Friday, January 29, 2010

Thai for Dinner

Thai for Dinner Tonight!

My mom and dad sent me this little box set of Rachael Ray recipes a while ago and I've just never gotten around to cooking anything in them until now. Here's the one we did last night! Itw as really good and the kids gobbled this up (well they DID eat all the chicken, weren't so crazy about the lettuce underneath....)

I made a few modifications and that's what I'm sharing with you here.

And by the way did I mention that it's good for you too????

Ginger-Soy Chicken on Shredded Lettuce
3 tbsp veg oil
1 1/4 pounds chicken breasts, cut into strips
salt and pepper
ground ginger (I didn't measure, just dumped in until I thought it looked right)
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp curry powder
6 scallions, cut into 2 in lengths, then cut again lengthwise into thin matchsticks
1/4C tamari (soy sauce)
3 tbsp honey
1 head of iceberg lettuce, core removed, shredded (or just use bagged lettuce-i had it on hand so that's what I used)

Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat.

Add the veg oil. it should smoke up a bit

Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Stir fry for a minute to sear the meat at the edges, then add the ginger, garlic, and curry powder and cook for 2 minutes more.

Add the scallions and stir fry for another minute, then add the tamari and honey to form a sauce and glaze the chicken. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover a platter with shredded lettuce, top with the chicken, and serve.
picture courtesy of rachael ray's recipe

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Snack Mix

Here's an easy snack mix that even the kids can help with. No cooking, backing, etc, required!!

Snack Mix
1 14.5 ounce box honey, raisins & oats cereal
1 14.5 ounce box cinnamon animal shaped graham crackers
1/2 12 oz bag mini m&m's
1/2 bag mini marshmallows

Add all ingredients to a bowl. Mix and put in an airtight container. Yum!!!


Happy Eating!


Making Your Own Fossil Hand Prints

We did this today for our preschool co-op. Really fun and the kids had a great time getting their hands into the gooey mess!! The letter of the day was H and I thought making hand prints would be a fun activity. Hopefully they'll harden in a couple of days and the kids will be able to discuss it at home... we also planted "grass" (actually chives because I couldn't find grass seeds) for the letter G. Fun fun fun!!!


Fossil Mix
1/2C salt
1 C flour
1/2C brewed coffee
1C used coffee grounds

and anything you want to fossilize (rocks, play dinosaurs, seashells, bones, etc)

Add ingredients to bowl and stir until mixed. Turn dough out onto a large sheet of waxed paper and knead it until smooth.

Break of pieces large enough for the imprint you want to make, roll it into a ball and use the heel of your hand to flatten it out.

Press the object you wish to make a fossil imprint of firmly into the dough. You can use more than one object if you like. Carefully remove the object to leave the imprint behind. Let your fake stone dry overnight and you have an imitation fossil!!

This made enough to do 3 small hand prints, you may need to double the recipe if you plan on using objects...

Since this recipe uses coffee and we don't drink it in my house I had fun trying to find a small amount to use and not spend an arm and a leg!! So I found a box coffee singles at Target for $1. It worked perfectly!! So for those that don't drink coffee you can find it there for cheap!!

Have fun!!!!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Haiti disaster relief

If you want to help but don't know how....go here. Every little bit helps!!!

Thanks!

Monday, January 11, 2010

The best chocolate sheet cake. ever

Another recipe I've been hearing so much about is this one:
The best chocolate cake. ever

If you are a fan of the pioneer woman than you no doubt have seen this recipe. I made it for the first time tonight (tonight is a night of firsts......) and OH MY!!! You will certainly need LARGE amounts of milk to wash this down, but when is that a bad thing? I mean really???? So here you go! Thanks....no strike that.......
HUGE, GINORMOUS THANKS
to the pioneer woman for making this and bringing it to the world. You rock...seriously.

And if you haven't been fortunate to make this, then I suggest you look in your pantry, gather all the necessary ingredients and get to baking. you'll thank me (and her).

The best chocolate sheet cake. ever
Ingredients
  • FOR THE CAKE:
  • 2 cups Flour
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
  • 2 sticks Butter
  • 1 cup Boiling Water
  • ½ cups Buttermilk
  • 2 whole Beaten Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • _____
  • FOR FROSTING:
  • ½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
  • 1-¾ stick Butter
  • 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
  • 6 Tablespoons Milk
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar
Preparation Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.


I just want to add that if you freeze it like we did you won't be disappointed by the taste! It was still just as good as it was the day it was made!! So when looking at this cake and thinking "wow that sure does make a lot" feel free to freeze it and enjoy later!

Frito Pie

I've heard so many people talking about this and I never tried, well tonight we had it and it was a hit!!!!! So much so that it's almost gone. The hubs may not get any for lunch tomorrow! Will FOR SURE be making this again!!!

Frito Pie
  • 3 cups Fritos corn chips
  • 3/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 2-1/2 cups chili (your favorite -- homemade, canned, whatever)
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spread 2 cups of Fritos in a baking dish. Sprinkle half the onion and half the cheese over the Fritos. Pour the chili over the onion and cheese. Sprinkle the remaining Fritos, onion and cheese over the chili.

Bake for 15 or 20 minutes and cheese is bubbly. Serve hot.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Broccoli, Cheddar, Chicken and Spaghetti Casserole

Broccoli, Cheddar, Chicken and Spaghetti Casserole

2 small cans cream of chicken soup

2 small cans cheddar cheese soup

1 1/2 Cups milk

8-10 Cups broccoli florets

4-5 large chicken breasts, diced and cooked in pan. Season liberally (as Emril says...."I don't know where you get your chicken, but mine doesn't come seasoned at the store!")

8oz spaghetti noodles

1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook spaghetti until slightly al dente (it will continue cooking in the oven).

Place soup and milk into a large pot over medium heat. Whisk until smooth and heated through, about 5 minutes.

Stir in broccoli and cook for 5 additional minutes to soften slightly. Stir in chicken, salt, pepper and garlic seasoning.

Pour spaghetti into the bottom of 11X7 baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Pour soup mixture over spaghetti. Top evenly with cheese; bake for 20 minutes then cover with foil. Bake for an additional 15 minutes with dish covered with foil. Remove from oven and serve.


This makes a TON, so I would half the recipe unless you want leftovers. This would also be great to make and then freeze the leftovers for another meal. That's what I plan on doing with ours!


HAPPY EATING!!!!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Chicken Bouillabaisse

My dad's birthday is January 1. We were lucky enough to have them here over the holidays so we got to celebrate it with him. So for the occassion I wanted to do something special for dinner. Around here the birthday person gets to choose their dinner. Whatever they want. Well I did it a little differently this time, I chose for him. Sort of a surprise. I did ask him for his dessert and so he knew about that (peach pie....yum!). So I decided to make him bouillabaisse. He loves it and hasn't had it in ssssooooo long. However, not everyone in my house is a traditional bouillabaisse fan so I planned on something a little different. I'm a HUGE fan of Barefoot Contessa on food network. And one particular day I saw her making a chicken bouillabaisse. PERFECT!!!!!! So I had it all planned. And I made it and we loved it and we ate it all!!! I made some minor changes from the original recipe to suit our taste buds. It was sssooo good. We walked away feeling very full and very satisfied. This one is going into my archives to do again!!!
Sorry no picture.......

Chicken Bouillabaisse

Ingredients

  • 1 (4 to 5-pound) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
  • 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 teaspoon ground mustard
  • 1 (15 ounce) can tomato puree
  • 2 1/2 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
  • 1 pound baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved
  • 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced

Directions

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season it generously with salt, pepper, ground mustard and the rosemary. Place chicken in crock pot.

Place heat on low and add other ingredients except potatoes and carrots. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, checking periodically.

With about 1 hour left add potatoes and carrots to pot.

Cover the pot and let finish cooking until chicken is tender and falling off bone and the potatoes aren't too mushy. Nothing worse than mushy potatoes when they aren't supposed to be mushy! bleh!!

Serve with favorite crusty bread or favorite homemade loaf!!

Friday, January 8, 2010

If you live in the Salt Lake valley (or know someone who does) check out my friend here: she's an AWESOME cake decorator and will make just about anything you want!!!!!!
Custom Cakes
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