Sweet Chicken Tacos

In a crock pot combine:
3-4 Chicken Breasts
1 tsp mustard
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups brown sugar

In 2-3 Tbsp butter saute one small onion. Add to crock pot.

Once cooked, shred chicken, then return to crock pot. Now ready to serve.

For tacos:
Tortillas
heated refried beans
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
shredded cheese
guacamole
sour cream

Very simple and delicious.

Keen-wah! Quinoa!

Quinoa, it's all the craze! It's some super healthy grain that has lots of protein or something. Anyway, I decided to give it a whirl and bought a big bag at Costco, my friend had a yummy salad recipe that I tried, it was awesome! It got all eaten up tonight at a family party, give it a try!


2C uncooked Quinoa
1/2 green/red/or yellow pepper diced
1 can black beans
1 1/2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
Salt
Pepper
1 1/2 C frozen corn
Cherry tomatoes cut in half
avacado, diced
1/4 C cilantro

Dressing
-----------
5 Tbs Lime Juice (fresh is best)
1 t salt
1 1/4 t cumin
1/3 C Olive Oil


Cook the Quinoa according to the package directions. While it is cooking soak the beans (rinse them first) in the red wine vinegar with salt and pepper (to taste). When the Quinoa is all cooked add all the other stuff, mix the dressing ingredients and add that too! I served it with fresh slices of lime for people to squeeze on top.

*It's kind of debatable whether this should be served hot or cold. I liked it cold...but uh...not sure what the right way to serve it is : )

If I had it all to do over again I would add more lime to the dressing, but it was pretty good as is. Give it a try, it's pretty yum!

I just posted this recipe then went and re-read it and noticed I had spelled wine "whine". I guess it's official that I am a parent now : )

Buttermilk Blueberry Coffee Cake

I made this over the weekend and halved the recipe, which was a very good idea, because I have eaten nearly the entire thing on my own!

For the Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

For the Streusel:

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch pan.  

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.

3. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time until well incorporated.  Add vanilla.  

4. Slowly add flour mixture, and than buttermilk until just combined.  Do not overmix.

5. Stir in blueberries and lemon zest.

6. Pour batter in the pan, it will be slightly thick. 

7. Make streusel.  Mix sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Add butter and mix with hands, or a pastry blender until mixture is the size pea sized crumbs.  Sprinkle evenly over cake batter.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a  toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Recipe from here: Stephanie's Kitchen

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from the book "The Essential Mormon Cookbook." They really are the best chocolate chip cookies I've made.

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 bag chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix together and stir in chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes (mine actually took more like 10-12 minutes).

Asparagus Pasta w/ Spinach Noodles

I ran across this recipe for Asparagus Pasta yesterday and decided it merited a special trip to the grocery store for asparagus and a rearranging of my menu for the week so we could use up the little bit of cream left in my fridge before it went bad.

And, because I'm trying to eat healthier and squeeze more veggies in, I made spinach pasta instead of using the penne or rigatoni the recipe calls for.

It was all quite good (especially with the addition of garlic. I am physically incapable of cooking without garlic, I think). I was worried it would be TOO vegetable-y but it really wasn't. My two year old gobbled it up and there were no leftovers. Not too bad for a Monday night meal.

BTS Cake

I imagine you've tried BTS cake at some point in your life. It's pretty good, but its' name is a bit graphic for the family party I was bringing it to. Anyway, here's the original recipe:

1 pkg. devils food cake mix
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
6 oz. caramel ice cream topping
3 Heath bars, crumbled
1 container cool whip

1. Prepare the cake according to box instructions. I cut my oil in half because the cake gets a lot of moisture added into it, so why keep unnecessary calories?
2. When cake is finished baking, poke holes in it with a wooden spoon. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the entire thing, then cover with caramel. Sprinkle some of the Heath bars. Let cool.
3. Frost with cool whip and sprinkle the rest of the Heath bars on top. Serve cold.

This is really good. But, as I was making it, I remembered that I have a LOT of peanut butter in my food storage that is close to expiring. So I substituted 1 cup melted peanut butter (microwave it 20 seconds at a time and stir till it's the consistency of melted chocolate) for the caramel and topped with Reese's peanut butter cups instead. It was great, even better than the original recipe b/c it was my husband's birthday cake and he loves peanut butter.

Roasted Tilapia and Veggies

We aren't total fish lovers, but tried this tonite and it was FABULOUS!

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 40 min
Makes: 4 servings

1/2 lb fresh asparagus spears, cut in half (I used carrots)
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges, separated
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Montreal steak seasoning
4 tilapia fillets (about 1 1/2 lb)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon paprika (Didn't have any, still tasted great!)



1. Heat oven to 450°F. In large bowl, mix asparagus, zucchini, bell pepper, onion and oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the steak seasoning; toss to coat. Spread vegetables in ungreased 15x10x1-inch pan. Place on lower oven rack in oven; bake 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Pat tilapia fillets dry with paper towels. Brush with butter; sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon steak seasoning and paprika. Place in baking dish.
3. Place baking dish on middle oven rack in oven. Bake fish and vegetables 17 to 18 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily with fork and vegetables are tender. (I could have stood it to cook a bit longer, and cook out some of the excess water, it was kind of watery.)


*Any firm white fish fillets can be used. Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets.

**Nutrion Information 1 Serving: Calories 290 (Calories from Fat 110); Total Fat 12g (Saturated Fat 3 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 100mg; Sodium 520mg; Total Carbohydrate 11g (Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 5g); Protein 35g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 40%; Vitamin C 45%; Calcium 6%; Iron 10% Exchanges: 0 Other Carbohydrate; 2 Vegetable; 4 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet