Sweet & Sour Chicken

I made this the other night and it was surprisingly easy and quick, not to mention unbelievably good. I am trying to really simplify my cooking lately and it is difficult for me since I love to try new things even if they are difficult. However, this was an easy fulfillment of my missing hobby lately. And you know it's good when my husband said, "So where did you buy the chicken?" I'll take that as a compliment, thank you!

Sweet and Sour Chicken
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Note: if you like extra sauce, double the sauce ingredients – pour half over the chicken and follow the baking directions in the recipe and pour the other half in a small saucepan. Cook the sauce on the stovetop at a simmer for 8-10 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Serve it on the side of the chicken.

*Serves 4-6

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. Serve over rice.

Mykonos Burger

This is yet another recipe from Maria Menounos. My husband calls her Maria "my-new-nose". Ha!! I keep finding recipes of hers that are healthy, but really yummy! I'm really wanting her new book, "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life". I think their's a bunch of other healthy recipes in there. Can you tell that I like Maria?!!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 lb lean ground turkey

3/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 3/4 oz crumbled feta cheese

sliced red onions

4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted

Preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, mix first 8 ingredients. Use an ice cream scoop or 1/2-cup measure to make equal size patties.

2. Broil for 5-6 minutes on each side or until done. (We did ours on the George Foreman and it turned out delish).

3. Place burger on bottom half of bun. Top with onion slices and other condiments you like. Cover with top half of bun and enjoy!!!

Pizza Bread

If you love pizza like my family then you'll love this pizza bread. When my second son was born, two of the meals that were brought in were this pizza bread and we were so excited to have it! It was amazing and I had to have the recipe. We recently had it for my oldest's 4th birthday party and I knew I had to share the goodness! It's so versatile and easy. (picture to come)

-2 Rhodes frozen bread loaves
-1 1/2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 2 eggs
-1/8 C Parmesan Cheese (I use 1/4 C)
-Pizza toppings of choice
-Cheese

Put bread loaves on the counter and let thaw (not rise) -- takes 3-4 hours. Roll out dough into a rectangle (long enough so it fits the length of a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan). Spread the egg mixture on dough with pastry brush.

Down the middle of dough put whatever toppings you want and then top with whatever blend of cheese you prefer on your pizza (I use about two big handfuls). Then fold sides over each other and fold ends (you can braid the dough if you'd like). Put more egg mixture on top of dough.

Repeat for the second loaf.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Serves: 4-6/loaf

*Serve with marinara sauce on the side.
**If you really want you could probably put pizza sauce inside the bread but we prefer it without.
***Ideal for when you need to take a meal in to a family.

Healthy Stuffed Chicken

This is another recipe I got from Maria Menounos. Yeah, I'm a big fan of hers! Love her!! My husband said this recipe was a definite keeper and a "home run" (he associates everything with sports. Hahaha!)!! If he approves then it must be good!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flattened

Stuffing:

3/4 lb low-fat feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup packed, chopped baby spinach

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground black pepper

Sauce:

one 14oz can tomato sauce

1 diced mango, peeled and seeded

1/4 tsp seeded and diced jalapeno pepper (I left this ingredient out)

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl. Spoon out half of the mix onto each flattened chicken breast. Wrap the chicken around the stuffing and place in a small greased baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer, stirring off and on, for 15 minuted or until sauce becomes thick.

Spoon the sauce over cooked chicken and serve.

Yield: 2 (the stuffing makes a lot, so you could even get 3-4 stuffed chicken breasts)

Hacienda Hamburger

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb hamburger or ground turkey

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1 small can sliced olives

1 tsp salt

1 can of diced tomatoes

2 cup uncooked wide noodles

1 cup diced cheese

1 diced carrot

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1 cup frozen corn, drained and thawed

DIRECTIONS:

Cook hamburger, onion, celery, carrot, and bell pepper for five minutes until onion is translucent and hamburger is cooked well. Drain grease from skillet. Add remaining ingredients; stir lightly. Cover and cook slowly for 20 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

This recipe is from Maria Menounos (she's on "Access Hollywood" -- I think!). It was featured on "The Nate Berkus Show" the other day and it looked so good that I wanted to try it. So I googled it and got the recipe. It's delicious and very healthy!

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1/2 cup Italian dressing, any kind you like (use fat-free or low-cal)

Two 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped red onions

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/4 cup of the mango with the Italian dressing until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the remaining mango with the beans, red onion, and peppers. To the bean mixture, add the mango puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and chill until ready to serve.

Note:

This makes a good side dish or a good snack. We added fresh chopped avocados to it and ate it with chips. It was so good!! But if you do add the avocados don't add them until ready to eat or else they'll brown. We also thought it would taste yummy with cilantro and corn in it. The possibilities are endless!!