Coconut Ginger Rice

Coconut Ginger Rice (w/ Chicken)

Coconut Rice

1/2 Medium Yellow Onion
2-3 TBL of grated ginger
1-2 garlic clove minced
1/2 tsp of tumeric
4 cups of rice
1 15 oz can of Coconut Milk
4 cups of water
1 tsp of salt
2 lbs of chicken

Saute onion, ginger, garlic, & chicken in 1 TBL of oil. (About 8 minutes) Stir in Tumeric, salt, and rice to coat. Add can of coconut milk and water. Bring to boil. Turn heat to low. cover and cook until rice is done (15 to 18 minutes).

This recipe was adapted from "The Art of Asian Cooking"


Frozen Meal Instruction:  Place Chicken in large pan. Put in 4 cups of water, coconut milk, and rice bag.  Cook until rice is done (20 to 30 minutes)

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:

1 small to medium yellow onion, thinly sliced into half moons
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fresh or frozen
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

Freezer Instructions:
Thaw chicken and sauce. Slice one onion and sprinkle in bottom of crockpot (optional).  Add chicken and sauce to crockpot and cook on low 5-6 hrs.  Remove the chicken and shred the meat.  Return it to the crockpot and mix it with the sauce.  Serve hot on rolls.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU    

Skin and bone six large chicken breasts.  Pound them until they're thin.  Lay 1-2 slices Swiss cheese over each breast.  Next lay 1-2 thin slices of ham over the cheese.  Roll up each piece of chicken.  Hook together with a toothpick.  Dip in milk, roll in flour, dip in buttermilk, and then roll in dried bread crumbs.  Brown in butter.  Bake at 350̊ for 30-45 minutes.  Serve with Rich Cheese Sauce, and Oven Baked Rice.

RICH CHEESE SAUCE

1  cup medium white sauce (2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 cup milk)

                                               

Add to the white sauce, and stir until cheese is melted:

1  cup grated nippy cheddar cheese

1  teaspoon dry mustard

½  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

OVEN BAKED RICE - Cook uncovered with the chicken:

1  cup rice                          ½  diced onion

1  can beef consume          ½  cube butter

1  can water

We also like green beans served with this meal, with the cheese sauce over the beans.

August SLOW COOKER FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES

2 Tbl olive oil                                         2 cups water
1 (2 ½ -3 pounds of beef roast               2 (14.5 ounce) cans beef broth
Kosher salt                                             1 (16- ounce) package sliced Swiss cheese
2 (1-ounce) packages dry onion soup mix   

1.    Heat olive oil in a large pot or skillet over medium heat. While oil is heating, sprinkle all sides of the roast with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
2.   When the oil is very hot, carefully place the roast in the pan and sear it on all sides. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes– you just want to quickly brown the roast to add flavor and seal in the juices.
3. Transfer the roast to you slow cooker. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the roast and add water and beef broth.
4. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. You can also cook it on high until it begins to boil and then switch the heat setting to low: thi9s is the preferred method because it seems to make the meat more tender, but it’s not always possible to be there to switch the heat setting in the middle of the day.
5.   When the meat shreds easily with a fork, shred the entire roast. Serve on sliced crusty roll with a slice of Swiss cheese. If desired you can slide it under the broiler on your oven to toast the bun and melt the cheese. Serve with the juice from the slow cooker as au jus for dipping.

**Alternative way make French bread and place on a greased cookie sheet and flatten out to fit the pan. Put meat and cheese down the middle of the bread and slice the edges of the bread to the meat area, about 2 inches apart. Then braid the bread.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes and rub butter on the loaf when it comes out of the oven.  Make the package of Au Jus sauce and dip sandwiches in the sauce.

FRENCH BREAD

1 Tbl. Active dry yeast                3 Tbl. Vegetable oil
1 ½ cups warm water                  1 egg
1 ½ Tbl. sugar                              4–51/2 cups flour, divided
1 tsp. salt                   

1.   Combine the yeast,  water, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubble.
2.   Add salt vegetable oil, and egg and combine. Add 3 cups flour and mix well until well combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your fingers. Knead, either by hand or in mixer for another 2–3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour and 45 minutes. (1 ½ hours will do in a pinch).
3.   Punch down the dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into a loaf and place on a greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8–10 (or even 12) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale, if you have one, to ger equal-sized buns.
4.  It’s okay if dough pieces touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4 – 1 ½ hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things–if they seem like they’re getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.
5.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place in oven for 20 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown. Spread butter over the top when it is hot.

For the Freezer meal: I put the bread in the bags right from making it. The best way to thaw the bread it to put it in your refrigerator the night before and let thaw out in the refrigerator. About 1 hour before you are ready to bake your sandwich spread the dough out on the cookie sheet and follow instructions on the bag. The Au Jus sauce tasted fatty so I included the Au Jus package to go with your sandwiches.

Southwest Egg Rolls (Natalie & Kendra)

Natalie & Kendra's September Plan:

We will be doing Southwest Egg Rolls. Here's a picture of them that my friend had posted on her blog. I wanted you to all see a picture so you could see that they are actually wrapped in tortilla shells, not actual egg roll wraps that you fry.

















1 chicken breast fillet, diced
½ red bell pepper, minced
2 tsp dry onion
1 can corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can green chilies
½ T parsley
½ t cumin
½ t salt
Dash cayenne pepper

1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
Flour Tortillas

Optional Dipping Sauce: (Will not include ingredients for this, but you can make it if you wish)
*Tastes great served with salsa

Avocado-ranch dipping sauce:
1 c. ranch
1 whole avocado, mashed
1 tsp. minced onion
Salt & pepper
Blend together with blender

Cook chicken and dice. In large bowl mix all ingredients together. Sauté all ingredients until warm. Remove from heat and add shredded cheese. Warm tortillas. Place 1/3 c. or so of mixture inside a tortilla. Fold completely together so mixture cannot escape (fold ends and roll up center). Place inside a panni grill or George Forman to grill (can also just do it with a warm pan- turn often to avoid burning- just want to crisp the outside a bit.) and melt cheese. Serve with dipping sauce or salsa.

Arroz Con Pollo

Arroz Con Pollo

This is a Peruvian recipe that I learned from watching a couple different times from different Peruvian ladies. Neither had recipes, so this is my first time trying to get it into recipe form.

1/2 onion
1 to 2 garlic cloves
1/2 bag of spinach
1 bunch of cilantro
1 TBL of chicken bouillon
1 - 2 tsp of Cumin
1 tsp Oregano
1/2-1 tsp of pepper
5 - 6 cups of water
4 cups of Rice
1 to 2 lbs of chicken
1 cup of diced carrots
frozen peas (optional)

Brown chicken in large skillet.  I usually use olive oil, fresh garlic, and lightly salt/pepper.  While browning chicken I put 1 cup of water in my blender with the following ingredients:  onion, garlic, washed spinach, cilantro, bouillon, cumin, oregano, & pepper. Blend well.  Once blended you should have 2 cups of very green liquid. Add remaining water so that you have 6 cups total.  Put rice in large skillet with the chicken.  Chicken does not need to be fully cooked.  Pour green sauce over rice and chicken. Stir & put in the carrots.  Cover for 20 minutes.  Be careful!  This tends to burn quickly.  Most Peruvians will put in the frozen peas just a few minutes before serving, just to get warm.

FREEZER MEAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Thaw green liquid. Be careful, I am afraid this will leak.  Place chicken in large skillet with rice. Pour liquid over rice and chicken and cook on low for 20 minutes.  Stir periodically so that it won't burn.

Side dishes:  
When I make this I usually use the other 1/2 of bag of spinach and make a spinach salad to go with.

September Grilled Pepperoni Sandwiches

For Sept I'll do these sandwiches, similar to pizza but enough of a twist to seem like a different meal!

For 10-12 servings we use

2 loaves crusty italian bread (we like Broulim's Artisan)
1 28 oz jar of spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce
butter for the outside of the bread
6 oz pepperoni
1/2 lb mozarella, sliced

Slice bread into 1/2" slices.  Make sandwiches with cheese on both sides of bread and pepperoni in the middle.  Butter both sides of the bread and grill on a griddle, in a skillet or if you have a panini grill use it.  Serve with spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce or marinara for dipping.

We usually have a green salad and root beer with this dinner.

For the freezer meal, I will have the sandwiches made and bagged.  You will just need to thaw with the bag open so the bread doesn't get soggy and grill them until cheese is melted and bread is browned.