Coconut Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce

My sister shared this dish with me.  Her boyfriend makes a wonderful honey mustard sauce from scratch to go with it, and I haven't been able to get exact measurements for the ingredients in it out of him, but this is my best guess.

Coconut Chicken

Ingredients:
2 6oz. chicken breasts
1/4 cup of coconut
1/4 cup panko or whole wheat bread crumbs
1 beaten egg


Preparation:
Preaheat oven to 350.  Spray a cookie sheet or baking pan with cooking spray.  Beat the egg and mix with a splash of water.  Set aside.  Mix bread crumbs with coconut in a small bowl and set aside.  Cut chicken breast into long thin strips.   Dip chicken strips in the egg mixture, then into the coconut/bread crumb mixture to coat it, then place them in the baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, turn the pieces, then bake for 10 more minutes.

Honey Mustard Sauce

Mix together the following ingredients:
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1-2 T. dijon mustard
2-3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. honey

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Derek makes these, and they are oh so good!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation:

• Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, vanilla and oats. Stir in chocolate chips.
• On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart.
• Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Mint Chocolate Brownies

I love the Betty Crocker Mint Brownie Recipe that uses a little cream cheese in the filling...

Ingredients:

1 box of brownie mix
 Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box

Filling:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T. butter or margarine, softened
3 T. whipping cream
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
2 drops green food color

Chocolate Topping:
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 1/3 cups (8 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter


Preparation:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 9x9 or 9x13 inch pan (make sure you get a brownie mix that can fill a 9x13 if you go that route, because as I have just discovered, not all brownie boxes are created equal) with shortening or cooking spray. Make and bake brownie mix as directed on box. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
• In large bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until set.
• Meanwhile, in 2-quart nonstick saucepan, heat topping ingredients over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth. Cool about 10 minutes or until lukewarm.
• Pour topping over filling; spread to cover. Refrigerate uncovered about 2 hours or until set. Before cutting into bars, let stand 10 minutes at room temperature. Store covered in refrigerator

 

 

 

Saltine Toffee

Note:  You will need parchment paper and a candy thermometer

Ingredients:
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
2 sticks of unsalted butter
2 cups of all purpose sugar
1 T. light corn syrup
1 cup (or more) semi sweet chocolate chips
chopped nuts (pecans or almonds)

Preparation:
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.  Then arrange saltine crackers salt side down in a single layer.  Set aside.  In a medium sized sauce pot, mix butter, sugar, and corn syrup on low heat.  Keep on low heat stirring occasionally until the temperature of the mixture reaches 290 degrees F, or begins to darken in color.  Remove from heat and spread evenly over saltine crackers.  Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the butter mixture and let sit until melted.  When chocolate chips have melted, spread them evenly over the toffee.  Sprinkle chopped nuts over chocolate.  Place in the freezer until chocolate is set.  Break toffee into pieces, and it's all done!

Chicken Salad

I've tried multiple chicken salad recipes, and so far this is the tastiest!

Ingredients:

• 2 large chicken breasts
• Instant Chicken Bullion
• 2-3 spoonfuls mayo
• 6 oz. cream cheese softened
• 4-5 sprigs dill (to taste)
• salt to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste (1/2 - 1 teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• grapes halved or quartered
• chopped walnuts or pecans (whichever is cheaper)

Preparation
Bring a pot of water to boil with a good shaking of Instant Chicken Bullion in it.  Add chicken breasts, and simmer until cooked through.  Meanwhile stir together mayo, cream cheese, honey, and seasonings in a small bowl.  Cut each chicken breast into 3 - 5 pieces and place a portion of chicken with some of the cream mixture into a food processor and process until mixed.  Remove to a large bowl, and continue this process several times until all chicken and cream mixture has been processed.  Stir it all together in the large bowl and add grapes and chopped nuts.  Enjoy!

Texas Toast Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. Jimmy Dean bulk pork sausage, cooked.
• 8 oz. spiral pasta (or any small pasta i.e. penne, macaroni, shells, etc.)
• 1 jar (26 oz.) pasta sauce
• 3/4 c. water
• 1 T. fresh basil chopped OR 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 c. fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 box Texas Toast or frozen garlic bread sliced into 8 slices
• 2-3 c. (12 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 8 fresh whole basil leaves
• 8 large tomato slices

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, mix cooked sausage, cooked pasta, pasta sauce, water, chopped basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pepper.  Toss gently, then place mixture into a greased 9x13 in. pan.
• Place slices of garlic bread on top of mixture and cover with mozzarella.
• Dip tomatoe slices in olive oil and place on each bread slice.
• Cover with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.  Then uncover and bake for 5 - 10 minutes longer to melt the cheese.
• Tuck basil leaf slightly under each tomatoe.  Let stand ten minutes to help set before slicing and serving.

Cheesy Mexican Bake

This recipe comes straight from the Betty Crocker website, so I cannot take any credit, but it is simply wonderful!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb bulk spicy pork sausage

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, drained

1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 can (~10 oz.) condensed cream of celery soup

1 can (~10 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can (10 oz.) enchilada sauce

9 six-inch flour tortillas (Betty Crocker calls for corn tortillas but I prefer flour)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (8 oz.)

 1-2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack Cheese (8 oz.)

Optional: chopped tomatoe, avocado, and sour cream to top lasagna.

Preparation:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
• In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook sausage and beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in beans, diced tomatoes, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
• In 2-quart saucepan, stir together soups and enchilada sauce. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated.
• Spoon one-third of the sauce into baking dish; top with 3 of the tortillas. Spoon half of the meat mixture over tortillas; top with another one-third of the sauce and 1 cup of the Cheddar cheese. Top with 3 tortillas. Repeat layers with remaining meat mixture, sauce, Cheddar cheese and tortillas. Sprinkle with half of the Monterey Jack cheese.
• Cover loosely with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining Monterey Jack cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Top with tomato, avocado and dollop of sour cream if so desired.

Amazing Baked Beans

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
1 T. oil
2 cans of baked beans
1 can of crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. ketchup

Preparation:
Dice and cook the onion in a skillet with oil until soft.  Mix onion and all remaining ingredients in a large bowl, then transfer to a 9x13 in. baking dish.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Uncover; bake 25-35 minutes until bubbly and beans reach desired thickness.

Chicken and Cabbage Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

This recipe is dee-lish if you like Thai-like peanut sauce recipes.  it's not very spicey, but I suppose you could easily give it some kick by adding some chilis.  I usually put it over spaghetti pasta to stretch it, but if you want a lower carb version, you could do without the pasta and just put in extra cabbage.  I've done that before and it turns out great too!

Ingredients:
4 tsp. canola oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 small head of cabbage thinly sliced
2-5 T. water
2 medium carrots, grated
1/4 c. smooth natural peanut butter
1/3 c. orange juice
2 T. reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. chopped unsalted roasted peanuts (optional)
Spaghetti pasta prepared according to package directions

Preparation:
1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and cook stirring until fragrant, 30 seconds.  Add chicken and cook stirring until cooked through.  Transfer to a bowl.
2. Reduce heat to medium.  Swirl in the remaining 2 teaspoons oil.  Add cabbage and 2 T. water.  Cook, stirring, until beginning to wilt, 3-5 minutes.  If it begins to burn before wilting, add extra water.  Add carrots and cook, stirring until just tender, about 3 minutes more.
3.  Meanwhile, whisk peanut butter, orange juice, soy sauce, and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth.
4.  Return chicken to the pan of vegetables, then pour in the peanut sauce and toss to combine. 
5. Remove from heat and sprinkle with peanuts if desired, and serve over pasta.  Enjoy!

Tip:  I learned after making this the hard way once or twice, that cabbage is way easier to chop up if you do so while it's still all together as a head.  Don't do what I did the first time and cut up each individual leaf!  Haha... what was I thinking???

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

Ingredients:

2/3 c. light sour cream
4 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
¼ t. salt
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. fajita seasoning or chili powder
4 c. shredded romaine lettuce
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
½ c. diced peeled avocado
1 15oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8 ¾ ounce) can not-salt-added whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained
chopped red onion

Directions:

Mix together the first 5 ingredients and set aside.  Chop of the chicken breasts into bite size pieces, and then cook on the stove top with fajita seasoning or chili powder.  In a large bowl toss together the remaining ingredients (I leave out the onion).  Toss with dressing mixture.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!