Mexican Chicken and Rice

We eat this at least twice a month at our house. It's a super fast, easy, and healthy, one dish meal. I also make it a lot when we're having guests over. Sometimes we just eat it with cheese, sour cream, and chips, other times we toss on some chopped tomato, green onion, or cilantro. What ever you like. This is also great on top of a bed of lettuce with with salsa or taco sauce as a dressing.

Mexican Chicken and Rice

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 10oz bag of frozen corn
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups salsa
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (or cooked ground beef if you like. I added some leftover taco meat to mine.)
2 cups minute rice
Cheese
Sour cream
Crushed Doritos or Tortilla chips

1. In a large pot, mix together onion, green pepper, chicken broth, corn, salsa, and garlic, and meat.

2. Bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes then turn down heat.

3. Add in the rice, and cover and let stand for about 5 more minutes.

4. Serve in a bowl, topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and crushed chips.

Citrus Almond Rice

I am addicted to cooking shows. All of them. But I especially LOVE Giada DeLaurentis and Paula Deen. I DVR Giada every single day and watch when the kids go to bed. She makes at least one recipe in every episode that I try to make at home. This is one of them. I saw this recipe on her show a few weeks ago, and she had me at "Toasted Almonds." Throw some citrus in there, and I'm hooked!

Her recipe calls for Basmati Rice, but I used what I had on hand. . .some good old Minute Rice. Also, her recipe calls for more olive oil (original recipe says 1/2 cup, but I just used 1/3), but this rice is plenty moist enough. Any more oil, and I'd think it was too oily. Maybe if I had used the Basmati Rice it would have needed the original amount, but I didn't use it in this.

Anyways, this is a keeper for sure. We'll be making it many more times. We all liked it. . .except for Tessa.

Citrus Almond Rice

3 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups minute rice
salt and pepper
zest from 1 medium orange
zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cup fresh, flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 cup sliced, toasted, almonds

1. In a pan, combine broth, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.

2. Add in rice. Remove from heat, and let set for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the green onions and parsley.

4. Add in most of the zests. (Reserve a Tbsp or so for garnish.)

5. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, and cumin.

6. Whisk until all combined. Pour over rice.

7. Gently fold dressing into the rice mixture.

8. Add in 1/2 cup of toasted sliced almonds and stir again.

9. Garnish rice with remaining almonds and zest.

Grandma Dorothy's Chop Suey

Grandma Dorothy's Chop Suey

1 lb hamburger, browned
1 bunch celery, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 beef boullion cubes
4 cups water
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbps sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cups long grain rice (NOT Minute Rice.)

1. In a large pan, brown the hamburger until cooked through.

2. Toss the rest of the ingredients in with the hamburger and cook, over medium heat, for about 45 minutes. Most of the liquid should be gone when Chop Suey is ready to eat.

3. Serve with Chow Mein Noodles.

Pork Teriyaki

Pork Teriyaki

1 15oz can of pineapple chunks
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
garlic
salt
pepper
Pork for Stir Fry (I usually buy the large pork loins at Sams Club, and cut it into 1" slices. For this recipe I use 4 to 5 slices of pork.)
1/2 cup carrots, slivered, partially cooked
2 cups sugar snap peas, partially cooked

1. In a large container, mix together pineapple, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper.

2. Cut pork into bite size pieces and add to the sauce mixture.

3. Let marinate in the fridge overnight or at leas for a few hours.

4. Pick out all the chunks of pork, and stir fry in the sauce.

5. During the last few minutes of frying, add the veggies you'd like and continue to fry a few more minutes until veggies are somewhat tender.

6. Serve with rice.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Cold day. . .Hot dinner. . . enough said.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

1 cup wild rice

1 bag shredded carrots, chopped finely

1 bunch of chopped celery

1 chopped onion

4 minced cloves of garlic

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups cooked, diced, chicken

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

7 cups milk

4 chicken boullion cubes

salt and pepper

1. Cook first six ingredients and chicken in crock pot for 6 – 8 hours on low.

2. In a large pot, over medium heat, melt butter.

3. Add in the flour and whisk until it's pasty.

4. Slowly pour in the milk and continue mixing.

5. Add in the boullion cubes and continue cooking over medium heat and stirring until bubbly and thickened. This takes quite a while.

6. Add the milk mixture and chicken to the crockpot with the veggies.

7. Stir, and season with additional salt and pepper as needed. (As usual, we toss in a little Franks Red Hot.)

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 10oz bag of frozen corn
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups salsa (divided)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (or cooked ground beef if you like. I added some leftover taco meat to mine.)
2 cups minute rice
1 can Campbells Cream of Chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided)
1/2 cup milk

1. In a large pot, mix together onion, green pepper, chicken broth, corn, 2 cups of the salsa, and garlic.

2. Bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes then turn down heat.

3. Add in the rice, and cover and let stand for about 5 more minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mix together, soup, sour cream, and milk.

5. Set aside 1/2 cup of soup mixture.

6. Mix together the remaining soup sauce, chicken, and rice mixture to make the enchilada filling.

7. Scoop 1/2 cup of the enchilada filling into the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

8. Continue until all the filling is gone. This will make a 9 x 13, plus a few extra. I usually take the extra, put them in a smaller dish, and freeze them. (From the freezer, just thaw, and bake as usual.)

9. Mix together the 1/2 cu of soup mixture with the 1/2 cup of milk. Pour over the top of the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese and salsa.

10. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Steak and Sugar Snap Stir Fry

Steak and Sugar Snap Stir Fry
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pound steak, cut into 1/8 inch strips (I used New York Strip)
1 tsp cornstarch
2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
1 cup shredded carrots
4 tsp olive oil, divided


1. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, broth, and garlic. Reserve 1/4 cup.

2. Place beef in a separate bowl or container with a lid.

3. Add remaining soy sauce mixture to steak.

4. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

5. Add cornstarch to the bowl with the 1/4 cup soy sauce mixture. Set aside.

6. In a skillet, stir-fry sugar snap peas and carrots in 2 tsp hot oil for 3-4 minutes or until snow peas are crisp-tender and bright green.

7. Remove and keep warm.

8. In same skillet, stir-fry beef in remaining oil for 2 minutes.

9. Stir cornstarch and soy sauce mixture; add to skillet.

10. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

11. Combine with sugar snap peas and carrots. Serve over rice!

Polynesian Meatballs

Polynesian Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 small chopped onion
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 egg
1 tsp. ginger

1. Mix together and roll into meatballs.

2. Put them on a cookie sheet and cook them in the oven at 425 for 13-14 minutes.

Polynesian Sauce:
2 Tbs. Cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
3 Tbs. soy sauce
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tbsp Franks Red Hot Sauce
1 can pineapple tidbits
2/3 cup chopped green pepper
1 chopped red bell pepper

1. Mix together cornstarch, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce.

2. Drain pineapple juice into mixture with the vinegar and soy sauce.

3. Add in garlic and hot sauce.

4. Saute peppers until slightly tender. Once peppers are tender, add in all the sauce ingredients.

5. Mixture will thicken very quickly. Toss in meatballs and 1 cup of the pineapple.

7. Serve over rice.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Here we go again, another take on Chipotle. You know what I'm talking about. What's a burrito without the Cilantro Lime Rice? Well, it's the best I can do, but here's my version for you.

Cilantro Lime Rice

3 cups water
3 cups minute rice
2 chicken boullion cubes
2 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Salt and Pepper

1. Bring water, boullion, butter, and garlic to a boil

2. Add in rice.

3. Cover, remove from heat, and let set for about 5 minutes.

4. Mix in cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper.