What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

I got a lovely surprise last week –  a beautiful bouquet of daisies from my Sweetheart.  He doesn’t wait until Valentine’s Day to make up for what he should have been doing – he does sweet things like that all year long.  =)  (Yes, I know how blessed I am!)

I’m so thankful that my mom taught me to improvise and use what I have.  When I wanted a centerpiece for my Sunday dinner, I took the daisy arrangement I’d made and added a heart-shaped cookie cutter and then popped in some heart-shaped suckers that I had leftover from my Sunday school class. 

Here was my menu.  My new recipes are marked with an *.

1/4 cup pineapple juice

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Cooking spray
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Combine first 5 ingredients. Reserve 1/4 cup marinade; place remaining marinade in a zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Chill 4 hours.

2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade in bag. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; baste with 2 tablespoons reserved marinade. Cook 6 minutes. Turn chicken over; baste with 2 tablespoons reserved marinade. Cook 6 minutes.

3. Combine rice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cilantro.

*Because I was serving this for Sunday dinner, I opted not to grill the chicken – though I’m sure it would be wonderful!  I put the marinated meat in a baking dish, covered, and baked it at 225 degrees while we were at church. 

I added this salsa to it, because white meat is so dry to me.  This was really good with it.  I think next time I would warm the salsa. 

Pineapple Salsa

Mix:

1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple (I used canned)

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup pineapple preserves

1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 3/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

Baked pie shell

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. To prepare filling, combine 1/2 cup sugar and the next 6 ingredients (through egg yolk) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place the milk in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until milk reaches 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Gradually add hot milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 10 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth.

4. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 10 minutes or until mixture cools, stirring occasionally. Spoon filling into crust, and cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. Chill for 3 hours or until set; remove plastic wrap. Spread the whipped topping over filling; add cocoa or chocolate shavings for garnish, if desired.

What was cooking in your kitchen this week?  Are you making anything special for Valentine’s Day? 
Hope it includes chocolate! =)

From my parsonage kitchen,