Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwich

adapted from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients
1 shredded rotisserie chicken
2-3 avocados, chopped 
1/2-1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder 
1/4 tsp onion powder
salt & pepper to taste

6 ciabatta rolls, dinner rolls or hamburger buns

Instructions
Stir the chicken, avocado, cilantro and seasonings in a bowl. Taste the mix. Add a little more seasonings, if desired.
Serve on rolls or buns.

In this picture I grilled chicken and then chopped it. Although the rotisserie chicken would have been easier, the grilled method was tasty too.

This would be a good sandwich for a St. Patrick's Day lunch since it's green!

Husband rating:  3.5 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Outback Chicken and Honey Mustard

adapted from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
seasoning salt
6 slices bacon, cut in half
1/2 sweet onion, sliced

your favorite honey mustard sauce 1 tablespoon cooking oil 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 2 cups shredded Colby/Jack cheese




Directions:
Sprinkle and rub the chicken breasts with seasoning salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.
Remove the bacon and drain the bacon drippings but don't clean the pan.  Add the onions and cook over medium low until soft, about 8-10 minutes.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned. Move chicken to an 11x7 inch or 9x9 inch pan.
Apply the honey mustard to each breast, then layer with mushrooms, onion, bacon, and shredded cheese. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.

This recipe has two big things going for it:  1-BACON!  2-It says to pound the chicken.  I always have fun doing that!  I left the mushrooms out since we don't have many mushroom lovers around here.  I also left the cheese off of mine and it was still great.  

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  most liked it

Baked Herb Lemon Chicken

from andicakes.com

4 split chicken breasts, skin on
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon sliced in wedges, 6-8 slices
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
9 cloves minced garlic, about 3 tbsp
1/3 c dry white wine
1 tbsp grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves, plus 4 sprigs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  First prepare the chicken breasts by rinsing them and drying them with paper towel.  On a cutting board using boning knife, carefully remove the breast bone leaving the skin on and still attached to the breast.  Trim any excess fat from the breast and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish skin side up.  Repeat with the remaining breasts.  Sprinkle the breast with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  Now slice one lemon lengthwise into 6-8 wedges and set among the chicken breasts in the dish.

Next add the extra virgin olive oil to a small sauté pan and heat over medium-low temperature, once warmed add the minced garlic and cook for just a minute and stirring constantly.  Turn the heat off and add the dry white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, dried oregano and minced thyme.  Pour the warm mixture into the dish to surround the seasoned chicken breasts.  Using a brush lightly brush the chicken breasts skins with the oil mixture so it will brown and crisp during baking and then add the 4 sprigs of thyme on the top the chicken breasts.

Bake the dish uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes, until the breast are cooked and reach 165 degrees.  Turn the oven to broil for 1-3 minutes and broil the dish if necessary to brown the skins on the breasts.  Remove from the oven, cover with aluminum foil and allow resting for 10 minutes before serving.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and pour desired amount of cooking liquid onto the platter for service.

I simplified this recipe by using boneless skinless chicken breasts.  I only did the sprigs of thyme on top since I was running out of time and didn't feel like getting the thyme leaves off the sprigs.  You will probably need less time to cook the chicken breasts if you do the boneless kind so keep that in mind.

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Bellini's Texas Grill

If you're in the north Austin area you should stop by Bellini's Texas Grill.  We had lunch there.  Although my husband thought his lunch was just alright (he ordered a sandwich) I thought the salad I ordered was amazing.  This is the berry and nut salad.  The pineapple balsamic dressing was a unique dressing that helped make this special.  

Slow Cooker Sweet Glazed Pork Chops

from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless pork chops (mine were pretty thick) 
1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce
1 cup grape jelly

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place pork chops at the bottom. In a bowl, mix together the chili sauce and the jelly; pour on top of pork chops. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours (do 8 hours if your pork chops are frozen) or HIGH for 3-4 hours (I prefer the low and slow method for these). 

Husband rating:  3 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Lupe Tortilla

One of the great things about moving to a new place is trying out all the new restaurant options!  This last weekend we had a short trip to Katy, Texas which is a suburb of Houston.  We had dinner one night at Lupe Tortilla.  This restaurant has a great atmosphere.  There is a sandy area for children to play while the grown-ups eat.  There is a bar with sports games to watch, if you like that.  But the food and the service are the highlight.  We had the fajitas and they were excellent.  They bring you everything and you can create your fajita just how you like it.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  Go early or plan on a wait.  This place is popular!

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients
6 ounce package of boxed stuffing mix (I used Stove Top) 
1⁄2 cup melted butter
4 cups of zucchini, diced
2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed
10.75 ounces Cream of Chicken Soup 1⁄2 onion, chopped
1⁄2 cup of sour cream

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, combine the stuffing mix and melted butter. Set aside 1⁄2 cup of the mixture for the topping. In a large bowl add the zucchini, chicken, soup, onion and sour cream to the remaining stuffing. Place the zucchini mix into at greased 9x13 glass pan and spread out evenly. Sprinkle reserved 1⁄2 cup stuffing mix on top and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. 

This sounded like it would be a winner with the boys but it was just okay.  That being said, it was easy and inexpensive.  And definitely better than a bowl of cereal for dinner!  

3 stars

Slow Cooker Honey Soy Chicken

from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chili sauce

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon pepper

1 (8 ounce) pkg. Soba Noodles, cook according to package directions

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

Place chicken in slow cooker.  In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, chili sauce, mustard and pepper.  Pour prepared sauce over chicken.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken and return to slow cooker.  Add in cooked noodles and stir until combined.  Garnish with sesame seeds.

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Follow the instructions on a your favorite pancake mix, such as Bisquick.  Once the batter is made add 1/2 a finely chopped apple and 1 tsp ground cinnamon.  Mix.  Pour about 1/4 cup of mix onto hot griddle and cook until lightly browned on each side.

I love these pancakes, but my kids didn't like the apple chunks.  So this time I actually used a food processor to chop the apple into even smaller pieces.  This time they didn't even notice them.  Now I can eat the pancakes I like and they don't complain!

Remember to remove the skin from the apple.

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Hello again!

Hello Blog Readers!

My last week of posts was the end of May.  You probably thought I'd given up cooking or blogging or both!  Here's what happened:  At the end of May my husband and I took a trip to Austin, Texas to see if we might want to move there.  We loved it!  So, between then and now we've been selling a house (try keeping a house clean with four boys running around during the summer-that's a fun challenge!), packing up and moving, saying good-bye to friends we dearly love, and unpacking again in Texas, getting kids started in school, getting lost every day trying to figure out this new city and basically having one great big adventure.  It's a strange feeling to turn your entire life upside down and move to a new place after living in Utah for 18 years.

I'm back to the kitchen and computer now and looking forward to adding new recipes and ideas to this blog that will hopefully help you and your family.

Melanie

Garlic Chicken with Orzo

from allrecipes.com, submitted by VBRAUER671

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves garlic 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast

halves - cut into bite-size pieces salt to taste 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 2 cups fresh spinach leaves grated Parmesan cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

2.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the garlic and red pepper 1 minute, until garlic is golden brown. Stir in chicken, season with salt, and cook 2 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned and juices run clear. Reduce heat to medium, and mix in the parsley and cooked orzo. Place spinach in the skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

I added one can of italian stewed tomatoes, chopped in the blender for a few seconds, instead of the parsley.  It just sounded good!  And it was good.  The only complaint was the spinach.  I used baby spinach so the leaves were smaller than the regular kind, but I didn't break them up into even smaller pieces.  And when they are wilted they are long and slimey, really.  The boys didn't like that one bit!  I'd probably decrease the amount of spinach by half and chop the leaves a little before adding it to the dish.

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  mixed reviews

Fruit Dip

from allrecipes.com, submitted by RNACSHHS

INGREDIENTS:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a medium bowl, blend the cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Chill in the refrigerator 1 hour before serving.

I followed some suggestions from other reviewers.  I added a little lemon juice and wish I'd added some of the zest from the lemon.  I also added two spoonfuls of strawberry yogurt.  I thought the strawberry yogurt was a little overpowering for the flavor I was expecting.  

The kids loved this!  As if you couldn't make fruit any better, give the kids something to dip the fruit in and it kicks things up a notch!  

This does make a lot of dip.  I would cut it in half for personal use or use the normal amount for a party.  

Boys say:  thumbs up

Orange Rosemary Chicken

from allrecipes.com, submitted by DEERPANT

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups orange juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 (2.5 pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a medium bowl, mix the orange juice, olive oil, chives, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Place the chicken in the mixture. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours.
2.	Preheat the oven broiler.
3.	Remove the chicken from the marinade, and shake off excess. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes; set aside.
4.	Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet. Broil 30 minutes in the preheated oven, 6 to 8 inches from heat. Turn and brush frequently with the remaining marinade mixture, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

I actually tossed the chicken (I used chicken breasts) on the grill but using the broiler would be fine too.  I really enjoyed the flavors in this dish.  We had steamed chopped zucchini and yellow squash with this.  This is another healthy, easy and inexpensive meal.  

Husband rating:  4 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Grilled Pork Chops and Sauce

from allrecipes.com, submitted by ScorpioGG

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons brown sugar 3 tablespoons honey 3 tablespoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons ketchup

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 (6 ounce) thick-cut boneless pork loin chops

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Mix the garlic, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, ginger, onion powder, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl. Pour half the mixture into a large plastic zipper bag, and place the pork chops into the marinade. Squeeze the air out of the bag, and seal the bag. Refrigerate 4 to 8 hours, turning occasionally. Refrigerate remaining marinade in the bowl.
2.	Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3.	Remove the pork chops from the plastic bag, and shake excess droplets of liquid from the chops. Discard the marinade from the plastic bag. Grill chops on the preheated grill, basting with the reserved marinade until meat is browned, no longer pink inside, and shows good grill marks, 8 to 10 minutes per side. A meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chop should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
4.	Pour remaining reserved marinade into a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the marinade until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly; serve sauce with chops.

We had these tasty pork chops with steak fries and a green salad.  We made more pork chops than we needed.   We used some the next day in a wrap.  I thinly sliced the pork chops and added some coleslaw to that and wrapped that all in a tortilla.  

Husband rating:  4 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up