Lime Chicken Tacos

I've been trying to eat healthier. Really, I have. But sometimes you really just want "comfort food"- good, filling food that doesn't scream "DIET!" I've been trying recipes from the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook for a while now and this is one of my favorites.

Not only is it great for tacos, but it makes a nice chicken taco salad and chicken nachos. It reheats nicely for lunch the next day and, because it's cooked in the slow cooker I classify it as quick and easy. The entire family loves this recipe!

Makes 12 Servings Time: Prep: 10 min. Cook: 5-1/2 hours (or 2 1/2- 3 if cooked on high)

Ingredients

* 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
* 3 tablespoons lime juice
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 cup frozen corn
* 1 cup chunky salsa
* 12 flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed
* Sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce, optional

Directions

* Place the chicken in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine lime juice and chili powder; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (or 2 1/2-3 hours on high) or until chicken is tender.
* Remove chicken; cool slightly. Shred meat with two forks and return to the slow cooker; heat through. Stir in corn and salsa.
* Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve in tortillas with sour cream, cheese and lettuce if desired. Yield: 12 tacos.


Nutrition Facts: 1 taco (prepared with fat-free tortillas; calculated without sour cream and cheese) equals 148 calories, 2 g fat (trace saturated fat), 31 mg cholesterol, 338 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 14 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 very lean meat, 1 starch.

Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate. If 10 of you happen to buy this cookbook using the link to the left I may make enough money to buy some sour cream for my tacos.

A Tiny Bite of "Me Time"

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dove Ice Cream. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Chicken Tikka Masala

I love to expose my girls to new flavors and cuisines. And, thankfully, they try new foods without protest. Because this dish was served with rice the girls thought it was Chinese- a favorite in our house. Trying to explain that it is an Indian influenced meal.... Well, I'll save that for another day.

The only change I have made in this recipe is to cut the curry paste in half- 2T was just a bit spicy for the girls.

Recipe from Good Housekeeping. Serves 4.

Ingredients
* 1 cup(s) basmati rice
* 1 tablespoon(s) vegetable oil
* 1 medium (6 to 8 ounces) onion, chopped (I use dried onion flakes)
* 2 teaspoon(s) grated, peeled fresh ginger
* 1 clove(s) garlic, crushed with press
* 2 tablespoon(s) Indian curry paste (this makes the dish quite hot- I cut it in half when I am serving this to the girls)
* 1 1/4 pound(s) skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves, cut into 1-inch chunks
* Salt and pepper
* 1 cup(s) (from 15-ounce can) crushed tomato
* 1/2 cup(s) half-and-half or light cream
* 1/4 cup(s) loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped, plus additional for garnish

1. Prepare rice as label directs.
2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium 1 minute. Add onion and cook 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add ginger, garlic, and curry paste; cook 3 minutes longer.
3. Add chicken, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and cook 2 minutes or until no longer pink on the outside, stirring occasionally. Add tomato; cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer or until chicken just loses its pink color throughout.
4. Uncover and stir in half-and-half and cilantro. Spoon rice into 4 shallow bowls; top with chicken mixture and garnish with chopped cilantro.


Nutritional Information
(per serving)
Calories 430
Total Fat 13g
Saturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 93mg
Sodium 685mg
Total Carbohydrate 42g
Dietary Fiber 6g
Sugars --
Protein 39g
Calcium --

Irish Brown Bread

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner I've been trying out new recipes for my annual Irish feast. I found a new Irish Brown Bread recipe in an issue of Woman's Day magazine last year and recently tried it. Oh so good! It's the best I've made yet!

This recipe requires no pans as the loaves are "free form" rounds. It's delicious with a bit of honey or butter but I prefer it served with Irish Stew or Steak & Guinness Pie.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
* 3/4 cup quick oats
* 1/2 cup wheat germ
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
* 2 T tbsp honey

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray or use parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix flours, oats, wheat germ, baking soda and salt.
2. Whisk together buttermilk and honey. Add to flour mixture; stir to combine until soft dough forms.
3. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Divide in half. Shape each half into a round loaf. Place loaves 3 in. apart onto prepared baking sheet; bake 10 minutes.
4. Reduce temperature to 400°F. Continue baking 10 minutes longer or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool 15 minutes.

Sausage Fried Rice

A while back we purchased part of a pig. And while we've been working our way through the chops, bacon and roasts I had about 15 pounds of fresh pork sausage just sitting in my freezer. I can only make biscuits and gravy so often...

I wasn't sure what to do with the abundance of pork until I found this great recipe on AllRecipes.com. Chinese food is a favorite in this house so I knew the recipe would be a great hit- and it was! One word of warning- this makes a lot of food! I make it and freeze individual size portions for quick lunches.

Also, be sure to make the rice ahead of time so it has time to cool.



Ingredients

* 1 pound ground pork sausage
* 5 eggs, beaten
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 head cabbage, cored and shredded
* 3 carrots, chopped
* 6 cups cooked white rice, cold
* 1/4 cup soy sauce, or to taste
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can bean sprouts, drained
* 1 (6 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed
* ground black pepper to taste
* 3 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage until evenly browned. Drain, and remove sausage from the pan. In the same pan, using the remaining coating of grease from the sausage, scramble the eggs, stirring frequently until cooked through. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a very large skillet (I use a very large pot) or electric skillet over medium-high heat. Stir fry the cabbage and carrots just until the cabbage has wilted. Add the cold rice, and fry, stirring so that there are no clumps. Mix in the sausage and pour in some soy sauce. Stir in bean sprouts, peas, and eggs, mixing well so there are no big chunks of egg. Season with pepper, and stir in green onions just before removing from the heat. Adjust soy sauce to taste, and serve.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork

A while back we bought half a pig. That may sound odd to those of you not near rural communities. What that means is we bought half a butchered pig. So we have a pork product at least once a week. I had a shoulder roast sitting in the freezer when I found this recipe from AllRecipes.com on my Dinner Spinner (free app for the iPhone or iTouch).

The recipe calls for a pork loin roast but I think you can use any pork roast cut. Because it has cranberries this is a great fall or winter meal. You could possibly serve it for the holidays. Because it's cooked in a slow cooker I term it a "quick & easy" recipe. It may take 4-8 hours to cook- but it's "hands off" time!



Ingredients

* 1 (16 ounce) can cranberry sauce (I used canned whole berries but you can use just the jelly)
* 1/3 cup French salad dressing (I used Catalina)
* 1 onion, sliced (I used dried chopped onions, about 1/4 c)
* 1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast (shoulder roast works well, too)
* Optional: season the pork with salt and pepper
* Optional: I added 1T prepared horseradish for additional flavor

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the cranberry sauce, salad dressing, and onion. Place pork in a slow cooker, and cover with the sauce mixture.
2. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for 8 hours. Pork is done when the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

I paired this with my Gouda Mashed Potatoes.

Chocolate Cream Puffs

Not long ago I received a coupon to try Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry from Foodbuzz Tastemakers. I've long been a fan of their puff pastry sheets (see the list of recipes that use puff pastry) so I decided to try the new Puff Pastry Shells.

Like the puff pastry the shells are incredibly easy to use and puff up lovely and golden. I whipped up some chocolate cream to fill them with and made a wonderful dessert that was creamy and rich without being "too much".


You need:

1 package Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Shells (this will leave leftover pudding which is great for a snack!) To use all pudding get 3 packages of Puff Pastry Shells.

6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate

3 cups milk, divided

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 T flour

3 T cornstarch

1/2 t salt

3 egg yolks

2 T butter

1 1/2 t vanilla

Whipped cream

Directions:

Combine chocolate and 2 cups of milk in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stir constantly, just until mixture boils. Remove from heat.

Combine sugar,flour, cornstarch and salt. In another bowl mix remaining 1 cup milk and egg yolks; add to flour mixture. Slowly add to chocolate. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla.

Pour into dish and cover with plastic wrap, pressing wrap directly onto surface of pudding (this will keep it from getting a "skin") and chill for half an hour.

Prepare Puff Pastry Shells as directed on package.

After removing tops of baked Puff Pastry Shells according to directions, fill shells with chocolate cream and add whipped topping. Cover with pastry lid or prop it against the side.