Island Ranch Chicken with Coconut Rice

Island Ranch Chicken is a prettier name than what this recipe was called when my mom found it.  It was named "Carl's Chicken."

Who is Carl?

I have no idea, but I love his chicken!


A lovely woman who used to be my neighbor, gave this recipe its new, improved name. And I'm keeping that name.


My mom used to serve this with plain rice, but I love the sweet taste of coconut rice.  Do whatever suits your tastes!


Yields 4 servings

Island Ranch Chicken
3-4 chicken breasts, frozen*
1 small jar apricot jam
1 packet onion soup mix
1 cup prepared ranch dressing**

Mix the apricot jam, onion soup, and ranch dressing together in a bowl.  Place the chicken on the bottom of 9X13 casserole dish, and pour the sauce over top.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 1 hour.

This can be done in the crock pot, which is how my mom used to cook it.  I don't really like cooking chicken in the crock pot as it tends to always be overcooked. I get much juicier results when I use the oven.

Sweet Coconut Rice
1 cup long grain, brown rice
1 12 oz can coconut water (I think it's more like 11.8 oz)***
4.2 oz water****
Salt, to taste
1 TB butter
1 green onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine everything in a rice cooker and let it do its magic!


*You can use fresh chicken if you prefer, but do not add extra water if you do. Decrease cooking time to 45 minutes.

**I make ranch dressing using dry ranch dressing mix, mayonnaise, and milk. Combine the ingredients together before adding to the other sauce ingredients.

***You can use coconut water with pulp or without pulp. It's all about preference.

****To get the right amount of liquid, I pour the can of coconut water into a measuring up, and then add water to make 2 cups. You want 2 cups of liquid for 1 cup of rice.

One Dish Chicken, Potatoes, and Vegetables

This is my go-to meal for a busy day when I don't feel like trying something new or putting a lot of work into dinner.

The chicken is juicy and flavorful. The potatoes soak up all the butter, seasoning, and chicken fat and they are delicious. The green beans are buttery and have the perfect texture.  It is delicious and simple, and it only takes about 5 minutes to throw together!

You could do this in the crock pot, but I think the chicken turns out better when it's done in the oven.  I hate overcooked chicken. Chicken jerky, yuck!

Yields 4 servings


Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts, frozen*
2-3 red skinned potatoes, washed
1 bag prepacked fresh green beans**
1 pkg Italian dressing seasoning packet, unprepared***
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:
Slice the red potatoes thinly, or dice them into chunks. I prefer to run them through a mandolin on my thickest setting, giving me about 1/4 inch slices.  Place the potatoes on the bottom of a 9X13 casserole dish.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little bit of the Italian dressing packet.

Open the fresh green beans, sprinkle all of them on top of the potatoes.  Add salt, pepper, and a little more Italian dressing seasoning.

Place frozen chicken breasts on top of the green beans. Add more salt, pepper, and the rest of the Italian dressing seasoning packet. It may seem like a lot of seasoning, but remember that chicken is bland and potatoes are bland, and this is NOT too much seasoning. Trust me!

Cut the stick of butter into small cubes, and dot all over the pan.

Cover the pan with foil, and bake at 375 for 1 hour. Check to make sure chicken is cooked all the way through and the juices are clear before serving.



*You can also use fresh chicken breasts, and you do NOT need to add water. Simply decrease your cooking time by about 15 minutes.

**Other vegetables I have tried: broccoli, carrots. Any root vegetable will do!

***You can use a ranch dressing packet instead of Italian. It's still delicious, but Italian dressing adds a little more zest and interest to the flavors.

Sweet Pork, Lime Rice, and Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

Cafe Rio is my favorite restaurant, ever.

When I was in high school, my best friend and I would go there weekly.  Probably more than weekly.  I remember having a free meal every other month. (You get a free meal after purchasing 10 meals.) After I got married, I stopped going as much, and then we decided to get crazy and move across the country.

The nearest Cafe Rio is approximately 777 miles away.


That's an interesting coincidence... Since that's also my anniversary. Huh... Must be a sign or something.



A few years ago, before I moved across the country, I found an assortment of Cafe Rio copycat recipes.  I tried and played with each one, making my own adjustments, and below is what I have come up with.

Spoiler alert: I have tasted official Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing side by side with my recipe below and I could NOT tell a difference. Take that!



It is easiest if you split the work into two days:

Day 1:
Cook the pork on low (then stick it in the fridge overnight/during the next day before you're ready to prepare dinner - you can skim the grease/fat that hardens and rises to the top this way).
Make the dressing and let it sit in the fridge, getting "happy" (the dressing flavors intensify and the dressing itself gets thicker if you let it sit a while).
Make the pico de gallo and let it sit in the fridge, getting "happy" (flavors will intensify).

Day 2:
Heat up/finish cooking the pork in the yummy sauce while you...
Make the rice.

It's slightly less work this way.

Well, it's the same amount of work, but less work each day, and day 2 is much faster (dinner ready in 45 minutes is fine by me!).

I've included recipes for sweet pork, cilantro lime dressing, lime rice, and pico de gallo. I don't like my Cafe Rio salad with beans, and I'm too lazy to make the tortilla strips that go on top.

My point is, prepare what you want. Make the salad your own! Get crazy!

Cilantro Lime Dressing:
1 c mayonnaise
1/2 c milk
1 lime, zest and juice
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c cilantro, roughly chopped (most of the time I use 1/2 or more of an entire bundle)
1/4 c green salsa (La Costena or Herdez brand)
Chili Lime Cholula, to taste (original Cholula will work as well)

Mix all ingredients in the blender, put in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.


Lime Rice:
1 cup long-grain, brown rice
1 3/4 cups water
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 cup green salsa (use leftovers from the dressing recipe!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime, zest and juice
1 tsp butter

Combine everything in a rice cooker and let it do its magic. (You can use white rice instead of brown. You also can substitute straight up chicken broth or chicken stock instead of the bouillon and water.)


Pico De Gallo
1 tomato, diced
a few sprigs (2-3) cilantro, chopped
1 green onion, diced
sprinkle of salt, to taste

Basically this is a fresh, chunky salsa.  Combine tomato, cilantro, onion and sprinkle of salt.  Let sit in the fridge until the flavors get happy.


Sweet Pork
2 pounds pork (I use pork butt roast)
2 cans Coke, divided (You could also use Dr. Pepper. If you use Root Beer, it will not taste like Cafe Rio's.)
1 cup brown sugar, divided
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 c green salsa (same as in the dressing and rice!)
1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce (I like Old El Paso medium heat)

Put pork, 1 can of Coke, garlic salt and 1/4 cup brown sugar in crock pot on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. When done, shred pork. Mix 1 can of Coke, green salsa, enchilada sauce, and 3/4 cup brown sugar in a bowl, then pour over shredded pork in crock pot and cook on high for 45 minutes, or on low for 2 hours.


Other items needed:
Tortillas
Shredded romaine lettuce
Sour cream
Extra sprigs of cilantro
Fresh lime wedges


When everything is done, build your salad, or burrito, or taco. Whatever!

I like to put a tortilla on my plate, followed by a a small scoop of rice, a little bit of shredded pork, then some shredded lettuce. Add sour cream, pico, cilantro, and a lime wedge. Pour on as much dressing as suits your fancy.

Then sit back, put your feet up, and relax, because this meal is a ton of work!


Personally I'd rather spend $10 and go to Cafe Rio.

Really, Really Good Soup (Cauliflower and Cheese)

I'm not gonna lie, cauliflower, when cooked, smells horrible.  If you can get past the smell, you should make this dish because it is wonderful (and low carb!).

If you like potato soup, you should make this dish because it is wonderful (and low carb!).

When I go to Zupas, I have to order the Wisconsin Cauliflower soup.  I just have to.  It's too perfect to pass up.  It's too good to risk trying another soup I may not like.  This soup, is like that soup, except made in the crock pot.  If you're in a hurry, you can cook a non-crock pot version.  Which is good as well.  I just like to make things and walk away, so crock pot cooking works for me!

The Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large onion, diced very fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can chicken broth (if you want to go vegetarian, use vegetable broth)
1 head cauliflower, cut into floretes
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese

The Directions:
Put the cauliflower pieces, onion, salt and butter in the crock pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours, or on high for 2-3.  Once the cauliflower is nice and soft, pour the cauliflower mixture into a blender (with the center piece removed from the lid) and puree until you get the consistency you want.  You may have to do this in two or three batches.  Return cauliflower mixture to crock pot and add milk, mustard and cheeses.  You may also want to add more salt and some pepper at this point. Give it a taste!  Turn the crock pot to high and heat through for 30 mins to an hour, stirring occassionally.

My husband, who thinks he hates onions, loves this soup.
My sister in law, who hates a lot of things, likes this soup.  (I didn't tell her what was in it until after she gave her verdict.)

Picky eater approved!  Try it!

My Favorite Chili

This would have to be the best chili I've ever had in my life.

Now before you run out and buy the ingredients, just be aware that I don't eat chili very often.  The only chili I've had is my mom's and some random ones from ward chili competitions.  This chili just really hit the spot the other day.  It could be a pregnant thing, but I don't plan on cooking any other types of chili for a long time since this was so perfect.

The Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound ground beef
2 cans kidney beans, one light red and one dark red (just because it's prettier)
2 cans diced "chili ready" tomatoes (They have some spices in them and green bell pepper, which I don't particularly like, but it's diced extremely fine.)
1 (14oz) can tomato sauce
1 large onion, grated (This is how I hide onions from people who *think* they don't like them.  Shh!)
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder (if you use regular tomatoes instead of chili ready, increase to two tablespoons of chili powder)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream for garnish.   You could also use Frito chips and bacon bits as well.  Whatever rocks your socks!

The Directions:
Brown the ground beef in the butter with half of the grated onion.  The trick to this is to put the pan on the stove, add the butter, and turn the heat to high.  Once the butter is melted, add the ground beef and onion, a pinch of salt, dash of pepper and bit of chili powder to the pan, but DO NOT STIR until it has nicely browned on one side.  Mmmmm flavor.  You can stir after you get a nice "crust" on one side of the beef.

Once the beef is good and browned, drain the grease and add the cooked ground beef to the crock pot.

Open the two cans of kidney beans and pour them into a collinder.  Rinse them well, you don't want that icky, sweet, liquid that they are sitting in.

Put the rinsed beans in the crock pot with the tomatoes, tomato sauce, the rest of the grated onion, the garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Give it a good stir.

Then wipe up what you spilled on the counter since the crock pot is pretty full at this point.

Put the lid on the crock and cook on low for 8-10 hours (Mine usually goes for 10-11... it's fine.), or on high for 4 hours.

Garnish with whatever you think will taste good.  Then dig in to the best chili ever!!

Oh, but don't forget to pray and bless the food.  That's very important.

Pomegranate Beef

I love pomegranate.

I'm not a huge fan of beef roasts, generally.  I prefer pork.  But I do believe that pork would just not taste as good as beef in this recipe.

I found this recipe on the A Year of Slowcooking blog. You can see the original here.

I like to change things, to better suit my taste.  So here is my version...

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 pounds beef roast

4 garlic cloves, minced
2 apples, cored, peeped and sliced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (petite diced are great)

1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup craisins (pomegranate flavor would be good!)

Put the onion and olive oil in the bottom of the crock pot. Rub the spices on the roast and add to the pot.  Add garlic, apples, tomatoes, chicken broth, pomegranate juice, vinegar, syrup and crasins.

Cook on low for 8 hours, our on high for about 5.

When I got home from work today, the smell in my house was amazing. Seriously... try this!

Take the roast out of the crock, and pour half of the liquids into a blender and blend until you have a smooth puree (You could blend all of the liquids, but then it won't look as pretty.).  Blending the ingredients together makes a delicous sweet, savory sauce.  If you want it to be thicker, add some cornstarch.

Definitely serve with some mashed potatoes.  Yum yum!

For a frozen roast, cook on low for 10-12 hours, and decrease the liquids.  I did 1/4 cup chicken broth, and 1/2 cup pomegranate juice, same measurements for everything else.  As the roast defrosts, it will water down everything and add more liquid.

Pork 'N Coke

This is an adaptation of a "Ham 'N Cola" recipe that my sister-in-law gave to me (Thanks Nicole!).  I struggle finding crock pot recipes that can cook for 10-12 hours.  Because of my location, the distance to work, and the fact that I carpool with Lance, we're gone from 7:30am until 6:00pm most days.

The sauce ingredients scared me a little bit, but it turned out amazing!  Lance said it had a teriyaki taste to it.  I can't really put a finger on what it tastes like, but it's sweet, slightly spicy and insanely delicious.

Pork 'N Coke

INGREDIENTS:
For the ROAST:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard (or dry mustard)
1 tsp prepared horseradish
1 1/2 cups Coke
3-4 lb pork roast (I use frozen so I can cook it longer.... tricksy!)

For the SAUCE:
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 cup Coke
1 TB cornstarch


Can I just say that I HATE, HATE, HATE horseradish?  Good, because I hate it.  I think it smells awful, and tastes similar to how paint smells.  It is one of the nastiest things I have ever eaten.  I was going to omit it, but then I decided to give it a try.  Instead of going out and buying a whole bottle of the nasty stuff, I took a few Horsey Sauce packets from Arby's.  Brilliant, eh?

If you, like me, dislike horseradish, and you, like I, leave it in instead of omitting it, you will be fine.  You can't even taste it, but you can taste the tiny hint of spiciness that it leaves behind.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine brown sugar, mustard, and horseradish. Moisten with just enough Coke to make a smooth paste. Reserve remaining Coke.
2. Rub entire roast with mixture. Place roast in slow cooker and add remaining Coke.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 10-12 hours.  (If you want shorter cooking time, use a thaw roast, or, pre-cook your roast.  Cook it on high for 6-8 hours for frozen, or 3-4 hours for thaw.)

Once it is all done cooking (or once I come home from work), remove the roast from the crock pot and let it rest on its own dish while you make the cooking liquid into a sauce.

In a small sauce pan get some olive oil hot and add the onion and garlic.  Cook on medium heat until the onion has caramelized.  Then add the ground mustard, cooking liquid from the crock pot, extra Coke, and cornstarch.  Mix well and let cook until the cornstarch has cooked out.  This takes about 5-10 minutes.

Then serve!  I served  my gravy on the side of the roast, just in case Lance didn't like it, but you could also pour it over the top.  If you want a thicker sauce, add more cornstarch.

This is delicious.  I love it.  I am definitely making this again.

Note to self: Take more Horsey Sauce packets from Arby's.