Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Easy Mexican Chicken Marinade Recipe

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We made this easy Mexican chicken marinade and really loved the tangy flavor it gave to the chicken.

Use the chicken for any type of Mexican fare that you like (burritos, chimichangas, tostadas, tacos, you name it!). We cut the chicken into small pieces so that the flavors could really seep into the meat.

1/2 cup lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil (we used slightly less with good results)
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp chili powder

Let the chicken marinade for 5-6 hours (or more!) in the Mexican chicken marinade before cooking on the stove, oven or grill. Enjoy!

Healthy Butternut Squash Risotto Recipe

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It’s been several weeks since I’ve posted a Simple Sunday recipe. I promise we’ve been cooking, but we haven’t’ had much that we’ve made really blow us out of the water. But today we made a healthy butternut squash risotto you will love!

This is a fantastic vegetarian dish from All Recipes (my favorite place to look online for meal options!).

The dish is only complicated in that cooking risotto requires that you constantly stir/monitor the rice for 15-20 minutes. That is totally annoying, and so you should only do it when the end result will be worth it. I believe that in this case, it is totally worth it! Bon Appetite!

healthy butternut squash risotto in a bowl Healthy Butternut Squash Risotto

  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • 1 cup Arborio Rice
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 5 cups hot chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Place squash cubes into a steamer basket in a saucepan. Add water, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Allow to steam until the squash is tender (10 to 15 minutes), then drain, and mash in a bowl with a fork.
  2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir for 2 minutes until the onion begins to soften, then stir in the rice. Continue cooking and stirring until the rice is glossy from the butter, and the onion begins to brown on the edges, about 5 minutes more.
  3. Pour in the white wine; cook, stirring constantly, until it has evaporated. Stir in the mashed squash and 1/3 of the hot chicken stock; reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir until the chicken stock has been absorbed by the rice, 5 to 7 minutes. Add half of the remaining chicken stock, and continue stirring until it has been absorbed. Finally, pour in the remaining stock, and continue stirring until the risotto is creamy. Finish by stirring in the Parmesan cheese, and seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

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Garlic Chicken Pizza Recipe

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Garlic Chicken Pizza Recipe garlic chicken pizza recipe
Source: Cooking Light Magazine
Servings: 4

2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Prepared Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cups Cooked Chicken Breasts
1 cup Plum Tomatoes
1 cup Mushrooms
3/4 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 Feta Cheese
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Cup Green Onions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first three ingredients. Place crust on backing sheet or pizza stone; brush vinegar mixture over crust. Top with chicken, tomato and mushrooms; sprinkle with cheeses and green onions. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.

This is a highly controversial dish in the House of M. I LOOOOVE it, and Tim only likes it ok. Given the fact that it is pizza, for Tim to only like it ok is really saying something. It’s really all about the vinegar. Tim doesn’t like the taste of it. Any ideas for how we can re-create this pizza and lose the red wine vinegar???

One of my Favorite Recipes Using Naan Bread: Naan-chos

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Source: Rachel Ray

Are you looking for recipes using naan bread? Sometimes I pick some up at the store on a whim, to use with a meal, and I almost always have leftovers. Here’s a way to use those leftovers!

Today I have a naan recipe that is going to knock your socks off! I’m giving you the full recipe that Rachel Ray uses for naan-chos (cute name, huh?). But I take a shortcut and just used bottled salsa. I’m sure the homemade stuff is awesome, but ain’t nobody got time for that! We also use pita bread for this recipe. It is SCRUMPTIOUS. We love it, and if you like hummus, you’ll love it, too!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup-extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball the amount
  • 2 cloves garlic, cracked
  • 4 slices Tandoori Naan Bread or Mediterranean flat bread or large pita bread
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/3 handful
  • A handful chopped parsley leaves
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
  • 1 can chick peas, drained
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Salt

Salsa:

  • 1/3 seedless cucumber, skinned and chopped
  • 1 vine ripe red tomato, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, from 5 or 6 sprigs, chopped
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat oil and garlic in a small pot over medium low heat to infuse garlic flavor into oil. Pull the oil off the heat when garlic speaks by sizzling in oil.

Brush the breads with half of the garlic oil and reserve the remainder. Cut breads into tortilla-chip-size wedges. Sprinkle bread “chips” with Parmesan, poppy seeds and red pepper flakes. Bake breads to toast, about 5 minutes. Remove bread from oven and sprinkle bread chips with and parsley and salt. Pile chips on a platter and cover with cheddar cheese. Place platter under broiler and melt cheese.

In a food processor, combine chick peas, lemon, cumin, cayenne and remaining garlic and oil. Season spread with salt, to your taste.

In a bowl, combine cucumber, tomato, pepper, shallot, parsley, mint, lime juice, salt.

To assemble, top naan-chos with chick pea spread and a layer of cucumber salsa. Serve.

I hope your family eats up this naan recipe! We never have leftovers!

Root Beer Float Hack: Reduce the Calories, Not the Flavor

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My father-in-law taught me a wonderful trick when he learned that I have a weakness for root beer floats. He told me to try adding a little bit of milk to root beer, and see what I think about it.

While it is not as rich and creamy as adding ice cream, the overall taste is remarkably similar, and for far fewer calories!

So if you like root beer floats, give this low-fat version a try. I bet you’ll like it! You can experiment with how much milk you add to your glass. I tend to do roughly 4 parts root beer, 1 part milk.

Traditional African Food: Rice with African Peanut Sauce

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I always enjoy trying new foods. Today I’ve got a recipe that features traditional African food (or at least as traditional as it can be outside of Africa!). This is another dish that I featured on my old blog, Feed the Moose. I hope you like it as much as we do!

Recipe name: Rice with African Peanut Sauce
Source: no idea
Servings: 6

Ingredients
3 cups brown rice, cooked
1 1/2 tsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 20 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp Tabasco sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion is soft and golden.
Add the curry powder and coriander, then cook for 1 minute more.
Pour in the tomatoes, then stir in the salt, crushed pepper flakes, and Tabasco. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Stir in the peanut butter and peanuts. Cook for about 5 minutes more. Stir frequently so that the sauce at the bottom of the pot doesn’t overcook. The sauce is done when it thickens. Serve the sauce over rice.

Tim and I have made this dish twice, I think, and we have loved it both times. It has such a different, yet totally yummy flavor. I’m always well-pleased to find a vegetarian dish that holds it own and doesn’t make me think that I’m just eating large quantities of a side dish.

This would also be good with some sort of flat bread. If you try this out, let me know what you think of this traditional African food!

Cranberry Cheese Melt: An Easy Cranberry Recipe

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Here’s something different for you and your gang. The first time I made this easy cranberry recipe I didn’t care for it, and that is because I do not like raw onion. The second time I made it, I sauteed the onions before putting them in the sandwich, and that move totally saved this recipe, in my opinion. It is easy to throw together, has a taste that is a bit different from standard weeknight fare, and would go very well with a cup of hot soup on a chilly night. Enjoy!

Easy Cranberry Recipe: Cranberry Cheese Melt

Servings: 4

2 oz cream cheese
2 oz shredded gouda or swiss
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
8 slices bread
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Mix cream cheese, gouda and walnuts and spread on half the slices of bread. Top with cranberry sauce, onion, cheddar cheese and remaining bread. Spray large skillet. Heat over medium heat until sandwiches brown on the bottom. Spray tops of sandwiches and turn to heat the other side.

Italian White Bean Dip Recipe

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Recipe name: White Bean Dip
Source: Giada on Food Network via Simply Tasty
Servings: 4

Thanks to Simply Tasty for introducing me to this recipe. I really think this may be my new favorite healthy snack. I love the creamy texture and the lemon-garlic infused taste. If you like hummus this is an absolute must try. I had it with some leftover pita bread, but I’ll also be cutting up some raw veggies to have with it.

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 pitas
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, and parsley in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the bean puree to a small bowl.

Cut each pita in half and then into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges on a large baking sheet. Pour the remaining oil over the pitas. Toss and spread out the wedges evenly. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt, and pepper.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until toasted and golden in color. Serve the pita toasts warm or at room temperature alongside the bean puree. I hope you love this white bean dip recipe as much as my family does!

Easy Mexican Pork Burritos

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This pork burritos recipe comes from my mother-in-law. We found this to be an absolute knock out recipe that will feed our family for several meals.

Easy Mexican Pork Burritos

  • 1 Pork Loin
    1 large can of green enchilada sauce
  • large flour tortillas

Toppings:
Mexican rice
re-fried beans
shredded cheese

Cut the pork loin into thirds. Place in slow cooker. Pour enchilada sauce on top. Cook on high setting for 6 hours.
About 5 hours into the cooking process, open up the slow cooker and shred the pork apart with two forks. Replace lid and let it finish cooking.

Serve on large flour tortillas with rice, re-fried beans, cheese and any other toppings you wish!