Tropical Chicken with Grilled Sweet Potatoes

This yummy recipe comes along just in time for those Labor Day cookouts! 


Tropical Chicken with Grilled Sweet Potatoes 

Ingredients

	6 Tbsp fresh lime juice
	3 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced
	6 Tbsp apricot preserves
	6 Tbsp soy sauce
	1 pound(s) uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces
	2 large sweet potato(es), scrubbed and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

Instructions

• Preheat grill.
  
• In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, ginger, preserves and soy sauce. Set aside 1/2 of the marinade. Add chicken to remaining marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours, turning chicken occasionally.
  
• Grill sweet potato slices until tender, about 8 minutes, brushing with reserved marinade as they cook. At the same time, grill chicken until firm and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Yields 1 chicken breast and about 1 cup of sweet potatoes per serving.

Rainbow Cake-in-a-Jar

Looking for a great dessert idea for the kids? What about something a bit different for the family cookout? How about a cake-in-a-jar? These fun to make, fun to eat creations are certain to get a positive response and huge smiles!

Rainbow Cake-in-a-Jar

1 box white cake mix made according to package instructions

Neon food coloring in pink, yellow, green, turquoise, and purple

3 one-pint canning jars

Fluffy White Frosting (see recipe below)

Rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly wash and dry the inside of each canning jar. Spray the inside of each jar thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Scoop about 1/2 cup of cake batter into five small bowls. It doesn’t have to be perfect, don’t panic if you get a little more or less of one color than another.  Tint each bowl of cake batter with the food coloring until very vibrant.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the purple batter into the bottom of each jar.  Spoon equal amounts of turquoise batter, then green, yellow, and pink.  Place the jars in a shallow baking dish, add about 1/4″ in water to bottom of the pan. Place baking dish in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick placed in center comes out clean.

Remove jars and allow to cool completely before scooping a small portion from the top of your cake, cleaning the edge of the jar, and adding a hefty dollop of Fluffy White Frosting to the top. Sprinkle & serve!

These cakes can also be covered with the jar lid and saved in the refrigerator for up to 3 days!

Fluffy White Frosting

3 egg whites
¾ cup sugar
6 tbs lt corn syrup
¼ tsp cream of tarter
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Combine egg whites, sugar, light corn syrup, cream of tarter and salt in top of double boiler.  Place pan over boiling water and beat with rotary beater until mixture stands in peaks.

Mexican Wedding Cookies or Crescent Cookies

Wedding Cookies were a holiday tradition in my Mother's home.  Every Christmas Eve, my mother would gather all of us around the kitchen table to help make these delicious delicacies.  She always called them Crescent Cookies because she shaped them like a crescent moon (an old tradition passed down by her mother).  

Ingredients

• For The Dough

  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

• For The Garnish

  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse pecans, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal; add butter and pulse until a dough forms. Shape dough into a disk or crescent, and wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate until firm, 30 to 60 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 level tablespoon. Space 1 1/2 inches apart on two large baking sheets. Bake, switching sheets from top to bottom halfway through, until cookies are just golden around edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Cool 5 minutes on sheets; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Place confectioners' sugar in a bowl. Roll cookies in sugar twice to coat thoroughly, tapping off excess.

Chunky Cucumber Salsa

Since Summer doesn't seem to be leaving our sight for quite a while, I thought a nice, cool snack might be the perfect recipe for the day.  This salsa goes great with Tostitos Natural Blue Corn tortilla chips!


Chunky Cucumber Salsa

Ingredients:

- 3 large cucumbers, peeled and chopped

- 1 medium mango, chopped

- ½ bag frozen corn, thawed

- 1 sweet red pepper, chopped

- 1 small red onion, chopped

- 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

- 3 cloves minced garlic

- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar

- 1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp sugar

- ¼ to ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients

2. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving (the longer it

Sits the better it tastes)

Nutrition facts:

(per ½ cup serving)

Calories: 57 Fat: (trace) Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 297mg

Carbohydrates: 13g Fiber: 2g Protein: 2g

Diet Cake

A friend of mine shared a most unusual cake recipe with me today.  It's actually a Weight Watchers recipe (and I thought I had heard of them all).

Use any prepackaged cake mix flavor with any diet soda! The variations and possibilities are endless! Ingredients 1 package(s) regular white cake dry mix 1 serving(s) diet soda (any flavor) Instructions Mix cake mix with 12 oz of diet soda! Stir until cake is completely mixed in, some lumps will remain. Bake cake or cupcakes to box instructions (using the least amount of time recommended). Some recommendations for flavor combinations: diet root beer + spice cake diet 7up/sprite + any flavor cake diet cherry coke/pepsi + devils food or chocolate cake diet cherry 7up + white cake diet orange soda + white or chocolate cake for toppings/frosting (points plus not included) I recommend using some powdered sugar with the same flavor of soda for a "light" glaze or using a small amount of store bought frosting, but don't forget to count the points plus for it! For those of you who are wondering what it means by 'points plus', it's the Weight Watchers way off counting calories and fat grams.

Loco Colada

It's been a stressful morning already and it's not even 8:00am!  I could really use one of these, a tropical island and a gorgeous islander fanning me with a palm frawn.

LOCO COLADA

1 cup peeled and chopped papaya
1 cup peeled and chopped mango
2 cups peeled and chopped pineapple
2 small ripe bananas, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 cups fresh coconut milk
1 cup white rum---(if you want)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups ice cubes

PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients, except ice in the blender and blend until smooth. Add
the ice and blend until frothy.