Aki Chicken

Warning: A parent is about to think something her kid said was adorable and cute and it may or may not be so but this is that parents blog, so deal with it.

So I came home from work today at lunch and made one of the side dishes for dinner tonight and then later I called my husband and was giving him instructions on how to finish up preparations over the phone (he is good like that!) and I could hear my 2 year old wreaking havoc in the kitchen "I want chocolate milk!", singing the "potty song" loudly (not that she will go on the potty or anything but she sure likes that song), I could almost hear her more clearly than my husband who I was talking to.  So I started telling my husband about how he had to cook the Teriyaki Chicken and he repeated, mumbling "teriyaki chicken" and I heard my toddler exclaim without missing a beat,  "I want Aki Chicken, I want Aki Chicken!!" which sounded a lot like she was enthusiastically requesting disgusting food.  So there is my cute parental anecdote for the day. So guess what we had....

Teriyaki Chicken

You know what totally rocked about this meal, it was made FOR me! This was another one of my freezer meals from my exchange group. Score! It was so yummy and convenient.  Can't wait till we do another exchange next week!

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons vegetable, canola, or sesame oil
1 small minced garlic clove
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger OR 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger (duh - like that's a choice!)
1-2  pounds chicken legs and thighs (we had 10 pieces)

Mix soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, oil, garlic and ginger to make marinade. Freeze chicken in marinade in a 1-gallon bag.
When preparing to serve, thaw chicken. Pour chicken and marinade into a baking dish. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Makes five servings (2 pieces each) 7 pts each

So then I delegated my husband to make some of these to go with it:

But uh,  what to put on them because I was at work giving instructions over the phone so I just kind of had to make it up as I went along and tell him what to throw together.  So when he cut up the pineapple to put on the kabobs I had him take the juice leftover in this:

and add 1/8th cup teriyaki sauce, 1/8th cup soy sauce, 1 tsp minced ginger, sprinkle or two of garlic salt.  Then he poured it over the kabobs and let them soak for an hour before grilling.  They were awesome!

Lastly, what I made on my lunch break was a recipe from the Biggest Loser's Ali Vincent herself, and one of my favorite words, say it with me, Quinoa!! But in order to make it I had to launch into unknown waters and face this foreign creature:

I have never ever bought or cooked with a mango.  Ever.  I haven't really eaten very much mango before.  I always wanted to.  It seems like a cool trendy fruit.  Since I have no hope of being cool and trendy in my style I would at least like to be cool and trendy in the kitchen.  So I read the recipe. I was enticed because you know how I love me some quinoa.  And it was phenomenal.  Here you are:

Mango Quinoa Salad 

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
1 cup lite coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium mangoes, peeled and diced
1 roasted red bell pepper, diced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 handful chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)
I added one ear of grilled corn cut off the cob! Because why not!
4 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (whoops, I made this on my lunch break and was rushing hard core and just realized I forgot this, my husband and I agree it didn't really need it!)fresh lime juice of one lime and lime zestkosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
*Cook quinoa in coconut milk and broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, simmer for about 15 min or until liquid boiled off.  Chill quinoa until cooled. Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl.  Add mango, red pepper, green onion, black beans, and cilantro.  In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice.  Whisk until smooth and pour on top of salad.  Toss to combine and add salt and pepper to taste.  Chill for at least one hour before serving. Makes at least 12 servings, 5 pts each (oil didn't effect points)

OK so my kids, and all right my husband and I too, were literally gobbling every morsel of this meal, my kids were calling out "More quinoa, more chicken" and I actually had to cut them off.  This meal was a big hit.  Thanks Sara for the chicken.  Thanks Ali Vincent for getting me to be brave and try mango and add another quinoa recipe to my repertoire.  Interesting note, my husband just discovered that the pit of a mango, when accidentally ground up in a disposal opens like a clam shell and causes your disposal to need a little attention.

Whoops, sorry honey!

So rave reviews from my family on tonight's food. 

Also fun this evening, the first fruits of my gardens labor...

Anyone want any cucumbers???

Gonna go drink like a million glasses of water now, tomorrow morning, me vs my new scale.  Night Y'all.