Wednesday, August 26, 2009

My First Try at Quinoa!

I have been wanting to cook with quinoa for a long time. I have bought it many times - only to eventually throw it out because I didn't know what to do with it! I now feel pretty stupid - as it couldn't be easier!! Tonight I made Crunchy Onion Chicken with zucchini and quinoa...

Crunchy Onion Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup french fried onion rings 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. I put the chicken in Pampered Chef's Deep Dish Baker and covered them with the Vinaigrette. Cooked them for 20 minutes and then put the onions all over the top. cooked another 10 minutes or so until the chicken was thoroughly cooked. 

Sweet Roasted Zucchini
3 zucchini, chopped into large bite size pieces
1/2 onion, largely chopped
drizzle of butter and natural grapeseed oils 

I cannot take credit for the sweet zucchini. It came today from our CSA and was so fresh! I roasted it in the oven with the chicken on my Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan. 

Herbed Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken stock
1 carrot chopped
1/2 onion chopped
drizzle of garlic, lemon and butter grapeseed oils
sprinkle of Wildtree's Seafood Seasoning (see Cook's Note)
fresh sprig of flat leaf parsley
handful of fresh chive 

I heated the oils in my Le Creuset Dutch oven - my favorite pot to cook rice in! Then I added the onion and carrots and cooked until they were softened. Next I added the quinoa for a minute and then the stock, covered and brought to a boil. I added in the fresh herbs and Seafood Seasoning as it cooked and when it was done I fluffed it with a wooden spoon.
SO GOOD!!!!! 
Everyone had seconds - even Oliver!
There are NO leftovers!!

Cook's Notes:
~  Wildtree's Honey Mustard Vinaigrette is no longer available but you can use the Honey Mustard in place of it. And if you would like to see the Honey Mustard Vinaigrette come back,  let me know. The more requests we have the greater the chance that Wildtree will listen - they are good about that!

~  Wildtree's Seafood Seasoning is no longer available but there are numerous other blends that would work such as CA Garlic Pepper, Garlic & Herb, Adobo, Dill Dip...the list goes on!

To order any Wildtree products or to view more recipes please go to www.jenwarr.mywildtree.com.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Herb Chicken Cutlets with Fusilli & Zucchini Marinara

I whipped this up last night after we got back from the beach where we were enjoying some great waves as Hurricane Bill approaches.
 
Herb Chicken Cutlets
4 boneless skinless breasts
1 cup panko bread crumbs
dash of salt
 
Heat large skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of garlic, natural and butter grapeseed oils. Mix bread crumbs, spaghetti blend and salt in bowl. Coat chicken in bread crumb mixture and place into heated skillet. Cook chicken until done, if bread crumbs start to brown too much - you can always finish off in the oven.
 
Fusilli Marinara
I cooked a box of fusilli in salted water and heated Wildtree's Traditional Pasta Sauce in another pan.
 
Zucchini
1 zucchini cut into large bite size pieces
1/2 onion sliced into rings
2 or 3 small tomatoes cut into bite size pieces
 
Heat saute pan over medium heat with a drizzle of garlic, natural and butter grapeseed oil. Add veggies and a dash of herbed salt and cook until tender. Serve fusilli and marinara in a bowl with chicken and veggies. I also made a salad with cucumbers, craisins and avocado.

Friday, August 21, 2009

SIGG bottles contain BPA

Wow! All I can say is wow!!! Click here to read how SIGG has confessed that their lining did contain BPA. I knew there was a reason why I didn't want to use their bottles way back when - and now I am really glad I didn't!! We use the Foogo by Thermos and LOVE it!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Hidden Veggie Burrito

While my son is a pretty good eater who actually prefers veggies to fruit, there are times when I need to be creative with getting him to eat more vegetables. The other night I made burritos which he loved - and ate the next night as well! I sauteed purple bell peppers and zucchini from our CSA along with onions and yellow bell peppers in some butter and garlic grapeseed oils. I added a little ca garlic pepper and some seafood seasoning. Once the veggies were done cooking, I moved them to the side of the pan and put some shredded rotisserie chicken in the center to heat up. In another saute pan I heated up a whole wheat burrito and then loaded it with cheese, avocado, chicken and veggies. If I had any, I would have added tahini, but I sprayed Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead. SO GOOD!!! Oliver didn't even realize he was eating peppers! For a spicier variation - you could add some fajita or cajun seasoning!

Friday, August 14, 2009

A Busy Day's Dinner Dilemma

I had grand plans for dinner the other night - only to realize at 4:30 that the day had gotten away from me. My son is hungry for dinner by about 5 pm so crunch-time was on! I looked in the fridge with a blank stare - tons of food but all of it required prep time. So I grabbed some plain yogurt, chicken breasts, Korma Curry Rub, carrots, maple syrup, butter gso and rice. In a matter of 30 minutes I managed to pull together a yummy meal and here's how I did it...

1. Cooked 1 cup of jasmine rice, 2 cups of water and a splash of butter gso in a sauce pan.

2. Combined almost a cup of plain yogurt with 2 Tbsp Korma Curry Rub and slathered it on the chicken breasts. I heated some natural gso in a saute pan and cooked the chicken on medium heat.

3. Lastly, I peeled and cut carrots up and placed them in a small pan with boiling water for a couple minutes. I drained the pan and drizzled the carrots with maple syrup and butter.

Dinner Was Ready...Mission Accomplished!

Monday, August 10, 2009

NEW Wildtree Products

Wildtree has done it again!! I have been trying all the new products and they are awesome!!! So far my favroites are the Pumpkin Pancakes, Gingerbread Cake, Vanilla Frosting, Buttermilk Biscuits, Cheddar & Herb Skillet Meal and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette. You do NOT have to wait until September 1st this year as they will be available for sale on August 15! If you email me with a pre-order by the 15th and mention my blog, I will give you a 20% discount and $6 shipping! Order after the 15th and receive a 15% discount! Here's the complete list as they will not be available on my website until the 15th. New Products Skillet Dinners - each box has two packets, to serve 5 twice - 10 servings. Forget the chemical and sodium laden Hamburger Helper-these are just as easy, but SO much healthier! Mexican Skillet Dinner (Two 18 bags) $8 serves 5 twice Cheddar & Herb Skillet Dinner (Two 1.9 bags) $8 serves 5 twice Stroganoff Skillet Dinner (Two 1.7bags) $8 serves 5 twice Create Your Own Muffins = $7 - Makes 12 muffins Like our popular scone mix, this is a great batter mix that you can personalize with your choice of 'filling' or 'topping'. A great value for the picky family, as you can make a few for each person - blueberry, cranberry, chocolate chip, lemon poppyseed. Everybody wins, and you don't need to do a whole batch of one flavor! Raspberry Peach Sauce = $10 for 8 oz bottle - great for dessert topping and I am working on a recipe using it with chicken or pork! Apple Cranberry Jam = $7 for 9.5 oz jar Pumpkin Pancake Mix = $10 - Makes 24 four inch pancakes Blueberry Pancake Mix = $8 Buttermilk Biscuits = $8 - Two packages - Makes 8 biscuits twice Cranberry Jalapeno Jam = $7 for 9.5 oz jar Honey Mustard Vinaigrette = $10 for 12 oz bottle Whole Wheat Flaxseed Beer Bread Mix = $7 (if you loved our regular/wheat flaxseed beer bread, you will want to try the new WHOLE WHEAT version) Whole Grain Cranberry Orange Bread = $9 - Serves 12. I've served this twice with our new Raspberry Peach Dipping sauce and it is a phenomenal hit! Delish! You will never b elieve this is healthy! Whole Grain Pancake Mix = $9 - Makes 24 four ince pancakes Gingerbread Cake Mix = $9 - Serves 12. This has been a huge hit already. It's the 'old fashioned style' with rich flavor! It can also be used to make Gingerbread cookies this fall. Yellow Cake Mix = $9 - Makes two dozen cup cakes or two 8" round cakes or one 9x15 sheet cake. You can add a packet of our chocolate mousse mix powder to create a chocolate marble cake. Chocolate Frosting = $8.50 - Just like the buttercream types, but no dyes! Vanilla Frosting = $8.50 Asian Potsticker Blend = $7.50 for 2.8 oz jar Seasonal Favorites Classic Cocoa = $7 = 1.64 oz box (each bag makes 6 cups) Can be made non-dairy! Cranberry Spice Blend = $9 for 3.5 oz jar. Great for making cranbery apple crisp. Mulling Spices = $7 for 2.4 oz jar (makes 24 cups) Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Blend = $8 for 1.6 oz jar Pumpkin Quick Bread = $9 serves 16. Moist & delicious! One of my top sellers last fall. Outrageous Oatmeal Cookies = $7 - Makes 12-16 cookies. Chips are in a separaate bag in case you want to make it non dairy. Don't forget you can view these all on my website on the 15th - but order before then and receive 20% off!

Saturday, August 8, 2009