Indian Chicken with Garlic Spaghetti Squash

Sooo yeah anybody who knows me knows that my three true loves are 1. My family 2. Cheesecake and 3. Pasta!!!! Since I'm in the process of working for that summer bod cheesecake and pasta have to be axed....😩😩😩. I'm working on that cheesecake substitute but the pasta sub I knew that I would use that fabulous veggie Spaghetti Squash....it looks just like pasta!!! It does have a tad bit more of a "crunch" then pasta but heyyy it works!!! 

Ingredients:

Marinade: 

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized chunks

Sauce:

1 bunch of fresh cilantro, bottom two inches of stems removed

4 cloves of garlic

3 Serrano chilies, seeds and membranes removed

⅛ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon minced ginger root

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

⅓ cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

½ cup water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the chili powder, salt, lemon juice, and chicken breast pieces in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour if you have the time. 
2. Place the cilantro, garlic, Serrano chilies, ½ tsp. cumin, lemon juice, and 1 Tbsp. water in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process 20-30 seconds, or until the mixture forms a paste. Set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the black pepper and red pepper flakes and let cook in the oil for 1 minute. Add the cumin, onions, and brown sugar to the pan and toss to coat the onions in the spices. Let cook for 6-8 minutes, or until onions are nicely browned.
   
4. Remove the chicken from its marinade and add to the pan. Toss to coat it in the onions and spices. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the chicken pieces have turned white on all sides.
5. Reduce the heat to medium, then add in the ginger, tomatoes, turmeric, and cardamom and give it a good stir. Add in the contents of the food processor or blender, stir, and let cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Pour in the coconut milk and water and let the contents of the pan slowly come to a boil over medium heat. Once it has reached a boil, cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.
   

   
   
7. After ten minutes, uncover the pan and taste the sauce. If it is too spicy, add more brown sugar. Add salt and black pepper as needed.

Garlic Spaghetti Squash 

INGREDIENTS

1 small spaghetti squash (about 3-4 pounds)

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup finely minced parsley (or basil)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Pierce squash a few times with sharp paring knife (to let steam escape). Bake spaghetti squash for 60 minutes, or until a paring knife pierces easily through skin with little resistance. Let squash cool for 10 minutes. 

2. Cut squash in half, lengthwise. Use a fork to remove and discard the seeds. Continue using fork to scrape the squash to get long, lovely strands. If the squash seem difficult to scrape, return the squash to bake for an additional 10 minutes.  

3. Heat a large saute pan with the butter and the garlic over medium-low heat. When garlic becomes fragrant, add parsley, salt and spaghetti squash strands. Toss well, sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and taste to see if you need additional salt. The spaghetti squash should have a slight crunch.

Rice Krispy Treats(healthy version)

Soooooo lets play a game called......Lets trick the kids with healthy snacks that they will LOVE!!! 

Dare we serve healthy(GASP) rice Krispy treats to our children!!!! MUAH HA HA HAAAAA!!!!! 

Try it....this could also help with your snacking if you are trying to watch your figure. 

Ingredients:

1 C PB2 w/chocolate(1 cup mix to 1/2 cup water)

2/3 cup honey

2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 cups Rice Crispy cereal

Directions:

1. Line an 9x13 baking pan with a sheet of parchment, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. 
2. In a large enough pot over medium heat, add the mixes PB2, honey, and vanilla, stirring until the PB2 is melted and fully combined with the honey.
3. Remove from heat and add the cereal, stirring well everything is fully combined.
4. Pour into baking pan and use a spatula or your hands to distribute the mixture evenly, pressing down firmly to ensure that the mixture is tightly packed.
5. Place pan into fridge and allow to cool for ~30 minute

Homemade Sweet and Salty Granola

So I need something to snack on that's not going to totally destroy my workout for the day.....so here is an awesome granola recipe!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole grain oats

1 C Kashi 7 whole grain puff cereal

1/4 C butter

1/4 C honey

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C dried fruits

1/3 C nuts

I used Mariani New England Crunch mix!! See below.

Directions:

Mix together the oats and cereal. Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter. Add the honey, brown sugar and salt.  Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil.  Once the boil has been reached allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes. 

2.  Add the vanilla and then pour the mixture over the oats, using a rubber spatula to get all the sugar mixture out of the pan.  Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated.  Add in desired mix-in then press very firmly into a parchment lined 9×13″ pan with clean hands. If you do not press firmly enough, the bars will fall apart. Place them in the fridge for 20 minutes then cut. 

ENJOY

Waffles with Maple Pecan syrup

***MAKE SYRUP AHEAD OF TIME***

This is the perfect meal to make on Sunday mornings. Warm waffles, warm homemade syrup and pecans....there is in no way this can make your Sunday morning brighter. My son, Kai, said "this is te best syrup". Some of us are these with fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk 

1/3 cup veg. oil

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp sugar 

3/4 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil will keep them from sticking. 

Maple Pecan Syrup

1/2 cups chopped pecans 

1 cup of sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup of water

1 tsp maple extract

Combine both sugars and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about a minute or two, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 or 3 minutes. Add maple extract. Let cool completely; the syrup will be thicker the colder it is. 

Store in the fridge for up to…forever, as far as I know. We’ve never had ours go bad, but then again it usually doesn’t last that long.