Key West Grilled Chicken(marinade)

I found this recipe on Pinterest. I've had some good luck with recipes I pinned and bad luck.. This my friends was definately AWESOME luck! My husband raved about this and said that we should use this marinade pretty much all the time. I made it on skewers with Green and Red peppers,onion and mushrooms. So without further ado, here it is!


3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tbs. honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Juice of 1 Lime
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a bowl with a lid. Add chicken. Put lid on and shake shake shake! Let Marinade for 30 min.

If you prefer kebabs,cut the chicken into large chunks, skewer onto bamboo sticks that have been soaked in water for 5 minutes, and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
For a slightly zestier version, add a teaspoon of Freshly Chopped cilantro to the marinade.( I didn't add cilantro)

Grill on medium high heat for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear. Serve with fresh salad, steamed veggies, baked potato or any of your favorite sides. For variation, try marinating shrimp, (which will take 2-4 minutes to grill in all!)

Long story short, I was making this on a monday. Kyle reminded me that he was going to have a Pizza party at school. So this marinade, with the chicken or turkey already in it starting the 30 min marinade, was in the fridge. We ended up having it on Wed. So it was a 3 day marinade. Still delish! Hope you all are adventurous and try it!

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls (Pao de Queijo)

Quick background, my husband served an LDS Mission in the southern most part of Brazil.  While he was there he fell in love with the people and the regional cuisine.  Shortly after his return home a new restaurant opened in Salt Lake City called Rodizio Grill and it quickly became one of our most favorite places to eat on special occasions.  One of the things that they serve at the restaurant as part of the appetizer/bread portion is called cheese rolls.  It only took me 12 years to realize I could make those delicious suckers at home.

So of course where do I go when I want to find a recipe, google.com of course.  Now I've started searching and then looking at the image search and whatever picture looks the most appetizing I usually choose that recipe.  So I searched for brazilian cheese bread and was so elated to see that the recipe I chose was from a favorite blogging duo on Our Best Bites. If you've never had a chance to check this blog or cookbook I highly recommend it - easy recipes and great food.

Here is the easy version of the recipe

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} – Gluten Free!

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
*you can play around with the cheese.  I’ve used Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar.  All great!

Optional:  extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add.  Try rosemary and or garlic powder, my favorites!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth.  Add cheeses and pulse 2 times.  Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.  If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan.  Serve warm. {Que Gostoso!}  These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill  mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

And of course if you'd like pretty pictures to follow along you can visit the site HERE for more details and pretty shots.  This is a delicious little roll, I make mine in a mini muffin pan.  The only trick is YOU HAVE to have tapioca flour.  I find mine in my local grocery store down the gluten free aisle or I have heard some of the big chains like Winco are selling it in bulk. It's what makes the rolls. And here are my beauties. And last but not least MY KIDS WILL EAT THESE...

Crusty Bread

I'm totally borrowing this from another website - Simply So Good - which is pretty much where any of my good/great ideas come from - but for my first post I wanted to make sure it was something SUPREME so here you go...

Here is the simplified version, including ingredients and directions.

Crusty Bread

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.  

For those of you who enjoy photos with your directions HERE is the link on the blog which shows step by step instructions including how to ADD IN flavors and tastes.

This is one of the easiest things I have every made.  It takes a few minutes to mix dry ingredients, stir in wet ingredient and then you MUST let it rise for at least 12 hours.  I make my dough at night after I put kids to bed - around 9 pm - and I bake my bread in the morning.  You MUST have a cast iron pot! I bought a cheap lodge dutch oven at my local Walmart for $35.  Any kind of cast iron pot will do.  

Since I found this recipe via our favorite new site Pinterest I have probably made a dozen loafs of bread, not exaggerating one iota.  I made two this morning.  One I will freeze to go along with freezer crock pot meals I am preparing.  The other we will consume this week and when I say we I mean me and when I say this week I mean probably in two days.  This is to die for and it really is that easy.  Enjoy and don't blame me if your carb count quadruples in a week!!

Here are my two loaves from this morning, the one to the left has cheese in it that's why it looks a little different.  It's my first attempt at an add-in and I know it will be delicious.

Parmesan Knots

I tore this recipe out of a "Taste Of Home" Magazine a few years ago. DELICIOUS! Easy, Quick, fum, yummy. You also find the recipe Here.

PARMESAN KNOTS

(Picture taken by Taste Of Home; see website)

Ingredients

• 1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 1/4 cup canola oil (I used 2 Tbs butter and 2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Directions

• Cut each biscuit into thirds. Roll each piece into a 3-in. rope and tie into a knot; tuck ends under. Place 2 in. apart on a greased baking sheet (They will be small!). Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; add the warm knots and gently toss to coat. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

*I served these with Ravioli with marinara sauce, turkey meatballs, and green salad. 

Black Beans

This is delicious and very easy. I like to serve them as a side dish with any mexican style main dish. These are very healthy as well.

2 T Chopped Onion
2 teaspoon Chopped Garlic
1 T Oil
1/2 t Cumin
1 can Black Beans, drained
8 T Tomato Sauce
3 T Cilantro


Cook chopped onion and garlic and cumin in oil until soft. Add other
ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.

-----

Turkey Meatballs

We love these meatballs. Yesterday I made spaghetti for the 1st time in the almost-7-years we've been married. My husband isn't a huge fan of spaghetti, but I figured if I made spaghetti and meatballs, maybe it would go over a little better. And it did. We LOVE these (I've actually made them for me and the kids, but never for the hubby). Now if I could just find an AMAZING spaghetti sauce to go with it, we'd be set. So if you have a good one...please post it!

Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbs Parmesan cheese
1 tbs Worcestershire
1 slice of bread (ripped or cut into small pieces, I use the end piece that nobody will use for a sandwich)
1 egg

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Form meatballs (I use a cookie scoop to make them about the same size). Bake on 350 degrees for 45 minutes. I served with angel hair pasta, spaghetti sauce, salad, and breadsticks. Makes about 20 meatballs. YUM :)

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

These cookies are easy and delicious. They contain only 61 calories per cookie and really satisfy your sweet tooth. You can find the almond paste in a can on the baking ailse of the grocery store. You can also make your own almond paste. There are many recipes available on the internet. These are very fast and easy to make and they look very elegant placed on a platter for a party. Enjoy!

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

3/4 c Grated Almond Paste
2/3 c Sugar
5 T Butter,Softened
1/4 t Vanilla
1 lg Egg White
1 1/4 c Flour
1/4 t Salt
6 T Raspberry Jam

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Line large cookie sheet with parchment of use silpat on bottom of
pan.
3. Place first 3 ingredients in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium
speed for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg
white; beat well.
4. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
Add flour and salt to almond paste mixture; beat at low speed until
well blended. Use a cookie scoop and shape dough into 34-36 1 inch
balls. Place balls on cookie sheet and press thumb or back of cookie
scoop into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation. Bake for 10
minutes until set.
4. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Spoon about 1/2
teaspoon raspberry jam into center of each cookie.

Chicken Noodle Soup.

We are NOT soup fans. So when I say that we LOVE this soup and my kids ask for seconds and thirds, I mean this is really really good! I got this recipe from here: http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/the_ladys_chicken_noodle_soup/  (Paula Deen recipe)
But I changed it a little to make it easier to me.
I usually make this when we have a leftover rotisserie chicken; or the last time I just boiled two chicken breasts in the water.



Photo courtesy of PaulaDeen.Com

 

Ingredients Add to grocery list

4   bay leaves
3   chicken bouillon cubes
1   onion, peeled and diced (I sometimes just do 2 T of the dried stuff)
1 teaspoon Paula Deen Lemon Pepper Seasoning (Just regular is fine)
3   cloves garlic, minced
1   2 1/2 to 3-pound fryer (chicken), cut up
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 1/2 quart water
kosher salt and pepper to taste

For Step 2:
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops (I rarely have celery on hand but it was still good without)
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I never use fresh, I usually use 1 to 2 T)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional) (NOT optional!!!! THis makes it sooo good)
3/4 cup heavy cream (optional) (I usually just use regular milk)
1/3 cup cooking sherry (Sometimes I put 2T of a vinegar wine I have on hand)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Fresh parsley (I never use fresh)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
Paula Deen Seasoned Salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
crusty french bread, for serving

Directions

What I do is add everything together instead of the chicken, noodles, cream, and parm cheese.  I simmer it for 20 minutes. 
    Note: If you are using a rotisserie chicken then boil in just the water and seasonings for 30 minutes or more. 
Then remove the Bay leaves.
Bring to a boil 
Add chicken
I add the noodles (I make them)
Reduce heat or remove from heat and add the cream/milk and Parm cheese 


For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside. 

For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.