Grilled Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

I found this recipe on HGTV this morning and it looks delicious!

Prep: 30 minutes, plus marinating
Yield: 6 servings

Chicken and Marinade Ingredients:

30 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced
2 green onions, minced
1/4 tsp. red chili flakes

Preparation for grilled chicken:

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce with the next five ingredients. Blend well. Add sliced chicken, cover and refrigerate for two to three hours. Remove from refrigerator and thread one chicken slice onto each skewer. Grill over ash-white coals for three to four minutes on one side and then about two minutes on the other side. Be careful not to overcook chicken. Serve with Peanut Sauce on the side.

Ingredients for peanut sauce:

2 tsp. peanut oil
1/3 cup yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 dash Tabasco sauce (more, if desired)
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup chunky peanut butter

Preparation for the peanut sauce:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic and saute for three to four minutes or until onions are translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients except peanut butter. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and stir in peanut butter until well blended. Serve warm. Serve as an appetizer with crisp vegetables.

Tips and Tricks: Chicken may be marinated, skewered and refrigerated the day before. Grill just before the party.

Seven Layer Southwest Salad

Fresh vegetables, black beans and a zesty salad dressing are united in a layered salad with lost of zip.

Yield: 8 servings

1 1/2 c. sour cream

3/4 c. thick and chunky salsa

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 large green bell pepper, diced

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions with tops

1 pkg. (16 oz.) iceberg lettuce salad mix (10 c.)

1 c. (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 c. corn chips (optional)

In bowl, combine sour cream and salsa; mix well and set aside. Drain and rinse beans. Using Dice bell pepper and tomatoes; thinly slice green onions. Layer beans, bell pepper, lettuce, tomatoes and green onions in Large Bowl. Spoon sour cream mixture over top using spreading evenly. Grate cheese over top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with corn chips, if desired, and serve.

Tips and Tricks: For a heartier main dish salad, 2 cups diced cooked chicken can be added between the bell pepper and lettuce layers, if desired. This salad can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Tex-Mex Frittata

Prep/Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

SALSA

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 cup cooked black beans

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

FRITTATA

2 whole eggs

4 egg whites

pinches of dried oregano, sea salt and ground black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

1 cup cooked corn

12 grape tomatoes, cut in half

To make salsa, combine green onions with beans, cilantro and jalapenos. Drizzle with vinegar and olive oil, then toss to mix. Let stand while preparing frittata.

In a bowl, whisk whole eggs with egg whites and seasonings. Coat or spray an oven-proof non-stick medium-sized skillet with olive oil and set over medium heat. Add red onion to skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Add corn and tomatoes, then eggs. Stir to evenly distribute ingredients. Cook just until bottom starts to become firm, 1 to 2 minutes, then bake in preheated 300 degree oven until center is set, 10 to 12 minutes

Tips and Tricks

I skipped the precooking of the onions and just mixed everything in one bowl and poured it into the skillet. I also used a larger pan, yielding a thinner frittata and adjusted cooking times accordingly. For the salsa, I used dried cilantro and left out the jalapenos.

Make It Healthier

Omit salt.

How Kids Can Help

Measure and dump spices. Pour eggs into pan.

Nutrition Facts

1.6 of frittata and 1/4 cup of salsa equals 115 calories, 3.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 14 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 8 g protein, 86mg sodium, 62 mg cholesterol

Steaks With Veggie Salsa

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

1 mesdium zucchini, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
4 4-oz sirloin steaks, trimmed of fat

In a small bowl, combine first seven ingredients plus a pinch of sea salt and 1/2 tsp pepper to make salsa. Then, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. In another bowl, combine chili powder with remaining sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle both sides of steak with spice mixture. Cook until done to taste--2 minutes on each side for medium-rare, 2 1/2 minutes on each side for medium. Let stand 5 minutes, then serve, topped with salsa.

Tips and Tricks
Instead of the chili powder mix, I used the meat rub from this recipe for Broiled Steaks. I also used lemon juice in the veggie salsa because I used the last of the lime juice for the steaks. Instead of a cast-iron skillet, I broiled the steaks for about 7 minutes per side. If your meat is thick, consider slicing it into thinner pieces, it will be easier to cook. Use dried cilantro if you do not have fresh.
Make It Healthier
Omit the salt.
How Kids Can Help
Dump salsa ingredients into bowl and measure spices.

Nutrition Facts
1 4-oz piece of steak plus 1/4 cup salsa equals 240 calories, 7 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 7 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 3 g sugars, 36 g protein, 203 mg sodium, 66 mg cholesterol

Snicker Snack

This yummy mix comes from my days as a Girl Scout.

Prep/Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 8-12 servings

4 cups Cheerios or other oat circle cereal
1 bag milk chocolate chips
2 cups raisins
1 cup peanuts
1/2 cup butter

In a plastic bag, mix together the cereal, peanuts and raisins. Melt the butter in the microwave and pour it over the cereal mix. Toss to coat. When butter has cooled, add the chocolate chips and shake to mix.

Store in a cool, dry place.

Tips and Tricks
Be sure to add the chocolate chips AFTER the butter has cooled. Otherwise you'll end up with a melty mess. Use less butter if you prefer, or change the ingredients to suit your family's tastes.
Make It Healthier
Use unsalted peanuts and trans-fat free spread or unsalted butter.
How Kids Can Help
Older kids can make this recipe by themselves. Younger kids can press the buttons on the microwave and shake the bag to mix the ingredients.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1 pound chicken breasts
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 teaspoons grill seasoning, (like McCormick Montreal Seasoning)
1 pizza dough
Cornmeal handle dough (you can use flour as well)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce, (to taste)
1/2 cup tomato soup (you can use tomato sauce but I think soup gives a better flavor)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles (optional)
3 scallions, thinly sliced


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Preheat grill pan to high.
Place chicken on a plate and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the chicken then season with grill seasoning. When grill is hot, add chicken and cook throughly.

Stretch dough to form pizza into cookie sheet using cornmeal or flour to help you handle it. If you let it rest and warm up a few minutes it will handle even easier.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato soup/sauce.

Remove the chicken from grill and thinly slice it. Add chicken to sauce and coat. Cover the pizza dough with the saucy Buffalo chicken, cheeses, and scallions. Bake 18 minutes or until crisp.

Crab and Cream Chees Wontons

1 pkg Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 can crab meat, drained
2 T flour or Wondra
3 scallions, minced ( I used regular onion and choped it up very small)
1/4 tsp onion poweder
1 egg, beaten
oil for deep fryer
Wonton Wrappers


Finely mince the scallions. Combine with cream cheese, crab meat, and flour or Wondra.

Beat the egg in a small bowl- this will be used to brush the edges of the wonton wrappers befor folding and helps to keep them together.

Place large tablespoon fuls of the crab mixture in the center of each wonton skin and brush edges with egg mixture. Fold over to form a triangel, then press edges together to seal.

Bring the two side edge coners of the triangle to the middle and press these together to form a ring.

Heat oil to 350 degreese in a large heavy bottomed pan, sufficient to cover the wontons. (We used our deep fryer)

Fry wontons until golden turning once, about 2-3 minutes. In order to avoid lowering the temperature of the oil, do not attempt to fry to many at once. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towles and serve.

Supercook.com

It's 5PM at the end of a long day, the kids are crying for dinner, you haven't been to the store, and you have no idea what to make.

Does this sound familiar?

Do you need help?

Check out Supercook.com for a search engine that gives you recipes that you can make right now with what you have on hand.

I read about this site in Guideposts recently and decided to check it out. I've tried other recipe sites before, but wasn't impressed by those that gave me recipes that required ten other ingredients I didn't have on hand.

The Supercook site was easy to navigate and gave me tasty looking, easy, family-friendly recipes to make. Even better, it's free to use. I'm definitely bookmarking it for future use and to help me with my menu plans.

Be sure to visit the site and let us know if you have any other planning sites you like!

Tomato Basil Soup

This amazingly easy soup gets its wonderful flavor from fresh basil.

Prep/Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 2 servings


1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, shredded
1-1/2 teaspoons butter
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth


In a small saucepan, saute onion and carrot in butter until tender. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to a blender; add basil. Cover and process until smooth. Return to the pan; stir in broth and heat through.

Tips and Tricks
This easy recipe took me much less time than 40 minutes. Double or triple the recipe for larger crowds. The carrots in the soup will give it an orangy color. I used green onion in place of regular onion and used my food chopper to finely chop the carrot instead of shredding it. I also did not peel my tomatoes.
Make It Healthier
Omit salt.
How Kids Can Help
Chop carrots and onions with food chopper. Press buttons on blender.

Turkey Lunchbox Wraps

Prep/Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

2 whole wheat tortillas (8 inches), room temperature
4 teaspoons honey mustard
6 ounces thinly sliced deli turkey
2 thin slices Muenster cheese
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 bacon strip, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped seeded cucumber
1/4 cup chopped roasted sweet red pepper

Spread tortillas with mustard. Layer each with turkey, cheese, spinach, carrot, bacon, cucumber and red pepper; roll up tightly.

Tips and Tricks
I omitted the sweet red pepper and made my own honey mustard sauce. My husband and kids liked the honey mustard spread, but I would have preferred the wraps with ranch dressing instead. Use whatever variety of cheese you like. I also finely chopped my carrot instead of shredding it to save my fingers. i also used larger tortillas, so it was helpful to cut them in half once rolled up for neater eating.
Make It Healthier
Use trans-fat free tortillas and center-cut bacon.
How Kids Can Help
Older kids can shred carrots. Younger kids can layer the ingredients and help roll them up.

Mexican Pizza

Prep/Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 slices

1 large onion
1 prebaked Italian bread shell crust (14 ounces)
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
1/3 cup chopped seeded tomato
2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives
1/2 cup coarsely chopped ranch-flavored tortilla chips

Slice half of the onion and chop the rest; set aside. Place crust on an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Spread beans over crust to within 1/2 in. of edges. Top with cheddar cheese and sliced onion.

Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with lettuce, Mexican cheese, chopped onion, tomato, olives and tortilla chips.

Tips and Tricks
I used green onions in place of the regular onion, skipped the Mexican blend cheese and used regular tortilla chips. I also found a tiny can of black olives at my local grocery store. My husband is the only one who likes them, so I placed them on his portion only.
Make It Healthier
Use thin-crust pizza crust. Use fat free refried beans. Use trans-fat free tortilla chips.
How Kids Can Help
Spread beans on crust. Top with cheese and other toppings.

Tuna Stuffed Shells

This recipe comes to us from My Little Corner of the World. I can't wait to try it out!

Tuna Stuffed Shells
Nancy Dell'Aria

COOKING TIME
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

18 jumbo pasta shells
1 can (6 oz) light tuna in oil, well drained
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs
1⁄4 cup finely chopped onion
1 large egg
1⁄4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 can (103⁄4 oz) condensed cream of celery soup
1⁄2 cup milk
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika (optional)


PREPARATION
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat an 11 x 7-in. baking dish with nonstick spray.

2. Boil pasta as package directs until just firm-tender.

3. Meanwhile mix tuna, bread crumbs, onion, egg, 1⁄2 the parsley and the lemon juice to blend.

4. Drain pasta shells. Rinse gently to cool; drain. Fill each shell with 1 Tbsp tuna mixture. Place in prepared dish.

5. Whisk soup and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat; stir in remaining parsley. Pour evenly over shells. Sprinkle with cheese and paprika. Cover with foil. Refrigerate overnight, if desired.

6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until bubbly.

Greek Rice & Lemon Soup

There is a fabulous little Greek restaurant here that makes the best rice and lemon soup. I finally found a recipe to try to duplicate it:

Yield: 6 servings
Prep: 30 minutes

2 Tbs butter
1/3 cup minced green onions with tops
6 cups chicken stock
2/3 cup uncooked white rice
4 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
1/8 tsp white pepper

Melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add green onions. Cook and stir about 3 minutes or until green onions are tender.

Stir in chicken broth and rice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender.

Beat eggs in medium bowl with wire whisk until well beaten. Add lemon juice and 1/2 cup broth mixture to bowl. Gradually return egg mixture to broth mixture in saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over low heat 2 to 3 minutes or until broth mixture thickens enough to lightly coat spoon. Do not boil.

Stir in pepper, if desired. Garnish with fresh mint and lemon peel, if desired.

Suggested Sides:
Fresh Pita Bread

Miniature Shepherd's Pies

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

1 pound ground beef
2-3 large green onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups baby carrots, finely chopped
1 cup petite peas
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 cups mashed potatoes

In a large pot, brown the ground beef. When almost finished, add the onions, carrots and peas. Stir and cook until veggies are tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle corn starch over meat mixture and stir to combine.

Add broth and stir. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Spoon meat mixture into muffin cups. Top with the mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 for twenty minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

Tips and Tricks
Substitute regular onions if you don't have green onions. I used my Pampered Chef food chopper to finely chop the carrots. You can also substitute other veggies. I used corn and I presteamed it in the microwave to save time. I also added some Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce to darken the gravy. I usually make my own mashed potatoes from scratch, but on hot or busy days, will use a pouch of instant flavored potatoes.
Make It Healthier
Use lean ground beef and rinse beef before adding broth. Use low sodium broth.
How Kids Can Help
Chop veggies with food chopper. Measure broth.

Chicken Teriyaki Pasta Salad

Prep: 2 hours (marinating), 10 minutes
Yield: 12 servings


Dressing:
1 cup oil
2/3 cup teriyaki sauce
2/3 cup light wine vinegar
6 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine dressing and mix well.

6 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled & diced
12 oz cooked bowtie pasta

Marinate in dressing at least 2 hours.

Add:
2 oz mandarin oranges, drained
16 oz drained water chesnuts
1 cup honey roasted almonds
1 cup honey roasted peanuts
1 bag dried cranberries
1 bag chopped romaine lettuce
1 bag baby spinach

Toss all together & enjoy!