Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Mmmmmm Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili

So I am addicted to reading food blogs lol!!! I was looking for an easy chicken recipe and found this one. I changed only a couple things in it, haven't tried it yet but it looks and smells yummy.
http://hobsonhomestead.blogspot.com/2010/12/crockpot-mexican-chicken-chili.html

That is the link to the recipe but here it is below with what changes I made.


Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup salsa verde (Insead I used 1 cup of regular salsa I had made since I haven't ever seen salsa verde)
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 can Rotel tomatoes (I used 1 946ml can of organic diced tomatoes)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 tsp chili powder (I doubled this)
  • 1 tsp cumin (I doubled this)
  • 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and halved (I added a couple extra)
  • Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, chives
1. In crockpot, add salsa verde, celery, Rotel, onion, chili powder and cumin. On a whim, I bough Pace Salsa Verde at the store earlier this week. Sure, I'd love to create my own version, but another trip to the store wasn't worth it to me. Here's a good recipe for Salsa Verde in case you're interested in what's in it.
2. Turn crockpot on high and place chicken breast halves on top of mixture. Be sure to push them down a bit in the mixture so that they're basted with liquid.
3. After 3 or 4 hours, check to make sure chicken is cooked. Then shred halves with a fork and serve.


Sounds soooo yummy!!!!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Have any of my kids been this BUSY!!!!!!

Wow is all I can say, John is the busiest kid EVER!!!! I may have said that about other babies previous lol but I don't remember this. He will get into anything and everything! If you turn around for one second he has climbed into the fireplace and is covered in soot or he has the toilet bowl brush out and scrubbing things with it. His favorite obsession is trying to get into the washer and dryer, so we have to keep that door closed. He loves to play with Cassie our dog, well if that means dumping all her food into her water dish or just plain dumping her water all over his own head, or stepping in it and squishing the water everywhere. Phew I seriously can't look away for one minute, although I love every minute of it because he is so darn cute!!!!! Sometimes I want to get mad at him but then he gives you this little look and says hi mommy and then it's over all I say is awwww. Well I wonder what he is into now so I better run.



Jill

Sunday, February 27, 2011

MMMmmm Meatloaf!!!

Ok so I have always been trying to come up with a meatloaf recipe that I liked and I have found one!!!!
Here it is!

Turkey Meatloaf (you can use beef if you want or ground chicken)

1lb ground turkey
1 cup of tomato liquified (I put crushed tomatoes in the magic bullet and turn it into a liquid)
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 to 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all together and put in a loaf pan or an 8 X 8 pyrex dish
Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour

Enjoy!!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Gluten Free Version of Tempura Veggies (you can use cooked meat as well)

So we were craving chinese food so badly but knew we couldn't have it so I looked around for recipes that looked like something that would taste good and I modified it so we could eat it!!!!! The original recipe came from: http://www.celiac.com/articles/22211/1/Tempura-Vegetables-Gluten-Free/Page1.html but here is how I made it! And honestly it was better than I ever imagined!!


This seriously was so yummy!!!!!

Tempura Vegetables (Gluten-Free)
 Tempura Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups cold carbonated water

Vegetable Ideas:
Sweet Potato
Yams
broccoli
carrots
cauliflower
asparagus
mushrooms
zucchini
eggplant
bell peppers

Yummy Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
(yummy sauce that I served on the chicken and veggie tempura)
¼ cup gluten-free vegetable stock
1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut secret (you can use braggs or gluten free tamari also)
1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar

¼ cup Water
Heat all the sauce ingredients in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Note: The thicker the vegetable, the longer it will take to cook. You may want to blanch thicker vegetable like sweet potato before frying. Softer vegetables like mushrooms and eggplant do not require blanching. Also, try to cook like-sized pieces to avoid over or under cooking. I cut my vegetables into approximately 1 inch pieces in length, and ¼ inch in width. Avoid overcrowding your veggies and leave plenty of room to keep them from sticking together. Also if you use meat, be sure your meat is cooking thoroughly before dipping in the batter.
When you drop a batter coated veggie in, little pieces of batter will explode off the veggie outward like tempura fireworks. These pieces indicate that your batter is hot enough. The veggies should cook for 40 seconds to 1 minute and feel crispy when you knock them around. You don’t need them to be golden brown, so don’t wait for that.
To make:
Preheat coconut oil in your pan till it’s about medium heat, you want the veggies to sizzle when they hit the pan. You want to make sure that there is enough oil in the pan so they don’t stick to the bottom.
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl.
Add the carbonated water and whisk until smooth.
Lightly dip ingredients in the batter (the batter is pretty thick but you want to make sure there is some all over the veggies, you may find you like them with either more or less batter on them) and immediately fry them until crispy.
Drain tempura on a rack or paper towels.
Tempura is best served fresh and hot. It cools really quickly I find!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

JUSTIN BIEBER

So we all went to see the Never Say Never movie and believe it or not it was GREAT!!!! I never really knew much of anything about him but seeing how he came to be was so neat. The only problem I foresaw was Jessica getting the dreaded Bieber Fever lol, but she came home and said I wish he was my brother. PHEW!!!! We keep telling the kids that when they are 30 they are free to date, Jessica is the only one who tries to push the age limit to 18. For those of you who know me I LOVE kernels popcorn!!!!! It is a treat that I so look forward too, although I know it is not the best for me so I don't have it very often. I made some popcorn for the kids at the movies (I know you're not supposed to do that but we have food allergies so it's ok in my mind). I have one of those twirly pop things and I use coconut oil, well I found this yummy seasoning by lydias organics, it is gluten free so I thought I would give it a whirl. It was so yummy!!!!!! Here is a list of the ingredients if anyone wants to know what is in it. For now I have found my replacement for Kernels! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
Jill






Ingredients:
Ingredients: A combination of dehydrated carrots*, celery*, parsley*, sprouted sunflower seeds*, sprouted almonds*, sprouted flax*, sprouted quinoa*, sprouted pumpkin seeds*, kale*, tomatoes*, spinach*, zucchini*, arugula*, radicchio*, lettuce*, dulse*, nori*, ginger*, onions*, garlic*, herbs*, Original Himalayan Crystal Salt & .

Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Yummiest Chocolate Cake EVER

Ok so not a word of a lie I just had the best chocolate cake ever!!!!! I found the recipe yet again on Elanas Pantry website and she modified it from another ladies recipe. I thought hmmm there is no sugar or agave or anything in it will it really be that good???? And it is incredible so I had to share! I used dark chocolate chips well a 80% lindt dark chocolate bar cut up when I made it not the white chocolate kind (although I am sure those would have been amazing too).  www.elanaspantry.com

Black and White Cake (Mine was I guess Black Cake lol)
1 cup dark chocolate chips 73% cacao (if you want to use a bar, it's about 6 ounces)
½ cup coconut milk
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips
  1. Melt dark chocolate chips and coconut milk in a small saucepan over very low heat
  2. When chocolate is completely melted, remove saucepan from heat
  3. Stir eggs into saucepan containing chocolate/coconut milk mixture
  4. Next, stir in almond flour, salt and baking soda
  5. Fold in ½ cup of the white chocolate chips
  6. Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish with oil of your choice
  7. Pour batter into baking dish, then sprinkle remaining white chocolate chips over batter
  8. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes
  9. Cool and serve

Friday, February 18, 2011

I think I am getting the hang of this!!!!

Well I am either getting the hang of keeping up my blog or I am procrastinating all the mountain of things I should be doing, either way I have so far been successful at writing. I seriously love writing, it's like me talking to another adult even though I can't see one lol. Things have been great here, incredibly crazy busy but hey that is the life of a business owner/mother of 5 and wife to Jim ha ha ha. I love my crazy life!!!!! So the kids are crazy busy, John had completely changed and is the BUSIEST child ever. You turn your head for one minute and he is in the soot from the fireplace, or floating toys or PS3 remotes in the toilet. His latest obsession is emptying all the water from the water cooler onto the floor, but I got him this time as I went and bought child proof knobs. He tries and tries but cannot get it to work. It's hard to believe that John is almost 2 already, this is the longest I have gone without being pregnant. Yes that means that so far there are no babies on the way for us! Well I have the gym calling me and my kids telling me to get off the computer so I guess my moment of relaxation is over. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend (although I may be the only one reading this so I wish myself a wonderful weekend lol)

Jill