Pad Thai Pizza

brought by Cheryl Clark
original recipe from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1 prepared crust
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 1 tablespoon Thai chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/3 cup bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions

• Warm up pizza crust.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the peanut butter, teriyaki sauce,
• chili sauce and honey. Place chicken in another small bowl; add half
• of the peanut butter mixture and toss to coat.
• Spread remaining peanut butter mixture over crust; top with chicken
• and cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
• Sprinkle with remaining ingredients. Yield: 6 pieces.

Fragrant Chickpea Curry (Christmas Curry)

brought by Lacey Christensen

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 2 cubes vegetable bouillon
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 (19 ounce) cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1-1 1/2 medium yams, peeled and diced in larger chunks
• 1-2 pears, peeled and cubed
• salt to taste
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions: 

1. Place water, bouillon cubes, and raisins in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, and simmer until bouillon cubes dissolve.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, turmeric, coriander, and cumin; cook for about 3 minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly.
3. Stir garbanzo beans, yams, and pear into onions; pour in hot vegetable stock and raisins. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables have softened and the sauce has thickened, about 1 hour.
4. Season to taste with salt and stir in chopped cilantro, if desired, before serving.

Spaghetti Carbonara

brought by Sarah Shore

A perfect backup meal that is delicious with a fresh green salad.  Try to not make more than you’ll need – its only weakness is that it does not reheat well as leftovers.

8 oz. spaghetti

2-3 T. butter

2 eggs

about 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese

meat – ham, bacon, pepperoni

Cook pasta in generously salted water according to package directions.  Drain and place back in stockpot.

With the stockpot back on the still warm burner, add butter to hot pasta and stir until melted.  Break eggs into the pasta and stir until pasta is evenly coated.  Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese and turn burner to low.  Stir until egg begins to cook; add in chopped meat.  Continue mixing just until egg is no longer slimy; do not overcook or pasta will be too dry.

If you use bacon, cook the meat first and save some of the drippings; use the bacon drippings instead of butter and you can use less salt in your pasta water.

Serves: 2-3 people

Vanilla Crepes

brought by Christy Evans
recipe from Christina Sorenson

1 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons vanilla extract (I actually use 1 1/2)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt and melted buter until well blended.

Heat a crepe pan over medium heat until hot. Coat with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Pour about 1/2 cup of bater into the pan and tip to spread the batter to the edges. When bubbles form on the top adn the edges are dry, flip over adn cook until lighly browned on the other side and edges are golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Fill crepes with your favorite fruit, cream, caramel or evenice cream of cheese to serve.

*For a fun twist called my Monte Cristo crepes--fill crepes (once cooked) with turkey, ham and swiss cheese and warm them on a griddle or grill until cheese is melted and outside of crepe is a bit golden brown. Then sprinkle a light dusting of powdered sugar and spread raspberry preserves across the top. Or serve preserves on the side for dipping.

Herbed Risotto

brought by Christy Evans

Ingredients

1 ½  tbs. unsalted butter

1 small onion, diced

¾ cup Arborio rice

2 cups hot chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Pound mushrooms, sliced

½ tbs olive oil

1 large ripe tomato, dices

¼ cup heavy cream   

1/8 cup chopped basil

1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary

1tbs grated parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Sauté the onion until tender.  Add the rice.  Cook for one minute, stirring constantly.  Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper.  Cook, covered until the rice is tender on the outside and chewy inside.  While the rice is cooking sauté the mushrooms in olive oil.  When the rice is done, fold in the mushrooms, tomatoes, cream, basil, rosemary, and cheese.  

Cinnamon-Spiced Hot Chocolate Cookies

brought by Kristen Marshall

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Mexican cocoa powder (or substitute by adding 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon to unsweetened cocoa powder)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons sweet butter, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Generous pinch ground black pepper
• Generous pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup dulce de leche, optional
• 1/4 cup almonds, finely chopped, optional

Directions

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly with a whisk and set aside. Combine the sugars in a small bowl and mix well with your fingers pressing out any lumps. (Combine in a food processor if lumps are stubborn.)

In a medium mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the butter and margarine until creamy. Add sugar mixture, cinnamon, peppers, and vanilla. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute. Beat in the egg white and until the mixture is smooth. Stop the mixer. Add the flour mixture, beating on the lowest speed, just until incorporated. Gather the dough together with your hands and form it into a neat log, 9 to 10 inches long by 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Fold or twist ends of the paper without pinching or flatting the log. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes, or until needed.

Put the oven racks in the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Use a sharp knife to slice rounds of chilled dough, a scant 1/4-inch thick. Arrange the cookies, 1-inch apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through. Cookies will puff and crackle on top, and then begin to settle down slightly when done.

Remove the baking sheets from the oven and use a metal spatulato transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Allow the cookies to cool completely before storing or stacking. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 2 months.

To spice things up, after the cookies are baked, let them cool on a wire rack, drizzle with dulce de leche and sprinkle chopped almonds on top.

Cinnamon Gumdrops

brought by Kristen Marshall

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup water

1 package (1-3/4 oz) fruit pectin (or you can try substituting unflavored gelatin for a less fruity sweet taste)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp cinnamon oil (but I think you need at least 1/2 tsp)

red food coloring

Prepare ban by coving it with aluminum foil and spraying it with nonstick cooking spray or prepare shape molds with cooking spray and set aside. Combine the sugar and the corn syrup in a large heavy-botomed saucepan over medium heat.. Stir constantly until mixture is vigorously boiling, about 8-10 minutes. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the candy reaches 280 degrees (soft crack stage). While you are waiting for he the candy to reach the proper temperature, mix the water, pectin and baking soda in medium saucepan. Place over high heat and cook to boiling point. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Once sugar/corn syrup mixture is at the soft crack stage, place the pectin mixture back on high heat. Stream the sugar mixture into the pectin mixture slowly, while stirring. Continue to cook the candy, while stirring constantly, for an additional minute. REmove form the heat, and stir in food coloring and flavoring. Pour into prepared pan and let set until firm. Cut with sharp knife or cookie cutters, and roll pieces in granulated sugar.

Cinnamon Taffy

brought by Kristen Marshall

2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup water

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 TBS butter or margarine

1/4 tsp cinnamon extract or few drops of oil (i used oil and found that /14 tsp of the oil was still not strong enough for my liking and oil is much stronger than extract)

Few drops red food coloring (optional - but I find it helps things psychologically taste more the way they should! :) )

Butter a baking pan, or prepare a cookie sheet with a siltpat and set aside. Butter the sides of a heavy 2 quart sauce pan. In the sauce pan combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. This should take about 10 minutes. Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan. Carefully slip candy thermometer to side of pan. cook mixture over medium heat, without stirring, till thermometer register 265 (but I find that temp too high and I like my taffy softer so you may want to choose a lower degree closer to a firm ball stage). Reaching hard ball stage should take about 40 minutes. Remove sauce pan from heat; remove thermometer from sauce pan. Stir in 2 TBS butter. Stir in flavoring and food coloring. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Cool till taffy mixture can be handled easily. Butter both hands, then twist and pull candy till it turns creamy color and is stiffer and more difficult to pull. divide into fourths and twist and pull each piece into a long strand about 1/2 inch think.  With buttered scissors, snip each strand of taffy into bite-size pieces. Wrap each piece in wax paper or plastic wrap.

Pacific Rim Stir-Fry

brought by Kristen Marshall

recipe by Better Homes and Gardens

ingredients

• 3  ounces  rice sticks (also called rice noodles) or thin vermicelli, broken
• 12  ounces  skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts
• 1/2  cup  chicken broth
• 2  tablespoons  soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons  snipped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
• 2  teaspoons  cornstarch
• 1  teaspoon  chili oil or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground turmeric
• 1  tablespoon  cooking oil
• 2    medium carrots, cut into julienne strips
• 2  cups  broccoli flowerets
• 1    red or green sweet pepper, cut into 1-inch strips (1/2 cup)
• 1/4  cup  cashew halves or peanuts
• (I typically like to at least 1 1/2 the sauce ingredients or double it for a more saucy sauce. Also most of the time I just substitute the veggies for a few cups of stir fry mixed veggies from Costco that we keep in our freezer)

directions

1. In a saucepan cook rice sticks in boiling water for 3 minutes. (Or, cook vermicelli according to package directions.) Drain. Set aside; keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, cut chicken thighs or breasts into thin, bite-sized strips; set aside.

3. For sauce, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, basil, cornstarch, chili oil or crushed red pepper, and turmeric; set aside.

4. Add cooking oil to wok or 12-inch 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 flowerets; stir-fry for 2 minutes more. Add red or green sweet pepper strips; stir-fry for 1-1/2 to 3 minutes more or until crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from wok. Add chicken to wok; stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Push chicken from center of wok.

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

Chicken Ole

brought by Jamie Cook

1 lb chicken breast--diced in 1/2 inch cubes

1 Tb taco seasoning

2 Tb olive oil

1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced in 1/2 inch pieces (I use at least one red bell pepper.)

1/2 medium onion, diced in 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups salsa (Jamie used Mango Salsa)

1/3 cup cilantro leaves, very roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Sonoma hot pepper jack cheese (I used cheddar)

Toss chicken with seasoning. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the chicken, peppers and onions for 5 minutes. Add the salsa. Reduce the heat adn simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the salsa. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cilantro. Seasonwith salt and pepper if necessary. Garnish the cheese. Serve immediately over your favorite rice, pasta or couscous.

I do not add the cheese to the main dish. We eat it in tortillas with sour cream, black beans and cheese. Enjoy!

Pork Chops

brought by Heather Brown

Ingredients

Pork Chops
Corn Flakes, crushed into small pieces and crumbs
Eggs, beaten
Canola Oil
1 can Mushrooms

Dip pork chops into beaten egg and then into crushed corn flakes.  Pan fry in a  2 tablespoons of  canola oil until golden brown (2-3 minutes on each side) and salt and pepper while cooking.

Place the golden pork chops in a 9x13" dish and pour 1 can of sliced mushrooms with juice over the top of the pork chops. Cover tightly with foil and steam for 2-3 hours at 275º.

Remove pork when tender and falling apart.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

brought by Heather Brown

serves 4 (or more depending on how much you like shrimp)

1 lb raw shrimp (I used 31-40 count); peeled and deveined, tails can be left on or taken off
1 stick of butter
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
1-2 limes, depending on how "limey" you like it and the amount of juice from each lime
1/2 bunch of cliantro, chopped

Note: The shrimp cook so quickly that I usually have all my (mise en place) ingredients ready and prepped before cooking the shrimp.

Preheat oven to 400º. Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Place on a jelly roll pan and toss with olive oil and and salt and pepper. Roast shrimp for 4-6 minutes depending on size.  The shrimp should turn from grey to pink and will look "white" inside instead of opaque.

While shrimp are cooking place one stick of butter in a small saucepan with garlic and gently melt. Allow garlic and butter to sit together while shrimp cooks.

When shrimp are done pull out of the oven and stir cilantro and lime juice (according to taste) into melted garlic butter. Pour butter mixture over the shrimp and toss to coat shrimp. Taste and add more salt and/or pepper if needed.

Serve warm.

Baked Salmon with Caper Sauce

brought by Taryn Favero

• 4 salmon steaks, about 1 1/2 inches thick
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped capers

Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 25 mins

Makes 4 servings.

1. Rub the salmon steaks with lemon juice and brush them with melted butter.
2.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3.  Arrange in a baking dish and bake in preheated hot oven (425°F) for about 20 minutes, basting with a combination of melted butter and lemon juice every 5 minutes.
4.  Do not turn.
5.  Arrange the cooked salmon steaks on a hot platter.
6.  Mix the pan juices with the chopped parsley and capers, and pour over the steaks.
7.  If additional liquid is needed, add a little dry vermouth or white wine, or water.
8.  Good with new potatoes, dressed with butter and parsley, and a cucumber salad.

Creamy Italian Chicken

brought by Ashley Boyer

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing
1 can cream of chicken soup
3-4 chicken breasts

Place ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 3.5-4 hours or on high about 2 hours. 
Serve over rice or noodles.