Monday, March 29, 2010

Crunchy Onion Barbecue Chicken

This recipe came through from Tee on recipe challenge just in time for me to be starving and come on to find a quick dinner.  I didn't bother with crushing the onions but it would have made a finer "crust".  This was SO good!!



Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
  • 1-1/3 cups french-fried onions, crushed
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)

Directions

  • Place barbecue sauce in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the onions, cheese and pepper. Dip both sides of chicken in barbecue sauce, then one side in onion mixture.
  • Place chicken, crumb side up, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 22-27 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Yield: 4 servings.
Nutrition Facts: 1 chicken breast half equals 286 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 97 mg cholesterol, 498 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 36 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 5 lean meat, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.
Crunchy Onion Barbecue Chicken published in Healthy Cooking April/May 2010, p53 

Feta Topped Chicken

I missed getting a picture of these because they went so fast but they were awesome!  Buying feta in bulk at Sams makes it a GREAT deal!

4boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/4 lb)
2tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4teaspoon seasoned pepper
1large roma (plum) tomato, cut into 8 slices
1/4cup crumbled feta cheese (1 oz

Set oven control to broil. Brush both sides of chicken breasts with
dressing. Sprinkle both sides with Italian seasoning and seasoned pepper.
Place on rack in broiler pan.

Broil with tops 4 inches from heat about 10 minutes, turning once, until
juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F). Top
with tomato and cheese. Broil 2 to 3 minutes longer or until cheese is
lightly browned.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Broil chicken about 15 minutes. Top with
tomato and cheese. Broil 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Persimmon Coconut Cake

While my internet was down I actually looked through my printed recipes and found this one.  Very german chocolate cake-ish with the nuts and coconut:)  I'm including the frosting recipe but I made up a buttercream with coconut.

Persimmon Coconut Cake
Grease a 9X13 pan
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups persimmon pulp
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup coconut
Mix all ingredients a few at a time then fold in pecans and coconut.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the middle clean.

Coconut icing
1/4 cup margarine
8 ounce cream cheese(room temp)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut

Blend together then stir in nuts and coconut.  Keep refrigerated.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Greek Meatloaf

This was soooo good!  I'm putting this up because it was super good eventhough the pictures of a meatloaf with a green center weren't something I'd upload:)  I didn't use ground lamb and instead only used ground beef.

MEATLOAF:

1 1/2 lbs. ground lamb
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
2 c. quick oats
2 tbsp. oil
1 lg. onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, mashed
1 c. parsley, chopped
1 tsp. cumin

FILLING:

1 lg. bunch spinach, chopped
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled

TOPPING:

1/2 c. catsup
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Mix meats. Beat eggs in small bowl with milk and oats. Let stand 5 minutes. Saute onion and garlic in oil. Combine all the meatloaf ingredients. Mix all the filling ingredients together. Put 2/3 of meat mixture in the shape of hollow loaf in pan. Fill with the filling and top with remaining meat. Spoon topping over meatloaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let stand before serving.

Artichoke Hearts and White Beans with Pasta

This was from this dairy free website.  I am not dairy free but the recipe fit with the beans and artichokes I wanted to use and I'm so glad I did!  Even when it was done I was worried we wouldn't like it but the only complaint came from Justin because he didn't like the artichokes but they were easily picked around :o)  I used dried beans and they were way softer than I'd wanted so with stirring they became mush...tasty mush though:)

Artichoke Hearts and White Beans with Pasta
Serves 4
1 tablespoon garlic
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, with juice
1 can white beans
1 cup cooked pasta shells [use your favorite GF pasta for gluten-free]
Saute garlic and onion in deep skillet over medium heat for five minutes in
olive oil.
Add lemon juice, simmer for two minutes.
Add artichoke hearts with juice and simmer for another five minutes until
sauce is opaque.
Lower heat to medium low. Add white beans and cover skillet, allowing ten
minutes of cooking time. Add cooked pasta shells, mixing well. Serve with
red pepper flakes and [vegan "parmesan"] if desired.

Baby Cereal Cookies


This was off recipezaar.  I thought it would be a good way to use the box of infant cereal Willow absolutely refused to eat.  They weren't bad...reminded me a lot of molasses cookies from the store but they needed icing to be just like those and that would defeat the purpose of a healthier cookie:)

Recipe #104405

SERVES 24
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Grease a cookie sheet or spray with nonstick spray.
  3. Lightly cream molasses and butter.
  4. Mix in egg and vanilla.
  5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cereal.
  6. Add to the butter mixture.
  7. Blend.
  8. Add milk.
  9. Drop on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
  10. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Garlic Pull Apart Bread



I got this recipe off frugalgirl and man it was fantastic!  We will be making this quite often!  I used my buttery roll recipe for the dough.

Pull-Apart Garlic Bread
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 pound of bread dough, either frozen (which should be thawed first) or homemade
In a small bowl, combine the butter, parsley, garlic powder and garlic salt. Cut dough into 1-in. pieces (about 15-20). Roll into balls and dip into butter mixture. Layer in a 9×5 or 4×6 loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Dump and Cook Lentil Soup

This was a very healthy dinner...was very much like a stew but with lentils instead of meat.  I don't know that I'd make it again but I love trying out different bean/lentil/pea recipes.
This came from the hillbilly housewife website and can be found here.

bag lentils rinsed
2 qts water
2 large potatoes..peeled and diced
3 stalks celery…sliced
1 large onion..peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic..minced
4-5 carrots…peeled and diced
2 15oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 ketchup..more or less to taste
salt&pepper to taste
1 T italian seasoning
2 bay leaves..optional


In a large pot put all ingredients EXCEPT ketchup. Bring to a boil, cover then lower to a simmering boil and cook for approx 1 hr..adding more water if needed, add ketchup( I prefer more) and adjust seasonings to your liking. Continue to cook on simmer until lentils are done. Remove bay leaves. The longer it cooks the better it tastes, even tastes better the next day

Fruit Cocktail Cake


Ginny on dailyrecipes found this website with recipe for using fruit cocktail.  We made this one for Hunter's birthday cake and it was a neat idea but the fruit made it kinda slimy;P

Fruit Cocktail Cake 2

1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of soda
1 egg
2 1/2 cans fruit cocktail, well drained

Sift together flour, sugar, salt and soda. Beat 1 egg and mix with 2 1/2
cans of fruit cocktail. Mix the egg mixture and flour together and put
into greased and floured 8 x 8 inch pan. Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2
cup chopped nuts and spread on top. Bake at 300ºF. for 1 hour.