Chicken Stir Fry with Peppers and Peanuts

The original recipe that I got this dish from used essentially all the same ingredients but was rather complicated and time consuming in the actual cooking. And after a long day and a good workout, I wasn't feeling like doing anything complicated or time consuming. So, I took it and made it a very simple to make stir fry (albeit one that involves a lot of chopping, but that's easy). I also kind of took a short cut on the marinading. I probably should have let it marinade for 2+ hours but I didn't and it still turned out good so I'm not even sorry about it. :P

What I did with the marinading is cut up the chicken and then put it in the marinade for about 30 minutes (in the fridge) while I relaxed and then when it came time to chop up the peppers and crush the peanuts, I let it sit on the counter at room temp to continue marinading. Another thing I figured out is that you don't have to chop up the peanuts (how the heck would you do that with a knife anyway???), you can just put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a meat mallet. It's effective.

Anyways here's the recipe. Enjoy.

Chicken Stir Fry with Peppers and Peanuts

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into decent sized pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, and 1 orange or green bell pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil for frying
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped (or smashed with mallet)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp olive oil for marinade
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar Splenda
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients from soy sauce to ginger in a dish, add cut-up chicken pieces and let marinade for about 30 minutes
2. Slice the 3 peppers and place in a bowl 
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat
4. Add peppers and stir fry for about 4-5 minutes
5. Push peppers to the side and add chicken
6. Stir fry over medium high heat for about 3 minutes, then turn the heat up a little more and stir fry for another couple minutes until chicken is cooked through
7. Remove from heat and add peanuts, mix to combine
8. Let sit for a few minutes and serve, topping with any residual marinade

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Another belated post. But a pretty good one I'll admit. I've always like stuffed bell peppers but they never really turned out well for me in the past. I think I finally got it right with this one though. Next time I'll add salt and pepper to the beef mix but other than that they were awesome.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 egg
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 3-4 green bell peppers
• 2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 (15 oz) jar medium salsa
• shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the rice according to the package
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
3. Combine the beef, chopped onion, taco seasoning, salt and pepper, egg, and rice in a large bowl
4. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds and membranes
5. Pour the tomatoes on the bottom of a baking dish that has been lined with foil
6. Place peppers on top of the tomatoes, and spoon the beef mixture into the peppers
7. Top each pepper with salsa and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes
8. Remove from oven, cover each pepper with cheese and return to oven under broiler
9. Broil for 30 seconds or so, until the cheese has melted
10. Serve with additional salsa and sour cream if you would like

Garlic Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry

So I'm biased towards anything that has asparagus in it, but that being said, even Mike thought this one was pretty awesome. It's pretty straightforward too, once you have all the ingredients. It calls for this stuff called Hoisin sauce which I'd never heard of before but it's in the Asian foods aisle at Pick N Save. Still not sure what it is exactly but it's good, and that's what counts. ;)

Anyways, I'll keep this short for tonight but enjoy!

Garlic Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb flank steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3/4 cup Hoisin garlic sauce
• 1 lb asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch lengths
• 1 cup roasted cashews
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Marinade the already cut up steak in 2 Tbsp of the Hoisin sauce for 10 minutes
2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat, add steak and stir fry for about 3 minutes, until browned but not fully cooked
3. Remove the steak from heat, add the asparagus to the skillet and stir fry for about a minute
4. Add 1/2 cup water to skillet, cover, and let asparagus cook for another 2 minutes
5. Return beef to skillet and add remaining sauce
6. Stir fry until everything is well-mixed and beef is cooked through, about 1 minute more, and add cashews
7. Serve and add salt and pepper as needed.

Double Post! Saigon Shrimp and Three-Mustard Pork Chops

I didn't make both of these tonight obviously. Just a little late in getting to posting what I made last Friday. So I'll start out with the Friday dish: Saigon Shrimp. Just a perfect, easy dinner. Literally it took about 10 minutes start to finish and it was so goooood. Sweet and spicy and delicious! :)

Saigon Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 lb large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsp chili garlic paste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp Splenda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Mix together salt, pepper and Splenda in a small dish
2. Gather all the ingredients together and in a heavy skillet over medium high heat, heat oil
3. Add shrimp and stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until mostly pink
4. Add chili garlic paste and minced garlic to pan, continue stir frying
5. When shrimp are pink all the way through, add the salt mixture and stir for another 10-20 seconds to distribute evenly
6. Turn off heat and serve!

Now, I'm very proud of myself for the pork recipe. I kind of just threw together a lot of stuff from my fridge and cabinets and came up with this one on my own. It turned out great too. Unfortunately I won't be able to give exact measurements for some stuff (I was experimenting, c'mon) but you should be able to get the gist of it. 

Three-Mustard Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 1 lb thinly sliced pork chops
• 3 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp habanero mustard
• 1 Tbsp southwest mustard
• 1 tsp Splenda
• Salt and pepper
• Soy flour (or AP flour)
• Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, mix together the three mustards and and Splenda.
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the pork chops, then sprinkle flour over them and pat gently
4. Heat a skillet or griddle pan over medium high heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray
5. Brown pork chops on each side, about 30 sec to 1 min per side (depending on how hot you let your pan get it might be shorter or longer)
6. Transfer pork over to a baking sheet or pan, and spoon mustard mixture over chops
7. Place pork chops in oven, and let bake for about 5-7 minutes (mustard should be dried)

Easy as that! 

Easy Garlic Chicken

Alright. So I know I went a full week without posting anything, and I'm tempted to make it a little longer because I dislike posting things I'm not absolutely crazy about but I'm going to do it anyway, just in case someone else likes it more than I do. There's nothing bad about this dish, and actually, the last time I made it it turned out a little better so I probably shouldn't be so critical, but for some reason tonight it was just okay.

On the bright side, it is very very easy to make and has few ingredients. Probably why it's been pinned a million times on Pinterist. So, worth a shot in any case, right? :)

Easy Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar blend Splenda (or regular brown sugar)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Saute garlic in olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat for a few minutes
3. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar Splenda
4. Place chicken breasts in a dish lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray
5. Cover with sauce and season with salt and pepper
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, uncovered

Simple as that. 

Seriously Spicy Citrus Chicken

I <3 this recipe! This is my third time making it in the past few months. I'm feeling a little tired tonight so I'll skip the monologue. But, trust me when I say this one's a keeper!

Seriously Spicy Citrus Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins or breasts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat
2. Add chicken, and cook until golden brown on both sides (4-5 min per side)
3. While chicken is cooking, mix together lime juice, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger and Splenda. 
4. Once chicken is cooked through, pour sauce into pan and let simmer for about 2 minutes.
5. Place chicken on a serving plate and pour a few tablespoons of sauce over them. Keep the residual sauce for dipping. 
6. Garnish with green onions and serve!

Ta-da!

Pork Tenderloin al Diablo

I made this recipe for the first time about a month ago, and have been routinely using the sauce from this as a dipping sauce for anything I can possibly think to dip in it. Chicken tenders, shrimp, pork rinds or tortilla chips... you name it, it's probably going to be delicious if you dip it in this awesome sauce. Also I'm pretty sure this is where the expression "awesome sauce" originated. Just saying.

In any case, the pork is good, don't get me wrong. But it's pretty much just a means to being able to eat the sauce. I told Mike today I was making this pork tenderloin al diablo recipe, and his enthusiasm went from about a 2 to a 10 when I reminded him that this was the recipe with the amazing sauce. Admittedly, if you don't like spicy stuff, it's not for you. (It is called "al diablo" after all). But you could probably modify the mustard to a less spicy version and it would taste milder and still delicious. 

The original recipe called for extra-hot horseradish mustard, but try as I might, I couldn't find any kind of spicy horseradish sauce at all. So I opted for a very spicy habanero mustard. I'm guessing any hot mustard (not yellow mustard though) would work if you can't find my exact kind. So, find a mustard that works for your preferred level of heat and enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin al Diablo

Ingredients:

• 1 pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp Habanero mustard
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 1 Tbsp cold butter
• 1 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet over high heat.
3. Cook pork until browned on one side, about 3 minutes.
4. Flip pork over and transfer skillet to preheated oven.
5. Cook pork until it's browned and is still slightly pink in the center, 25-30 minutes.
6. When pork has about 10 minutes left, pour chicken broth into a small pan and heat on high until it starts to boil.
7. Whisk in cream, both mustards, and chili powder. Continue cooking until mixture is reduced to a thick sauce, about 5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and whisk in the cold butter. 
9. Remove pork from oven and slice into 1/2 inch slices. Pour sauce over pork and top with chives.

That's it! You just made the best sauce on the planet. Way to go. :)

Insanely Addictive Chicken Tenders

The original name for the recipe this dish is based on is Heroin Chicken Wings. At first I wasn't even thinking about the name of it, and was thinking along the lines of heroic chicken. That makes total sense, I know... but hey I wasn't considering it too carefully. In any case, once I made this I understood the actual meaning. These things are crazy addictive! I made 2 large chicken breasts worth of the tenders and Mike and I polished them all of within a matter of minutes. 

It's a really good thing I didn't make more or I'd be deeply regretting it right now. A word of advice, don't make any more of these than you're willing to eat immediately. Because I dare you to be able to stop yourself from eating them. Just try, seriously. And when you fail I'll be like "Told you so!". Heh.

Also, if you are planning on making more than two chicken breasts worth of tenders, make sure to increase all the cheese and spice amounts. I ran out of the cheese/spice mixture with two chicken breasts and was originally planning on using a third. (So instead I just covered the third in a ton of parmesan and baked it along with them... probably will still turn out good for lunch tomorrow!)

But, don't say I didn't warn you. Once you start eating these, there is no going back. Proceed with caution, faithful readers. :)

Insanely Addictive Chicken Tenders (aka Heroin Chicken)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• hot sauce

Directions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into finger-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking pan with aluminum foil.
3. Combine the parmesan, parsley, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Combine the olive oil and garlic in a separate bowl.
5. Take each piece of chicken and dip it in olive oil bowl, roll it in the cheese and spices mix, and place in the foil-lined pan.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes. 
7. Once you've removed them from the oven, place them on a plate and pour as much hot sauce as you desire all over them. 
8. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your newest addiction. 

That's it! Night!

Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken

I do love me a good slow cooker recipe. It does basically all the work for you. Dump all the ingredients into the crock pot, stir, turn it on, and leave. Come home and Hey-- dinner's ready! :) Brilliant invention if there ever was one.

This recipe is one of the simplest imaginable. Especially if you use store-bought pesto. 4 whole ingredients and no work! My only issue with this recipe is that it is very rich. Probably all the olive oil in the pesto. I took a while to eat the portion you see pictured. But it is delicious and easy so still worth trying. (I might decrease the amount of pesto and increase the amount of broth next time though.)

Anyway, I won't ramble on too long today. I need a nap! But here's the recipe:

Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs chicken thighs
• 1 8 oz jar of pesto
• 1 packet dry Ranch seasoning mix
• 1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Place chicken thighs, pesto, ranch packet, and chicken broth into slow cooker
2. Stir gently to combine the pesto, ranch and broth
3. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours (or high 3-4 hours)

That's all for now!

The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich (Another Saturday morning bonus!)

So I haven't had much time this week to post too many recipes. (Though I'm pretty sure that last one counts for like 3 because it's so awesome). But in any case, I made really awesome breakfast sandwiches for Mike and me this morning, and figured I'd share. :)

Super simple recipe but takes a little maneuvering with all your different pans (you will definitely be multitasking on this one). It's worth it though. There's a lot of ways you can adjust this recipe to make it lower or higher calorie, carb, protein, etc. It kind of depends on which area you're concerned about. I tried to focus mine on being very low cal and low carb, so I used low-carb bread, turkey bacon, and egg whites instead of regular bread, bacon and eggs. It's gonna taste good no matter what though. Don't even worry.

With that, I'll get to it. Have a great weekend everybody!

The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

Ingredients: (per sandwich)

• 2 slices bread
• 2-3 egg whites (or 1 whole egg)
• 1/4 avocado, sliced
• 2 slices turkey bacon or bacon
• shredded cheese of your choice (I used colby jack)
• hot sauce

Directions:

1. Start by frying up your (turkey) bacon, while that's cooking crack the eggs and slice the avocado
2. When the bacon is done, move to a plate and rinse/towel dry pan (careful it'll still be hot!)
3. Place pan back on hot burner and turn heat to medium
4. Put bread slices on warm pan and sprinkle cheese on one of the slices and layer on the bacon
5. While the bread is toasting on the pan, heat up a small pan to cook your eggs in.
6. Add eggs and scramble until they're cooked
7. Remove bread from pan when toasted, and place scrambled eggs on top of the bacon, douse with hot sauce, and place avocado slices on eggs, top with other slice of bread.

Told you it was a little tricky. You'll be thankful though that you tried it!