Garlic Lime Chicken

3 lbs. chicken
1/3 c. lime juice
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. minced parsley
2 tbs. chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs. grated lime peel
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme*
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a bowl, combine the last nine ingredients. Place chicken in a large, resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade into bag and shake or squeeze bag to coat chicken. Refrigerate for several hours.** Place in a baking dish and cook in the over at 350° for about 1 hour.

*It is really best with fresh thyme if you have some around, but about 1/2 tsp. of dried works too.
**Sometimes when I am pressed for time, I skip this step and put it directly into the oven. Then I just make sure to baste it with the marinade every 10-15 minutes while cooking.

Serves 4-6.

I think I can safely say that this would NOT taste so good with Worchestershire sauce on it, though I have never really tried it... ;-)

Chicken Carrot Pilaf

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips or chunks*
1/2 tbs. olive oil
1 1/3 c. uncooked brown rice
5 med. carrots, sliced
1/2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 med. onion, chopped
1/4 c. chopped sweet red pepper
3 1/2 c. chicken broth
2 tbs. minced fresh parsley

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil. Remove and keep warm. Add rice, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and red peppers to skillet. Cook and stir until rice is browned and onion is tender. Stir in broth. Place chicken over rice mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 35-45 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in parsley. Let stand 5 min. before serving.

*Also works great with leftover chicken from a roaster or other recipe.

Serves 6.

I often like to increase the vegetables and rice to as much as double. I am a big fan of rice, can you tell? ;-) And yet again, we like to add Worchestershire sauce. Jeremy has made us all addicted, hehe.

Squash and Turkey Rice

1 lb. ground turkey
1 1/2 to 2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves
2-3 large summer squash
1 c. brown rice
1 tbs. olive oil
2 c. chicken broth

In a saucepan, saute the rice, one onion, and two garlic cloves in oil until onion looks clear. Stir in 1/2 cup water until it is absorbed. Add chicken broth; cover and simmer 45 min. Place squash in a separate pan with a little water; cook until tender. Meanwhile, brown turkey, 1 clove garlic, and 1/2 to 1 onion. Combine rice, turkey and squash.

Serves 4.

This one tastes great with a little Worchestershire as well.

(Cheesy) Beef 'n' Rice

This recipe is excellent with or without the cheese. Due to allergies, I always make it without -- hence the parentheses in the title. :-)

1 c. uncooked brown rice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tbs. olive oil
3 to 3 1/2 c. water
2 med. carrots, shredded
2 tsp. beef bouillon granules (2 cubes)
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. each salt, basil, and minced onion
1 lb. beef, cooked and drained
1/2 c. shredded cheese (optional)

In a large saucepan, saute rice and garlic in oil until golden brown. Stir in water, carrots, bouillon, parsley, salt, basil, and onion. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 5 min. Stir in beef. Cover and bake in 9-in. pan at 350° for about 45 min, stirring twice. (May take 5-10 extra minutes for the water to be absorbed.) Optional: Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 more minutes.

Serves 6.

Tastes great with a little Worchestershire sauce mixed in. :-)

Turkey Soup Provencal

Well, I was looking over this blog today, and I realized that I have only posted a grand total of ONE TIME here. So in order to help remedy that, and because I have several recipes I wanted to share anyway, I will be attempting several posts in a row. We'll see if my girls keep themselves busy long enough for me to accomplish that. :-)

The recipes that I will be posting today (and most likely those in the future) are reflective of the fact that some of us have weird allergies. Or at least, so it seems to me. None of us have been officially tested, but I have seen evidence of sensitivity to dairy (the girls), a couple fruits (the girls), peanuts (possibly Sierra), and wheat / gluten (me and possibly Sierra). Most if not all of these run in either my family or Jeremy's, so it seems likely that these sensitivities are probably allergies. But although this means we have a lot more restrictions to our diet than most people, we still eat plenty of wholesome, delicious food (and a little bit of junk too, hehe). So now I will share some of the recipes that I use most often.

TURKEY SOUP
1 lb. ground turkey breast
1/2 tsp. dried herbs de Provence, crushed
1 (15 oz.) can navy or Great Northern beans
1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes w/ garlic and onion, undrained
4 c. chopped fresh spinach

Cook turkey in a large saucepan over med heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add herbs, beans, broth, and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 min. Stir in spinach; simmer 5 min.

Serves 4.

Now here's the part where I give you all my alterations and substitutes. :-) This recipe is great as it is, but I've found lots of ways to make it flexible and change it up. First of all, it's sometimes hard or expensive to find the herbs and the particular type of diced tomatoes. So I usually just use an Italian seasoning, and then I use regular diced tomatoes and add dried garlic and onion (about 1/2 tsp. each). You could also add fresh garlic and chopped onion to the meat while you are cooking it.

Then there are lots of ways to change up the other ingredients. Instead of turkey, I have tried Italian sausage and even ground beef one time (on accident, but I could barely tell). I have also substituted various beans for the navys, with kidney being my favorite. (I like those even better than the navy beans!) I often double the beans, partially because Lucy likes to eat them all out, and partially because I just like it better that way. :-) You can also use various greens in place of the spinach (my favorite substitute is kale), and you can use frozen rather than fresh to save yourself the trouble of chopping it all. Just don't do 4 whole cups if you use frozen... only about half that. And to make the soup a little thinner (it is rather thick in the original recipe) and stretch it to feed more people, I usually at least double the chicken broth.

This is a great recipe for me because it is SO fast and easy, not to mention cheap. It also freezes well, so it can be a time saver there too! With two little girls, I am all about saving time and money these days! :-)

More to come...

Apricot Chicken

While I was out in VA with Julie, she made this delicious chicken recipe, and I thought it was really good. I've made it since I've been back, and it's always a hit!

8 chicken thighs or 1 whole chicken, cut up, salt and black pepper.
One 12 oz. jar apricot jam
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons dijon mustard

Rinse chicken and season with salt and pepper. Bring jam, honey, and mustard to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer until thick and reduced by half. Spoon over chicken. Bake-Baste it every ten min., at 425 degrees, for 30 min. Enjoy!

~Mom

Getting creative with veggies........

Since finding out a little over a month ago that I am diabetic, I've been playing around with creative dishes that are low in fat, high in protein, and contain a lot of vegetables. While I like vegetables, I get easily bored with the "normal veggies" that we typically buy - salad, carrots, celery, etc. Here are a couple of things I have recently tried. Both are really good.

The turkey Spinach saute' is my own creation and I make it as a whole meal - it makes about 4 servings.

The turnip puree is a great side. It is a bit more of a strong flavor, so it goes better with something like steak, pork chop, etc.

Turkey Spinach saute'

1 lb. ground turkey
1 med. red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
3 shallots (or one medium onion), thinly sliced
1 c. sliced mushrooms
1 t. minced garlic
12 oz. fresh spinach
3 T. Olive oil
Salt and pepper

In a saute' pan, brown the turkey in 1 T. olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

In another pan saute the pepper, shallots, mushrooms and garlic in the remaining 2 T. of olive oil. When the vegetables are somewhat soft but not mushy add the 12 oz of spinach. Cook until the spinach is just wilted. Add cooked ground turkey. Add salt and pepper if needed.


Turnip Puree
(Adapted from Tyler Florence)

4 large turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
3 1/2 cups milk
1/2 t. dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Place turnips, milk, thyme and garlic in a saucepan. Bring to boil then simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until turnips are soft.

Drain turnips, reserving liquid. Place turnips in a food processor or blender, and puree, adding as much liquid back in as needed (about 1/2 cup). Makes about 4 servings.