Cashew Chicken

In a large bowl mix:

2 T cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp worch...sauce

Now dump into the bowl:

2 very large chicken breast halves or 3 smaller ones, sliced into small thin strips

Now using tongs pick up the chicken pieces and fry them in a dutch oven style pan. I used 3 T butter. You may need to add more butter with each batch of chicken.

Once you have cooked up all the chicken and removed the pieces onto a clean plate you will have a bit of left over chicken sauce in the bowl. add to this:

2 T cornstarch
2 cups hot chicken broth

Add this to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until thick. Add chicken back and:

1 cup cashews

serve over hot rice

Pound Cake

I will always choose pound cake over angel food cake. It is a personal preference. I have been on a berry high lately. I promise I'll come up with something that involves something other than berries.


In your mixer mix on high for 2 minutes:

1 cup butter
2, 1/2 cups sugar

Now add one at a time:

6 eggs

In a medium bowl whisk by hand:

3 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

In a small bowl mix:

1 cup sour cream or vanilla yogurt
2 tsp vanilla or lemon extract

Now add half the flour mixture to the mixer. Then add half the sour cream mixture to the mixer. Then the last half of the flour mixture and then the last of the sour cream mixture. Mix well after addition.

Pour the batter into a well greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake at 325 for 60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes on the counter. Then remove from pan. Serve with strawberries and hand-whipped whipping cream.

Blueberry Syrup

I had an almost empty bag of frozen blueberries in my freezer. I decided to throw them in my sauce pan and I came up with a wonderful blueberry syrup. My favorite so far! I am loving pancakes and syrup right now.

In a saucepan dump:

2 cups frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar

Stir and turn heat to medium. Stir occasionally while you make your pancake batter. Let the sauce simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

Stir in:

1 T lemon juice

English Muffin Breakfast

This is more of an idea than a recipe. If you are still eating left over ham from Easter like I am, then you will appreciate the idea.

I pulled out my griddle and cooked an egg well-done while the english muffin sat next to the eggs on the buttered grill. Put a slice of cheese on the cooking egg to melt.I like using Wonder Bread brand of muffins. The no name brands were too dry. Lay your sliced ham on the grill for a second to heat up.

Put together your sandwich and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Muffins

I found this recipe from the sisterscafe blog. Of course. I get most of my muffin recipes from them. This muffin is so sweet it tastes like dessert. My children loved them!

This is also a good substitute for rolls if you don't have time for a yeast rising bread.

In mixing bowl combine:

1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar

add:

2 cups whole wheat flour (fresh ground)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

I like to use cupcake wrappers but you could just grease your cupcake tin.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Manicotti

This is a great meal if you are having guests come over. You can put it all together the day before. In fact, I think it is better to let the flavors meld in the fridge for a day prior to cooking. It is also a filling meal if you are serving vegetarians.

First off, you can cook this using lasagna noodles like in the picture, or you can use large shells. I like both. For the lasagna noodle I used the Barilla pre-cooked noodles. I placed an inch of boiling water in a 9x13 baking dish and then placed the noodles in the water for 5 minutes. Then carefully use a knife and separate the noodles and lay noodles on towels. Then you can procede to fill the noodles. Just butter a couple Tablespoons of the filling onto the noodle and then roll up.

Filling:

Mix in bowl:

15 oz whole milk ricotta
2 eggs
1 tsp parsley
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup mozzerella
1/4 tsp salt

Use a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (or homemade). Dump about 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a clean, greased, 9x13 pan. Place your rolled noodles, seam side down, or pasta shells, into the pan. Cover with remaining pasta sauce.

At this point you can cook the dish or cover and place in the fridge for a day.

Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Clover Rolls

Happy Easter everyone! This roll idea is a fun change from the round roll I usually do. Just make three balls out of the dough and place inside a greased muffin tin. Let them raise for an hour and then bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Brush with butter while hot. You will want to remove from muffin tins as soon as they come out of the oven so they don't get soggy from sweating.

I use my Mom's bread recipe. I love it for everything. Click here for the recipe!