Chicken Stir Fry w/ Peanut Sauce

An old favorite, just reocurring. Just follow the veggie chow mein recipe for the sauce, and serve with chicken and a frozen stir-fry mix (cooked/unfrozen, of course). No rice tonight if you're following the diet.


VERSION 4 (using 2 T. peanut sauce per serving; omit 2 oz. dried fruit from your snacks).

Tex-Mex Grilled Chicken

This is a relatively simple, and yet another, chicken recipe. I'll just be serving this with either a salad or some roasted veggies (bell peppers and such) or both!

Ingredients:

• 2 T. chili powder
• 1 t. cumin
• olive oil
• S&P
• 1 t. dried oregano
  
• 4 chicken breasts
• cilantro, chopped
• cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. Combine chili powder, cumin and S&P.
2. Rub chicken with olive oil (not too much remember); coat with spice mixture.
3. Grill chicken (we'll be using our belove George Foreman once again. It should be fine cooked in a pan though).
4. Top with cilantro and cheese.
5. Eat it! -- Would be good served with nacho type toppings: olives, salsa, avocados, etc.


VERSION 2

Hold Your Spatulas!

It's not yet "Sunday, January 14, 2007." But I've got the meals for the month, shopping list, and this week's meals all lined up. Hence, our time-shift.

Before you go checking out this month’s meal plans, I must tell you that we are on a diet. Gasp! No seriously, I’ve gotten lazy with my cooking so I’m taking it to the next level in healthy! Besides, Brad got P90X for Christmas (he asked for it, honest!) and you have to follow the nutrition guidelines, which makes sense to me, for obvious reasons. I’m quite satisfied with this program because it’s no quick fix, easy guide; it’s a lifestyle change. It tells the truth and the truth is you need to eat well to live well.

The nutrition guide is surprisingly similar to what I came up with when I worked on a weight management program for the Wellness Center my senior year at BYU-Idaho (pregnant and all!). I was in charge of the nutrition aspect of weight management and well, I guess great minds think alike! Anyway, we’re following what’s called the portion approach and I spent some time creating meals that would incorporate all the required servings for each food group by the end of the day.

I don’t know if many- or if any- of you are at all interested in all of this, but I have posted my 4-6 versions of meal plans, which includes breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner (The Not-So-Dreadful Diet). I’m doing this so I have a record of it stored online for information backup purposes. But if anyone is interested in how we’re eating or would like to try some of these healthy meals, feel free. What’s more, all the dinners are worked out so that they will fit with our family’s new needs (satisfying daily requirements, etc.) AND will work for you and your families. You are more than welcome to make changes, if you’re not feeling like wheat pasta, etc. But trust me, I hate gross food as much as the rest of you! So this stuff will taste good, I promise!

Wish us luck! And good luck to you if you choose to follow!

Quick and Fancy Broccoli

I use this recipe all the time because I love it! Is there really any better way to eat broccoli?! Maybe roasted you say? Hmm, it’s your call. Anyway, this goes really good with roasted rosemary potatoes and Coq au Vin… my famous meal I’ve made for just about everyone! Don’t worry; it’s bound to show up on the Mess sooner or later. Until then, eat this broccoli with whatever you choose (such as the Quick Cassoulet Stuffed Bread Melts that's set for tonight)!

Ingredients:

• Broccoli, 2 crowns
• 1-2 Tomatoes
• Garlic, 1 clove, minced
  
• 1 T. Olive oil
• S&P
• Italian seasoning

Directions:
1. Heat an inch of water in a skillet until it’s bubbling.
2. While water heats, cut broccoli into flourettes; toss them in when ready.
3. Cut tomato(es) in half and carefully de-seed it/them; chop.
4. Drain broccoli (we’re just blanching them, not entirely cooking them).
5. Add olive oil to hot and dry pan; add garlic and cook for a minute.
6. Add broccoli and tomatoes to pan; season and toss to coat.
7. Serve warm or cold.

Leftovers/ Scrounge Night

Enough said. Except, knowing me, I always have a surprising amount to say about nothing. For a night such as this, clean out what you have in the fridge/freezer/pantry that needs to be eaten. Or you can have takeout if you’d rather… whatever is the easiest (which is my favorite)! Try to think ahead of time, as much as possible, of what you would like for tonight (if you want to follow the diet plan). Then you can decide throughout the week whether you really want to finish off a meal as lunch or save it for dinner later on instead (regardless of the diet).

Ginger Soy Chic Lettuce Wraps

As with any of these recipes, how much chicken you decide to cook up depends on how many people you’re cooking for and if you want seconds and/or leftovers. Since we only need a chicken per person, but I want some for leftovers, I’ll be making 4. So adjust according to your needs, as always.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
• S&P
• olive oil
• ginger, minced (you can use powdered/fresh; I happen to have pickled ginger on hand, so I’m going to give that a whirl)
• garlic clove, minced
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 6 scallions/green onions, julienned- 2 in.
• 1 can water chestnuts, drained and minced
• 1 can bamboo shoots, drained and minced (opt.)
• 2 oz. raw peanuts, toasted (opt.)
• 1 carrot, minced
• 8 shiitake mushrooms, prepared and minced (plain mushrooms are fine, just sauté them up and then mince)
  
• about ¼ c. soy sauce (a little less)
• 1-2 T. honey- depending on how sweet you want it
  
• Lettuce
• little crispy rice noodles (opt.)
  

Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add a little oil to start off with, then add water when needed- a tbsp. at a time.
2. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper (lots of pepper for extra spice).
3. Add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes (the latter two according to taste); cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add scallions and cook for another minute.
5. Add soy sauce and honey to form a sauce and glaze the chicken.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Serve wrapped in lettuce, or on top of shredded lettuce.

PS- Another variation of this would be to follow the Oriental Chicken recipe, which is a crock pot meal and a less spicy variation. Serve it as you would here; wrapped in lettuce.

VERSION 1

Chicken Fajitas

A classic in our family. Steak fajitas are optimal, of course, but chicken works well, too, especially on a budget. I always season this differently every time I make it. I basically just taste test from start to finish. Since we’re on a diet, we’re not using a marinade because of all the oil it calls for. I recommend a fajita marinade if you want to be on the safe side of taste. So no promises on my end!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 chicken breasts
• bell peppers, sliced (about a cup; so try to get as many colors as you can in 1 c.)
• 1 can mushrooms
• ½ small onion, sliced
• garlic clove, minced
• S&P, to taste
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. dried oregano
• brown sugar to taste (1-3 t.)
• olive oil
• a little red wine vinegar/lemon juice, to taste (for balance)

Directions:
1. Notice how I did not ask for the chicken to be sliced. That’s right. So cook chicken and then set aside to rest (it’ll be more juicy).
2. Add a little oil and cook onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms.
3. Slice chicken and return to pan.
4. Add seasoning until everything tastes just right (vinegar, water/broth instead of adding more oil if it seems like it’s getting dry on you).
5. Serve with tortillas (and/or rice if you prefer), sour cream/ plain yogurt, avocados, salsa, and cheese.

VERSION 1.3