Ok, so I just named it that because it's a marinade my family uses a lot in the summer. I have requested this chicken more than once for my birthday dinner I think...it is heavenly, especially when it is thrown on the BBQ! I just realized I had never blogged it, and this is one recipe I definitely need to preserve for the future, so here it is!
(today for lunch I threw one diced chicken breast into some Brown Rice and Veggie Salad and LOVED it...for dinner we served it with Zucchini Mozzarella Medley)
Ingredients:
-3/4 c. olive oil
-1/2 c. soy sauce
-2 T. Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 t. salt
-1 t. pepper
-1/4 c. wine vinegar
-1 t. parsley flakes
-2 cloves garlic, mashed
Directions:
-Mix all ingredients together. Let your meat of choice marinade overnight in it!
Miner Marinade
Vegetable Soup
This recipe comes from The Occasional Vegetarian and was SOOO much better than the last vegetable soup I tried. I really loved the cabbage in it! Thanks Michelle :-)!
Ingredients:
2-3 T olive oil
1 small yellow or white onion
2 carrots sliced
2-3 minced garlic cloves
6 c vegetable broth
2 c cabbage chopped
2 c green beans cut into bite sized pieces
(I added one diced potato)
2 T tomato paste
1/2 t oregano
fresh ground pepper
Directions:
Heat oil over med-high heat. Cook onions and carrots until onions are tender Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
Delicious served with french bread.
Cheesy Hash Brown Chili
I love chili, I love hashbrowns, AND I love cheese so I knew we couldn't go wrong with this Rachael Ray recipe! It's pretty much chili in a casserole format, with yummy cheesy potatoes on top...YUM!
Ingredients:
-2 T olive oil
-1 onion chopped (I only used 1/2)
-2 T chili powder
-2 t. ground cumin
-1/4 c. tomato paste
-1 lb. ground beef (I used 1/2 lb. ground turkey)
-salt and pepper
-1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed
-1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
-1 lb. bag frozen shredded hash browns
-1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
-In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over med heat. Add the onion, chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring, until onion is soft, about 5 min.
-Stir in the tomato paste. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat, for 5 min; season w/salt and pepper.
-Add the beans and the tomatoes with their juice and bring to a boil.
-Lower heat, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Transfer to an 8x11 dish (I used 8x8).
-Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
-In a large bowl, combine the potatoes and cheese. Scatter the potato mixture over the chili.
-Place in oven and bake until potatoes are cooked through and chili is bubbling, about 35 min.
Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
I bought some Tilapia and Catfish that was part of a promotion at one of our grocery stores this weekend. I froze the catfish and started looking online for a good recipe for the tilapia. I came across this little gem on All Recipes to use as my base recipe. The sauce is SOOO good! It was easy to make, cooked in just a few minutes and I LOVED it! I made all the sauce and had 1.25 lbs of fish, but thought the amount of sauce was perfect. I think I'm becoming a fish lover :-)!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 pounds tilapia fillets
DIRECTIONS
-Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
-In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Add spices: dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt (and garlic powder and red pepper flakes). Mix well and set aside.
-Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. (I sprinkled fish with Goya seasoning salt before putting under broiler)
-Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.
Dark Mocha Torte
My mom made this HEAVENLY cake for my Grandma's birthday celebration yesterday and it was SOOOO good! Even Mike, who isn't necessarily a cake lover wanted to take some of the leftovers home with us. YUM!!! I wasn't thinking about posting the recipe at the time, just enjoying each bite, so I never took a real picture of it, but it is definitely worth making!
INGREDIENTS:
Torte:
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® chocolate fudge cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup rum or water
1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso coffee granules
Filling:
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 to 3 teaspoons milk
Ganache:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter (do not use margarine)
1/3 cup whipping cream
(this photo via Betty Crocker)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F (325ºF for dark or nonstick pans). Grease bottoms only of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with shortening (do not use cooking spray); lightly flour. Make and cool cakes as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch round pans.
2. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, stir granulated sugar, rum and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Cool completely.
3. In medium bowl, beat all filling ingredients on low speed just until blended, adding enough milk for spreading consistency; set aside.
4. In 1-quart saucepan, heat all ganache ingredients over low heat, stirring frequently, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Refrigerate about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
5. Cut each cake layer horizontally to make 2 layers. (To cut, mark side of cake with toothpicks and cut with long, thin knife.) Brush about 1 tablespoon of the rum mixture over cut side of each layer; let stand 1 minute to soak into cake. Fill each layer with about 2/3 cup filling. Spread ganache over side and top of torte. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.
Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken
This is another winner from My Kitchen Cafe ...we LOVED it!!! I will use less salt next time, but the overall flavor was SOOO good! I doubled the recipe and can't wait to use the leftovers in her Lemon Cream Pasta later in the week!
Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon, approximately 3 T
3 T olive oil
1 t minced garlic, about 2 medium cloves
1 t salt (I recommend only using 1/2 t.)
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t dried oregano
1 pound chicken breasts
Directions:
-Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and place in fridge overnight.
-Grill (or cook in frying pan).
-Note: If you cut your chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces and then marinate it, you can get away with only letting it marinate for 5 or 6 hours instead of overnight.
Teriyaki Chicken (Freezer Meal)
The flavor of this chicken was DELICIOUS! And who doesn't love marinaded chicken thrown on the grill?! Amy made this chicken for our freezer group and used her own recipe (which she was kind enough to share).
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
4 chicken breasts
Directions:
Mix marinade ingredients together and throw in a freezer bag with the chicken breasts. If you use it as a freezer meal, just defrost and cook as you please when ready to eat!
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Last week I got the cookbook 2009 Taste of Home Annual Recipes in the mail and this was calling my name. I was excited to see the chicken coated in cornflakes as opposed to breadcrumbs...making it gluten-free! I will admit I need some practice rolling my chicken so it looks pretty, but it did taste good :-)!
(I just used 3 chicken breasts and used the corresponding amount of ham and cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 c. milk, but the whole 2 c. cereal and all the spices)
Ingredients:
-8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
-8 thin slices deli ham
-3 slices Swiss cheese (I used 2% milk slices)
-2 eggs
-1 c. milk
-2 c. crushed cornflakes
-1/2 t. garlic powder
-1/2 t. salt
-1/2 t. pepper
Directions:
-Flatten chicken to 1/4 in. thickness. Top each with a slice of ham and cheese. Roll up and tuck in ends; secure with toothpicks.
-In a small bowl, whisk eggs and milk. In another bowl, comgine cornflakes and seasonings. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then roll in crumbs.
-Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min. or until the chicken juices run clear. Discard toothpicks beofre serving.
Baked Chicken Nuggets (Freezer Meal)
These have been a big hit around here. The girls obviously love them and I have been slicing them and adding them to all kinds of things...salad, pasta, quesadillas, etc. My friend who made these for all 8 people in our freezer group did say they took her awhile, but we appreciate it :-)! (this recipe also comes from 30 Day Gourmet)
(1 recipe = 6 servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken
- 1 box stuffing
- 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
Assembly Directions:
-Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces.
-Blend stuffing mix (include spice packet if one is included) and Parmesan cheese in blender until fine.
-Beat eggs in shallow bowl.
-Dip chicken into egg and then into dry mix.
-Bake at 425 degrees on greased cookie sheet for approx. 15 min. Turn nuggets and cook an additional 5 min.
Freezing and Cooking Directions:-Label bags. Cool chicken and freeze in bags.
To serve: Thaw and heat in microwave or oven.
Southwest Turkey Burgers (Freezer Meal)
These were really good. I think I would like them even better going a little lighter on the spices. The girls (and Mike) just thought it was great we were having burgers for dinner :-). We still have more patties left in our freezer too, which was an added bonus. I made Veggie Packets to eat with them (which I loved)!
(1 recipe, makes 6 patties)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1/4 c. salsa
- 1 t. garlic powder
- 1 t. salt
- 1 t. paprika
- 1/2 t. cumin
- 1/2 t. chili powder
- 1/2 t. black pepper
- 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 c. bread crumbs
On Hand:
-6 Hamburger Buns
Assembly Directions:
-Combine all ingredients. Shape into appropriate number of patties for the number of recipes you are making.
Freezing Directions:
-Press patties flat. Stack between sheets of freezer paper. Four stacks of five patties will generally fit into a 1-gallon freezer bag. Place patty stacks in freezer bags. Seal, label and freeze.
Serving Directions:
-Thaw in refrigerator or microwave. Patties can be cooked in a non-stick frying pan or on the grill. Cook until no longer pink in the center.
Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Icing
We never got around to making our sugar cookies at Christmas time so we made them for Valentine's Day instead. As much as I despise the mess and amount of work involved, Ella thinks it is THE best thing ever...so I'm sure we'll do it again :-). They are delicious though!
Cookies
Ingredients:
-1 c. shortening
-2 c. sugar
-4 eggs, beaten
-1 t. vanilla
-4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (I add quite a bit when rolling the dough out)
-1/2 t. salt
-4 t. baking powder
-2 T. milk
Directions:
-Cream shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Combine in a separate bowl flour, salt, and baking powder.
-Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. May need to add 2 T. milk to bled dough together.
-Put additional flour on counter before rolling dough. Lightly wet the roller and sprinkle flour on roller to avoid dough sticking to it. (in my experience the dough is quite sticky, so like I mentioned I do end up adding handfuls of flour here and there to work with it)
-Roll dough about 1/4 inch thick on counter. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Place the cut shapes carefully with spatula onto cookie sheet.
-Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees 10 minutes. (makes about 6 dozen)
Icing
Ingredients:
-1/2 c. shortening
-1/2 c. butter
-1 1/2 t. vanilla
-5 c. powdered sugar
-3 T. milk
Directions:
-Cream shortening and butter with mixer. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time to mixture.
-Icing will be dry, may need to add up to 3 T. milk (1 T. at a time) beating at med speed. Cover icing until ready to decorate.
Tuna Macaroni
Ok, so I know some of you are cringing now (Mike included), but I actually like a tuna casserole every once in awhile...well, once a year, and this is the recipe I use. I must admit though, I made a batch of My Tortilla Soup to take to a friend yesterday as well and it was looking much better than this...it will probably be on our menu for next week :-)!
Ingredients:
-1 can chunk light tuna (I only buy albacore)
-2 c. macaroni, uncooked (I used 1 8 oz box of gluten free penne)
-1 can cream of celery soup (I used 98% FF)
-1 T. instant minced onion
-1 c. mixed veggies, cooked and drained
-1 1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I used 2%)
-1 c. sour cream (I used FF)
-1/2 t. salt
-paprika
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Drain tuna. Cook and drain macaroni.
-In a bowl mix noodles, tuna, soup, onion, veggies, sour cream, salt and 3/4 c. cheese.
-Pour into a greased 2 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and then paprika.
-Bake uncovered, 30 minutes or until heated through.
Beef with Broccoli and Onions (Freezer Meal)
This freezer meal was really good...I liked the flavor and I always love broccoli. It has a lot more meat in it than I usually cook with, but Mike wasn't complaining about that :-). The recipe comes from 30 Day Gourmet and 1 recipe, which I have put below, makes 6 servings.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. round or sirloin steak, trimmed
- 1 1/4 c. water
- 2 T. dried onion flakes
- 1 1/2 t. onion powder
- 1 T. beef bouillon granules
- 1 1/2 t. dried parsley
- 1 T. packed brown sugar
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 16 oz. frozen broccoli
On Hand:
- 1/4 c. water
- 2 T. cornstarch
- 12 oz. linguine (we had ours over brown rice)
Assembly Directions:
-Slice beef into thin strips. Spray pan with cooking spray. Brown the steak in batches until all steak has been cooked. Remove from pan and cool. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl.
Freezing Directions:
-Place steak in a freezer bag or rigid freezer container. Pour sauce over steak. Seal, label and freeze. (we put the broccoli in the bag too...it was originally an on hand item)
Serving Directions: (write on bag)
-Thaw in refrigerator. Make pasta (or rice) according to package directions. Drain sauce off steak into a frying pan. Heat on med-high until boiling. Mix water and cornstarch in a separate bowl or cup. Pour mixture into sauce. Return to boiling and reduce heat. Mixture will thicken. Add the meat and broccoli to the sauce and mix to coat. Heat until warm. Serve over pasta (or rice).
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
This is another great recipe from My Kitchen Cafe! I am in LOVE with this soup :-)! I am hopeful that the stick of butter in it is balanced out somehow by the fat-free half and half...it was delicious and creamy!
Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 finely chopped onion
½ - 1 cup frozen corn, or ½ cup chopped celery (I went with celery)
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ cup carrots, sliced
¾ cup all-purpose flour
6 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked wild rice (I just used 1 box Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice and cooked it without the seasoning packet)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (I used 1 can chicken)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds (I thought I had some and didn't...it was delish without them)
2 cups nonfat half-and-half
Directions:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, corn, chicken and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté 3-4 more minutes. Then add flour and stir well. Transfer mixture to large pot. Over medium heat, gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly until all has been added. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to low and let simmer.
Next, add the rice, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper and almonds. Allow to heat through and then pour in the half-and-half. Let simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil or it won't thicken properly - let it simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally.
Lemon Herbed Fish Fillets (Freezer Meal)
Sorry for the bad picture, I nearly forgot to take one before we started eating. This was the first freezer meal we tried that someone else prepared and we all really liked this one. It was a nice change of pace to have the fish and it was healthy too (not to mention easy to prepare and easy to serve). I served it with a mushroom rice mix and moms green beans. Even the girls ate theirs up! The recipe I'm posting says it is to make 4 servings, but it was barely enough for our family (and is another from the 30 Day Gourmet).
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. fish fillets (these were tilapia)
- 1 t. lemon pepper
- 1/2 t. garlic powder
Freezing Directions:
-Place fish in quart sized freezer bag. Sprinkle seasoning in bag. Make sure it is well distributed and not in clumps. Seal, label and freeze.
Serving Directions: (write this on bag)
- Allow fish to thaw completely in refrigerator or thaw in microwave. Place fish in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or lined with foil. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until fish flakes easily.
