I don't really feel like typing today, so I am going to keep this really short and sweet. My son has decided to completely stop listening to anything I say, and I am running out of patience. In fact, he is sitting in "time out" as I write this. Sigh. Anyway, here is what I am making for dinner tonight...
Thai Peanut Chicken with Noodles
I plan to pretty much follow the recipe, with a couple of minor exceptions. First, I don't have any unsalted peanuts in the house. I plan to use salted cashews instead. I think I will break them up a little so they are smaller, too. Then, since the cashews are salted, I will really have to be careful with how much salt I add to the recipe. I think I will just taste it, and see how it goes. Then, I plan on using chicken breasts instead of tenders. I think I will just cut the breast meat up into strips and proceed with the recipe as indicated.
Showing posts with label cashews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cashews. Show all posts
October 5, 2009
May 29, 2009
Jen's Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Ranch Dipping Sauce & Beth's Broccoli Slaw
I love Friday! It is all about the promise of a fun weekend that I look forward to with child-like enthusiasm. Also, I really look forward to having the husband home for a couple days. Since Friday night is typically fun, I like to serve something for dinner that reflects the mood. I think Buffalo Chicken Tenders does just that. After all, it is a fun dish and not too much of a hassle to make. Hooray for Friday!
Jen's Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Ranch Dipping Sauce
I think I will serve this dish with my friend, Beth's Broccoli Slaw recipe. Yum!!!
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
Both dishes are Friday night winners, for sure.
Jen's Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Ranch Dipping Sauce
I think I will serve this dish with my friend, Beth's Broccoli Slaw recipe. Yum!!!
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
Both dishes are Friday night winners, for sure.
April 17, 2009
Cashew Chicken
Tonight we are having an early dinner, and then we are headed out to the mall. I need to pick up a couple "special order" photos I had taken of my son, for his 3rd birthday pics. I decided on this Cashew Chicken because it comes together quickly, and it is really delicious. Plus, I have all the ingredients on hand to make it. Score! I think I will have it all ready, so when my husband gets home at his usual time, we can eat soon after. Then, it's off to the mall for us.
Here is the link to my original post:
Cashew Chicken
This is a "can't-miss" healthy and well balanced meal!!!
Here is the link to my original post:
Cashew Chicken
This is a "can't-miss" healthy and well balanced meal!!!
April 10, 2009
Jen's Easy BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches & Favorite Mac and Cheese
We have a busy weekend planned for Easter and my son's birthday, so I need a couple easy slow cooker meals for the next couple days. My mom is visiting again, and I know she loves BBQ. I thought I would make these sandwiches with some broccoli slaw, and some homemade mac and cheese since I know she will enjoy it. I know I will enjoy it...I think I crave BBQ on a permanent basis!
These are all recipes that I have made before, so I think I will just post the sandwich recipe and link back to the other two recipe posts. Yum! Again, this is an easy and tasty meal that will use my pork shoulder leftovers.
Jen's Easy BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients:
1 pork loin (mine is about 2 lbs.) OR pork shoulder roast leftovers
1/2 bottle of your favorite beer (I used Foster's)
1/3 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
2 smashed fresh garlic cloves
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
About 1 teaspoon of the following spices:
paprika
onion powder
minced onion
garlic powder
Cajun blackening seasoning (I use Paul Prudhomme's Steak Magic)
Directions:
Place pork in slow cooker, fat side up. Sprinkle pork with spices, including salt and pepper. Add beer, water, and garlic cloves. Add Worcestershire sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4 hours (depending on how fast/hot your slow cooker runs). With a large spoon, baste pork with juices every two hours (this step is optional--if you decide to do it, work quickly and get the lid back on fast). When cooking is complete, pull pork out of slow cooker. Pour slow cooker liquid into a separate bowl and set aside. Place pork back into slow cooker and shred the meat with fork or pull it apart with fingers. Pour 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid back into the meat (maybe more depending on how much meat you have and how saucy you like your pulled pork). Mix shredded meat with 1/2 to 1 full bottle of BBQ sauce (once again,the quantity will depend on how saucy you like your meat). Mix thoroughly. Cook on high for an additional 1/2 hour with lid on (if you need it thicker, leave the lid off). Serve mixture on buns and enjoy!
Here are the other two recipe links:
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
Favorite Mac and Cheese
I am really looking forward to our dinner tonight! I love homey, comforting food and this meal will certainly satisfy my BBQ craving.
The Result:
Fan-freakin'-tastic! That about sums it up!!! The photo of the mac and cheese looks a little wonky. My crumb crust kinda slid and got all mixed in with the rest of the macaroni. It tasted awesome, but did not photograph all that well. Sigh. So much for presentation. Luckily, everyone loved our meal and didn't notice that the crumb crust wasn't perfect. Overall, this was a yummy, yummy dinner!!!
These are all recipes that I have made before, so I think I will just post the sandwich recipe and link back to the other two recipe posts. Yum! Again, this is an easy and tasty meal that will use my pork shoulder leftovers.
Jen's Easy BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients:
1 pork loin (mine is about 2 lbs.) OR pork shoulder roast leftovers
1/2 bottle of your favorite beer (I used Foster's)
1/3 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
2 smashed fresh garlic cloves
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
About 1 teaspoon of the following spices:
paprika
onion powder
minced onion
garlic powder
Cajun blackening seasoning (I use Paul Prudhomme's Steak Magic)
Directions:
Place pork in slow cooker, fat side up. Sprinkle pork with spices, including salt and pepper. Add beer, water, and garlic cloves. Add Worcestershire sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4 hours (depending on how fast/hot your slow cooker runs). With a large spoon, baste pork with juices every two hours (this step is optional--if you decide to do it, work quickly and get the lid back on fast). When cooking is complete, pull pork out of slow cooker. Pour slow cooker liquid into a separate bowl and set aside. Place pork back into slow cooker and shred the meat with fork or pull it apart with fingers. Pour 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid back into the meat (maybe more depending on how much meat you have and how saucy you like your pulled pork). Mix shredded meat with 1/2 to 1 full bottle of BBQ sauce (once again,the quantity will depend on how saucy you like your meat). Mix thoroughly. Cook on high for an additional 1/2 hour with lid on (if you need it thicker, leave the lid off). Serve mixture on buns and enjoy!
Here are the other two recipe links:
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
Favorite Mac and Cheese
I am really looking forward to our dinner tonight! I love homey, comforting food and this meal will certainly satisfy my BBQ craving.
The Result:
Fan-freakin'-tastic! That about sums it up!!! The photo of the mac and cheese looks a little wonky. My crumb crust kinda slid and got all mixed in with the rest of the macaroni. It tasted awesome, but did not photograph all that well. Sigh. So much for presentation. Luckily, everyone loved our meal and didn't notice that the crumb crust wasn't perfect. Overall, this was a yummy, yummy dinner!!!
February 9, 2009
Cashew Chicken
This dish is a spin on another recipe that I found on one of my new favorite blogs, Meal Planning 101. I really like Asian food, but I don't often prepare it at home. What is more puzzling is that I don't know why?!?! I think I just forget about it...which is pretty hard to do, considering it is a whole huge, all-encompassing, region of flavors, textures, and possibilities. I know...I should turn to more Asian inspired recipes!
Anyway, I don't have some of the exact ingredients on hand for this dish...and I have a couple things to add, as well. I will just amend the original recipe to include my take on it. I think I will serve this dish with some brown rice, which I love. I crave brown rice...I can't get enough of the texture and nutty flavor that brown rice has and white rice does not. For me, it is just more interesting.
On another note, I need to discuss something very disturbing that goes on at my house, whenever there are nuts in the pantry (focus...keep your mind out of the gutter). I have had the cashews for this dish for over a week now, but I keep noticing that the level in the container gets lower and lower every few days. The husband keeps eyeballing them greedily. Any type of nut that I have on hand evaporates mysteriously. If I tell the hubs that I need the nuts for a recipe, I notice that they disappear more slowly. If I don't tell him that I have a specific purpose in mind for them, they are gone before I can blink! Strange, isn't it??? I wonder how that happens???? I will just come out and say it...I think there is a direct correlation between the missing nuts and my husbands love of all things cashew-related. So, that forces me to use the nuts sooner than planned. I need to use the cashews that I bought before I don't have any left for the dish itself. I just can't chance another few days of them sitting in the pantry. As it is, I hope I have enough for this recipe, since SOMEONE keeps eating them! (AHEM!!!!...I'm talkin' to YOU, sir...you know who you are, mister....or should I call you 'cashew thief'....I am on to you, big time...the jig is up...you better watch it....no more missing cashews on my watch!)
Anyway, enough silliness...here is the link to the original post from Meal Planner 101; Cashew Chicken. Below is the modified recipe with my changes. Thanks again, Kindra for all the inspiration!!!!
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients:
canola oil
2-3 chicken breasts or 4-5 chicken thighs, chopped up
3-4 tbsp cornstarch
8 green onions, chopped OR 1 diced yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
¼ cup water
1 cup raw cashews, toasted
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bag frozen Asian vegetable blend
low sodium soy sauce to taste
cooked brown rice
Directions:
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in a bowl with the cornstarch until the chicken is nicely coated. Heat a wok or frying pan with a tablespoon or two of canola oil over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add half of the chicken and fry until browned and crispy. Remove from the pan. Add another tablespoon or so of oil and stir-fry the rest of the chicken until crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In a separate small skillet, dry toast the cashews until fragrant and slightly deeper in color. This goes pretty fast and should only take a couple of minutes. The cashews burn easily, so watch them closely. When ready, remove cashews to a plate and set aside.
Add the onion (if using green onions, use the white parts) and stir-fry about for 1-3minutes, then add garlic for another minute or so. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the rice vinegar. Let the vinegar evaporate (about 30 seconds) then add the chicken back to the pan, along with the hoisin sauce and water. Cook for about a minute or so until the sauce is thick and the chicken is coated. Add the toasted cashews and stir to incorporate. Remove to a plate and top with more onion (if using green onions, top with the green part).
Add an another small amount of oil into wok and stir fry veggies until warmed through but still crisp. Add some soy sauce. To serve, place chicken and veggies over a bed of brown rice. Add more hoisin or soy sauce if needed. Enjoy!
The Result:
This was so fan-freakin'-tastically yummy!!! Awesome...a definite keeper. All of us had seconds, including my toddler. He kept saying "um chicken, um cashews, um chicken, um cashews"...you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, you may have noticed that the brown rice that I waxed poetic about in my earlier commentary is noticeably missing. Yeah. There was an incident. Let's just leave it at that, and move on. Instead, the part of 'brown rice' has been played by it's quick-cooking understudy 'instant white rice'. After the incident, I had to think fast and come up with some other rice. Thankfully, I had some instant in the back of my pantry. Whew! Don't get me wrong, I actually like instant white rice...it reminds me of childhood since that is all my mom made. However, I try not to make it since it is basically void of nutrition and processed like crazy. Oh well, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Since I am a cilantro freak, I garnished it with a little chopped, fresh cilantro. I didn't have green onions on hand, but I still wanted something verdant and bright to go on top. Plus, cilantro is probably my favorite herb. I just love the flavor...and I know that is controversial because there are a lot of cilantro-haters out there. Either way, I thought it was the perfect garnish.
Overall, this is probably one of the easiest, most satisfying Asian meals that I have ever made at home (even with the instant rice...I can't wait to try it again with my beloved brown rice). We really loved it and I highly recommend it!!!
Anyway, I don't have some of the exact ingredients on hand for this dish...and I have a couple things to add, as well. I will just amend the original recipe to include my take on it. I think I will serve this dish with some brown rice, which I love. I crave brown rice...I can't get enough of the texture and nutty flavor that brown rice has and white rice does not. For me, it is just more interesting.
On another note, I need to discuss something very disturbing that goes on at my house, whenever there are nuts in the pantry (focus...keep your mind out of the gutter). I have had the cashews for this dish for over a week now, but I keep noticing that the level in the container gets lower and lower every few days. The husband keeps eyeballing them greedily. Any type of nut that I have on hand evaporates mysteriously. If I tell the hubs that I need the nuts for a recipe, I notice that they disappear more slowly. If I don't tell him that I have a specific purpose in mind for them, they are gone before I can blink! Strange, isn't it??? I wonder how that happens???? I will just come out and say it...I think there is a direct correlation between the missing nuts and my husbands love of all things cashew-related. So, that forces me to use the nuts sooner than planned. I need to use the cashews that I bought before I don't have any left for the dish itself. I just can't chance another few days of them sitting in the pantry. As it is, I hope I have enough for this recipe, since SOMEONE keeps eating them! (AHEM!!!!...I'm talkin' to YOU, sir...you know who you are, mister....or should I call you 'cashew thief'....I am on to you, big time...the jig is up...you better watch it....no more missing cashews on my watch!)
Anyway, enough silliness...here is the link to the original post from Meal Planner 101; Cashew Chicken. Below is the modified recipe with my changes. Thanks again, Kindra for all the inspiration!!!!
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients:
canola oil
2-3 chicken breasts or 4-5 chicken thighs, chopped up
3-4 tbsp cornstarch
8 green onions, chopped OR 1 diced yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
¼ cup water
1 cup raw cashews, toasted
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bag frozen Asian vegetable blend
low sodium soy sauce to taste
cooked brown rice
Directions:
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in a bowl with the cornstarch until the chicken is nicely coated. Heat a wok or frying pan with a tablespoon or two of canola oil over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add half of the chicken and fry until browned and crispy. Remove from the pan. Add another tablespoon or so of oil and stir-fry the rest of the chicken until crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In a separate small skillet, dry toast the cashews until fragrant and slightly deeper in color. This goes pretty fast and should only take a couple of minutes. The cashews burn easily, so watch them closely. When ready, remove cashews to a plate and set aside.
Add the onion (if using green onions, use the white parts) and stir-fry about for 1-3minutes, then add garlic for another minute or so. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the rice vinegar. Let the vinegar evaporate (about 30 seconds) then add the chicken back to the pan, along with the hoisin sauce and water. Cook for about a minute or so until the sauce is thick and the chicken is coated. Add the toasted cashews and stir to incorporate. Remove to a plate and top with more onion (if using green onions, top with the green part).
Add an another small amount of oil into wok and stir fry veggies until warmed through but still crisp. Add some soy sauce. To serve, place chicken and veggies over a bed of brown rice. Add more hoisin or soy sauce if needed. Enjoy!
The Result:
This was so fan-freakin'-tastically yummy!!! Awesome...a definite keeper. All of us had seconds, including my toddler. He kept saying "um chicken, um cashews, um chicken, um cashews"...you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, you may have noticed that the brown rice that I waxed poetic about in my earlier commentary is noticeably missing. Yeah. There was an incident. Let's just leave it at that, and move on. Instead, the part of 'brown rice' has been played by it's quick-cooking understudy 'instant white rice'. After the incident, I had to think fast and come up with some other rice. Thankfully, I had some instant in the back of my pantry. Whew! Don't get me wrong, I actually like instant white rice...it reminds me of childhood since that is all my mom made. However, I try not to make it since it is basically void of nutrition and processed like crazy. Oh well, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Since I am a cilantro freak, I garnished it with a little chopped, fresh cilantro. I didn't have green onions on hand, but I still wanted something verdant and bright to go on top. Plus, cilantro is probably my favorite herb. I just love the flavor...and I know that is controversial because there are a lot of cilantro-haters out there. Either way, I thought it was the perfect garnish.
Overall, this is probably one of the easiest, most satisfying Asian meals that I have ever made at home (even with the instant rice...I can't wait to try it again with my beloved brown rice). We really loved it and I highly recommend it!!!
August 14, 2008
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
Yum! My friend Beth from MOMS Club brought this over last week, and I have not stopped thinking about it since. I have issues...
Only someone who likes to cook and eat would daydream about broccoli. This is super-simple and very refreshing...perfect summertime food. Thanks for a great recipe Beth!
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
In large bowl mix:
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets and finely chop about 1/2 of the stalks, cut about 15 baby carrots. Approx 1/2 cup of raisins, Approx 1/4 cup of cashews.
In medium bowl mix:
1 cup mayo, 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Directions:
Pour Mayo mixture over broccoli mixture, toss, and chill for minimum of 1 hour before serving.
Jen's Notes:
I added 2 stalks of finely chopped celery, too.
Only someone who likes to cook and eat would daydream about broccoli. This is super-simple and very refreshing...perfect summertime food. Thanks for a great recipe Beth!
Beth's Broccoli Slaw
In large bowl mix:
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets and finely chop about 1/2 of the stalks, cut about 15 baby carrots. Approx 1/2 cup of raisins, Approx 1/4 cup of cashews.
In medium bowl mix:
1 cup mayo, 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Directions:
Pour Mayo mixture over broccoli mixture, toss, and chill for minimum of 1 hour before serving.
Jen's Notes:
I added 2 stalks of finely chopped celery, too.
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