Honey Garlic Chicken

A quick and easy chicken dish that pleases both grown up and more child-like palettes. The best part of this dish is its simplicity.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 pieces chicken (thighs or drumsticks, enough to feed four people)
1/2 cup honey
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400oC. Place chicken in oven safe dish (I use a glass Pyrex dish). Mix together honey, garlic, and olive oil. Drizzle over chicken. Flip chicken to ensure that the meat is fully covered by the sauce. Bake in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked. My husband also recommends basting the chicken every five minutes to ensure that the meat is perfectly golden-brown when it is done cooking.

I served with roast potatoes (you can cook these in the oven with the chicken) and steamed broccoli. Yum!

This recipe has been adapted from this posting on the My Fridge Food blog.

Crazy Good Coconutty Granola

One of the yummiest and easiest breakfasts to make is homemade granola. And the variations are endless - just add whatever combination of nuts, fruit, seeds, and other goodies to create your own special concoction. Below is a recipe for a coconut granola I made the other day. Delicious!

6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup almonds
1 cup craisins
1 cup raisins
1 cup coconut shreddings

Mix the rolled oats, oil, and honey together until the oats are covered evenly. If you find that the oats are not coated enough, you can add a tablespoon or two more oil as needed. Then add all the goodies and toss together.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Celcius. Pour mixture onto cookie sheet. I usually cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper so the mixture cooks evenly and to make it easier to pour the mixture into a container after it is baked.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes but keep a VERY close eye on it. Take out and stir about half way through to ensure that the mixture browns evenly.

Once done, wait until it cools and then put into an airtight container. If you keep the granola on the shelf it will last about a week, or for longer life you can keep it in the fridge or freezer.

To enjoy, just add milk, yogurt, or whatever your pleasure (currently I am using almond milk) and dig in.

Ingredients.

Before baking...

                                                                      .......after baking.

Coconut Milk Curry with Prawns

This Coconut Milk Prawn Curry is a super easy one dish meal that everyone in my family loves. It takes about forty minutes including prep and you want to be sure everything is ready before you start cooking.

Ingredients (feeds six people):
1 pkg frozen or fresh raw Prawns
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup carrots
1 cup broccoli
1 medium white onion
2 peppers (I used orange and red for colour)
1 small zucchini
1 cup mushrooms
2 bunches bok choy
~ 1 tbsp each minced fresh garlic and ginger (you can add as much or as little as your taste buds prefer)
2 cans Coconut Milk
Curry Powder (to taste)
Salt and Pepper
2 portions instant stir fry noodles (or you can cook pasta or rice to go with it)


Defrost prawns (if necessary) in cool water. De-shell them (again if necessary) and set aside.
Chop all veggies into desired size. I find everyone has their preferences when it comes to stir fry :)
Once everything is prepped, turn on a large skillet, frying pan, or wok to medium and heat up the olive oil. Add carrots, cook slightly (1-2 mins), then add broccoli, cook slightly, and continue on down the list until all veggies - except the bok choy -  are cooking in the oil.
Add the two cans of coconut milk, the garlic, the ginger, and start adding the spices to taste. Allow the mixture to simmer for a minute. Then add the stir fry noodles (if you are using the instant variety) and bok choy. When everything is almost done (probably about five minutes, but keep an eye on the mixture, as it depends a lot on your pan, the size of your veggies, etc) add the prawns and cook until they turn pink, about a minute or two. Try not to overcook as they can get rubbery.
And TA DA! You have just created a healthy (albeit it a little bit fattening) well balanced meal in a single dish.
If you want to reduce the fat content, use lower fat coconut milk instead of the full fat variety.