teriyaki chicken bacon skewers

Up at the Ranch last week, my Mom-In-Law and I made these little skewers.

They were TASTY! 

We made a few sans the bacon, too. 

Just make sure you cut all the chicken about the same size so they grill thru evenly.

Recipe from "Our Best Bites" Cookbook

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

About 8 oz. lean bacon, NOT thick-sliced (thick bacon is too hard to work with in this recipe)

1 large can pineapple chunks (you won't use all of them)

Homemade Teriyaki sauce (the best!) or Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste and Glaze

Kebab skewers or toothpicks

The easiest way to handle the bacon situation is to remove it from the package and while it's still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you're using center-cut bacon (and the "slab" is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Refrigerate until ready to use, partially because it's easier to work with cold bacon and partially because you don't want to kill any dinner guests with dead pig germs.

Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you'll need by how many pieces of bacon you have; you probably won't use all the bacon, but you'll need about 8 oz. or 2/3 of a standard-sized package of bacon. So count the bacon pieces and keep that in mind when cutting up your chicken.

Drain the pineapple and set up a little work station with skewers, bacon, chicken, and a 9x13 baking dish (for big skewers) or a sturdy Ziploc bag (for toothpick skewers). Wrap a piece of bacon around a chicken piece, secure with toothpick/skewer, and top with a chunk of pineapple. Repeat twice if using large skewers.

When all chicken pieces have been sufficiently staked, pour Teriyaki sauce over everything, reserving about 1/4 c., and marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours, no longer than about 8.

Preheat grill; when about 350-400 degrees, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes.

*If serving at a party, you can keep the appetizer-sized skewers warm in a crockpot set to low or an electric roaster set to 170 degrees.

**If cooking in oven, preheat oven to 400 and bake about 20 minutes, turning once, following the same basting instructions.

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/04/bacon-wrapped-teriyaki-chicken-skewers/

Kale

Kale: very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties.  Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir frying do not result in significant loss.  Along with other brassica vegetables, kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.  Kale is also a good source of carotenoids.

The Best Choco Chippers

My favorite treat in the world are choco chip cookies. So, I have naturally tried every recipe out there. This recipe is by far my favorite ever...I think it's the butter, some may say it's because of the dark brown sugar. Usually cookies with all butter turn out flat, but not these babies! They are the perfect puffiness. I make at least a batch a week and I think I can do the recipe in my sleep now.

Here it goes:

3 Sticks (1.5 C) of butter (melted a little--I nuke it for about 20 seconds in micro)

1 cup of sugar

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar (dark brown seems to be better, but use what you have)

Mix the above ingredients well.

Add:

2 eggs

and mix

Next add:

1 1/2 T. vanilla

1 teas. soda

1 teas. salt

4-4 1/2 cups of flour (I always sift a little and then measure exactly 4 1/2 cups with a knife to be exact...I believe the amount of flour is key to get them not too flat or not too dry.)

Add:

1 1/2 of 11.5 oz package of milk choco chips (I will only make these with the Guittard brand in the silver package)

Bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 min. (12 is perfect for my oven, but every oven is different, so you need to experiment).

This makes about 4 1/2 doz cookies, so you can also halve it if you don't need so many, although I just store mine in the freezer and snack on them waaayyy too much!

Enjoy!

Frozen Lemon Pie

A Wonderfully Refreshing Summer Dessert

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted


In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Pat into a large greased pie pan to form a crust.  Chill or freeze until firm.


Filling:
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
8 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed to room temperature
6 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
2 lemons
mint, for garnishing


Soften ice cream.  In a large bowl, combine ice cream, whipped topping, lemonade concentrate, the juice and zest of 1 lemon.  Stir until blended.  Pour over chilled pie crust.  Freeze overnight or for several hours.  Garnish with lemon slices (from remaining lemon) and mint.  Makes 8 servings.

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Recipe Source:  Stephanie Dansie  (Thanks Steph!)