Spanish Style One-Pot

I got this recipe from one of the recipe blogs - sweetnicks I think. It was good but I already have a few recommendations for changes.

Serves 4
Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 20-25 minutes

1 lb, 12 oz boneless pork, cut into chunks or strips
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
6 oz long grain rice
1 cup vegetable stock or water
280g jar artichokes in oil, drained and quartered (I added two small jars)
400g can chopped tomatoes

Heat oven to 350. In a large flameproof casserole, brown the pork in the olive oil over a high heat. When brown on both sides, add the onions, garlic and peppers, then cook for 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the stock or water, the artichokes and tomatoes, then bring to a fast boil. Taste the liquid for seasoning. Cover with a tight lid and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve.

*I would use canned artichokes
* I would add some spice at the beginning stage because we found it a bit bland.
Otherwise, it was good and I think it has a lot of potential. it's fairly similar to a lot of other things I like, so easy to whip up :)

I took photos because I'm trying to be all fancy recipe blogger

Boiling up

Pop in the oven


Ready to eat

Double Chicken Dumpling Stoup

This is a Rachael Ray recipe and can be made in 30 minutes. It makes a nice meal for a cold winter night!

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
4 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
1 fresh bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 cups chicken broth
1 pound ground chicken
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (a couple of generous handfuls)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I did not put this in)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Dash freshly grated nutmeg
One 1-pound package gnocchi
1 cup frozen peas
Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (a couple of generous handfuls)- I used the frozen cubes of parsley
Crusty bread, for dunkinh

1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the celery, onions, carrots and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, cover the pot and bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Stir in the egg, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic and nutmeg. Roll the mixture into walnut-sized meatballs (you'll have about 40) and add to the stoup. Simmer for about 10 minutes while you wash up. Add the gnocchi to the stoup and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the peas and parsley and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the stoup from the heat, discard the bay leaf and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve with the bread.

Coconut Chicken

1 C. flaked coconut
1/2 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 C. butter or margarine, melted
1 C. apricot preserves, optional
2 T. Dijon mustard, optional

Heat oven to 400° F. Wash your hands. Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in medium bowl. Dip chicken into egg, then coat with coconut mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan. Wash your hands. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through, turning once. If you stick an instant-read thermometer in the center of the chicken breast, it should register 165° F. Meanwhile, mix apricot preserves and Dijon mustard until well blended. Serve as sauce with chicken.

I got this from sweetnicks I think. It was surprisingly yummy. Nice because it was really different than what I usually make. I made it dairy free by just omitting the butter. I also found there was way too much coating and so I used most of it and didn't need to. Maybe use a bit less flour than called for. The sauce was really yummy. I used twice the fruit apricot jam from President's Choice.

Caribbean Salsa Chicken

I made this last night and it was very tasty! A nice citrus fruity taste- but not for those who don't like fruit with their meat.

1 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. oil (or butter)
2 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
1 cup salsa (I used about half a jar of medium)

½ cup mandarin oranges
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Nutmeg

Cook rice as directed.
Heat oil (or butter) in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken; cook and stir for 7 minutes, or until no longer pink.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine salsa, oranges, brown sugar, lemon juice, and spices; mix well.
Add salsa mix to chicken, stirring well. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve over hot cooked rice.

Coconut Thai Chicken

2 green onion stalks, chopped
2 tbsp oil
2 red peppers, chopped
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 tsp red curry paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
2 chicken breasts, chopped
pinch of salt
1-2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
sliced cucumber and tomato (optional)

Cook onion in oil on medium heat. Add red peppers and curry paste, and cook for 1-2 mins. Add chicken broth, coconut milk and lime juice and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Add chopped chicken and simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Add cilantro 5 minutes before serving, and salt to taste. Serve on jasmine rice with sliced cucumber and tomato.

Updates to blog

Just wanted to let you know that I added a few things to the blog.

You can email posts you like to people now and i've added links to other recipe blogs. I can't believe how many great recipe sites there are out there!! :)

I also added this fancy analyzing tracking thing so we'll be able to know if people are coming to see our recipes from all over the world. har har

Also, if you post a recipe you can add labels and then we can sort by the labels. So for example: dinner, lunch, appetizer, dairy-free, soy-free, weight watcher points available, etc. I've added them to all the recipes I've posted in the past, so have a look on the sidebar to see which ones I've already created so we can try to be consistent.

Lemon Chicken

Lately I've made a lot of new recipes trying to find things to add to my repertoire and most have been duds. This one wasn't bad but I think I'll make a few changes when I make it next. I will post the recipe as I found it, then make my comments at the end :)

Chinese Lemon Chicken

Courtesy of Fresh magazine ( I found it on the sweetnicks blog)
Serves 4

This is many people's choice when they go to a Chinese restaurant. It's clean, fresh and very easy to make.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (not olive oil)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced (I used minced)
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
flour, for dipping
freshly ground black pepper
Noodles, to serve

For the lemon sauce:
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar

First, make the sauce by adding all of the ingredients to a small pan and simmering until the sugar has dissolved. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, then add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, dip the chicken in the egg, then the flour so they're coated in a very basic, light batter. Fry them for 2-3 minutes. Add the lemon sauce and stir in. Fry for 6-8 minutes until chicken is cooked. Season and serve on a bed of noodles.

- Serves 4 my ass :)
- The garlic taste seemed wrong. I wouldn't put in garlic if I made it again.
- We served it with rice.

It was easy, pretty fast, and tasty. And soy and milk protein free :)

Bran brownie muffins

It's easy.
Soak 3 cups of All Bran in 2 1/3 cups of water. Add 1.5 tbsp of baking powder(apparently it helps the All bran dissolve)
Take a box of low fat brownie mix (I found one made by Betty Crocker) and mix it in with the all bran mush.
Heat oven to 350F.
It makes 24 muffins or you can cook it into a loaf or a pan of brownies.
The muffins take between 20-25 minutes, the brownies a bit longer.


1 muffin = 1 point

Sunshine Cake

This cake came from a weight watchers recipe, but for 5 points a piece, it's not really that point friendly. Tasty though!

1 box vanilla/yellow cake mix (light)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
11 ounces mandarin oranges -- 1 can

Frosting Ingredients
8 ounces Cool Whip Lite® -- 1 small container
1 box fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix
15 1/2 ounces crushed pineapple in juice -- 1 can

Preheat oven to 350. Stir together all ingredients by hand for 2 minutes.

Spray 9x13" pan w/ cooking spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake 30-40 minutes.

Mix all frosting ingredients when cake is cool. Spread icing on cake & refrigerate.

Per serving: 215 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (20% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 47mg Cholesterol;

5 points
Serving Size: 16

Mom's improv curry dish

My mom made this dish for me for lunch today. She just whipped it together without a recipe and it was delicious! I hope to be able to cook like the one day.

1 chopped onion
1 tbsp garam masala or curry
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cube of fresh ginger, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 tomato, chopped
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 cup of water
1 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
chopped parsley or parsley flakes
cream (optional)

Fry the onion, ginger and garlic in 2 tbsp of oil in a pot or pan until onion is tender. Add garam masala/curry, tomato paste, sugar, salt to taste, sweet potato, tomato and can of chickpeas. Pour in water (just enough water to cover the potatoes) and cover and cook until potatoes are soft. Just before serving, stir in parsley and cream to thicken (optional). Serve with rice.