Lemon Chicken

Lemon chicken has been one of my favorite ways to eat chicken for a long time.  During our first year of marriage, Dicy cooked Chicken Picatta for the two of us.  We fell in love with her recipe.  This recipe has a similar taste with a little less labor and time involved.   It tastes great paired with Rosemary Rice Pilaf

Yield: 4 servings

Chicken:

4 chicken breasts seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. 

Cook 'til tender in oven or on stove top.  (We often use the pre-frozen "select-size" from Costco.  Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until done, turning half-way through the cooking time.  The chicken can be cooked on the stovetop too, but I like to free up the stove top for cooking the sauce and sides, simultaneously.)

Lemon Sauce:

6 T Smart Balance

8 T Flour

2 cubes or 2 t. Chicken Bullion

Dash of Salt

1 c. Water

1/2 c. RiceMilk  (substitute whatever milk you use)

1-4 T Lemon Juice (depending on how lemony you want it to be)

Over medium high heat, melt 'butter' and add flour, whisk together to make a roo.  Add bullion, water and milk and whisk together briskly to avoid lumps in the sauce.  When the chicken is done, cut into strips and pour sauce over the top of the chicken in the 9x13 serving dish (Or, if serving over rice or noodles, you could drizzle sauce directly over the chicken on each plate).  Pretty and delectable!

Rosemary Rice Pilaf

This rice is great with Lemon Chicken or Dicy's Chicken Picatta recipe.  It is delicious and wonderfully aromatic!

1/4 cup Smart Balance, melt in saucepan
1-2 handfulls thin spaghetti (fideo cut), or orzo pasta
2 c. long grain rice (Jasmine or LG White rice)
(1 c. almonds, optional (we can't eat them))
1/4 to 1/2 c. Wild rice or wild rice blend
1 t. Salt
1 t. Pepper
1 t. Rosemary crushed
5 c. Boiling water
2 Chicken Bullion cubes (or 2 t. Chicken bullion)

In large saucepan, brown pasta, in 'butter', on low until golden.  Add rice, almonds (if using), and seasonings.  Pour in boiling water and add bullion cubes.  Quickly stir and put lid on.  Simmer on low for 20-25 minutes.  Turn off burner and let steam for one hour (optional). Fluff and serve.

Great Granola

Granola was often a part of our Christmas traditions. 
I love the flexibility of this tasty recipe!

--from Better Homes and Gardens, New Baking Book, p. 398

Prep: 20 minutes Bake 30 minutes
Makes: 7 cups (14 servings) Oven: 300/350 degrees

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups regular or quick cooking rolled oats (I usually add some of both)
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/3 cup shelled sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seed
¼ cup butter
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup raisins

1. Lightly butter or grease large roasting pan. Add oats, coconut, sunflower seeds and sesame seed; spread evenly. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes, stirring several times.

2. While the oat mixture is baking, in a small saucepan combine butter, brown sugar, and honey. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

3. Remove roasting pan from the oven; place on a wire cooling rack. Increase oven temp to 350 degrees. Add wheat germ to the oat mixture. Pour warm brown sugar mixture over oat mixture. Using a fork or spatula, stir the oat mixture to coat with the brown sugar mixture. Bake 5 minutes more.

4. Stir raisins into oat mixture. Using a spatula, spread mixture evenly in pan. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes more or until golden. Place pan on a wire cooling rack. Using a spatula, transfer the granola to a large sheet of foil (mixture will be crumbly). Spread evenly. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Notes and variations:
We usually multiply the single recipe batch by four, or eight or ten…depending on how much I need and it tends to come out just the same….just increase baking times as it will need more stirring for even roasting. We like it golden crunchy so I sometimes increase the heat to 350/ 375 to cook it a little faster and it usually takes us at least one hour to make larger batches.

Make it like you like it! Add what you like, take out what you don’t. We like to add Craisins for color. Make your own trail mix, add M&M’s, nuts, no coconut, other dried fruit varieties, marshmallows, etc. It’s also great over yogurt, with fresh fruit, or over ice cream, etc.

Feel free to try different sweeteners like Xylitol, xAgave Nectar, Stevia, more honey, less sugar, maple syrup, etc., if you like, since substitutions work pretty well. The secret in our sauce is a little real maple syrup and less sugar.

Foil Dinners/ Hobo Dinners

These have been a favorite of mine since childhood and family camp-outs.  We always called them foil dinners but I've heard others call them 'hobo' dinners.  Each child in our family was often invited to make their own, to fit their preferences, and mark their name with a permanant marker on the outside for identification after it was cooked.  If we planned to travel a long way to our camping destination, the meat patties were frozen before going in the dinners and transported in a cold cool chest.  These can be cooked in a 350 degree oven for an hour or more, but they're SO much better hot off the coals and eaten outdoors after a healthy day of outside play.

Igredients:
Meat (Ground Beef Patties, Chicken Breast, Sausage, or a fillet of Fish should all work well).
Vegetables, sliced, to compliment the meat

Our traditional dinners include:
Cabbage leaves (washed)
Carrots (baby or large carrots peeled, cut in bite sizes)
Potatoes (peeled and cut in bite sizes)
Ground Beef or Ground Turkey Patties
Onions, sliced (if desired)
Salt
Pepper
Ketchup, Mustard, Steak Sauce, etc. (reserved).

Start by placing two sheets of aluminum foil, shiny side up,(approximately 15-20 inches long, depending on the size of dinner you're wanting to cook).  With the reflective side facing up, place a leaf or two of cabbage in the middle of the foil (the cabbage keeps the meal from burning while cooking--if preferred,  layer newsprint between the sheets of foil for a similar effect).  Layer in the vegetables and top with the meat.  Sprinkle on the salt and pepper to taste. Top with another leaf of cabbage.

Wrap meal tightly to keep in juices and steam while baking.  Bring either end of the foil together above the meal.  Roll theses sides together, as though closing a bag of chips, until seal is snugly against the meal.  Now, fold and roll in each short end till they also touch the meal and make a 'snug' packet.  Place the dinner on hot coals to cook.  Cook for one hour, or until the yummy aroma begins to fill the air, the vegetables are tender and meat cooked through; rotating or turning the dinner at least every fifteen minutes (Caution: Of course it's hot!) 

When done, remove from coals and allow it to sit until it's cool enough to touch, place on a paper plate if desired.  Open carefully allowing steam to escape and keeping ashes out.  If desired, top with steak sauce, ketchup and/or mustard and enjoy!

Honey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Our toddlers really enjoy eating these as a snack.

Ingredients:
Seeds from one pumpkin
4 T honey
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
*Dash of Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice (optional), we use little if any.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In collander, rinse fresh pumpkin seeds with hot water to remove pumpkin pulp, set aside to dry.  Lightly grease a large cookie sheet and set aside.  In a small saucepan, heat honey till hot but not boiling, stir in salt to combine.  Place pumpkin seeds in a heat proof bowl and pour hot honey over the top, mixing to fully cover with honey mixture.  Spread seeds in a single layer on cookie sheet and roast for approximately 10 minutes, stiring once about half way through, until seeds are lightly browned.  Enjoy.

Taco Meat

Starting off, I had a hard time deciding how to make taco meat without a taco seasonings packet (which usually contained milk, MSG or other allergen ingredients).  Then I discovered Dora Gonzalez' 'Basic Meat' Recipe.  It helped us decide what worked for us.  It works well in burritos or enchiladas too.

Ingredients:

One pound Basic Make-Ahead Ground Beef
1 T Cumin
3 clove garlic, pressed
1 can Stewed-Diced (or crushed) Tomatoes
A pinch of crushed chili pepper if desired
Salt to taste

Simmer ingredients till hot and serve in corn or flour tortillas topped with fresh diced tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole and salsa.

Basic Make-Ahead Ground Beef

I love the convenience of cooking up a large batch of ground beef in advance and freezing it in 1 pound packages (1 quart size freezer bags),  for quick-meal making later.  This basic recipe is similar to a Pampered Chef  recipe my mother give me.  With a few added ingredients, this basic recipe is great for tacos, spaghetti, sloppy joes, and more!

Ingredients:

6 lbs. 90% lean Ground Beef (or Turkey)
6-12 garlic cloves, pressed
3 medium onions, diced

Cook ground beef with onions and drain off fat.  Add garlic and simmer. 
Use needed portion in dinner recipe and freeze the rest for later.

Honey Hot Chocolate

Variation on Hershey's Cocoa's "Favorite Hot Cocoa"
Yield: 6-8 servings

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
Dash Salt
1/3 cup hot water
6 cups Vanilla flavored Rice Milk (or 6 cups Milk + 3/4 tsp vanilla extract)
Marshmallows, if desired

1.  Mix honey, cocoa and salt in saucepan; stir in water.
2.  Cook and Stir over medium heat until mixture boils; boil and stir 2 minutes.
3.  Stir in Milk and heat.  Do Not Boil. 
4.  Remove from heat; (add vanilla; if using regular milk and vanilla).  Add marshmallows if desired and serve.
     Enjoy the warm yumminess!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

This was a creation I came up with, after one of those "what am I going to make for dinner?" moments, when I found a package of corn tortillas in the freezer. My mom always made great enchiladas, and I loved making them in our dairy-days too....but without sour cream and cheese, could I really achieve a similar result? Yes! These were creamy and delicious and "hit the spot" perfectly!

Preheat to 350 degrees
Yield: 10-12 servings

One package 36 count Corn Tortillas

1/2 c. Flour
1/2 c. Smart Balance
2 c. Rice Milk
2 c. Chicken Broth
One can Green Enchilada Sauce (10 oz)
1 c. Cooked Chicken, shredded
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper or to Taste

1.  Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13 pan.  Set aside.

2.  In medium saucepan, melt Smart Balance over low heat.  Blend in Flour till mixture smooth.  Add Salt and Pepper.  Add Milk all at once.  Cook quickly and stir constantly till mixture smooth.  Add Chicken Broth and stir in till combined and mixture thickens and bubbles.  Add enchilada sauce and Cooked Chicken.  Reduce to low heat and simmer, stirring frequently.

3.  Meanwhile, Cut 2/3 of the tortillas (approximately 24 tortillas) into quarters (or tear into bite sizes). 

4.  Spread approximately 1/2 cup sauce mixture on the bottom of 9x13 pan.  Cover this with a layer of tortilla quarters (overlapping slightly if desired).   Cover this layer with 3/4 to 1 cup sauce and repeat with all the remaining sauce and tortillas.  Reserve enough sauce to fully  cover the top layer so the entire pan of enchilladas will be moist, tender and creamy when done.

5.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  (Uncover during the last 10 minutes of baking if a more crunchy crust is desired).  Serve.

Spanish Rice

Simple. Tasty! Cluff Family Cookbook, p. 33-- Shelly Cluff

Yield:  4 servings

1 T oil

1 c. rice

1/2 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 chopped onion

2 c. water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. crushed cumin (opt.)

In medium saucepan, heat oil.  Add rice.  Brown, stirring constantly unitl golden brown.  Add onion, Stir 2 minutes.  Add tomato sauce; stir 1 minute.  Add water salt, pepper and cumin, if desired.  Bring to a hearty boil; reduce to low heat.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes (until water absorbed and rice cooked).  Remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Serve.

Note:  If using all supplies from food storage, approx 1 T dehydrated onions with 1/4 - 1/2 cup water = 1/2 onion.