bread - it's PERFECT for any French toast as it is a very light bread and is naturally a little dry) to soak for 30 seconds.  I ladled a few scoops of the mixture on the bottom of this cookie sheet and placed the bread on it, then I poured the rest of the mixture over top, using a tongs to flip them to allow everything to be evenly coated.

Heat a cast-iron pan or other large pan over medium heat.  Add 1/2 tablespoons of butter and melt over the pan.  Once the butter is bubbly add two slices of battered bread.  Cook until browned on both sides.  Use the remaining butter to butter your toast... Or just use 2 tablespoons.  The bread is already super buttery, so I didn't feel the need to add more.

Work in batches and hold the cooked pieces of bread in a heated oven at 300˚F on a pan.

Finish off the French toast with a touch of remaining lemon juice and a dusting of powdered sugar.  Makes 4 servings.

I learned something new about Brent tonight; he doesn't like lemon stuff.  As he put it, he likes lemonade, but as far as lemon merengue and other 'lemony' things he's not a huge fan.  He thought this French toast was good, but is really a big fan of my plain ol' French toast.

With that being said:  I thought this was flippin' awesome.  In fact, I like it so much I'm stoked that I've got lunch for tomorrow AND Thursday!  #winning

Try this stuff out.  You'll not be disappointed.  Unless you don't like lemon stuff, then you might be slightly disappointed.  ;)

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

Late lunch today was another recipe I found online.  It was SO good!! It was also really super easy to get mixed up.

Here's what you'll need:

4 large chicken breasts

For the marinade:

1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic (fresh, not powder)
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used a rounded 1/4 tsp)

Whisk together the marinade ingredients and put in a zipper bag and add the chicken.  Squish it around in the bag to make sure it's all covered.  Marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.  I allowed my chicken to marinate for just under 24 hours and I'm glad I did -  it was so tender and so juicy.

Marinade

Heat up your grill and soak a paper towel in some oil.  Using a long pair of tongs drag this towel over the grill grates so as to oil it so your chicken doesn't stick.  Cook up the chicken over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, or until cooked through.

You can serve this dish with rice, lime wedges, extra cilantro and naan.

                 Chopped Cilantro, Lime Zest and Fresh Lime Juice                              Completed Meal

I made a cilantro lime rice for our side.  It turned out great!  Next time I think I'll add a little bit more cayenne pepper to the marinade.  It wasn't quite spicy enough for my liking, but was still delicious nonetheless.

Avocado Mojito Smoothie

Brent and I woke up this morning and decided that after a light breakfast we were going to go on a bike ride.  It was 85˚F and ridiculously humid.  We got home completely deflated and I decided to make us a smoothie I had found online to help with some electrolytes.  Coconut water is FILLED with electrolytes!

We went shopping yesterday for fruit and veggies for our smoothies and discovered the honey dew melon we purchased was $7.  Yikes!  However, after tasting how incredible this smoothie is I am glad to make it several more times.

Don't let the avocado fool, you - you can't even taste it.  I'm dead serious.  And it really does taste like a mojito!  :)

It tasted so good I drank half of it before I remembered to take a damn picture.  Whoops!

Here's what you'll need:
1-1/4 cup frozen honey dew melon chunks
1/2 avocado, seeded and peeled
1-1/2 cup coconut water
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
4-6 mint leaves
1/2 cup water

Add all of your ingredients to your blender and puree until smooth.  Divide between two glasses and enjoy!  It makes two very good sized smoothies!

Here's the link to the recipe!

Here's your nutrition facts:
NUTRITION (per serving) 160 cal, 3 g pro, 22 g carb, 6 g fiber, 14 g sugars, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 210 mg sodium

Spicy Kung PAO!! Chicken and Noodles

Ho-my goodness.  The flavor of this dish was incredible and the heat was insane.  Another recipe from Carlsbad Cravings that rocked our socks off.  Our mouths were EN FUEGO!!!  And of course, excited to have this one again.  Below is a little clip of what we looked like at the table.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large chicken breasts (1 pound), cut into bite size pieces
• 8 oz. vermicelli or thin spaghetti (I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles)
• 
  Marinade/Sauce
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 
  Stir Fry
• sesame oil (vegetable oil will do)
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2-4 teaspoons red pepper flakes OR 8-12 dried red chilies (deseeded and cut into halves)**
• 1 8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups snow peas, ends trimmed and cut in half (I used sugar snap peas)
• 5 stalks green onion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup peanuts**

INSTRUCTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk together marinade/sauce ingredients. Add ¼ cup of the marinade/sauce to a large freezer bag with chicken. Store the remaining sauce separately in the refrigerator while you marinate the chicken for 30 minutes up to overnight (the longer the better).

Cook pasta al dente in generously salted water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large wok or skillet, dry roast peanuts until golden, tossing occasionally, approximately 3 minutes. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat. Once hot and sizzling, add chicken (letting extra marinade drip off) and cook approximately 3-5 minutes, or until completely cooked through. Remove to a plate.

Turn heat down to medium and heat an additional 1 tablespoon oil. Add red pepper flakes (or chilies*), garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds. Add water chestnuts, celery, red bell pepper, and snow peas and sauté 1 minute. Add chicken and reserved sauce to skillet and bring to a boil. Simmer until sauce thickens, approximately 30 seconds.

Stir in peanuts, green onions and noodles. Taste and add desired, salt, pepper, and/or red pepper flakes. You can even add sugar if you like your stir fry sweeter.

**This was seriously TOO good - HOWEVER! If you're a pussy when it comes to heat I totally recommend using LESS crushed red pepper.  I used 2-1/2 tsp and dare I say it was almost too hot.  Next time I might cut it down to 1 heaped tsp.  ALSO, I think I'll add another 1/4 cup of peanuts.