Pepita Crusted Chicken GF

I looooved this recipe! I have seen some recipes for Pepita crusted fish and....well...sadly I don't do fish. Just the smell gags me. :) Seeing how I don't do fish, I figured I would come up with a chicken recipe and while I was at it, why not make a few sauces for it?! This is a must try!

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 tbs olive oil
1 C Pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)

1 C Slivered Almonds toasted
1 Tbs Cumin
4 eggs
3 Tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 C plain Greek yogurt
1 Serrano pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro
6 large tomatillos
2 limes juiced
3 cloves garlic
1 boiler onion or shallot

Directions

Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over md/high heat until lightly browned. Put pepitas, almonds and cumin in food processor and chop until coarsely chopped. Dump those into a shallow dish. (I use cake pans) In another shallow dish whisk together eggs, 2 tsp salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken breasts in the egg wash and then in the Pepita mixture. Coat completely and place in a hot skillet with 1 Tbs olive oil. Brown both sides and then transfer to a baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. While your chicken bakes; Put 1 tsp salt, tomatillos, cilantro (reserve 2 tbs), juice of limes, garlic and onion/shallot into a food processor. Puree until liquefied. Pour into a skillet and simmer for 20 min on lowest heat setting. In a separate dish put yogurt, 2 tbs cilantro and very finely chopped Serrano pepper. I remove the seeds to remove the extreme heat. If you prefer hot foods leave the seeds in. After the chicken is baked through serve with the two sauces.

Hummus GF

So, if you haven't gathered by now.....I LOVE MEDITERRANEAN FOOD! I don't remember the exact day I was first introduced to this tastiness, but boy do I love it and it is super good for you! This could be a meal in itself....for me at least lol! I first started buying hummus at the store and it was always hit or miss. You never quite know what you are gonna get. It also costs a pretty penny for such itty bitty containers of it. I decided to boycott store bought hummus and make my own. This recipe makes a ton of hummus. I took it to a party and still had enough leftovers to send some home with 3 people. You could cut it in half if it is just for a few people. eat up!

Ingredients

4 Cans Garbanzo beans/Chick peas
4 Cloves Garlic
2 Lemons juiced
5 Tsp Cumin
1 1/2 Tsp Sea salt
1 C Olive Oil
(you can add 1/3 C tahini if you want to. It does add a nice flavor)

Directions

Drain beans and peel garlic. Throw everything into a food processor and puree until a smooth consistency. I like to add a few chives or green onions to the top. Tastes yummy and looks nice. Feta cheese is also a must have with hummus. It makes it! Serve with homemade Naan go here for my whole wheat Naan recipe.

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ok Ok, so I know I said GF Banana muffins, buuuuut I lost the flippin recipe and so I will have to wait and post it when I find the piece of scrap paper I wrote it all down on.....as if that will ever happen....I will most likely be making up a new one lol! Anyhow, I made these cupcakes for my friend Shelly. They had a baby and I took them a meal and wanted to come up with a dessert using my old bananas. Well, They tasted good, but they definitely stick to the cupcake wrapper. So, Don't use the papers!!! Just grease the muffin tin and bake em that way. This is my way of indulging in some chocolate and cake. :)

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

• 1/2 cup raw honey

• 3 eggs, room temperature

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup almond milk

• 2 large bananas, chopped

Chocolate cream cheese Frosting:

• 2/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1/3 cup Oikos caramel Greek yogurt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup raw honey

• 2/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 c powdered sugar

Directions

 Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl; set aside. Beat yogurt and the honey with an electric mixer in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to blend into the mixture before adding the next. Add in the vanilla. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Add in the chopped bananas, mixing just enough to evenly combine. Pour the batter into prepared cups. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting by beating all wet frosting ingredients together. Then add in dry ingredients and whip. Refrigerate the frosting until the cupcakes cool completely. Frost once fully cooled. The frosting is a little runnier than most because there is very little sugar in them. I keep them refrigerated to keep it firm and because there is yogurt in it.

Pasties

Pasties....not to be confused with the hootie decorations!! :) While the two are spelled the same, pasties (pah-stys) and pasties (pay-stys) are very different things! For those of you who have ever visited the upper peninsula Michigan or the Mackinaw area you know what I am talking about. These tasty guys are a sort of  beefy pot pie-ish thing. I am not so much a meat and potatoes type, but these suckers are soooo good! When I started looking into recipes I couldn't believe how much butter and unnecessary junk were in these! I was really excited to try my hand at modifying this recipe. We were up in the U.P. Michigan last week at my parents house. They too enjoy a good pasty, so I knew they would be good people to try my new version. I must say I was quite pleased and I pretty sure they enjoyed them just as much! You gotta try these things! Especially if you or your family love meat and potatoes! Oh yeah, and ya gotta make the gravy! It makes the Pasty!! Eat up!

Ingredients

4 1/4 fine ground whole wheat flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c butter or butter substitute
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
1 cup cold water

1 pound boneless round or chuck steak or chuck roast cut into 1/4 in cubes, cut into 1-inch cubes (I cut it then I beat the heck out of them to really tenderize it so it ends up being pieces rather than cubes)
2 red potatoes, peeled and cubed (1/4 inch)
1 c onion, chopped
1 c rutabaga, cubed (1/4 in)
1 carrots, diced (1/4 in)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour baking soda, baking powder and salt and salt. Cut in cold butter and yogurt until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate while cutting the veggies. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Chop all veggies and meat. In a large bowl, combine meat, potatoes, onion, rutabaga and chopped carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Divide dough into six pieces, and shape into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 8 inch round. Place approximately 1 cup filling on one half of each. Draw the other half of the pastry over the filling. Crimp edges to seal in filling. Place on prepared baking sheet.Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. While baking, prepare the gravy

Gravy

1 1/2 boxes beef broth
6 cubes beef bouillon
6 tbs corn starch

Directions
Bring all but 1 cup broth and bouillon to a boil. In the 1 cup of cold broth, whisk in the 6 Tbs corn starch until dissolved. Pour into hot broth whisking the whole time. Let simmer until it thickens.

Serve pasties hot with gravy all over the top. (Not gonna lie, this looks good but I dump way more gravy on top!)

The Weekly Dish

Me and the hubs in Mackinaw City. We had a mini vaca last week. (Hence the pastie creation in this weeks recipe lineup.)

I have decided that I will only be doing 3-4 recipes a week. At least through the summer. We are outside playing  and gardening so much and I don't want to take my outside time to blog everyday. I figure you are all doing the same so I am hoping that won't be too much of a problem. Oh how I can't wait until my garden veggies are ready! I will be making loads and loads of fresh vegetable foods as soon as my good ole garden gets its behind in gear and produces me some veggies!! :)


Pasties
Hummus
Pepita crusted chicken
Banana Muffins GF

75% Healthy Cupcakes GFCF

I decided to work on a cupcake recipe because it was my friend Nikki's birthday. I figured when better to do it than for a birthday!?!? These Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting are quite yummy if you are use to the whole wheat flavor. I call them 75% healthy because the frosting does have powdered sugar in it. However, it isn't like you make cupcakes everyday, so a little sugar on birthdays is doable. :) This also can be GFCF quite easily. Substitute the flour in the cupcakes and the rest is already done for you! Give these a try for your next party!!!

In case you wondered if your kids would like these, here is your proof! :) Straight out of the tub he plowed one of these tasty treats! So much for staying clean! 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (use 1c almond and 1coconut flour for GF)
• 1 cup raw honey
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid (could use plain or vanilla Greek yogurt)
• 4 Tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with 18 paper baking cups.
2. Measure the apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill with almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups. Let stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk mixture, honey, coconut oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. (15 minutes) Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, frost with frosting.

Gluten Free and Casein Free Frosting

 1 pound box of confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar and confectioners' sugar are the same)
 ½ c almond milk
 1 t vanilla
 ¼ c (use Earth Balance for casein free)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

Beat with an electric mixer, scraping the bowl often, until it reaches the desired consistency. I put it in a frosting bag with a simple round tip to frost, but you could just slather it on.

Crock Pot Steel Cut Oats GF

This is a great idea for weekends, or if you have family in from out of town. It is a really great hearty breakfast that is soooo amazingly tasty. My mom had a recipe and she asked me to add something to it to make it better. How fun! So, I took her little recipe and ran with it. Now, the point of this is to let it cook over night and then it is ready when you wake up! How easy is that?! My mom had an excellent idea.....This cooks for 6 hours....who wants to only sleep 6 hours?! So, she got a timer...You know, like the ones you buy to plug your lights into so they come on and go off on their own? She plugs her crock pot into the timer and sets it for 2 am. That way it comes on in the middle of the night and is ready at 8am when you wake up! How smart is that?! I really really think you need to try this! It is soooo good!

Ingredients

2 C Steel cut oats (also called groats)
2 C dried cranberries
8 C water
4 Tsp Vanilla extract
2 Tsp cinnamon
2 C Canned peaches chopped
1 C Chopped walnuts
1//4 C maple syrup
2 Tbs Raw honey

Directions

Put oats, cranberries, water, vanilla and cinnamon in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Once finished add walnuts, peaches, syrup and honey. Mix well and let it warm through. Additional syrup can be added to each persons serving desired.

Iskender

Strange name I know, but it is a Turkish meal hence the Turkish name. My sister had this last month with she was in Turkey and requested this for a meal. Now keep in mind I have never tasted this, so it wasn't quite right when I made it...I was a little heavy handed on the cumin, so I have modified the recipe to make it more authentic. For those of you who are a little cautious with foreign food this is a good starter. It isn't too far out there with the spices, it is fairly mild. Enjoy the Taste of Turkey!

Ingredients

2Tbs Olive Oil

4 Chicken breasts

3 Yellow onions

5 cloves of garlic

32oz Tomato Sauce

1/2 Tsp Cumin

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

1 tsp Paprika

Directions

Cut chicken into cubes. Chop onions and garlic. Saute all three in a skillet in oil until chicken juices run clear. add sauce, cumin, paprika . Simmer on low for 15 min to meld the flavors together. Serve over Naan (see earlier post for recipe) and top with plain Greek Yogurt. I liked mine with some feta, but my sister gave it a big thumbs down cause it took away from the authenticity, but I liked it! :)