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Easy Combination Fried Rice
Fried rice is one of my favorite dishes to cook and to eat. It’s fast, it’s filling, and very versatile. The great thing about fried rice is that the rice provides a great base, and you can add any additional ingredients you want.
For this particular recipe I added lots of protein. My fried rice usually consists of brown rice, lots of chicken breast and eggs, plus plenty of carrots and green onions for great flavor and beautiful color. This recipe also has yummy shrimp, and crispy bacon crumbles added.
This meal really comes together in about 30 minutes and if you have sous chef you can be sitting down to the table that much faster.
Easy Fried Rice
Ingredients
6 cups Cooked Brown Rice or White Rice
2 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breasts
4 Pieces of Cooked Bacon, Crumbled
8 Jumbo Shrimp, Cut Into Half
1 tbsp. Minced Garlic
3 tbsp. Soy Sauce
3 Eggs
1 cup Shredded Carrots
4 Green Onions, Chopped
Olive Oil
Directions
Prepare your white or brown rice either in stove top or using a rice cooker. Cut up chicken breast into small chunks and cook in wok on medium high heat with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and garlic. While chicken is cooking add bacon to microwave safe plate, cover with paper towel, and cook until crispy. In a skillet drizzle olive oil and cook shrimp on medium high heat until pink and sit aside.
Once chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes with frequent stir, remove chicken from wok and put to the side. Add carrots and 1 tbsp. of oil to wok and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green onions to carrots and cook for 2 more minutes. Add cooked rice and soy sauce and stir until blended. In a small skillet, spray with pan spray and hard scramble eggs. Add eggs and chicken to rice. Blend and serve.
Tip – I highly recommend a rice cooker. The rice can cook while you are preparing your meat and veggies. Or try the frozen rice steam bags that are ready after 3-5 minutes in the microwave.
This recipe also works great with cauliflower rice. Enjoy!
Roasted Lemon Rosemary Chicken
I love a roasted chicken and make one almost every Sunday. For me, roasted chicken is the epitome of comfort food. I truly love everything about the process of cooking a roasted chicken. I love getting the fresh lemons and rosemary from my garden, and best of all I love watching this ugly pale piece of meat turn into a golden, beautiful, delicious meal.
Although a whole chicken, is just a whole chicken, you can really do so much with one. For this recipe I am making a lemon rosemary chicken, but I also occasionally like to do a nice cajun rub and roast the chicken, or cook the chicken spatchcock style on the grill.
Cooking a roasted chicken is super easy, but also a crowd pleaser, and not nearly as difficult as people think. Give it a try. Bon Appetit!
Roasted Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Ingredients:
1 5lb. Whole Chicken, Giblets Removed
¼ Cup Butter
3 tsp. Olive Oil
3 Sprigs plus 1 tbsp. of Rosemary, Finely Chopped
1 Lemon, 1/2 Lemon Quarterd, 1/2 Lemon Squeezed
3 Whole Garlic Cloves
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine butter, olive oil, lemon juice, and rosemary in a bowl. Pat the chicken completely dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle chicken liberally with salt, paprika, and pepper. Using hand, coat chicken inside and out with butter mixture and place in roaster, breast side up and wings tucked under.
Insert rosemary sprigs, garlic, and quartered lemons in chicken cavity. Bake for about 1 hour on lower rack, and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Continue to bake for another 30-45 minutes, until juices run clear.
Remove chicken from oven and let sit for about 30 minutes before carving. I recommend that you ladle pan juices over your chicken before serving.
That’s it! Pretty simple right. Not much prep time to a roasted chicken. You basically season it and pop in the oven for a couple of hours. Easy peasy! Enjoy!
Easy Homemade Granola...Gluten Free
Homemade Granola
Granola is often thought of as a breakfast food, but it is really great anytime. I eat it as a snack, and sometimes for dessert as a parfait. I toss it in my bag for an on the go treat, and I eat it for breakfast. Granola is so yummy, and sweet, but can also be a lot of calories if you don't watch it.
I started making my own granola to control the calories, the sugar content, and to be able to make it gluten free. Making granola is super easy. I usually give my kids my recipe, and just let them make it.
It really is as simple as measuring ingredients into a bowl, and mixing with your hands. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and you will have delicious granola.
Gluten Free Homemade Granola Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups Gluten Free Oats
1 ½ cup Shredded Coconut, Unsweetened
1 cup Dried Cranberries, No sugar Added
1 cup Sliced Almonds
½ cup Coconut Oil
½ cup Honey
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract, GF
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl mix oats, coconut, cranberries, and sliced almonds. In a medium bowl mix oil, honey, and vanilla. Pour honey mixture into the oat mixture and mix ingredients with hands, making sure to completely coat oats. Pour mixture onto a baking sheet with raised edges and evenly spread mixture. Place in center rack and bake for 20 minutes, turning baking sheet after 10 minutes for even cooking.
Allow granola to cool completely. Granola will become crispy and crunchy as it cools.
Enjoy your granola as a snack, over some greek yogurt, or with milk as breakfast cereal. Store in ziplock or closed container for 7-10 days.
Gluten Free Cooking...My Crispy Chicken Tenders Recipe
I started cooking without gluten several years ago after being diagnosed with a gluten allergy. Cutting gluten out of my diet was not easy, but it was worth it to feel better. Giving up bread was the obvious diet exclusion, but once I started the research, I realized that gluten was in some many things. I came to the understanding that if I wanted to eat well, and not spend a ton of money on gluten free goods, I was going to have to make it myself.
I love to cook, and found it challenging to create tasty recipes for my family that did not contain gluten. How would I bake cookies and cupcakes, or make pizza dough without gluten? Fortunately my gluten allergy was nothing new to the world, and I was able to find many substitutes for the real thing.
Almond flour, rice flour, and tapioca flour are just a few common substitutes for wheat flour. I began to experiment with cooking, and baking with these flours, but the struggle was real. Nothing seemed to turn out right. The taste was off, or grainy, and unfortunately the texture was not the best. The reality was, this was my new reality. None of the substitutes would be exactly like a wheat flour, or produce identical results. But I kept experimenting by combining the flours, as well as adding xanthum gum to the baking recipes.
Then one day I discovered Cup4Cup gluten free flour. This flour claimed to produce wheat flour like results, with no additions needed to the flour. It was a little pricey, so I was hesitant, but I finally took the plunge and purchased a 3 lb. bag. I was pleasantly surprised at the results when using this flour. I also discovered several other brands, that produced similar results as well.
One of the first recipes I tried with Cup4Cup was fried chicken tenders. I rarely fry food, but when I do, I want it to be good. I prepared my recipe the same as I would with wheat flour, and the results were amazing. The tenders were golden, crispy, and better than you would get at a restaurant. Here's my simple but extra yummy recipe.
Gluten Free Crispy Chicken Tenders Recipe
1 1/2 lb chicken tenders
1 c. Cup4cup gluten free flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
2 eggs
1/3 c. Milk
oil of choice for frying
3 tbsp. seasoning salt
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp. black pepper
Gluten Free Flour Recipe (Optional)
1/2 c. Rice flour
1/2 c. Tapioca flour
1 tbsp Xanthum Gum
Directions
Preheat your oil in a french oven, or heavy skillet to 375 degrees. In a large bowl add chicken tenders, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp seasoning salt, and 1 tsp black pepper and mix until chicken is completed coated.
In a medium bowl add flour, cornstarch, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 1/2 tbsp seasoning salt, 1 tbsp paprika, and mix with fork. In a second medium bowl beat eggs, milk, and your remaining seasoning salt together.
Prepare your dredging station by placing bowl with chicken on the end, middle will go your egg mixture, and last is your flour mixture. Take each tender and completely coat in egg mixture, and then dredge in flour, and shake off excess flour.
Carefully place tenders in hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd skillet. Cook tenders for 5-7 minutes, depending on size of tenders, turning them over after about 3 minutes. Remove and drain on plate with paper towels.
I recommend saving yourself time by using gluten free flours like Cup4Cup, or are measure for measure of the gluten free flours. But just in case you still want to mix your flours, I included a gluten free flour recipe for the chicken tenders. Enjoy!
Any Morning Breakfast Bake Recipe...Make Ahead The Night Before
If you are like me, then you love a breakfast bake. Breakfast bakes are yummy, filling, and a crowd pleaser. I make some version of a breakfast bake every major holiday morning or long weekend. I prepare my any morning bake the night before, and pop it in the oven on the morning of, while family is still sleeping.
The great thing about the breakfast bake is that the ingredients are simple, and can be versatile. I have so many versions of this one recipe. You cannot go wrong. The one constant is eggs. Everything else is negotiable, based on what you have in your fridge or pantry. You can make it a veggie bake, or a meat lovers. You can use bread or potatoes. Choose ingredients based on what works for your crowd.
Here is this year's Any Morning Breakfast Bake Recipe...
Ingredients
- 8 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 6 slices sourdough bread, cubed
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 lb Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
- 4 bacon strips
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Directions
- Lightly spray 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- On medium heat, crumble and cook sausage in skillet until brown. Drain excess grease from sausage.
- Pan fry or cook bacon on microwave safe plate until crispy. Allow bacon to cool, and crumble in with sausage.
- In a large bowl beat together eggs, milk, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Once beaten, add in half the cheese.
- Add cubed bread to baking dish, and top with sausage and bacon crumbles, and half of the chopped green onions. Pour the egg mixture evenly into the baking dish, and top with the remaining cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil, and refigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and cook for 60 minutes covered. Remove aluminum foil, and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the bake is firm.
- Garnish with the remaining green onions and serve.
That's it! Pretty simple right? Feel free to add your own twist to this classic. I suggest serving with a side of fruit and mimosas.