Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked short grain brown rice (or your rice preference)
3 tbsp. naturally fermented soy sauce, divided, like this one
1-2 tsp. white wine (pick one you like to drink)
3 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock, make your own
1/8 cup rice vinegar and 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar to make 1/4 cup
4 1/2 tsp. arrowroot powder, like this one
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sesame oil, like this one
1 tsp. hot chili oil, you can make your own
1 large bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
a 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
3 tbsp. chopped (soaked & dried) cashews

How To:
1. Make Rice, Marinade, and Sauce: Prepare rice. In the meantime, combine 1 tbsp. soy sauce and white cooking wine with the chicken and set aside at room temperature. In another bowl, combine broth, vinegar, 2 tbsp. water, arrowroot, sesame oil, and remaining 2 tbsp. soy sauce. Set aside at room temperature.

2. Cook Chicken & Combine: When rice is about 10 minutes from being done, heat sesame oil and add chicken. Cook until done. Add bell pepper, onion, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring frequently until bell pepper begins to soften--2 to 3 minutes. Add broth-vinegar mixture and stir until sauce thickens, just a few minutes. Add cashews on top and serve over rice.

Comments: This is a really delicious dish. You can add more hot chili oil and even chili peppers if you like a spicier dish. However, with a six-year old in mind, I try to keep the heat level low. He thought it was a little spicy but still ate three helpings when I made it for dinner tonight, and he hates chicken. Ha!!

Mini Spiced Ginger Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
3/4 cups turbinado sugar (or maple sugar)
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup spelt flour
2/3 cup quinoa flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
the juice from one lemon
the zest from one lemon, including some for garnish

How To:
Preheat oven to 350 and line 48 mini muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

• In a large mixing bowl - add the sugar, buttery spread, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar and beat with a hand mixture on medium until smooth and fluffy.
• In a medium bowl - combine flour, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
• In a small bowl - combine milk and yogurt.

Beginning with the flour mixture, alternately fold flour mixture and yogurt mixture into egg mixture making three additions of flour and two additions of yogurt. Fold only until flour is smooth and just combined. (For the record, I actually dumped mine into the bowl in three sets and mixed with the hand mixer and all went well, but the instructions above are the "official" way to add the ingredients together).

Spoon about 1 1/2 tbsp batter into each cupcake liner (you'll have 48 total) and bake in center of oven for 12-14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for at least an hour, but you can remove from the tin after 15 minutes.

In the meantime, in another bowl, combine the frosting ingredients, reserving a little zest to sprinkle on top. Blend together and frost cupcakes with about 1 tsp of frosting, top with zest and serve immediately.

Note - Cupcakes are best when iced just befor serving. Keep icing refrigerated and store cupcakes in a sealed container in a cool, dark place up to two days.

Comments:
This recipe is modified from Clean Eating August/September 2011; however, their recipe uses 2 cups of a gluten-free flour blend, which I would have used if I would have had it on hand. Also they use maple sugar flakes instead of turbinado sugar, but I only had the sugar. I have to say, I normally wouldn't have made a dessert with so much added sugar, but was looking for a treat and I think these were really nice. The boy loved them and was very unhappy only being able to have two.

 

 

This post was shared on Tasteful Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, and Melt in Your Mouth Mondays. I also linked this recipe to a cupcake blog carnival but accidentally forgot to copy the link here. If that is your carnival, please leave me a comment and let me know where I should link because I cannot remember, for the life of me, where it was! Ugh, so sorry.  

Spaghetti in a Tomato Sauce with Carmelized Onions

1 8 ounce package corn spaghetti (or alternative non-flour pasta). I like DeBoles brand.
3 T olive oil
1 small onion sliced thinly
1 package mushrooms
1/4 cup dry white wine or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 6 ounce can of tomato sauce
Pepper to taste, salt for water
About 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon each of basil and oregano (to taste, add slowly)
Fresh grated parmesan or romano cheese, optional

Saute onions in olive oil until carmelized, about 15 minutes. After about ten minutes add mushrooms. When done add wine and/or chicken broth (if you don't have any wine, use all broth, or vice versa). Add can of sauce and swish the can with about 1/4 water, add. Simmer, season to taste.

In the meantime, when the mushrooms and onions are about done, start your water for the pasta. I added my spagetti to the salted water after breaking it into thirds. Prepare as per directions on package. Your sauce can simmer until the pasta is done.

When pasta is done, drain well. Serve combined with sauce, sprinkle with cheese if desired. Serves about four.

Comments: Pasta is in fact one of my favorite foods in the world and I try to enjoy it occasionally. My husband does not really care for a non-meat pasta, so it is a rare treat for me and the boy. I made this easy dish with items on hand in the house and it was very good. If you have not yet tried the corn pasta, there is really no noticeable taste difference (or texture difference) in this dish--or when served with any rich pasta sauce.

Brie with Caramelized Onions and Raspberries



This is a delicious appetizer that is very quick to throw together. I try to keep brie in the house for just this recipe.



Ingredients:
Ghee or butter
Approximately 1/2 lb brie, sliced to 1/4 inch
1 small onion, thinly sliced
About 15 raspberries
1/4 tsp ground rosemary
2 tbsp basil, chopped
Pepper to taste

Sans raspberries (it is good this way too)

How To:
1. Saute onions in ghee (or butter) over medium heat until caramelized. Stir in rosemary, basil, and pepper.

2. In the meantime, clean raspberries and pat dry. Slice brie and arrange both halves on plate.

3. Cover brie with caramelized onions, when done, and arrange raspberries on top. Serve with whole grain or flax crackers.


Comments: Quick, easy, and pretty appetizer. Very tasty treat. My dad liked this a lot (huge surprise since he's so picky)! It is really good without the raspberries too. Enjoy!

 

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This post was featured on Fill Those Jars Friday, Freaky Friday, Foodie Friday, Foodtastic Friday, Fight Back Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sunday School, Traditional Tuesdays, Countdown to 2013: Best Snacks and Appetizers of 2012, Full Plate Thursday, and Allergy Free Wednesday. 

Stuffed Zucchini Bites

1 zucchini, halved lengthwise - remove seeds and pulp, dice about half finely and discard the rest
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/2 small onion, red or yellow or white, diced finely
4 ounces mushrooms (half a package), diced
3 T panko bread crumbs
2 T grated parmesan cheese
About 3 T olive oil, divided as below
About 2T parsley, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease (with olive oil) an oven safe baking dish. Cut the zucchini "shells" in fourths or thirds - bite sizes. On the stove top, saute the onions, zucchini, and mushrooms over medium heat in the olive oil (2 T) about ten minutes. Add parsley (1T) and the garlic near the end and cook until very fragrant.

Turn off heat and add the vinegar, about 1 T olive oil, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese. Stuff into the zucchini shells and bake for about 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley.

Comments: Easy prep, makes 6 to 8 "bites" depending on the size of your zucchini.

Simple Brown Rice and Beans

Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked brown rice, I used short grain
About 1 T olive oil
1 can beans of  your choice, I used red, rinsed and drained (about 15 ounce can)
1 can Ro-tel

How To:
Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add rice, beans, and Ro-tel (I drained most, but not all, of the juices from the Ro-Tel). Cook till heated through and serve.

Comments: I read a really fabulous article by Dr. Hyman about fiber that inspired me to try to incorporte more of it in our daily lives. I was surprised to read from various sources online that women should be getting about 25+ grams a day and men even more. However, we also had football practice tonight and my husband worked late, so I wanted to make something quick and easy. I came up with this very simple dish that was so good I did not even add any other seasonings. In the can of red beans, there was 17.5 grams of fiber and the Ro-tel added 2.5 grams for 20 grams total. In the brown rice, there was about 7 grams.

My husband said he would eat it every day for lunch he enjoyed it so much and our six-year old liked it as well. It is a little spicy from the Ro-tel, but not very much. ***If you don't have Ro-Tel or don't want to use the Ro-Tel, use a can of diced tomatoes and a small can of diced chiles--this was my original intent, but I did not have the diced tomatoes in my cupboard so used the Ro-Tel instead, which turned out very vell. Anyway, you may have to add a little seasonings with the diced tomato/green chilis combination and I recommend rinsing and draining the green chilis.

The Best Breakfast Protein Shake Ever

Ingredients:
1 serving size of Rice Protein Powder (I use Nutribiotic brand and one serving is a heaping tablespoon)
1 tbsp organic flax and borage oil (I use Barleans brand)
2 tbsp ground flax seeds (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
1 tsp psyllium husks powder (I use Yerba Prima brand)
1 tbsp nut butter (I use Kettle almond butter)
About 1 cup filtered water, to desired consistency
Just under one cup (a "scant" cup) of organic frozen non-citrus fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, etc. (I use strawberries)
About half one frozen banana

Combine the above in a blender and mix at high speed. Enjoy! For added benefit take a probiotic supplement and fish oil supplement before drinking (or cod liver oil, butter oil, or etc).

Comments:
Despite what you would think, this shake is really very delicious. I cannot taste the rice protein or psyllium husks. This recipe is from Dr. Hyman's Ultrametabolism book and detox box. I highly encourage you to pick up the book--it changed my life for the better and I believe there is beneficial information in this book for everyone. I am a HUGE FAN and Dr. Hyman is my nutrition hero. :)

Also, you can mix and match ingredients. Sometimes I include the psyllium husks and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I will use a different nut butter. Also, try using hemp oil in place of the flax oil (you can read about some of the benefits of hemp oil here).

With some minor prep work, this shake can be less expensive and easier to pull off than you would initially expect. Purchase fresh fruit, peel/ cut and freeze in advance and purchase the other ingredients on a staggered time frame, adding as you go (I would buy in this order - rice protein powder, flax seeds, flax oil, nut butter, and then psyllium husks based on what is important to me and what I think makes the shake taste good).