Homemade Tai

Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken 

found on Pinterest

Light Peanut Sauce:

14.5 oz fat free chicken broth, divided

5 tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce (I only used 1 tsp and it still had a nice kick)

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

16 oz chicken breast, cut into thin strips

salt and pepper (to taste)

1 Tlb Sriracha chili sauce (Again, I only used 1 tsp)

juice of 1/2 lime

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sesame oil

8 oz rice noodles

3/4 cup green onion, chopped

1 1/4 cups shredded carrots

1 1/4 cups cup shredded broccoli slaw 

1 cup bean bean sprouts

2 tbsp chopped peanuts 

1 lime, sliced

cilantro for garnish (optional)

For the peanut sauce: Combine 1 cup chicken broth, peanut butter, sriracha, honey, 2 tbsp soy sauce, ginger, and 3 cloves crushed garlic in a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat stirring occasionally until sauce becomes smooth and well blended, about 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

Boil water for the noodles cook pasta according to package instructions.

Season chicken with salt and pepper, sriracha, lime, garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

Heat a large skillet or wok until hot. Add oil and sauté chicken on high heat until cooked through, about 2-3 minutes; remove from heat and set aside.

Add 2 cloves crushed garlic, scallions, carrots, broccoli slaw and/or bean sprouts and salt, sauté until tender crisp, about 1-2 minutes.

Drain noodles and toss with peanut sauce and additional chicken broth if needed to loosen the sauce. When chicken is cooked, toss with noodles.

Divide noodles and chicken between 6 bowls, top with sauteed vegetables, bean sprouts, chopped peanuts (or you can toss everything together to hide the vegetables so your family members don't push them aside!) and garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

This had great flavor!  Easy to make (requires a little planning) and very filling.  My kids liked the rice noodles and peanut butter flavor, but not the kick.  If I were to make it for them again, I would probably leave out the sriracha sauce even though hubby and I liked it.

Yummy breakfast

Dutch Babies
(all recipes)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:

Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet inside oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until light. Add milk and stir. Gradually whisk in flour, nutmeg and salt.

Remove skillet from oven and reduce oven heat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt butter in hot skillet so that inside of skillet is completely coated with butter. Pour all the batter in the skillet and return skillet to oven.

Bake until puffed and lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove promptly and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

** If you do not have a skillet, you can use a 9x13 baking dish. Heat your oven to 425 F degrees. Double all the ingredients. Chop 1/3 cup butter up into your baking dish and let melt in your preheated oven. Once all of the butter has melted, take baking dish out and pour in batter, DO NOT STIR OR MIX just let it be. Bake for 20-22 minutes and enjoy! We topped ours with maple syrup, powdered sugar, fresh fruits (blueberries, blackberries, bananas, strawberries,etc.)

Great for Cold Weather

White Chicken Chili
(adapted from a Pinterest recipe)


Ingredients

1 large onion, diced

2-3 cloves, garlic

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces

4 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, or other white beans, drained and rinsed

2 (4 ounce) can green chilies

2 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth

2 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

cheese, sour cream, cilantro (optional, for serving)

Instructions

Add everything to slow cooker and give it a stir. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Serve nice and steamy, topped with cheese, sour cream, or cilantro if you like

(I added chopped cilantro to the chili before serving and set out sour cream and shredded sharp cheddar to put on top. Would also be nice with fresh avocado)

Vegetarian

Quinoa Burgers

Tip: Cooking quinoa

In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil over high heat. Add 1 cup of quinoa, reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 18-20 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed and the seeds are tender. Allow to cool for a few minutes before using in recipe.


Ingredients:

2 rounded cups cooked quinoa (see above)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 medium carrot, finely grated OR 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed
3 eggs
3 Tlb flour
2 green onions, including white parts, chopped
1/2 tsp Splenda or sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Olive oil for frying


Directions:

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, sugar, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons of olive oil over medium-low heat. Mixture will be slightly sticky, but I found it best to form patties with your hands before depositing into the pan. Using a 1/4 measuring cup will help you keep the sizes uniform. Form patties about 1/2 inch thick.

Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.

We really liked these! It makes a lot. They were good on hamburger buns with lettuce and sauce, but were also really good by themselves. Made a great snack or lunch. I recently found the following variation, but have yet to try it.


Baked Bites variation

2 cups cooked quinoa
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded carrot
2 stalks green onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tlb flour
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup up to the top (1 heaping Tlb each)

Bake for 15-20 minutes

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce

Little bites of goodness

Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 tablespoon water 1/8 tsp salt

2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, if desired 1/8 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in the vanilla, water, flour, salt, baking soda, chocolate chips, and walnuts, if desired, and mix until well blended. Roll dough into bite-sized balls (or use a small ice cream scoop). Place on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. Store balls in resealable plastic bags in the freezer. You can also dip these in chocolate or drizzle them with chocolate for a fancier look. They are simple and yummy and make A LOT. Kids loved them!

Chocolate Heaven!

French Chocolate (hot cocoa)

5 sq unsweetened chocolate
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pint heavy cream

Melt chocolate on low heat. Add 1 cup boiling water while stirring vigorously. Heat well. add salt and sugar. Cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes stirring continuously. Chill, possibly overnight, or at least 4 hours. To serve, whip 1 pint heavy cream until stiff and then fold into chocolate. Add heaping spoonfuls to hot milk and stir.

**This is also delicious eaten as a chocolate mousse (instead of stirring into milk)

Yummy Fall Dessert

Pumpkin Crunch Cake


Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I will add a bit more next time, perhaps another 1/2 to 1 tsp more)

1 teaspoon salt

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts work well too)

1 cup margarine (2 cubes), melted (I think 1 1/2 cubes would be plenty)

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

(Or make your own whipped cream or use ice cream)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease one 9x13 inch baking pan.

Combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Mix well and spread into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the yellow cake mix over the top of the pumpkin mixture and pat down flat. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top of the cake mix then drizzle the melted margarine all over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour but no longer than 1 hour and 20 minutes. (Mine was done in 50-55 minutes, so check it!) Top cooled cake with whipped topping when ready to serve.


I love the crunchy top on this and it was so easy to make! A great alternative to pumpkin pie or for anytime you're craving pumpkin sweets. I also think this could be good, and a pretty presentation, to serve it with caramel sauce drizzled under or over it.

Sweet Lemon

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
(more like a pound cake)
American Profile

Ingredients:

Bread ~

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tlb poppy seeds
2 Tlb coarsely grated lemon rind
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 large eggs

Glaze ~

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp coarsely grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of two (9x5 in) loaf pans.

To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients (flour through lemon rind) in a large bowl and blend well.

Combine sugar and next 5 ingredients (sugar through eggs) in a mixing bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

To prepare glaze, while bread is baking, combine all ingredients; stir well to combine. Remove loaves from oven; drizzle immediately with glaze. Let cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; turn out onto wire racks, and let cool completely.

Makes 2 loaves

This is really delicious! The lemon flavor keeps it so light, but the bread is satisfying and just sweet enough. I like to make mine in mini loaf pans so that you get a better glaze to bread ratio. I usually get 4 mini loaves out of 1 recipe. If you do use the mini pans, you will need to adjust your oven time a bit, I would check them at 40 minutes. Great for a snack, brunch, or even dessert.

Simple Breakfast Idea

Pancake Muffins


Ingredients:

2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter
12 tbsp filling: try Nutella or fruit jam
confectioners sugar for sprinkling
maple syrup for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously coat the bottom & sides of a 12-muffin tin with butter. Make Bisquick pancakes per instructions on the box. Fill each cup in the muffin tin half-way. Add 1 tbsp of filling to the middle of each muffin, then cover with the remaining pancake mix. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven, place on serving dish & use a flour sifter to sprinkle with sugar. Serve with warm syrup.

These were super easy and a great way to make pancakes for a large group without having to stand over a hot griddle. I loved the crunchy texture of the outside and they tasted just like pancakes with a burst of flavor!

Another Tuna Idea

Asian Tuna Patties

allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs

3 green onions, minced

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup cornmeal**

2 tablespoons vegetable oil


Directions:

In a large bowl, mix tuna, egg, bread crumbs, green onions, and garlic. Blend soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, ketchup, sesame oil, and pepper into the mixture. Form the mixture into about 6 patties approximately 1 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle each patty on all sides with cornmeal.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Fry each patty about 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

**The cornmeal was far too crunchy and not a good texture for the tuna. I would suggest using breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, or frying with no coating at all.

These were quite tasty. I would happily eat them on their own, but they were also good as a "fish" sandwich, with coleslaw, or cabbage crunch salad. Could also do some kind of Asian noodle.