My last post was a great recipe for Cilantro Lime dressing. Today's recipe is for the great looking chicken in the photo! Paired with the dressing, this is a fabulous meal!

Lime and Cilantro Chicken
(Original Recipe found HERE, but changed to fit my families' tastes!)

Enough skinless, bonesless chicken breasts, cut into strips, to feed your family
Juice of 2 limes (can also use the zest for an extra kick)
2 TB Sugar
2 teas. dried Oregano
1/2 teas. Cayenne
1 teas. ground Cinnamon
2 teas. Cilantro
Vegetable Oil

Mix all the ingredients except for the chicken in a large bowl. Add chicken and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add chicken and cook until done.

Here's the fun part! What to do with the chicken?
1. Salad! Add the chicken to a salad, and be sure to use Cilantro Lime Dressing over the entire thing!
2. Make burritos! We made ours with black beans, chicken, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese.
3. Add onions and peppers to the pan to make Fajita's!

What can you come up with? My husband took one bite of this chicken and said "WOW!" This is a keeper in our house for sure!

Cilantro Lime Dressing

I found this amazing recipe on Rara Bakes.
It's a great food blog! Check it out today!

This dressing is similiar to the salad dressing at some mexican places like Cafe Rio and Bajio. Pour it over your salad, or any mexican dish.
Easy to make, fabulous to eat!

Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 cup La Costena green salsa (I used another brand!)

Put dressing mix, mayonnaise, and buttermilk in the blender. Juice the lime into the blender. Peel the garlic cloves and then grate them using the small end of a cheese grater. Add to the blender. Add cilantro and green salsa.

Blend until everything is well-combined and then refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Easy, right? And best of all, it's sooo yummy!

Look for my next recipe post- some fabulous chicken that pairs perfectly with this dressing!

Crockpot Applesauce

I had some extra apples lying around, so I thought I would make applesauce. It was so easy to make! I think I'm going to make it from now on!

Here is the recipe I used. It turned out tasting just like the inside of an Apple Pie! If you don't want it to be as sugary, or taste like apple pie, you can use less spices!

6-8 Apples, peeled, sliced
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 to 1teas. Pumpkin Pie spice (or add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)

Place all ingredients in a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hrs, or on high for about 3 hrs. Mash all the apples, and Enjoy!

Bread Machine Challah! Yum!

Bread Machine Challah Bread

Italian Spiced Challah Bread!

I wanted to make bread in my bread machine, so I searched for a good recipe. This one is A-mazing! Very easy to make, and you can turn it into so many different flavors! Here we go!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Milk
3 Eggs
3 TB margarine/butter
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 teas. active dry yeast

1. Add ingredients to the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. (Usually wet ingredients first, and then dry)

Then do EITHER of these options:
A. Select Basic Bread and Light Crust settings. Start. Bread will be cooked completely!
B.(I did it this way) Select DOUGH settings and press Start.

1. After the machine is done, take the dough out, and place it on a very lightly floured board, punch the dough down, and let rest for 5 minutes.
2. Divide the dough in half. Then divide into 3 equal pieces, roll into ropes about 12 to 14 inches, and braid into a loaf. Do the same with the remaining other half. Gently put the loaves on a greased cookie sheet, mist with water, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a warm, draft free place, until double in size.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water.
4. Brush risen loaves with egg mixture. Sprinkle with sugar. (optional)
5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then, cover loosely with foil, and bake for another 10-15 minutes. This prevents the crust from browning too soon.

Then, check out all the variations I have thought of... and let me know if you come up with more!
* Add 1-2TB Italian herbs to dough. Sprinkle garlic powder on top of loaf after spreading egg/water mixture. This tastes BETTER than Italian Bakery Bread! (The top picture is of the Italian bread!)

* Add Cinnamon, Sugar, Nutmeg to dough. After cooking, drizzle cinnamon roll frosting on top!

*At your machine's add-in cycle, add shredded cheese and spices.