Peanutty Chicken and Pasta.

Lately on my son's and my regular date to the library, I pick up a couple cookbooks to browse though. Usually I find one, maybe two recipes I'm truly interested in making, and I usually don't get around to making those. This cookbook, though, the Southern Living Kids Cookbook, has so many post-its sticking out of it now I hardly know where to begin. Jonathan even helped me choose which recipes to make, though I suspect he was just having fun sticking on the post-its to as many pages as possible. I know for a fact he wouldn't eat the chicken salad he picked out.

This recipe stood out to me, as I love ordering the chicken with peanut sauce at the asian restaurants we occasionally frequent. The lovely thing is that my husband liked it too, and he's not usually a fan of peanut sauces. The other thing I love about this recipe is that you don't cook the vegetables, and you can't tell. Until I told him, Chris had no idea I'd not cooked the vegetables, and he hates uncooked veggies.

All in all, an simple, quick recipe that works great for lunch or dinner. Now, please excuse me while I go add this cookbook to my christmas list.

Peanutty Chicken and Pasta, from Southern Living Kids Cookbook

Ingredients:

1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce

2 T. coconut milk

2 T. creamy peanut butter

1/4 t. dark sesame oil (This adds so much to the sauce! Worth getting if its not in your pantry already.)

8 oz. uncooked corkscrew pasta (I just used the full 16 oz bag and counted on having leftovers.)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

1/2 c. preshredded carrot (or, you know, you can shred it yourself...it'll just take a bit longer.)

2 green onions, sliced thinly

1/4 c. chopped red bell pepper

1/3 c. unsalted peanuts, chopped

Directions:

Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and place in a big bowl. Add sauce, chicken, carrot, green onions, and bell pepper, toss gently to coat. Top with chopped peanuts. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Pulled Chicken & Honey Whole Wheat Buns.

I LOVE this chicken recipe. It is so delicious, so simple, so quick (for a crock pot recipe), and did I mention, SO DELICIOUS!! I didn't modify the recipe at all, (well, other than halve it, as I don't need to feed 8-10 people...) so I'm going to send you to the original site for the recipe. Stay tuned for the buns recipe though!!

The buns are delicious in and of themselves. I've used this recipe for burger buns, hot dog buns, simple rolls, and now for this.

Honey Whole Wheat Rolls, originally from Celecia Stoup of Hobart, Oklahoma

Ingredients:

2 packages active dry yeast (or 1/2 oz total, or 4 1/2 t. total)

1 c. warm water

1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted (I used butter)

1/4 c. honey

1 egg

3/4 c. whole wheat flour (I've been using rye flour, as I'm out of whole wheat and want to use up the rye)

1/2 c. old-fashioned oats

1 t. salt

2 1/4 - 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

Additional melted butter or margarine (opt.)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the water. Stir in the butter, honey, egg, whole wheat flour, oats, salt, and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour; beat until smooth. Add enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into 15 rolls, (or whatever shape you need...I can get about 10 hot dog buns...) Place on a greased sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup.

I love making this soup. It's delicious, simple, and extremely comforting on a cold day, or when you're feeling a bit under the weather. My method takes a bit of time, but it's not extremely labor intensive, and you can take shortcuts at any point to make it even easier. Due to the nature of this recipe, there are no exact proportions. You can make a large batch, as I usually do, or simply use less and make enough for a single meal. The amounts I do list will be for a rather large batch intended to have extra for freezing. Adjust as needed, and enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (or thighs) 3-4 for a large batch (or leftover cooked chicken, if you've got it)

butter

garlic (optional)

celery, with tops

carrots (save peelings!)

onion (save root and peeling!)

half recipe of homemade noodles (Recipe here) or egg noodles

chicken broth, about 8-12 cups for a large batch

oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, bay leaves, or any herbs you like and have on hand. Fresh works best, dried will work too.

water

Directions:

I will note extra steps in italics. Please note, extra step=extra flavor, but it is not necessary.

If you are using leftover cooked chicken, skip this step. Chop chicken into small, bite-size pieces. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté two whole cloves of garlic in butter until brown. Discard (or eat the cloves, they're delicious). Pan-fry chicken till cooked through. Set aside.

In a large stock-pot, (or sauce pan if you're making a smaller batch,) pour 8-12 cups chicken broth or water, and add carrot peelings (not the carrots themselves) onion peelings and root, (not the actual onion), celery tops (not the stalks) and any herbs you care to use. I particularly like rosemary, bay, and parsley, but whatever sounds good to you will most likely work. Let the pot simmer for at least an hour, covered. Strain the broth when you are ready to add your final ingredients. Return to pot. Alternately, you can simply skip this step and add your final ingredients to the plain chicken broth. I highly recommend the former instructions, though, as they'll take this above and beyond delicious. :)

While the broth is simmering, chop your carrots, celery and onion to bite size pieces, or minced, if you like. Also prepare a half batch of your noodles now.  Add your chicken, carrots, celery and onion to the broth, and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add noodles slowly, especially if using homemade noodles, so they don't stick to each other. Let simmer until noodles are cooked through (they'll swell a bit) and then remove from heat. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Texas Meat Marinade from Former First Lady Laura Bush.

When Chris and I were wed, my mother gave us a lovely gift. She wrote to friends and family, as well as our current politicians in office, and asked for well-loved recipes. Pres. George W. Bush was in office at the time, so she wrote to First Lady Laura Bush as well. Some of the recipes received are of the sort that my family simply will not touch; this is not one of those.

This marinade is amazing, and simple to boot! There are no photos as I didn't think to snap one before we sat down to dinner, and also because, delicious as it is, it dulled the color of our steaks to a shade that would not make for a nice photo. :)

Any meat can be used for this, but I do highly recommend using beef. As I've not access to Yucatan Sunshine Habanero Pepper Sauce at my supermarket, I simply use Tabasco sauce. 

Texas Meat Marinade, from Former First Lady Laura Bush

Ingredients:

1/2 t. dry mustard

1/2 t. thyme

1/2 t. marjoram

1/2 t. fresh ground pepper

1 t. Yucatan Sunshine Habanero Pepper Sauce

1 T. Worcestershire sauce (I sub in soy sauce here)

2 t. chopped garlic

1/4 c. corn oil

1/4 c. olive oil

1/2 t. salt

Directions:

Mix the dry mustard, thyme, marjoram, and pepper together. Add garlic, Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce), hot pepper sauce, corn oil, and olive oil. Mix well and pour over your meat of choice covering entire piece of meat with mixture. Marinate for a few hours. Sprinkle with salt just before cooking. Enjoy!

Pacific Rim Stir-Fry.

The first time we had this recipe, it was a disaster. Don't get me wrong, it tasted great. No, the disaster was that I managed to dump my entire plate on our new cream colored carpet. I was trying to multi-task, dealing with Jonathan in his swing while moving my plate. It didn't work. A bit slid off, and as I tried to catch it, the rest slid off the other side of the plate! Now, because this dish contains turmeric, it stained the carpet in that spot a deep golden yellow. A lovely color, if it's not in only one spot on the floor.  Needless to say, I avoided this recipe for awhile, due to the 'trauma' I'd suffered before because of it. That was almost a year ago, and I wish I hadn't waited this long. This really is a delicious dish, especially when there is no drama surrounding it. (We did get the carpet stain out, by the way. It took me scrubbing it, Chris steam-cleaning it, me trimming the spot with tiny scissors, and finally calling in a professional to finish the job.) I hope you enjoy this as much as I have, without all the drama!

Pacific Rim Stir-Fry, Recipe from Easy Everyday Cooking, from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

3 oz. rice sticks (also called rice noodles), or dried vermicelli, broken

12 oz. skinless boneless chicken thighs or breast halves

1/2 c. chicken broth

2 T snippd fresh basil or 2 t. dried basil, crushed

2 T. soy sauce

2 t. cornstarch

1 t. chile oil

-or-

1/2 t. crushed red pepper (we used this)

1/2 t. ground turmeric

1 T. cooking oil (peanut oil works best, but other will do)

2 med. carrots, cut into julienne strips

2 c. broccoli florets

1 red or green sweet pepper, cut into lengthwise strips

1 bunch green onions, chopped small, opt.

1/4 c. cashew halves or peanuts

Directions:

In a saucepan cook rice sticks in boiling water for 3 minutes, or cook vermicelli according to package directions. Drain, keep warm. (We did this at the end, so we didn't have to worry about keeping them warm, and it worked just as well.)

Meanwhile, rinse chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Cut chicken thighs or breasts into thin, bite-size strips; set aside.

For sauce, in a small bowl combine chicken broth, basil, soy sauce, cornstarch, chile oil or crushed red pepper, and turmeric; set aside.

Add cooking oil to a wok or 12-in. skillet. Preheat over medium-high heat (add more oil if necessary during cooking). Stir-fry carrot strips in hot oil for 1 minute. Add broccoli; stir-fry for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes more or until crisp-tender. Add green onions, if using, cook one minute more. Remove from wok. Add the chicken to wok; stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender and no longer pink. Push from center of wok.

Stir sauce; add to center of wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return cooked vegetables to wok. Stir all ingredients together to coat. Cook and stir about 2 minutes more or until heated through.  Serve immediately over hot rice sticks or vermicelli. Top with cashews or peanuts. Makes 4 servings.