Kroger Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

I love pineapple. When Kroger sent a dish who's star was pineapple, I was very happy. Due to this dish serving 6 people at 1 kabob per person, I doubled the recipe so 2 people could have 3 kabob's per person for 2 meals. Glad I did. Due to the large amount of vegetables, the portions turned out to be huge.

First, when I grill I tend to burn the food. Not on purpose, I just get distracted. Especially when I have to mix meat with veggies. Instead of threading veggie, meat, veggie, I decided to skewer the meat only and grill the veggies in my grill basket. Great idea as nothing burnt. I did learn that pineapple takes longer to grill than expected. If your using a grill basket, grill the pineapple separate.

I paired this dish with a mushroom and Parmesan couscous plus peach wine. Peach wine actually accented the soy and pineapple flavors. Total prep time was 20 minutes. Ten minutes for chicken, 10 minutes for veggies. I marinated the chicken overnight which enhanced the flavors.

For the chicken only skewers, grill time was 12 minutes per side. For the pineapple only, grill time is 8 minutes per side. All other veggies were 4 minutes per side.

Healthy, fast, lots of leftovers, and delicious. What more could I want in a dish.

Websites:

• Uwharrie Vineyards
• http://www.uwharrievineyards.com/WINE_PEACH.htm

• Near East
• http://www.neareast.com/#products/wild_mushroom_herb
• http://www.neareast.com/#products/parmesan

• Kikkoman
• http://www.kikkomanusa.com/homecooks/products/products_hc_details.php?pf=10101&fam=101

Recipe: Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs provided by Kroger

Recipe below is for one serving which is 6 kabobs at 1 kabob per person

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Pineapple Juice
• 1 TBSP Brown Sugar
• 3 Clove Garlic
• 1 TBSP Ginger, fresh and grated
• 1 1/2 lbs. Chicken, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 Red Pepper, cut into 1" chunks
• 1 Green Pepper, cut into 1" chunks
• 1 Pineapple, cored, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
• 1 Onion, cut into 1" pieces
• 24 Grape Tomotoes

Combine soy sauce through ginger. Whisk to combine. Pour into a zip to bag. Add chicken. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Remove chicken. Thread chicken onto skewers. Put all veggies into a grill basket. Pour marinade over veggies. Grill kabobs on medium heat (300 degrees) for 12 minutes per side. Grill pineapple at 8 minutes, flip in basket and grill for an additional 8 minutes. Grill remaining veggies for 4 minutes per side. Refrigerate leftovers.

Kroger Turkey, Bacon and Avocado Panini

With spring in the air there is nothing better than attempting to grill. Yes I said attempt as I keep trying hopeing I will eventually become a grill master. Thank goodness I have a husband who doesn't mind a bit of char on his food.

When Kroger sent their grilling coupons they included quite a few easy to make grilling recipes. One was Turkey, Bacon and Avocado Panini. I am not a sandwich or condiment person so what caught my eye was the avocado dressing. I love avocado's so I thought why not.

For this recipe the only change I made was adding Provolone cheese. As for grilling, I tried to keep the temperature around 300 degrees and grilled for 4 minutes each side. Problem, two turned out great and two burnt to death. The two that turned out were delicious. The avocado dressing gave the turkey a nice tangy flavor. I was hoping for leftovers but after eating mine I realized this is not a dish made for leftovers. Cold and reheated would have taken away from the nice grill flavor. 

When weighting the baking sheet, I put a 9x17 empty casserole dish on top of the baking sheet to keep everything in place. This helped create nice grill marks.

Prep time was 15 minutes. Cook time under 15. One serving of veggies per sandwich. I paired my panini with Savoy Lee's Reisling which brought everything together nicely.

Websites:

• Boar's Head
• http://boarshead.com/products/turkey/294-mesquite-wood-smoked-breast-of-turkey
• http://boarshead.com/products/cheese/668-lower-sodium-provolone-cheese-half
• Savoy-Lee Winery
• http://savoy-lee.com/wineavail.html

 Recipe: Turkey, Bacon and Avocado Panini provided by Kroger

Ingredients:

• 1 Medium Avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
• 2 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1/8 TSP Kosher Salt
• 1/8 TSP Black Pepper
• 8 Slices Ciabatta
• 1 lbs. Turkey Breast, sandwich slices and cooked
• I used Boar's Head Mesquite Wood Smoked Roasted Turkey Breast. 

• 1 Red Pepper, thinly sliced and sauteed
• 4 Slices Canadian Bacon, cooked
• 4 Slices Provolone Cheese

Preheat grill to medium-hot (about 300 degrees). Blend first four ingredients in food processor until creamy. Slice Ciabatta. Layer avocado spread, then turkey, red pepper, and Canadian bacon. Place on grill. Position a weighted baking sheet over the sandwiches. Grill 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and continue grilling 4 minutes under baking sheet. 

Servings: 4

Kroger Turkey-Stuffed Peppers

Yep, another grilling recipe. I enjoy stuffed bell peppers. Challenge, the messy assembly and clean up. With this recipe you have no issue with either. Simple and clean. The challenge with this recipe is the spices. I am not sure what I would add, but they were bland. Not uneatable bland, just something is missing bland. My husband chose to put hot sauce on his to kick it up a notch but we both still felt like something was missing. Makes 4 big servings. Prep time was 15 minutes. I cooked the peppers 6 minutes each side then another 4 minutes on the meat side. I did keep waiting for the stuffing to fall out of the pepper when flipped but it never happened. Again, little clean up. Enjoy!

Recipe: Turkey-Stuffed Peppers provided by Kroger

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs. Ground Turkey
• 1/4 Cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• I used a red onion hoping for added kick
• 1 Clove Garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP Parsley, fresh and chopped
• 1 TBSP Dijon Mustard
• 4 Red Peppers, halved and seeded

Combine all ingredients except red peppers in a bowl. Stuff pepper halves with turkey mixture. Place peppers meat side down on a preheated grill (medium heat about 300 degrees). Cook for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for 6 minutes. Flip again and cook for 4 minutes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Pig Pickin' Cake

It has been awhile since I baked. The last cake I baked was horrible so I was nervous while making this one. The reason I baked this cake was my craving for more pineapple. With 7 ingredients and little to no prep or cook time I was pleasantly surprised at how this cake turned out. Moist with the right amount of flavor.

This recipe is from Bone Appetit whose proceeds go to All-American Mutt Rescue. You can support their cause by purchasing a cookbook at http://www.allamericanmuttrescue.org/.

Recipe: Pig Pickin' Cake provided by Lori Harrison page 86 of Bone Appetit

Ingredients for Cake:

• 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
• 11 oz. Mandarin Oranges Slices, drained
• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil

Combine all cake ingredients and mix by hand for 2 minutes. Then finish mixing up with a spoon. Grease 2 nine inch round layer pans. Divide batter into pans. Bake cake at 350 for 25 minutes. 


Ingredients for Frosting:

• 9 oz. Cool Whip
• 1 Cup Pineapple, crushed
• 1 Small Box Vanilla Instant Pudding

Combine all frosting ingredients in bowl. Frost top of one cake. Put second cake on top. Frost entire cake. Make sure to keep cake refrigerated.

Makes 16 slices.

Kroger Grilled Marinated Mushrooms

Yes another grill recipe. I am in a grilling mood and didn't burn these either. Yeah! For olive oil I used Mushroom and Sage infused oil from Oliveto. The recipe says this makes 4 skewers at 1 per person. I disagree. This recipe makes 4 skewers but at 2 per person. You can get 3-4 mushrooms on a skewer which isn't many, so 2 skewers per person it is.

We paired the mushrooms with sirloin grilled steak, baked potatoes and Merlot giving us a hearty rich dinner.

Prep time is 10 minutes. Grill time is 6 minutes per side.

Websites:

• Oliveto 
• http://www.olivetooliveoil.com/index.html

Recipe: Grilled Marinated Mushrooms provided by Kroger

Ingredients:

• 1 TSP Sage, dried
• 1 TSP Tarragon, dried
• 1 TSP Black Pepper
• 1 TSP Garlic Salt
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• 1 Package Buttom Mushrooms

Combine all ingredients except mushrooms in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Toss mushrooms in marinade and let soak 30 minutes. Skewer mushrooms. Grill 6 minutes per side on medium heat (300 degrees). Refrigerate leftovers.

Chicken and Turkey Sausage Gumbo

Fast, healthy and little clean-up is my kind of dinner. Chicken and Turkey Gumbo is filling with one of my favorites okra. This is another Weight Watchers recipe so the healthy factor is high along with taste. The only change to this recipe would be to cut the turkey sausage into smaller pieces. I used sweet instead of hot turkey sausage and diced tomatoes instead of fire roasted. I cooked the dish on slow for 8 hours and paired with a Chateau Morrisette Our Dog Blue.

Websites:

• Chateau Morrisette
• http://thedogs.com/index.php?pr=ourdogblue

• Weight Watchers
• www.weightwatchers.com

Recipe:

• Chicken & Turkey-Sausage Gumbo
• http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=203341 

Mexican Mud

A few weeks ago at a Savoy-Lee wine tasting, I picked up a new cookbook Bone Appetit. Bone Appetit is a charity cookbook with proceeds going to the All-American Mutt Rescue. 

Since book club was Thursday, I wanted a tasty dish that can feed 8 or more. On page 66 I found Brenda Strong's recipe for Mexican Mud. Everyone enjoyed with plenty of leftovers left. This is an easy to make crock pot dish but did not have enough kick for my taste.

If I were to remake this dish, I would substitute 1 pound of sausage for 1 pound of beef. The remaining pound should be locally raised because of their richer flavors. I use ground beef from Sparks Family Farms. I would replace the 15 oz. of stewed tomatoes with 1 can of diced tomatoes plus 1 can of Ro*Tel style tomatoes. I think these substitutions will give the dish the needed heat. I cooked this dish on low for 8 hours instead of 4 which was perfect for those starting dishes before going to work.

Two cups is one serving. Instead of book club, think of this dish as a tailgate or barbecue side dish. Again, this dish feeds 8 with 2 leftovers at 2 cups a piece. You will feed a lot of folks with Mexican Mud. 

Savo brought chips and veggies which was a needed crunch. If you choose not to do chips or veggies, make sure to serve in a soup bowl. 

Overall, the dish was a hit with the girls and perfect for book club. Although we enjoyed, I don't think I will make it again.

Websites:

• Savoy-Lee Winery
• http://savoy-lee.com
• All-American Mutt Rescue
• http://www.allamericanmuttrescue.org
• Velveeta
• http://www.kraftrecipes.com/products/velveeta.aspx
• Sparks Family Farms
• http://grassfedbeefs.com
• Ro*Tel
• http://www.ro-tel.com
• Tabasco
• http://www.tabasco.com

Recipe: Mexican Mud from Bone Appetit by Brenda Strong on Page 66

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. Ground Beef
• 1 Onion, Chopped
• 1 Pkg. Taco Seasoning
• 3 Cans Refried Beans
• 15 oz. Stewed Tomatoes
• 1 Can Diced Green Chilies
• 3 Tbsp. Tabasco
• 2 lbs. Velveeta Cheese

Brown beef (and sausage) and drain. Add onion and taco seasoning. Put mixture in crock pot and add refried beans. Cut stewed tomatoes in bit size pieces and add to crockpot. (This is where I would substitute diced tomatoes and Ro*Tel) Add green chilies and Tabasco. Cut Velveeta cheese into cubes and add to crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally.