Some Kind of Asian Something

So, I have been looking in my local grocery stores for a long time to find Pad Thai Rice Noodles, and couldn't find them anywhere. Well, I finally found them at a store that I rarely ever shop at. I was really excited to cook with them, but couldn't find a recipe that sounded fantastic to me. So I ended up just doing my own thing and throwing stuff in that I thought would be good... and it was! After we ate, and loved it, I hurried to write down everything I put in it so that it could be recreated. I just don't know what to call it though.....

Some Kind of Asian Something

1 1/2 lb boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 8oz. package Pad Thai Rice Noodles
1/2 cup carrots, matchstick sliced
1 cup zucchini, quartered then sliced
2 cups fresh broccoli flowerettes

1/3 cup soy sauce

3-4 tbsp pure sesame oil

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 tsp garlic powder (I was out of garlic cloves or I would have used 3 or 4 minced cloves instead)

4 Tbsp water

Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic powder, and water, set aside. Place noodles in a bowl of hot water to soak for 7 or 8 minutes. Meanwhile, stir-fry the chicken in a little oil,  for a few minutes, then add carrots. After a couple more minutes add the broccoli and zucchini. Continue to cook these until chicken is done and veggies are crisp-tender. Drain noodles and add them to the pan, stirring them into the chicken/veggies. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, then add the soy sauce mixture to the pan. Continue to stir-fry until all of the noodles, chicken, and veggies are coated in the sauce. Serve.

Pork Chop and Potato Skillet

A few weeks ago I had some pork chops that I had thawed (not unthawed...) but had no idea what I was going to do with them. I racked my brain all day long as to what to do with these pork chops. At about 5:00pm  I realized that I really needed to figure something out and get making it. I had some potatoes, and decided I wanted to use them, but realized that at this point I was a little short on time. Well, I came up with a beauty of a dinner that everyone loved, and it was easy and quick. There was a ton of flavor with very little effort. You should try it!

Pork Chop and Potato Skillet

4-6 pork chops (I used boneless pork loin chops, but any kind will work)
6 or so medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 1/2 -2 cups whipping cream
1-2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil

Drizzle a little olive oil into a large skillet. Heat over med-hi heat. Salt and pepper the chops. Add chops to pan and brown chops on each side, but don't cook through. Remove chops to a plate, then add the garlic to the drippings left in the pan. Cook and stir the garlic for 1-2 minutes, then whisk in the whipping cream and mustard. Next add the potatoes. Gently fold and stir the potatoes into the cream sauce. When potatoes are coated, place pork chops on top of the potatoes and cover with a lid. Reduce heat to about medium and cook for 15-25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and chops are cooked through.

Chicken with Dijon Cream Sauce

This picture didn't turn out so well. I spooned the sauce over the chicken, right off the stove. I was a little disappointed with how thin the sauce was and the way that it presented. Well, after the camera was put away, and the family was around the table, I noticed that the sauce had thickened up quite a bit. It was now the perfect time to make a "picture plate", but it just didn't happen again with 4 hungry kids and a hungry husband sitting at the table. So just imagine in the picture above that the chicken is covered in a thick and creamy sauce!
The sauce on this chicken has a really mild flavor. The sauce was really good over the rice pilaf that I served with it. My kiddos really liked this chicken, even the ones that don't like mustard. The hubby was a big fan.

Chicken with Dijon Cream Sauce

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
3-4 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Salt and Pepper the chicken breasts.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet on med-high heat. Add chicken to skillet and saute until chicken is cooked through, turning once. When chicken is cooked thoroughly, remove from skillet to serving dish and keep warm by covering with foil. Pour chicken broth into the skillet. Whisk in the cream and mustard. (The original recipe called for adding a tsp of dried tarragon or oregano at this point, but I didn't do that). Cook and stir cream mixture for about 2 minutes. Pour sauce over the chicken and serve.

Sweet and Sour Pork

A couple of months ago, my husband and I were able to go visit his brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Ann, in Kansas City.  We actually surprized Mike for his 40th birthday.  We had a great weekend and ate some great food while were were there.  My husband did his internship in Kansas City, so we lived there for a few months. Our all time favorite BBQ joint is there. We actually ate there twice in the 4 days we were there.  One of the yummy things we ate that weekend was this Sweet and Sour Pork that Ann made for us for dinner one night.  We loved it.  Thanks for sharing the recipe Ann.

**it was easier to list the ingredients in with the directions, so I put all the ingredients in bold so they would be easier to identify.

Sweet and Sour Pork

In a bowl combine:

2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chicken broth

Beat until smooth. Cut 1 pound boneless pork into 1-inch cubes and stir into the batter. Fry in cooking oil until golden brown.
Meanwhile, in a skillet cook 2 cloves minced garlic in 2 Tablespoons of oil. (if you wanted to add some veggies like green pepper or carrots at this point, you could)

Stir in:
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce

Bring to boil and boil rapidly for one minute.
Mix 1/4 cup cold water into 2 Tablespoons cornstarch.
Stir this into sauce mixture until thickened and bubbly.

Mix fried pork cubes into sauce until warm and coated. Serve over rice.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

Dinner doesn't get any easier than this. This is a super easy recipe that has tons of flavor. I first had this dish at a gathering of friends while we were living in Iowa City, Iowa. We loved it, and so I asked for the recipe.  Since then, I have run into different versions of the recipe many times in different cookbooks and blogs. When we first had it, it was served over smashed red potatoes, so that is the way I have always served it.  In all the other times that I have seen the recipe, it said to serve over rice or noodles. As you can tell in the picture, I decided to try it over rice. YUM. We really liked it with the rice. It wasn't as heavy of a meal as it is when it is served over the potatoes.  Don't get me wrong... it's good with the potatoes too.  Maybe next time I will try it with the pasta.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

4-6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter
2 8 oz. bricks of cream cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 envelopes dry Italian dressing mix
1 cup of milk

Melt butter in crock pot and then place chicken in crock pot.  Stir together the rest of the ingredients (doesn't need to be smooth) and pour over chicken.  Cook on low heat for about 6 hours. Remove lid and gently stir, breaking the chicken up as you stir. Serve over rice, pasta, or potatoes.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

I am really picky about ranch dressing.  Nothing can ruin a really great salad faster than a really bad ranch!  I usually make ranch from a dry mix, but a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I was going to venture out and try making it totally from scratch. It turned out really good, and I think I am done with dry mixes!  If you make ranch from scratch, please share your recipe with me!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

2 cups mayo
1 cup buttermilk
3 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp onion salt
2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp seasoned salt (I used Lowry's)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Whisk together all ingredients, refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Mock Hollandaise Sauce

I have recently mentioned how lucky I am to have 4 kids that all love broccoli.  Well, what is even luckier is that I have 4 kids that all love asparagus.  I'm not lying.  It's the truth. WE LOVE ASPARAGUS! And we are proud of it! The only thing that makes asparagus even better is making it totally unhealthy with this sauce! Ha Ha! I need to venture out with more recipes that have asparagus.This is really the only way we ever eat it... either steamed or grilled, with this sauce.  If anyone has an amazing recipe that has asparagus in it, please share! 

Mock Hollandaise Sauce

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Stir together butter, mayo, salt and pepper in a saucepan over med/low heat until mixture is smooth and hot.  Stir in lemon juice and serve.

Beef Stir Fry

I love stir-fry.  It is one of my favorite things to make. I found the recipe for this stir-fry sauce in the Lion House Cookbook.  In there is it called "Beef and Seven Vegetables", but I like saying beef stir-fry better. And I don't use the same 7 vegetables that they say to use.  You can use whatever veggies you want in this, I will list below the ones that I usually like to use. All measurements listed below for the beef and veggies are approximate.  This is another one of those things that I never measure.

Beef Stir-Fry

1 1/2 lb lean beef, cut into strips
2 cups carrots
3 cups broccoli
3 cups cauliflower
1 or 2 small zucchini sliced
1 can either bamboo shoots or water chestnuts
1 cup snow peas
4 cups beef stock (or 4 cups water with 4 bullion cubes)
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp corn starch mixed in 1/4 cup cold water

Cook strips of beef in a large skillet or wok (I usually cook it for about an hour or so to make it more tender, adding small amounts of water as it simmers, but that is totally optional). Add veggies to pan and stir-fry until veggies are crisp tender.  Remove beef/veggies from pan, and add beef stock, soy sauce and cornstarch/water.  Simmer until it starts to thicken, then add beef and veggies to it.  Serve over rice.

MaryAnn's Easy Cordon Bleu

I came up with this little recipe a few years ago. We all loved cordon bleu, but it was just such a pain to make.  One evening I just decided to do it in my saute pan, and just simmer it in the sauce.  It turned out great.  I haven't stuffed a single piece of chicken since.
This is super easy to make when you are having company over for dinner.  It looks really nice, and they think you went to a lot of work. When I am making more than just for my little family, I bake it instead of simmer it.  After I brown the chicken breasts, I place them in a large baking pan.  Then I top them with the ham and sauce mixture.  Cover and bake it at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done.  Then top with the swiss cheese and place back in the oven, uncovered, until cheese is melted.
But here are the directions (even with step-by-step pictures!) for the easy stove-top, only-get-one-pan-dirty, way to make them.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
5 slices of ham
5 slices of swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup lemon juice (use more or less, according to your taste)

1. Brown chicken breasts in a little bit of olive oil.

2. Place a piece of ham on each piece of chicken

3.  Mix cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and lemon juice.  Put entire mixture in pan covering the chicken/ham.

4. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked though.

5. Remove from heat, place a slice of swiss cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover again with lid until cheese has melted.

6. Serve

Alfredo Sauce

Oh my, this is yummy, but so not good for you.  My family loves chicken and broccoli alfredo, but I don't use this recipe very often.  I usually use the Knorr alfredo sauce mix packet that you can buy for like $1.50, and I make that with skim milk so it is much healthier.  But I wanted to share this recipe, because if you love alfredo, you will love this. And, it is so darn easy. It could be a super last minute meal if you just cooked up some pasta and made the sauce.  I double this recipe when I make it for my family of 6, and we have some left over.
P.S.  I have made this using canned evaporated milk instead of cream to cut down on some of the calories, and it was great.

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 t. salt (optional, I don't use this)
Dash of pepper

Heat butter and cream on low heat in a sauce pan until butter is melted. Stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Continue stirring until thickened. Serve with about 8oz of cooked pasta.

Chicken Satay

I really didn't think that my husband could like me any more than he already did.  But when I made this chicken, he somehow liked me even more.  His favorite restaurant in the whole world is this little whole in the wall Thai place in Salt Lake City called Thai Siam.  If you have ever been to lunch with him, I can guarantee that he has taken you there.  After I made this he gave me the best compliment ever.  He said "I don't need to go to Thai Siam anymore!"
I happened on this recipe on the Family Fun website.  I immediately knew Steve would love it, but wasn't sure about the rest of us.  I decided to give it a try.  It was a huge success. Every one of my kids and I loved it.  This will definitely become a regular dinner in our house.
* I served this with coconut jasmine rice.  I just replaced some of the water with a can of coconut milk when cooking the rice. I was so darn good!

Chicken Satay


CHICKEN AND MARINADE:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 to 2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp sesame oil (I actually didn't have this, so I just put in another tsp of veg. oil)
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes

SATAY SAUCE
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce, or to taste
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 scallions, chopped (optional)

For the chicken and the marinade: whisk all the ingredients except for the chicken together in a medium bowl. Add the chicken cubes, turn to coat, cover, and marinate them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
Heat the oven to 500 degrees.  Thread chicken onto skewers, if desired, or just put the pieces on a foil-lined pan.  Bake 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Meanwhile, for the satay sauce: whisk together the broth, orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.  Over low heat, whisk in the peanut butter until smooth.  Whisking constantly, heat the sauce until it has thickened, about 10 minutes. Add scallions.  Serve the sauce as a dip for the chicken.
This recipe serves 4.  I doubled it for the 6 of us, and we had some left over for Steve to take for lunch the next day

Easiest Teriyaki Sauce EVER

This really is the easiest ever. I got this "recipe" from my friend Tia. I have used it a few different ways. This picture is just of some stir-fried chicken and veggies, on rice with the sauce drizzled over the top. I have served it with just chicken and rice, with no veggies. I have used the sauce as a marinade, then grilled the chicken. And I have served it as a dipping sauce for chicken. So versatile, so easy!

Teriyaki Sauce

1 cup Soy Sauce
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Water

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a soft boil. Serve as desired.
(You can simmer it for a while, and it will thicken a little, although, if simmered too long, the flavors may become a little too intense)

**You can obviously make any quantity of this that you want. Any amount in Equal Parts will work.

Lemon Cream Chicken

This is another recipe that I got from the Sisters Cafe Blog. I have made it a couple of times and we really like it. The second time I made it, I put a slice of ham and a slice of swiss cheese on just before serving it. The recipe calls for mushrooms, but I don't add those because Steve is allergic to them. I bet it is AMAZING with the mushroooms though. This chicken goes perfectly with the rice pilaf recipe I previously posted.

Lemon Cream Chicken

1/2 cup plus 1 T. flour, divided
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 c. butter
1 c. chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream, divided
3 T. lemon juice
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 1/2 c. flour, salt and pepper. Add chicken and shake to coat. In a large skillet, cook chicken in butter for 8-9 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove chicken and keep warm.

Add broth to the drippings. Bring to a boil over medium heat; stir to loosen browned bits from the pan. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes or until broth is reduced approximately 1/3 cup. Sir in 3/4 c. cream, lemon juice and mushrooms. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.

Combine remaining flour and cream until smooth; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet and heat
through.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I got this recipe from my sister Laurie when I was a pretty newly-wed. We love this recipe. It is super easy. I love that the ingredients for the sauce are things that I always have on hand. It is really versatile too. You can do whole chicken breasts, or cut them up into bite sized pieces. I've done just about every size there is, however, our favorite is bite sized pieces. I often add a can of (drained) pineapple to this (Steve loves pineapple in it). I have also cooked this in a crockpot instead of baking it. I think I have also seen someone in my family do it in a dutch oven. If you like sweet and sour, you should try this recipe!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

8-10 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 cups flour (seasoned with salt and any other spices you want)

Put flour and spices in large ziplock baggie. Add chicken and shake until chicken is well coated. Saute chicken in a little bit of oil in a skillet until browned. Place in a 9x13 or large casserole dish

Sauce:
2 cubes chicken bullion
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2/3 cup ketchup


Bring all ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan. Pour over chicken and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Serve over hot, cooked rice.