Sweet and Sour Chicken

A new family favorite! It is similar to Rosemary's but I prefer it this way.

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles

This meal makes you feel like you have gone to an amazing Thai restauant for dinner. It is seriously delicious. I found this recipe on Picky Palate and I love it! When it's fresh and warm, the sauce has a tendency to pool at the bottom, so serve it in a shallow dish and scoop deep when serving. I agree with the chef, "Every ingredient is important - if you don't have fresh ginger, cilantro, roasted peanuts, or red bell pepper, I would say, wait until you do!"

1lb whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled
½ Cup smooth peanut butter
¼ Cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 scant teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 Cup hot water
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ Cup finely chopped white onion
½ Cup finely chopped red or orange bell pepper
2½ - 3 Cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
¼ Cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
¼ Cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds (I just sprinkle some on top)

*I cooked the chicken in the crock pot in the morning and shredded it before preparing the rest of the meal. Alternatively, you could cook the chicken in the microwave at 50% power until cooked through. Set water to boil and cook noodles according to package. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce in the food processor.
*Place garlic and ginger in food processor until well chopped. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and red pepper flakes. Pulse until well combined and slowly add hot water. Set aside.Place olive oil in hot skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in chicken breast, cilantro and salt. Stir until heated through.Add sauce and chicken mixture to noodles. Toss to coat and garnish with peanuts and sesame seeds if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Red Beans and Rice

I got this recipe from My Sisters' Cafe and tried it last night. It was so yummy and so easy. What more can you ask for? My kids even gobbled it up!

1 1/2 c red beans
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 pkg Polska Kielbasa
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 Tb butter
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp dry mustard
1 Tb Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Cajun spice

Soak beans in 4 cups hot water and 1 Tb salt; cover and let stand for 6 hours to soften. Then drain beans and add 3 1/2 cups fresh water and tomato sauce. Cut sausage into pieces and saute with butter. Add chopped onion, garlic, and green pepper until tender; add to beans. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot rice. (To thicken last 15 minutes, mix 1 part flour to 3 parts cold water. Stir into mixture until desired thickness.)

*Now the way I did it was in the crockpot with canned beans...here it is:
In place of the dry beans, use 3 cans of red beans. (Drain most of the liquid off the beans) Also, you may substitue 1/2 tsp garlic salt for the garlic clove. Place all ingredients (minus butter)directly into the crockpot - no need to saute veggies with sausage. Add 3/4 c water. Cook on low for 3-5 hours. We served it with brown rice which was very good and had the added bonus of being healthy! Also, I used the lowfat Polska Kielbasa which is just as good to me but some might prefer the real thing.

Pumpkin Choc. Chip Cookies

These are sooo easy! I often use them as a last minute treat.

1 spice cake mix
1 sm. can pumpkin
1/4 c. oil (more or less - I never measure just pour until it looks good)
chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Drop by medium cookie scoop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 minutes (or until bottoms are golden brown)

Herb and Cheese Chicken Tenders

My kids love this chicken.

1-1/2 lbs chicken tenders
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten with ¼ cup water

Breading
1 ½ cups Italian-style bread crumbs
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
2 tsp Parsley
1tsp garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Foil line a cookie sheet, set a side.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Beat eggs with water in a second dish. In a third dish, combine breading ingredients. Coat chicken in flour, then egg, then breading.

Add chicken to the skillet and cook until deeply golden, each side 3-4 minutes. Transfer to cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

We love to eat this with couscous, salad or pasta. It is also very good in a sandwich with some ranch dressing, avocado and lettuces. YUM!

Orange and Almond Salad

This is one of our favorite salads!

1 head romaine lettuce or leafy green lettuce
4 navel oranges
¼ cut sliver almonds (toasted if you like, I usually just add them raw)
1 T chopped fresh or dried tarragon
2 T honey
2 T vinegar
4 T olive oil
Juice from ½ of a orange
A bash a Salt

Arrange chopped lettuce on a platter. 3 ½ oranges trim a slice of skin from the top and bottom of the orange down to the flesh. Stand the orange up right and cut off the remaining peel, working from top to bottom around the orange. Cut orange in half lengthwise and slice into half-moon shapes. Add oranges and almonds to lettuce.

In small bowl combined, honey, vinegar, orange juice, salt, tarragon with a whisk. Stream olive oil while continuing to whisk well. Pour the dressing evenly over the entire salad and serve.

Whole Wheat Bread

2 loaves
1/3 c oil
1/3 c honey or ½ c sugar
2 ¼ t salt
2 ¾ c steaming hot tap water
¼ c gluten flour
1 ¼ T instant yeast
7-8 c whole wheat flour

Mix together first four ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add ½ of flour and beat. Put in 1-2 more cups flour, gluten flour, and yeast. Beat again. With mixer on medium speed, add remaining flour just until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 10 minutes on medium-high speed.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to Luke Warm and turn off. Spray or oil pans. Pour dough out onto oiled counter, divide and shape into loaves and put into pans. Let loaves rise 35 minutes in warmed oven. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Tip out of pans and cool on cooling rack.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 Package frozen Spinach – Thawed and water squeezed out
1 jar artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup sour cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
2 T butter, melted
½ tsp salt

Mix all ingredients in medium size bowl. Place in a 9x9 baking dish and cook for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees or until bubbling.

Serve hot with bread or chips.

Blueberry Banana Cheesecake

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. lemon extract or lemon zest
1/2 t. vanilla
6 oz cool whip, thawed
2 c. fresh or partially thawed blueberries (I've only used fresh)
2-3 bananas
pre-made graham crust

Beat first five ingredients well. Fold in cool whip. Fold in berries. Slice bananas into bottom of crust. Top with berry mixture. Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Banana Bread

Danielle asked for a banana bread recipe. Here is my version (or my mom's version).

3 ripe bananas
1 c. sugar (white or brown)
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 c. flour (white or whole wheat or a mix)
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
chocolate chips (optional)
nuts (optional)

Mash bananas in a bowl, add sugar, butter, and egg and stir well. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. (If you use the chocolate chips and/or nuts, you might want to stir them into the flour first and then stir everything into the wet mix so that they don't fall to the bottom of the pan. You could also just fold them in at the end.) Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 325 for about 1 hour. You can also bake them in muffin tins for 20 minutes at 400.