Day 294: Cooking Thai Peanut Ramen

We tried out a new recipe this evening and it ended up being tasty and delicious. Much better than the last recipe I shared with you! Here goes:

Thai Peanut Ramen

You need:
2 packages Oriental flavor ramen noodle soup mix
2 cups small broccoli florets
1 medium red bell pepper chopped
1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 cup Thai peanut sauce
1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1.  Fill 3-quart saucepan two-thirds full of water; heat to boiling. Break block of noodles from soup mix into water; stir until slightly softened. Stir in broccoli, bell pepper, and carrots; return to boiling. Boil 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain and return to saucepan.

2. Stir peanut sauce and 1 seasoning packet from soup mix into noodle mixture. Top individual servings with peanuts and cilantro.

*Recipe came from Pillsbury fast & fresh pasta

Day 275 Part 2: Cooking Avocado Curry Egg Salad

So I made this delicious recipe for dinner and YOU HAVE TO TRY IT.

Avocado Curry Egg Salad

First off, you need four hard boiled eggs. This is my mom's recipe and it worked for me and it will probably work for you! Here is what you do: 

Place four eggs in a single layer in pan and cover then with an inch of cold water. Bring water to a boil then cover tightly with lid and remove from heat. Let stand for 20 minutes. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and let stand until completely cooled. Peel and chop.

From there you need:

1 avocado (cubed)
1 teaspoon curry 
2 tablespoons mayo
Salt and Pepper to taste

And here are the difficult instructions...

MIX TOGETHER. Then eat. And enjoy. 

Day 272: Cooking Crockpot Cashew Chicken

Time: 15 minutes + 3 hour cook time
Listening to: The Packers game

Crock-pot Cashew Chicken

Combine the following in a large ziploc bag and shake:

2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken tenders
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper

 Heat 1 Tbsp canola oil in a skillet and brown chicken for two minutes on each side. Then place in crock pot.

Combine the following and pour over chicken:

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp pepper

Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Add 1/2 cup cashews and stir. Serve over rice. Makes 4-6 servings.

Recipe originally came from here. Small alterations have been made.

Day 268 (Part 1): Cooking Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta

Time: One hour (including prepping/clean up)
Listening to: Tallest Man on Earth and She & Him

I made such a delicious meal today that I HAD to share it. I seriously just wanted to keep eating and eating this. I had a dessert in mind, though, so I paced myself a bit. Here is the original recipe.

Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta

1 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/3 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped cashews
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons curry power
1 teaspoon dried ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Here is what you have to do:

-Boil 1 3/4 cups water in a medium saucepan. Add in couscous, stir, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5+ minutes. When ready to mix, fluff with a fork.

-Steam broccoli florets for 5 minutes or until tender.

-Stir in couscous, broccoli, onion, and all other ingredients except the feta cheese. Once it is all mixed, dish and top with feta cheese. 

Hope you enjoy! MMM!

 

Day 265: Cooking Avocado Salsa

My hubby and I made this tonight:

Chunky Avocado Salsa


Head over here for the delicious recipe!

Day 151: Cooking Chicken Topped with Avocado Salsa

So my husband and I made a delicious meal that I thought I'd share.  First off, we cooked some chicken. For ease, we threw them in the oven, but next time we're going to grill them to get that nice smokey flavor. Then, we topped it off with this delicious avocado salsa. We didn't have all of the ingredients so below is my altered recipe.

Chicken Topped with Delicious Avocado Salsa (mmmm!)

1 tomato

2 avocados
1 cup of corn
1 can of black beans
, drained
Pepper, Salt, Dried Parsley
1 bunch of green onion (we didn't actually have this but it would have been tasty)

Mix drained black beans, corn, and diced tomato into a large bowl. Place drained black beans and corn into a large bowl. 
Dice up the tomato and green onions and add them in the bowl.
 Season with pepper, salt, dried parsley--checking to make sure it is tasty. 

 Add the chopped avocado--mixing gently.

Throw it over some chicken--or later we added it to scrambled eggs. So delicious!

Day 139: Cooking Chickpea Avocado Tacos

Time: Four hands make light work--15 minutes?
Listening to: I've been enjoying MissIndie's playlist today

My husband and I made one of my favorite recipes today! I don't remember where I found this recipe oh so long ago but I've been making it and loving it for a while now!

Chickpea Avocado Tacos

What you need:

1 avocado
1 can of chickpeas
1 garlic clove (minced)
3 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

First you need to mash the avocado. To pick out a good avocado, just feel how soft it is. If it is hard, then it isn't ripe. A soft (but not squishy) avocado will be the easiest to mash and the tastiest. I like to cut the avocado in half and then use a spoon to scoop out the good stuff.

Drain the chickpeas, wash them, and then pour into the bowl of mashed avocado. Stir together. Mince the garlic and the cilantro. Add both into the mixture. Add a squirt of lemon juice. We didn't have lemon juice today so we added pineapple juice which tasted pretty good!

Feel free to taste at any point of the process and add whatever flavoring you'd like. Usually salt and pepper is enough for me!

Day 134: Cooking Flower (Peppers) Eggs

Time: 1/2 hour or so
Listening to: My family

So I saw this tutorial awhile ago for Flower Power Eggs and knew instantly that I was going to make that for my mom on Mother's Day. I've made this for her in the past but wanted to do something different this time. My dad worked his magic on the bacon while my husband whipped up some pancakes. Overall, we had a pretty tasty Mother's Day meal, if I do say so myself!

All you need are peppers, eggs, salt and pepper, and some oil. Put a wee bit of oil in your pan and set the oven to low heat. Then crack your egg into the sliced pepper and cover.

I think it took us about 15 minutes on low heat to have them cooked well. You can also crack the yoke if you don't like runny eggs (like me).

Here are our eggs at work...

And here is my beautiful, smart, funny, just plain terrific mother!

Day 100: Cooking and an Easter Extravaganza!

My husband and I hosted Easter this year!

 Easter is such a special time to spend with family and today I was really reminded of how blessed I am. My parents came up to visit our church for the first time and it was so nice having them there. Our organist really was rocking out today so it was fun to hear all of the pipes blaring! It was also really special because the choir sang "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" which is a song that my mom and I used to sing together when I was a little girl. She'd come upstairs to my room to tuck me in and we'd sing together. It has always been a special song for us and it was such a surprise to hear the choir start singing it!

After church, my brother and sister-in-law came over, too! Everyone brought different elements of the dinner so we didn't have to make everything..whew! We did tackle the ham this year and I was pleasantly surprised to find out how easy it is to bake a ham! And so tasty. We have enough leftover ham to last us this whole week...and beyond! We used a spiral ham and put some pineapple juice/chunks in the bottle of the pan while we cooked it. Then we just followed the directions and put the glaze on top when it told us to! Luckily, my dad tackled carving it so I didn't have to do that. We also had mashed potatoes, rolls, roasted veggies, fruit salad...mm mm mm! So delicious. I ate so much I can't believe I'm still thinking about food...

Isn't this picture adorable?

We also had Easter baskets! Isn't this picture awesome? I love Laura's expression!

We then decorated Easter eggs! We do it every year...since a couple of years ago. It is fun being creative with my family!

Day 27: Cooking Classic Cheese Fondue

Time: One hour (does not include eating time)
Listening to: Fleet Foxes

My husband and I were given a fondue set for our wedding from our friends Justin and Joy--and have loved every fondue experience we've had yet!

The first time I had fondue was in Switzerland. My friend, Calah, and I took a train from southern Switzerland up to northern Switzerland to visit a woman her family knew. She was one of the most hospitable people I've met. She welcomed us into her home and had Swiss chocolate laying on our pillows. The next morning we woke up bright and early and had a traditional cheese fondue with her. We also had champagne---at 9 in the morning!  Ever since that morning, I've been a firm believer in fondue! There is something about everyone dipping into the same pot that just adds to the commeraderie!

We had my parents and brother and sister-in-law over this evening for both a cheese and chocolate fondue.  Here is the recipe we used this evening:

Classic Cheese Fondue

8 oz. Emmenthal cheese
8 oz. Gruyere cheese
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 C dry white wine
3 T. Kirsch (optional)
1 T. lemon juice
3 T. flour
pepper and nutmeg, to taste

Shred and combine cheeses. Mix in the flour.
Rub fondue pot and cooking pot with cut garlic clove.
Pour wine and Kirsch (we didn't use the Kirsch) into a saucepan and heat over medium flame until warm, but not boiling.
Add the lemon juice.
Add cheese (by handfuls) and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until cheese is melted and mixture has the consistency of a creamy sauce.
Add pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Let boil once.
Transfer cheese mixture to fondue pot and keep warm.

On each plate I put a little fondue fork that has different colored Nordic elves!

We dipped a variety of delicious food! My mom brought a homemade loaf of herb bread and flat bread. My sister-in-law brought a variety of different fruits. My personal favorites were the pineapple and the apples! None of us were too crazy about the bananas....

Later on we had a chocolate fondue, as well! Strawberries, oranges, blackberries, and pretzels were a few of our delicious options. The bananas also worked a lot better with the chocolate!

I wish I had taken more pictures once all of the food was on the table--it was quite the spread! And to my amazement, almost everything was eaten up! I guess that is what happens when you eat a meal over a three hour time span! It was a fun and delicious night!

Day 20: Cooking (and miscellaneous)

Time: 45 minutes for cooking, the rest of the day for miscellaneous craft projects
Listening to: Miami Ink and also watching Jewel the bear

These sweet potato fries are delicious! I've had this recipe on my to make list for a while now and finally got them made today! Mmm.

Head over here for the recipe!