Slow Cooker Tropical Chicken

Review: I used one pound of chicken and had leftover red onion mixture. I used this to spread on top of a london broil to marinate overnight (no pineapple, no coconut, just the red onion mixture). This steak was DEE-licious! If you reserve some of the red onion mix to top the steak in the last few minutes of grilling, it makes for great fajitas!

1 Red Onion, Chopped Roughly

1 bunch Fresh Cilantro, Leaves Only

½ cups Lime Juice

2 cloves Garlic

1 teaspoon Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

1 teaspoon Paprika

½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

Thai Kitchen Light Coconut Milk, about half the can, more is fine.

1 can (about 20 Oz. Size) Crushed Pineapple In 100% Juice

6 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Combine all ingredients except the pineapple, coconut milk, and chicken in a food processor and process until chunky. Pour half of the mixture into a crockpot (I really like to use the crockpot liners—cleanup is so simple), nestle the chicken breasts into it in one layer, and pour the remainder on top. Top with the pineapple with the juice and coconut milk.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When it’s done, you should be able to just stir the pot and the chicken will shred automatically. Serve hot over rice, a baked sweet potato, or riced cauliflower!

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/slow-cooker-cilantro-lime-pineapple-chicken/

SkinnyTaste Light Coconut Cupcakes

I tried this recipe from Skinnytaste.com yesterday. Gina’s recipes have never failed me and this one is no exception. These were not overly sweet (except those Cadbury eggs!) and are delicious even without the candy on top. 

White cake mix is notoriously dry, so yellow would work nicely as a replacement, though these cupcakes weren’t dry, neither were they overly moist, probably my one very minor negative. Update: I froze half this batch to thaw right before serving at Easter dinner. They thawed inside a zip-loc gallon bag and were very moist, moister than those we ate as soon as they were cool enough to frost and eat Friday night.

2 egg whites

1 cup canned light coconut milk

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp coconut extract

18.25 ou. White Duncan Hines Cake Mix

Extra ingredients for decoration:

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Cadbury Mini Easter Eggs or Jellybeans

Combine first four ingredients and mix well. Mix in cake mix until smooth. Pour batter into prepared cupcake tins, filling about 1/2 way up. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Don’t over bake! Yields 24 cupcakes.

For frosting:

8 ou. cream cheese

3/4 c. powdered sugar (10X)

2 tsp coconut extract

When cupcakes are cool, frost them. On a plate, spread out the coconut and dip/roll the frosted cupcake until it is covered. Decorate with the eggs or jellybeans and sprinkle a little more coconut on top for effect.

For original recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/03/skinny-coconut-cupcakes.html