Monthly Archives: February 2012

Tomato-Braised Chicken Tacos with Avocado Salsa

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

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My sister Kerri handed me this recipe when she was visiting last month. Looking at the ingredients I knew this would be a winner! Most of our meals include the usual suspects: tomato, cilantro, avocado, onion, garlic, and jalapeno! As I was cooking I realized it seemed to be missing something. Where is the cumin?? I took a chance and left it out. So glad I dd!

Found it : O Magazine, February 2012

Ingredients (Tacos)

  • 4 Roma Tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 3 jalapenos seeded
  • 1/4 white onion roughly diced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up in chunks
  • 2 Tbs. minced cilantro (who are we kidding…i used at least 1/4 cup)
  • 12 corn tortillas
  1.  In a food processor, (or blender if you are without) pulse tomatoes until well chopped. Add salt, jalapenos, garlic, and onion. Puree until smooth.
  2. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Brown chicken on both sides. Add tomato puree to skillet. Cover and reduce to medium low. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes.
  3. Shred chicken with 2 forks.  Add cilantro and stir right before serving.

Top warmed corn tortillas with chicken mixture and Avocado Salsa.

Ingredients (Avocado Salsa)

  • 2 Hass Avocados cubed
  • 1 Roma tomato diced, seeded
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Gently toss together so not to mush up the avocado. Enjoy!

Sorry, its cell phone picture :0)

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Cornmeal and Yogurt Pancakes…Hello Breakfast!

05 Sunday Feb 2012

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My favorite pancakes come from the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg, TN. We never travel to Tennessee without stopping in and gorging ourselves on pancakes and coffee.  After much research, trial and error, and a few disasters I feel like I have found a good pancake recipe! Would you believe it came from a yogurt lid? Scary I know. By the way, this is kid tested and approved.

Ingrediants

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup corn meal (not self-rising)
  • 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
  • 2tsp. baking powder
  • 1tsp. baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt (a greedy pinch)
  • 1 1/2 cups vanilla, strawberry, or blueberry yogurt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • milk to thin the batter

Whisk together flour, corn meal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Next add yogurt, eggs and oil. Stir well. I thin the batter a tad with milk. It is really trial and error depending on the consistency of the yogurt you use. The thicker the yogurt, the more milk you need.  Preheat griddle to  HOT! :0) Use butter on griddle if needed to keep from sticking. I use about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake. This batter is thick and a little difficult to manage. It does not bubble like a normal pancake. Cook about 3 minutes on one side, then flip..carefully.  As you can see, my last batch was not beautiful, but OH SO GOOD!

They brown so nicely!

Black and White Bean Salad

05 Sunday Feb 2012

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This is a favorite recipe in our house and more importantly it is healthy. However, the kid vote is lacking. :0) I found it on Allrecipes.com, tried it, and loved it! Lucky for you, I have tweaked it to perfection! (In my humble opinion.) We typically serve it with hummus and pita for a meatless meal. If you don’t like red wine vinegar, you can simply omit or use less. By the way, NO COOKING required!

Ingredients

  • 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (15 ounce) can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 chopped cucumber
  • 1 chopped sweet red pepper
  • 1/2 medium onion diced
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (we use more :0)
  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (we use more :0)
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper

This is easy. Combine cucumber, pepper, onion, beans, and cilantro. Mix remaining ingredients together, pour over bean mixture and toss. I like it room temperature or cold. Refrigerate leftovers.

Finished salad. This salad is half eaten by the preparer (usually me) before it ever makes it to the table!