Chicken Tinga (Mexican Dish)

To watch this Video-Recipe click HERE!!!

Hi everyone, today´s recipe is a very popular Mexican dish, Chicken Tinga or Tinga de pollo is a chicken stew, slowly cooked in a Chipotle and tomato Sauce. It´s also  a very versatile dish, it can be serve in different ways from tostatadas, tacos, flautas, or simple with some white rice or a creamy spaghetti or pasta. Either way this dish will satisfy your cravings for Mexican food. It´s really easy to make, so simple and yet so delicious! Enjoy

Serve 6-8
Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken cut in pieces
• 3 cups of Hot-dog links cut into small pieces (or 3 cups of Deli-Cuts cut in small pieces)
• 5-6 slices of Bacon cut into small pieces
• 1 large Onion cut in thin slices
• 2 Garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 whole Garlic clove
• 1 Bay leave
• 10 ounces of chorizo
• 1 10oz can of chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce
• 5-6 large Roma Tomatoes
• 1/4 small onion
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Bring enough water to cover the whole chicken to a boil. Season the water with plenty of salt, 1 Bay leave, 1 garlic clove and a 1/4 of a small onion. Cook the chicken in this water for about 1 hour or until completely cooked. Once the chicken is cooked, drain it, and let it cool. Then shred it and set it aside until ready to use.

Cook the tomatoes in boiling water for about 5-6 minutes or until soft. (you can cook them in the same water with the chicken if you want to.) Once they are soft, put them in the blender, with 1 cup of the chicken broth (the water where you cooked the chicken), and also add in the chipotle peppers, you can add as many chipotle peppers as you like. This is supposed to be a spicy dish, but the spiciness of it, depends on you, so you can add the whole can of chipotle peppers or just a couple of them, either way it will be delicious.  Blend everything together on high for about 5 minutes or until you get a soft sauce. Taste the flavor and add salt and pepper if needed.

Now in a large sauce pan on low heat, preheat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, cook the onions for about 10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally, you want the onions to become caramelized, to get nice and soft and a brownish kind of color without burning them. Remember to cook them on low heat.

Once the onions have caramelized, add in the bacon and also add in the hot dog links or the deli cuts, continue to Cook everything on low heat for another 5-8 more minutes or until the bacon browns a little bit.  Then add in the Chorizo, stir everything together, make sure to break down the Chorizo
really well, and continue to cook on low heat for another 10 more minutes to cook the Chorizo.

Once the Chorizo is cooked, add in the shredded chicken, stir together, to make sure the chicken is well incorporated with the rest of the ingredients, then add in the tomato-chipotle sauce, stir together again, taste the flavor and add more salt and pepper if needed. Continue to cook on low heat for another 10 more minutes or until it comes to a boil.


Once it comes to  a boil, you are ready to serve. Serve it as you please, this makes great tostadas, tacos, flautas and even a great sandwich! 

"Healthy" Chocolate Blender Ice Cream

I was at Costco today and the Vitamix guy was there doing demonstrations.  I hung around for a while, collecting samples of delicious green smoothies and THEN he made chocolate ice cream.  I saw the ingredients and was totally skeptical about whether or not it would be edible by me, much less my kids.  I took one sip and was totally sold- I would've eaten all of it, but Lauren took it from me and wouldn't give it back.  She licked the sample cup clean!  It tasted amazing- I promise you cannot taste one of the "healthy" ingredients.  Doug, the Vitamix presenter, sent me a link to his recipe (click here) and I made it for dessert tonight.  It tasted just as amazing, and all of my kids were gobbling it up and throwing praises at their "best mom in the world".  :)  You can add peanut butter, banana, chocolate chips, mint flavor, whatever you want to make it your own.

courtesy google images

"Healthy" Chocolate Blender Ice Cream

Doug, the Blender Chef

1/2 cup milk (or half & half, heavy cream for richer taste)
3 1/2 Tbs. cocoa powder
7 Tbs. hot cocoa mix (you can find a healthier one if you try- I used a Trader Joes mix)
4-6 baby carrots
small slice cabbage
small handful spinach (I didn't have cabbage so I doubled this)
1/2 of an avocado
sweetener to taste (5 Hadley dates, agave nectar, honey, etc.)
2 cups ice

Blend these ingredients on low beginning on 1 then increasing to 10, run for 10 seconds then stop.  Use tamper stick to push ice down.  Results are best when using a Vitamix.

*Doug (and his co-presenter, Keith) has a lot of great recipes for soups and smoothies that can also be found by clicking on this link.

Curried Chicken

I am not a curry fan at all, but there have been a couple of curry recipes I've tried that I love.  This is one of them.  Ignore the lentils in the picture above.  I forgot to take a picture of my finished product, and although it looks a lot like the above picture, it does not have lentils.  Grab some Naan bread from the store to go with it or eat it with rice.  Or try both like we did.  Either way, it's delicious!

Curried Chicken

2 lb chicken cubed

15 roma  tomatoes sliced,thin then halved

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3  t. curry powder *

2 t.  chili powder

¼ t. cumin

2 t. salt

1/3 c. vegetable oil

chopped fresh cilantro to taste

Heat oil in wok or very large saucepan over medium.

Add tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes, stirring

Add chili powder, curry, cumin salt and garlic.  Cook 3 minutes.

Raise heat  to Med-high and add chicken .  Stir fry for 5 minutes.

Turn heat down to medium or medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve with fresh cilantro, rice  and/or Naan bread.

*I use regular McCormick curry powder, but if I want a bit more heat, I subsitute half of the curry powder with red curry powder.

Ham Bone Soup

I made this tonight using my leftover Easter ham bone, and it was surprisingly delicious!  I like that it's a non-creamy ham soup and it's so simple (in the crockpot!).  I substituted celery for the green peppers, and I used a little less bouillon than it called for.  Everyone (even my 2-year-old) ate it and loved it!

Ham Bone Soup

courtesy of Allrecipes.com

1 meaty ham bone

1 onion, diced

1 (14.5 oz) can of peeled and diced tomatoes with juice

1 can non-drained kidney beans 

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 green bell pepper, seeded and cubed (or substitute celery)

4 cups water

6 cubes chicken bouillon

Place the ham bone, onion, tomatoes, kidney beans, potatoes, and green peppers into a 3 quart or large slow cooker.  Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the water and pour into the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on high until warm.  Reduce heat to low and continue to cook 5-6 hours. (I just started mine on high and cooked for about 5 hours).

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I LOVE this pizza, and you can be creative with it.  This is what I used:

Your favorite pizza crust (I copied the homemade one from Our Best Bites)
Your favorite BBQ sauce
Cilantro
Grilled Red onion slices (saute in butter on the stove)
Gouda cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Cooked, diced chicken marinated in BBQ sauce

Spread BBQ sauce on the pizza dough.  (I usually cook my dough slightly before this step so it isn't doughy.)  Add chicken, onion, cilantro, and cheese.  Feel free to layer as you like, the more you get on there, the better.  Bake according to pizza dough directions and savor the deliciousness!

Breakfast Enchiladas

I made these breakfast enchiladas for our blessing brunch.  They are so, so good and very easy to make.  The recipe is technically an overnight recipe (make it the night before and bake it the next day) but the first time I made it I just cooked it right away and the second time I put together the burrito the night before and then poured the egg mixture on the next morning and baked it right away.  Super good and super tasty.  You can just add whatever you want into the burrito!

Breakfast Enchiladas

Recipe from Inspired Taste Blog

Why we love this recipe. You can prepare these enchiladas the night before, refrigerate overnight then bake in the morning. These are perfect for brunch or entertaining in the morning.

What you need to know. We kept the recipe below quite simple with ham, cheese and peppers, but feel free to add your favorite ingredients. Cooked bacon or sausage would be great as well as other vegetables like mushrooms.

Equipment you’ll need. You will need a 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish, two large bowls and a whisk.

Created By: Joanne and Adam Gallagher

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups (151 grams) diced cooked ham
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 8 green onions, finely sliced
• 2 cups (227 grams or 8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 10 eight-inch flour tortillas
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups (473 ml) half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Method

Prepare Baking Dish

1. Lightly spray 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Roll Tortillas

1. In large bowl, stir together ham, bell pepper, green onions and 1 cup of the cheese. Place 1/3 cup of the ham mixture down the center of each tortilla; roll up and place seam side down in baking dish.

Prepare Egg Mixture

1. In large bowl, whisk eggs, half-and-half, flour and the salt. Pour over the tortillas. Cover then bake or refrigerate overnight to be baked in the morning.

Bake Enchiladas

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Uncover baking dish then scatter the remaining cup of cheese over enchiladas. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover, and then bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until set and cheese melted.

Lemon-Orzo Salad

Took this yesterday to an Easter dinner we were invited to and it was mm mm good. I skipped out on the chicken because I was too lazy to cook it and I didn't feel like it would add much. Otherwise it is so stinkin easy and fast I would highly recommend it!

3/4 C uncooked orzo pasta
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp honey
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 C cooked shredded or diced boneless, skinless chicken
1/2 C diced cucumber
1/2 C diced red bell pepper
1/3 C sliced green onions
1 Tbs chopped fresh dill, or 1 tsp dried dill
1/2 C crumbled feta cheese

Cook orzo according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water until pasta feels cool to the touch.  Drain and place in a large salad bowl.

While orzo cooks, combine lemon rind, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, garlic, honey, and black pepper.  Whisk to combine.

Add chicken, cucumber, bell pepper, green onions, and dill to pasta.  Drizzle with dressing and toss to combine.  Divide onto 4 plates and sprinkle with feta.