Sweet and Sour Citrus Chicken Stir Fry

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This stuff is so stinking good. I'm not usually big on Chinese type food because it's so heavy, but this is light and I daresay, healthy. The leftovers are fantastic. I found it on Our Best Bites.

Sweet & Sour Citrus Chicken Stir-FryRecipe adapted by Our Best Bites from this recipe by Alice Currah

Ingredients:

Sauce
2/3 cup orange juice
Juice and grated rind of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons juice)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced or grated

Stir-Fry1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets (fresh or frozen; if frozen, pull them out when you begin cooking)
1 1/2 cups green beans (fresh or frozen; pull these out of the freezer with the broccoli)
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 small or medium red onion, halved and cut into 1/4″ slices

I added 8 ounces of mushrooms too. 

You can kind of do whatever veggies you like. 

Instructions:

In a large skillet, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Rinse out the skillet and wipe it dry.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with corn starch and rub the corn starch into the chicken.

Add about 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Swirl the pan to coat it. Add the seasoned chicken and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the onions and other veggies and stir-fry until the beans and broccoli are tender-crisp. Add the sauce, a few tablespoons at a time, allowing the sauce to bubble up after each addition. Serve immediately over hot rice. Makes 4 servings.

Potato Corn Chowder

10 Potatoes
1 Cube Butter
1 Lb Bacon or Ham, cooked and crumbled
Milk or Half and Half
1 Medium Onion Chopped
Salt and Pepper
1 Package Frozen Corn

Peel and cube potatoes. Boil with chopped onions. Once the potatoes are soft drain off water and mash with butter. I like to leave them coarsely mashed so there a few larger pieces of potato. Add milk or half and half until it covers the tops of the potatoes. Add bacon/ham, corn, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer and serve.

This is one of my favorite soup recipes! When I lived in Cedar I would make it all the time on cold winter days. It makes a huge pot too, so it's great to share.

Sausage Dip

1 Package of Jimmy Dean Sausage
2 Cans of Rotelle Tomatoes with Green Chili's (or mexican style), not drained
2 Packages of Cream Cheese

Cook sausage then combine all ingredients in a crock pot and simmer. Serve with tortilla chips.

This is a really simple quick recipe to throw together. If you like more spice you can always use hot sausage as well.

Smoked Turkey Club Panini

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*Note: You can use any type of artisan or sourdough bread in this recipe. Boule loaves (a rustic 8-inch round loaf) works great. I used a honey wheat/multigrain loaf and it was delicious, also.

*Makes 4 sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:
8-12 slices bacon (I think this is optional. Rob loves it of course)
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, rinsed, patted dry and minced (if you're lazy, you can run them through the food processor. I like more, so its extra tomatoey)
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
8 slices thick-cut crusty bread
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli Swiss cheese
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli smoked turkey (Don't get the cheap cheap stuff. Get it sliced at the deli)
3 cups baby spinach or arugula

DIRECTIONS:
Cook bacon until crisp. You can use a skillet or use the microwave, placing the bacon in a single layer on a paper-towel lined plate, cover with paper towels and microwave for about 5 minutes (repeating the process if all the bacon doesn’t fit the first round). In a small bowl, combine the sun-dried tomatoes and mayonnaise.

Lightly spread butter over one side of each bread. Lay the butter-sides down on a cutting board or work area. Spread each slice with the sun-dried tomato mayonnaise. Layer half of the cheese on 4 slices of bread then top with turkey, bacon, spinach (or arugula) and remaining cheese. Top with remaining bread, butter side up.

Cook the sandwiches on a panini press, skillet or grill pan heated on medium heat for one minute prior to cooking. I use an indoor grill pan for my paninis but a skillet would work just as well. I place 2-3 sandwiches (depending on the size of the sandwich) in the grill pan and weigh the sandwiches down with a heavy pot (you can also use a foil-covered brick or similar object). Cook the sandwiches for about 4-5 minutes per side, until they are golden brown and the cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining sandwiches. Serve immediately.

Recipe found here, of course.

Banana Carrot Muffins/Hulk Drink

Thanks Paige for posting a need for recipes! This will be fun to see this week :)

Banana Carrot Muffins

1 cup (~3) ripe bananas, mashed (like disgustingly ripe. beyond recognition)

¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar  
2 eggs or 4 egg whites+1 tsp oil

2 cups whole wheat flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon (maybe more? try 3/4 tsp... can't remember :)
½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup finely grated carrots

Combine bananas, brown sugar, applesauce and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and then stir the banana mixture with the dry just until mixed. Fold in carrots. Double the batch and freeze for a quick snack grab.

For muffins, cook at 350 for 18-20 min.

For a loaf, bake at 350 for 45-50 min.

Green Smoothie/ aka The Hulk Drink (to little boys)

1 frozen ripe banana

2 cups fresh spinach (not frozen)

1-2 cups frozen mixed berries

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup almond milk or reg milk

1 tsp ground flax (optional)

honey or sugar or agave to sweeten

Throw in the blender and gobble down. Change up the amounts to your liking if you wish. Convince your 4 yr old that the Hulk drink really will make them strong and repeat convincing as many times needed.

One Minute Salsa

I love, love, love this salsa. It's my go-to. The best part is that it only has a few ingredients. When I make it, I put in a drained jar of tomatoes instead of the can. It calls for canned pickled jalapenos. I just buy a huge can and drain the liquid, then I freeze it and pull it out when I need it.

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*Note: This salsa is unbelievably good with a couple diced avocados mixed in just before serving.

*Makes about 3 cups

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 small red onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup drained jarred pickled jalapenos (I usually put 2 jalapenos. More if you like it spicy)
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

DIRECTIONS:
In the bowl of a food processor (or a blender), pulse the onion, cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, garlic and salt until coarsely chopped.

Add the drained tomatoes and pulse until combined. Don’t overprocess in this step if you want your salsa to remain chunky – just give it a few good 1-second pulses until everything is mixed. Place the salsa in a fine mesh strainer or sieve and drain briefly. Transfer to a bowl and serve. (The salsa can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)

Recipe found here.

Recipe: Snack

Carrie taught me this quick, healthy snack:

yogurt + quick oats 

= 

simple & yummy snack

Pour yogurt, add oats on top. 

It's great because it makes yogurt go farther and it allows for more whole grains and a good source of protein. If you haven't already heard of it, try Greek yogurt. Lower sugar and higher protein, but make to watch out because fat content can vary.  Enjoy!

Humor Me!

I am in an incredible cooking slump! I am in need of some great inspiration and thought who better to ask than all you lovely family members. I was thinking it might be fun to add a recipe a day for a week. I know you are all very busy but just take a minute a day and share with us all (especially me) your favorite recipes. So I was thinking maybe to help keep things kinda organized we could do:
Monday: Favorite Appetizer or Snack
Tuesday: Favorite Salad of Sandwich
Wednesday: Favorite Main Dish
Thursday: Favorite Muffin or Breakfast
Friday: Favorite COOKIE or Dessert
If we all added something each day we would have meal plans for a month! I think we all could benefit from a new great recipe or a well mastered old one. Love you all and please share!

This Cheese Changed My Life

I think I was watching Ina Garten on the Food Network, when she showed how to do this. It has totally changed my idea about Parmesan Cheese, and Italian food. I. Love. It.

I buy the huge block of Parmesan at Costco for around $15. It comes in a big wedge. 

Then I just cut the entire thing into small cubes-about 1/2" or smaller.

Then I grind it in my food processor. Only put a few in at first, because they kind of rattle around in there. It's super loud. But so worth it. Keep adding and process it in small batches.

Tons of cheese for $15! I store mine in a gallon Zip-loc in the freezer, and just take it out when I need it. No need to defrost. You will definitely taste the difference in this cheese! Do yourself a favor and don't touch that powdery stuff in the green container. You'll thank me. 

PS-This is a great alfredo recipe. Super easy. Its one of my go-to quick dinners.

Pecans, Anyone?

For Grandma's birthday, I baked her a pecan pie.  It is one of her favorite desserts.

I found a new recipe (NOT the Karo syrup version--I don't think I'll be doing that one again).  

 I think this is worth sharing:

PECAN PIE

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ cup butter, barely melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ cups chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Mix flour with sugars. Add to eggs and beat.  Mix in melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Stir in nuts by hand.
3. Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Cover edges with foil. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until done. As soon as the top of the pie is a light golden brown color, cover it lightly with a sheet of foil to prevent over-browning.  Towards the end of the baking time, if the pie is not brown enough for your liking, remove one or both foils the last few minutes.

Hey, I might as well throw this in.

 This is from a Bunkerville Ward cookbook that Grandma gave me years ago:

PIE CRUST (makes 3 - 4 single crusts)

3 cups flour 

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups Crisco

1 egg

milk

Mix salt and flour. Cut shortening into flour with a pastry blender. Put egg in measuring cup and fill up to 1 cup with milk. Blend well. Add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until barely blended.  Roll out crusts. (For baked shells for cream pies, bake at 450 degrees about 7 minutes, or until lightly browned.)

Memories:  I loved going to Vegas with Grandma when I was a newlywed. 

 We had long visits in the car--a great chance to get to know my fabulous new mother-in-law.

Also, once when John was a newborn, I became very ill.  

Grandma took me in, put me to bed, and took care of our every need until I was better.

She's taught me so very many things--from homemaking skills to her philosophy of life.  

She he has always made me feel like one of her own daughters.  Happy Birthday! 

Love, Lynne