Chicken with Pecan Sauce

This is a new recipe I tried for the first time last night. It turned out great, really delicious.

I have changed the recipe below to reflect how I will make it next time. The sauce was so good, I wanted more, so I doubled all of the sauce ingredients. Next time, I should have sauce for the chicken and some extra to spoon over rice or pasta.

CHICKEN WITH PECAN SAUCE
recipe from Southern Living

1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup butter, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts , pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons cider vinegar (if you don't love cider vinegar as much as me, maybe just use 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Heat pecans and 2 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes or until toasted and fragrant. Remove from skillet.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Cook chicken in hot oil in skillet over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and done. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with pecans.

Add chicken broth to skillet, and cook 5 minutes, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet. Add brown sugar, vinegar, and thyme, and cook 6 -8 minutes or until sugar is melted and sauce is slightly thickened. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Serve sauce over chicken.

Yield: 2 chicken breasts and enough sauce to cover chicken and some rice or pasta

Acapulco Shrimp Cocktail and Fish Tacos

So, I wanted a special side dish to go with my Fish Tacos... I usually serve black beans with them, but wasn't in the mood for that this time. I loooooovvvvvve avocados, so when I ran across this recipe, I knew I would love it. And I did!

ACAPULCO SHRIMP COCKTAIL
recipe found at What's Cookin Chicago?

1 pound cooked shrimp
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 ripe avocado, diced

Place the shrimp in a large bowl and add the lime juice.

In a small bowl, mix the ketchup, hot sauce, Worcestershire, onion and cilantro. Mix well; then pour over shrimp and stir.

Carefully fold in the diced avocado. Divide into 4 to 6 serving dishes.

You can find the recipe for my Fish Tacos here.

By the way, I am back to school tomorrow. That means less cooking and posting here, but I'll give it my best effort.

Chickpea Salad

This is a delicious salad on it's own or served over lettuce like I had it. I made a little more dressing than the recipe so that I had enough to cover the lettuce.

The magazine recipe suggested to serve it with pita bread and hummus, which sounds good, too.

CHICKPEA SALAD
from Publix FamilyStyle magazine

2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
6 Roma tomatoes, sliced or chopped
4 ounces crumbled Feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 black pepper

In a large bowl combine beans, tomatoes and cheese.

In a screw top jar, combine vinegar, oil, sugar and pepper. Shake to mix well.

Pour dressing over bean mixture and stir gently.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Such a yummy dinner of Shrimp Fried Rice, served with a cup of Campbell's Wonton Soup on the side.

This is something that I mostly just throw together, so I don't have a good, complete recipe. I use Sun-Bird Fried Rice seasoning mix and mostly follow the directions on the back of the package.

I use Success Boil in Bag brown rice. I cook it ahead of time and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight. The cold rice sticks together less, trying to stir-fry warm rice just turns it to mush.

I add chopped onion, frozen mixed vegetables (that have been cooked until warm), 2 eggs scrambled, soy sauce and shrimp.

I started by cooking the onions, then added the shrimp. Moved those to the side and cooked the eggs.

In a separate pan, I stir-fried the rice in a little vegetable oil, added the vegetables, seasoning mix and soy sauce. After cooking that for a short time, I added the onion, shrimp and egg mixture and cooked a little more.

Leftovers from this are really good for lunch the next day!

Healthy Eating

Once again, I am going to try to eat healthier and lose a little weight. Please help me out by giving me some of your best little tips and tricks.

Here are a few of my suggestions for healthier eating.

Fat free/light yogurt with 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal mixed in makes a quick breakfast.

The healthiest cereal that I've found is Kashi Go Lean (original). It's low calories and has 13 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber and it's low in carbohydrates compared to other cereals. The extra protein and fiber makes it really filling.

I like to eat some of the healthy entrees from WW Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice. I am partial to the ones with pasta (and without meat), but I like to add extra vegetables. I added fresh spinach to this Spinach Ricotta Pasta, but these days I am keeping a bag of frozen chopped spinach handy and adding a handful before microwaving.

Here, I've added extra frozen chopped broccoli to a Fettucine Alfredo entree. I usually microwave for a minute longer than usual to account for the extra frozen vegetables.

To help me drink more water, I have to add some flavor. There are so many brands to choose from - Crystal Light, Lipton, Arizona Tea, as well as the store brands. All of these are sugar-free, 5 to 10 calories. Get a reusable bottle or at least re-use the bottled water or soda bottles a few times.

Please comment and give me some more ideas!

Almond & Peach Crusted Pork Chops

This recipe has inspired me to be on the lookout for more pork chop recipes, not a meat I've used very much...

ALMOND & PEACH CRUSTED PORK CHOPS

recipe found at Cooking with Jamie (go visit her!)

1 egg
2 tablespoons peach preserves (I used sugar-free)
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 boneless pork loin chops
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Beat egg and preserves in shallow dish with fork, breaking apart any large pieces of peach.

Mix Bisquick, almonds, cornmeal, and salt in another dish.

Dip pork chops in preserve mixture, then coat with Bisquick mixture.

Heat oil in large non stick skillet over medium heat. Cook pork chops about 7 minutes per side, or until crust is golden and pork is cooked through.

Heat extra preserves in microwave and drizzle on top.

And here's to trying to get more vegetables into my life! This cabbage was really, really good for being so simple.

SAUTEED CABBAGE
inspired by recipe at My Tasty Treasures

pre-shredded cole slaw mix (about 3/4 of the bag)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Season, to taste, and serve warm.

Busy, busy...

And I don't see cooking, blogging, thrifting or crafting anywhere on this chart!!

But, I just finished final exams for winter quarter - so maybe I'll find a new recipe or two to make over the next week and a half.