Pad Thai Noodle Success!

I only learned about the wonder of Thai noodles within the past 2 years. I'm not sure how I made it that long! Had I realized I could make them at home, I would have been doing it for a while now. Here's what you'll need:


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1.5 T soy sauce


8oz Thai rice noodles


1.5 T lime juice
4 T brown sugar
2 T fish sauce
1 T soy sauce
1 T vinegar (supposed to use rice vinegar, but I had ACV, so I used that instead)


2 T peanut oil (or the oil of your choice)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 grated sliver of ginger
1/8 t Cayenne (or more, if you like heat)
2 green onions, chopped
1 egg
1 cup broccoli slaw

1/3 c dry roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

1) Toss cubed chicken with the 1.5 T soy sauce. Set aside.
2) Boil a pot of water large enough to hold all your noodles. When the water is boiling, add the noodles, and immediately turn the heat to the burner off. Set a timer for 6 minutes. When your noodle timer goes off, drain them, and then rinse with cold water. Set them off to the side. They won't be cooked all the way, but you're going to keep cooking them later.
3) While the noodles are cooking, assemble your sauce. I added mine to a Mason jar and shook it to combine instead of whisking in a bowl. Combine your lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Shake well, until you can see that the brown sugar has dissolved.
4) In a skillet (or wok, if you're lucky enough to have one), heat your oil on medium. Add the garlic, ginger, pepper, and green onion and let them sizzle for a minute or so. Add your chicken, and cook that until it's done. If the pan gets dried out, you can add a tablespoon or so of the sauce, or a little more oil.
5) When your chicken is done, move everything in the pan to the outside edge, and then crack your egg into the middle. Fry that up, and then mix it with your chicken.
6) Dump in your noodles and stir fry everything together with about half of your Mason jar of sauce. Keep tossing the noodles until they're coated, and then gradually add the remains of the sauce until the noodles are done cooking.
7) Toss in your broccoli slaw. (You're supposed to use bean sprouts, but my local grocer told me they're hard to find because there are so many cases of food poisoning, which has caused many stores to stop carrying them.) Mix it throughout, but don't let it cook because you want the crunch.
8) Dish your creation onto a plate, and sprinkle with your chopped peanuts.
9) Pat yourself on the back (I 100% did this) and chow down.

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting

So I made these for my brother-in-law's birthday. And I must say, I'm pretty pleased with the results. I combined several different recipes, and then tinkered with it some more (because I can never leave well enough alone...) The picture is rather nondescript, but they taste like awesomeness. 

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes

1 stick butter

3 T cocoa

1/4 c coffee

1/4 c Kahlua

1 c sugar

1 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

2 eggs

1/4 c Bailey's

1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa and stir until smooth. Add coffee and Kahlua.

In Kitchenaid bowl, gently stir sugar, flour and baking soda together.

Add the cocoa mixture to the dry ingredients. Then add the eggs. Then add Bailey's and vanilla.

Bake for 20 minutes, and test with a toothpick.

Bailey's Frosting

1/2 stick butter, softened

3 T Bailey's

3 T milk

2 c 10x sugar

2 T coffee

1 t vanilla

1 c Cool Whip

Beat these together. (I didn't follow any particular order; I just threw everything in the Kitchenaid.)

Wait until the cupcakes are cooled, and toss some frosting on. And then, eat them. :)

My Tasty Week of Thanksgiving

I spent this past week hanging out with my family. We had a great time, and we also made some amazing food. Rather than publishing all of the recipes individually, I decided to put them all here. Some have pictures, but I forgot to take some of the others. I've linked to recipes when possible, or just posted what I used.

Bananas Foster Pain Perdu

Apple Enchiladas

We cut the butter down to 3 T and used about 1/4 c brown sugar instead.

Apple Dip

We followed this recipe, except that we mixed the mini chocolate chips in with the cream cheese instead of sprinkling them on top.

Crock Pot Hot Chocolate

We followed this recipe, but substituted half and half for cream and used whole milk.

Spinach Bacon Quiche - from Chris & Becky Hagler

2 - 9" pie crusts
9 eggs
1 pint half and half
1/2 c diced onions
1 pound bacon, cooked and chopped
2 c your choice of shredded cheese
3 large handfuls fresh spinach, chopped





Prep crust in pie plates and follow directions for baking them.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, half and half, onions, bacon, cheese, and spinach.
Heat oven to 425.
Split the batter between the two baked crusts.
Cover the crust edges with foil or crust covers. Bake 45-50 minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Dip - from Becky Hagler

2 - 10 ounce cans of diced chicken, drained
2 - 8 ounce cream cheese blocks, cut into cubes
1 c ranch dressing
3/4 c hot sauce
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese

In large saute pan on low, heat chicken and hot sauce.
Stir in cream cheese and ranch until smooth.
Add 3/4 c cheddar cheese, stir.
Move all contents to a slow cooker on low. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Baked Crab Artichoke Spinach Dip 

1 c mayo
1 c grated parmesan cheese
14 oz. can of artichoke hearts, diced
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
12 oz. crab
1 1/2 shredded pepperjack or cheddar






Preheat to 350. Mix mayo and parmesan.
Add in artichoke and spinach.
Gently fold in crab.
Pour into 1 qt. dish. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 15-20 minutes (until bubbly).
We served with bagel chips.

Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers - started with this, and tweaked it

1 cup (dry) quinoa, cooked
1 pound ground turkey, browned
3 garlic cloves
1/2 onion, diced
6 colorful bell peppers, top and seeds removed
16 oz + 1 cup tomato sauce
1 T Worchestershire sauce
Prepare quinoa according to packaging.
Brown turkey with garlic cloves and onions.

Arrange peppers in baking dish (you may need to slice the bottoms a little to make them stand up straight).
In a mixing bowl, combine turkey, quinoa, 16 oz tomato sauce, Worchestershire sauce, and any other desired seasonings.
Spoon mixture into hollowed peppers.
Pour the remaining 1 c tomato sauce over the tops of the filled peppers.
Bake for about one hour.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

Cupcakes:
1 can pumpkin puree
1 box spice cake mix
2 eggs
Preheat to 350. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix until moist throughout. Spoon into muffin tin until 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Icing:
1 - 8 oz block cream cheese
1 - 12 oz jar marshmallow fluff
Blend together until smooth. Frost cupcakes.

Crock Pot Baked Apples - my Granny's recipe/ Mom's specialty
6 qt slow cooker
4 pounds apples; peeled/cored/sliced
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup hot water
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t ginger
1/8 t allspice
1/8 t cloves

Put all apples into slow cooker. (Ours overflowed, but as they heat up, they will condense and you'll be able to stir and fit them all in.)
Pour melted butter overtop.
Set on low/med heat for 2 hours.
Check on them after that time and see if you can squish them into the crock.
3 hours after start, take 1 cup hot water and mix all spices into the water. Pour spices/water over apples in cooker.
Check on the apples every 30 minutes-1 hour and stir them. Use a potato masher if desired.

We took our leftovers and ran them through a food processor to make applesauce. Delish!

Venison Stuffing Stuffed Shells - tweaked recipe found on Chef's Cupboard stuffing box

1 box cornbread stovetop stuffing
1 pound venison, browned
1/2 c mayo
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can broth (veg/chicken/beef)
24 jumbo pasta shells
Preheat to 350.

Boil shells according to package directions, drain, and separate so they don't stick to each other.
Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Add venison and mayo. Mix well.
Stuff mixture into shells and place in casserole dish.
Mix can of soup and broth; pour overtop of the stuffed shells.
Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies - from me! 

2/3 c butter, softened
2/3 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c oatmeal
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 1/2 - 2 c dried cranberries
1 c white chocolate chips

Preheat to 375.
Beat butter and sugar until mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
In separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Add dry mix to wet. Fold in cranberries and chips. Spoon onto cookie tray. (We made about 30 cookies... but my assistant and I may or may not have eaten some of the batter...)
Bake 10-12 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

And there you have it! My week in food!

Opal from Jennifer Armentrout!

If any of you have listened to me blather on about books at all, you'll know that Jennifer Armentrout is my favorite YA author. Her Lux and Covenant series are straight awesomeness.

To win the third installment of the Lux series, check out her site here!

Good luck and happy reading!

Corn Chowder - needs CPR!

I've been addicted to Pinterest lately. (But who hasn't?) I found this recipe for Sweet Corn Soup. I decided to make it tonight. Ick. However... here's how I think it could be made better:

1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 T butter
(Saute these for a few minutes until browned.)
To this mixture, add 2 c water. Boil.
Add 8 ears of fresh corn, removed from cob
Simmer this for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a food processor. Blend until smooth. Then add 1/2 - 1 cup half and half. Blend some more. Taste. Add salt/pepper/whatever your favorite seasonings are. Or more half and half. Use your tastebuds.
Serve with bacon bits, sour cream (if you think it needs a little more dairy oomph), and croutons.
I know the original recipe was meant to be healthier... but healthy doesn't have to mean yucky. I was so overwhelmed with onion taste and it was so extremely runny in the original version... it was bad.

Best Drink Ever!

1 mango: peeled, chopped and frozen

1 peach: peeled, chopped and frozen

2 cups of your favorite moscato

Throw it all in a food processor or blender, serve, and enjoy. So delicious!

Obsidian Book Trailer

Recently, I've been a smidge obsessed with any YA book by Jennifer Armentrout. She just knows how to get it done. She has two series that just rock my socks. One is called Covenant. The other is the Lux Series. Smoking hot boys, and compelling female heroines.

Check out the trailer for Obsidian, Book 1 of Lux, here: