Kid Friendly!

I'm in that season of life where my kids can't seem to coordinate things.

For example, if they would just get their winter colds at the same time, as opposed to having one get sick, then sharing it with the other, who then shares it back again, etc... so that they are sick (off and on) all winter, that would be GREAT.

My kids can't seem to agree on what dinners they like. If one likes it, the other doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I don't make separate meals for my kids. What I make for dinner, I make for dinner and that's that... but it sure would be nice if they BOTH sat down to the dinner table, a look of joy on their sweet faces as they explain, "OH MOTHER! What a wonderful dinner you have prepared for us!"

What! A mama can dream, can't she?

I have, however, come across a dinner that, though it doesn't render them speechless with excitement, DOES get eaten without any complaint. In fact, my 5-year-old actually said, "Oh, THIS chicken? I like THIS chicken!" and my daughter, who generally is a good eater, sat down and munched away.

Can I get an "amen"?

All around, this dinner is actually fun to eat. It's like eating a sourdough pretzel with mustard, only it's a chicken dish. It's fast and easy, and only requires 3 ingredients (unless you decide to dip your tenders in honey mustard dressing, which I highly recommend). And your kids will like it!

Can I get just one more "amen"?

Gluten Free Pretzels 'n Mustard Chicken Tenders

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenders
1/4 cup yellow mustard
3-4 cups of gluten free pretzels

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

Place the pretzels in a gallon size baggie and smash with a meat mallot or rolling pin until ground into very small pieces. Pour pretzel bits onto a large plate.

Place mustard on another large plate.

Using a basting brush (or your hands if you don't have a brush!), thinly coat a piece of chicken with mustard. Then place the mustard-covered tender in the pretzels bits, flip it over and press down to coat on all sides. Place tender on the cookie sheet and repeat for the rest of the chicken.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 9 minutes, flip the chicken tenders and cook for another 9 minutes.

Soup's On!

Since embarking on my journey to embrace more soup (not literally, obviously…. hugging one’s soup leads to much pain and many burns) I have been surprisingly pleased. I have found that soup really is my friend and although I don’t think I’ll ever say something like, “Boy, could I go for a nice bowl of soup right about now!”, I do believe that I may come to a place where homemade soup becomes a regular occurrence in this house.

I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.

It’s recipes like this one that really help move me onward towards that goal. Something hearty, with lots of deep flavor… that’s what is required in order for me to sit down to a bowl of soup. Chicken broth and some spindly noodles ain’t cutting it, folks.

Now… when I add to this equation the fact that it’s a crock pot meal… well, NOW you’ve got my attention! Not only do I not have to do a lot of work, but there is something to smelling your dinner cooking all day that makes you anticipate it. For someone who isn’t a soup lover, that’s a very good thing!

Best of all, you can change things up in this one. Rather than a regular can of diced tomatoes, try using the diced tomatoes with green chilies in it. Add diced jalapeno… or turkey instead of chicken… or whatever else floats your boat!

Most of all, have fun!

(Did I really just encourage to have fun with soup? I must be getting closer to my goal after all!)

Gluten Free Chicken Taco Soup

1 onion, chopped

1 (15 oz) can black beans

1 (15 oz) can creamed corn

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 ½ cups chicken stock

2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes (do not drain)

1 pouch taco seasoning of your choice

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Toppings of your choice (optional): shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, corn chips, etc…

Place the chopped onion, black beans, corn, chicken stock, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in the slow cooker. Add the taco seasoning and stir to combine. Lay the chicken breasts on top of everything, press down slightly to submerge. Cook on low for 5 hours.

Remove the chicken breasts, shred and return to the slow cooker for another hour. Serve with toppings.

Serves 8.

Kung POW! This One's a Knockout!

With November comes my husband’s birthday. Since there are many dishes he loves that, frankly, make me gag (think crab, fish, most Chinese food) I try my darnedest to give him a little treat… a little taste… of the things I don’t make for him the rest of the year. (You know, on paper… that sentence sounds incredibly selfish. Huh.)

Anyhoo….

Last year, it was Shrimp Fra Diavolo. *shudder* Nasty stuff, but he loved it. So, mission accomplished. This year, I wanted to go a different route… maybe something in the Chinese food world. But, I knew that I would also be feeding the kids, my mom and my aunt who is visiting us from Ohio. Why is that a potential problem? Tim loves spicy food. The spicier, the better. Why, I’ll never know. Personally, I like to be able to actually taste my food, not melt the inside of my mouth. But that’s another subject.

So typically, I would make him a spicy dish. Since I wouldn't be cooking for just Tim, I needed to keep the spice level down. Way down. This year, I went with Kung Pao Chicken. And by jing, it was quite good! Not spicy, bursting with flavor… and my daughter even liked it! (Truthfully, that’s not much of a shocker. The shocker would have been if my 3 year old liked it, but since he doesn’t like much, I didn’t bother with him. Better to focus on the positive, right?)

I served this up with some sticky rice (…yummmmmmm) and steamed broccoli. It was simple, it was easy, it was delicious. Sorry, by the way, for the slightly blurry picture. It was my hubby’s big day and I just took a quick shot to be able to show you the dish.

Cheesy pun coming your way, courtesy of Katie…

Want a little Kung POW on your tongue? Try this Kung Pao!

Gluten Free Kung Pao Chicken

¼ cup Catalina dressing, divided

¼ cup peanut or almond butter

1 Tbsp GF soy sauce

2 tsp chili sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp minced gingerroot

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces

In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp Catalina dressing, peanut/almond butter, soy sauce and chili sauce until combined.

In a large skillet, add the remaining dressing and warm on medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute. Turn the heat up for medium-high and add the chicken, stirring frequently. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the peanut/almond butter mixture. Cook for about 7 minutes until the chicken in cooked through, stirring frequently to scrap up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Serve over rice with a side of steamed broccoli. Serves 4.

Cheater!

Cravings. They are just not our friends, are they? You go along... doing your thing... eating right and feeling great when all of a sudden - WHAM! - it hits. Something comes to mind that you haven't eaten in ages and is a total no-no... whether it's because it's chocked full of gluten or it has more fat in it than you are supposed to consume in a week... or BOTH.

I mentioned in a previous post ("Chinese Food, My Way") that I love... love... love... Sweet and Sour Chicken. The only problem is that I just cannot justify the deep fried chicken in sugary sweet sauce. It just screams "guilty conscience". So, I don't eat it. I just dream about it.

Often.

I do have, however, a really yummy recipe for a much lighter version of my beloved S&S Chicken. The chicken isn't breaded and deep fried and the sauce is not as sickeningly sweet. It's a light, gluten free AND diet-friendly version that I go to when I'm really feelin' the craving for the evil version.

Get thee back, Chinese takeout Sweet and Sour Chicken!

Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 stalks celery, cut on the bias

1 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup each yellow and red pepper, cut in strips

1/3 cup pineapple juice

2-3 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

4 tsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp tamari sauce (or soy sauce)

3/4 cup pineapple chunks

Cut chicken in strips. In a large skillet brink the chicken and stock to a summer over medium heat. Add celery, onion and peppers. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Mix together the juice, vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch and tamari sauce in a small bowl until blended. Add to skillet and bring to a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes until thickened. Add pineapple chunks. Simmer for about 2 minutes until heated through.

Serve over rice. Serves 4 people.

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

Summer is not my favorite season. It’s not even on the list of my favorite seasons. If it were up to me, summer would be outlawed. (Perhaps, environmentally speaking, it’s a good thing I haven’t been trusted with great influential power.) Summer is, however, my family’s favorite culinary time of year. It’s corn on the cob season! My husband’s eyes will involuntarily drift to the corn fields around mid-June, scoping out the crops to see if they are getting close to “knee high by the fourth of July”. We are blessed to live near Amish country and love to take full advantage of living so close. Tim’s commute involves driving right past farms with roadside stands of just-picked-this-morning veggies. We do our part to help farmers maintain their land. No need to thank us for this sacrificial act.

By the way, looking for perfect corn on the cob every time? Cobs in pot, covered in cold water. 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp lemon juice in the water. Bring to a full boil, leave at full boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, let sit 10 minutes. Serve immediately! OK, on to the real reason for this post…

What to have with our delicious corn? I went with balsamic glazed chicken tenders. It’s slightly sweet, slightly tangy, altogether delicious. Throw some summer fruit on your plate alongside the corn and chicken and you’ve got yourself a pretty healthy summer dinner.

OK… and butter. Because corn on the cob without a little butter is just fundamentally wrong.

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar, divided

1 cup chicken broth, divided

4 Tbsp white sugar, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced and divided

2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning

4 skinless, boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 boneless, skinless chicken tenders

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, ½ cup broth, 2 Tbsp white sugar, 1 clove of minced garlic and 1 tsp Italian herb seasoning. Pour into a gallon zip bag and add the chicken. Marinate in the fridge for at least a half hour, flipping the bag halfway through.

Repeat directions for the marinade, setting the second batch aside to use after the chicken is cooked.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook 5-7 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from the pan, place on a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Add the second batch of the balsamic mixture into the pan, increase the heat and cook until it reduces down and thickens into a glaze, about 10 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan, turning each piece to coat and to reheat through.