Italian Grilled Chicken & Mrs Dash

One of the toughest part of getting older is, for my husband and I at least, to cut down on the things that we've always enjoyed.   Salt, of course, is one of those things that makes EVERYTHING taste better, but does NOT do nice things for things like blood pressure – and of course, we’re both heavily cursed with family histories. So that means that we have to be especially mindful of our salt intake on a daily basis as well as educating our children about the dangers of excess so that they grow up healthier than we have.

Mrs. Dash has helped us do that.   Creating flavorful low-sodium meals for our family, without having them reaching for the salt shaker the minute the food hits their mouths, is made much easier with the variety of products that Mrs. Dash has available.  My favorite – or I should say, ONE of my favorites, is the italian medley, which I use in any manner of ways, including this one.

Grilled Italian Chicken

• 1 lb (or more) boneless chicken breast
• Mrs. Dash Italian Medley

Heat your grill up at least 5-7 minutes to be sure the grate is nice and hot.  While it’s heating, sprinkle the Mrs. Dash Italian Medley seasoning blend over the chicken breasts, both front and backside.  Once the grill is hot, place the chicken on the grill.  Leave it there for at least 5 minutes – do not mess with it.  Leave it alone!  After about 5 minutes, the chicken will have seared well on the grates and should be readily released when you grab it with your tongs.  Flip it and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F.

Enjoy! 

I serve this with a salad and everyone just LOVES it.  You could also serve it with some nice (no salt added) pasta sauce and pasta.  Let it cool and throw it in a salad.  There’s no limit!

I know I can be assured that the Mrs. Dash seasoning blend I choose for whatever I’m cooking will be safe for us to use, and it’s one less thing I have to worry about.  Win Win!

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I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mrs. Dash and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.  Thank you!

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Flavorful, Family Meal IdeasMore Mrs. Dash Recipes

Basil Lillet Slush

You’re probably thinking “wha…?”.  I would have been too, had I heard that name before I actually HAD the drink.  Let me explain.

2 weeks ago (wow, time flies), I attended BlogHer, a big blogging conference in New York City.  About 2 weeks before the conference, I received an invitation to attend a blogger’s night out party at … get this… MARTHA STEWART’S PLACE!  Ok, not her HOUSE, but at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.  Impressive, no?

 

I was so psyched!  A roof top party in New York?  The photographer in me said HELL YEAH!

Well, the weather said hell no.  So it was held inside one of their studios, and it was packed to the gills with bloggers of all walks. For me personally, I had no idea how I’d made the invite list, as I’d never even talked about Martha before, have I?  But hey, I was there.  As I showed you previously, the food was amazing.  The swag (gifts) was amazing. The view – amazing. 

In fact, several of us were waiting outside our hotel for a taxi that evening – to go to Martha.  A man approached us and asked if we’d like a limo.  We collectively rolled our eyes and went back to sweating.  The guy was serious, and only wanted $5 per PERSON to take us to the location – which was across the city – at RUSH HOUR.  So 8-1/2  of us jumped out of the taxi line and took A LIMO to the Martha Stewart party, thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, the party was amazing (as long as you weren’t claustrophobic), and one of the DRINKS served was green.  I was dubious – especially when they said it was BASIL.

Because of the crowd, it was difficult to hear the bartender list the ingredients, but I figured hey, I love basil – vodka – ok… and it’s free,  why not try it.

THIS WAS THE BEST DECISION of that night. Ok, maybe not the whole night, but damned close. Anyone who asked me about the party that night, and the rest of the weekend – that’s the first thing I told them about – the BASIL drink. LOL

Because I don’t want to get sued by Martha, I’m just going to give the link to the drink – but seriously, go – read – make – drink.

Quickie Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

I love fast lunches.  Because we home school, we have lunch (and breakfast… and dinner) every single day.  But because we do that, the choices can get pretty boring. This was something I just sort of made up that turned out to be such a crowd pleaser, there was NONE left.  That’s a rare feat in my house.

• Suddenly Salad – Bacon & Ranch flavor
• 1/4 c low-fat sour cream
• 1/4 c Kraft olive oil mayo
• 1 c. leftover chicken, diced

Boil the pasta as directed.  While that’s cooking, mix the seasoning mix that comes with the salad with the sour cream and mayo.  (I’ve tweaked the directions that came with the salad to lower the fat content.)  Once the pasta is cooked, strain it and rinse with cold water. Be sure to drain it thoroughly.  Toss with the seasoning mix and chicken, and you’re done!  This is a great recipe that you can do in the morning and just put in the fridge for later.  15 minutes and you’re done!

It’s also great for “hiding” vegetables in plain site. Although it does come with some veggies, I always toss in more, just for the fun of it (insert evil laugh here). 

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday ~ BlogHer edition

I don’t normally post Wordless Wednesdays here, but I attended the huge blogging conference called BlogHer. One of the events I was fortunate to be invited to was the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Bloggers’ Nite Out Party. O M G.  So here’s my food edition!

 

More wordless wednesday fun here.

What’s better than a campfire?

S’MORES, of course!

When we moved to West Virginia last year, one of the first things we did was buy one of those firepit things for the back yard.  It’s our first backyard, afterall, so we wanted to enjoy it fully!

So now, every time we have a fire, my kids ask me to make s’mores.  How can I say no? 

It’s such a simple request, really.  All I need is some Hershey chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers – and they’re on their way to JOY!

LOL

My kids get to roasting their marshmallows while I prepare the crackers and chocolate.  I use one square per cracker, because I am FRUGAL and like to make things last.  They (murder) toast their marshmallows and then bring them to me when they’re still nice and hot, so it will melt the chocolate and then I squish it all together with the 2nd cracker.  They they snatch it out of my hands and gobble it up!  I maybe – MAYBE  - get one or two but they can plow through the entire bag of marshmallows in less than an hour (if I let them).  It’s a fun time and they love it!

 

Mom Bloggers Club wants to know what YOUR favorite way to make s’mores is (and this post is an entry)!    Visit them here, and of course, be sure to visit http://www.smoressmiles.com/ where you can instantly win 1 of thousands of prizes!

Zucchini Pancakes

Oh, the zucchini.  When planning and planting our garden this year, I wanted to plant the things that I frequently would purchase at the farmer’s market in New Hampshire when we lived there.  Being that there are simply NONE here that are actually held at a convenient time (i.e. weekend), I wanted and needed those homegrown veggies in my back yard.

Oh did I get them!  The plan was for zucchini, summer squash, watermelon, corn, tomatoes, green beans – and of course, the kids HAD to plant pumpkins.  Well – I planted for the size of the garden, NOT the size of our family.  So now, the squash and zucchini have come in IN SPADES and I’m struggling to find ways to use them before they go to waste.

I LOVE zucchini, but my family not so much.  I seriously underestimated just how “not so much” meant until I started trying to feed it to them EVERY.Single.Night.  Ok, so then I started looking for recipes, and this one stuck because I figured, if it doesn’t LOOK like zucchini, maybe that will work!

And it mostly did for them.  For me? TOTALLY.

I adapted this recipe from cooks.com, though.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1950,138191-232201,00.html

I used about 2 cups of grated zucchini  - which was about ONE zucchini (seriously!)

1 1/2 c. grated zucchini (absorb moisture in paper towel, if too wet)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 egg
Optional: onion, garlic salt, parsley, cheese for flavor

 

I put the zucchini in some paper towel and squeeeeeezed all those green juices out of there.

Also, because I was making enough for 5 to go with dinner, I basically doubled the recipe, and it wound up making about 10 pancakes.

Grate the zucchini and then squeeze out the juice.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg, flour and baking powder. At this stage, if you’re going for add-ins such as what I did, add it now.  When everything else is blended, add the zucchini.  Thi consistency should resemble pancake batter.

Heat your skillet and add some sort of something so these don’t stick.  I used canola oil.

Pour the batter into the size you want – they don’t spread unless you help them – which helps them cook evenly as well.  Cook until browned on each side.

I also added about 1/4 of a small onion, and chopped it tiny, tiny, tiny – but the onion definitely added something yummy to it!  I also added about 2 tsp of minced (from the jar) garlic.  Salt and pepper, of course.  So so easy to make, and then as suggested, I served them with sour cream. I loved the addition of the sour cream – the kids, not so much – but what do THEY know? :)

Next time, I’ll add some parmesan cheese, I think – just didn’t have any that night.

Definitely worth the “effort” and simply an awesome way of disguising veggies at dinner!

Food from Home

I'm getting ready to go "home" for my 25th high school reunion.  Home, for me, is Rhode Island.  Although it's hard to believe, I haven't lived in Rhode Island in nearly 10 years. Although I've visited, there's only so much time in a weekend (which is as long as any visit typically is) to be able to do and see everything you miss about the place you called home for so many years. 

This time, though, I'll be visiting without my hubby & kids and am fully planning on hitting some of those food hotspots that I miss so much.

One of them is a bakery called D. Palmieri's, a place that makes *the best* pizza in the whole universe.  Not the pepperoni & cheese kind of pizza, just strips of dough topped with an ulcer-inducing sauce that's just .. Mmmmm... worth it.

 

As a Rhode Islander, I've also got a special place in my heart for seafood, so I WILL be going out for something fresh and caught that morning, somewhere along the water.  No definitive plans on that yet but I know it will have begun the morning with at least 6 legs. 

Also potentially on my list would be NY System hot weiners.  These are a certain kind of hot dog (not a ballpark type dog), steamed and then kept warm on a hot grill. They're thrown into a bun that's been steamed as well - and then topped with a meat sauce that's hard to duplicate, although we've tried a number of times.  It's a Rhode Island thing, truly.

Seeing as I'll only be there for 2-1/2 days, there won't be a lot of extra time to grab a bit of everything I miss about RI, but if I do nothing else, I MUST get some Del's.  Dels is sort of like frozen lemonade to all you NON Rhode Islanders, but much more nuanced and no matter how long it's been, it's always on my list. Unfortunately, that list is always too long for my short visits!

 

Dels, D. Palmieri's and weiners (weinahs) - 3 tastes of home.

What food reminds you of home?

Couponing

I *love* couponing. Now, that's not to say that I've very good at it. I'm not even going to pretend to be organized enough to do it with any sort of regularity. BUT when I DO do it, it's AWESOME. I love coming home with something that I've paid next to nothing for because I had a coupon to match up to a store sale - and even better, a store sale AND a store coupon. 

I admit, too, that remembering to buy the Sunday paper isn't one of my strong suits either.  So online coupons are what rock my world, and my bank account.  If you're a long-time reader of mine, you might even remember I used to have a banner ad over there on the sidebar for coupons.  I took it off because no one was using it - but I'm giving it another go because - seriously - stores have really changed the way they look at these "online" things, and realize that they're making money from them too - so I almost never encounter that "Oh, we don't take "THOSE" kinds of coupons" anymore.

So the next time you're getting ready to hit the grocery store or even just Wal-Mart or Target, hit me up first - check out what coupons there are. It could be something F R E E! :-)

Quick Apple Stuffed Pork Chops

2-3 lbs center cut pork chops

1 box pork flavored stuffing (Stove Top or similar)

1-2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 small shallot

1 tsp olive oil

 

This recipe was quite literally thrown together in about 15 minutes. It was delicious, and my family and visiting family loved it.

1. Mince the shallots.
2. Peel and core the apples. I used gala, and I’d suggest not using a tart apples.
3. Chop the apples into dime sized pieces.
4. Sauté the shallots and apples in a tsp of olive oil, just until the shallots are translucent.
5. Prepare the stuffing as directed on the box.  As soon as the stuffing is finished (i.e. before it “sets”), gently toss the apple & shallot mixture with the stuffing mix, cover the pan again and let it sit while you prepare the pork chops.

At this point, you can decide if you want to split the pork chops. If they’re about an inch thick, you could butterfly them (slice them down the side to create a pocket).  I did this, but my pork chops weren’t an inch thick, so it wasn’t pretty LOL

I then stuffed the pocket with 1-2 tablespoons of stuffing mix.  Once they were done, I salt & peppered the tops of the chops and put them in a 350 oven for approximately 30 minutes.  Because the chops weren’t quit thick enough, though, I

As I was making 2 batches of these, the 2nd batch, I simply layered the stuffing mix into the bottom of a glass baking dish.  I placed the pork chops on top of the stuffing, sprinkled salt and pepper and put in a 350 oven for approximately 30 minutes. 

At 30 minutes, check them with a thermometer.  You don’t want to overcook the meat!

When they’re finished, take them out and cover with foil.  Until you’re ready to serve them, this will keep everything moist.  The stuffing will cling to the pork chops, so I  stuffing side up.  As with the previous batch, delicious!

Enjoy :)

Ultimate Blog Party

Head over to my family blog, Coming to a Nursery Near You to find out about it, and enter to win tons of prizes!

Food trip Friday PLUS Photo Friday

I like doing memes from time to time, and these are both pretty new to me.  Food Trip Friday is where you post a food – any kind of food.   Photo Friday is where you post a photo that represents the word of the week – this week’s word is PLEASURE.  Food is pleasure to me, AS IS photography.  Two of my favorite things – food and photography!  So here ya go!

If you are new to my blog, welcome!  Please take a moment to click on the “follow” or join my facebook fan page if you like what you see.    The more, the merrier!

I chose this photo because of the colors in the photo, which I love, but also because it demonstrates the complexities of cooking, which I love as well!  A twofer!

And, of course, because this IS a recipe blog, afterall, the recipe that this came from!

I decided to (re)do another of my favorites from my blog, the Grilled Southwest Chicken recipe that I’d gotten from an old blogging friend, Karen – formally of Pediascribe – but now blogging at Forgiven & Loved.

 

In any case, it was a hit then, but not so much of a hit this time.  I think it’s because I tried to tweak it by adding a new favorite of mine, LIME, and doubling the spice/oil mixture.  IT didn’t work – do NOT try it. LOL  Follow THIS recipe instead :)

 

Grilled Southwest Chicken

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp each cumin, oregano & chili powder
3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon(ish) lime juice.  DO NOT USE LOL
salt & pepper to taste

Mix the spices in a bowl together with the oil.  Poke chicken breasts with a fork. In a zipper-type bag, place chicken breasts and spice mixture. Mush together so that each breast is coated. I let mine sit for about 10 minutes while the grill heated up.

Grill the chicken approximately 10 minutes on one side, flip and another 5 on the other.

Be sure to visit my other blog, Coming to a Nursery Near You, for my other take on the photo friday theme as well :)  Thanks for visiting!

Grilled chicken salad, redux

I don't think it gets much easier than this, truly.  I've made grilled chicken salad before, but this may be my new favorite.

Sunday morning, I woke up and knew it was going to be a busy day. My son's first hockey game of the year was Sunday afternoon, and I had errands to run, shopping to do, and my husband did too.  So I took a package of McCormick's Grill Mates Baja Citrus Marinade, mixed it (per the directions) and threw in 4 boneless chicken breasts, which I'd poked a few times with a fork.  It all went into a large zipper bag and into the fridge for the rest of the day.

8 hours later, at 6 pm, I had turned on the grill to a medium flame.  Once it was heated, I put the chicken on and closed the top.  I went to work assembling my salad, which was (admittedly) lacking in ingredients.  But a half a head of iceberg, some croutons and some Roma tomatoes later, and it looked good anyway.  Not very exotic, but it had been a LONG day.

The chicken took at least 20-25 minutes to cook.  But ALL I had to do was turn them, and once they registered the appropriate 165 on the thermometer, they were ready to go.  I sliced them up, placed them on our salad, topped with some spray on salad dressing (vinaigrette, actually) and mmmmMMmm - combined with another version of my new favorite flatbreads, it was a delicious and SIMPLE dinner!

The chicken came out so juicy and so full of flavor - my kids loved it as well.  Next time, I'll make it and slice it for wraps - Yum!

My foray into Grilled Flatbread

Ever since my first experience with grilled flatbreads, being on the buying end of them, I've been enamored with them.  However,  not enough to attempt them on our little tabletop grill that we had.

Just as soon as we moved south to West Virginia, into a house with a deck, I've been obsessed with buying a real, normal grill, and grilled flatbreads were one of my many, many reasons for wanting one.

Well, 2 weeks ago, we became the proud owners of our very first grown-up toy, a two burner grill that now resides on our deck.

In the 2 weeks since the grill joined our family, I've made steak (one of the best in my LIFE, btw), grilled veggies, burgers, burgers and more burgers, and of course, hot dogs.  But no flat breads.  I was a little intimidated, because HELLO? putting dough on a grill?  A HOT grill? How in the heck do they DO that?

I looked up a basic recipe for grilled flatbreads, and when my son nagged me for the 99,000th time, I gave in and wrote it down.
Today, though, I decided to make it.  I don't even know why, because I'd already made lunch and we'd already eaten THAT.  But I suppose it was the fact that I was also making peanut butter play dough that I decided hey, why not try it.  It's a beautiful day, perfect for the grill.

As much as I LOVED the flatbreads we used ot get at the LIttleton Farmer's Market, they weren't exactly brimming with healthy, nutricious stuff.  Sure, you could get them with just tomato, but they were also topped with quite a bit of oil, and my stomach not being what I'd call healthy, I didn't want to do that.  So these flatbreads weren't exactly like what we'd had there, but they came out delicious anyway, and will definitely become a staple in our menu.

Basic flatbread recipe:

1-1/3 c. flour.  I used white flour today, but will definitely be experimenting with whole wheat next time.
1/2 tsp. yeast.  I think I used the wrong kind the first time, because it didn't rise, but the 2nd one didn't either. I think I don't have the right yeast, period.
1/2 c. water
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt - I used Lawry's garlic salt

Mix the water with the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes. It should get frosthy.

While that is setting, mix together the flour, salt and olive oil.  Once the yeast mixture is frothy, mix that into the flour mixture and knead for 2 minutes.  I figure that at this point, I'll add other herbs to the dough once I settle on what I want to use.  For now, though, just using the garlic salt gave the bread a really good taste so that eating it all by itself was still very tasty.  Sit the dough in a warm place, covered with plastic wrap. 

Meanwhile, I heated my grill on high.  The temp got to about 200 degrees or so, I believe.  I only used one burner.  Once the dough had risen, I cut it into 4 sections.  One by one, I rolled it out to a verrrry thin sheet, , lightly brushed it with olive oil, lifted the lid to the grill and, while holding my breath, placed it directly onto the grill's grill.    The heat, though, was such that my dough didn't sag through!  I was thrilled!  I closed the top and waited, MAYYYYBe a minute or so, and checked it, just to be sure.  It was fine.  The edges were getting toasty, and so I took my spatula and checked it's bottom.  It was also getting nicely brown, so at that point, I flipped it.  It probably took about 2 minutes per side, but of course, your grill, and mileage, may vary.

After the first one, where I found that the taste by itself was excellent, I decided to experiment, and while the second one was cooking, I sliced some roma tomato very thinly and put them on the 2nd side.  For the 3rd, I put some more tomato AND some thinly sliced basil.  For #4, I used freshly grated parmesan and more basil.

Unfortunately, I got so distracted with my toppings that I let the flatbreads cook a little too much, but even though they were a bit crunchy, they still turned out wonderfully!

I can't wait to try new ingredients and new toppings and you can be sure, I'll share them with you!

I think I need this book next: