Cilantro Rice

This is my favorite way to eat rice. A huge step up from plain old rice. I love it. And the best part is that it is so easy. And so quick. The flavor is so fresh.

You basically make it the way you would regular rice, but instead of water, use chicken broth. I always opt for the low sodium chicken broth, so it isn't too salty. The basic ratio for cooking rice applies. If you cook one cup rice, add 2 cups broth. If you cook 1 1/2 cups rice, add 3 cups broth.

1 cup rice

2 cups chicken broth

1-2 tsp lemon or lime juice

2-3 tbsp cilatro (or if you are like me and love cilantro, load it up with as much as you want)

Add rice and chicken broth to pot, bring to a boil. Stir and reduce heat. Cover with a lid. Keep on low heat for 16 minutes.

Remove from heat and add lemon or lime juice. Add in Cilantro and mix.

Enchilada Casserole

This time I was the skeptical one when I saw this recipe. But I figured I need to try new things, so I gave it a try. It was really good and had a nice sweet flavour. It was even good as leftovers. I would forsure make it again.

This is another meatless meal, but it still has lots of protien. The beans are really filling and you don't even miss meat.



Layer the bottom of an 8x8in pan with;

2 whole wheat tortillas

They shuld be ripped into quarters and layered like that, but I did it wrong. Make sure you rip them.


In a bowl mash:

a 19oz can of sweet potatoes, drained


Add and stir:

19oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chunky salsa
2 tsp chili powder



Spread evenly over tortillas in baking dish.

Arrange:

2 whole wheat tortillas over sweet potato mixture.

This is how they should be ripped in the first step.

In a small bowl combine:

14 oz can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup chunky salsa

Then pur evenly over tortillas.

Bake, uncovered, in oven at 450 F for 15 minutes. Then Sprinkle with:

1 cup cheese

Bake for another 5 minutes until heated through and cheese is golden.

Sprinkle:

1 ripe large avocado, diced

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion

Serve with Sour cream.

Banana Coconut loaf

This loaf is so good. It is one of my favorites. My husband was skepticle when he saw me making it. He doesn't like the cherries. But once he tasted it, he couldn't resist. The loaf was gone in a day.

This is one of my moms old recipes. She would make a few loafs and freeze them. It was always a treat to pull one out of the freezer and watch it disappear.

In a mixing bowl beat until frothy:
2 eggs

Add and beat well:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup melted butter



Stir in:
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2-3 med bananas)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup cut up maraschino cherries



In another bowl, measure and stir until blended:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup med. grind coconut
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Pour over batter, stir until combined.



Spoon into greased loaf pan

Bake at 350 F for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let stand for 10 minutes

Remove from pan.

If you want to freeze it, wrap it and put in the freezer.

Enjoy!

I love it with a little butter on it.

Southwestern Turkey Chilli

I don't eat alot of red meat, so I love to find recipes that call for Turkey instead of ground beef (or I just substitute it anyways). This is a good hearty meal that you don't have to feel guily about eating. It was really good and filling.




In a large frying pan heat 2 tsp of oil (or just use Pam)
Scramble fry:
1 cup chopped onion
1 Garlic Clove, minced (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
1lb Extra lean ground Turkey

Fry until onion is softened and turkey is starting to brown



Add:
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 dried crushed chilies

Heat and stir for 1 minute

Add:

19oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups low sodium vegtable coctail juice

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp Ketchup

Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently uncovered, for 5 minutes.

This Chili can be served many different ways. You can serve Sloppy-Joe style on a bun. Or you can make a taco salad with shredded lettuce. Or eat it as a chili, in a bowl with fat-free sour cream.

Company's Coming- Healthy in a Hurry

Vinyl Letter Blocks

I know it has been a month since my last post, but I was busy having a baby. I will try to keep up though.

I am so happy to hear that lots of you have tried the things on my blog. Makes me feel good. Please leave comments about what you thought of the things you have tried.

I got this idea from a craft night that I went to back in Lethbridge. I didn't finish them at the time (I didn't even start), but almost a year later decided I had better get them done. I think they look so cute.




Start by selecting the word you would like on your blocks. Get Vinyl letters for your blocks. The letters must fit on a piece of a 2X4 so keep them between 2.5-3 inches in width. The height can range from 4-6 inches.

Once you have selected your word and have your letters, you can use your letters to measure the height of your wood pieces. Using a 2x4 cut your wood chunks in varrying heights.


I chose to stain my wood. The original craft idea that I saw didn't, but I didn't think that the raw would would match with my house. So I got some dark stain and just put on one coat of stain. I only stained the back and sides (and about 1/2 inch of the front) since I knew that I would be glueing scrapbook paper to the front.

Depending on your size of block, measure you scrapbook paper for each block. Measure the wood, then cut the paper.

You can chose any color or type of scrapbook paper. I actually used cardstock.

Using embellishment glue (I got it at Michaels) and glue your paper to the front of your wood block. Then apply thr Vinyl Letters.

The blocks can be left with just the letters or you can jazz them up a little with some cute accessories. Ribbon, buttons, flowers, embrodery thread, etc can be used.

Here are my finished projects. Couldn't be more happy with them. I actually intended to give 1 or 2 away as gifts, but I liked them all so much I couldn't bear to part with any of them.

Mushroom Noodle Stir-fry

Let me just say that what I have been most impressed with about these meals is that they are so easy to make. I usually look at a recipe and see a long list of ingredients and think "that is too hard" or "that is too much work". But really all of these meals have been so easy. And I am glad to hear that people have been trying them.

I made this for dinner the other night and it was good. Brett said that he thought that it was a little bland, but I liked it. I forgot to buy Parsley, so maybe that had something to do with the flavour. The original recipe is meatless, but I wanted to up the protein and so I added chicken. Also, I love mushrooms so I added the full amount it called for, but if you don't like mushrooms just scale it back to the amount you want.

I didn't take pictures along the way like I usually do, but it was all pretty straight forward. And I wanted to share it with you anyways. I'll just give you the recipe.

1 cup Milk

4 tsp Corn Starch

1pkg fresh Chinese noodles (I got mine in the produce section, the shanghai looking ones)

1 tbsp Olive Oil (ok, the recipe calls for it, but I used Pam)

1-2 chicken breasts

4 cups White Mushrooms (again, add the amount you want)

2 Garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1 cup Frozen peas

1 cup Prepare Vegetable broth

1/4 tsp pepper

1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

3tsp Fresh Parsley (or 2 1/4 tsp flakes)

Stir Milk into Cornstarch in small cup until smooth. Set aside.

Heat wok or large frying pan on medium. Add garlic and chicken. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add mushrooms. Stir-fry for about 4 minutes until mushrooms start to brown.

Add peas, broth and pepper. Stir-fry for about a minute. Stir cornstarch mixture. Add to mushroom mixture. Stir-fry for about a minute until sauce is boiling and thickened. Add noodles. Stir-fry till noodles are heated through.

Add Parmesan cheese and Parsley. Toss well. Serves 4.

Thai Chicken Pizza on a Garlic Crust

One of my favorite pizzas to get at Boston Pizza is the Thai Chicken Pizza, so when I saw this recipe I knew that I had to try it.

It was really easy to make and was so good. There were no left-overs afterwards, so I would say it was a hit.



Combine:
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp Instant yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

Add:
1/2 cup Hot water
1 tbsp Olive Oil



Mix well until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for about 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with tea towel. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out and press dough into greased 12 inch pizza pan, forming rim around edge.

Spread with 1/4 cup Peanut Sauce

Sprinkle with 3/4 cup Grated part-skim Mozza Cheese

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a fying pan on Medium heat

Add:

1-2 chicken breast cut into strips

1 medium carrot, cut julienne

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Cook for about 5 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. (I added a small amount of peanut sauce to the chicken, just to give a little more flavour)

Add

1 large red pepper

stir fry for 2-3 minutes until pepper is slightly tender

Arrange on pizza over cheese.

Bake on Bottom rack at 425 degree for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

Remove from oven.

Sprinkle with :

1 cup Bean sprouts

3 Green onion, thinly sliced

1tsp Sesame seeds, toasted

Cut into 8 wedges.

1 wedge: 204 Calories, 8.2g fat, 2 g fibre, 11g protein.