Easy California Chicken Marinade

1 c soy sauce
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter, melted
1 t dry mustard
1/4 c water
3-4 chicken breasts, cut into strips

Place all of the marinade ingredients together in a ziploc bag or tupperware.  Add the chicken, marinade for up to 12 hours.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on a greased cookie sheet or stone.  Broil the chicken for 8-10 mins, or until the chicken is cooked through.  (Time will depend on how thick your chicken pieces are.)  Chicken can also be grilled.

Maple Brown Sugar Ham

7-8 lb bone-in spiral ham (or boneless)
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c natural maple syrup
2 c pineapple juice
dash of nutmeg
1/2 t salt

Unwrap the ham and discard the flavor packet.  Place the ham into a large 6-7 quart slow cooker, flat side down.  Rub the brown sugar on all sides.  Mix together the pineapple juice, maple syrup, nutmeg, and salt. Pour the juice over the ham.  Cover the ham and cook on low for 4-5 hours.  An hour before serving, baste the ham with the collected juices from the bottom of the slow cooker.  When cooking is done, remove carefully and let it rest on a cutting board for 10 mins before carving.  Serve with the extra juices on the side for dipping.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

One of my new favorites (and my kids like it too!):

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c to 1 c salsa (verde or regular)
1 T lime juice
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
3 T cilantro, chopped
2 green onion stalks, diced
2 c cooked and shredded chicken
1 c cheddar or Monterey cheese, shredded
flour or corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 and line a cookie sheet with tinfoil that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.  In a bowl, mix cream cheese, salsa, lime juice,and seasonings.  Stir to combine, then add cilantro and green onions.  Add chicken and cheese, combine well.  Place 2 - 3 T of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.  Roll it up as tightly as possible.

Place filled taquitos seam-side down on the cookie sheet, making sure they don't touch each other.  When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle some kosher salt on top.  Place in a pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.  Serve immediately.  Taquitos can be dipped in salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.

Sift Flour no more!

Tip O' The Day:

(don't get your hopes up, I'm not sure I can do this on a daily basis, but it sounded good!) ; )

I was on this fabulous website the other day (who doesn't love that place!?!) and found one of the comments to have some amazing advice.  I love to bake, and part of the recipe has always said to "sift the flour" before you measure.  Seriously???  I have not sifted flour since ye ole days when I was a young thing playing with the flour  . . . and making serious messes . . . . but I digress.

One of the comments suggested using a regular whisk, stir the flour (whilst still in the flour tupperware--or whatever you keep yours in), which has the same effect as sifting, only lots less messy and much more time efficient.

YAAY!!!

New Foodie Site!

I just found the MOST FUN site--it is my new fave because not only does it have amazingly tempting recipes (I want to try them ALL!), but it has a recipe for the Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette at Cafe Rio!

Seriously, JACKPOT!

We go through this stuff like water . . . I did ask a worker at the famed restaurant if he could sell me the recipe without being shot, and he was a little more than hesitant.  He said they use three different recipes to make this one, so it wasn't really give-out-able.  I think he was just worried about being shot.

Anyway, go check it out!

New Favorite Dinner!

These turned out SOOOOO good!  Rave reviews from eldest son and husband, and trainer too.  (yes, I try to bribe them but it hasn't worked out very well thus far.)  They are even good the next day when they're are not so crispy, although I'm sure if you warmed them in the oven they'd be crispier than microwave-warming . . . . just sayin'.  Anyway, this is a recipe from one of my favorite websites.  I had a couple necessary changes, so those are in blue.  Seriously yummy. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Flautas

1/2 c sour cream

1/2 c Lawry's Mexican Chile & Lime Marinade with Lime Juice, divided (I couldn't find this, so I used one of those powder mix envelopes that sounded similar--it was for a Baja Lime marinade for fish or chicken.  I mixed it up like the package directed, then used it for the sauce inside the flauta, some with the chicken, and some with more sour cream for dipping)

1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded

flour tortillas

1/2 t cumin

salt and pepper

1 c cheddar jack cheese, grated

1.  Mix sour cream and 2 T of the marinade in a small bowl.  Mix chicken and the remainder of the marinade in another bowl.  Set aside.

2.  Microwave tortillas until softened (usually only 10-20 seconds.  I actually didn't do this as I used them right out of the bag and they were fine.) : )

3.  Spoon about 2 T sour cream mix on tortilla, spreading across center.  Top with chicken, then about 2 T cheese.  Roll up tightly and place seam-side down on a baking sheet. (I used about 12 of the smaller-size tortillas and filled a cookie sheet.)

4.  Spray with cooking oil so they get crispy and bake at 425 for about 15 minutes or until they are crispy and brown.  Serve with more of the sour cream sauce and/or guac and salsa.  Yum!

: )

Yummy-licious Post-Workout Smoothie

Today I ran.  And ran.  And then was made to do nasty ab exercises on top of it all.

Again.

It really is my fault, I keep going back.  As one of my trainers was leaving today, he said, "Don't you just love Sean?" (my other trainer) "Of course!" I replied "He's your best . . . torture device."

OK, so that last part was probably not-so-under-my-breath, but needless to say, they get results, and that's why I go, right?  And they're really great guys, funny, and fun to talk to, which helps ; )

So today, craving some fruity goodness and not having any cash (or time to drive to the smoothie-makers), I decided to make one, so here you go:

Peach-Mango Love

1 1/4 c Pina Colada Crystal Light from Uraguay (ok, I realize that not all of you have this precious commodity, so you can use apple juice instead.  Pineapple juice would be yummy too.)

1/2 c frozen mango chunks

1/2 c frozen peach chunks

1 coconut sorbet from Costco's box mix of frozen love

1 T protein powder

Yum.  Satisfying and totally delicious, and something I don't have to share.  (Mostly because no one else likes the pina colada thing, but hey, their loss!)

Now if it would just help me not be sore tomorrow . . .

; )