Greek Chicken

One of mine and Tim's favorites. It takes a little bit of prep work but is so worth it!

GREEK CHICKEN

Marinade: Coats about 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast cubed (4-5 breast)

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp garlic cloves minced

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients and then add chicken cubes. Coat well and then cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours and a max of 6 hours ( any more and the yogurt will break the protein in the chicken down too much and make it mushy)

Remove chicken from marinade and thread onto skewers. You can also skewer bell peppers and red onion (or sweet onion) on a separate skewer to go alongside the chicken. I also like to do mushroom and little tomatoes. The veggies will cook faster or longer, depending on the vegetable, then the chicken, so don't skewer them together.

Grill over high heat until chicken is cooked through, roughly 8-10 minutes total. Grill veggies too.

Whisk a 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp fresh garlic minced, 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil and 3 Tbsp lemon juice in a small bowl. Brush over chicken and veggies when they come off the grill. I like to make a recipe and a half of this because it's so good and I like to put lots of it on.

Serve with Yogurt-herb dipping sauce, or purchased tzatziki

Yogurt-Herb dipping sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove minced

1 Tbsp minced fresh basil

1 Tbsp minced fresh mint

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and chopped fine

Whisk yogurt, oil ,lemon juice, garlic, basil, mint, salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir in cucumber, cover and refrigerate until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Rice pilaf.

I make a simple rice pilaf with half a cup of orzo ( you can find at the grocery store in the pasta section or at Trader Joes) and half a cup of rice. Pour about 2 cups of chicken stock or broth over the rice and add a pat of butter, some salt and pepper. You can make it stove top or in a rice cooker. You don't have to use the butter.

To Serve put the rice pilaf in a bowl, then unskewer all the veggies and chicken  on top of the rice family style. Serve with Pita bread.
We like to put the rice/chicken mix into the pita and top it the yogurt sauce almost like a taco.

Enjoy this meal is delicious!!!!!

Disney Cornbread Muffins!

It's here! The long awaited, ever so delicious, best cornbread you ever had recipe is here!
Theresa managed to talk the Storyteller Cafe in downtown Disney into giving her their cornbread muffin recipe. However when she got the recipe it made 120 muffins and was all measured out in pounds! So I took the recipe scaled it down and converted into cups for your everyday use! Enjoy, these are seriously the best cornbread muffins I have had!
For Taber and Theresa! =D

This recipe makes 24 cornbread muffins.

1 cup Water
1cup Vegetable or Canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup Milk
1 1/2 cups Cornmeal
1 1/3 cup Sugar
2 1/2 cups of All-Purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
2 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)

Note: If you are using fresh corn kernels, soak the 1 cup corn kernels in the 1/2 cup of milk for 1 hour before adding it to the recipe. If you are using frozen corn, just add it straight to the batter with the milk when you add the wet ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

In a mixing bowl combine the cornmeal, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder and cheese. Mix it all together using a whisk or wooden spoon.

Add the water, oil and eggs, plus the corn kernels and the milk they were soaking in, to the dry mixture. Mix together really well, making sure there are no dry clumps of cornmeal or flour. This is not a very thick batter, so it will be a bit soupy.

Lightly spray 2 - 12 slot cupcake or muffin tins. Scoop the batter into the muffin tins, filling about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 15 minutes

Eat warm cornbread muffins with butter or honey butter Yum!

Hershey Cream De Cacoa

I made this for the 4th of July. My first attempt at making a 4 layer cake. It didn't turn bad a little lopsided but it tasted wonderful.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1-2/3 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-1/3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons creme de cacao (chocolate-flavored liqueur)(optional)
• CREME DE CACAO FILLING (recipe follows)
• CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE (recipe follows)

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
   
   
2. 2 Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until blended. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, blending just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
   
   
3. 3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Sprinkle each layer with 1 tablespoon creme de cacao; cool completely.
   
   
4. 4 Meanwhile, prepare CREME DE CACAO FILLING. Split each cake layer horizontally into 2 layers. Place one layer on serving plate; spread with one-third of FILLING. Repeat layering with remaining cake and FILLING, ending with cake layer. Cover tightly; refrigerate at least 8 hours.
   
   
5. 5 Prepare CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE; spoon on top of chilled cake, allowing glaze to drizzle down side of cake. Refrigerate. 10 to 12 servings.
   
   CREME DE CACAO FILLING: Beat 1 cup (1/2 pt.) cold whipping cream, 2 tablespoons creme de cacao (optional) and 1 tablespoon HERSHEY'S Cocoa in small bowl until stiff. Cover; refrigerate. About 2 cups.
   
   CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE
   1 HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Bar (7 oz.), broken
   into pieces
   1/4 cup whipping cream
   1 tablespoon butter
   1-1/2 teaspoons creme de cacao (chocolate-flavored liqueur) or
   water
   
   Combine chocolate bar pieces, whipping cream and butter in medium saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in creme de cacao. Cool to lukewarm (glaze will be slightly thickened). About 1 cup.