Thai Peanut Sauce (and meal ideas with sauce)

This is a super easy sauce that I like to make because I can pair it with so many fresh veggies...

1 small piece of lemon grass, chopped**
Freshly grated ginger-to taste
1 cup water
½ cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1½ tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:

To make the peanut sauce:

In a small sauce pan, simmer lemon grass in the water for 5 minutes, strain out the lemongrass and add the remaining ingredients to the water. Whisk well and simmer an additional 5 minutes. If the sauce doesn’t thicken, whisk for one minute over medium heat. (**Sometimes I am lazy and just use a very healthy squirt of the fresh lemongrass paste you can buy in the grocery store).

https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/whole-wheat-noodles-with-peanut-sauce-and-vegetables-recipe/

I use the wheat linguine pasta.

Often, I will slice narrowly slice chicken cook it with some lime olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Afterwards I will often pan sear small pieces of broccoli and shredded carrots until they are almost to the texture I like and then throw in some red, orange, yellow peppers, and zucchini. Be sure to flavor with a bit of salt and pepper.

When everything is ready, mix together amounts desired and garnish with ground peanuts, limes, and cilantro.

Baked Eggrolls

Happy Chinese  New Years!

I was invited to a traditional hot pot Chinese New Year in celebration of Chinese New Years yesterday, and made baked Egg rolls. Hot pots are good, and I think most of you would enjoy them... I will post a pic at the bottom so you can see what it is like :)

I took the recipe and based it off a few different recipes.... and this is what I did

• 2 cloves of garlic
• equal size pieces of ginger
• 1/8 of a purple onion

• 2 cups cooked chicken shredded and cut up into small pieces
• 2 cups cabbage shredded
• 2 cup carrots grated 
• 2 green onions sliced
• 1 cup bean sprouts

• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil for sautéing
• Cooking spray
• 16 egg roll wrappers
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 egg white beaten

(other things that can be added: 

• 1 small can canned water chestnuts
• 2 green onions sliced instead of the purple onion
• fresh sweet red pepers

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚ and lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
   
   
2. In a large pan, heat the 3 T. vegetable oil, garlic, ginger, and onion over medium heat. 
   
   
   Add cooked chicken and vegetables and saute for about 5 minutes or until vegetables start to soften. Depending on salt levels of soy sauce used, add a little to mixture, I also added some cracked black pepper.
   
   
   In the meantime, in a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch, water, soy sauce, vegetable oil, and rice vinegar. Add sauce mixture to pot. Cook 2-3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and let slightly cool.
   
   
3. Open egg roll wrappers and keep covered with a damp paper towel while working with them, they tend to dry out quickly. Place wrapper at a diamond shape on your workspace (1 corner pointing toward you). Add 1/3 cup of veggie mixture in the middle of wrapper. Fold side corners in to meet in the middle. Pull bottom corner up over the side corners. 
   
   
   (*** I did not use the egg, just water, like we did as kids :)Moisten top corner with beaten egg white and continue to roll up wrapper (try to keep the roll tight). Repeat will all remaining egg roll wrappers.
   
   
4. Place egg rolls seam side down on prepared baking sheet. When finished, lightly spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for 6 minutes, turn egg rolls over and continue baking an additional 6 minutes or until browned.
   
   
   ** Mine took at least ten minutes longer to bake**
   Adapted from following recipe: https://happymoneysaver.com/baked-egg-roll-recipe/
   
   
   Hot pots: (see egg rolls behind hot pots :)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Grandma Noall's Cherry Chocolate Cake

I am not big on fruit and chocolate combined... but I actually do like this one..

1 package of chocolate fudge cake
21 oz can of cherry pie filling
1 tsp of almond extract
2 eggs

In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Stir until mixed well. pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 35 min. Cool and frost.

Hot Fudge Frosting

1 cup sugar
5 Tbs butter
1/3 C of milk
1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 t vanilla

In sauce pan combine sugar, butter and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and vanilla until smooth. Pour over partial cooled bars. Serve only to very important people :).

Fresh Orange Cranberry Scones

I made these a few years ago, but found some cranberries super cheap and bought some oranges this weekend, this was something I started thinking about before I felt like I had energy to make them... 
I have substituted orange juice or almond milk in  for the half and half with this recipe at times. I think I also played around with adding cinnamon or nutmeg.... so do as you please and enjoy! I think I like the scones because they are not sooo sweet....

Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup unsalted cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup half and half (I used fresh orange juice instead)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

Topping:

2 tablespoons half and half
Turbinado sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, set aside.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingers. Whisk into the flour mixture.

3. Add cold butter pieces to the flour mixture. Cut in butter using a pastry blender, fork, or your hands. I prefer to use my hands. Mix until you have pea size chunks of butter.

4. In a small glass measuring cup, whisk the half and half, eggs, and vanilla extract together. Pour over dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until moist. Gently stir in the fresh cranberries. Transfer dough to a floured countertop and knead until dough comes together.

5. Shape dough into a large circle. Use a floured rolling pin to roll out the scone dough. Cut dough into wedges and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush each scone with half and half and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until scones are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 10-12 scones