Saturday, January 16, 2010

Asian Chicken Peanut Wraps

This is from Abby welker's craft/food/life fun site here: Abby Welker

If you are at all crafty you should take a peek at her site, she's hilarious and her blog is a great read! Thanks Abby!

Anyway, just in case you would like to just see the recipe here, I copied it over so I could try it sometime:

ASIAN CHICKEN PEANUT LETTUCE WRAPS
(If you're feeding more than 4 adults, you might want to double the recipe)

4 frozen chicken breasts
1 large carrot
8 whole mushrooms
3 green onions
1 red bell pepper
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 T. oil
1 -2 tsp. sesame seed oil (no substitutions!)
1 head butter lettuce, leaves washed and separated
cooked rice

For sauce: (I got all of this stuff at Wal-Mart, girls - not hard)
1/2 bottle Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce
1/3 c. Asian Toasted Sesame dressing
3-4 dashes soy sauce
1 tsp. dried ginger (or 1/4 tsp. fresh minced ginger)
1 T. rice vinegar
handful of (shelled) sunflower seeds (optional)


Bring chicken breasts to a boil in water with a pinch of salt; cover. Boil for 10 minutes; remove from water and chop finely into pieces about the size of peas.

Meanwhile, finely dice the onion, mushroom, and bell pepper to the same size as the chicken pieces. (My kids DON'T eat mushrooms and they had NO idea this dish had any mushrooms at all!)

Finely grate the carrot; set aside in a separate bowl.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add onions, mushrooms, pepper. Cook 2 minutes to soften. Add chicken and minced garlic. Saute for a couple more minutes. Then add all of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until liquid is reduced and there is almost no liquid left in the pan and the chicken is cooked through. Stir in grated carrot and if you like nuts, I sprinkled sunflower seeds in mine and it was SO good!

**Note: If your mixture is missing something or doesn't taste quite right, you can always add one of two things: a little bit of butter helps neutralize foods, or a small pinch of brown sugar helps neutralize some of the sour ingredients in this recipe.

Serve with a plate of lettuce leaves and your cooked rice - or get creative and cook up some Asian noodles. I used green-leaf lettuce and they weren't strong enough - you'd have to double up on those or use a firmer lettuce leaf.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Recipes from other sites

Sometimes I post things I haven't tried from other sites or from emails I get because they look/sound really good to me and I am deleting emails and don't want to lose the recipe. Other times it's because I tried to find a recipe off a site that was linked somewhere else and the recipe is gone. So this way, I know where I can find the recipe again! Feel free to use the site to do the same!

Cranberry-Mustard Pork Loin

Cranberry-Mustard Pork Loin Recipe from Taste of Home
* 8 Servings
* Prep: 15 min. Cook: 4 hours

Ingredients

* 1 boneless whole pork loin roast (2 pounds)
* 1 can (14 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce
* 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1/4 cup cold water

Directions

* Place roast in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine the cranberry sauce, mustard, brown sugar and lemon juice; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 4-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.
* Remove roast and keep warm. Strain cooking juices into a 2-cup measuring cup; add enough water to measure 2 cups. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in cooking juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 3 ounces cooked pork equals 255 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 56 mg cholesterol, 236 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 22 g protein.

Beef Vegetable Soup

Beef Vegetable Soup From Taste of Home

It goes well with a fruit salad and bread.

9 ServingsPrep: 10 min. Cook: 4 hours
Ingredients

* 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 4 cups spicy hot V8 juice
* 2 cups coleslaw mix
* 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Italian stewed tomatoes
* 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn
* 1 package (9 ounces) frozen cut green beans
* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

* In a large nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over
* medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a 5-qt.
* slow cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on
* high for 4-5 hours or until heated through. Yield: 9 servings.
*

Nutrition Facts: 1 cup equals 169 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 18 mg cholesterol, 578 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 14 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 lean meat, 1 vegetable.
Click here to find out more!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

French Toast Puffs

These are from my friend Jenny

French Toast Puffs

Cream:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs

Sift into a separate bowl:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pour out 1 cup milk in a pourable container.
Alternatively add the flour mix and the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well each time.
Spoon into greased muffin tin up to 2/3 full - they'll puff up huge.
Bake at 350ยบ for 20 - 25 minutes. Check at 15, and when the toothpick comes out clean, you're set.
Immediately take out of the pan. Melt about a stick of butter (margarine is ok) in a bowl, and add into another bowl 1/2 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dip the tops of the muffins in butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.

Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter Cups
*
or as I like to call it...how to clog an artery in one bite (they are super good)

2 sticks margarine or butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar (or 1 pound)
1 inner seal package of graham crackers, crushed
1 can peanut butter, or 2 cups (best with creamy)
1 - 1 1/2 packages milk chocolate chips, or large chocolate bars that equals approximately 14 oz.

Mix the butter, powdered sugar, graham crackers and pb very well.
Spread on a cookie sheet, I use a 15x11 pan
Melt the chocolate and pour over the mixture, spreading it until it covers it evenly. Freeze for best results but chilling is fine.