Honey Spiced Cranberry Sauce

This is seriously the BEST cranberry sauce I've ever had. It was almost like eating applesauce with a little tartness at the end. Yumm-O!! It's really simple and I picked it because I had most of the ingredients (except the canned cranberry sauce) in my pantry. This would make a great condiment for a turkey sandwich and is great with stuffing, too!!

Honey Spiced Cranberry Sauce
from: Cook's Country Magazine Oct/Nov '08

1 16-oz can cranberry sauce
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Pulse together in food processor until combined. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

See, I told you it was easy. ;) Cook's Country Magazine is by far my favorite cooking magazine. I enjoy reading each article and the foodie pictures are wonderful. Check out a copy and consider putting a subscription on your Christmas wish list.

Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein

I love Cook's Country Magazine. It's my all-time favorite cooking magazine. It's from America's Test Kitchen (on PBS) and I love that because they go through all the trial and error to get the "just-right" recipe so I don't have to. In the center of the magazine they have 30-minute meal recipe cards. I wanted an extra vegetable with our Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein so I tried making garlic green beans and they were delicious! I also bought some wonton skins (wrappers for egg rolls) and cut them into strips and fried them. They gave the dish some extra crunch. Yumm! Makes great leftovers, too!

Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein
(from Cook's Country February/March 2009)

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar (I just used white vinegar since I didn't have rice)
1 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger (I used ground ginger and taste-tested as I added)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 1/2 cups water
4 (3-oz) pkgs ramen noodles, broken into large pieces, seasoning packet discarded
1 (16-oz) bag cole slaw mix
2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/4-in-thick slices
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Simmer soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, sugar, and cornstarch (whisk in the cornstarch so you don't get lumps) in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking often, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Tranfer half of soy sauce mixture to large bowl and reserve. Add water to saucepan with remaining soy sauce mixture and return to boil. Add ramen and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes (maybe a little less than 4 minutes because they'll soften as they set). Off heat, stir in cole slaw and mix. Cover and keep warm.
2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels (season with salt and pepper). Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 1 minute per side. Transfer chicken to bowl with reserved soy sauce mixture and toss to coat. Transfer noddles to platter and top with chicken. Serve.

Garlic Green Beans

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
1/4 cup water
large bunch of green beans

Use the same skillet you cooked the chicken in and add vegetable oil. Heat on meiumm-high until smoking then add the garlic and sautee until fragrent, about 1 minute. Pour in water and add green beans, mix to coat. Cover for 2 minutes, toss, and cook uncovered another 2 minutes. Serve.


That's it. And it was delicious! As good as any Chinese take out, I think. And it only took 30 minutes!! Fry up some wontons to give this meal an extra crunch. Enjoy.

Grown-up Peas and Carrots

...or Carrots and Peas

I never minded eating vegetables when I was growing up. But those flavors need a little updating. So today I give you "Grown-up Peas and Carrots".


Grown-Up Peas and Carrots
(I'm totally guessing on the measurements here)
serves 2

1/2 to 1 Tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, cut into sticks
1/4 onion cut into slices
1/2 to 1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Heat olive oil in a small skillet until shimmering. Add carrots, onion and Balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Saute until carrots are tender and onions are caramelized. Add peas and heat through.

It's pretty easy. I didn't know what to make for a side dish to go with my Baked Cod so I just started putting stuff in a pan. Hope you enjoy!!

Spanish Rice

I've been looking for a yummy Spanish Rice recipe for a while. I know that it's healthier to make fresh than to make it from a box, so I started digging around the internet. This was our favorite Spanish Rice recipe. It's a little spicy (our 3-year-old refused to eat it and our 15-month-old loved it...go figure) so you can adjust the spices to your liking. Enjoy!


Spanish Rice

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup uncooked rice
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with chili's
1 cup frozen corn (can used canned corn)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
parsley
1/2 tsp cumin

Heat the vegetable oil over med-high heat in a large skillet. Saute onions and peppers until soft; add garlic and rice, browning the rice well. Pour in chicken broth, tomatoes with chili's, corn, and spices. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.

You can omit the corn if you like, but it added much needed sweetness to the spice. Yumm-O!!

BBQ Beef Sandwiches with Cajun Cole Slaw

This is one of our favorite sandwich recipes. It's also great because it helps us use up any leftover roast. Last time I made a 4 lb roast just to make these sandwiches. We ate half and I froze the other half for another meal. Yumm!!

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

2 lb roast, cooked, shredded
BBQ Sauce, your favorite brand
1 tsp Cajun seasoning

Put the shredded meat into a small crock pot. Mix about 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce with seasoning and pour over the shredded meat; mix well. Cook on low for about 2 hours. Serve on fresh rolls and top with slaw and a slice of green bell pepper.


Cajun Cole Slaw
modified from Pampered Chef's Main Dishes

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely chopped onion (sometimes I use 1/2 tbsp dry minced onion)
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
3/4 tsp sugar
5 cups packaged cabbage slaw mix (sometimes I use half a head of cabbage and shred one carrot)

Mix together and toss lightly. Use slaw as a sandwich topper or serve as a side dish. Refrigerate leftovers.

Gramma's Thanksgiving Stuffing

My husband's Gramma brought stuffing to our family Thanksgiving on Thursday. It was really yummy so I was surprised to find out the secret ingredient...StoveTop Stuffing! I know. I was really surprised! It was so good that I don't know why I would spend so much time making it from scratch. She did add some special touches to make it original and I never would have thought it came from a box. So here it is:

Gramma's Thanksgiving Stuffing

1 box StoveTop Chicken Stuffing, cooked according to directions
slice of white bread, toasted, cubed
slice of wheat bread, toasted, cubed
2 tbps hot water
1/4 cup butter (no substitutions)
1/4 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 small can of water chestnuts, roughly chopped

Place bread crumbs in a small bowl and moisten with water.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan add onion and celery and saute until done, do not let it brown. Add celery-onion mixture to stuffing and mix in water chestnuts and moistened bread crumbs. Put in casserole and bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Thanks Gramma!!