Mexalian Dinner

We had lots of bell peppers, onions, chicken, and pasta, so what do you do with those. Hum?!?!

Have Mexalian! (unique name!?!?)

It was a first time Hannah experiment that tasted, pretty good I think. Well everyone else liked it as well, so don't think I'm bragging ;o)

To have a Mexalian dinner yourself, here's what to do...................

Char grill some chicken, ( marinating it first with some Mexican spices such as chili powder, salt, cumin, and red pepper is great, but you could also use Italian dressing!) and cut juline style, or chunks. Your preference. Then slice bell peppers, any color will work, yellow, red, green, orange................and a few cloves of garlic. Oh and don't forget those lovely onions that make you cry :)

Saute those in a bit of olive oil till El dente.

Cook up however many noodles you want. Drain them.

Then the final step is to throw it all together! And whala! You've got Mexalian!

To give your meal more of an Mexican feel, bake up those Honey Wheat rolls with a Crunch posted below..........................or just whip together a salad if you don't have enough time.........

Um, nothing beats grilled chicken!

Now there's the Italian side!

Italy?!?! Well it is the flags colors, but I think the flavor is more Mexican!

Honey Wheat Rolls with a Crunch

2 1/2 t. yeast
2t. white sugar
1 1/4c. warm water (110 degrees)
1t. salt
1/4c. honey
3T. olive oil
3-4c. wheat flour
1/3c. cornmeal

Honey Butter Glaze
To make the glaze, melt the butter and honey in the microwave till smooth.
2-3T. honey
1-2T. butter


Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Mix in the honey, salt, oil, 3c. of flour, and the cornmeal. Add more flour till dough comes from the sides of the bowl.
Press "auto knead" if you have a mixer that kneads bread dough. After kneading cycle is over, shape the dough into 12 balls. Place on greased cookie sheet and let rise about 1-1 1/2 hours. (if you don't have a mixer that kneads for you, put the dough into a greased bowl and let rise and hour before proceeding with the shaping and rising of the rolls!) Preheat oven to 325 and bake for 15min. Turn oven temp. to 350 then bake another 5-8min. Or till lightly brown. Brush with honey butter glaze, and sprinkle with additional cornmeal. Bake another 5min.
Remove from oven and serve!

Cinnamon Swirl Wheat Bread

3pkg. yeast

1/2c. olive oil

1/2c. honey

10c. wheat flour

7c. very warm water

2T. salt

Mix together then let rest 5min.

Add 8-12c. more of wheat flour or until dough comes from the sides. Knead.

Place 1/5 of the dough onto a oiled work surface. Spread with filling. Then fold in long sides to the middle. Roll up from shortest end. Pinch seam and put seam side down into a greased 8-9in. loaf pan. Let rise in a warm place till doubled in size. About 1/2 hour. Bake at 400 for 10min. then reduce temp. to 350 and bake 15-20min. longer. Sides and top will be brown, and it will sound hollow when tapped.

Yields 5 loaves

Filling (makes enough for 1 loaf)

1/2-3/4c. brown sugar

2T. cinnamon

1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped walnuts( or pecans)

Cooks note: You will find it very hard to resist cutting this when it first comes out of the oven:)

But hold yourself back at least 10min. So it has a little time to cool. Or you may have some squished sliced results!

Hannah

How to make cinnamon bread in 3 easy steps!

Spread dough with hands into a rectangle

Dump filling onto dough

Spread out your filling................

Fold long sides into the middle, and roll it up!