Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice

It'd been awhile since I had pulled out my food processor, but I'd been ready to try my hand at cauliflower rice and it was time. A quick search on Pinterest led me to this roasted cauliflower rice method, which sounded easy enough so I gave it a shot and it totally turned out great! (Printable recipe for the entire meal is at the bottom of this post.)

My friend, Medley, came over to help me with the kids this particular night since the husband was out of town for work. While I worked on the cauliflower, she stirred some chicken and cilantro mini wontons (from Trader Joe's) and kept an eye on the chicken and veggies. All I did was saute some chicken in a wok with some teriyaki sauce and seasonings, then added steamed carrots, broccoli and water chestnuts and a little more sauce.

The cauliflower was really simple: I washed one and a half heads of it, then broke into pieces and dropped into the food processor. I pulsed it until it was the size of rice granules and poured it onto a large baking sheet (it took two processor bowls-full to get enough). Then I drizzled the cauliflower with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, baked at 350F degrees for five minutes, stirred, baked another five minutes and it was done! The consistency was light and fluffy, just like tender rice. Even the quads ate it and Medley totally approved. Guilt free "carbs!"

Trystan is my picky eater out of the four and sticks to carbs as much as possible. I told them it was just rice and I'd drizzled a tiny bit of low-sodium soy sauce on it and everyone dug in—even Trystan! That smile after her fourth mouthful is proof enough. 

Get the printable recipe here!

Happy eating :)

The Best Loaded Sweet Potato Recipe Ever

When I asked my friend, Vanessa—a rising personal chef in California's Bay Area scene—about some of her go-to dishes that she makes at home for herself and new husband, Julian, she barely got through the first one before I was convinced I needed to recreate them in my kitchen. (And she does some amazing culinary crafting, y'all, so if you're in Cali...)

I'm all about new recipes or reinventing the same foods in a different way, and her versions even incorporate low-carb ingredients. Perfect, I thought. I don't really do diets but I like opting for healthy foods and the whole "less carbs, more fruits and veggies" mantra. My weekly grocery list is predominantly fresh foods and produce as it is.

I got the chance to make this loaded sweet potato deliciousness yesterday afternoon for myself and my friend, Jo Ann, who came to visit us for the morning. The quads had gone down for naps and I immediately went to work in the kitchen since I was eager to try this out. It got rave reviews from Jo Ann, who also intends to make it at home again soon, and I loved how fresh and flavorful it was. Vanessa and I both tend to cook without measuring and just eyeball ingredients, so her recipe she sent me came with no precise amounts. I've done my best to approximate what to add, but feel free to use less or more as you prefer. And yeah, there really is a sweet potato under there.

(Psssst! I've got a handy new printable recipe option available, the link is at the end of the post.)

Ingredients
Half or whole sweet potato per person
1 lb ground turkey or beef (85% lean)
1 can black beans
1/3 cup diced cherry tomatoes or whatever you have on hand
1/4 cup diced purple onion
Juice of 1 lime
Dollop of Greek yogurt
14 - 1/3 cup shredded cheese per person
1 tsp cumin
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Cayenne
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 avocado, diced
Chopped jalapeño to taste
Chopped cilantro to taste

Instructions
1. If you aren't baking the potatoes ahead of time, wash and poke potatoes and stick them in the microwave, checking every 4 minutes or so.
2. Heat up canned black beans. Add a couple spoons of tomato paste, cumin, salt and some cayenne.
3. Brown the meat in a skillet with some oil. Add smoked paprika, salt, pepper, remaining tomato paste and 1 to 2 chipotle peppers with some of the sauce. Just mash up the chipotle pepper with the spoon and mix it in. The tomato paste should cook a few minutes to caramelize and enhance in flavor.
4. Make a quick "salsa" with diced red onion, jalapeño, cherry tomatoes, lime and cilantro. Add some of the chopped cilantro to the beans.
5. Assemble: Slice potatoes down the middle (can serve 1/2 or whole potato to each person) and mash the inside slightly with a fork. Add some meat and top with black beans, salsa, avocado, cheese and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

This can be as spicy or mild as you want it by reducing or eliminating the peppers. You can also add to or take from the veg in whatever way you want.

For the printable version of this recipe, click here.

Thanks to Vanessa for sharing one of her favorite meals with us! You can follow her on Instagram where she shares tons of mouthwatering foodie photos, scenic travel shots and more. 

Happy eating :)

Tyke Bites & Balsamic Cherry Chicken Recipe

Yesterday—one of those days that motivated me to gulp a bottle glass of wine at the end—I did manage to try a new recipe, despite the cranky kids and busy schedule and exhaustion. Call it a last ditch effort to accomplish something before calling it quits. Cherry balsamic chicken—with wine! Check out our day of meals and scroll to the end for a yummy recipe. Cheers!

Breakfast: mini whole grain bagels with cinnamon sugar cream cheese, eggs, turkey sausage and fruit. My kids just don't eat eggs very well, though I've tried various ways to serve them. If you have some unique ideas on serving eggs, I'm all ears!

Lunch: I made some super easy quesadillas, which were a huge hit! I spread a thin layer of coconut oil on the outer layers of two mini tortillas, piled some shredded cheese in between and then cooked on each side on a flat skillet until they browned slightly and the cheese melted. I used a pizza slicer to cut them into quarters. Served with salted avocado pieces and strawberries. Everyone requested seconds and cleaned their plates! (And everyone is also still in their jammies because it was freezing cold and felt like a good day in stay in our fleece!)

Dinner: Some yummy balsamic cherry chicken I gleaned from Pinterest. (Get the recipe on my Food board here.) I had a bag of fresh cherries in the fridge that I wanted to incorporate and probably ate half of them in my efforts to prep them for the dish. I love anything with balsamic and wine, of course, so I poured a few glugs into my glass after I put some in the pan. The results were delicious, though the kids didn't go crazy over the cooked cherries, they did like the chicken! While I was standing at the stove cooking dinner, Harrison peeked over the bar from the play room and said, "Whatcha cooking mommy? That chicken looks good!"

I paired the chicken with some cheesy garlic toast and some fresh green beans I sauteed in coconut oil with minced onion, garlic salt and pepper.

Happy eating :)

{My Recipes} Crock Pot French Onion Chicken

Normally, I'm not a huge fan of crock pot cooking but I've certainly pulled out my slow cooker plenty of times since having the quads. In fact, I've started to appreciate it even more as I've gleaned various tasty recipes over the past couple years and have honed, well, my slow cooking skills. (Typically I'm cooking a 30-minute-type meal from scratch, but nothing beats the smell of delicious food cooking all day and having it ready to go with little prep work!)

I decided I wanted to try my hand at some simple French Onion Chicken and came up with this easy recipe that turned out delicious and also got approval—and a requested redo!—by the husband. Success.

Ingredients

2 large or 3 small boneless chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 packet Onion soup mix
1 tsp each: pepper, garlic powder, seasoning salt
2 cups baby carrots
1.5 cups chicken stock

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours, until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork. 

I topped our chicken with French Fried onions and only wish I'd had some gruyere cheese to add! We had brown rice, green beans and steamed carrots to round off a very filling meal. 

What's your favorite crock pot concoction?

Happy eating :)

{My Recipes} Jalapeno Dijon Chicken

I came up with this recipe on the fly yesterday after needing something easy to go along with chicken thighs, something a little different than the usual and something that would cook well in a crock pot. There were a variety of recipes on Pinterest but none in particular that caught my eye, so I came up with my own version of Jalapeno Dijon Chicken that was a hit with the fam!

Ingredients
3-4 chicken breasts OR 6-8 chicken thighs
1/2 cup dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 to 1/3 cup sliced jalapenos (jarred variety is fine, adjust amount based on desired heat)
garlic salt
sea salt
pepper

Add all ingredients to crock pot and season with garlic salt, sea salt and pepper to your liking. Cook on high for four hours. Garnish with additional jalapenos and/or shredded cheese.

Easy peesy!

{My Recipes} Crockpot Brisket & Baked Corn

Honestly, I have never thought about putting ears of corn in my oven. Not once. But it's actually a genius idea. I've done corn on my stovetop grill, on our outdoor gas grill and even sawed off the kernels then sauteed them in a pan with butter and rosemary. Putting them in the oven, however, was a tasty new way to prepare the ol' cobs and I'm now officially a fan. Thanks for the inspiration, Pinterest.

And of course baked corn goes great with crockpot brisket. Which was my first brisket to make ever, by the way. I adapted it from this recipe. It was edible and delicious, so I'm counting this dinner as a double whammy accomplishment for all the "newness" involved. Yum yum.

Crockpot Brisket
2 pound brisket, most of fat removed

Worcestershire sauce

1 regular size bottle BBQ sauce
1 onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons chile powder
1 teaspoons salt (I used sea salt)
1 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Combine all the dry spices to create a rub and vigorously apply it to both sides of the brisket, really rubbing it into the meat. Place meat in crockpot and add onions, garlic and water as well as a few glugs of worcestershire. Cook on low for about six hours, check meat at around 4 hours. Turn down to warm if it's starting to cook through already. 

Remove meat from crockpot when it's done and shred with two forks then return to crock pot and add BBQ sauce, stirring well and warming through.

The brisket worked out great for a taco bar we did for dinner one night, complete with corn tortillas, homemade guacamole and all the trimmings!

Baked Corn

Corn on the cob, 6-10 ears

Butter

Rosemary

Sea Salt

Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400F. Shuck and wash corn thoroughly then place on baking sheet and season very liberally with rosemary, sea salt and pepper. Place a pat of butter on top of each ear and put in the oven to bake for 45-60 minutes, until corn starts to brown and roast.

You can find links to these recipes and more on my Food page on Pinterest!

Happy eating :)

{My Recipes} Beef Stir Fry with Broccoli

This recipe was a delicious new addition to our dinner menu last week and was approved by the entire family, all four kids included! I used this original recipe as the foundation for mine and made some tweaks to it for our table.

Beef Stir Fry with Broccoli
1 lb. boneless, beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips*
(*I bought the pre-sliced beef at the grocery store that's labeled for stir fry as it was convenient)
1 cup beef broth
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
⅓ cup regular or dark brown sugar
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. cornstarch
4 tbsp. sauce (from the crockpot after dish is cooked)
1.5-2 cups fresh, steamed broccoli florets
White or brown rice, cooked

(Note: You can cut out as much as half of the amount of brown sugar called for if you prefer a less sweet flavor to the dish. I plan to do that next time, as it was a little bit too much on the sweet side for me.)

In the insert of the crockpot, whisk together beef stock, soy sauce, dark brown sugar, olive oil and garlic. Place beef in the liquid and toss to coat. Turn crockpot on low and cook for 4-6 hours. (May have to adjust time depending on your crockpot.) Test doneness at 4 hours and continue cooking if necessary. When done, in a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cooking liquid to create a slurry, pour into crockpot, stir to mix well. Cook on low for an additional 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce. Toss in your broccoli florets then serve hot over white rice.

Happy eating :)

{My Recipes} One Pot Wonder Greek Chicken

I am fascinated by the latest one-pot recipes swirling around on Pinterest lately that involve, quite literally, dumping various ingredients of a particular flavor theme into a pot and coming up with a fabulous meal 20 water-boiling minutes later. And I love Greek salads and pastas, so naturally I had to try the Greek Chicken variation. I made a few edits to the recipe I found here, and it got a thumbs up from the husband, my parents and all four kiddos so I'd say it makes the list of go-to easy dinners!

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA
2-3 large boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

One 14-ounce can or jar of artichokes, drained
1/2 cup olives, any kind (I use olives from the grocery's olive bar, not canned)
1 lb pasta, any kind
1 handful fresh grape tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
1/2 sliced red onion
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red chili flakes
7 cups chicken stock
One packet Zesty Italian dressing mix
Crumbled feta

Put all of the ingredients into a large pot except the feta cheese. Stir it together and bring it to a boil. When it is at a full boil, reduce the heat to medium high. 

Make sure you have a pint-sized helper in the kitchen to assist. Logan loves emptying the silverware from the dishwasher! ;)

Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and pasta are done. Remove from heat and strain servings into bowls then top with a generous handful of feta cheese.

You can also find a link to my recipe pinned onto my Food board on Pinterest!

Happy eating :)

{My Recipes} Crockpot Paella

I have a great new recipe to add to our menu rotation and best of all, it's a super easy paella! I first had paella in the best place possible—Spain. The husband and I visited Malaga in the South of Spain during our year abroad living in Scotland. After a morning spent on the beach, we stopped at a cafe hut in the sand and ordered cold beers and a traditional paella. Cooked in a large cast iron skillet with loads of short-grain rice, seafood and chicken wings, it was delicious. Truly nothing better than an authentic culinary experience like that!

The recipe I used is an adaption of Rachael Ray's slow-cooker paella, as I adjusted several of the ingredients and cook time. I'm not a big fan of chorizo, so I decided to try out some Genoa salami in its place instead. But I also think you could make this with shrimp, scallops or even turkey sausage. Here's my take on a shortcut recipe to a traditional dish!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons EVOO
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
3 teaspoons paprika
2 cups Arborio rice
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1.5 cup low-sodium chicken broth
6-ounce package uncured Genoa salami
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups frozen peas

In a large skillet, heat the EVOO over medium-high. Add the chicken in a single layer and sprinkle with 1.5tsp paprika then season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown then transfer to crockpot. Add the rice to the skillet, stirring and cooking until light golden (just a few minutes). Transfer rice to the crockpot and pour in tomatoes, broth, salami, onion, garlic, salt, 1.5tsp paprika and peas. Cover and cook on high heat until the rice is tender, about 2.5 to 3 hours.

You can find this recipe on my Food board on Pinterest if you want to pin it for later!

Happy eating :)