Chicken and Brown Rice Burritos

Chicken and Brown Rice Burritos is (at the moment) all I can think of as far as what to call these. At least it describes what it is right? Well, almost! Yes it's a burrito with chicken and rice, but it also packs peppers, onions, salsa and low fat cheese all wrapped up in a tortilla. I look for tortillas that are a bit on the healthier side when it comes to fat, fiber, and sodium but it has to taste good or its not worth it. I frequently use La Tortilla Factory wraps and tortillas but if you can't find them no worries. Any tortilla would probably work but its a good idea to glance at the nutrition facts. If it does not matter to you, then just go for whats on sale.

As far as seasoning, this recipe is mild but if you have a table full of heat seekers then its easy to spice up. Hot salsa or jalapenos will do the trick....

After assembling these guys I wrap them in foil and place in a warm oven to let the ingredients (especially cheese) really come together. Then whenever you or anyone else is ready for one, its hot and ready in the oven. That is particularly helpful if you have someone in your house with no schedule what-so-ever and there is no such thing as a "dinner time". I'm mostly speaking of teenagers and those with crazy work hours.

Use this the next time you're craving Mexican style goodness wrapped in a tortilla.

Chicken and Brown Rice Burritos

Serves 5-6

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp Chili powder

1 tsp Cumin

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

4 Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 4-oz each)

1/2 Medium green pepper

1 Small to medium yellow or orange sweet bell pepper

1 Medium onion

2 TBSP Canola oil

2-4 Cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 Cup cooked brown rice (you could bump it up to a cup if you'd like more in there)

1 Cup salsa 

2 TBSP Fresh chopped cilantro

1 Cup reduced fat shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

5-6 Tortillas; 10-in, (again, take a peek at the nutrition facts if you are concerned about sodium, fiber, etc)

Chicken:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a baking dish (or baking sheet) with cooking spray or non-stick foil. Combine the spices and seasonings; rub over chicken. Place in your preheated oven and bake until juice run clear. Let sit until cool enough to handle and shred with two forks. Set aside. Turn oven temperature down to about 200 degrees.

Filling:

In a large skillet with raised sides, cook the peppers and onions in oil until crisp tender. Add garlic, cook and stir another minute or so. Add the rice, salsa, and shredded chicken to the pan. Gently stir over low heat until all is incorporated. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro and cheese.

To Assemble: 

Divide filling between 5-6 tortillas, depending on how "stuffed" you like them. Place the filling on one side of your tortilla, fold in the edges, and roll up like well, a burrito (if that makes sense). Wrap in foil, and place in your warm oven for at least 15 minutes or until ready to serve.

***If you are interested in having a quick, handheld meal in the future at your fingertips, these freeze quite well. Freeze them after assembly as there is no point in heating them further. I personally don't think melted cheese does well in the freezer so let the filling cool a bit before you add it. From frozen, the best way to reheat them is probably wrapped in foil and placed in a warm oven for a little while. You can also let them thaw a bit beforehand and cook them in the microwave. Depending on your microwave, you may want to start it at a lower power setting. You don't want part of the burrito burning hot while the rest is still cold.

Morning Glory Muffins

I will say that though I looked through many recipes for morning glory muffins in order to create this one, I didn't know much about the history behind it. Through a bit of research I found that Earthbound farm claims to have developed the first morning glory muffin back in the late seventies. I did not look into the details but to be honest I am not much of a history enthusiast so I will leave further research for another day. I do know however, how to make one and what goes into it.

At first glance, my impression of a morning glory muffin is that it contained quite a bit of "add-ins". Depending on what you are making, a lot of add-ins can ruin a dish if they are thrown in haphazardly, but in this case they work well together. Regardless of the recipe you look at, a morning glory muffin is going to have an array of ingredients. You will find a combination of fruits, vegetables (typically shredded carrot), and other additions like coconut, raisins, as well as nuts if they are desired. Given all of the ingredients you can find in morning glory muffins its clear that they are also pretty versatile. I mean, I find muffins themselves to be versatile when it comes to the kinds you can make and these are no exception.

Great as a morning snack or a way to effortlessly sneak a few nutrients into your lil' picky eater, these muffins are definitely worth a try. Remember you can add or switch up ingredients to suit your tastes. Dried cranberries could be used for the raisins, nuts can be added, and coconut can be omitted. Get creative with your spices too; a dash of cloves would be a tasty addition. Just don't get too crazy!

Morning Glory Muffins

1/2 Cup raisins
1/2 Cup hot water
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup brown sugar
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp Salt


2 Large eggs
1 Egg white
1/3 Cup canola oil
1/3 Cup applesauce
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 Cup pineapple juice (apple and orange juices work too)

1 1/2 Cups grated carrots
1 1/2 Cups peeled and grated apple
1/2 Cup shredded sweetened coconut


Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 12 muffin tins with muffin liners. Pour the hot water over the raisins and let sit.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, brown sugar (which will leave a few lumps in your dry ingredients; that's fine), spices, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg white, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and juice. Add to the flour mixture and stir until until just moistened. Drain your raisins. Mix together your carrots, apple, drained raisins and coconut; fold into batter until all is combined. Remember not to over mix!

Spray the prepared muffin liners with cooking spray (optional, but it makes the liner come off easier once baked). Divide batter among muffin tins. They will be quite full but that's OK, just be sure the batter does not come above the liner.

Bake about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Timing will vary depending on any substitutions you make or additional mix in's so keep an eye on them.

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan a few minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool completely. If you'd like, freeze a few to heat for a quick mid-morning snack or breakfast on the go. 

Makes 12 muffins

Beach Vacation Cake

Setting our clocks up an hour this past weekend and the nearly 70 degree weather we experienced the other day has given me the slightest glimpse of warm, sunny weather. I am totally ready for the warm weather now and to get you in the mood I thought I'd present to you a picture of the beach themed cake I made last summer. Yes, you read that correctly, I have had the picture and this post in mind since last July. My blog was not up and running until late fall/early winter and by that time a beach themed cake may have seemed seasonably inappropriate during the holidays.

I started with 2 cooled chocolate cakes baked in a 9x13-inch cake pan. You could make a smaller cake but remember that will leave you with less room to work with your decorations. I used a cake slicer to shave off the top of one cake to make it level. A filling of your choice can be added to this layer before placing the other cake on top. Be sure to not use too much filling and keep it away from the very edge. You probably won't need as much as you would think so be careful and be sure level it off as much as possible so your cake is not tilted. Fruit preserves or additional icing make for a good filling between your layers. Sometimes, it helps to put the cake in the fridge for a bit before you frost it as it results in less crumbs.

As far as the top layer I did not find it necessary to shave off the very top with a cake leveler but if your cake  baked with large peak or dome on top then you can do it. In that case, cut as cleanly as possible for minimal crumbs and be more gentle when applying the icing. Again, chilling the cake can help with that.

This is where you can get creative. Use white frosting over the entire cake. On one half, gently press graham cracker crumbs onto the side and top of the cake for the "sand" (that's some tasty sand right there). For the other, you will need to stir together some clear decorating gel and blue paste food coloring; this is your "water". Spread over the other half of the cake including the sides. Use just enough to look like water and cover the cake. Too much will give you goopy-ness (not a word but you get the idea).

So before we even get into the decorations, here are some basics you will need. I am not getting into specifics because the amount you will need will depend on the size of your cake:

-Cake of your choice, the bigger the better
-Home made or store bought white frosting
-Graham cracker crumbs
-Clear decorating gel (I used Wilton brand)
-Blue paste/gel food coloring

Once you have the basics, you can get creative with your decorations. I was able to find beach themed cake toppers for a few of my decorations but they don't necessarily have to be made to decorate a cake. Just remember to take them off before digging in. For the beach towel, I used AirHeads Xtremes which are basically a sour fruit roll up; unappetizing in my opinion but it worked. If you have gummy rings they would make a great inner tube or a gumball could be used as a beach ball.

I could go on and on about how to decorate a beach cake because it really does offer a lot of opportunity to get creative, but I will spare you another paragraph of rambling. So moving on, the picture below is the cake I made for my dads birthday last year. We celebrated it while visiting our beach house so I felt this cake was appropriate.

"Not so Naughty" Macaroni and Cheese

It seems as though most people don't outgrow their childhood love of macaroni and cheese. Aside from cooking it, I myself have for the most part lost interest in the dish. I know, I know, I am probably one of the few who does not want to dig into the cheesy stuff. So its no surprise that I find myself making it from time to time when the weathers cold and someone has a hankering. I also recently began making it for family get together's as well. No surprise, the dish that was initially made with children in mind is now requested by adults as well.

Macaroni and cheese is somewhat of an indulgent dish, especially if it's made without any modifications to a few of the ingredients. That is what I have done for this recipe. I still don't recommend you eat a heaping scoop of this everyday; you don't wan't to ruin the quality of the dish by overly messing with key ingredients. So yes, there is some butter and it is cheesy, but there is no cream or half-and-half involved. Instead, this recipe uses fat free (yay) evaporated milk. DO NOT use regular skim milk out of your fridge. Evaporated milk offers a similar consistency to cream without the fat content because the water has been well, evaporated. If for some reason you cannot find fat free evaporated milk, the low fat will work as well.

Once you have stirred the noodles into the cheese sauce and placed in a baking dish, you have two options. I have found that it stays super creamy if it is not baked in the oven but it then lacks that brown topping you get once it's browned in a hot oven for a few minutes. It is creamy and cheesy either way, but many times I let it set a minute or so and don't bother browning it; do whichever you prefer.

Remember you can always change the sharpness of the cheddar you use but I usually use a mix of sharp and medium or mild. To make it extra special, toss in some shredded Gruyere for a cup or two of the cheddar.

"Not so Naughty" Macaroni and Cheese
Serves about 6

4 Cups dried elbow macaroni
3 TBSP Unsalted butter
3 TBSP Flour
2 1/2 Cups evaporated fat free milk
2 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 Cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp Salt or to taste
1/2 tsp Ground black pepper, or to taste
Couple dashes of ground mustard (optional, I strongly dislike mustard so until recently I did not even consider adding it; and I still don't)
Extra cheese for sprinkling

Cook macaroni according to package directions for "al dente" pasta. Do not cook until its tender or you could end up with mushy mac and cheese.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir for about a minute or until very well blended. Slowly whisk in the milk and continue to whisk until smooth. Allow to come to a gentle boil while whisking constantly. Continue whisk to prevent scorching; reduce heat a bit and allow to cook a few minutes until thickened.

Turn off the heat; gradually whisk in your cheese until well blended. Add your salt, pepper, and ground mustard if using, (which again I do not but put in as much as you'd  like). Hopefully by now you have drained your noodles since I did not remind you to; now is the time stir them into the cheese sauce.

Now, from here you have two options. Whichever you choose, you are going to first pour the mac into a greased baking dish but you can either let it set for a minute as is, or top with a bit more cheese and brown it in the oven. The mac and cheese that is pictured above was simply sprinkled with cheese, and covered for a bit to let it "get comfy" in the dish. When the sprinkled cheese was melted, I served it up. If you would prefer a browned topping with slightly crispy cheese then throw it in the oven until it gets that way. Keep an eye on it though!

Timeout! Minor Kitchen Injury

Well, I was hoping to have some salsa chicken to post here but I will have to get the measurements and photos together another time. I was also considering putting together a warm mixed bean and corn salad but I'll wait until I make it again to get that post underway as well. While quickly preparing a meal last night, I managed to get my index finger in the way of my chef's knife. Not pretty, but its stitched up and fine now. Always a good reminder to pay attention when using a knife no matter how often you do it. Funny, I was not even making the meal for myself this time! I wanted to cook something for the family since I thawed out soup to warm me up. Its pretty chilly here especially when the sun goes down.

So in short, due to a minor injury from carelessly chopping away at cilantro, sauteing vegetables, and monitoring chicken cooking at the same time I was unable to get a recipe down for a new post. Minor setback I guess you could call it but more posts are on the way; none of which encourage you to injure yourself in the process. Always be careful with knives in the kitchen as life is usually better with fingers :)

Homemade Honey-Nut Granola

I first started making granola because it is a much better option for me with my peanut and nut allergy. There are some granola brands out there without nuts or the risk of cross contamination during packaging, but I found that I enjoy making it myself. Depending on what store bought granola you are looking at, sometimes it is healthier to make on your own too. Some of them are great, others not so much.

Though I make granola for myself, this recipe here is actually not one of them. As I am assuming you may have noticed from the title, it indeed contains nuts. Of course, you can leave them out with no problem if there is an allergy or flavor preference. I would probably categorize this mixture as a more traditional style granola. It blends together spices, honey, and vanilla to add just enough flavor. At some point I will put together other granola recipes with perhaps more distinct flavor and ingredient combinations. I have many on my mind so stay tuned for that one. In the meantime, this is a great go-to granola recipe. Enjoy it by itself or sprinkle over fruit and yogurt.

Before you read the instructions and think I have made a careless type-o, the oven temperature really is 275 and yes, it takes a little under an hour to bake. Why? Turn up the heat too much and half of the oats will burn while the others are barely done. Making it a slower process allows for even browning. The granola crisps up just right without burning. Be sure to stir it occasionally and place it in an even layer on your baking sheet.

4 Cups old fashion oats
1/2 Cup wheat bran
1/2 Cup sliced almonds
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup water or juice
1/2 cup honey
2 TBSP Canola oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 -2 Cups mixed dried fruit pieces

In a large bowl, combine the oats, wheat bran, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together water (or juice), honey, and canola oil until blended. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

Pour the liquid over the oat mixture and stir until well combined. Spread in an even layer onto two nonstick sheet pans. Bake in a 275 degree oven for 50-60 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 15 minutes or so and rotating pans if needed (swapping racks). Let cool and add the dried fruit. The granola will continue to crisp as it cools down. Store in an airtight container.