Fiesta Week – Fiesta Rice

You all know about my mexican food obsession.

It seems like it’s always Fitz Family Taco Night around here.

But I was looking for something a little more.

A little spice…

A little kick…

Enter…

The Fiesta Rice.

So easy….

So good…

So try it!

featured   Fiesta Week   Fiesta Rice

Fiesta Rice

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 cup uncooked brown whole grain rice

2 cups chicken stock

1 t ground cumin

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t chili powder

3/4 cup Spikes Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup diced red onion

S&P

WHAT TO DO:

In a medium saucepan bring the chicken stock to a boil.

Add in the rice, cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder.

Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove from heat and let sit for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove cover and stir in salsa.

Top with cheese and cover to allow cheese to melt.  3-4  minutes.

Sprinkle with red onion and serve.

Ole!

Asian Week – Mongolian Beef

Who needs to order take out when you can make it yourself?

Make this dish next time you think of heading out to PF Changs!

It’s delish and the kids love it.

dinner   Asian Week   Mongolian Beef

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 flank steak sliced thin

2 T vegetable oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup rice wine

2 t sriracha sauce

1 t sesame oil

3 T cornstarch

1 inch minced ginger

2 cloves chopped garlic

4 green onions, chopped

2 T peanut oil

WHAT TO DO:

Combine all the ingredients except the peanut oil and 2 of the green onions in a large plastic bag and allow to marinate for at least one hour.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok over high heat.  When the oil is smoking add everything in the bag into the wok.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly.  Serve over brown rice or you can jazz it up with some stir fry soba noodles and veggies!

dinner   Asian Week   Mongolian Beef

Toss the beef on top of the noodles, voila,

Mongolian Beef Noodle Bowl!

dinner   Asian Week   Mongolian Beef

Eat your veggies chicken stir fry

What’s the quickest and easiest way to get a picky eater to finish off a serving of veggies?  Toss them with some chicken and teriyaki sauce and serve up on a bed of rice of course!  Fast, affordable, healthy, and delicious!  You won’t have to resort to dessert bribery, not that I’ve ever ever considered anything like that, no really, not ever, to get your kids to clean their plates with this dish.

dinner   Eat your veggies chicken stir fry

1 lb chicken tenders cut into bite sized pieces

2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup sliced carrots

1 bell pepper chopped

1 T canola oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated on a microplane or minced

a couple of dashes chili oil

a couple of dashes sesame oil

1/2 T fish sauce (optional and available on your asian foods aisle)

2 T soy sauce

1/2 cup bottled teriyaki sauce

2 cups brown rice cooked according to package instructions (you could use white if you haven’t watched the Today show too many times and are now scared of anything with the word white in the title a la white bread, white rice, etc.)

dinner   Eat your veggies chicken stir fry Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat.  When the oil is hot add garlic and ginger and stir well to flavor the oil.  Have your chicken on hand and ready to go so that as soon as the garlic begins to brown toss in your chicken.  Toss well and allow chicken to brown stirring often (hence the stir-fry).  When you chicken is browned well toss in all of your veggies.  Stir and allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes, until they just begin to soften a bit.  dinner   Eat your veggies chicken stir fry

Season with chili oil, sesame oil, and fish sauce.  Cook for a minutes.  Add soy sauce and cook for another minute.  Pour in your teriyaki sauce and turn the heat down to medium-low.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes while you spoon your rice into a mound on the center of each plate.  Top with stir fry mixture and plenty of sauce.  It’s good and good for you!  How can you beat that combination?  Ok, who wants dessert?

Stuffed Winter Squash

dinner   Stuffed Winter Squash

Serves: 4   Prep time:  15 minutes   Cook Time:  1 hour

2 acorn squash, cut in half, and seeds cleaned out

1 lb turkey sausage diced

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 tart apple (I used granny smith) peeled, cored, and chopped

1 pear, peeled, cored and chopped

1 T brown sugar

1 T maple syrup

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup craisins

½ cup golden raisins

1 t cinnamon

1 clove garlic chopped

½ t nutmeg

¼ cup apple juice

S&P

Unsalted butter

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place your squash on a baking sheet flesh side up.  Pierce the squash with a fork several times.  Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper.

In a large skillet over medium heat brown your turkey sausage, about 7 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine rice, apples, pears, sugar, syrup, walnuts, craisins, raisins, cinnamon, garlic, nutmeg and apple juice.  Stir to combine.  When the sausage is browned add it to the stuffing mixture and season with S&P.

Distribute stuffing mixture evenly among your squash.  Top with a pat of butter and bake for one hour.

Tasty Tidbit:  You could make this dish with butternut squash or even a small pumpkin!

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