Asian Shrimp, Snow Peas, and Rice

This was my very first attempt to cook Asian food and it wasn't hard at all!  It has such a great flavor to it.  My only complaint is about the snow peas.  I've never cooked with these before so I didn't know there were "strings" involved.  I found some in the produce department so I put those in my buggy and continued on getting my other groceries.  I did find some prepackaged Asian snow peas, after I had the others, that stated it was without strings.  I had no clue what that meant so I continued on b/c I didn't feel like putting the others back.  Bad decision!!!!  Jon and I ended up taking the peas out of the dish b/c you can't chew those strings.  I decided to still share the recipe b/c it truly is good.....with or without snow peas.

1 1/4 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cups snow peas....WITHOUT STRINGS!!!!
2 TBSPS reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tsps Asian (dark) sesame oil
1 1/4 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
3 cups hot cooked long grain rice (we only used about 1 cup)

1. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the broth and the cornstarch; stir until the cornstarch dissolves.  Set aside.
2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat the vegetable oil;  add the garlic and saute about 1 minute.  Add the carrots and 1/3 cup of the remaining broth; cook 2 minutes, then stir in the snow peas, 1/3 cup of the remaining broth, the soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the snow peas are tender crisp, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the shrimp and the remaining 1/3 cup of broth; cook, stirring occasionally, just until the shrimp turn pink, 3-4 minutes.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.  Stir in the dissolved corn starch and add the red pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 2 minutes.  Serve over the rice.

Cookies-N-Cream Chess Bars

Today is Teacher Appreciation at Taylor's school so I volunteered to bake a dessert.  Normally I like to bake something that I have already made before because I know it is delicious but this time I decided to try something new.  After making them I was kicking myself because they just didn't have that "wow" factor.  My plan was to sneek into the Teacher's Lunchroom and drop it off before anyone saw who made these. LOL  The recipe says to keep them refrigerated so I stuck them in there and hoped this would help them.  Luckily they did.  Jon came home and did a taste test for me.  He said they tasted like a cream cheese brownie.  Thank goodness!!!  The recipe doesn't say how long to refrigerate them but my suggestion is to at least keep them in the fridge for an hour or two before serving them to help the cream cheese set.

1 fudge or chocolate cake mix

4 eggs, divided

1 stick butter, melted

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temp

2 3/4 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

8 to 12 Oreo cookies

1. Mix cake mix with 1 egg and margarine; press into greased and floured 13x9 pan.
2. In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar with cream cheese, vanilla and 3 eggs until smooth.  Pour about 2/3 of the topping mixture onto the cake mixture;  sprinkle with crumbled oreos (or chocolate chips for polka dot chess squares) then pour remaining mixture evenly over crumbs.  Bake in a preheated 325 over for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned. (took mine 50 minutes)  Cool thoroughly and cut into bars.
3. KEEP REFRIGERATED!!!!!

Mississippi Mud Cookies

I made these cookies for Santa this year and couldn't remember why I didn't post it on my blog.....until now.  Yes they are yummy but goodness they're a pain to get off the pan and a pain to figure out if they are done or not.  If anyone has a trick of what I need to be looking at to tell when they are done please tell me!!!  These cookies are the type that harden as they cool so it's really hard for me to figure this out.  They are very good b/c as a couple crumbled when I tried to place them on the wire rack I was able to taste it.  I was actually making these for another bake sale they are doing at Taylor's school tomorrow.  Good thing they aren't judging me on presentation!!!!  The recipe does call for you to put the dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet so I'll be sure to do that next time. 

1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels
1 cup plus 2 tbsp miniature marshmallows

1. Microwave semisweet chocolate morsels in a small microwave safe glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
2. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.  Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture, beating until well blended.  Stir in chopped pecans and 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels.
4. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.  Press 3 marshmallows into each portion of dough.
5. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until set.  Remove to wire racks.

Makes 3 dozen.

Chicken Fajitas

Last night we had a little Mother's Day celebration and a belated Cinco de Mayo celebration with our neighbors.  Chicken Fajitas and Margaritas it was for us!  I got the marinade for the chicken out of my Weight Watchers cookbook.  It called for the chicken to be cooked in a skillet but we grilled ours.  I love grilled veggies!

I didn't get a pic of our fajitas but I did get a great pic of my dear friend, Chris, and I enjoying our margaritas (recipe below)!  Thanks to my friend Amy for her mom's wonderful margarita recipe!

Chicken Fajitas

2 TBSP fresh lime juice

1 TBSP reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tsp chili powder

Pinch crushed red pepper

10 oz skinless boneless cihcken breasts, cut into thin strips

4 tsps vegetable oil

1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

4 (6 in) fat free flour tortillas

1/2 cup salsa, for garnish

1/4 cup fat free sour cream, for garnish

fresh cilantro, for garnish

1. To prepare the marinade, in a zip-loc bag, combine the lime juice, soy sauce, chili powder, and red pepper; add the chicken.  Seal the bag, squeezing out the air; turn to coat chicken.  Refrigerate, turning bag occasionally, at least 2 hours or overnight.  Drain and discard marinade.
2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tsps of the oil.  Saute the bell peppers and onion until softened, 8-10 minutes.  Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
3. In the skillet, heat remaining 2 tsps oil.  Saute the chicken until cooked through, 3-5 minutes.
4. To assemble fajitas, soften tortillas according to package directions.  Divide chicken and sauteed vegetables among tortillas; garnish with salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

Margaritas

The recipe is for a frozen margarita but Chris and I just put it over ice instead.  It is delicious any way you like it!  I'll give it to you like Amy gave it to my friends and I.

12 oz Minute Maid Limeade Frozen Concentrate

Empty into the blender and then use the container for the rest of the measurements.

Fill 1/2 container with tequila and pour in.

Fill 1/4 container with Triple Sec and pour in.

Squeeze in whole lime.  Add ice then blend!!!  (or pour margarita over ice.)

Say It with Pictures

Let's face it....when you find a recipe it's a lot easier and appealing making it when there is a picture involved.  So I've decided to start taking pictures of the outcome of the recipes I make.  Now, I'm not a professional photographer and it's not a hobby of mine.  I just point and shot.  Done deal.  You'll probably see toys on the floor and kids eating the food but hey....that's my life. :-)

This week is another bake sale at school so I've baked the chocolate cream cheese filled cupcakes and also applesauce muffins.  Both recipes are already on the blog.  Look below and the delicious results!

Chocolate cream cheese filled cupcakes

(yes, there is a cupcake missing.  Taylor Brooke was in them.)

Applesauce Muffins

Rosemary Chicken with Wild Rice

43 days left until we leave for Disney World which means lots of Weight Watcher meals! 

This one was really good.  I was a little hesitant at first because it calls for quite a bit of rosemary and rosemary and I haven't really agreed in the past.  When I was pregnant with Taylor, Jon made a chicken meal with tons of rosemary and well....lets just say it didn't sit well with me.  Since then I've stayed away from the rosemary until now. :-)

1 cup wild rice (I used a whole box of Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice)

1 TBSP olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/4 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts, cubed

2 carrots, diced

2 TBSP finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 TBSP dried

1/4 cup & 2 TBSP orange marmalade

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

1. Cook the wild rice according to the package directions.
2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat the oil.  Add the garlic and saute until golden, about 2 minutes.  Add the chicken and carrots and saute, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the rosemary; cook until chicken is cooked through, 3-4 minutes longer.
3. Stir in the marmalade, mustard, and pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until heated through, about 3 minutes.  Add the rice; toss to combine.

per serving: (1 generous cup): 304 calories, 6 g fat, WW points: 6

The BEST Kabobs!!!!

Here's a recipe for a wonderful steak marinade for kabobs.  Seriously....my friend Jenny made these kabobs for me years ago and I've been dreaming of them ever since.  I finally dragged (JK!) this top secret recipe out of her a couple of weeks ago and made them on Saturday.  Pair this with the Artichoke Bread and you'll have yourself one amazing meal.  I just may make them again this weekend.  Wait....I take that back....Jon may make it again this weekend for Mother's Day. :-)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 TBSP parsley
2-3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tsp dried mustard
2 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup soy sauce

Soak steak overnight or at least 8 hours in the marinade.  Per Jenny's suggestion, I used sirloin steak.  For the actual kabobs I used red and green bell peppers, onion, pineapple, and Baby Bella mushrooms.

Enjoy!!!!