Chicken Barley Soup

This recipe is halved.  I found it on a blog, and she cut it in half....his soup is absolutely delish!!  Once I find my original recipe, I will post the recipe for the full amount.

FMD

½ recipe

from http://positivelystacey.com/2016/02/chicken-and-barley-soup-recipe-fmd-phase-one/

4 c chicken broth

4 c veggie broth

2 pounds chicken breast meat

1 c diced onion

1 T crushed garlic

1 whole bay leaf

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 cups peeled and cubed butter nut squash

2 cups cubed yellow summer squash

2 cups cubes zucchini

1 c broccoli florets

1 c chopped fresh mushrooms (I do about ½ c)

2 cups barley

Directions

•     Add four cups of water and the broths to a large soup pot.
•     Add the cubed chicken, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir together.
•     Bring all ingredients to a boil, then turn to low.
•     Allow soup to simmer for 1 hour.
•     Add the vegetables and barley to the soup pot.
•     Bring back to boil.
•     Turn to low and simmer for another hour – or until vegetables are done to your likeness.

8       

Curried Couscous ala Mendocino Farms SOOOO GOOD!

Mendocino Farms' curried couscous with roasted cauliflower

50 minutes. Serves 10

1 (1-pound) box Israeli couscous or orzo

1 head cauliflower, florets broken into pieces

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, more to taste

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more to taste

3 tablespoons light brown sugar, more to taste

3 tablespoons oil

2 small carrots, peeled, finely diced

1 cup vegan mayonnaise (or mayonnaise)

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/2 lime, juiced

1. Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the package. Rinse in cold water, drain well, put in a bowl and set aside. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a separate bowl, toss the cauliflower with the curry powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne, brown sugar and oil. Spread out on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven until cauliflower is browned around the edges but still crunchy, about 10 minutes. Remove just the cauliflower and put it in the bowl with the pasta.

3. On the same rimmed baking sheet, place the carrots and, using a spatula, toss the carrots with the leftover spices and oil. Roast the carrots until brown around the edges but still crunchy, about 8 minutes. (If you find that the spices and oil are a little overly browned from roasting the cauliflower, toss the carrots using the same proportion of new spices, salt, sugar and oil.) Add to the couscous.

4. Fold in the vegan mayonnaise, cilantro and lime juice with the pasta. Taste, and adjust spices and seasoning if desired. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

EACH SERVING

Calories 390

Protein 7 grams

Carbohydrates 46 grams

Fiber 4 grams

Fat 19 grams

Saturated fat 3 grams

Cholesterol 0

Sugar 5 grams

Sodium 513 mg

SaveSave

Black Beans in a Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

• 7 cups water
• 1 pound dry black beans
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, tied together with butcher twine
• garlic cloves (however many you want)
• 1 or more bay leaves

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Combine water, black beans, onion, garlic cloves, cilantro, olive oil, bay leaf, and salt together in a pressure cooker; cover and seal with lid. Cook on high according to manufacturer's instructions, about 40 minutes. Allow steam to release completely. Remove lid and stir balsamic vinegar into beans.
2. 
   

*I added a lot more salt, garlic powder, and other seasonings after it was done. I didn't have cilantro. They turned out great! I'm mostly posting this so I don't forget how to cook them. 

Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced or cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, or mix of parmesan and mozzarella 
• 2 cups spinach, chopped
• ½-1 cup sun dried tomatoes

Instructions

1. In a large skillet add olive oil and cook the chicken on medium high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown on each side and cooked until no longer pink in center. Remove chicken and set aside on a plate.
2. Sauté onion and set aside
3. Add the heavy cream, chicken broth, garlic powder, italian seasoning, and parmesan cheese. Whisk over medium high heat until it starts to thicken. Add the spinach and sundried tomatoes and let it simmer until the spinach starts to wilt. Add the chicken back to the pan and serve over pasta if desired.

We served it with quinoa, but you could do any grain or pasta. 

From here: http://therecipecritic.com/2016/05/creamy-tuscan-garlic-chicken/

Rainbow Cake

Sadie's Rainbow Cake (see photos below)

CAKE
*****

• 2 Boxes of Pillsbury Classic White Cake (use the egg white only directions).
• Betty Crocker gel colors (we used classic yellow and blue, and neon green, purple, pink, orange)
• 8" round cake pans (I would strongly recommend getting good cake pans...maybe Wilton)
• Parchment paper
• Oil spray

*****
Prepare pans by spraying with oil, lining bottom with parchment, then spray the parchment with oil spray.

Weigh empty mixing bowl and write that number down.  Mix both cake mixes at the same time.  Weigh the mixing bowl with the cake batter in it.  Divide that number by 6 and round down about 5 grams (you always will lose several grams when you divide it into bowls).

Pour batter into 6 bowls and weigh to make sure they are all the same. Use liberal amounts of color gel to dye to batter in each bowl.

I baked 2 layers at a time at 350º for 18 minutes.  (we only had 2 cake pans.)

When done baking, immediately remove from pans.

Freeze layers.  Mine never got more than really cold.

With sharp knife, cut around edge of each layer to expose the bright color rather than the browned sides.  If your cake ends up with thin edges and thicker center, cutting off the edge also allows you to cut off some of the "thin" part exposing a thicker colorful layer.

On all layers EXCEPT the top color, slice off the rounded top to create a flat layer.

Frost with a crumb coat, but not all the way to the edge.  Re-freeze layers.

FROSTING
We used 3 recipes of frosting.

• 3 pounds of powdered sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup milk (scant)
• 3 sticks butter-the lighted yellow you can find (we used Trader Joe's salted butter in the blue box)

Use a THICK layer of frosting on each layer.

One Skillet Chicken with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
salt and pepper
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste...this much was too spicy for me and Allan. I'd cut it out entirely if you're serving kids)
1 tablespoon olive oil
⅓ cup finely diced shallots (or red onions...I had yellow onions so that's what I used, and probably did 1/2 small onion)
2 tablespoons salted butter
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or basil

Instructions

1. Using a mallet, pound the chicken breasts/thighs to ½ inch thickness (I used chicken tenders since I didn't have breasts). Sprinkle some salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken.
2. In a small bowl, combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
3. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large oven­safe skillet (I used my cast iron) over medium high heat. Add the chicken and allow to brown on both sides for 2­-3 minutes per side. Don't worry if the chicken isn't cooked completely, we'll finish it in the oven. Remove the chicken to a plate.
5. Reduce the heat to medium, add the shallots/onions to the skillet along with the chicken broth mixture. Using a whisk, scrape the bottom of the pan so all the brown bits are loosened. Let sauce reduce for about 8-­10 minutes or until about ⅓ cup of the sauce remains.
6. When the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat, add the butter and whisk until it melts completely. With the skillet off the heat, add the heavy cream, whisk to combine. Place the skillet back over the heat for just 30 seconds (I skipped this...), DO NOT allow the sauce to boil. Remove from heat, add the chicken back into the pan and drizzle the sauce over the chicken. Place the skillet in the oven for 5­-8 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through. Top with chopped parsley or basil and serve warm with additional lemon slices.

http://www.littlespicejar.com/one-skillet-chicken-with-lemon-garlic-cream-sauce/

*This was SO good. I served it with garlic parmesan mashed potatoes and Allan was seriously impressed. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 3-6 tablespoons red wine vinegar to taste
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup+ olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp cumin

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 3-4 small garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• The juice of two+ small limes or one large one

Instructions

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

See original recipe here - http://www.onceuponachef.com/2014/03/copycat-recipe-chipotle-mexican-grills-chipotle-honey-vinaigrette.html

*Alterations to the original recipe done by Kelli and Allan