Technical Diffiulties

I am experiencing some technical difficulties uploading photos...  I have a bunch of blogs written and ready to go, just missing photos.  Please bear with me while I work this out.  I hope to be back soon, with photos.

Honey Chicken

I found this recipe for Honey Sesame Chicken on Pinterest.  It tastes just like PF Chang/Pei Wei Honey Chicken.  I served it with fried rice.  My hubby went nuts.

Ingredients:

12 oz. chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

1 Tbsp. light soy sauce

1 Tbsp. cooking wine

1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauce:

1 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce

2 Tbsp. ketchup ( I used a little more)

1-2 Tbsp honey ( I used a little more)

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

2 Tbsp. light soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Marinate chicken in soy sauce, wine, sesame oil and sugar for about an hour.  Mix flour and cornstarch and place in a large zip-lock bag.  Drain chicken and add to flour mixture.  Shake gently to coat.  Fry in 350* oil  until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

To make sauce, mix chili sauce, ketchup, honey, oyster sauce and soy sauce and water in a  medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, then let simmer until sauce begins to thicken.  Toss with chicken pieces and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.  

Yields 4 servings

Ham & Cheese Sliders

I made these for dinner a while back and we devoured almost the entire pan.  Link here for Ham and Cheese Sliders.

Ingredients:

24 good white dinner rolls ( King's Hawiian are good too)

24 pieces good honey ham

24 pieces Swiss cheese

1/3 cup mayo

1/3 cup miracle whip

Poppy Seed Sauce:

1 Tbsp. poppy seeds (or sesame seeds in my case)

1 1/2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tbsp. minced onion

1/2 tsp.  Worchestershire sauce

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo and miracle whip and spread on both sides of each roll.  Layer one slice of ham and one slice of cheese inside each roll.  Place them tightly in a baking dish.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients.  Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches.  You don't have to use all of the sauce, just be sure to cover the tops.  Let sit 10 minutes or until the butter slightly sets.  Cover with foil and bake 350* for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Uncover and cook for an additional 2 minutes until tops are slightly browned and crispy.  Serve warm.

Note:  Sandwiches can be assembled up to a day ahead of time and stored in the fridge.  Add sauce 10 minutes before ready to bake.

These are also great for a crowd.  My mom served them for lunch a few weekends later when the whole family was around.    On my batch, I didn't have any poppy seeds to I substituted sesame seeds.  We really enjoyed the end result.  

Mediterranean Salad with Penne, Artichokes and Sundried Tomatoes

This is my go to lunch.  A box of pasta and I am good for the week!  Mediterranean Salad with Penne, Artichokes and Sun-dried Tomatoes from Everyday Food #49, Page 101. This is also great to take to a picnic or pot-luck or to put grilled chicken on for dinner.  I usually double the dressing.

Ingredients:

coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup penne pasta
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed), thinly sliced lengthwise
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustart
1 head Romaine lettuce torn into bite size pieces
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, (water-packed), drained and quartered
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1.  In a large pan of salted water, cook pasta until 1 minute short of al dente, add sun-dried tomatoes and cook until tender and pasta is al dente, 1 minute more.  Drain pasta and tomatoes, rinse under cold water, drain again.  Transfer to a large bowl.

2.  Make dressing.  In a large bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and 1 Tbsp. water.  Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Add pasta and tomatoes, romaine, beans, artichoke hearts and feta.  Toss until combined and serve immediately.

Stuffed Zucchini

We had a monster zucchini from my in-laws garden.  I would recommend using smaller zucchini's to cut down on cooking time as these were in the oven over an hour....

I washed the zucchini, cut the ends off and cored it.  I then sprinkled Italian Seasoning over both halves (zucchini can be a little bland....)

I browned a pound of ground turkey with a diced onion and seasoned with more Italian seasoning.  I then added seasoned diced tomatoes and a few large scoops of browned rice and let it simmer.  It was still lacking so I grabbed a pint of seasoned stewed tomatoes that mom and I canned last fall from the pantry.  I would adjust this a bit depending on how much zucchini I'm cooking.  We usually cook about 3 smaller zucchini.

As you can see, these are loaded down!  




















A 375* oven for 35-45 min should do the trick.  Once the zucchini are cooked through (pliable when squeezed with tongs) add mozzarella cheese and return to oven (or broiler) until melted and/or browned.

We always have enough for leftovers.  I have even taken in enough to share with my co-workers the next day.  I've considered trying these on the grill...  hmmmm.   Enjoy!

Ribbed Baby Sweater

This was a quick and easy knit for a co-worker to give to her cousin's new baby.  I used 2 skeins on Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Seaspray on the Ribbed Baby Sweater  (6-9 month size).  The leaf motif was a cute addition and I love the collar.

The hat is the Magic Coffee Baby Hat and took around 1/3 of the third skein.  The little boy has a full head of dark hair and it will look so cute on him.