Grilled Chicken and Veggie Quinoa

Daniel is on a wellness committee at work and for each meeting they all bring in healthy dishes to share with each other. He requested a quinoa salad of some sort so I found him a good one for his meeting which left me with an extra cup of quinoa that needed to be cooked. I came up with this dish tonight trying to use it up and come up with something different. All four of us really enjoyed this dish and surprisingly, it is very filling. I can't wait to experiment more with quinoa.

Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Quinoa

Ingredients:
1 Cup uncooked quinoa
1 TBSP. chicken flavored broth and base seasoning
2 Cups of water
2 zuchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, peeled and sliced
2-4 red tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
1 TBSP. minced garlic
2-3 medium chicken breasts
1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1.) Slice zuchini and squash and coat evenly with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic. Grill until tender. Cut tomatoes in half and place on the grill until the skin starts to peel off.

2.) Salt and pepper chicken breasts and grill until cooked through.

3.) Bring two cups of water with chicken broth and base seasoning and quinoa to a boil. Then cover and reduce heat to medium low and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

4.) Allow vegetables to cool and then dice them up along with the cooked chicken breasts. Gently fold quinoa into the chicken and veggie mixture and sprinkle with 1/3 of grated Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mock Chipotle Rice

We love Chipotle here in our house, even the little ladies. I've been trying for years to recreate their rice recipe to no avail and even thought this still isn't 100% like theirs, I was pretty darn good, good enough to eat all by itself. I can't wait to make this again for a simple side dish with our dinner. I made ours with our golden fried chicken nuggets and Addison had two or three servings of this. Normally I would make it when we were eating Mexican food but clearly, it can go with just about anything.

Mock Chipotle Rice

Ingredients:


2 cups water

1 chicken bullion cube
1 garlic clove, smashed
2 cups quick cooking white rice
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
Juice from 1/2 fresh lime
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
1.) In a medium saucepan, bring two cups of water to a boil. Add 1 chicken bullion cube and one whole garlic clove, lightly mashed.

2.) Once water has boiled, take out garlic clove and add two cups of instant white rice. Turn off heat and cover pan with a lid. Allow to sit for five minutes.

3.) Once rice has finished cooking, add cilantro, juice of lime, and salt. Mix thoroughly and serve. 

Fiesta Taco Rice

I keep making these pretty delicious meals that aren't knocking Daniel's socks off so I've given up. He keeps telling me to keep it simple. Well, I don't know how much simpler I can get as this meal was beyond simple. I on occasion go to the grocery with my mother in law since Daniel has our vehicle during the day for work. She suggested making something like this when she has the girls with her so tonight I finally decided to give it a shot.

There are so many things you can add to this dish that would push it over the top. I added a fresh out of the garden, banana pepper and I would have added a small can of black beans and a can of diced tomatoes had I have had either one. This would also be good with a cooked, shredded chicken breast as well.

I topped mine with some cheese and I served it with lettuce, fresh tomato, and sour cream on the side. I ate mine without a tortilla shell, but Addison made herself a fiesta taco rice burrito. Daniel said it was okay, but once again I could tell it didn't knock his socks off. One of these nights that boy is going to be making dinner for me since apparently my breakfast of scrambled eggs, maple sausage links, and fried green tomatoes are the only things I can get compliments on around here.

Fiesta Taco Rice
Inspired by: My mother in law, Sue.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 pkg. Knorr's fiesta rice taco version
2 cups of water
1 cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

*Possible additions, small can of drained and rinsed black beans, diced onion, small can of diced tomato, and or your favorite peppers.

Directions:
1.) In a large skillet, brown ground beef. Drain excess grease.
2.)  Add package of rice to ground beef. Slowly incorporate two cups of water. Gently stir together and cover. Lower heat to around medium. Cook for five to seven minutes or until rice has absorbed liquid.
3.) Un-cover, gently stir once again, turn heat off. Add shredded cheeses to top and allow to melt.
4.) Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Parmesan Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad sandwiches.

Have you ever had Bob Evan's chicken salad sandwiches?

They are my favorite and I look forward to them every summer since they are a seasonal item. Normally when I make chicken salad here at home I use grapes and celery along with mayo but last night I was in a dinner funk. I had been suffering with a bad sinus headache for the past twenty four hours and if it were just me, no dinner would have been made. I had to feed the husband and girls though so I knew I had to whip something up. I had two thawed chicken breasts out and since I was looking for something easy I decided to whip this up. It was so good. Daniel had two sandwiches, I had one, the girls had a couple of scoops each, and we still had some leftover. Addison made little lettuce wraps with her chicken salad.  I plan on making this again to keep on hand for quick lunches.

Parmesan Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
2 lg. chicken breast, boiled until cooked through, shredded
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
Bread of your choice, we used french bread
sliced onion
sliced tomato
ice-burg lettuce
Swiss cheese
Dijon or brown mustard

Directions:
1.) Boil chicken breasts until cooked through.
2.) In a small mixing boil add mayo, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, dill, onion powder, and garlic powder and mix until fully incorporated.
3.) Slice your choice of bread and lightly toast.
4.) Shred chicken and mix with mayo mixture.
5.) Place two scoops of chicken salad on bottom half of bread. Top with choice of mustard, cheese, onion, tomato, and lettuce, followed by the top half of the bread.
6.) Enjoy with your favorite potato chip or in our case, with your favorite oven baked potato wedges.

Ranch Turkey Melt

I had a sandwich similar to this one a few months ago at a restaurant and in my quest to try to recreate it this is what I came up with. It is so good and so easy. You can add so many different ingredients to it that it's very versatile when serving multiple people.

Ranch Turkey Melt

Ingredients:
2 slices Texas Toast
2 slices of turkey breast
1 tbsp. ranch dressing
1 slice of cheese
butter to spread on bread

Directions:
1.) In a skillet over medium heat add one slice of bread, buttered on the side going down on pan. Add sliced turkey, ranch dressing, and cheese, and top with second slice of bread, buttered on the side that will eventually be turned over.
2.) Allow to brown on each side. You will probably have to turn the heat down some in order to ensure the meat gets warm and the cheese is melted without burning the bread.

Some great additions to this sandwich would be two slices of bacon and a couple of slices of fresh tomato. Neither of which I had on hand but wish that I did. You could also substitute the ranch dressing for thousand island.

Katie's Club Sammy

Tonight was yet another family dinner and this time I served a nice pot of chili along with this sandwich I just kind of threw together. Everyone raved about how good it was and that it was better than any store bought sandwich. They actually thought I bought it so I took that as a compliment. Very simple to put together and great for all of your Superbowl parties!

Ingredients:

2 loaves of french bread

1 lb. sliced ham

1 lb. sliced turkey

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

1 bag of Dole shredded lettuce

3 tomatoes

1 package of swiss cheese, about 12 slices

Mayo

Brown Mustard

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1.) Take your loaves of french bread and slice down the center.

2.) On the bottom layers spread on some mayo and brown mustard.

3.) Layer half of the ham and half of the turkey on each bottom half.

4.) Top meat with swiss cheese and layer with your lettuce, onion, and tomato.

5.) Sprinkle the tomatoes with about a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper.

6.) Take the top half of each loaf and hallow out the center that way the top of the bread can cradle the veggies.

7.) ENJOY!!!

Chicken salad my way

I am fortunate to live only about ten minutes away from my place of employment and because of the fact Daniel works second shift I usually always run home for lunch so that I can spend a little bit of time with him. While I do have an hour for lunch I don't want to spend a lot of time preparing our lunch...I mean come on, have to get some Price is Right watching in there somewhere; so I like making quick fix items or items that I can prepare the night before. I first had chicken salad made this way a few years back, another one of those recipes that came from my Step-Mom Rhonda, even though I think she got it from one of her nieces. Since then I have added my own little touches to it and I must say, it is quite delicious and very easy to serve up when you are rushing around. This chicken salad is best made the night before, but isn't half bad when you eat it right away...I have done both!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded*
1/3 cup of mayo
2-3 stalks of celery
1/2 cup of red grapes
1 tbsp. brown mustard

* You can substitute the boiled chicken breasts for two cans of the Tyson shredded white meat chicken you find in a can. I have made this both ways and can't really taste a difference.

1.) Cut your grapes into half or into quarters, depending on your preference. I cut my into quarters.

2.) Take your stalks of celery and cut in half down the center. Then take the two large pieces and dice into small pieces.

3.) In a bowl add your shredded chicken, mayo, brown mustard, diced celery, and quartered grapes. Mix together.

Normally when I make this or tuna salad I toast me up two slices of white bread, slap on a piece of swiss cheese, add a small handful of fresh spinach, and then add my chicken salad mix. Of course this all goes on between the two slices of bread. I call these my quick fix sandwich melts and I could honestly live off of them. I normally serve with a piece of fresh fruit (usually more grapes) and a handful of pretzels or potato chips. Substitute the mayo for low fat mayo and use wheat bread in lieu of white bread and you have yourself a pretty healthy lunch...or dinner:).