Lettuce Wraps

Shall I make these ones....





or these ones.....


Or....


Or, most likely, I will just use these as a guideline and make it up as I go!!

Yummm!

Dinner via Pinterest

I haven't touched my blog in a very long time.  I sure miss it.  I just find that working nearly full-time, running a household, and trying have time with the family just doesn't leave me with the time or energy to blog much.  But, while I planning dinner tonight, I thought I would share my menu and dust off my blog and breath a little life back into tonight.

Tonight, we are having an Asian inspired dinner.

Ahh, Pinterest... you are an endless source of inspiration.

Click the pictures below to follow the link to my pins, then onto the source.

Starting with these delectable morsels...

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

To be served with some yummy fried rice.  I don't actually follow a recipe for my fried rice, so it ends up different every time.  But this one is very close....

Market Vegetable Fried Rice

I am going to cheat a little here...  I do not make pot stickers from scratch, but one day I will tackle them and may very well use this recipe....

Wolfgang Puck's Potstickers

 Mmm... now I'm hungry!!

Dajaj Ablama (Syrian Chicken Stew)

This chicken stew is ready in under an hour, but tastes like it stewed all day.  Sooo good!

Dajaj Ablama

(Syrian Chicken Stew)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ cup flour

¼ cup butter

1 large onion, chopped

5 tbsp pine nuts

4 ½ cups chicken stock

Pinch of salt

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp lemon juice

Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, for garnish

Seen here served with brown basmati rice.

Directions:

Trim chicken breasts of any fat, rinse and pat dry. Cut each breast into 3 pieces and dip them in the flour. Melt butter in a frying pan and brown chicken over moderate heat. Remove chicken from the pan.

Fry the onion in the same pan until golden brown. Remove and fry the pine nuts in the same pan until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Add the chicken stock, salt, pepper and cinnamon to the pan, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.

Transfer the chicken and onions to a large saucepan. Add the stock and cook over moderate heat for about 40 minutes, until tender. Add the lemon juice and cook further for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the fried pine nuts and cilantro.

Forgotten Jambalaya

I recently bought myself a copy of Taste of Home's Most Requested Recipes, and although many recipes caught my eye, this one stopped me in my tracks.   Jambalaya slow cooked in the crock pot?  Yes please!

It turned out every bit as good and the recipe promised.

(Click on the recipe name to go the original for a printable version.)

Crater Cake

This is a slight twist on the classic southern cola cake. It's moist and cakey with a brownie flavor. It has just a hint of a caramelized sugar flavor from the mini marshmallows that float to the top of the batter and caramelize on top. MMMMMMMMMMM!!! 

 

Vichyssoise

This is one of our family's favorite soups.  So simple, but absolutely delicious.



Potato Leek Soup (Vichyssoise) by Alton Brown, I have to make it for dinner tonight with some fresh homemade buns. MMMMMM.... Leek Potato Soup Ingredients

Mouth Watering Chicken Chili or Stew or Chilli or ....

I love comfort food. Chili's, soups and stews are where it's at, baby! Of course, I am also a pasta-holic, so pasta is also where it's at. And, my all time favorite food is a perfectly grilled steak. But, I digress. I found a recipe for Chicken Black Bean Chili online and didn't copy my source and now I have no idea where I found it. So if that is your recipe, I apologize. Let me know and I will give credit!!! Anyways, I took that recipe and adapted it to what I had on my shelf and to my taste.

Stewed Meatballs

Slowly transferring over, one by one the recipes from my food blog.  I just don't have time to maintain separate blogs.

Today I am featuring Stewed Meatballs.  These are a family favorite.  So simple.  So budget friendly.  Very adaptable!  Enjoy!

Tomato Curried Chicken

I love curried dishes.  And if you don't, then you need to try this dish, and you will be converted.


Because I love you, I am going to share one of my all-time favorite recipes.  Last night I served it with brown basmati rice and sauteed cabbage.  It. Was. Amazing.

Look at the sauce deglazing. 

 Isn't it gorgeous?

I can't even describe how much I love preparing and eating this chicken.  Even left overs reheat well. 

Go.  Make some now. 

Thank me tomorrow.

Tomato Curried Chicken

3     chicken breast - boneless and skinless, chopped into bite sized pieces and coated with seasoned flour
1/4  cup butter
1/4  cup diced onion
1     minced garlic clove
3     tsp curry powder (you can adjust amount according to your preference, I find 3 gives it great flavor and a little zing, but the kids still like it!)
1/2  tsp thyme
4     cups fresh chopped tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350F.
Brown coated chicken in butter until lightly golden.  Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken and place into your greased casserole.
Toss together in a bowl, onions, garlic, curry powder and thyme.  Add to pan drippings and gently simmer until golden. 
Add tomatoes and simmer until deglazed.
Pour sauce over chicken.  Bake uncovered for 45 mins, or until chicken is tender.

Mourning....

... Mushrooms.

That's right.  I am mourning mushrooms.

No one in my house likes mushrooms.  I long to make a stroganof loaded with mushrooms, or wild rice with mushroom stuffing or... pretty much anything with mushrooms. 

I make an amazing wine sauce that just cries out for some lightly sauteed mushroom. 

*WAAAAAAA*

Oh tasty little fungi, how I long for your presence in my kitchen. 

One day we shall meet again at my cutting board.

Today, In My Kitchen

Here is what is happening in my kitchen today:
Crustless Low-Carb Cheesecake    and  Chocolate Chip Cookie Sweet Rolls

I still have a few more pounds to lose.  Clearly that may have to wait until next week.  *smile*

And for breakfast, V and I had this:

Quick Blackberry Eggs

Yes, blackberries and eggs work together in this recipe which has a flavor similiar to french toast.
Recipe makes one serving. 

1 egg

5-6 fresh blackberries (or frozen berries, thawed)

1 tbsp cream cheese

2 tsp table syrup, or more to taste  (I use sugar-free)

Whisk eggs. 

Soften cream cheese in microwave. 

Mash blackberries. 

Add cream cheese, berries and syrup to eggs and whisk together until smooth. There will be some lumps of cream cheese. 

Pour into greased ramekin.

Microwave for 1 min - 1-1/2 min.  They will puff up while cooking, then shrink back again when you take them out.

Turn them out onto a plate, or serve them right in their ramekins.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar for a nice effect and drizzle with syrup.

Mmmm!

What's Cooking in My Kitchen this Morning....

Muffins That Taste Like Donuts

From the Tasty Kitchen Blog

Amazingness - the Fruitloopgirl Challenge

Completely and totally inspired by this lady:  The Pioneer Woman
If you have never heard of her, or checked out her website, go... now...  or maybe after you read my post.  =)   And especially: The Tasy Kitchen  which is the Pioneer Woman's amazing cooking/food/recipe site.  She is pretty amazing and has inspired me to tap into myself and find a little bit of my own amazingness.  I know it's in there somewhere!

So after spending a little time perusing those sites I feel challenged.  And here I go:

I have all these things that I love to do.  But they all compete with my time and generally I push them aside.  So each week, I will set aside time for at least two of following then post on either this blog or my crafting/hobbies blog, Brain Noodles, as appropriate.

• Crocheting
• Cooking something completely new
• photography (I don't claim to be a photographer, but I love to play with my camera!)
• writing
• paper crafts
• sewing (once I get my sewing machine repaired) 

Ideally, I would love to do one each day, but I have to be realistic and not set myself up to fail.   For those who know me well, I am open to ideas, and having you check up on me!  Seriously, email me, Facebook me, comment here, or phone me and ask me what I am working on next. 

I also challenge you all to make time to do the things you enjoy and then share your amazingness with us.  Please leave me a comment and let me know if you are interested in taking up a challenge of your own.  I will support you in any way I can!


~*~ poof ~*~