Apricot-Glazed Grilled Chicken

Another great thing about summer food is all the grilling you get to do! I love grilling for two reasons, it's a healthy and delicious way to eat your food, and it requires few ingredients for lots of deliciousness! I also love how every time I turn around, there are more and more fun ways to grill your food.

I wasn't quite sure about this recipe at first, mostly because of my grumbling husband who can't seem to grasp the magic behind combining fruit and meat. However, our whole family came out very pleasantly surprised by this recipe. The meat has more of a tang then a sweetness, and the flavor is so mouthwatering. This recipe calls for using bone in breasts, thighs, and legs, which I would really stick to. We used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and while it was still delicious, I don't think it was quite as juicy and flavorful as if we had followed directions! This recipe calls for mostly your common pantry items, so get busy and let me know how you like it!

Apricot-Glazed Grilled Chicken
Found in Cooking Light June 2009

Ingredients

3 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 bone-in chicken breasts halves, skinned
2 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
2 chicken drumsticks, skinned
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking Spray

Directions

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well.

2. Prepare grill for indirect grilling. If using a gas grill, heat one side to medium-high and leave one side with no heat. If using a charcoal grill, arrange hot coals on one side of charcoal grate, leaving the other side empty (this will probably be how we grill our chicken from now on, it keeps it from charring).

3. Let chicken stand at room temp for 30 minutes. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place chicken, meaty sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray over direct heat; grill five minutes, or until browned.

4. Turn chicken over; baste with apricot mixture. Grill 5 minutes over direct heat or until browned. Turn chicken over, moving it over indirect heat; baste with apricot mixture. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Turn chicken over; baste with apricot mixture. Cook 20 minutes, or until done.

Serves 4: serving size one piece of chicken

Per Serving: 247cal, 10.7g fat, 26.5g prot, 10g carb, 0.1g fiber, 82mg chol, 1.2g iron, 370mg sod
Points per Serving: 6

Also, a thousand apologies to Rachel and Rachel vs. Kitchen and Julie at Sporadic Cook. These lovely ladies were nice enough to award me these awards a few weeks ago, and I have let way too much time go by before expressing my appreciation. This one is from Rachel...

And this one is from Julie...

Thank you so much ladies, and if you haven't visited Rachel and Julie yet, I can assure you that you are missing out on some good stuff! I am going to pass these out, but it's pretty late right now and my brain has pretty much shut down for now. So with that I bid you adieu and wish you a wonderful week!

Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Cashew-Curry Sauce

It was a bit of a gamble trying this dish out because I'm not a huge fan of curry. But after seeing other ingredients like panko, and coconut milk, I just had to give it a shot. I really liked this dish. The curry flavor was strong, but it combined well with the coconut sauce and the deliciously crusted chicken. My only regret for this dish is that I wasn't able to find fish sauce, which the sauce calls for. I really wonder how that would have changed the flavor. If I can get my hands on the stuff, I'll let you know how this works out.

Make sure you squeeze your fresh lime on this right before you eat it, it adds a wonderful brightness.

Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Cashew-Curry Sauce
Found in Cooking Light May 2009

Ingredients

CHICKEN:
4 (6 oz) skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3/4 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons canola oil
SAUCE:
3/4 cup light coconut milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 cup finely minced shallots
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup dry roasted cashews
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce
4 lime wedges (optional)
4 cilantro sprigs (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. To prepare chicken, sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and red pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Combine panko and flaked coconut in a shallow dish. Place egg white in another shallow dish. Add chicken to bag; seal and shake well to coat evenly. Remove from bag; discard remaining cornstarch mixture. Dip 1 chicken breast half in egg white; dredge in panko mixture. Repeat process with the rest of chicken.

3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large oven-proof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. Place skillet in oven. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes or until done.

4. To prepare sauce, combine coconut milk, sugar, curry paste, and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch in a small bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots, ginger, and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute stirring frequently. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil. Cook one minute, or just until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in cashews, juice and fish sauce. Garnish each serving with one lime wedge and one cilantro sprig.

Serves 4: one serving is 1 chicken breast half and 3 tablespoons sauce

Per Serving: 376 calories, 15.4g fat, 43.8g prot, 15.4g carbs, 1.1g fiber, 99mg chol

Points per serving: 9

Strawberry-Avocado Salad

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I love summer food! I love the freshness, the bright flavors and colors, and the fact that it's just feels cleaner and healthier. Don't get me wrong, nothing could ever replace my warm bowl of stew or dumplings when the weather is cold, but there is just something so great about a nice summer salad.

I bought some beautiful strawberries the other day, and if I've learned anything about berries, it's that you pretty much need to make sure they are eaten within twenty four hours of purchasing them, otherwise you may end up with the tragedy of them going bad before enjoying them. So I thought they would be delicious in a big green salad. I sweetened the strawberries with a bit of Splenda beforehand, just to really get the full contrast of sweet strawberries and tangy balsamic vinaigrette. And I know I put avocado in EVERYTHING, but it was the perfect creamy mediator between the two flavors. And for an extra treat, candied almonds to top it off! I really enjoyed this salad, never once missed the meat and felt so good when I was done. Ah, summer!

Strawberry-Avocado Salad

Ingredients

romaine lettuce
baby spinach
strawberries, sweetened if desired
avocado
balsamic vinaigrette
candied almonds (Combine sliced almonds with a few teaspoons of sugar in a dry saute pan, place on medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar melts completely over almonds, remove from heat.)

Directions

Toss your leaves with desired amount of dressing. Top salad with remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Grilled Steak with Avocado-Lime Salsa

A few weeks ago I won my very first giveaway from my friend Dar over at Girlichef, check her out, she's awesome! I was so excited, and I got such a fun product, this green chile infused sea salt.

Being the curious gal that I am, I couldn't resist but dip my finger in there and try it out, what a flavor! The heat and fullness completely pop right out of that salt, I couldn't wait to use it in a meal!

So I used it in this, and it was a hit all around the table. The steak had a wonderful bold flavor, which was balanced perfectly by the delicate avocado salsa. The only advice I have is to go easy on the salt when flavoring your salsa, the steak will already be so rich and you won't need a lot of extra salt to keep the flavor. Plus I think the avocados and tomatoes stand pretty well on their own.

Grilled Steak with Avocado-Lime Salsa

Adapted from Cooking Light June 2009

Ingredients

Steak:

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons grated lime rind

1/2 teaspoon salt, or green chili infused sea salt

1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (I didn't have any, so I just used more chili powder)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 medium sized steaks of your liking

Salsa:

1 cup diced peeled avocado

3/4 cup finely chopped tomato

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt, or green chili infused sea salt

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Tobasco) I didn't use this on account of my young'ns

Directions

1. To prepare steak, combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub chili powder mixture evenly over steaks. Cover and chill an hour (don't coat the steaks too heavily, just a light layer over each side, otherwise it will be too strong).

2. Prepare grill to medium high heat.

3. Place steak on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across the grain in thin slices.

4. To prepare salsa, combine avocado and next seven ingredients (through pepper sauce) in a medium bowl. Cover each steak with generous helping of salsa and dig in!

Baked Chicken Taquitos

When my food blogging escapades are over, there is a good possibility that I will owe half of the credit of the recipes to Melanie, over at My Kitchen Cafe. I have tried quite a few of her recipes, and they are all keepers that I plan to make over and over again.

I've already made these twice and my family has thanked me profusely for them. I made mine with flour tortillas instead of corn, only because it was what I already had on hand. I have also realized a love for salsa verde, which is a shining star in these delicious taquitos, and the cream cheese doesn't hurt either, mmmm. To make these a really quick and easy dinner, keep some shredded chicken in your freezer that can be quickly thawed to whip these babies up. I also added some black beans for a little extra fiber. Thanks again Melanie, these are delish!

Baked Chicken Taquitos
Slightly adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup green salsa, green taco sauce and red salsa is also good
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 green onion, sliced finely
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese (use pepperjack if you like a little heat)
1/2 cup black beans
small yellow or white corn or flour tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix softened cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

Working with a few tortillas at a time, place 3-4 between two damp paper towels and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until tortillas are soft and pliable and don't crack while rolling. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can. (A few of mine wanted to rebel and come unrolled so I stuck a toothpick through them to keep them right and tight.)

Place filled taquitos seam side down on the baking sheet, making sure they don't touch each other. When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and lightly sprinkle some kosher (coarse) salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately. Taquitos can be dipped in in salsa, sour cream or guac. I laid these in lettuce, tomatoes, olives etc and had a little taquito salad. It was wonderful!

The second time I made these, I pressed them in my handy dandy press. I loved this variation too, crispy and browned, mmmm.

I apologize for being a bit scarce around these parts. I never expected it to get busier in the summer! I will do my best to keep in touch and post regularly, but I probably won't be back to normal until school starts back up. In the meantime, let's wish for some sun so we can all start enjoying this summer!

Butterfinger Cake Balls

There is a reality to be faced. It is summer, time to party, don't want to eat healthy. There, I said it. So, rather then apologizing everytime I post something scandalous, such as this, let's just face the facts, I love my treats!

I am a bit obsessed with cakeballs at the moment. I actually lay awake at night thinking of different combinations I can do with them. They are such a fun, different and delicious dessert to serve to guests, and there are about a million different combinations.

This combination was really yummy. I loved the yellow cake mix with chocolate frosting, and the Butterfinger on top was just another delicious bonus. I still maintain that milk chocolate is the best for dipping, as I tried that and semi-sweet again. The only thing I would do differently is adding chopped Butterfinger right on the cake itself, as well as on top. Next time right?

Ingredients

1 yellow cake mix
1 tub chocolate frosting
1 large bag milk chocolate chips
3-4 large Butterfingers bars crumbled

Directions

Bake yellow cake according to directions. Once mostly cooled, crumble into a bowl. Stir in chocolate frosting until completely combined into a dough. Roll into small balls. Insert toothpicks for easy dipping and freeze for 1-2 hours.

Once the cake balls are hardened, melt your chocolate. I have melted it in a double boiler, and I have melted it in the microwave, and I can't tell much of a difference, you just want to move quickly. Right after dipping them in chocolate, dip the tops in the candy, and place on wax paper, candy side down, for at least an hour to dry.

Turn over so balls are candy side up and devour. Try to stop at just one, I dare ya!

Sesame Orange Shrimp and Chicken Stir-Fry

I like stir-frys, but I have to be careful not to make them too much because I find I grow tired of them quickly. This particular stir-fry is one that I could eat often, it's very tasty and reminds me of the type of chicken and shrimp I would order for take out. It's packed with veggies and has a very flavorful sauce. I will caution that it doesn't make for the best leftovers, so if you don't plan to cook for a lot of people, you might want to halve this, it makes quite a bit.

And I realized that I have now posted two pictures of my son, but none of my little princess, so here is her debut. She's a hoot and always has something interesting to say!
Have a wonderful weekend ya'll!


Sesame Orange Shrimp and Chicken Stir Fry
Found in Cooking Light June 2009

Ingredients

SAUCE:
1 cup water
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (I used black, it was fine)
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

STIR-FRY
2 tablepoons olive oil
12 oz skinless-boneless chicken breasts, but into 1-inch pieces
2 cups coarsely chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup mushrooms halved
1 cup snowpeas trimmed
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp cooked and peeled (mine were raw, I just cooked them in the stir-fry and it was fine)
3 cups cooked rice

Directions

1. To prepare sauce, combine the first 11 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Set aside.

2. To prepare stir-fry, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, and stir-fry for 4 minutes until done. Remove chicken from pan, and keep warm. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add chopped broccoli and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to the pan; stir-fry for 4 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp tender. Return chicken to pan, and stir in shrimp. Add sauce, bring to a boil. REduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

Serves: 6 (1 cup chicken mixture and 1/2 cup rice)

Per Serving: 340 cal, 28g prot, 7.3g fat, 38g carb, 2.7g fiber, 142mg chol, 4.1mg iron, 864mg sod.

Points per Serving: 7

Chocolate Chip Cake

A few weeks ago we celebrated my sons birthday by going to visit some friends who lived a few hours away. After a few "discussions" about what kind of cake we should make for our boy (yeah, a couple that argues over baked treats, can you imagine!) I finally just let my husband decide, and he chose this one. I didn't know until after the fact that it had a layer of cinnamon and chocolate. I love those two ingredients separately, but I've never been a huge fan of them together, so I was a bit skeptical.

This cake is also not intended to be frosted, but when I told my friend that, he jumped out of his seat "what, no frosting? I don't care if a cake is made entirely of frosting, you still frost it!" Lol, so he pulled out a tub of frosting and the cake got a nice, last minute, layer of chocolate frosting.

Oh my gosh, this was a DELICIOUS cake. It really could be pulled off without the frosting, but it was so rich and delicious and I didn't mind the cinnamon-chocolate combo at all. The cake part itself has the consistency of a very soft pound cake, and it is YUMMY.

Here is a picture of my little boy being sung happy birthday too. Has any child ever looked so terrified?

Chocolate Chip Cake
Found in Taste of Homes Baking Book

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (this could easily be omitted)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition.

2. Spread half of the batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over chips. Spread with remaining batter. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

Tomato and Avocado Sandwich

These last few posts I've been feeling a little decieving to you the readers. My blog is mildly advertised as a healthy food blog, but lately I've been having so much fun baking sweet treats. However, now that it has hit me that I will be in a swimsuit soon, you should be getting a lot more healthy dishes from me...but no promises! :-)




There is absolutely nothing complicated or even original about this sandwich. The only thing special about it is that it's one of my favorites. I LOVE the combination of tomato and avocado, it's healthy, it's light and it's vegetarian friendly. Growing up as a kid I was very stuck on the idea that if it didn't have meat, it wasn't worth eating. But now I have a lot of fun trying new dishes that are meat free and loving them. I'm not a vegetarian, and I have nothing against eating meat, but sometimes it's fun to switch it up for a fresh and clean dish with fewer calories.

The ingredients to this sandwich are pretty much what you see. Bread, tomato, avocado, mayo. But there are a few musts when making it. You must use wheat bread, the wheatier the better. You must toast it, lightly. And you must salt and pepper both your tomato and avocado. And in my case, you must enjoy with some good background music and a Diet Coke!

Here's to a healthy summer!

Also, to my wonderful food friends out there, I'm sorry I haven't been so prompt in commenting. This week has been oddly busy for our family, but I'm very excited to see what you're all up to, so I'll be back very soon!

Nutty Orange Coffee Cake

Great Scott, I have hit the coffee cake jackpot! Paula Deen has done it again with this cream cheese miracle. I'm not a huge fan of the canned biscuits, I'd definitely rather make them myself, but in this case, they work out perfectly. These biscuits are stuffed with cream cheese, soaked in butter, dredged in orange flavored sugar and pecans, baked, and then glazed. I'll give you guys a moment to compose yourself.


My favorite part was eating them warm and enjoying the melted cream cheese gushing from each little roll. I would consider these more of a monkey bread then a coffee cake, but that doesn't mean that I still wouldn't eat it for breakfast!

Nutty Orange Coffee Cake
By Paula Deen

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used almonds, they were great)
2 teaspoons orange zest
2-12 oz cans refrigerated biscuits
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 stick melted butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, nuts,, and zest; set aside. Separate the biscuits. Place about 3/4 teaspoon cream cheese in the center of each biscuit. Fold each biscuit in half over the cheese, pressing the edges to seal. Dip the biscuits in melted butter, then dredge in the granulated sugar mixture. Place the biscuits, curved side down, in a single layer in the hollows of a lightly greased 12-cup bundt pan, spacing them evenly (do not stack). Place any remaining biscuits around the tube, filling any gaps. Drizzle any remaining butter over the biscuits, and sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter. Combine the confectioners sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle the glaze over a warm cake. Serve warm.

Gorgonzola Burgers

Isn't Gorgonzola grand? Honestly, it just might be my favorite cheese, of course, name any other cheese, and you're likely to get the exact same sentiments!

I loved these burgers, they were so juicy and full of flavor, just look at all of those chunks of Gorgonzola!


On my bun, rather then mayo, I spread a nice layer of avocado on each side. A little salt and pepper, a little more Gorgonzola for good measure, and VOILA! Of course, a nice slice of tomato and red onion would have been magical too, but someone (me) was too lazy to fetch them at the market. Fortunately this will not be the last time I make these burgers!


Gorgonzola Burgers

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (I like to use lean, but any fat percentage would be fine)
2-3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 cup crumbled Gorganzola cheese, and extra to sprinkle on top
4 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
4 hamburger buns
avocado
red onion
tomato

Directions

Combine beef, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, cheese, garlic and salt and pepper until completely combined (just dig in with your hands, don't be shy). Shape into four equally sized patties. With these particular burgers I liked it grilled well done, so that the meat is cooked through and cheese is melty. Place in bun, add condiments, most importantly your extra Gorganzola! Enjoy!