Day 11- Recipes

Hello! I thought I would start my blog early today and give you a few great recipes! The first one is a healthy chicken stir-fry that is just delicious. The second is a bran muffin recipe that is also wonderful. I cannot have the bran muffins yet, but in a few weeks, I will be able to introduce grains back into my diet. Here is the stir-fry recipe:


1 lemon
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
10 ounces mushrooms, halved or quartered
1 cup diagonally sliced carrots, (1/4 inch thick)
2 cups snow peas, (6 ounces), stems and strings removed
1 bunch scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces, white and green parts divided
1 tablespoon chopped garlic

Preparation
Grate 1 teaspoon lemon zest and set aside. Juice the lemon and whisk 3 tablespoons of the juice with broth, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs. Add mushrooms and carrots to the pan and cook until the carrots are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add snow peas, scallion whites, garlic and the reserved lemon zest. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Whisk the broth mixture and add to the pan; cook, stirring, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add scallion greens and the chicken and any accumulated juices; cook, stirring, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Here is the bran muffin recipe:

Becky's Bran Muffins

2 c. boiling water
5 tsp. baking soda
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar or brown sugar
4 eggs
1 qt. buttermilk
5 c. flour/or wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
4 c. All Bran Cereal
2 c. Bran Flakes
1 c. chopped walnuts
5 ripe bananas-mashed (optional)

Add soda to boiling water and set aside. Whip butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Add buttermilk, bananas, salt, flour....mix well. Add the soda water very slowly. Gently fold the cereals and walnuts into the mix.

Refrigerate muffin mix overnight. Spoon 1/8 cup into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If making mini muffins, bake for only 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.

This batch is very big, so you can freeze half of it if needed. Muffin mix will last up to one week in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Today was a great day! I took my mom to the beauty college to treat her to a spa day. I think she really loved it. My mom is one of those people that has everything, so what do you give a girl who has everything? Some pampering. Oh yeah. I was there with her getting these dark roots touched up and had a manicure. Very, very nice. It also was a nice treat to myself for being so good!

I will be back again tonight to write some more. I am off to teach Zumba to my peeps! Weepah! What a way to top off my night. See you all in a few.