Mango Sticky Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Thai Sweet Rice (also called "sticky rice", available at Asian food stores)
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1-2 ripe mangos, cut into bite-size pieces (look for mangos that are fragrant and easily bruised), or 1 pkg frozen mango
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar (for a natural sweetener substitute maple syrup)
• 1 can good-quality coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp. + pinch of salt
• 2 tsp. coconut flavoring
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water

Directions:

1. Soak the sweet rice in 1 cup water for 20 minutes, or up to 1 hour.
2. The sticky rice can be steamed or made in a pot. To make it in a pot, do not drain. Add 3/4 cup (more) water to the rice, plus 1/4 can coconut milk, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. coconut flavoring, and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Stir this into the rice, lifting any rice grains that have stuck to the bottom of the pot.
3. Bring to a gentle boil, then partially cover with a lid (leaving some room for steam to escape). Turn the heat down to medium-low (#2.5 to 3 on the dial).
4. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed by the rice. Remove the pot from the heat, place the lid on tight, and leave to "steam" cook for 5-10 minutes.
5. Make sauce and serve the dessert right away, or store the rice (covered) in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
6. To make the sauce, warm the rest of the can of coconut milk together with 1/4 cup sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp. coconut flavoring (optional) and 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring over medium heat (5 minutes).
7. Add cornstarch (dissolved in the water) to the sauce and stir to thicken it slightly. As it thickens, turn down heat to low. When thickened, remove from heat. Tip: Try not to boil the sauce, or you will lose that wonderful coconut flavor.
8. Before serving, taste-test the sauce for sweetness, adding more sugar if desired. If too sweet for your taste, add a little more coconut milk

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I had a ton of butternut squash from my bountiful basket, that I needed to use up quick, so I found a recipe that I tweaked just a little and it turned out great. This was a perfect dish for the cold rainy day we had here a few days ago.

Ingredients:

1 T oil

1 T butter

1/2 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced carrots

4 cups steamed or baked butternut squash*

3 cups vegetable broth

1 t curry powder + to taste

salt and pepper to taste

nutmeg to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent.

2. Add broth and carrots. Simmer until tender. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper

3. In a blender or food processor, combine steamed butternut squash and broth mixture. Blend until smooth. Return to pot and heat through. Serve with a dash a nutmeg.

*I have found the easiest way to soften butternut squash is to cut it in half, place in a microwave safe dish with a small amount of water and cook for about 15 minutes. It scoops out really easily.

Carrot Burgers

I know you are all probably laughing because you have carnivorous husbands that probably would never eat a "carrot burger," but they are seriously good! Give 'em a try!

Carrot Burgers:

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

2 cups crushed corn flakes

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 T finely chopped onion

1/2 t salt

1/4 t sugar

1/8 t pepper

2 T olive oil

Directions:

Place carrots in a saucepan with a small amount of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and cook for about 5 min or until carrots are tender. In a bowl, combine remaining ingrediets and mix well. Add carrots. Form into 6 patties. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook patties for about 3 minutes on each side or until brown.

Rachel's sidenotes:

The patties don't seem like they will stick together, but once on the skillet they hold together pretty well. We ate ours on toasted muli-grain buns with tomatoes, lettuce, onions and BBQ sauce on top. You can really get creative with these babies! Elden said they were the best burgers he has ever had... veggie and all.

Power Enchiladas

Power Enchiladas

4 oz. fat free chicken broth

1 T. canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup grated zucchini

2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded

2 T. chopped cilantro

1 1/2 or a little more:) cups grated low fat, part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies (or use fresh)

4 cloves garlic

1 (19 oz) can green enchilada sauce

8-10 whole wheat tortillas

Sliced black olives (3-5 per enchilada)

Light or fat free sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare all ingredients for assembly. In a large frying pan, bring chicken broth and canola oil to just boiling. Add onion and green pepper to broth and saute until onions are tender. Add grated zucchini and saute until just cooked. Drain off liquid and remove pan from heat. Add cooked chicken to vegetable mixture and stir. Add cilantro, 1 1/4 cups of grated cheese (reserving 1/4 cup for later), green chilies, and garlic. Stir to combine.

Layer 1/2 cup enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Fill tortillas with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon about 1 T. enchilada sauce over meat mixture. Roll tortillas up and turn enchilada seam down. Ladle remaining sauce over enchiladas, making sure tortillas are completely covered in sauce (so they don't dry out). Cover with tin foil and bake 12-15 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1/4 cup (or a little more:) grated cheese. Bake 10 minutes more until cheese is melted. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. Garnish with olives and sour cream.

OK So I have been trying lots of new recipes because I am tired of cooking the same old thing so I tried these Last night and Joe and I thought they were really good for Healthy ones! 

Pork Chops and Apples with Maple Sauce

Pork Chops and Apples with Maple Sauce

1/3 c maple syrup

1 Tb spicy brown mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 c bread crumbs

4 pork chops

2 Tb olive oil

1/2 c apple juice or cider

2 apples, sliced

Combine the syrup, mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside. Place bread crumbs in a large Ziploc, then add pork chops. Shake until pork chops are well coated. Brown the pork chops in the olive oil over medium heat; add the apple juice and cook uncovered until barely done (about 10 min, maybe less). Layer sliced apples over pork chops and drizzle maple sauce over everything. Cook another 5 minutes. *If you like the apple slices very soft, then add them to the pork earlier.

Ok so I loved this Joe thought it was good ( he doesn't like cooked fruit that was his only issue)  He however loved the Sauce so you could do everything but put the apples in if you are like JOE!  But I loved it with the Apples.

Franks Red Hot Chicken Salad

Frank's Red Hot Chicken Salad
12 oz bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce (Original, cayenne pepper sauce)
1 bag of chicken breasts (3 lb)

tortilla chips
lettuce
tomatoes
shredded cheese
homemade guacamole
ranch or bleu cheese salad dressing

Dump bag of frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot. Pour bottle of hot sauce over chicken. Cook on Low for 7 or 8 hours. At dinner time, take breasts out of the liquid and shred. Serve on a bed of tortilla chips along with other ingredients. YUM!

Joe and I had this last we and loved it!!!  It is super easy too I left it in the corckpot while I was at work!