Asian Noodle Salad

This recipe is adapted from a Pioneer Woman's recipe. I tried it even though I didn't have bell peppers or cilantro. I served grilled chicken breasts on the side and we ended up breaking that up to eat with the salad. It is delicious- and I'm sure even better with cilantro! It would look much prettier with the added color- check out the Pioneer Woman's site for step by step instructions....and much better pictures!

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

6 oz. packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled

1/2 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 head sliced purple cabbage ( I didn't use any in this photo)
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
3 green onions sliced (including green)
1 peeled, sliced cucumber
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
1/2 C. Cashews & 1 Tbs. Sesame seeds lightly toasted in skillet

DRESSING:

Juice of 1 lime
4 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. sesame oil
3 Tbs. soy sauce
3 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. fresh ginger, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
1 jalapenos, (seeded & chopped)
More chopped cilantro

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.
Enjoy!

Snickers Bar Cookies

I needed to make cookies for a Young Women's activity. Since we had some Almond Snickers bars- I came up with these. They turned out yummy!

1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. butter
1 C. peanut butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
3 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Snickers Brand candy bars

Cream together sugar, brown sugar, butter and peanut butter. Add vanilla and eggs; mix. Add dry ingredients. Cut regular size snickers into twelfths. Roll dough into 1" balls, then roll in sugar. Place balls in mini muffin tin. Bake @375˚ for 6 minutes. Press one piece of snickers into each cookie and bake for 2 min. more. Enjoy! These go fast!

Variation: Use Reese's Peanut Butter Cups instead of Snickers.
Variation: Bake on cookie sheet and press one Hershey's kiss into each cookie

Biscuits & Gravy

Biscuits and Gravy is one of Joe's favorite breakfasts. I don't make it often, to say the least. But it is delicious! Homemade biscuits are the best. In this photo I used Krusteaz mix for convenience. It took a long time before I was confident enough to make the gravy. Once I thought I would add some flavor since the sausage we had didn't have much flavor. So I added chicken bouillion. That wasn't a big hit. In fact- it was horrible. Using a good flavored sausage is worth it.

Gravy
1lb Pork Sausage
1/4 C Flour
about 2 C. Milk
Salt and Pepper

Brown sausage in large skillet. Drain grease into bowl. Return sausage to skillet and up to 2 tsp. drained drippings. Sprinkle flour over sausage and mix around until sausage appears coated. Add milk. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. The gravy will thicken. Once gravy reaches desired thickness, shut off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1 C. all-purpose fluor
1 C. whole wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C. butter softened
1 C. milk

In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt; mix well. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a cup or mason jar and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.
Tip: If you don't have a rolling pin handy- you can use a pint size jar to roll the dough and the use it to cut out the biscuits. When it's time for clean up you can us the open end of the jar to scrape the counter clean.

Sugar Cookie Cut Outs

1 1/2 C. butter, softened
2 C. White Sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on powdered sugared surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on un-greased cookie sheets. **
  
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

** TRY THIS: Place parchment paper on cookie sheet. ROLL THE DOUGH OUT DIRECTLY ON THE PARCHMENT-LINED COOKIE SHEET. Make sure the dough is still chilled. After making the 'cut-outs', appropriately spaced on the dough, PEEL AWAY THE EXCESS DOUGH from around and between the 'cookies' and bake as directed. The parchment helps keep the bottoms of the cookies from getting too dark, eliminates any need for greasing the pan, allows you to remove the cookies from the sheet by simply sliding the parchment carefully off the side (which is especially helpful with extra large or delicate cookies), and CAN USUALLY BE REUSED IN BAKING THE REST OF THE COOKIES. You can also roll dough out on the parchment without having it on the cookie sheet, do the cutting and trimming, and then slide the parchment onto the sheet for baking, which helps when you're short of cookie sheets -- the next batch is ready to pop into the oven as soon as the first comes out.

Maple Apple Pork Chops

I got this recipe from Joe's Mom. She uses pork tenderloin. I remembered the recipe, but had pork chops out for that night. So I modified it a little and it turned out delicious! Really, really yummy!

1 1/2 lb Pork Chops with or without bones
1/3 C. McCormick's French Onion, Pepper & Herb Crusting Blend (can use seasoned bread crumbs)
2 Tbl. Olive Oil
2-3 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 C. apple Jelly (can substitute with 2 C. apple juice- then omit the water)
3/4 C. water
1/4 tsp. maple flavoring + 1/4 C. water (original recipe calls for 1/4 C. pure maple syrup- use whichever you have)
1 Tbl. prepared mustard

Coat pork chips with Crusting Blend. In a large skillet, cook pork in oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Add the apples, jelly and water; cover and cook for 10 minutes or until apples are tender. Combine the maple flavor, mustard, salt and pepper; pour over pork mixture. Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with salad or over rice.

Sunday Roast

My Dad makes the best roasts! I think soy sauce is the secret ingredient. Joe always laughs when we say that Dad is making a chuck roast...mainly because none of us kids knew what that meant. It's the cut of meat. But at my house growing up- if it was cooked on Sunday with potatoes & carrots- it was a "Chuck Roast". Here is my version of a roast.

Place roast in crock pot. If using elk- add 2 tsp beef base and 3/4 Cup water. Add peeled and diced potatoes and carrots sliced lengthwise. Add one onion cut in large pieces and 2 cloves garlic (crushed). Once everything is in sprinkle 1-2 Tbs. Soy Sauce over top. Sprinkle with pepper. Turn on high for the first hour and then leave on low for 4-5 hours.

Baked Chimichangas

Cook a roast with one 40z can green chilies in a crock-pot for several hours. If you are using elk meat add 2 tsp beef base and 3/4 C water. Shred meat. Lay tortilla flat and spray with Olive Oil. Flip tortilla over and spray only edges with olive oil. Place a handful of the meat on tortilla and fold up edges. Secure tortilla with a toothpick. Bake @ 350˚ for 20 minutes. Top with lettuce & sour cream. Serve with chips and bean dip.

Bean Dip
Mix 2 tsp taco seasoning with 1 can re-fried beans. Spread layer of guacamole (blend 1 avacado with 1/2 onion & 1 tsp. lemon juice). Spread a layer of sour cream. Top with grated cheese, chopped olives, green onions & tomatoes.

Cheese Crisp

This is one of Dallin's favorite snacks.
Brown one side of tortilla in skillet. Flip over and top with cheese. Remove from skillet when cheese is melted. Cut with a pizza cutter.

Soft & Crunchy taco

Uncooked flour tortillas
Crunchy tacos (make your own or buy them)
Ground beef
Re-fried Beans (warmed in pan on stove)
lettuce
tomatoes
Salsa
Cheese
Avacado
Sour Cream

Cook flour tortillas in a skillet. Spread refried beans on tortilla and place a crunchy taco on beans. Fold up sides. Fill taco with ground beef and beans. Top with desired toppings.

Indian Fry Bread

This is the first time I remember making Indian Fry Bread. It's not as hard as I thought. I halved the recipe for our family. Andelin helped roll the dough. Serve extra fry bread with honey for dessert.

Fry Bread:
2 C. Scalded milk
4 Tbl. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. yeast- dissolved in 1/2 C warm water
5 C. flour

Cool milk. Add sugar, salt and yeast mixure. Add flour to make soft but not sticky dough. Knead about 5 min. Let dough rise until doubled. Roll out and cut in squares, then press flat with hands. Fry in oil at 375˚. Set on plate with paper towel to soak excess oil.

Top with chili, lettuce, cheese, green onions, etc.

Chili: Make your favorite recipe.
I made a chili with what I had...
1/2 lb. Elk stew meat (browned in olive oil)
1 can Red Kidney Beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 onion chopped
1 clove garlic (crushed)
Chili powder, cumin, garlic salt and pepper to taste (maybe someday I will measure it!)