Spanish Style Chicken and Rice Recipe

Spanish Style Chicken and Rice

I spent part of my mother's day today donating clothing and household goods. Every spring I go through my house and donate any items that we don't need or want any longer. My kids are so used to going through their toys that they are almost always cooperative and rarely put up a fight. There is something so satisfying about seeing a clean house and teaching my kids about recycling old goods instead of throwing them in the trash. I also put out a number of broken items at the curb and like always  someone took the items off the curb for their own use. This is popular in my area, curbside furniture/trash pick-up is common place. Since it was mother's day today I made yesterday's meal quick and only requiring one pot. I tried a new recipe for Spanish Style Chicken and Rice from the December 2011 issue of Woman's Day magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I used a Dutch oven to make the dish. They are great for making one pot meals and a valuable kitchen investment. I chose to leave off the chopped parsley as a topping and I cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces instead of the 3-inch pieces suggested by the recipe. Finally, my family loves chopped olives so I used 3/4 of a cup of sliced olives for topping.

I really like that this recipe only has 7 grams of fat and 42 grams of protein per serving. It was popular with my whole family, even though it has a slight spicy kick from the diced chilies. Since it only uses one pot it takes very little clean-up, which is always nice for a quick week night meal.

For the recipe go to Spanish Style Chicken and Rice Recipe.

Recipe for Spiced Chicken with Creamy Horseradish and Cabbage Slaw

I live in a family that loves meat. My husband and two boys would be horrible vegetarians. They will put up with vegetables being in a dish or a meal or two during the week having no meat. However, anything more than that and I begin to hear complaints. When my husband is left to take care of my two boys they seem to eat a lot of bacon with chicken or pork as a side. Needless to say meat seems to always be center stage in my house. Sine meat is such an integral part of my family's diet I try to make sure we eat a large variety of protein sources and I switch up my menu plans so no one gets bored. Yesterday I tried a new recipe for Spiced Chicken with Creamy Horseradish Cabbage Slaw from the July 2012 issue of Woman's Day magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients in the chicken and 9 ingredients in the slaw. It takes 1 hour 15 minutes of total time for the chicken, 20 minutes of which is active and 30 minutes of total time for the slaw, 15 minutes of which is active. Both recipes make 12 servings. The only change that I made to the chicken was to take the skin off of the thighs and I used honey instead of the brown sugar called for in the recipe. For the slaw I left out the carrot that was used in the original recipe. Instead of the granulated sugar I used agave syrup. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The slaw used in this recipe is delicious. My husband and two sons loved it and they are picky about slaw. The chicken was okay. It needed more flavor that it had from the rub. I would suggest adding 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1/8-1/4 of cayenne pepper to increase the flavor and add a little bit of kick. I think with the changes to the rub the chicken could be a lot better. The slaw would be delicious with a blue cheese burger or anything with blue cheese. The flavors would blend very well together.

For the recipes go to Spiced Chicken and Creamy Horseradish and Cabbage Slaw.

Slow Cooker Pulled Beef Sandwiches with Cabbage-Cilantro Slaw

My husband loves BBQ. I have had to listen to endless hours of conversation revolving around why his charcoal grill is better than gas. The sad thing is that my father had similar conversations growing-up, so apparently I am surrounded by men with BBQ obsessions. I don't mean obsession as a joke, my husband reads books, watches cooking shows and searches the Internet for new BBQ recipes and ideas. While I love BBQ, I don't have the patience to wait all day for BBQ on the charcoal grill. I love the taste, but would rather have something that takes less effort and still has great flavor. One method that I have found for BBQ pulled sandwiches is the crock-pot. The crock-pot is quick and easy and is great for making large cuts of meat. Today I tried a new recipe for Pulled Beef Sandwiches with Cabbage Slaw from the June 2012 issue of Woman's Day magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 8 hours 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I made a number of modifications to this recipe. First the magazine recipe is actually for pulled pork. However, when I arrived home from the grocery store and started unloading my items I noticed that I had bought beef shoulder. Rather than going back to the store and spending more money I decided to substitute the beef for the pork in the recipe. I did brown the beef in the skillet before adding to the slow-cooker. I always brown meat before adding to the crock-pot it helps to seal in the juices and makes for more tender meat. Since I am trying to limit granulated sugar, I substituted molasses for the brown sugar called for in the recipe. Finally, since I eat gluten free I did not eat my serving on a potato roll, but instead ate the BBQ pulled beef as is with the coleslaw as a side. Make sure to adequately salt the coleslaw it will need it.

I was surprised by how well the beef turned out in this recipe. Pulled beef oftentimes turns out dry and tough, especially when made in the crock-pot. This pulled beef came out tender and using molasses in the BBQ sauce lent a nice flavor. I wasn't a big fan of the sour cream in the coleslaw, I would have preferred using olive oil mayonnaise. However, the cilantro in the coleslaw was delicious.

For the recipe go to Pulled Pork Sandwiches.

Barbecue-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Salad

My family loves pork. I'm pretty sure my husband could be a perfect vegetarian, as long as he could eat pork. I think that he needs to invent a term for this, maybe porcinatarian. He would be a perfect poster child for this movement. Given my family's love of everything pork related I have learned to make a large number of pork recipes. Some have turned out great, like any type of pork taco, others such as a curried pork tenderloin recipe I tried last year where pretty horrible. Bacon is always a popular option. If I mention a dish includes bacon my family will come running to the table. There is one other food that my two boys in particular absolutely love, sweet peppers. My oldest has been known to eat an entire red pepper like an apples, he loves them. Recently, as I was looking through the May issue of Woman's Day magazine I came across a recipe for Barbecue-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Salad, which looked delicious and low in fat.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes a total of 30 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of these ingredients and I made no ingredient modifications. I did run out of ancho chili powder, so I used a combination of ancho and chipotle chili powder. Since I was making this recipe for my children, I made two different salsas. In one I used jalapeno and in the other I did not. I do this with a lot of recipes, make a slight modification for the part of the servings for my kids. That way we are still all eating the same dish, just with a milder version for the younger tastebuds. My tenderloin took exactly 18 minutes to cook and then 5 minutes of rest. I let my salsa sit in the fridge for an hour. I would definitely recommend letting the salsa sit in the fridge and chill, it enhances the flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was really impressed with this recipe. The combination of sweet and spicy was delicious and even my two boys loved the pineapple salad. I like how the pork is simply seasoned, without a needless amount of extra spices. I would suggest that if you don't like a lot of spice reducing the amount of chili powder. Since my family tried to eat low-fat dinners most of the week, I really like that this recipe only has 8 grams of fat and 37 grams of protein. Overall, a very easy and nutritious dinner recipe.

For the recipe go to Barbecue-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin.

Chicken Pot Pie

I love comfort food! There is something so satisfying about eating a casserole or fried chicken on a Sunday afternoon. For a number of years when my husband and I first got married I stopped making any type of comfort food. I am lucky that my mother-in-law makes a delicious broccoli casserole and there seems to be a Cracker Barrel at every exit in this area. So whenever I got a craving for chicken and dumplings I could easily find them somewhere else other than my own kitchen. Slowly though I got tired of only having comfort food at restaurants and other people's houses and started making my own recipes at home. I fell in love with chicken pot pie made from scratch and started making it at least once a month. Even though I have a number of pot pie recipes that I love I was interested when Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie using the slow-cooker and a puff pastry topping.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 7 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store and I made no ingredient modifications. The only changes I made to the recipe was in regards to the puff pastry. My puff pastry took less than the 20-25 minutes suggested. I would say that my puff pastry was full browned at approximately 15 minutes. Additionally, I made my chicken pieces smaller than 2-inches, probably closer to an inch. I felt the smaller pieces were better for my two kids. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With the leftover puff pastry I made dessert puffs with nuts and honey for my two boys. They were very popular with my two boys and made a great sweet ending to the meal. The chicken pot pie turned out delicious. I love that it uses the slow-cooker and that the puff pastry is added at the plate. The puff pastry makes a great flaky topping and the flavor from the dill was great. I would suggest cutting down on the amount of dill if you aren't a big fan of the taste of fresh dill. The dill definitely has a definitive flavor, so if dill isn't one of your favorite herbs I would suggest cutting the total amount in half. Overall, another great slow-cooker recipe that has all the flavor of a traditional chicken pot pie recipe with very little effort.

For the recipe go to Chicken Pot Pie.

Woman's Day Coconut Beef with Rice Noodles

I absolutely love coconut! I love it in cakes, cookies, curries, you name it, I love it. Growing up I was always the odd one out in the family. While everyone was raving about the great brownies, I was disappointed that my mom hadn't made macaroons. So one of the first things that I learned to bake was macaroons. Then quickly came coconut cake and seven layer bars. To this day, seven layer bars might possible be my favorite dessert food, it combines all the great memories of my mother baking them every Christmas with my love of all things coconut. To me they are the perfect food. As an adult I have tried to tone down my sweet tooth which has been helped by turning thirty. I always thought that everyone was joking when they told me that my thirties would slow down my very fast metabolism. To my dismay I have learned that having two pieces of coconut cake in a day will indeed catch up with me now. So in order to not give up all things coconut I have learned to cook with coconut and coconut milk in various dishes and curries. The May issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Coconut Beef with Rice Noodles, which looked like an easy crockpot recipe full of flavor.

This recipe has 12 ingredients.. It takes 15 minutes of prep and five hours of cooking time and makes four servings. I did have to make a few recipe modifications. I was unable to find rice noodles, so I substituted the only similar thing at the grocery store, rice sticks. I chose to use fresh cilantro instead of basil and the full 2 tablespoons of red curry paste. I would suggested browning the beef before placing it in the crockpot, it was very dry by the time it was done. Additionally, if I made this recipe again I would add the full can of coconut milk and increase the other ingredients accordingly.

I was a little disappointed by this recipe. The beef turned out dry and the flavor was too subtle. I would suggest making the changes I suggested in the last paragraph. Without the changes this recipe is lacking. I do think that it could be saved, it just needs the beef to be browned before placing it in the crockpot and the liquid to cook the beef in definitely needs to be increased so the beef doesn't become overly dry. What this recipe does have going for it is that it has 39 grams of protein and 11 grams of fat and only costs $3.07 per serving.

For the recipe go to Coconut Beef with Rice Noodles.

Woman's Day Pork Ragu

I have been making a large amount of crockpot recipes recently. Lately I seem to never have enough time to get everything done in a day and my crockpot is invaluable. I love being able to put ingredients together in the morning and by evening have a delicious meal. I always thought that when my oldest started school that I would have all this extra time to spend doing all the things that I never seemed to have time for with two at home. Unfortunately, I never realized that between homework, tennis, t-ball and everything else that I now seem to have less time rather than more. It's weeknights when I am running around trying to get thousands of things done that I find my crockpot to be a great time-saver. The November issue of Woman's Day Magazine had a recipe for Pork Ragu, which looked very easy with only twenty minutes of prep and filling with 51 grams of protein.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes a total of 8 hours and twenty minutes of prep and cooking, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store with the exception of pappardelle noodles. Since I was unable to find the noodles I substituted wide egg noodles. I found my prep, including cooking the pasta noodles took slightly longer than the 20 minutes suggested by the recipe. As always I cooked the recipe on low in my slowcooker. I chose to leave off the parsley on the top of the dish, my two boys are currently on an anti-parsley kick. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With 51 grams of protein and only 14 grams of fat per serving this dish is very filling and lower in fat than many slower cooker recipes. I liked that it is served over noodles and my substitution of egg noodles worked perfectly. This recipe made a significant amount of meat, much greater than the four servings suggested. I used the leftovers for another meal, which I cooked the liquid from the meat as a substitute for water in rice. The leftovers actually turned out even better than the original dish.

For the recipe go to Pork Ragu.

Womans Day Seared Tilapia with Pineapple and Cucumber Relish

My oldest son loves fish. Any time that I prepare a fish dish he eagerly eats his serving and then goes around begging for more. I love how easy fish is to prepare and it's a great solution for a busy weeknight meal. Growing up my mom only prepared salmon, which I love, but after moving out on my own I taught myself to appreciate a larger variety of fish. Currently I try to prepare at least one fish dish every week or two. I would prepare fish even more if it was less expensive and I could get my meat eating husband to be convinced that bacon isn't its own food group. As I was looking through the January issue of Woman's Day Magazine I came across a recipe for Seared Tilapia with Pineapple and Cucumber Relish, which looked easy and full of protein.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I actually had to go to multiple stores in order to find non-farm raised tilapia, but I was finally able to find some. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients and made no modifications. I chose to seed the jalapeno since my five and three-year-old were eating it and they are hit or miss with eating spicy foods. In order for the fish to not stick I used slightly more oil than suggested by the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Fish recipes are great weeknight meals. They save time and are always popular with my children. This recipe has 40 grams of protein and 9 grams of fat per serving and took less than a half an hour to prepare. The relish was delicious, my husband added rice wine vinegar to his dish and thought that it enhanced the flavor even more. Overall, a healthy and easy fish recipe.

For the recipe go to Seared Tilapia with Pineapple and Cucumber Relish.

Womans Day Sweet and Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I have a definite soft spot in my heart for sweet potatoes. Regular potatoes are okay, I like cooking with them, but sweet potatoes are delicious. Growing up we only had sweet potatoes once a year and they were usually covered with marshmallows. It wasn't until I was an adult that I started experimenting with using sweet potatoes in stews and recipes. Now I normally eat them about twice a month. My two boys have fallen in love with sweet potatoes fries, but every recipe I have tried has been soggy and lacking in flavor. The November issue of Woman's Day Magazine had a recipe for Sweet and Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes that combined the flavors of cinnamon, cayenne, brown sugar and Parmesan cheese and looked delicious.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes a total time of 1 hour and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active, and makes 8 servings. All the ingredients are basic and I already had in my pantry cupboard or were readily available at my local grocery store. Tossing the sweet potatoes in a bowl with the ingredients made for nicely coated and even potatoes. I ended up only using one very large baking sheet since my disco era oven can only barely fit one pan. Make sure to stir the sweet potatoes to prevent burning, I stirred mine multiple times during the 60 minute cooking time. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I loved how this recipe turned out crispy and delicious. Many sweet potato recipes I have tried in the past have ended up soggy or lacking a distinguishable flavor. I was impressed with how nicely coated and crisp these sweet potatoes were. My two boys loved this recipe and ate over half the dish by themselves. The recipe states that it makes 8 servings, but I found that this was a very large recipe. It could easily be cut in half for a family of four. Overall, a great sweet potato recipe that is full of flavor.

For the recipe go to Sweet and Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

Woman's Day Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and Thyme-Roasted Apples

I live in a pork family. My boys and husband could do without any type of meat with the exception of pork. Growing up my mother really only made pork chops and I always liked sausage more than bacon, so it was a big change when I got married and realized how much my husband was in love with bacon. Over the years since we got married I have learned to make a variety of pork dishes and have come around to sharing my family's obsession with all things pork. The November issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and Thyme-Roasted Apples, which looked delicious and combined multiple varieties of my family's favorite food.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes a total of 35 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store and I didn't have to make any substitutions. I did find that the apples got overdone when they were in the full 18 minutes. We ended up only eating the part of the apples that were not burnt. I would recommend putting the apples in for only part of the cooking time or turning them halfway through. Make sure to let the pork rest for the full five minutes, it makes it come to temp and does make the pork more flavorful. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The pork in this recipe turned out absolutely delicious. It was moist and perfectly cooked thanks to the prosciutto wrap. The apples got overdone, I would suggest either tossing half way through the cooking time or putting them in for only part of the time. Overall, a great and easy pork recipe that was a definite hit in my household.

For the recipe go to Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin.

Woman's Day Beef Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Since my oldest started kindergarten this year, I seem to have less and less time to spend on meal preps. I always thought that as soon as one of my sons was in school, my days would get much easier. Boy was I wrong! My oldest gets home from school at 3 and my house turns into utter chaos as I try to get dinner on the table by the time my husband comes home from work at around 4. Since my husband starts work at 7 we eat a lot earlier than most households. I have tried switching out dinner time later, which just led to both my boys and husband eating way too many snacks and skipping dinner. One of the best solutions I have found is making a slow cooker meal at least once a week. This way I have one day where I don't have to run around trying to finish things up and have time to spend on homework etc. The November issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Beef Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa, which looked like a great combination of citrus and beef and a great way to save time on dinner prep. 

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 8-10 hours of cook and prep, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did have to make a major modification to the ingredients due to lack of availability at my local grocery store. I have never seen flank steak, so I chose to substitute flat iron steak instead. Honestly, that is one of my husband's favorite cuts of beef, so he was very happy with the change. Additionally, I always braise my meat before I place it in the crockpot. The flavor and juices are locked in and it really does make a difference in the resulting taste. I always use my crockpot on low. There is nothing wrong with using your crockpot on high, I just find that I like the flavor of meat more when it has been on a lower temp for a longer amount of time. I chose to add the ancho chili powder, since it is now readily available in my area and I love the flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. 

As with most taco recipes, this dish was well received by my family. I loved the pineapple salsa, it gave the beef a great flavor. The flat iron steak was a delicious substitution and turned out tender and moist. I chose to seed the jalapeno since I was cooking for kids, but the recipe would well with the seeds left in as well. Overall, a very easy crockpot recipe, perfect for a busy weeknight meal. 

For the recipe go to Beef Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa.

Woman's Day Easy Scones

As I've stated before I am horrible about eating breakfast. Most mornings I grab a cup of coffee and nothing else until lunch. The one exception is if I have baked scones. I love scones and they are one of the few breakfast foods that I will always eat. Since I make scones approximately once a month, I am always looking for new recipe ingredients. The November issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Easy Scones using lemon-lime soda, which looked unusual and perfect for a weekday breakfast.

This recipe has 3 ingredients. It takes a total of 30 minutes, 10 of which is active and makes 8 servings. I made a few modifications to this recipe. First, I used sierra mist soda, since it was what was on sale the week that I made these scones. For flavor I added dried cranberries, approximately 1/2 cup. I love fruit scones and the cranberries give a nice sweet/tart element. Finally, instead of spooning the dough, I hand patted the dough into a circle and cut into eight triangles. Before putting the scones in the oven I brushed the tops with heavy whipping cream and sprinkled with granulated sugar. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys got a kick out of this recipe. I had never used lemon-lime soda in a scone recipe, so I was intrigued by the concept. The scones turned out moist and delicious and the dried cranberries made a delicious addition. The best part of the recipe is that it only has 3 ingredients (4 if using dried cranberries). A very quick and easy scone recipe, that turns out light and perfect for breakfast.

For the recipe go to Easy Scones.

Woman's Day Candy Corn Fudge

Sweets are my downfall. If there is something sweet in the house, I will find it and eat it. I'm lucky that I was given my dad's metabolism and have two very active kids that I am always chasing after to keep my weight down. It seems that my two sons have inherited my love of all things sweet and will literally dig around looking until they find the last cookie or piece of candy. This time of year is especially bad, I bake at least twice a week and every last bite is devoured by my family. We absolutely love baked goods. I make fudge frequently during the holiday months and I was interested when the October issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Candy Corn Fudge, which looked easy and a great way to use leftover candy corn from Halloween.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It makes 64 servings and takes a total of 2 hours and 25 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active. The ingredients are all basic and I already had or was easily able to find at my local grocery store. I made a few modifications to the recipe. Most importantly I chose to use a 13 x 9 inch pan instead of the 8 inch suggested by the recipe. Using the 8 inch pan the fudge would have been way too thick, instead of making 64 very small thick pieces of fudge I made 60 pieces of larger, thinner fudge. A word of caution, after the fudge had sat in the fridge for a day the pretzels became too soft. I would recommend eating this fudge soon after it is made. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The week after Halloween I was able to buy a bunch of bags of candy corn for less than a quarter. I had this recipe torn out for a while before Halloween and had never got around to making it. When I bought the clearance candy corn, I figured it was a perfect fit. Since this fudge is best soon after it's made in order for the pretzels to stay crisp, this fudge would be great for a fall or Halloween party. My two boys loved the candy corn idea, I actually thought the fudge was better without the candy corn topping. I found the addition of the candy a little too sweet. However, the fudge itself was delicious, I loved the combination of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. Overall, a great basic fudge recipe with a twist.

For the recipe go to Candy Corn Fudge.
\