Honey Garlic Chicken Tacos

Monica gave me this easy taco recipe and my family loved it so much that I have made it about 4 times in the last month!  And every time, I have to ask Monica for the recipe again because I can't find it on my phone.  So, I thought I better post this quick, so that I can find it next week when I want to make it again.

Honey Garlic Chicken Tacos
adapted from: Monica

4 Tbsp. honey

3 Tbsp. taco seasoning

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1 lb. chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces

corn tortillas

chopped cabbage

sour cream

lime juice

chopped cilantro

In a large bowl, mix the honey, taco seasoning, garlic, oil and salt.  Toss in the chicken and coat it with the seasoning.  In a frying pan, over medium heat, cook the chicken until it is no longer pink in the center.  (Another way I have done this is to pour the mixture over some pre-cooked, shredded chicken and stir it well, then I just heated that up in a small frying pan).  In a small bowl, combine sour cream, lime juice and chopped cilantro (I just did this to taste-no recipe, although I do have a recipe for this on the blog under Cilantro Lime Crema) to make a cilantro lime crema.  Heat up the tortillas.  Layer the sour cream mixture, chicken and chopped cabbage on each taco.  Serve and enjoy!  

Buttermilk Syrup

I've had this recipe posted along with my blueberry buttermilk waffles recipe, and my mom recently asked me to give it its own post so that she could find it easier.  I got this recipe from my aunt Julie, but since eating it for the first time at a family reunion, I have seen it all over the place!  You can get creative with this and try new things to change it up.  I have a friend who adds cinnamon to her recipe and it is delicious.  You can also use maple flavoring instead of vanilla extract.  I'm sure there are tons of other variations that you could try and it will still be amazing!  I am posting this recipe with the changes that I made and use all the time now--less butter and less baking soda (personal preference).  I'll add notes next to the ingredients, if you want to do it the high fat, extra frothy way.  

Buttermilk Syrup

by: Uncle Greg and Aunt Julie

1/4 c. butter (1/2 c. in the original)

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. buttermilk (I use 3/4 c. regular milk most of the time and it still tastes great!)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda (1 tsp. in the original)

In a saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter and sugar, stirring constantly until it comes to a boil.  Add the milk (or buttermilk) and return it to a boil.  Remove it from the heat and wait one minute.  I don't know why this step of waiting one minute is important, but I haven't dared skip it for fear that my yummy syrup wouldn't come out as frothy and delicious as it should.  So just obey it.  Then stir in the vanilla and baking soda and serve it immediately.    

Quick and Easy Naan Bread

 Tonight we had curry for dinner, and with about 15 minutes left before it was done, I decided I should make some naan bread to go with it.  Luckily for me, I found a super quick and easy recipe that took about 15 minutes to make, from start to finish.  There are a lot of recipes out there for naan, most of which have yeast and require a rise, but this one didn't call for yeast and we thought it was still really tasty and added a lot to our meal!  So, if you are in a hurry and forget to plan ahead, this naan will work in a pinch!

Quick and Easy Naan Bread

adapted slightly from www.veggiedesserts.com

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. sour cream (it called for plain yogurt but I didn't have any)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.  You may need to use your hands to get it to mix well.  I ended up kneading mine just a bit to get it to incorporate all together.  Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.  On a floured surface, roll each piece into a 6 inch circle.  Fry it on an ungreased griddle or frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side, until it begins to get golden bubbles.  When it is cooked through, spread melted butter and garlic on each side and serve it warm.

Easy Lettuce Wraps

 

I got this recipe for lettuce wraps from my friend, Camille.  We used it for a Young Women activity on easy meals that our girls could make when they go away to college.  And this one is easy!  We love lettuce wraps at my house, and this is such a delicious, fast recipe, that it is now something that I feel like I can make more often (my other recipe takes a lot longer to prepare).  We also used ground beef as the meat, which I am more likely to have on hand than ground chicken or ground turkey (which is what other recipes use).  But feel free to substitute other ground meats in place of the ground beef.  You can also get creative with the chopped veggies you add.  It calls for water chestnuts, but last time I made it I also diced up carrots and added those, as well, and the original recipe called for a package of cole slaw to be added.

Easy Lettuce Wraps

from: Camille Bell

1 lb. lean ground beef (or turkey or chicken)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 c. teriyaki sauce

1 can water chestnuts, diced

ground pepper to taste

1 head of lettuce

In a frying pan, over medium high heat, brown your ground beef.  Drain the grease.  Add the garlic powder, teriyaki sauce, diced water chestnuts and pepper.  Reduce heat to medium and let it simmer for a few minutes.  Serve it on your lettuce, rolling the lettuce leaf around the meat like a taco.

Pecan Pie

Jim loves pecan pie but I don’t love it, so on Thanksgiving I usually just buy him one from any grocery store bakery.  This year I couldn’t find one, so I decided to try making one myself.   I used a recipe I found on Allrecipes, and made a few modifications based on comments from other users.

Pie crust:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 butter, chilled

3 Tbsp ice water

Whisk the floor and salt together, then add the chilled butter, cutting well with a pastry cutter for as long as you can stand to do it.  Add the water 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing it with a fork until you can form it into a ball.  Roll it out with wax paper on top, then line a 9” pie pan.

Pie filling:

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs

1 cup light brown sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups pecans 

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Blend the eggs well until they are foamy, then add the melted (but not hot) butter and mix it in.  Add the brown sugar and mix well.  Add the vanilla and milk and mix well.

Chop all but a handful or so of the pecans and mix those in with the chocolate chips (optional).

Pour the mixture into the shell.  Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, then add the handful of pecans to the top, and turn the temperature down to 300 and cook for another 40 minutes or so. Remove the foil around the edge for the last 5-10 minutes.

Don’t forget the vanilla ice cream!

Creamy Maple Syrup

 

I love breakfast food.  But lately, I have been a little sick of breakfast, and I realized why.  It's because I am bored with the syrup!  I found this recipe for Creamy Maple Syrup, and suddenly, my waffles were exciting again!

Creamy Maple Syrup

slightly adapted from: abountifulkitchen.com

1 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. maple flavoring

dash of salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream and brown sugar to a boil.  Let it boil for one minute and then remove it from the heat and stir in the maple flavoring, salt and vanilla.  Serve it over your favorite (again) breakfast food.

Overnight Oatmeal

I guess it is time to jump on the Overnight Oats bandwagon.  I saw a recipe for this one day, and the next day, the Internet was feeding me recipe after recipe of overnight oatmeal.  I've read many of the recipes, and they are all very similar, so I'm putting this on here as the base that I have been using, but you can change it up and add any fruit/nuts/nut butter/flavoring/yogurt that you think would be delicious, and it probably will be!  I eat mine cold, with granola and fruit on it, and it has been a delicious, hearty, quick meal in the morning for me.

Overnight Oatmeal
by: www.abountifulkitchen.com

1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. almond milk
1/3 c. old fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp. chia seeds
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Pour all the ingredients into a jar, shake it up really well, and place it in your fridge overnight or for 8 hours.  The next morning, give it another shake to stir it up again and then pour it into a bowl.  Top with granola, fresh fruit or coconut.