Stir Fry

Stir fry was one of my staples during college. And, quite frankly, it still is. This has been my go-to stir fry recipe for a while, so I thought I'd share. It's so easy!

Whatever meat and/or vegetables you have (chicken, beef, carrots, onion, broccoli, squash of any sort, cabbage, peppers, pineapple, cauliflower, the more the better)
1 T cornstarch
1 T brown sugar
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 c water
1/4 c soy sauce

Whisk together the sauce ingredients until smooth. Once your vegetables are tender, add the sauce. Let cook until thick. Serve over rice.

Chicken Enchiladas with avacado cream sauce

I found this recipe on interest and it is DELICIOUS!!

Ingredients

• • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• • 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• • 2 poblano peppers, stemmed and thinly sliced  ( I didn't have either of these peppers so I used a green bell pepper)
• • 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
• • 8-10 flour tortillas
• • 4 cups shredded cooked chicken(rotisserie works best)
• • 2-3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese
• • optional garnish: fresh cilantro, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese
• Avocado Cream Sauce Ingredients:
• • 2 Tbsp. butter
• • 2 Tbsp. flour
• • 2 cups chicken broth
• • ¾ cup sour cream
• • ½ tsp. cumin
• • ½ tsp. salt
• • ½ tsp. garlic powder
• • ¼ tsp. pepper
• • 2 California avocados, peeled and pitted
• • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• • juice of one lime

Instructions

1. First make the avocado cream sauce:
2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the sour cream, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper, whisking if necessary to remove any lumps.
5. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a blender or food processor. Add avocados, cilantro and lime juice, and pulse until smooth and well-blended. (Be very careful blending hot liquids — the heat will expand! So be sure to remove the lid occasionally so that the heat can escape.)
6. Season with additional salt or pepper if needed.
7. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, poblano and jalapeno, and saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions are cooked and translucent.
8. Remove from heat.
9. To assemble the enchiladas, place a tortilla on a flat surface.
10. Spread a tablespoon or two of the avocado sauce down the middle of the tortilla. Then layer on some of the vegetable mixture, shredded chicken and cheese.
11. Carefully roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the baking dish.
12. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
13. Drizzle the top with about half of the remaining avocado cream sauce, then cover the dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes, or until tortillas are heated through and begin to harden.
14. Remove from the oven, then serve individual enchiladas drizzled with the remainder of the avocado cream sauce. You can also garnish with additional cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream.

Yogurt

This isn't exactly a recipe, but I have to share. I've been making our own yogurt and we love it. It's probably not for everyone, but I thought I'd share in case someone wants to try. It's so easy really. And, it's way cheaper than buying yogurt. I love yogurt and I remember telling Dave once that when we're rich, I want to have yogurt all the time. Well, we must be rich now because we have yogurt all the time. All I do is heat 1/2 a gallon of milk to about 180 degrees (you'll need a thermometer) stirring the whole time so it doesn't burn. Then let it sit uncovered on the counter until it gets down to about 110 degrees. Set your oven to the lowest temperature you have to warm it up. Then stir in about 2-3 tablespoons of plain yogurt (buy some at the store the first time and then every time after that just use your already homemade stuff) to your milk. Turn your oven off, but turn the light of your oven on. This lets off just enough to heat to keep your milk mixture at about 110 degrees. Cover your soon to be yogurt and let it sit in that oven for 8-10 hours. The longer it sits, the thicker it will be but the tangier it will be. (Sometimes I just mix it up before bed and just let it sit there all night long.) Then put it in containers and put it in the fridge. I have never gotten mine to be super thick, but it still tastes great. I've read you can add powdered milk to your milk to make it thicker and give it more protein. I haven't tried it. If you do, let me know if it works. You can also strain it through a cheesecloth to make Greek yogurt, but I haven't done that either. So, to eat it, I have to add quite a bit of sugar to make it delicious (I think brown sugar is the best). We also add fruit if we want, or sprinkle granola on top, or add lemon juice and sugar to make lemon yogurt, or add jam, or put it in smoothies, or cook with it, or whatever you want. My boys love it and gobble it up. In fact Jasher doesn't even like to stir in his sugar anymore. He just lets it sit on top. But, one time another little boy was over and we had some yogurt so I gave him some. He took one bite, made a bit of a disgusted face and said, "We have better yogurt at my house." So, I guess it does take some getting used to...   

Ranch Chicken Tacos

Here is for super easy and delicious tacos!
(I never measure so you might have to take your best guess as to how much)

Put in crock pot (either on low for 4 or 5 hours or on high for 2 hours)
(2) Chicken breasts
(1 1/2 C) Chicken broth
(1 t) taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix- I didn't have it so I literally squirted some from the bottle and it tasted just as good!

Shred the chicken (put it back in the juice so it soaks up more flavor).  Juice will be runny, like water, so you might have to get the chicken out with a slotted spoon or drain it. 

Put it in your tacos with your favorite taco fixings. We love corn tortillas..warm them up on the stove so they tase fresh.  Also, limes are a must.  Yummy.

Roasted Vegetables

Maybe I am just behind in my culinary knowledge, but the last while I have discovered how amazing roasted vegetables are. I have always been one to steam or boil vegetables, but since roasting them, we have discovered a whole new world of taste! Truly, most have been amazing! Try it! We just but a little oil and salt (or whatever seasoning you want) with the vegetables on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven. Depending on the vegetable, it can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Usually around 15-20. Here's a list of what we have loved - ASPARAGUS, broccoli, ZUCCHINI, summer squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, I'm sure there are more.

Last Saturday in our Bountiful Basket, we got something that looked like this:

I surely did not know what it was so after a little research, I my best guess is something called salad savoy which is a cross between cabbage and kale. It tastes like cabbage, but the leaves are more like a lettuce or kale I suppose. Well, the recipe that looked most appealing was simply roasting the leaves with a little oil and salt to make a light, crunchy, chip-like thing. I tried it last night and it was DELICIOUS! I wanted more. I think we'll definitely do that to the rest of the bunch. I'm not sure if you can find salad savoy in a grocery store, but I'm guessing kale would be just as delicious! Try it!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a good soup! It's very thin, like broth, but when you add the toppings, it turns super delicious! The avocado is what makes this soup for me! So, wait until you have some to make it! For Dave, it's the fried tortilla strips and creaminess from the cheese and sour cream.


Some chicken - shredded or chunked, seasoned or not
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cans chicken broth
1 15-oz. can chopped or diced tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers (I left these out)
1/4 c. fresh lime juice (3-4 limes)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

TOPPINGS:
Store-bought tortilla chips, or 2-3 corn tortillas fried in oil in a frying pan
Sliced avocado
Grated cheese
1/4 c. cilantro
Sour cream

In a large stockpot, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and minced jalapeno and cook a few minutes more until pepper is softened and garlic is fragrant. Add chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes.
While soup is simmering, juice the limes and set aside. Start preparing the toppings: grate the cheese, chop the cilantro, cut up the avocado, and fry the tortillas. Right before serving, add lime juice and chicken to the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into the bowls and add desired toppings.

Veggie Pizza

Pizza Crust
1 pkg Cream Cheese
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Ginger powder
1 tsp Soy sauce
Sweet and Sour sauce
Veggies (broccoli, carrots and red bell peppers are some of my favorites)

Bake pizza crust, or buy premade pizza crust.  Combine cream cheese, garlic and ginger powder, and soy sauce.  Top crust with cream cheese mixture, veggies and then drizzle with sweet and sour sauce.