Orange Chicken and Rice

Look at this little man. He rides his bike without training wheels. He sleeps all night in his own bed. He gets himself dressed in the morning. He is going to be starting preschool in two months and riding the school bus.

How does five years go by so fast? Its like I blinked and all the sudden he was a toddler. Then I turned around and hes now a full grown boy! Can someone please teach me how to freeze time? Please? Otherwise if I blink again my Peanut will be 5...then Walnut will be 8! Lord help me!





Orange Chicken and Rice

1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups cooked brown rice
3 green onions, diced

Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup honey
zest from 1 orange
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon corn starch, mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium high. If tenders are too thick, slice in the middle lengthwise. Brown chicken in skillet until cooked through all the way and nice brown coloring on each side. Dice chicken into bite size chunks.

In a medium sauce pan, combine all the sauce ingredients and cook over medium-high heat until sauce thickens...about 10 minutes. Be sure to stir often.

To serve, spoon a large scoop of rice onto a plate and top with chicken and sauce and chopped green onions. Add sliced almonds if desired.

Enjoy!

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

Two weeks before my best friends 25th birthday, she found a lump in her breast. She went to the doctor and they said it was just a cyst, and not to worry but keep up with her self exams. One week before her 25th birthday, she found another lump...and immediately called the doctor. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 Grade C breast cancer two days before turning 25. My best friend since we were 10 years old. The girl I shared secrets with, crushes with, stories about boyfriends. I shared my first under age alcoholic drink with her, my first under age cigarette. We worked together...we dated best friends together...we went to school together...we played basketball together...

And suddenly she was in a battle for her life. She is the strongest woman I think I've ever met. While raising a 3 and 1 year old, she underwent a double mastectomy and endured 8 horrifying rounds of chemo. She shaved her head and wore it proudly.

Every since then, we run the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in Brainerd, MN to raise money to help find a cure. A cure in our life time...or my daughters life time...to this devastating disease that affects so many women (and men).

So, as a reminder...it is the 1st of the month and please don't forget to do your self breast exam.

Last Saturday we ran the 5k. I did my best time yet at 27 minutes 12 seconds. My best friend did it in 29 minutes and 8 seconds...and she has only been running for 4 months. That is one strong lady!

I made this salad and brought it up to the cabin with me for lunch after the big race. I hope you enjoy!

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

12 ounces small pasta (I use bowties)
1 1/2 cup mayo or miracle whip
2 tablespoon Ranch Dressing Powder (such as Hidden Valley)
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
10 strips bacon

Boil noodles until al dente (cook 1-2 minutes short of package directions). Rinse noodles in cold water when done.

Cut bacon into 1/2" pieces and fry until brown and crisp. Remove from grease and place on a paper towel to drain grease.

In a large bowl, add mayo and ranch powder and stir to combine. Then add cold noodles, carrots, onion, peas, cheddar cheese and bacon and stir to combine. Refrigerate one hour before serving.

Coconut Chicken Strips with Honey Citrus Dip

Coconut Chicken Strips with Honey Citrus Dip

2 pounds chicken tenders
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 egg
1/2 can of condensed milk
1/2 cup of orange juice
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix orange juice, condensed milk, and a beaten egg until your wet mixture is well combined. In another bowl, mix coconut and panko crumbs.

Dip and fully coat each tender in the egg mixture first and then the panko/coconut mix. Place coated tenders on a baking sheet sprayed heavily with Pam.

Bake chicken 35-40 minutes, turning half way through so that chicken browns nicely on both sides. Serve with Honey Citrus dipping sauce.

Honey Citrus Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup orange marmalade
In a small bowl, mix the honey and marmalade. Heat in microwave for one minute.

Roasted Green Beans with Garlic

I have gone through sort of an evolution with green beans as I've grown older. When I was newly married and just starting to cook stuff that didn't come in a microwavable tray, I always made canned beans. I don't think I knew they came any other way back then...

Then I wised up a little bit and started buying frozen beans and steaming them in the microwave. Much better and much less mushy...

And just recently, I've grown up again! Fresh picked beans straight from the garden, snap off the ends and roast them in a hot oven with garlic. Wow! That's quite the transformation from the can and I never knew green beans could taste so good.

Roasted Green Beans with Garlic

12 ounces fresh green beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place green beans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over beans and toss green beans around with your hands to make sure the oil evenly coats all the beans. Season to your liking with kosher salt and pepper. Thinly slice garlic and sprinkle over top of green beans.

Bake 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your green beans...until tender and ends begin to brown.

Enjoy!

Cilantro Cheddar Biscuits

The herbs are taking over! They are on the patio...in the garden...and landing in all of my food! And guess what? Life couldn't be better! Going out to my front porch and picking handfuls of fresh fragrant herbs to bring life to food we eat is the best part of the summer months. The cilantro seems to be growing rampant in this particular planter...it is taking over the poor rosemary and parsley it seems. I think I see a lot of pico de gallo in our future!

Cilantro Cheddar Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablesppon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/3 cups fresh cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Blend cold butter into dry ingredients (I use my hands, but you could use a fork or pastry cutter) until mixutre has pea sized chunks of butter. Don't over blend my friends!

Pour buttermilk and stir as little as possible just until the dough comes together with a wooden spoon. Add cheese, garlic and cilantro and mix in (again, stir as little as possible).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop about 1/3 cup of mix onto baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between each biscuit.

Bake 18-20 minutes until tops and bottoms are golden brown. Serve fresh out of the oven and enjoy!

Strawberry Poppy Salad

Summer is finally in full swing! It was a very rainy June, but well worth it when the rain finally stops, the sun is shining on your face and you step outdoors to find beautiful fragrant fully bloomed plants greeting you every morning.



Yep, summer is finally here. The swimsuits have been donned...the canoes have been boarded and down the river we went! The nuts and I spent a great weekend in the outdoors, floating down the river, running a 5k to raise awareness for breast cancer, playing bean bag toss...and eating of course. Early summer is berry season...and it doesn't get any better that this! U-pick strawberry fields are open every where this time of year and we are in bliss at my house.

Strawberry Poppy Salad

2 cups fresh spinach

4 strawberries, thinly sliced

small handful blueberries

Poppy Seed Dressing (Try Newman's Own...its excellent!)

Wash all veggies/fruits. Place dried spinach in bowl and top with strawberries and blueberries and pour desired amount of dressing on top and dig in to your great refreshing salad! Have a good summer!!!

Taco Bowls

Before I give you an excellent quick weekday meal that is sure to impress...I'd like to share with you a few pictures of my father. This is him and my Peanut. Oh she loves him so much. She actually wakes up in the morning and says "papa?" You see, my parents watch my kids for me while I go to work, so Monday through Thursday they get to hang with Grandma and Papa. They were giving each other kisses after dinner and I was able to sneak in this great shot. She is so happy, so comfortable with him. It really melts my heart.







Onto more manly things...this is my little Walnut on the back of dad's 1970 something Kawasaki 900. They just drove down the driveway and up the second driveway...but he's been talking about it for days. Sorry about the white out...it was a lot of sun/concrete/steel siding to contend with.







This is my Peanut and Walnut with their cousin! They were running through the sprinkler trying to keep cool. It was definately a warm one on Father's Day. We grilled salmon and chicken and I made some wonderful savory scalloped potatoes that I forgot to take a picture of because I was busy digging in.







And these my friends...I ordered from Avon! Can you believe it? They are just so darn cute I could scream. They hold a 5" tortilla perfectly. It is a nice change up from everyday taco shells and a much healthier route than a deep fried shell. I always buy the Mission Whole Wheat Carb Balance torillas so I know I'm sneaking in whole grains and fiber into everyones meal without them even knowing!




Weekday Taco Bowls

½ lb ground beef
2 tsp chili powder
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
½ c salsa
¾ c shredded cheddar cheese

5" tortillas

sour cream
tomato
romaine lettuce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly press tortillas into molds and bake for 10 minutes until crispy.

Cook meat and chili powder in large skillet on medium high heat until meat is no longer pink. Add beans, cheese and salsa and cook 5 more minutes.

Assemble taco bowl with meat on bottom, then put favorite toppings on and enjoy!!