Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

I made this recipe a couple sunday's ago and we loved it.  It is found here...

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did...

Lemon Chicken Sauce

Dice up chicken and cook through until lightly browned.  This is meant to be served over rice and chicken.  It is really good.

2/3 c. sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 Tbs. butter
1/4 c. milk (all we had was Almond Milk and we used that and it tasted just fine)

In a saucepan, stir together sugar and cornstarch.  Stir in the water and lemon juice.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is slightly thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for one more minute.  Gradually stir in butter until melted.  Stir in milk.  Serve over chicken and rice.

Sweet Citrus Chicken

This has become one of my new favorites because it is so easy and so good.

1 2/3 c. hot water
1 package (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing for chicken
6 small boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2" thickness (I use shredded chicken and it works just fine)
2/3 c. orange juice
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3 Tbs. butter or margarine, melted

Add hot water to stuffing mix, stir just until moistened. Set aside.

Place chicken in 9x13 pan.  Mix juice, sugar and butter until well blended.  Pour over chicken.  Top with prepared stuffing.  Bake @ 400* for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

Mix together and put in a 9x13 pan:
1 box Chicken Rice-A-Roni, prepared
3-4 chicken breasts, boil for 20 min and shred
1 can cream of chicken
1 1/2 c. sour cream

Mix together and put on top of casserole:
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
1 T. poppy seeds
3/4 c. margarine

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350*

Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

I got the basis for this recipe from Aaron McCargo off of the Food Network site. But then I made it my own with seasonings I like and stuff I had on hand. It turned out really good. I served it with some roasted red potatoes. Even the boys ate it up and I am actually looking forward to leftovers.

Meatloaf ingredients:
2 pounds ground turkey
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
minced garlic
1/4 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
italian seasonings
onion - minced (half of it)
parsley

Filling ingredients:
chopped spinach
white mushroom
onion (other half)
1/2 cup green and red peppers
parsley
1/2 cup feta cheese

8 ounce can tomato sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Spray a bread pan with non-stick spray. I used a Rachael Ray meatloaf pan which has a perforated insert pan so that excess fat can drip down into the bigger pan. Or just use a regular bread pan.

2. Combine all the meatloaf ingredients in a bowl mixing with your hands. Don't overwork the mixture. Use as much or as little of the seasonings (garlic, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, italian) as you want.  Place half of the mixture into the pan. Form a well in the middle of the pan for the filling to go. Like a canoe.

3. Chop the fresh spinach and saute it for a couple of minutes in a little bit of olive oil. Drain the liquid out of the cooked spinach (you can also use the frozen chopped spinach - just thaw and then drain off the liquid). Finely dice the mushroom, onion, peppers, and parsley (I put it all in the food processor to get it very fine). Add to the spinach in the pan and cook for a couple of minutes over low heat.

4. Add half of the mixture into the well of the meatloaf. Then add in the feta cheese. Top the cheese with the remaining veggie mixture. Then add the remaining half of the meatloaf mixture.

5. Top the entire meatloaf with the can of tomato sauce.

6. Bake for 55 minutes. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Slice and enjoy.

The web site says to add a pan of water on a rack below the meatloaf to help prevent cracking. I just added a little bit of water into the bottom pan of the meatloaf pan. And that worked for me.

So you really won't believe that I actually like this recipe, but I LOVE IT!  It reminded me  of Annette's Chicken Salad only this has curry.  (Everything is better with curry)

4 c. diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 c celery, thinly sliced
2 c. red* grapes
3 c. cooked wheat berries**
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I used almonds)
1/2 c. golden raisins

Dressing:
1/4 c evaporated canned milk
1 c. mayo
1/2 c. apricot preserves
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
2 T. curry powder (You may be able to use less, but I won't do more.)
1/2 t. salt and pepper


Blend dressing ingredients and gently toss with salad ingredients.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.  Serve with mixed greens or inside a fresh croissant.
* Green grapes would make this look funny.  Red grapes are certainly better.
**To make wheat berries:

VERY EASY
1 part whole wheat kernels
2 - 3 parts water
1/2 - 1 t. salt

Exact measurements are not necessary.  As long as it is 2 to 1 it will work.  Cover the wheat with water approx. 2" above the level of the wheat, in a large heavy pan.  Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let stand for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  At that time bring to a boil again, adding more water if needed.  Turn off heat and let stand for 15 - 20 minutes.  Stir in salt to taste.  Drain all remaining waters from cooked wheat berries.

Store in a tightly covered bowl, plastic container, or heavy-duty, self-sealing, plastic freezer bag.  This will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Mesquite Chicken

2-3 Chicken Breasts, thawed

3 slices of bacon, cut in half (I use turkey bacon)

Barbeque Sauce

Chicken Seasoning (I use Mesquite Seasoning by McCormick)

Cheese

Stewed Tomatoes (I use Rotel or Regular Stewed Tomatoes w/ Green Chilies) - optional

I cook the bacon in a skillet until it is done, but not crispy.  I pound this chicken down so that it is thin.  I usually do two chicken breasts, but I only have to feed me and Ryan and our not-so-little runt.  After the bacon is done (and you have taken it out of the skillet) I grill the chicken in the same skillet that the bacon was in and sprinkle the Mesquites Seasoning on both sides of the chicken until the chicken is mostly cooked thru.  Put the chicken in a sprayed casserole dish.  Coat the chicken with a layer of barbeque sauce.  Put the bacon over the chicken.  Put the cheese over the chicken and the stewed tomatoes over the cheese.  Bake in the over on 350* for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked thru.  

Healthy Pumpkin-ish Bread

My New Years Resolution is to start finding way to cut refined flour and sugar out of my diet. I have been dying to have something sweet to snack on, so today I used one of my favorite pumpkin bread recipes and came up with this. The texture is more gritty, but the taste is terrific. The original recipe is listed with my healthy substitutions in the parenthesis.

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (2 cups pureed acorn squash)
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. applesauce)
  
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar (2 c. honey)
  
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda (3 tsp. baking soda)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Corn and Bean Salad

Follow this link to a very, very healthy and flavorful salad:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Corn-and-Black-Bean-Salad

Alice and I loved it when we had it Annette's.