Mu Shu Chicken Wraps

Into the crock-pot, on LOW for 6 hours:

• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2-3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 TBS sesame oil
• 3/4 cup Hoisin sauce
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS honey
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• salt & pepper to taste

Prep for serving 30 minutes prior to mealtime:

• fajita size flour tortillas, warm
• shredded napa cabbage (1/2 cup per person)
• sliced green onions

HINT:  We couldn't find any napa cabbage so I used regular cabbage sliced very thin.  Slivered almonds would be a good additional topping to these wraps, make sure you have extra Hoisin sauce on hand for dipping...enjoy!!

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

marinade

1 TBS sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cornstarch

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenders

1 tsp sesame seeds

sauce

1/4 cup water
1 bouillon cube
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS honey
1 tsp white rice vinegar
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup frozen peas

Directions...

1.   Prepare marinade.  Combine marinade ingredients in a small mixing bowl or large Ziploc bag.  (sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, cornstarch)  Mix well, add chicken tenders.  Refrigerate a minimum of 20 minutes.

2.  Toast sesame seeds.  To toast the sesame seeds, use a small DRY skillet.  Toast for approximately 1-2 minutes until seeds begin to brown.  Set aside to cool.

3.  Combine the sauce ingredients (water, bouillon, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, chili flakes, cornstarch) in a small bowl or measuring cup.

4.  In a HOT skillet, add oil and garlic and begin to stir-fry.  Moving the garlic quickly - add the chicken tenders and continue to cook until no longer pink.  Next top the chicken with the peas and cook for about a minute before adding the sauce blend.  Allow the ingredients to simmer and thicken.

5.  Serve with rice or noodles, top with toasted sesame seeds.

HINT: Next time we will use sugar snap peas instead of regular peas.  The additional or removal of the red chili flakes can be adjusted for personal preference.  Here, we like it hot!  Enjoy!!

Open Crab Rangoon

Oh yes!  I am making good use of my mini-muffin pan these days!!

When I figured out how well it worked using the wonton wrapers for the Breakfast Bites - I had to try it with the Crab Rangoon recipe.  This turned out to be a very successful experiment!!

Ingredients:

• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1 small can crab meat, drained
• 1 TBS minced garlic
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 3-4 green onions, chopped with tops
• 24 wonton wrappers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Prepare mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray.
3. Tuck one wonton wrapper into each mini-muffin well. 
4. In a small mixing bowl:  combine cream cheese, drained crab meat, minced garlic, soy sauce, half of the chopped green onions.
5. Spoon cream cheese mixture into wonton wrappers.
6. Top each filled wrapper with additional chopped green onion.
7. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, depending on desire crispness.  (The longer they bake, the crispier - and browner - they will become.)

 

Oven-Roasted Ribs

Ingredients:

• 1 rack of ribs
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 TBS minced garlic
• 1/2-3/4 cup rib rub

Directions:

1. Prepare ribs by trimming if needed, and generous seasoning with dry rib rub.
2. In an oven roasting pan with a rack: combine beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, water and minced garlic.
3. Insert rack into the roasting pan, and set seasoned ribs on rack.
4. Cover entire pan with foil.
5. Bake in a 250 degree F oven for 4-4 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer measures the internal temperature to be no less than 160 degrees F.
6. After removing the ribs from the oven, allow them to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Hint: We meant to cook these on the grill, but as it turned on we were out of gas for our grill. This was a great alternative and the meat was very juicy and tender. If desired, a small amount of liquid smoke could also be added to the liquids in the bottle of the roasting pan for flavor. Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin Stir-fry

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 small head cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 can bean sprouts, drained
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3 TBS soy sauce
• hot, cooked rice

Directions:

1. Start with a preheated deep skillet or wok. Stir-fry the sliced pork in hot oil until no longer pink.
2. Add mushrooms, onions, and peas: continuing to stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, garlic, ginger, and sugar. Stir-fry for 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in soy sauce.
5. Serve over hot prepared rice.

Hint: My teenagers cooked this meal for our family. From assembling the ingredients, to prepping the vegetables, to reading and following the recipe directions. Get your family involved in the kitchen! It is good for them, (and you too)!

Savory Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup, uncooked long grain rice

4 TBS butter or margarine

1/2 large white onion, sliced

1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained

*house seasoning* optional

3 TBS soy sauce

Directions:

1 - Prepare rice as directed by package instructions. (We use a rice cooker: 1 cup rice + 2 1/8 cups water.)

2 - In a deep skillet, melt butter or margarine and add sliced onions and sliced mushrooms.

3 - As onions begin to become transparent, add house seasoning if desired.

4 - Combine cooked rice to sauteed vegetables, then mix in soy sauce.

5 - Ready to serve - enjoy!!

Hint: Our version of house seasoning. is a shaker filled with equal parts ground black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and red pepper - used sparingly. Yes, a little goes a long way. We eat a lot of rice in our house and tonight I just needed to mix it up a bit, this recipe turned out beautifully! One of our children will not touch mushrooms, so I made sure to carefully portion him a serving without mushrooms. Poor guy doesn't know what he's missing!!

Polynesian Sausage Kabobs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 lbs smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small pineapple, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 small cantaloupe, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 medium green peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
• salt & pepper to season as desired

Directions:

1. Making the marinade: In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, soy sauce, water, honey, and salt. Divide in half. Half will be used to baste and half should be put into a resealable bag or covered dish to marinade the sausage.
2. Refrigerate reserved marinade, and marinading sausage separately in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
3. Remove the marinading sausage from the refrigerator - drain and discard the marinade.
4. On soaked wooden skewers or metal skewers, thread alternately sausage, pineapple, cantaloupe, and green pepper.
5. Preheat grill to medium heat.
6. Grill skewers uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes while turning and basting with reserved marinade.

Hint: Grilled cantaloupe did not sound appealing to me - but OMGoodness it is delicious! We keep a blend of *house* seasoning, (equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper) on hand to add a little extra punch. Sparingly. On these kabobs, it was delicious!! Even on the pineapple chunks - it worked very well! Maybe next time we will add some chunks of red onion. Maybe!

This recipe is linked up over at Grateful Belly for this week's What's New Wednesday post...go see what other AWESOME and AMAZING ideas are being shared!!

Sesame Salmon

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS cider vinegar
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS honey
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp spicy brown mustard
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 salmon fillet (1 1/2 - 2 lbs)
• 2 TBS toasted sesame seeds
• 3 green onions, sliced

Directions:

1. Place salmon fillet in a large resealable bag.
2. Combine cider vinegar, soy sauce, vegetable oil, spicy brown mustard, honey, and ground ginger in a small bowl or measuring cup - then pour over salmon in resealable bag.
3. Reseal bag and refrigerate for one hour, turning once.
4. Preheat grill prior to cooking. Prepare preheated grill with nonstick cooking spray.
5. Drain excess marinade from salmon fillet, and place salmon fillet skin side down on to preheated prepared grill.
6. Grill - covered, over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes or until the fillet flakes easily with a fork.
7. Sprinkle top of cooked salmon with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

Pork-N-Veggie Pockets

Ingredients:

• 1 small boneless cutlet per person (5 for us)


• 1 bag frozen California mix veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)


• 1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained


• 1 med. green pepper, sliced


• 2 green onions, sliced


• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce


• 4 tsp. sesame oil


• 1 tsp. ground ginger


• cooked rice, optional


• chow mein noodles, optional

Directions:

1. Using foil pockets, (homemade or store bought....the Schwans driver gave me ours), place 1 pork cutlet in each pocket.



2. Evenly divide vegetables (California mix, green pepper, and green onion) amongst the pockets.



3. Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, and ground ginger in a small dish or measuring cup. Divide and drizzle over pork and vegetables in each pocket.



4. Fold foil around meat and vegetables to form a tight seal.



5. Grill over medium heat on a covered grill for 10-12 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the meat is no longer pink.



6. Serve with prepared rice and garnish with chow mein noodles, if desired.

Hint: These can be prepared and frozen ahead of time as single serving meals, or for campfire meals. Let the kids help: whether it is loading the pockets, or sealing them - get everyone involved! If you buy from Schwan's, ask your delivery person about foil grill pockets, my salesman/driver has been very generous to share plenty foil pockets with our family. Enjoy!

This recipe is linked up over at Friday Foods on MomTrends - go see what other recipes are being shared today!

Oven Roasted Lamb

We decided this year to try something new for Easter dinner. My husband asked if we could cook lamb, and after a little research...we decided to give it a go. Years ago, another Army family shared Easter dinner with us with lamb as the main dish. It was delicious! Now it was time for us to try our hand with a dish that is not an everyday meal for our house.

After seeing the prices, and gathering all the needed ingredients we decided to do an Oven Roasted Lamb breast with a new brussel sprouts dish as the side.

Even the boys house guest enjoyed this meal! (And boys...thank you for being so cooperative as we try new recipes - love, Mom)

Ingredients:

• 3 lb lamb breast
• 2 TBS dried rosemary
• 3 TBS dijon mustard
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 3 TBS mince garlic
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. In a large zipper storage bag, or covered baking dish combine rosemary, dijon mustard, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well. This will be the marinade for the lamb.
2. (If desired, or needed) Cut the lamb into desired cooking size pieces. The piece we bought I cut into 6 pieces. Put lamb into marinade for 4-6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator sealed in the zipper bag or covered in a baking dish.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
4. After marinade time is complete, heat a skillet or grill pan to med-high heat and brown lamb on both sides before placing into a baking dish.
5. Add to baking dish, 1 cup chicken broth. (Should not cover meat.)
6. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees for medium doneness or 170 degrees for well-done.

Hint: We served Spring Brussel Sprouts, boiled potatoes, and transformed some leftover hamburger buns into garlic bread for this meal. If you are cooking with a new ingredient for the first time, do a little research before starting. Ask the grocer, or the butcher where you buy your food for tips and insight. We went looking for roast, only to find the price to be nearly 5 times that of the breast. We were able to have a sufficient amount of meat, that was very tasty without breaking the bank. May your family enjoy this recipe as much as we did - Happy Easter!

Spicy Beef & Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 TBS vegetable oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 TBS cornstarch

1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat

3 cups broccoli florets

1 medium onion

1 medium red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tsp peeled fresh ginger root, freshly chopped

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup beef broth

1 cup dry roasted peanuts
**rice or noodles**

- In a large ziploc bag combine soy sauce, cornstarch, stew meat, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Place filled bag in refrigerator to marinate 2-4 hours prior to cooking.

- Prep broccoli, onion, and red pepper by cleaning and cutting into bite-size chunks.

- When you are ready to cook, heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet to a medium heat.

- Cook marinated meat with juices in vegetable oil until meat is completely browned. Juices will begin to thicken the longer the meat cooks.

- Slowly add beef broth and continue to stir.

- Add the vegetable to the skillet last, and cook until tender crisp.

- Serve over prepared rice or noodles, garnished with dry roasted peanuts.

**Tonight we used unseasoned ramen noodles...a compromise to make my kiddos very happy campers**

Bulgogi

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 TBS garlic, minced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Accent seasoning (optional)
1 pound beef top sirloin, thinly sliced
1 carrot, julienned
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped




- In a large resealable plastic bag, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar, salt, black pepper, and Accent.




- Place beef, carrots, and onions in the bag; seal, and shake to coat the vegetables and beef with the sauce.

- Refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours.




- Cook marinaded meat and vegetables over medium heat in a deep skillet or grill pan until meat is fully cooked.




- Serve with rice or noodles