Moo Shu Pork

Did you know that I love Chinese food? I was ordering Moo Shu Pork before I can even remember. We used to live in a little town in the bay area called Pleasanton, CA. I remember ordering it at a yummy Chinese restaurant not to far from our home. So when I found this recipe I thought I would give it a try, I was so sure my husband would cringe and probably give it a 3 out of our 1-10 scale (1 means NEVER AGAIN, and 10 means make it tomorrow) He gave it a 9, YES a 9! I almost wanted to slather my portion in sour cream, but I was pretty sure that was not on my diet. It was easy, way easy and yummy!




Ingredients:

1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tsp minced fresh ginger (I used my microplane)
5 boneless pork loin chops (4 oz each), cut into thin strips
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (found in the Asian section of the grocery store)
3 cups coleslaw mix with carrots
8 flour tortillas, warmed

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, water, sour sauce and ginger until blended; set aside. In a large skillet, saute pork and garlic in oil for 3-5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

Stir in cornstarch mixture and add to the skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in hoisin sauce. Add coleslaw mix; stir to coat. Spoon about 1/;2 cup pork mixture into the center of each tortilla.

I garnished with Cilantro, green onion, bean sprouts and lettuce.

Recipe from Taste of home magazine

Apple Dumpling Bake

I was a little skeptical about this dessert, I mean... really? Mountain Dew? It turned out delicious. It was flaky and cinnamon-y (is that a word?) and it was perfect over vanilla ice cream.



Ingredients:

2 tubes (8 oz each) refridgerated crescent rolls
2 medium granny smith apples
1 1/2 cup sugar, divided use
1/3 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup mountain Dew soda
ground cinnamon
ground nutmeg
Vanilla ice cream

1. peel apples and cut into 8 wedges each apple. Place in bowl and mix with 1/2 cup sugar, shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg. Unroll rescent rolls and seperate the dough into 16 triangles. Wrap a crescent dough triangle around two apple slices. Place in greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.

2. In a bowl, combine remaining sugar and melted butter; sprinkle over rolls. Slowly pour soda around the rolls (do not stir) Sprinkle cinnamon over the whole pan.

Bake uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm over icecream.

Recipe from Chris Shields, Indiana (From the Taste of home magazine)

Schlotzky's Panini

I LOVE schlotzsky's (I don't even know how to spell it, but I love it) It's a sandwich shop and to be honest, I don't see too many of them around anymore. I used to work there when I was in college in Orem, UT. I didn't love the job, but I loved going home every day with a sandwich. So here is my best re-do of their masterpiece. I didn't know about using Sourdough rolls, so I used sourdough bread instead, and made it into a panini. I WILL be making this again. We had it with the broccoli and cheese soup. YUM!

Ingredients:

mozzarella cheese
pepperoni
salami
ham
olives
slices of sourdough

I put two pieces of bread on a broiling rack and placed meats and cheese and broiled for 2-3 minutes. I then put the sandwich together onto my grill to toast the outside, I also added olives. Once it was done I opened it up and added lettuce. David says I can't call it a Panini if it had lettuce in it, but I then told him, "I'll do what I want :)"

(We had to smoosh *that is a technical term, BTW* it down with something, so we grabbed the bag of flour out of the pantry and covered in in tin foil. worked great!)

Recipe from out of this little crazy brain of mine.

Broccoli and Cheese soup

Last night it was snowing and cold and a bowl of soup sounded delicious, lucky for me I had all the ingredients to make this recipe. It was creamy and delicious, with just the right amount of broccoli and cheese, needless to say it was YUM-O. try it.


Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 7-inch sourdough bread boules (round loaves )
4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)
1 large carrot, diced
2 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese , plus more for garnish
Directions
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the bread bowls: Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the top of each loaf, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Remove the bread top, then hollow out the middle with a fork or your fingers, leaving a thick bread shell.
Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth; you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli. Return to the pot. (Or puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender.)
Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Ladle into the bread bowls and garnish with cheese.

Recipe from foodnetwork.com

Creamy enchiladas

I LOVE creamy 'ladas. I do. Love them. My husband doesn't so usually I give in and make them his way... but lucky for me I didn't have enchalada sauce so we had to do them the way I like **no I didn't plan that, it just worked out in my favor** So here are they yummiest 'ladas EVER! I also like these puppies rolled up in flour tortillas instead of the casserole style. You can also make this ahead and freeze it. Yum. Yum. Yum. In fact just talking about them makes me want to go have another serving :)

{This picture really does not do this justice, sorry. I am a cook, NOT a photographer :)}

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
3 Tbsp butter
1 13oz can evaporated milk
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 4oz can chopped green chilies
3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
12 corn tortillas (sometimes I use flour)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Saute onion in butter. Add evaporated milk and chicken soup. Stir until smooth. Add chilies and chicken, stir all together.

Grease 9x13 pan. Line with 6 tortillas, pour half of chicken mixture over them and sprinkle with 1/2 of cheese. Repeat layers with remaining tortillas, chicken mixture and cheese.

Cover dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Makes LOTS!

Recipe from Stephanie Gubbler. Thanks babe!

Herbed Orzo

I didn't know how this pasta side dish would taste, being that I have NEVER had orzo, but I actually really liked it. It was light, almost refreshing with the lemon. This would be a perfect side dish with some grilled chicken in the summer.


Ingredients:

1 cup orzo
2 Tsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp fresh herbs like:
dill
parsley
chives
cilantro
Salt and pepper

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cool 1 cup orzo until al dente. Drain orzo and transfer to a medium bowl. Add 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as those listed above. add 2 Tsp fresh lemon juice. Toss to combine. Season with course salt and ground pepper. serves 4.

Recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart

Kung Pao Chicken

I saw this sauce at the store and thought, "What the heck, I'll give it a try" Not expecting too much I threw the vegetables in a pan and it actually tasted like Panda's Kung Pao! It was yum-o. Give it a try.


Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper, diced
1 green zucchini, diced
1 yellow zucchini, diced
3 chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
green onion
cashews
1 bottle of Kung Pao marinade
1 bag of frozen mix (peas, carrots and corn)

Saute' bell pepper, zucchinis together until soft. Remove and set aside. In same pan fry up chicken on high heat. Stirring constantly. Once browned and cooked through add vegetables back in, and also 1/2 of the frozen bag. Once combined add 3/4 jar of Kung Pao sauce. Heat on low for 5-8 minutes. Chop green onion and cashews as garnish. Serve over rice.