Smoked Turkey Efo Riro

My boyfriend, Stephen, is frequently the object of other people's jealousy.

Why, you ask? Because every Saturday, I spend my morning and early afternoon cooking food for him to take to work for the next week.

Yes, he really is that spoiled. Yes, he does know how lucky he is and appreciates it greatly. And no, I don't mind do it. I'd much rather spend my Saturday cooking for him than to let him continue eating fast food for every meal.

I always try to make sure he has at least 3 different meals that he can rotate through out the week.

Here is one of the meals I made for this week.

Smoked Turkey Efo Riro
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1 1/2 lb smoked turkey
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large pieces
5 Roma tomatoes, seeded
6 habanero peppers
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 inch fresh ginger
Salt and pepper
2 t extra virgin olive oil
1 c chicken broth
1 T curry powder
2 c frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of extra liquid

Remove skin from smoked turkey and cut into bite size pieces. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add turkey to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until slightly crispy. Put red bell pepper, tomatoes, habanero peppers, garlic, onion, ginger, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add mixture, chicken broth and curry powder to skillet with turkey. Stir to combine and bring liquid to a simmer. Stir in spinach. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Chili Powder

I frequently use chili powder in my cooking. But I have two problems with store bought chili powder. One... it's not the most flavorful spice in the spice rack. It seems like you need a lot of it to make any difference in a recipe. And two... it contains silicon dioxide to make it free flowing. I don't even know what that stuff is, but spices just shouldn't contain chemicals! So naturally, I decided that I needed to make my own chili powder. It's easy to make and has incredible flavor.


Chili Powder
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2 ancho chili peppers
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. cumin

Remove stem and seeds from peppers. Cut peppers in thin strips and place in a coffee grinder. Pulse grinder until the anchos are a coarse powder. Remove from grinder and mix in garlic powder and cumin. Store in airtight container.

Cherry Vanilla Vodka

It has been snowing in Dallas all day. It's cold and yucky outside. Tonight is a good night for hot chocolate, but why drink hot chocolate to warm you up when you could drink cherry vanilla vodka to warm you up. And the best part is, I don't have school tomorrow.


Cherry Vanilla Vodka
1 bottle 750 ml Svedka vodka
1 lb. cherries, pitted
1 c. sugar
1 vanilla bean

Split vanilla bean down the middle, length-wise. In medium pot, add cherries, sugar and vanilla bean. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Cool slightly. Add cherry mixture and vodka to large jar. Let sit for 7 days, shaking jar every other day to stir mixture. Strain vodka using cheesecloth.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

For the past 11 years of my life, I have had crazy bad allergy problems. So I was super excited when my friend, Marisa, invited me to a Wellness talk about allergies and your immune system.

The talk was at the Clinic where she is a nutritionist. The ladies were fabulous and very informative. It was amazing to find out how much your diet can effect your allergy problems. One of their recommedations was to start your day with a healthy smoothie. I swear I'm starting to feel better already. Check them out so you can start feeling better!!

Mixed Berry Smoothie
2/3 c. almond milk
1/2 c. frozen mixed berries
2 frozen peach slices
1 T. Whey protein powder
2 T. flax seeds, ground

Blend well in a blender.

Recipe Contest

By profession I am a teacher for Dallas Independent School District. The district has an annual healthy recipe contest. In January I had seen this upcoming recipe contest and thought nothing of it. Well, my friend, Corley was not having that. She demanded that I enter the contest. Reluctantly, I submitted an original recipe, Crunchy Asian Chicken Slaw, on the last day they were accepting entries. Long story short, after lots of nerves and anxiety, I won 1st place! I received some amazing prizes, including a food processor, a Crock Pot, a Food Network cookbook, 10pc. cookware set and a Walmart giftcard. What a wonderful experience that I don't ever want to experience again. I have decided that my nerves are just not made for the food competition circuit.

Crunchy Asian Chicken Slaw
Chicken:
2 lbs. Tyson chicken breast, cut into strips
½ c. soy sauce
1 t. fresh lime zest
1 T. fresh lime juice
½ t. grated fresh ginger
1 c. Kellogg’s All-Bran Wheat Flakes cereal, crushed
¼ c. sliced almonds, chopped

Slaw:
2 T. smooth peanut butter
1 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. soy sauce
½ c. extra virgin olive oil
2 c. bean sprouts
2 c. matchstick carrots
4 scallions, sliced on an angle
6 romaine lettuce leaves, cut into thin strips
½ c. dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix together the soy sauce, lime zest, lime juice and ginger. Marinate chicken strips in soy sauce mixture for 5 minutes. Mix cereal and almonds together and spread out on a plate. Coat each chicken strip with cereal mixture and place on greased baking sheet. Bake chicken for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Whisk together peanut butter, lime juice and soy sauce. Slowly add oil, while continuing to whisk dressing. Mix together bean sprouts, carrots, scallions and romaine lettuce. Toss slaw with dressing. Top slaw with peanuts and chicken strips.