Citrus Marinade

Lately, I haven't wanted to cook very much, unless it is on my grill.  I don't know if it is the heat, or just wanting to enjoy the last few weeks of summer.  But because of that, I have been able to try out some new marinades.  This one was delicious.  A little citrus-y, a little mustard-y.  The recipe said to marinade it for eight hours.  I never remember to do that, so this got about 30 minutes.  And it still tasted great.  I marinaded chicken, but I bet this would be great with pork, too.  Sorry that the pictures aren't great.  I keep forgetting to take pictures until the last minute, or we've cleaned up dinner, or all I have clean is a Blue's Clues plate.  Don't let that deter you from this recipe.

Citrus Marinade
adapted from: food.com

1/4 c. cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. mustard
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 lime, juiced 
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. oil
pepper, to taste
chicken breasts or pork chops

In a shallow bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Marinade your meat for up to eight hours.  Then grill it until it is cooked through.  

Easy Chicken Teriyaki

Dustin made this for our family on a Sunday evening.  It was delicious and pretty low maintenance.  (Actually, very low maintenance for me!)  

Easy Chicken Teriyaki
adapted from: allrecipes.com

2 chicken breasts, cut into thirds
1 Tbsp. oil
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp. ginger (we used slightly less than 1/2 Tbsp)
2 cloves garlic, minced
vegetables, sliced 

Pour the oil into a large skillet.  Add the chicken and cook over medium heat until it is no longer pink in the center.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.  Pour half of your sauce over the chicken and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add the sliced vegetables to the pan and the rest of the sauce and cook it all until the vegetables are tender.  Serve it over rice.

Chicken Roll-Ups

My mom made these a lot when I was growing up.  Then I had them at a church function a few years ago and liked the changes that the lady made.  They felt a little more "adult" to me.  I like the added mushrooms in the chicken and especially like coating the rolls in something crunchy.  I also doctor up the sauce quite a bit.  They are still a chicken stuffed roll, so most of my kids will eat them (I usually end up leaving mushrooms out of half of them).  They have a really "homey" taste to me (not like gangster homey, but like comfort food homey).

Chicken Roll-Ups
adapted from: Elaine from my old ward in Logan and my mom, Lynne'

3 c. cooked, shredded chicken
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can drained sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
dash curry powder
dash onion powder
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 package stuffing, crushed (or italian bread crumbs or panko)
2 cans refrigerated croissant rolls

Sauce (to pour over)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can water
1/2 can milk
salt and pepper to taste
dash garlic powder
dash onion powder
dash parsley flakes

In a large bowl stir together the softened cream cheese, garlic powder, curry powder and onion powder.  Add the mushrooms and chicken and stir it to combine.  I cook my chicken by cutting it into large chunks, covering it with a paper towel and then microwaving it, a few minutes at a time, until it is no longer pink in the center.  Then I stick it in the fridge until it is cool enough to handle and then put my kids on the task of shredding it.  This has saved me immense amounts of time on boiling my chicken for shredding.  You can also use canned chicken.
Separate the rolls and lay them flat on a baking sheet.  Spread the top of each with about 2 Tbsp of the chicken mixture.

Roll up the rolls with the mixture inside, starting at the bigger end of the roll.  Try to seal off all edges.  This will keep the insides contained a little better.  Dip the rolls in the melted butter, then roll them in the stuffing crumbs (or whatever you are using).  Bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  While they are baking, in a small saucepan combine the cream of chicken soup, water, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and parsley flakes.  Stir while cooking it over a medium low heat until it simmers.  Then reduce the heat to low.  Serve it over the cooked chicken roll-up (let each person add their own sauce).

Easy Maple Granola

I found this recipe from Alton Brown, on the Food Network. It is an easy granola, and was really crispy, light and sweet.  It may become my new favorite granola!  Nicole just happened to make the same granola the other day and also loved it.

Easy Maple Granola
adapted from: Alton Brown (www.foodnetwork.com)

3 c. rolled oats
1 c. sliced almonds
3/4 c. shredded, sweetened coconut
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. maple syrup (I used homemade)
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 dashes nutmeg


Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, coconut and brown sugar.  Stir it well.  In another bowl, mix together the maple syrup, oil, salt, vanilla and nutmeg.  Combine the oil mixture in with the oat mixture and stir them well.  Spread the granola evenly onto two cookie sheets.  Bake it for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring it every 20 minutes.  When it is done, let it cool completely before putting it in a zip lock bag.  

Mango Sauce (2 Versions, Sweet and Spicy)

One night we had 3 ripe mangoes, sitting, beckoning to us to eat them.  I love mangoes.  They are my favorite fruit.  We looked online for a main dish involving mangoes and ended up finding two great ideas!  Dinner and dessert, for the price of the same mango!  We found a chef on youtube who taught me how to properly cut, squish and dice a mango (see pictures below).  Then I looked at his food blog and adapted the spicy sauce from that website.  
Here is the way to finely dice your mango.  First, peel it, using a peeler.  Discard the peels.  Then continue to peel the actual mango onto your cutting board.  

Next, using your fingers, squish all that mango juice onto your pile of mango slices.  A lot of juice will come off of that mango.  I was a little surprised.

Now take a large knife and finely dice your mango.  If you puree it, according to the youtube guy, it will throw the universe off.  So don't do that.  Just dice it.

Now you are ready to add the other delicious ingredients.


Sweet Mango Sauce
adapted from: www.uk.answers.yahoo.com


1 large, very ripe mango, finely diced
1/2 can coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 c. brown sugar (plus a teeny bit more)


Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and heat it over low heat until it is warm.  And that is it. Split the sauce in half and reserve one half to put over vanilla ice cream.  Mmmm.

Using the other half of your mango sauce, make this recipe to put over grilled chicken:

Spicy/Sweet Mango Sauce

adapted from: www.foodwishes.blogspot.com

1/2 recipe sweet mango sauce (see above)

1/4 tsp. minced garlic (actually, just a slightly less)

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1 sprig cilantro, chopped

In a medium sauce pan, combine all the ingredients and stir gently.  Serve over grilled chicken.

Chicken Milano

I have made this recipe many times.  I was going to make it for a church dinner, but couldn't perfect it in the slow cooker.  Needless to say, we ate it almost every night for about a week.  In order to avoid an uprising from my family, I waited a few months before trying it again.  And it was just as delicious as I remember (I never could get it to work right in the slow cooker).  The original recipe calls for heavy whipping cream (that is how you know it is going to be delicious).  I didn't have any this last time that I made it, so I used evaporated milk instead and it still tasted great!  So, if you are in a pinch, substitute and try different things.  I have served mine with steamed red potatoes or fettuccine noodles and it is great either way.


Chicken Milano
adapted from: www.allrecipes.com


1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 c. chicken broth, divided
1 c. heavy whipping cream (or evaporated milk worked, too)
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut in thirds
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or a sprinkle or two of dried basil)


In a large sauce pan, melt the butter and saute' the garlic for about one minute, on medium-low heat.  Add the sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms and 3/4 cup of the chicken broth, bring it to a boil over medium heat and cook it until the tomatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the heavy whipping cream and boil it gently until it begins to thicken, or until it will coat the back of a spoon.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.  Pour the oil into a skillet and cook the chicken until there is no more pink on the inside.  When the chicken is cooked through, pour the remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth over the top and let it simmer.  Pour the cream sauce over the top of the chicken and stir in the basil.  

Vanilla Pudding Sauce over Blackberry Pancakes

This was amazing!  I wish I could eat this every morning, or evening, as was the case today.  It was amazing over blackberry pancakes.  Doesn’t that just sound incredible, Vanilla Pudding Sauce over Blackberry Pancakes.  It was as good as it sounds.

Vanilla Pudding Sauce

Adapted from Creations by Kara

2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla

Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg thoroughly and gradually stir in. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, till mixture comes to a boil. (Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat; if it gets hot too fast, the egg will cook.) Boil for at least 1 minute, still stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm or chilled.