Why another cooking blog?

I decided to create this blog as a way for family and friends to see what I'm cooking and to share interesting food related tidbits I come across.
I'm frequently asked for recipes so I thought this would be a good place to start collecting the old, new, and funky recipes that I have.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sweet 'N Sour Chicken and Rice

I recently rediscovered my Mom's Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly cookbook
I love using a crockpot, it's so handy; throw the food in turn, it on and in 6-8 hours you have a meal! Not to mention it keeps me from having to turn on the stove or oven which is a definite bonus in the summer.

Sweet 'N Sour Chicken and Rice
Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly
serves 6


Ingredients
1 lb baby carrots
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
20 oz can unsweetened pineapple chunks
1/3 C brown sugar
1 T low sodium soy sauce
2t chicken bouillon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t garlic powder
3 T cornstarch
1/4 C water
3 C cooked long grain rice
 
Instructions
In a 5 quart crockpot layer carrots and onion in slow cooker. Top with chicken.
Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place pineapple chunks over chicken.
Mix together pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, chicken bouillon, salt, ginger, and garlic. Pour over top.
Cook on low 6-7 hours.
Combine cornstarch and water. Gradually stir into slow cooker. Cook for 30 minutes longer or until sauce is thickened.
 
My notes:
This was everyone approved. I didn't use 6 chicken breasts as the ones I had on hand were huge. I also used fresh pineapple instead of canned. I used 14oz diced pineapple and then 4oz of orange juice. I also added crushed red pepper flakes.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Black Beans and Yellow Rice


Black Beans and Yellow Rice
From: myrecipes.com
Ingredients
4 ounces dried black beans
Cooking spray
4 ounces Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced
6 cups water, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 cups chopped fresh tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
  1. Sort and wash beans; place in a bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; let stand 8 hours. Drain.
  2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chorizo; sauté for 3 minutes. Add beans and 4 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and cumin.
  3. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 1/2 cups onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and garlic; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and onion mixture into bean mixture.
  4. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt, rice, and turmeric. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid evaporates and rice is tender. Spoon 3/4 cup rice into each of 4 bowls, and top each serving with about 2/3 cup bean mixture, 3/4 cup tomato, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cilantro.
My Notes
This was a success, I doubled the recipe so we would have leftovers! I added cumin (about 1 tsp) to the recipe mainly because I like cumin and I thought the recipe needed it. I also used brown rice instead of white. It is important to note that over cooking the pepper and onion will make your meal very mushy, they provide the crunch. I think adding carrots to this would be very good as well.