Sticky Coconut Chicken

I LOVE Coconut! Sweet, creamy, yummy coconut! So, when I saw a post from MY KITCHEN CAFE I knew I had to try it. You marinate the chicken thighs in coconut milk with ginger and jalapeno. You also make a glaze for the chicken to make it sticky. It was yummy! I adapted the recipe slightly because I didn't have any red pepper flakes. I DID have some jalapenos and I grated them in to replace the pepper flakes. Next time, I will just slice them to get a little more zip! The chicken thighs are great because they don't dry out on the grill. The glaze I could have eaten out of the pan. I will double it the next time I make it so I have extra to pour over the chicken at serving time. I served it with what else....coconut rice and sliced pineapple.

Sticky Coconut Chicken

slightly adapted from http://www.mykitchencafe.com/

1 family pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 12-14)

1 can of coconut milk

1 T. freshly grated ginger....don't use the powdered stuff...real stuff only!

1 t. red pepper flakes (i used the jalapeno here....slice in a few rounds)

fresh ground pepper

Put the thighs in a ziploc bag and pour the other ingredients over. Put in the fridge and marinate. I let mine work for about 5 hours. Grill the chicken till almost done and glaze it with the following glaze until it is yummy and sticky! Serve with coconut rice.

While my chicken was working in the fridge I made the glaze.

Glaze

3/4 c. rice vinegar

1/2 c. sugar

3 T. soy sauce

1 t. red pepper flakes (again, I used a jalapeno round)

Mix all together is a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook down until the mixture is syrupy. Glaze the chicken the last few minutes of cooking.

Coconut Rice

I use a rice cooker to cook my rice.

4 c. dry rice

1 can coconut milk

3 c. water

That's it...let the rice cooker do it's work!

Grilled pineapple would be a great addition to this meal.

Idaho, Utah and Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here we are @ The Conference Center...my sister, Jana, Monte, Me, Brennan and my friend Melanie...taken by a nice tour guide. The big building behind messes up the shot for sure!

Whew....vacation is over. It was super fun. We went to southern Idaho and visited my parents....ate yummy food....fresh blueberry pie (I had never eaten fresh blueberry pie)....watch for the post on that one....Lava Hot Springs...Chesterfield...UTAH....warm and sunny...American Fork Harley Davidson, Grandma's Foods, Cabella's....cards ( I suck @ 5 Crowns....but it was fun)..Ryan and Ashley...SLC Farmers Market.....Caputos....Conference Center, Temple Square, Church History Museum....Deseret Book Flagship store ( Where I saw the Pretzel cookies)Lone Star Taqueria....wish I had some of their Pico.....fireworks...Hunter 16th Ward....can you say SUPER SMALL WARD! 26 ladies in RS and 4 of us were visitors! More cards....I REALLY suck @ Shanghai! Pack up...go home!

The cookies are my basic recipe below.....Melanie and I decided to add about 3/4 cup of crushed salted pretzels to the dough with the chocolate chips. Actually....Brennan did the mixing! MMMM!

Free E-book today only!

Hey....free e-book from the Urban Homemaker called "Sensational Summer Salads"! Marilyn Moll has lots of great ideas for salads using whole, nutritious food! And besides, who doesn't need another good salad recipe! Free today only by using this link: http://tinyurl.com/urbanhomemaker

26 pages of yum!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I told you I would post the recipe for my chocolate chip cookies and so I shall! I decided to try the Eagle Mills flour and the cookies are the perfect test! You can tell if the flour is different with your favorite cookie recipe! Well! I LOVE THIS FLOUR! It works just like all-purpose flour but has the added benefit of the white whole wheat! The consistency of the dough was perfect. I was concerned because with whole wheat, sometimes you need to add extra liquid. Not so with this flour! It is a dream! So final product tasting....YUMMM! Just like the "normal" ones.

What a great way to get the "healthy" into your family's diet! I am sold!

I will be going to Costco today to stock up with more...it is $6.55 for 2-10 pound packages and they are going to keep stocking it. (Yes....I checked)

The other thing that I love is from Bob's Red Mill. It is Old Fashioned "Yellow D" Brown Sugar. It is a boiled dark brown sugar with an extra rich molasses flavor and small uniform crystals.

The small crytals are great...it creams perfectly without the gritty texture you get from some brown sugars. The taste is delicious. Very molasses-y without being way to strong. I use it in all my recipes that call for brown sugar.

I have also changed from using Crisco to Spectrum Non-Hydrogenated Shortening. WHY? Well...I have been doing some research about "good" fats and oils and learned how they process and hydrogenate fats and oils like canola, vegetable shortening. It is all a chemical process that I don't really want to have to deal with. For example, canola oil is pretty much poisonous until they refine it, bleach it and deodorize it...all chemically done. No thanks! The Spectrum shortening is better for your body because it is non-hydrogenated, has zero trans-fat and is made from Palm oil, which is naturally cholesterol free and a good source of monosaturated fat. It is vegan, kosher, gluten free and has less saturated fat than butter....and it doesn't go rancid like regular shortening. Oh, and did I tell you it's organic. It costs more but to me it's totally worth the price. You use it just like regular shortening!

Here is MY cookie recipe.

Shelley's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. shortening

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 1/4 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1 pkg. chocolate chips-whatever kind you like..I use Ghirardelli.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the shortening and sugars till smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix up until it is fluffy. Scrape the sides down to make sure the whole mixture is smooth.

Mix the dry ingredients together and combine with the creamed mixture till smooth. Add the chocolate chips. Bake for 9-11 minutes depending on the size cookies. I used my smallest cookie scoop and did 9 minutes. My bigger scoop takes about 12 minutes.

Eagle Mills All-Natural Flour

I went in to Costco yesterday to get some flour and grabbed the All Purpose Unbleached flour that they had there. When I went to pour it in my canister today I noticed a difference. It is "a wholesome blend of White and Ultragrain flours".......so what exactly does that mean?

It is a mixture of white whole wheat and refined flour. So you get the benefits of whole wheat and the texture and grind of regular unbleached flour. It has double the fiber, increased antioxidants and phytonutrients, more vitamins and minerals, and a nice smooth texture. What's not to like?

I am going to try it out on my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and I will post the results.

Food Buzz!

I am now a "featured publisher" for Foodbuzz! Cool, huh? Check it out!

Strawberries!

I love strawberries! I wish we could get them fresh and local all year long..sadly not the case!

I thought these berries were beee-u-tee-fulll! My camera skills aren't great, but the subject makes up for my lack of skill!

Now...what to do with these red gems! Strawberry pancakes, waffles, shortcake, jam, cake? Wait and see what I come up with...And as always, I will share the love and recipes with you!

And yes...it totally bugs me that the corner of my window frame is schmutzy! Pardon my dirt!