Recipes and Fall tips

Our ladies' group decided to start sharing recipes at our bi-monthly meetings. This is what I'm sharing this week:


Tasty Salsa Lime Chicken

Note: Requires at least 30 min of marinating time- (prepare morning of or night before if possible)

Ingredients:

1 cup chunky salsa

2 tbsp Dijon-style mustard

3 tbsp lime juice (fresh recommended)

1 lime, segmented

2 tbsp olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (filet/split to reduce cooking time if desired)

Salt, cumin and garlic powder to taste

Fresh cilantro for topping if desired


1.       In a shallow nonporous dish (casserole dish works well) combine the salsa, mustard and lime juice. Mix well, add chicken, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 min.

2.       Heat large skillet on medium heat with olive oil. Remove chicken from marinade and add to skillet. Season with 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp cumin and 1 tbsp garlic powder. Sauté until browned on all sides. Meanwhile, boil remaining marinade in a saucepan for 4-5 min. (Be careful not to burn! May need to add water to avoid this)

3.       Add boiled marinade to chicken and sauté another 5 minutes or more until chicken juices run clear and marinade starts to glaze. Remove chicken to serving platter and then raise heat in skillet and boil marinade for 1 additional minute. Water may be added to make the glaze the consistency you prefer. Spoon marinade over chicken and top each breast with 1 tbsp fat free sour cream, 1 lime wedge and fresh cilantro if desired.

You can also grill the chicken and cook the marinade separately then spoon over chicken.

This recipe courtesy of the message boards at Diet Free Life


Apple Pork Chop Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb pork loin chops (can use boneless if desired)

Seasoned flour coating (1/2 c flour, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp paprika, cayenne to taste if desired)

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

½ c chopped onions

1 c thinly sliced cored apples, leave peel on

¼ c honey barbeque sauce

3 tbsp minced garlic or 1.5 garlic cloves


1.       Combine flour and spices listed except salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Season chops liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge chops in flour mixture until well coated.

2.       In a large skillet, brown the chops on both sides in olive oil and butter. Add onions, apple slices, BBQ sauce and garlic. Cover and simmer 30 min or until chops are cooked through and tender.

We like to add a can of drained and rinsed green beans to this so our veggies have a sweet BBQ flavor.

This recipe courtesy of subscription based meal planning service we loved! $5 a month people!


5-minute Hummus

Ingredients:

1 15oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed

1 clove garlic (or minced garlic)

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste), optional

1 tsp cumin, ¼ tsp paprika, ¾ tsp salt to taste

1.       In a food processor or blender, puree the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt and tahini (if using) until smooth and creamy. Add 1-2 tbsp water as needed to achieve desired consistency.

2.       Drizzle with olive oil and top with paprika before serving.

This one is from a blog I subscribe to. She also has a great recipe blog. Show some love to Megan.


Then today I was able to pick through my latest Real Simple magazine.

I confess I've been getting these since before I was married, but rarely looked through them. Today I took the time to, and I must say, there are a lot of helpful hints! Here are just a few things I took from this issue.


1. Use old books as Christmas and gift deco: Tear pages from unwanted books, shape into a cone, secure with 1 piece of tape. Multiples of these in different page sizes would be great to grace a mantle or shelf for some modern holiday flair. Adding a pre-made sticky bow to the top would be so simple to jazz it up even more!

2. Use a box cutter to make a well in a book to hold and disguise a small gift. Wrap book.

3. For giving jewelry, back a poignant page from a book with cardboard and then pierce jewelry through page as a display.

4. Go to tgiblackfriday.com to get the inside scoop on black Friday deals before the ads are printed.

5. Want Christmas e-cards that look more like the real deal? Try paperlesspost.com $10 for 150 e-cards.

6. Add 1 or 2 spoonfuls of pumpkin puree to spice up traditional pancakes.

7. Visit Kleenex.com to send a free Share Pack of tissues to a sick friend or family member.

8. Diyornot.com- a website with the estimated time and cost (with instructions) for over 300 DIY projects and cost of hiring it out. Recommendations to pay or DIY. Written by 2 former NYT columnists.

And a random tip from a Yahoo! article on holiday scams and safety- Do not put your actual home address into your "home" favorite in your GPS. If a thief steals your vehicle, or just your GPS- they'll know exactly where you live. Instead- put a nearby place like a gas station, church or school. I contend that if they steal your actual car- they'll get your address from your registration or some other identifying information in the car. But I guess if they just steal your GPS it could be worthwhile for them not to know where you live too.

I also copied several recipes out of the mag. Once I try them I will share if they're any good! :)

Happy start of the work week, lol!