Healthy life: Two Best Soups Or All the Time

Healthy life: Two Best Soups Or All the Time: Presenting to you 2 healthy food soup recipes without onion and garlic that are sure to boost immunity and fight against weather-relat...

Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup

Whenever I talk to someone about shopping in bulk, I always start with lentils. Good protein, easy to cook, and are a staple in my kitchen. This recipe was made on a very snowy evening when I couldn’t leave the house to grab extra ingredients but the base/recipe I adapted from was Heidi’s Coconut Red Lentil Soup. 

Blueberry dip recipe

This colourful blueberry dip makes a great snack for kids' lunchboxes. What could be better than some fresh strawberries dunked in a fruity dip as a sweet school time treat?

Put the blueberries, sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan with 1 tbsp of water. Cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes, until the blueberries start to break down and the sugar dissolves. Leave to cool.

raw blueberry and chia seed jam

How to make raw blueberry and chia seed jam

Kick start your January with this easy blueberry and chia seed jam. The natural sharpness of the blueberries, along with a little honey, lemon and vanilla, give a wonderful depth of flavour and the chia seeds swell up, giving a perfect consistency. Try dolloping the jam onto toast or a steaming bowl of porridge in the morning.

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

 

 Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes are rich, chocolatey, and infused with delicious coconut flavor. Best of all, they come together in just 30 minutes and couldn’t be easier to make!

Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts

5-Ingredient Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Breasts + 5 Tips for Tender, Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts

These 5-Ingredient Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Breasts are a family favorite. We also share our top 5 Tips for Tender, Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts. Banish tough, dry grilled chicken breasts from your life forever!

It’s summertime, and meals from the grill flavored with a little smoky char keep my family happy and nourished every single day. Without much effort, we can have a super tasty meal before us in no time at all. Especially with a recipe as easy as this 5-Ingredient Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Breasts. Our daughter, who just turned 13 years old, can have this honey mustard marinade whipped up in less time than it will take you to read this post, guaranteed. Read on for the recipe, plus our best 5 Tips for Tender, Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts.
[rss-cut]

* This post is sponsored by Gold’n Plump Chicken.

The ingredient list for this recipe is a short one; you’ll only need five easy-to-find ingredients (plus salt and pepper) to make this meal reality:

1. Gold’n Plump Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets
2. vegetable oil
3. honey
4. prepared mustard
5. curry powder

At Gold’n Plump, good chicken is their mission. And I continue to be impressed with every package of Gold’n Plump chicken breasts that my family eats. The breasts are a nice medium size, with barely any fat at all. This means less prep time for me, plus I’m not paying for that extra weight that I will cut off and discard anyway. I also very much appreciate that the chicken is all-natural, without any injected solutions and sodium.

I like to use marinades to add flavor to chicken breasts. Plus, the oil in the marinade helps to seal in moisture while the chicken is cooking on the grill. The honey mustard marinade in this recipe is sweet with honey, pungent with mustard, and warmed by the beauty of curry. It’s one of my family’s favorite flavor combinations. The recipe is adapted from a super simple one shared by a friend many years ago who brought us a meal of oven baked honey mustard chicken breasts shortly after our second daughter was born. What a gift it is to receive a hot, home cooked meal from a friend after just coming home from the hospital! We continue to find new ways to incorporate this wonderful marinade into our meals, and these grilled chicken breasts are our latest adventure.

I like to serve these honey mustard grilled chicken breasts with a green veggie. Sometimes you’ll find green beans on our table. Other times you’ll see asparagus or a fresh salad. For this post, I feature the chicken with roasted broccoli. To do the same, drizzle some olive oil over florets from a large head of broccoli and toss to combine. Then sprinkle the broccoli florets with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and spread them out on a roasting pan. Pop the pan into the oven at 375°F for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through. You could also grill the broccoli using a grill pan. The broccoli is done when it’s just tender, with some nicely browned, crispy edges.

Now here’s that honey mustard chicken recipe. After picking up some Gold’n Plump Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, I suspect the other four ingredients can already be found in your pantry. Easy peasy. Enjoy!

5-Ingredient Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Breasts

Directions:

Pat chicken breasts dry and place in a large resealable plastic bag. Press excess air out of the bag and seal the bag tight. Pound the chicken gently, but firmly, with the smooth side of a kitchen mallet, until individual pieces of chicken are at an even thickness. About 1/2" thick is perfect. Set bag of chicken aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together oil, honey, mustard, and curry powder. Open up bag of pounded chicken breasts and pour honey mustard mixture over chicken. Again, press out the air in the bag and seal it tightly. Turn the bag several times to get the honey mustard mixture all over the chicken breasts. Place bag of chicken in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 to 4 hours.

Remove chicken from refrigerator. Heat grill to medium-high heat, about 385° to 400° F. Make sure grill grates are scrubbed clean and then oiled. (To oil the grates, add some canola oil or olive oil to a small bowl. Then fold a heavy paper towel a few times to make a smaller square. With a tongs, grasp the folded paper towel and dip it into the oil until the paper towel is drenched. Then run the paper towel over the grates, repeating until all grill grates are thoroughly oiled.) Place marinated chicken breasts on the pre-heated and oiled grates. Grill for about 3 to 4 minutes on the first side, or until nicely charred. Flip chicken and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes on the second side, until nicely charred and an instant read thermometer reaches 160°F. Then pull the chicken off the grill, to a platter to rest for a few minutes and continue to cook to 165°F. This will help to ensure that your chicken doesn't dry out from over cooking it. Serve while still warm.

from a farmgirl's dabbles

---

And now, the grill skill that everyone needs to conquer. How to achieve tender, juicy grilled chicken breasts…every single time. Read on to learn how to banish tough, dry grilled chicken breasts forever from your life!

.

1. Prepare the grill

My husband is great at grilling, alternating between a Weber kettle grill, a Weber gas grill, and a Big Green Egg. And he has mastered the art of grilling chicken breasts, gifting us with tender, juicy meals every single time. Blake insists that preparing the grill, whatever kind of grill you choose, is the most important thing you can do for great results. To minimize sticking while maximizing flavor and grill marks, here are his grill prep rules:

1. Keep the grill hot. Heat your grill to a high temperature, about 400°F.
2. Keep the grill grates clean.After the grill reaches high heat, get the grates good and clean by scrubbing them with a stiff wire grill cleaning brush. Scrub until all debris is removed to minimize sticking.
3. Keep the grill grates lubricated. Oiling the grill grates will help to prevent sticking and allow great looking (and tasting!) grill marks. Here’s Blake’s method. Add some canola oil or olive oil to a small bowl. Then fold a heavy paper towel a few times to make a smaller square. With a tongs, grasp the folded paper towel and dip it into the oil until the paper towel is drenched. Then run the paper towel over the grates, repeating until all grill grates are thoroughly oiled. Now you are ready to grill!

.

2. Use a marinade

By using a marinade, you can up the flavor profile of chicken breasts without sacrificing the lean quality. Marinades are super easy to accomplish, with endless flavor profiles. The marinade shown above is actually an Herby Lemon Vinaigrette recipe I have fallen hard for this summer. It’s composed of fresh lemon juice, honey, Dijon mustard, olive oil, and some fresh chopped herbs. The oil helps form a barrier around the chicken to deter moisture loss.

That marinade made for a beautiful dish – this Herby Lemon Grilled Chicken Breast Salad, bursting with gorgeous flavor and color.

.

3. Use a glaze

Glazes and barbecue sauces add fast flavor while also locking in moisture and giving chicken breasts a pretty glazed appearance. Glazes are usually comprised of a syrupy mixture that has some element of sweetness to it, so are generally brushed on the chicken toward the end of the grilling process to avoid flame-up scorching and burnt meat from the sugars. The glaze shown above is one of my favorite Mexican salad toppings, my Honey and Chipotle Vinaigrette. Do you see a pattern here with my use of vinaigrettes? They are good for more than just salads!

.

4. Pound the chicken breasts

The next time you’re feeling frustrated, try pounding some chicken breasts. It’s a great stress reliever!

This is probably my favorite tip, mostly because I like an evenly cooked chicken breast. Gold’n Plump chicken breasts are sized more consistently, so I don’t have as much concern about uneven cooking. But pounding the breasts to an even thickness makes it much easier to guarantee that the chicken will be cooked evenly. I like to place several chicken breasts in a large resealable bag, and then squeeze out the excess air and seal it up tight. Then I raise my kitchen mallet and pound away, until the breasts are at an even thickness. I aim for about a half inch thick.

.

5. Use a brick

Do you like drama? Well grilling chicken breasts under foil-wrapped bricks is one of the best backyard shows around. This technique not only compacts the meat, giving it better texture and awesome beautiful grill marks, but it also helps keep moisture locked in and speed up cooking time. It’s also pretty darn fun!

We use this method of grilling with this killer delicious dish for Herbs de Provence Chicken Breasts Grilled Under a Brick. Our girls absolutely love this super flavorful recipe. Wrap up a few bricks and join in on the delicious fun!

This post is sponsored by Gold’n Plump, a chicken brand based out of St. Cloud, Minnesota. I am partnering with them again this year to bring you delicious new chicken recipes from our kitchen and backyard grills. All opinions are 100% my own, as always. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make this site possible!

Jessica's Banana Apple Bran Muffins

If it weren’t for Jessica’s recommendation, I’m pretty sure I would never have tried this recipe. The list of ingredients doesn’t really shout out to me (the only bran I enjoy eating is Raisin Bran), except that I know how much I love banana and shredded apple in baked goods. This recipe is a keeper, though. I’m so glad I tried it!

These muffins are super moist, with a surprisingly light texture. They are lightly fruity from the banana and apple, and have just the right amount of raisins. I’m not a huge fan of raisins, but do like them in “just the right dosage” when added to dishes and baked treats. The specified half cup was spot-on for my tastes. And the bran? Well, that was good, too!

When I first tried these apple bran muffins, I knew immediately that I liked them. A second opinion is always required, though, to make it into these recipe archives. That did not prove to be a problem, as our girls totally embraced them, too. Next time I’m going to swap out the raisins for dried blueberries or cranberries, to change it up. You can bet that these muffins will be in regular rotation for breakfast around here.

 

Jessica's Banana Apple Bran Muffins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or line with paper cupcake liners. Set aside.

Place raisins in a small bowl and add enough water to cover. Microwave for 1 minute to plump them up. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg with the milk, and then stir in the bran cereal. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes, until cereal absorbs the liquid and breaks down. Fold in the raisins, butter, apple, banana, honey, and vanilla. Then add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, stirring to combine completely. Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon sugar sprinkle ingredients. Sprinkle over the muffin batter.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.

Crunchy Taco Kale Salad.

Hello and why don’t you do a salad bowl dive?

In what is perhaps the most shocking plot twist of this four-day old year so far is that I’m not just eating kale salad because the year is only four days old. For once, I’m not being a total cliché… well, at least not THAT much of a total cliché.

If you follow me on snapchat or instagram, then you know that we’ve been eating these huge kale salads at least once – and sometimes twice! – a week for a few months.

With my absolute favorite and the one that sealed the deal for Eddie, being this one. Greek yogurt Caesar kale salad. At this point I could probably make it with my eyes closed.

Two salads come to mind when I think of the salads that made me be okay with eating salads.

You know what I mean. Like actually eating salads and enjoying them and loving them and not wishing there could be some magic voodoo explosion that turns your lettuce and shredded carrot bag mix into a bacon cheeseburger or pizza slice come 12:30 on every Monday.

And Tuesday.

Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins

 

Jorge likes bananas as much as I like sugary kid cereal, glittery eyeshadow, Sex & The City reruns and shoe sales — all combined. No seriously, that is how much he loves bananas.

When we first met, he was having a party at his apartment and he ate a banana while drinking a beer. I have no idea if he remembers this, but it firmly stuck in my mind as one of the weirdest combinations I had ever seen.

Crab and Avocado Grilled Cheese

Uh-oh. Looks like I’ve entered an eating contest. It won’t be for hot dogs. It won’t be for pie and it’s not for chicken wings. SERVES: MAKES 2 SANDWICHES

Ingredients

• 4 slices sourdough bread
• 2 slices Havarti cheese
• ½ avocado, pitted and sliced
• 8 ounces fresh snow crab meat
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Instructions

1. Spread ½ tablespoon of butter on one side of each slice of the bread, then stack buttered sides together. Cut the Havarti slices in half and layer 1 half slice on top of each bread stack, then a few slices of avocado, then half of the snow crab on each bread stack then the remaining Havarti cheese slices. Place bread buttered side down in a fry pan over medium heat. Cover with a lid and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and flip sandwich to the other side and cook for 2-3 minutes or until bread is toasty golden and cheese has melted. The second side will cook faster than the first so watch carefully.
3. Cut in half and enjoy hot.

Greek Shrimp Pasta

 Easy Greek Shrimp Pasta with feta, spinach and olives. An instant family favorite!

Christmas has come and gone this year in a flurry. Parties, friends, gifts, acts of kindness and good will to all men. Wonderful things packed in tightly together.

After all this, I need comfort food and a long winters nap. For me, a good pasta dish is equivalent to taking a Valium. It soothes the mind and body.

Strands of steamy carbs caressed with garlic-cream sauce. What could possibly be more appealing?

Maybe the addition of some seafood, feta cheese, tomatoes, and olives…

Today I’m sharing an old family favorite, a Greek Shrimp Pasta dish that is a holiday gift in and of itself.

Loaded with fresh sautéed shrimp, spinach, feta, grape tomatoes, and olives, in a silky garlic-cream sauce. Plus it’s ridiculously easy to make.

Heaven on earth!

Try serving our Greek Shrimp Pasta with a loaf of warm bread and a fresh green salad. It’s an surefire way to get your family around the table one more time this week.