Chicken Teriyaki Kababs

I stumbled on a teriyaki recipe while looking for crockpot recipes. It was a total winner-winner and has landed a spot in my recipe line-up.  A couple weeks ago I really wanted to have marinated teriyaki chicken on the grill, but I’m not a fan of the bottled stuff my hubby likes. I wondered if the teriyaki recipe would work for this as well as it works in the crockpot recipe.

Man alive, this stuff rocks! It is so versatile. I mixed it together and let it cool and then put the chicken breasts in it for a while. It tasted great and I had enough to set some aside as a dipping sauce with dinner.

Last week I decided to try it on some chicken kebabs. Same approach…I made it up, set some aside and marinated the chicken pieces and green pepper pieces in it for a bit. It tasted fantastic! Even the kiddos were cheering to see this combination. After perfecting the recipe a bit, I think we’ve got it to a point that we prefer this over the bottle variety, yeah!

In this post I’m specifically writing about the kebabs, but I hope to have a post about the sauce on its own. It deserves its own post, that’s how good it is. Until then, here’s what I did for this meal.

Chicken Teriyaki Kebabs

1 lb chicken, cubed

1 green pepper, chopped in large pieces

1 medium onion, chopped in large pieces

1 c pineapple chunks

1 ½ c water

3 Tbs cornstarch

½ c brown sugar

¼ c honey

½ c lite soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp canola oil

In a saucepan, heat up the water and the cornstarch. Once it begins to thicken, add the brown sugar, honey, lite soy sauce, garlic, and canola oil. Bring to a simmer and let it simmer 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool while you prep the meat and veggies.

Place the peppers and onions in a bowl and pour ½ c of the cooled sauce over them. Place the chicken in another bowl and pour 1 – 1 ½ c of the sauce over it. Place them in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Set the last of the sauce aside to serve with dinner.

Assemble the kebabs in a manner you are comfortable with. I usually like to mix the veggies, pineapple, and chicken on each kebab. My husband prefers I keep it all chicken with veggies separate. The nice thing about kebabs is that I can easily do this.

Heat a grill to a medium heat and cook as you normally would, making sure all sides are cooked and there’s no pink left in the chicken. Serve with rice and the sauce that was set aside.

Weekly Menu, Sept 26

I bumped my menu a day so I'd be able to get it posted in time. Maybe not. Oh well, I will keep working to get this up on Sundays so the whole plan is ready. I literally just came home from the store and now there's a couple new things I need that I didn't realize. I'll get this figured out.

Tonight was exciting for this nerdy type-A gal. Quick back story...yesterday the kiddos and I went to my parents for dinner and my uncle was going to be there as well. He is a super fan of pie so I offered to make a couple pies for dessert. I made a cherry and an apple (all from my own canned produce) and had some extra crust dough. I figured I'd make a pumpkin but didn't have all the ingredients, or the time to make it happen. I stuck the extra crust in the fridge and took off for Grandma's house.

All day today I was thinking about what I could do with that crust. I didn't want it to go bad ( I HATE throwing foods away), but I didn't know what to do with it. At the same time I was trying to think of what to do for dinner tonight. If only I had a plan, ha ha! Suddenly it occurred to me...I have ALWAYS wanted to try making a chicken pot pie and just haven't done it. Bingo bango! I looked at a few recipes and settled on one from my grandmothers cookbook. It was quick, easy, and all natural ingredients that I currently had in my pantry. Yeah!

This meal was awesome! It was such a hit I need to post it so I remember what I did. And now I know you can keep a crust in the fridge over night and it still works great. Bonus! Love when things work out like that.

So, back to the menu...pretty straight forward this week. My daughter is on fall break so I have a helper for the week which means I need to keep things simple. She's going to help me make some ice cream cones out of pizzelli's (something I haven't done in a looooong time) and of course we'll see what other mischief we can get into.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	*kefir shake pancakes scrambled eggs	PBJ cheezits grapes	homemade chicken pot pie
Tuesday	*kefir shake cinnamon toast sausage links	PB crackers apple slices pirate booty	pizza salad
Wednesday	*kefir shake cinnamon toast sausage links	turkey roll ups carrot sticks cheezy goldfish	EARLY PREP crockpot tacos corn salad
Thursday	*kefir shake biscuits HB eggs	ham and cheese chips watermelon	steak potatoes green beans
Friday	*kefir shake pancakes scrambled eggs	PBJ pirate booty strawberries	chicken alfredo casserole (pin) broccoli
Saturday	*kefir shake oatmeal	chicken salad crackers	burgers broccoli slaw baked beans
Sunday	*kefir shake roll up pancakes strawberries	hot dogs chips beans	chicken kebabs rice carrots

Last time I had the Chicken Alfredo casserole in the menu we didn't get it done so I'm hoping it will happen this time. Otherwise, let's get to it this week! We've hit the ground running. Have a great week and enjoy!

Kefir Smoothies for One

I have started to make morning smoothies.  Part of this is an attempt to be healthier and get more fruits and veggies into my day. This is also a result of the crazy mornings we have. I have not been able to find a way to include a healthy breakfast for myself in the midst of the chaos.

I started researching smoothies but after a few failed attempts with yogurt-based smoothies I was discouraged. They were too thick for my little single-serve blender and I didn’t want to pull out the big boy blender because I’m the only one drinking them.  I also wanted a drink, not a yogurt with a bunch of stuff added to it.

I recently had a friend start pinning a bunch of smoothie recipes, and that led to a conversation about kombucha, something else I am trying to wrap my head around.  While looking into that, kefir popped up. I was curious…

After hitting up a few of my fave natural stores I found a couple to try. I instantly fell in love! It’s creamy and smooth. The flavor has a bit of a bite, because of all the good bacteria, but it still tastes more subtle than traditional yogurt. Did I mention all the good bacteria? 12 different strains to help with the immune system, digestive system, etc.

It also can be combined with so many things to help enhance the flavor and health value even more. It has been a lot of fun to play with. Each time I try something new I wonder if it will taste as good as the last and I am always pleasantly surprised to find it’s even better!

The possibilities are endless. Whatever you and your taste buds can dream up. Because I’ve only just begun, these are some pretty basic mixes that got me started. I searched for more ideas but have struggled to find the single-serve so I’m going at it blind. Any ideas or suggestions are truly appreciated. 

Straight-Up Strawberry

1 c kefir

1 c strawberries, chopped

1 Tbs agave nectar

*Really, this could be any straight-up berry. Swap out and enjoy

Mix-to-Match

1 c kefir milk

1/3 c strawberry, chopped

1/3 c blueberries

1/3 c raspberries

1 Tbs agave nectar

*or if there’s another berry you want to throw in there because berries rock

One thing you will notice about my mixes is that they use very little frozen ingredients. I like it more liquid and find fresh ingredients taste better and mix better. That said, I do use some frozen fruits and they’re great!

Also, I have not yet started adding grains such as flax seed or chia. I am curious how they might taste, but I’m not there yet. Soon! Soon!

Until then, these are some recipes I have already started to enjoy. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Weekly Menu, Sept 19

I got totally distracted this weekend by a craft project and lost track of time to get my menu done. I was on a mission to complete a photo book from a trip I took with the kiddos a couple years ago (yeah, I'm trying to catch up) and today was the deadline for the coupon. We also went to an insect festival, because who doesn't like to travel thru an insect petting zoo on their weekend? We actually had an amazing time and I'm so glad we decided to go.

We had a really nice week last week with our menu. Most of the meals went off without a hitch, and only one meal got bumped...last night I was solo-parent and have had a ham in the fridge I've been wanting to cook for a while. My kids LOVE ham and it's the first time in a while I heard a chorus of "yeah!" instead of "I want mac n cheese". Nothing against mac n cheese, you've saved me many a time.

So tonight I was a little on the fly, except that I had the chicken I needed to use from yesterday. Kabobs complete; let's do this. I have found a teriyaki sauce recipe I really like and have used with a lot of different things. I hope to post about it soon. Pictures always hold me up, ha.

So this week is another straight forward week. I'm trying to use up some leftovers from last week, and also bring in some classics. Gotta love the classics.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	*kefir shake chocolate banana muffins	PBJ pirate booty strawberries	Teriyaki chicken kabobs rice
Tuesday	*kefir shake waffles scrambled eggs	turkey roll ups chips grapes	meatloaf potatoes mixed veggies
Wednesday	*kefir shake cinnamon toast sausage links	PBN graham crackers apple slices	EARLY PREP mac n cheese sauted chicken carrots
Thursday	*kefir shake biscuits HB eggs	cream cheese bagel cantaloupe bfast crackers	chicken mini chimi’s w/roasted chili’s corn refried beans
Friday	*kefir shake pancakes scrambled eggs	PB crackers goldfish apple sauce	Pizza out
Saturday	*kefir shake oatmeal	sandwiches cheezits grapes cookies	steaks mashed potatoes green beans
Sunday	*kefir shake roll up pancakes strawberries	grilled cheese chips apple slices	cheesy chicken rice broccoli

I made some chocolate banana muffins with a recipe I've been experimenting with and the kiddos decided it should be dessert. Done and done. Glad they're thinking a little healthier...or maybe they don't know, her hee. Let's see how this week goes! Have a great one and enjoy!