Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Screw-up at the Grocery Store

I'll start with the grocery store--I'd planned on some roasted GREEN vegetables to go with some grilled chicken, and bought a bunch of diferent produce items at the store. When I got home, I discovered that for some reason, I didn't have the bell peppers, the zucchini, or the tomatoes. I was going to roast the zucchini with the bell pepper and some onion, and have a tomato salad. but had to re-think my plans. (I called the store and they'll let me pick up my lost veggies tomorrow--I wasn't going to drive back down the mountain tonight.)

Roasted Vegetables

Dinner was tasty in spite of the screw-up. We had Chicken Thighs Adobo on the George Foreman Grill, and roasted potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and green beans in the oven. All I did for the vegetables was cut them up, toss them in olive oil with a bit of garlic, and roast them at 425˚ for about 30 minutes. They were delicious.

After I put the vegetables in the oven, I mixed up the marinade for the chicken thighs and put them in it for a while. Just before the veggies were done, I heated up the GF grills and cooked the thighs. It's one of our favorite marinades, and I always have the ingredients on hand.

Chicken Thighs Adobo

1 T Splenda brown sugar blend
1 T olive oil
1 T orange juice concentrate
1 T dried cilantro
2 t red wine or cider vinegar
1 t chipotle or regular chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 t salt
1/8 ground red pepper
1/8 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t minced garlic
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Mix all ingredients except chicken in a medium bowl. Put thighs in bowl; turn them to get all surfaces coated with marinade. Marinate as long as possible before grilling. Works on either an indoor or outdoor grill. Serves 3

Tip: Keep a can of orange juice concentrate in the freezer. Any time a recipe calls for orange juice, just scoop out some of the concentrate. You mignt not even want to dilute it if you want a stronger orange flavor.

I know I missed something, and I just figured out it was ARF Tuesday at Sweetnicks. It's too late to link now, so I'll try to plan ahead for next week.

I discovered a new treat today. My friend Dan suggested it: put a banana, 2 tablespoons of sugar-free chocolate syrup or drink powder, and two tablespoons of peanut butter in a ziploc sandwich bag. Squeeze out the air, zip the bag shut, and then squish it all up! Snip off one corner, and eat the ooey gooey mess. It's sooooooo good. A great snack, or a dessert. Take out the chocolate, and it would make a good grab-and-go breakfast to eat in the car on the way to work. Here's the nutritional info on one 7 oz. banana and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter: 330 calories, 37 carbs, 16 g fat, 5 g fiber, 8.5 g protein. Not a bad breakfast to start the day with!

Tip: Store peeled bananas in the freezer. Just pop them in little zip bags, then take them out when you need them for bread or smoothies. If you don't peel them before you freeze them, they're impossible to peel frozen, and a mess to peel thawed.

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2 comments:

Michele said...

Your recipe sounds great and love the frozen banana, choc. and p.b. idea! It sounds like it would taste good frozen as well!

Stef said...

the "adobo" link on sweetnick's blog brought me here:D -- "adobo" is a fixture in our (Filipino) cuisine -- some consider it our national dish, though our adobo's main seasonings are simply vinegar, garlic, salt/soy sauce and black pepper... bay sometimes. - stef/stefoodie.net