lemon

Recipe: Lemon Herb Chicken

Abby H.

This recipe has been fine-tuned and constantly evolving for a while.  It originally started as a copycat of the Greek Chicken restaurant near me. This chicken is now a million times better.

Lemon Herb Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (I use breasts or thighs)
  • 2 lemons
  • 2 medium onions, chopped (I like sweet onions)
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 Tablespoons Oil of your choice (I like olive or avocado)
  • 2 Tablespoons dried oregano
  • 2 Tablespoons dried rosemary
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Prepare the marinade:

  1. Pat chicken dry and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl juice the lemons, set the lemons aside.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together.
  4. Chop up juiced lemons, add to marinade.
  5. In a large ziploc bag, pour marinade and add chicken.
  6. Allow chicken to marinate for at minimum 2 hours- I usually let it marinate overnight.

Cooking the chicken:

  1. In a large skillet, heat 1 T. oil or spray pan with spray release.
  2. Cook chicken on each side until brown and internal temp is at minimum 165.

This chicken is also great grilled! I love serving this chicken with a crisp cool green salad, hummus, and pita.

 

Recipe: Lemon Garlic Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Abby H.3 Comments

file000382147880.jpgWe love Garlic. It’s a good thing that hubs and I both like it, because otherwise this recipe wouldn’t go over too well.

This is my spin on the Spaghetti with Garlic White Wine sauce found here.  It appeared in hubs Facebook feed one day several months ago, he sent it to me, and we’ve been tweaking it to make it our own ever since.

To make it a little healthier, I added in 1 large spaghetti squash. If you’ve never cooked one, I write about it here. It’s super easy to cook, and it’s very yummy

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Ingredients:

  • 2 large white onions, cut into quarters and layers separated
  • 1 T Olive Oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 large lemons, zested and juiced
  • 4 T butter, divided
  • 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced (you can use more or less)
  • 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 c. white wine
  • 1/2 T Thyme (I usually have it dried in my spice cabinet, but if you have it fresh, use 5-6 springs)
  • 1 c. Grated parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1/2 c chicken broth (or pasta water)
  • 1 large spaghetti Squash
  • If you want to add pasta to this dish, you’ll need 1/2 lb spaghetti, 8-10 cups water (to cook pasta), and salt (to salt the water)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Prep spaghetti squash (scoop out the stringy parts and seeds) and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Toss cut up onions in oil, salt and pepper. Bake in a baking dish covered for 20-30 minutes, uncover and bake an addition 10-15 minutes.

IMG_3202.jpgAfter the squash is done cooking, allow to cool for about 10 minutes, or until it’s easy to handle. Scoop the “meat” out and set aside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Baked onions, cooling, along with the butter needed to finish the recipe.

After onions are done baking, set aside.

If you are cooking pasta, start the water to boil and cook pasta as directed.

Zest and juice the lemons, set aside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Heat half the butter in a skillet. Once melted, add the minced garlic and cook on medium for 5-ish minutes until fragrant (watch out, it burns really easily). Add red pepper flakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_3200.jpgAdd Lemon juice and wine, turn up the heat for a few minutes. You’ll want to cook off the alcohol, so about 5-10 minutes at medium high heat. Add the baked onions.

Add 2 T. chicken broth (or pasta water), and the remaining butter, and the Thyme. Once the butter is melted, turn off the heat.

Add the spaghetti squash and/or pasta into the skillet, and gently toss to coat. Add lemon zest, and half of the parmesan cheese. If the mixture becomes too thick, add more chicken broth or pasta water a little at a time.

Top with any additional cheese, thyme, and/or pepper flakes.

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Here is an extra step that makes it a little better (IMO) but isn’t needed: Place skillet under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese on the top is brown and bubbly.

I have made this recipe with both pasta and spaghetti squash.  This last time I made it, I used only 1 serving of whole wheat spaghetti, mostly because I prefer the way it turns out when it has the pasta water in it, instead of the chicken broth.

*If you are a vegetarian, feel free to substitute in veggie broth.

**This recipe can be made with GF pasta.

 

Cleaning with Lemons: Three Frugal Cleaning Ideas!

Abby H.

Living in Southern California, everyone knows someone who has a lemon tree. Maybe you have one, and while you enjoy a cool glass of lemonade and maybe a slice of lemon meringue pie, you aren’t really sure what to do with the rest? Here are a few of my favorite ways to clean with lemons.

The oil found in the lemon rind (the little “sacs” or circles on the exterior of the peel) are the same oil in the bottle of Lemon essential oil you will find in any health food shop. This oil is purported to have anti-microbial properties. So in addition to smelling good, it will chase away germs!

1-Banish nasty garbage disposal smells. You all know the smell I’m talking about. Quarter a lemon (or cut into smaller pieces if the lemon is large), turn on the disposal and drop the pieces in one at a time, giving the disposal 20-30 seconds to pulverize the lemon piece before adding the next one.

2-Slice up a lemon, toss the slices into a microwave safe bowl, add about 1/2 cup water and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Afterwards, CAREFULLY remove the bowl of water (It will be hot!!) and wipe down the inside of the microwave with a damn cloth or sponge. The steam from the heating water will loosen up the icky crud built up inside your microwave.

Screen Shot 2015-10-15 at 11.30.50 AM3-Household cleaner. Now this is my favorite homemade cleaning solution. Most of you have everything you or do you need to create this. To get started zest 2 to 3 lemons into a mason jar. Realistically, you can use any glass screw top container it doesn’t have to specifically be a mason jar. After you have zested the lemons, place them into the glass jar and pour enough vodka in to cover the lemon zest pieces completely. You do not want the lemon zest pieces to be exposed to the air. Next, screw the lid on, and store in a warm, dark place. You’re going to shake the mason jar once every week or so for 6 to 8 weeks.

After that time has elapsed you are going to strain off of the lemon zest solids and discard them. You can run them down the garbage disposal if you’d like and it will help your garbage disposal so nice and fresh. I don’t recommend eating them or cooking with them.

The remaining liquid will be a yellowish brown and that will be just fine. This liquid will not stain.

Pour this solution into a spray top bottle, like this one available on Amazon, and use it where you would use any household cleaner such as Spic and Span or Windex. The alcohol is great for cleaning the bathroom mirrors, as it does not leave streaks on the glass. It is also great for cleaning stinky toilets, bathroom sinks, and your bathroom countertops.

In the kitchen the alcohol is great for helping and cut the grease on the stove top, and it’s great for cleaning countertops as well.  However, because this solution contains alcohol keep it out of reach of children. It does not taste good, however it does smell good and it might be an attractive nuisance to children.

You can also mix a little bit of this liquid with salt or baking soda to form a paste to get the baked on gunk off of the outside of your tea kettle or pots and pans. Simply spread the mixture on scrub it with a sponge and rinse off. The abrasive nature of the salt or baking soda mixed with the liquid is great for removing baked on masses, or years of cooking accumulation.

I keep a spray bottle of this lemon liquid as I like to call it under the sink at all times. I use it to clean my countertops in the kitchen to wipe down the inside of the refrigerator. I even use it to clean the kitchen sink.

Overall it’s very inexpensive and it’s a very effective cleaner.