After school snack

Garlic Ginger Noodles with Broccoli

1 lb whole grain linguine (or other long noodle, gluten free if need be)
 2 C broccoli florets
 1/4 C slivered almonds
 1 oz. sesame seeds
 1/4 C grapeseed or olive oil
 2 Tbsp soy sauce
 1 tsp Sriracha, Asian hot sauce
 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
 1 Tbsp honey
 1 jalapeno, seeds and membranes removed, diced
 1 clove garlic, grated or minced very, very fine
 1/4 tsp grated or minced ginger
 1 C chopped cilantro PREPERATION
 Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook noodles until 2 minutes
from being done. Add broccoli and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
 Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together oil, soy sauce, Sriracha, rice vinegar, honey,
jalapeno, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.
 Toast almonds and sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until golden brown,
about 5 minutes. They will start to smell fragrant when they are done, but don't walk
away! They burn fast.
 Combine noodles and broccoli, sauce, almonds and sesame seeds. Add chopped cilantro and toss to combine.  Serve right away, hot, or you can serve it cold.  Delicious!

Roast Chicken, and a Simple Salad

This was actually easier than I thought. I looked at a bunch of recipes for roast chicken and kind of made up my own. It turned out awesome! Very most and flavorful. Prep time was only ten minutes. I served it with a simple salad of romaine, sliced apples, gorgonzola cheese and pecans, and a balsamic vinagrette. Easy week night meal, just make sure you leave enough time to cook. I had lots of leftovers, which I used for Coleen's chicken fajitas the next night.

1 whole chicken (they sell organic chickens at Costco for a decent price)
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t rosemary
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t parsley
1 lemon, quartered
1 small onion, quartered
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup butter
salt & pepper

Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towel. Place lemon, onion, and garlic inside chicken, and tie legs together with kitchen twine (or thread like I did)
Mix dried herbs with butter and rub all over chicken. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place in roasting pan, and cover with aluminum foil. cook at 425 degrees for 30 min. Uncover and cook and additional 30-35 min, or until juices run clear. Let it rest 10 min before carving.

Chocolate crinkle cookies

Sometimes you need something chocolatey, and sometimes you need the real deal! These cookies feel like such an indulgence. They are really fudgy and brownie-like. They will definitely hit the spot. Next time I think I will add walnuts...Mmmm. Just follow the instructions exactly for best results. Enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (though you can do this with a wooden spoon, too) beat together the cocoa powder, white sugar, and vegetable oil until it comes together into a shiny, gritty, black dough of sorts.
2 Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds each. Add the vanilla and beat in thoroughly.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt . Mix into the chocolate mixture on low speed until just combined. Do not overbeat. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough for four hours or overnight.
4 Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the confectioner's sugar in a wide bowl. Using a rounded teaspoon get clumps of the chilled dough and roll them into 1-inch (2.5 cm) sized balls using your hands. Roll the balls in the confectioner's sugar and place on the cookie sheets (you should be able to get 12-16 on each sheet). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool a minute or two on the sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: Makes approximately 50 cookies.

Beef Stroganoff

This is the best Beef Stroganoff I have had, I think the tender steak and the fresh mushrooms make it divine. To make sure your meat is tender be sure to buy a steak with some fat marbling in it or it will dry out. I had to add a little more water to the crock pot, about a 1/4 C. extra when I added the steak and a half a soup can when I added the golden mushroom soup. I used Barilla Plus pasta, it is made with ground legumes, multigrains, and egg whites and is a good source of protein. Thanks Ruthanne for telling me about this recipe!!!

Beef Stroganoff 

2 lb Beef Chuck Pot Roast
1 ½ T. beef bouillon
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. water
1 medium diced onion
9 oz sliced FRESH mushrooms
1 can cream of golden mushroom soup
8-oz softened Neufchatel cream cheese
noodles

Combine roast, bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and water in a crockpot. Cook on low for 5 hours. In a bowl, mix together the onion, fresh mushrooms, and can of soup and then gently stir into the crockpot, breaking up the meat into very large pieces, and cook on high for 2 hours. Carefully stir in the cream cheese without over mixing the meat – you want to keep the meat in bite-sized chunks rather than have it all shredded up. Serve over noodles.

Recipe Source: thesisterscafe.com

Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas

Everyone loves Chicken Fajitas, veggie fajitas are also quite delicious. I used to buy the little packets for seasoning them until I found this recipe. It is so much better than any packet. The cilantro and citrus flavors meld very well. Plus, a lot of those seasoning packets have msg, so this is definitely the way to go. Enjoy!



1 t dry or fresh minced garlic
1 t dry minced onion
3/4 t ground cumin
3/4 t oregano leaves
1/2 t dry or a bunch of fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 t coarse ground black pepper
1/4 C each lime and orange juices
2 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
1 lb chicken breast cut into strips (or try omitting the meat and added extra peppers)
1 green bell pepper cut into thin strips
1 red/orange/yellow bell pepper cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
10 fresh whole wheat tortillas (the kind you find by the cheese section that you cook on your skillet at home)
tomatoes
cheese
lettuce
light sour cream
salsa

Mix juices, oil, and all of spices and salt in small bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish. Add remaining marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate 30 min or longer for extra flavor.
Cook and stir chicken in large skillet on medium-high heat til lightly browned. Remove from skillet. Add peppers and onion and reserved marinade; cook and stir 5 min or until tender. Return chicken to skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.
Cook tortillas on griddle. Spoon chicken mixture into warmed tortillas. Serve with tomato, lettuce, light sour cream, and salsa.

Sunday Meal-Veggies

Last Sunday we had such a good meal I decided to take some pictures of it for this blog. I know it's been a while since we updated, I'm ready to start again.
This meal just happened, and Seth loved it even though it didn't have any meat.

Home Fries

7-8 russet potatoes
2 T olive oil
1 t seasoning salt
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t pepper

Preheat broiler. Wash and cube potatoes. Pour oil into a large ziplock bag and add seasonings. Add potatoes and shake to coat. Pour potatoes onto a large cookie sheet and broil on low for ten minutes. Stir potatoes and broil another ten minutes or until browned and slightly crispy. These are great alone or with ketchup.


Steamed Carrots

two cups of baby carrots
1/2 C chicken broth
2 t dried parsley

Using a rice cooker, bring broth to a boil then add carrots and parsley and cook. There shouldn't be a lot of broth so the carrots are steamed, not broiled.


Fancy Leaf Strawberry Salad

Fancy Leaf Blend (or whatever you have on hand)
6-8 strawberries, sliced
handful of feta cheese
handful of walnuts
raspberry vinaigrette


ps I'm not writing about the yellow zucchini because it didn't turn out....:)