One Pot Orange Chicken

And in less than 30 Mins!

Ingredients:
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
• 1/3 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 T salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 T ketchup
• 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
• 4 T brown sugar
Bell Peppers & Zucchini if you'd like.  I did use 1 orange, 1 red, 1 green and a zucchini.

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Pour the flour in a small bowl.

Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.  

Take it out of the pan and let drain onto a paper towel.  

Toss the veggies into your pan and stir fry for appx 5 mins or until softened.

Add the chicken back into the pan and stir for 2 mins, just to brown every thing up.  

Pour in the orange juice mixture and toss a few times getting everything coated and the sauce warmed up.

Serve over rice.

Most Scrumdiddleyumptious Crepe Recipe

I am in LOVE with Crepes lately!  I finagled a recipe and am lovin' them!  Too bad I can't eat them everyday...all.day.LONG!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

2 TBSP butter (melted)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C. flour

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all of the above together, except the flour.  After it's all mixed, add the flour in a little at a time until it's all mixed.

In a 8" pan, put a little butter or olive oil.   Add 1/4 C. of the batter to the pan and swirl the batter around.  Let it cook on one side for about 30-45 sec then flip over an cook 30-45 sec longer.

Remove from pan and place on a plate.

For the filling, I like to make a homemade whip cream and top with fresh fruit.

Here's my homemade whip cream recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 C heavy whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 oz vanilla

2 TBS powder sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Put the whipping cream into a (preferably metal) bowl and freeze for about 3 minutes.  In another bowl, whip up your cream cheese and add the vanilla.  Take the whipping cream and beat it until soft peaks form, add the powder sugar.  Then mix in the cream cheese mixture.

Hope you enjoy!

Yeastless Almond Date Bread

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups whole wheat flour (preferably stone ground)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups rice milk (works with any liquid) or 1 1/2 cups water (works with any liquid)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 tsp Korintje Cinnamon  

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400*

Measure all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix all wet ingredients together.

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together first.  Slowly add the wet ingredients.  

The batter will be wet, but not soppy.

Place the dough into the Stoneware Loaf Pan.  

Bake at 400* for 40 mins.

Remove from oven and let stand in your pan for 2 mins then transfer it to your Stackable Cooling Rack & allow to cool completely.

Couscous Stir Fry

Jose and I are doing the 21 Day Daniel Fast.  We started the first of January and will be going until the 21st, duh...haha!  Anyway, my kitchen skills have been challenged, but MAN, don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm kicking butt!
This is a quick recipe that I threw together Sunday after church.  I thought it turned out super yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1-Cup of Couscous + 1 1/4 cup of pure veggie stock to prepare
1-Container of Firm Tofu
4-Celery Stalks
1-Onion, your choice of type
4-Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:
Bring the veggie stock to boil, add salt if desired.  Put in the Couscous, cover & remove from heat.  Just leave covered until your done with the stir fry.

For the Stir fry, I take my 12" Skillet and drizzle the bottom with Olive Oil, you really don't need too much.  Slice up the Celery, chop onion and garlic.  Cut your tofu into bite size pieces.
Heat your pan on med-high heat with the oil, just until it's like water in the pan.  Add the onion, celery and garlic.  Cook until the onions are translucent and celery is at a soft crunch.  Add the tofu and cook until the celery is soft and tofu is a bit brown.  Toss in the couscous and serve.
This can be seasoned with garlic salt or just regular salt.
Hope you enjoy, this was my first tofu recipe.

Cranberry Sauce/Chutney

I don't really know what this is.  I was on the internet looking for a homemade cranberry sauce and saw quite a few recipes (to say the least).  I thought that I would create my own and see how it turned out.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup- Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, with pulp
1- Apple, cored and chopped
1 bag, 12 oz- Fresh Cranberries
1 Cup-Chopped Walnuts, I used 1/2 regular and 1/2 candied that I had made last week
1 Cup- White Sugar
1/2 tsp- Salt
1 tsp- Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, boil orange juice and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to simmer, and stir in cranberries, apple, walnuts, salt, and cinnamon plus spice blend. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.  Pour into Classic Batter Bowl and refrigerate over night.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake-Melissa Style

I normally make this as a Pampered Chef recipe, but I decided to try to revamp it.  I was really afraid it wouldn't work, but sure enough, it came out devine!

Here's the recipe...

INGREDIENTS:

1-Box Chocolate Cake (I like Devil's Food)

1-15 oz Can Pumpkin (I buy the big can and split it in half, freezing the other half)

1-Jar of frosting (I used Caramel this time)

DIRECTIONS:

Dump the cake mix into the Deep Covered Baker  add the pumpkin and mix with Mix n' Scraper.  The mix will be thick, don't worry, it's how you want it.  Just make sure you mix the dry cake mix well into the pumpkin.  Plop the frosting on top of the cake.  DO NOT MIX!

Put the lid onto the DCB and place in microwave.  Microwave for 15 minutes.

That's all there is to it!  Hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Guess what's back at Starbucks!! One of my two favorites, my other is the Peppermint Mocha Latte.
Well, I was looking for a knock off, because after I spent $5 for one on Saturday, I almost couldn't enjoy it. After doing some research I found a recipe and tailored it for my own approval.

Pumpkin Spice Latte
makes 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups FF milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin OR 1 teaspoon of Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup (your choice)
2 tablespoons splenda
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee

Directions:
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy (or you can whisk it really fast).

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the coffee on top.

Optional: Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

I found this recipe on Kraftrecipes.com and I decided to do my own revamp on it to make a bit "healthier". I don't know if I could label it as my own, but I'm going to, because I did revamp it.
So here's what I did...
INGREDIENTS:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. Splenda Sugar, divided

1/2 cup packed Splenda brown sugar

4 egg whites, divided(I used egg whites out of the carton)

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/4 cup applesauce

2 cups whole wheat flour

2-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. The Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened

2 Tbs The Pampered Chef Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle

DIRECTIONS

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

MIX pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, 3 egg whites, milk and apple sauce in large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, spice and salt; mix just until moistened. Beat Neufchatel cheese, remaining sugar, remaining egg white and sweet cinnamon sprinkle with whisk until well blended.

SPOON half of pumpkin batter into Stoneware loaf pan; cover with layers of Neufchatel mixture and remaining pumpkin batter.

BAKE 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Loosen bread from sides of pan; cool in pan 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Zucchini Mini Muffins

I have a friend who sent me a recipe a few years back for Zucchini Bread. Well, since I can eat a whole loaf to myself (seriously!) I tried putting them into the Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan and they turned out to be the PERFECT SIZE! I can pop 1 or 2 and not feel guilty for eating a whole loaf.
Then I thought, "Melissa, how can you make them a bit more healthier?"
This is the recipe I came up with...

Zucchini Walnut Mini Muffins
3 Soft Brown Bananas (you know, the ones you throw away, because they're turning color. Just throw them into a freezer bag and freeze them for baking! BTW, these are replacing the Eggs!)
1 C. Applesauce
2 C. (or that equivalent) of Splenda (replacing the sugar)
2 C. Shredded Zucchini (I get fresh zucchini and shred it myself)
3 tsp. Vanilla
3 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
3 tsp. Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend

DIRECTIONS:
Beat Bananas, Applesauce, Splenda, Zucchini & Vanilla together. In another bowl mix the remaining ingredients. While beating the wet ingredients, slowly add the dry ingredients (YES, you do have to do it that way, because if you don't, you can get clumps of unmixed dry mix...NOT very good to bite into!).
Place 1 TBS. of your dough into each cup in the Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan (no need to oil the pan, trust me on this!).
Bake in the oven for 15 mins. Remove and let them cool on the Stackable Cooling Rack. Remove after 5 mins onto another Stackable Cooling Rack.
Pop one in & enjoy!
I haven't figured out the nutritional facts yet, but when I do, I will be sure to post them.
Let me know what you think!!!

Crunchie Monkies

Just made a fun & yummy snack for the kiddos (and of course ME!)
It is a spin off of a recipe I saw at Sam's Club, but as usual, made it my own.
My kids named it the Crunchie Monkies and here you have it...

CRUNCHIE MONKIES
Ingredients:
1 C. Butterscotch Morsels
1/2 C. Peanut Butter (you can use crunchy or smooth)
1 C. Mini Marshmallows
1 C. Rold Gold Pretzel Sticks, broken into pieces (I prefer Rold Gold, because they are skinnier than other's on the shelf)
1/2 C. Cocoa Roasted Almonds (you can use whatever nut you like)

Directions:
Freeze your Medium Bar Pan for approximately 5 minutes before starting the mix.
Measure the Peanut Butter in the Mini Measure All Cup using the Skinny Scraper. Put the Morsels & the Peanut Butter into the Large Micro Cooker and microwave for 1 min, in 30 sec intervals, stirring with the Skinny Scraper making sure you stir well!
In the Classic Batter Bowl mix all of the other ingredients together.
After the peanut butter & morsels are melted, pour it over the munchies and toss, coating all of your mix.
Line your frozen Medium Bar Pan with Parchment Paper and pour the mix out onto the bar pan. Place in the refrigerator for 10 mins. It should be cold & hard enough to break apart.
ENJOY!
*This does need to be stored in the refrigerator. *

Southwestern Chicken Salad

My mom was wanting me to make a salad tonight with a few different ingredients...After a bit of thought, I realized I could make a Southwestern Chicken Salad. One like I order at a local fast food chain, but with less than half the calories.
Here's what I came up with...


SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN SALAD

• 4 BL/SL Chicken Breasts
• 1 Head of Romaine Lettuce
• 1 Bunch of Cilantro
• 1 Bunch of Green Onions
• 2 Cans of Black Beans
• 2 Cans of Yellow Corn
• 1 Jicama
• 4 Roma Tomatoes

DRESSING

• 1 C. Light Sour Cream
• 1 C. FF Milk
• 3 TBS. Hidden Valley Ranch Mix (my preference)
• 1 TBS. The Pampered Chef's Chipotle Rub

Mix all of the dressing ingredients together & let them sit in the refrigerator before starting on the salad so it can set up and the flavors can marry.

SALAD DIRECTIONS
BBQ the chicken, seasoning with The Pampered Chef's Southwestern Seasoning Mix. Set aside after cooked thoroughly! (You can check the temp with the Digital Pocket Thermometer.)
While the chicken is cooking, get all your vegis washed up. I like to put my lettuce & cilantro into the bowl of the Salad & Berries Spinner. Then I put the cilantro into the berries colander, spin. Then the lettuce into the salad colander and spin. It helps to get your green dry, which prevents a soggy, wilted salad!
Cut up all your green vegis and throw them into the 8-qt. Stainless Mixing Bowl (just an FYI, this bowl is my GO TO bowl for EVERYTHING! It is ginormous...and it will be discontinued soon!) Open up your beans & corn. Strain them both in the colander. Rinsing the black beans before spinning them. Toss them into the salad mix.
Now take your jicama & slice it in half. Taking the Serrated Peeler to the skin, makes it a breeze to clean up! Now slice it into 1/4" slices lengthwise, then again going the other way to make strips. Toss those into the bowl.
Cut your tomato to your liking, as well as the chicken. Toss them both in.
Toss the salad together. Serve on a dish and drizzle the dressing on top!

*just a reminder...I cook for a family of 7, 4 adults and 3 children. This recipe was specifically measured for around 10-1Cup servings. Please adapt for your family.*

Pasta Salad Revamp

Isn't that just gorgeous!?! I LOVE the new Bamboo Large Bowl! I have this recipe that I've been making for many years & people love it. Well last night I was looking at my Pampered Chef spices and decided to bring it up a notch =) The results were better than I expected...My family devoured it! Here's the recipe...

PASTA SALAD REVAMP

• 1lb Rotini (your choice, whole wheat, vegi, etc)
  
• 2lbs Frozen Vegis (California Blend is what I always use)
• 1 C. Mayo (I use light)
• 1 C. Sour Cream (I use light)
• 2 TBS Spinach & Smoky Red Pepper Oil Dipping Seasoning, by The Pampered Chef (you can click on the name to go to the product page & order)
• Salt to season

Bring a stock pot to boil, adding the frozen vegis just as the water comes to a boil. Once at a rumbling boil, add pasta & cook according to directions.
While those are cooking, mix the mayo, sour cream and Spinach & Smoky Red Pepper Oil Dipping Seasoning together in Small Batter Bowl, set aside.
Strain pasta and vegis. Add to a large bowl while still warm (this helps to mix the mayo & sour cream easily). Add the mayo mix and toss the salad.
You can either serve immediately (which is how I like it) or refrigerate it and serve cold (how Jose likes it).
I hope you enjoy!

Split Pea & Ham Soup

Another Melissa original that turned out FABULOUS!

Ingredients:
2 lbs Split Peas
2 lg Carrots, chopped into bite size pieces
3 Celery Stalks, chopped into bite size pieces
1 Md Onion, chopped small ( I just use my Food Chopper)
3 Ham Hocks
1 stick of Butter
2 TBS Chicken Bouillon

Boil the ham hocks in 10 cups of water, until they just start to fall off of the bone. Remove & reserve the broth.
In a large pot, melt your butter. Add all of your vegis and saute until just softened. While they are sauteing rinse your peas in a collandar. Add the peas into the vegis and add your broth from the ham hocks. You should have 8 cups of broth. Simmer your soup until it cooks down (about 30-40 mins.
Add 2 more cups of water and then 2 more cups of with 2 TBS of chicken bouillon desolved. Let it come to a boil until your peas are cooked thoroughly (about 20 mins).
Enjoy!
My family LOVED it! They are picky soup eaters, but this was devoured, even by my mom who called it "Crap Soup".

Chicken with Hashbrowns

An original Melissa Herrera recipe...Yes, I was confused about what to make for dinner. So I made up...

Chicken with Hashbrowns
6 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless & frozen)
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup, 1 Can of Milk
1 bag Frozen Hashbrowns (the shredded kind, not the O'Briens)

Place the Chicken, soup & milk into a baking dish. Season with Salt, pepper & garlic salt.
Bake at 350* for 1hour. Add the frozen hashbrowns to the top & bake for another 30-45 min.

I was worried about the kids eating this, because they're not big COM soup eaters nor do they like gravy (YES, my kids are strange!) But everyone really enjoyed it! I made some vegis on the side and voila, it was Dinner!
*Please remember the measurements are for my family of 7 1/2...so adjust for your family!*

Now wasn't that easy!?!? Why can't you bring your family back to the table?

Shrimp Salad, Yummy Yummy

Jose wanted ceviche for dinner tonight, but I didn't have anything but the shrimp to make it. He did a pour out in the desert with 115* weather & was beat from the heat!
So I scrambled up a salad that turned out phenomenal!

Shrimp Salad
Shrimp
~Shrimp (I did 40 for Jose, Dominic & I)
~Lemon Pepper, Basil, Salt & Pepper
~Olive Oil
I placed the shrimp in a bag with about 1TBS of olive oil, the lemon pepper, basil, salt & pepper. Let that marinade about an hour or more.

Dressing
~1 Grapefruit, juiced into a bowl & zested (about 1 tsp)
~Strawberry Preserves
~1 TBS Olive Oil
~Salt & Pepper
Put it all into a bowl & whisk, set aside in fridge to let it all marry.


Salad
~Mixed Salad Greens
~1 Grapefruit cut up
~10 Strawberries quartered


Put the shrimp on top of the salad & drizzle with the dressing.


It was definitely a hit!

Spin with Ortega Chiles

Chicken & Ortega Chiles
~Chicken Breasts (how ever many your family will eat)
~1 Can Ortega (or whatever brand you can get) Whole Chiles
Seasonings; salt, pepper, chipotle rub (contact me to buy)

Season the chicken & place on the grill. Grill on both sides, about 15 mins each. Open up the chiles & place on top while grilling. When you flip, place another chile on top again.


Jasmine Rice w/ Black Beans & Chiles
~Jasmine Rice (amount you need for your family), cooked according to directions
~1- 2 Cans of Black Beans, drained & rinsed
~3 Ortega Chiles
~Salt & Pepper

Once you make your Jasmine Rice, add in the beans & chiles, salt & pepper. Mix in a big bowl so air can flow through & the rice doesn't become sticky and turn into masa.


I placed the chicken on top and served together. It was a hit!

Chicken Biscuit Pie

This is a twist of Chicken Pot Pie, but made with biscuits, well because I didn't have pie crust =)

2 C. cooked chicken (I used left over's from last night)
2 cans of refrigerated biscuits
1/2 C. frozen vegis (whatever you like, I used the mix with carrots, green beans, peas & potatoes. Or you can substitute with Veg-All, 2 cans, drained)
2 cans Cream Of Whatever You Like
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 400*. Take on can of biscuits & cut into fours. Place them into a 9x13" baking dish. Mix the other ingredients & pour over the biscuits. Then do the same with the other can of biscuits.
Bake for 20 mins or 'till the biscuits are cooked & filling is bubbly.

Onion Broiled Chicken Thigh & Au Jus Sauce w/ Cheesy Potatoes

So, life has grabbed me and just ain't letting go. I did NOT feel like even cooking, but I do have a family I must care for. So here it goes...

Onion Broiled Chicken Thighs w/ Au Jus Sauce
12 Chicken Thighs
2 Pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1/4 C Olive Oil
2 tsp cornstarch

Heat oven to 425*. Get a pan that can take the broiler & line with foil (the best trick I've ever learned for clean up!). Place the thighs in the pan. Mix olive oil & soup mix together & slather it over the thighs.
Bake for 40 mins.
Take the thighs out & pour the drippings into a pot. Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 c. of water, pour into drippings. Let warm up & thicken just a bit, remember, it is Au Jus sauce, not gravy.


Potatoes
Make instant potatoes as directed, but add some Parmesan cheese into the instant potatoes.

Serve all together. Place the Au Jus into a bowl & dip away. The Au Jus can also be poured over the potatoes, if desired.

It's Dip!

Mmmmm, I LOVE dips!!!!! Their fun, versatile and yummy!
Last week I went to LIFT, a Women's Retreat with some friends from church. Monica brought some bagel chips & a cream/feta cheese & cucumber dip from Sam's Club.
So Monday, I went out & went to Costco, on a hunt for the dip...NO LUCK =(
So, I bought my own ingredients & made my own!

Ingredients:
1 block Neutsafella Cream Cheese, you know, the lowfat one
1 cup Feta Cheese
2 cloves garlic pressed
2 TBS olive oil

Blend it all together & enjoy with Pita Chips!
It is THE BOMB!!!!! My new dip,,,Yeay!

Pasta & Shrimp

I didn't know what to make, once again...
I had taken out Shrimp, but didn't know what to do with it ( I REALLY get tired of the same 'ol stuff!). Well, this is what I came up with...

Spinach & Shrimp Pasta
1 lb~ Shrimp, de-veined, shelled & cut up
2 lbs~ Frozen Spinach, defrosted
1 lb~ Egg Noodles
1 stick real butter (I know now you can definitely use less!)
2 TBS Oil
Garlic

Directions
Make the Egg Noodles according to package directions.
Place oil into pan, add butter & melt. Crush garlic into pan & saute. Add Shrimp and cook just until turning pink (you don't want too cook too much). Add the spinach and continue to cook until the shrimp is completely pink.
Toss in with the noodles & enjoy!