Asian Kabobs

Adapted from Allrecipes

I actually made these quite a while ago and just found the pics of the skewers on my point-and-shoot camera that I rarely use.  I can't believe that I forgot to post this recipe!  The good news about discovering the pics on my camera is now I really want to make them again...so I most likely will later this week!  Yum!  I can't wait!

Ingredients:

·         ½ cup teriyaki or hoisin sauce

·         ½ cup honey

·         ½ tsp garlic powder

·         ½ pinch ground ginger

·         1 red bell pepper, cut into 2” pieces

·         1/3 large sweet onion, cut into wedges

·         1 cup whole fresh mushrooms

·         1 lb. chicken or beef sirloin, cut into 1” cubes

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix the first 4 ingredients.  Add the remaining ingredients to marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours.
• Preheat grill to med-high heat.
• Discard marinade and thread meat and vegetables onto skewers.
• Lightly oil the grill grate.  Grill approximately 10 minutes, turning as needed or until meat is cooked through.
• Serve with rice.

Cold Sesame Noodles

Adapted from Cooking Light

I have to admit that this had a weird smell to me when I made it.  I think the mixture of the sesame oil and the rice vinegar lingered a bit...  Anyway, it made me worry about the tastiness of the dish.  BUT the noodles ended up being delicious! They had just the right amount of spiciness and I loved all the veggies.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. soba noodles
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tbs sesame oil
• 2 Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbs honey
• 2 tsp chile paste with garlic
• ½ tsp ginger
• 2 cups skinless, boneless chicken breast, shredded
• 1 medium cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 1/3 cup shredded carrots
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 bunch chopped green onions
• 3 Tbs chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:

• Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.  Drain and rinse under cold water; drain.
• Combine rice vinegar and the next 5 ingredients (through ginger) in a large bowl and stir with a whisk.  Add noodes, chicken, cucumber, carrots and red bell pepper.  Top with green onions and peanuts.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken

Adapted from Allrecipes

I wanted something simple to pair with the sweet potato and grilled chicken came to mind.  I just needed to find a marinade for the chicken.  Allrecipes is a handy recipe finder because you can filter by ingredients and key words and then sort by the top rated recipes.  I did this and landed on this simple, tasty recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts,
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 Tbs mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs steak sauce (such as A-1)

Directions:

• Preheat the grill for medium heat.
• In a shallow bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayonnaise and steak sauce.  Set aside a small amount of the honey mustard mixture to use as a dip later.  Dip the chicken in the remaining sauce to coat.
• Lightly oil the grill grate.  Grill the chicken for 15 minutes, turning occasionally or until juices run clear.  Baste occasionally with the excess sauce during the last 10 minutes.
• Serve with remaining sauce that was set aside.

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from Tried & True Recipes from the Ladies of the Innesbrook Ward Cookbook

I love sweet potato fries.  And the love extends to sweet potatoes in general.  However, I have trouble finding them in grocery stores.  Instead the stores I frequent seem to carry more yams than sweet potatoes.  Anyway, when I happened upon these I immediately remembered this recipe and decided I HAD to make it.  It was delicious!  I substituted green onions for chives since they are a little less spendy and I really enjoyed the switch. 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried
• 4 sliced Canadian bacon, cut into tiny cubes (or real bacon, cooked and crumbled)
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 Tbs fresh chives, chopped (or green onions, chopped)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Note:  All these ingredients amounts are approximate.  Use more or less of any ingredient to taste.

Directions:

• Poke several holes in each sweet potato with a knife or fork.  Wrap each sweet potato in a paper towel and place in the microwave.  Cook on high until the potatoes are soft in the middle.  (Some microwaves have a potato setting.) For a medium sized potato it will take about 10 minutes.  You can cook them in the oven but it takes much longer.
• Preheat oven to 400 F.
• Remove the potatoes from the microwave.  Once they are cool enough to handle, cut in half, and scoop out most of the centers into a small bowl.  Combine the sweet potato to flesh with the sour cream, Canadian bacon, Cheddar cheese, and chives.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Mash together with a fork or spoon.  Stuff the potatoes with the mixture.  Sprinkle with a little more shredded cheese.
• Place stuffed potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the skin has started to crisp.  Remove from the oven, top with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with more chives (both optional).  Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Asparagus & Mushroom Quiche

Adapted from Allrecipes

My husband's birthday was yesterday, so I decided to make him a special birthday brunch.  The main feature was this lovely quiche.  The asparagus, mushrooms, onions, Feta and Cheddar in this were superb!  I'm a huge fan of Feta and really thought it added a little something special to this quiche.  Delish!

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. deli ham, diced
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 cup portobella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup chopped fresh asparagus
• 1 (8 inch) unbaked pie shell
• 1 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• ½ tsp salt
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp parsley
• ½ tsp thyme

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion; cook and stir until translucent.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the portabella mushrooms.  Continue cooking until the mushroom are tender.  Set aside.
• Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Cook asparagus in boiling water until just tender, 1-2 minutes.  Immediately drain and run under cold water to cool.
• Spray a pie tin with cooking spray and place pie shell in tin.  Place the onion and mushroom mixture, asparagus and ham into the bottom of the pie shell.  Sprinkle the Cheddar and Feta cheeses over the vegetables.  In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream salt, pepper, parsley and thyme until smooth.  Pour this mixture over the vegetable and cheese filling.
• Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until firm and lightly browned on top.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from Koyle Family Cookbook, Recipe Submitted by Jill and Dan Baird

This recipe is great for using up some ripe bananas. I added whole wheat flour rather than white flour, just adding a little bit less of it, and they were scrumptious!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (2 cups if using white flour)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed well

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just moistened. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean.

Fajita Pizza

I haven't made a homemade pizza for about 2 months!  I can't believe it!  My husband started bugging me to make one and when I asked him what kind he wanted he said a "mexican one".  So, I decided to do a fajita pizza. 

Ingredients:

• One pizza crust recipe (see Recipe Index)
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 1-2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
• 1 onion, cut into strips
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 fajita packet and recipe ingredients on back of package
• ½ cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ½ cup Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/3  cup fresh salsa, divided
• 1 avocado
• 2 Tbs lime juice
• Salt, to taste
• Sour cream

Directions:

• Make pizza crust according to recipe directions.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Bake crust for 10 minutes. 
• In the meantime, heat olive oil in a heavy, large pan over medium heat.  Cook chicken, bell peppers and onions for 5 minutes in oil or until onion is tender.  Add the fajita mix and fajita mix ingredients to pan; mix thoroughly.  Allow the chicken and veggies to absorb the fajita mix for about 5 minutes. 
• When the 10 minutes of baking the crust is complete, remove from oven and add your toppings.  Cover the crust with the Mozzarella and Sharp Cheddar cheese.  Spread the chicken fajita mixture evenly over crust.  Return to oven and cook for 8-10 more minutes. 
• In the meantime, make your guacamole.  Mash avocado with fork.  Add 3-4 Tbs fresh salsa, lime juice and salt to taste.  Mix well.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• When the cooking time for pizza is complete, remove from oven and top evenly with remaining fresh salsa.  (Note:  you may need to soak up extra juices from salsa with paper towels after adding to pizza.) 
• Serve pizza with guacamole and sour cream. 

Note:  I meant to add black beans to the topping and COMPLETELY forgot.  I mustn’t forget next time, although it was still delicious without.