Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry

When cooking a boring weeknight meal, it is always nice if you can cook something that makes you happy. This is one of those meals for me. As always, it is incredibly simple, but something about all the beautiful colors makes me smile. And it doesn't hurt to know that the finished product is so delicious!
It always helps to start with a colorful cast of characters like this.
I happened to have some broccollini left in my refrigerator from late last week that I didn't use, and I added to that some red bell pepper, carrots, squash and onions. This is a good recipe to make when you have some leftover uncooked veggies in your refrigerator that you need to use. You can use anything that you like--some other good choices are broccoli, snow peas, zucchini and asparagus.

The first thing to do is chop all of your
vegetables. I usually try to get all of mine approximately the same size.
The amounts in the recipe are approximations. Have fun with this and add more or take away anything you want!

Go ahead and get a pot of rice going--white or brown, whatever you prefer. I usually make two cups of uncooked rice.



Next, I cut up one boneless chicken breast into bite sized pieces. If you prefer to have a vegetarian meal, of course you may leave this out. Or, you could substitute another kind of meat.

Now you have all of your prep work done and you are ready to fire up your wok!

Now don't worry--if you don't have a wok, you can do this in a saute pan. It just might get a little messy, so be careful. Heat up 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil on high until good and hot. Then put all your veggies into the oil.

Beautiful, huh? Stir all this then add 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce and cook until done, approximately 5 minutes. It's important to keep stirring during this cooking process because it is done over high heat. When done, I transfer them to a medium bowl. Next, I add one tablespoon vegetable oil and cook the chicken the same way.
You're probably wondering why I don't just cook it all together. I have found that I am able to control the amount of "doneness" more if I cook them separately. Sometimes the veggies get overcooked if I cook them with the chicken. Add one tablespoon soy sauce and a little freshly ground pepper on the chicken; cook until done (approximately five to seven minutes). Then I add the chicken to the bowl of veggies.

Next, I put the rice in the hot wok with one tablespoon oil and add three tablespoons of soy sauce. Stir it until thoroughly mixed and heated through (especially if the rice is cool). You can add one to two tablespoons butter at this point if you would like. A little butter always makes it taste better, right?

Now it's time to put it all together. Pour the vegetables and chicken back into the wok with the rice and stir it all together. Continue to stir for a minute or two until you are sure everything is very hot. Also, taste and add anything you think it needs--salt, pepper, additional soy sauce. Sometimes I add a little ground red pepper, maybe 1/4 teaspoon or so.



Now, who wouldn't be excited to eat this in the middle of a hectic week?


Delicious and healthy, and a little out of the ordinary from the way you might usually serve chicken and vegetables. Have fun with it, and smile!
Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry
1 medium yellow squash
2 medium carrots
1/2 package broccollini
1/2 red bell pepper
1 medium onion
1 boneless chicken breast
5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, divided
2 cups uncooked rice
3 1/2 cups water
salt
pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (or more if desired)

Chop all the vegetables and the chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Heat 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok over high heat. Add the chopped vegetables and 2 tablespoons soy sauce; stir and cook until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a medium bowl and set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil and the chicken to the wok. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and stir until done, approximately five to eight minutes. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the vegetables. Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok along with the rice and 3 tablespoons soy sauce. Stir well until heated through. Pour the chicken and vegetables into the wok on top of the rice and stir to combine. Add ground red pepper. Stir well.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

One of my favorite times of entertaining is having friends over for a comfortable, not formal, dinner. For such times I like to serve something a little nicer than I would serve to my family on a normal weeknight, but something that is still simple. Part of the enjoyment would be taken away if I prepared a meal that would stress me out too much. This recipe is one of those that is delicious but is a little different than something I would normally do.

The recipe came from my mother-in-law--I asked her where she got the recipe and she thinks she clipped it from a newspaper or magazine a few years ago. It is delicious served with rice, just be sure to put some of the sauce on the rice--yummy! I served it Easter weekend on Saturday night when my entire family was in town, and everyone loved it. I also did a simple salad with strawberries, bacon and pecans and grilled asparagus. Fantastic!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

8 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to be about 1/2" thick
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
20 oz. can sliced pineapple
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 chicken bouillon cube

Salt and pepper chicken, then coat chicken lightly with flour. Brown chicken in oil over medium heat. Place in baking dish. Drain the pineapple. Put syrup in 2 cup measuring cup. Add water to make 1 1/4 cup; pour in medium saucepan. Add sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and bouillon; whisk together over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let boil two minutes, continuing to stir. Pour over chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then add one pineapple slice to the top of each chicken breast. Bake an additional 30 minutes.
Serve with lots of white rice; sauce is good over rice. Sometimes I double the sauce recipe to make sure we have plenty!

Hope you have friends over soon--let me know if you enjoy it!

Easter!

I don't know about you, but Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. Dreary winter is gone; in its place comes beautiful days and signs of new life all around us. And on top of all that, we are able to celebrate one of the most important days in the life of a Christian. I am truly thankful to God for what Easter means in my life.
Another thing that I am thankful for is that all of my children will be home for the weekend. We have some fun things planned--eating Mexican together on Friday night after everyone arrives, having a picnic Saturday for lunch, taking all the dogs (6 total) to the local dog park, cooking together Saturday afternoon for a yummy dinner that night, and last but not least going to church together on Sunday. Then, we will come home and have lunch together. The menu will include: standing rib roast, new potatoes with ranch dressing and bacon (thanks to my friend Melia for sharing the recipe!), broccoli casserole, green beans, sauteed corn with red peppers, frozen fruit salad, rolls, and dessert. I plan to share several of these recipes in the coming days.
As you can see, much of our time is spent around the table together. I would think that is the case for your family as well. I had fun today putting together centerpieces for my dining room table where we will eat that big Easter Sunday lunch. For Valentine's Day I did something similar for a luncheon that I had and I thought it was cute, so I decided to go with the same idea only with an Easter theme.
I purchased 5" diameter round cylinder vases at Michael's (I think they were about $2-3 each). Then I found some round 3" vases the exact same height at WalMart for $1 each. My table seats 8, so I use three of these down the center. I placed the smaller vase inside the larger one (I put a piece of double stick tape on the bottom to make sure it stayed in place). For Valentine's Day I filled the space between the two vases with "red hot" candies, then filled the inner vase with red tulips. They were adorable.
For Easter, I bought bags of multi-colored jelly beans and poured a layer into the space approximately 2" high. Then I placed Peeps yellow bunnies in the remaining space.
After filling the entire space with Peeps, I carefully filled the inner vase with water (with a little flower food added). I purchased an assortment of flowers from my local wholesale florist (gerber daisies, iris, freesia, button mums, and tulips) and had fun filling the containers with them. Now, I am not a very good flower arranger, but that is not terribly important with a project like this. One of the most important things is to not leave the stems too long.
Here is the finished project......
And here are all three of them on my table.
I got this idea here.
My mom used to get a kick out of me when I was young because I always wanted to make the table pretty even when it wasn't a special occasion. I still enjoy doing that! It makes me happy to welcome my children home and to celebrate a special day together.
I hope you have a special day with your loved ones!

Mini Key Lime Cupcakes

Over the past several days I have had fun planning an engagement party with some friends. There is nothing like celebrating a new marriage! For dessert, we are serving three small desserts, one of which is Mini Key Lime Cupcakes. I had so much fun making these! They were very easy, and I am pleased with how they turned out.

I used a white cake mix and added lime juice, lime zest and neon green food coloring. I used the paste food coloring that was at the supermarket--I just squeezed in enough until I thought it was the appropriate green color.

Surprisingly, I found some really pretty mini cupcake liners at the Kroger. They were the perfect color green for key lime. I was anticipating having to go to Michael's or a specialty shop for pretty papers, or maybe even shopping online, so it was wonderful to find these at the grocery store.


To fill the liners, I put the batter in a gallon sized ziploc bag and snipped the bottom corner off, then squeezed enough batter to fill the liners up approximately 3/4 of the way. It was a lot less messy this way!
I baked them for 8 minutes on convection bake in my oven--ovens cook differently, so use a pick to test and see if they are done. It may take up to ten minutes.

To ice them, I used a disposable pastry bag and an extra large star tip. You could also use a gallon ziploc bag (as you did for filling the cupcake liners). Simply snip the bottom corner off and squeeze the icing onto the cakes. Garnish them with a very thin lime slice cut into 1/8ths. I used the limes that were zested for the recipe--they are cut so thin you can't tell that the zest is gone.
So happy with the finished product! And after being taste tested by my husband, he says they are good. He did say, however, that next time he would like me to add a little more lime juice and/or zest to the cake part. He likes a lot of key lime flavor!
The complete recipe is below:

Mini Key Lime Cupcakes
1 White Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic)
1 1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
3 egg whites
2 1/2 tablespoons key lime juice (my husband would use more!)
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
Neon green food coloring

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Add lime juice, lime zest and food coloring and mix until incorporated. Place mini cupcake liners into mini cupcake pans; fill approximately 3/4 full. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Icing:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Limes (leftover from zesting) for garnish; slice very thinly and then cut into eighths

Spread or pipe icing onto cupcakes; garnish with lime slices.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband and I have been making these cookies for a long time. Our 30th anniversary is this June, and I don't remember where the recipe came from, I just remember that right after we got married he found this recipe, he made it, and we loved it. Chocolate chip cookies are his absolute favorite, so this has always been considered his recipe. He immediately wrote it on a recipe card (very faded at this point, as you can see) and on the line for "from the kitchen of" he wrote Bob "the big cookie" Lane. For those of you who know my husband this will come as no surprise, and probably brings a smile to your face.

It always brings me great joy to pull this card from my file. Many memories--making them together to share with many precious people, teaching my children to make them, even the memory of the smell of them as they bake. We all know the recipe from heart, but I still pull it out each time I make them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs (always use large eggs for baking)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I always use White Lily)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips

In mixing bowl, add brown sugar, sugar, butter and shortening. Cream until well combined (2-3 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt and baking soda with a whisk until well mixed. Add this dry mixture to the creamed mixture. Beat until blended; do not overbeat. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough from a teaspoon or tablespoon, depending on what size cookies you desire, onto an ungreased cookie sheet, approximately 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 ° for 8-10 minutes (ovens vary).

This recipe also does well as a "cookie cake" for special occasions. Simply spread the dough onto a deep cookie sheet/jelly roll pan (I use an 11 x 16 pan, or sometimes a round pizza pan) and bake for 15-20 minutes (until just brown). You can decorate with homemade icing and cake decorating bags and tips, but I often just use canned icing from the grocery store and top with a little melted chocolate in a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Here's a photo from my daughter's 21st birthday--she often requests this for her birthday cake!

Marvelous Marinara

Several years ago it occured to me that instead of buying jarred marinara from the grocery store for a simple, quick pasta meal for my kids, I could easily make my own sauce. Boy, what a discovery! Not only is it still an easy go-to comfort meal for my family, it is soooo much better than sauce in a jar! It's not uncommon for us to have this once a week, along with a salad and good crusty bread with olive oil for dipping. Here's the recipe that I came up with--I'm sure you might have ways to alter it that will make it even more appealing for your family.

Marvelous Marinara

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
Additional 1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cooking white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat; add onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add garlic, saute for an additional 2 minutes (be careful to not brown the onions and garlic; might want to turn the heat down to low). Add the tomatoes and additional olive oil; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add cooking wine; simmer for 5 additional minutes. Add salt and pepper if needed. Serve over your choice of pasta--we usually eat it with penne. Great to add a little freshly grated parmesan cheese as well once you have dished the pasta and sauce into bowls!

Try it--I promise you won't be disappointed if you like a simple, but fresh tasting sauce! Also good for homemade pizza. Let me know what you think!

Simple Sunday Supper

Sundays are lazy days at my house. After church and lunch, the goal is to get comfy on a chair or sofa and fall asleep while watching tv. After a good nap, we sometimes try to get something accomplished so the entire day doesn't feel wasted, but it is definitely a day of rest for us.

Therefore, when it is time to come up with something for supper, I usually look for quick and easy. I never have anything planned, it's just whatever is in the fridge or pantry. Often we will have breakfast for supper. But tonight I wanted something different. I had some leftover homemade marinara sauce (I'll tell you about that another day), but we weren't in the mood for pasta. So, I pulled some cans out of the pantry and put together black beans and rice. Delicious! So easy, yet healthy and filling.

Black Beans and Rice

1 medium onion, diced
3 gloves garlic, minced (fresh, please!)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can original Ro-Tel
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 servings of rice, cooked

Saute onions in olive oil 2-3 minutes on medium low heat; add garlic and saute 2 minutes more. Add the beans, tomatoes, Ro-Tel and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Serve over hot rice.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!