Chicken & Cashew Lettuce Cups Recipe

I cut this recipe out of a Real Simple magazine a couple of years ago.  I never made it until I stumbled upon it two weeks ago.  I’ve since made it three times!  I thought I’d share this new, healthy, favorite recipe of mine. :)

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
• 1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 1/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews
• 1 small head Boston or Bibb lettuce, leaves separated

COMBINE the soy sauce and honey in a small bowl; set aside.

HEAT the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

SEASON the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

LOWER heat to medium and stir in the garlic and ginger.  Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the water chestnuts and half the soy sauce mixture and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and sprinkle with the cashews.

DIVIDE the lettuce leaves among individual plates and spoon the chicken over the top.  Serve with the remaining soy sauce mixture for drizzling.

* I substitute the scallions for vidalia onion.  I add bell pepper.  I also mix the cashews in the end to get the sauce on them.  I’m not real big on ginger so, I just use a pinch of ground ginger instead of fresh.  And I use romaine lettuce, and iceberg this last time, because that’s what I had.  It’s DELISH!  And only takes about 20 minutes to make. Enjoy!

Supper Club Recipes

Friday night was our turn to host Supper Club!  I spent most of the day in the kitchen cooking.  It was great.  I borrowed the chili recipes and idea from a friend.  And my favorite part was that I was completely done cooking by the time everyone got here so, I could enjoy our company!  This is what my kitchen looked like two hours before party time…

I was able to get the house presentable, although I left myself a mere 15 minutes to get ready.   Oh well.  It seemed like everyone wanted a different recipe so, here are a few of the recipes that my fellow supper clubbers asked for…

Bruschetta

This was the first time I made this, but I feel like I could eat it all day, every day.  I just got a baguette (this one was wheat), sliced it and toasted it in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes on each side.  And topped it with slices of a block of mozzarella, tomato, fresh basil and balsamic glaze.  Yum.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Layered Taco Dip

Salsa (a picture from my phone while making it)

Pretzel Hugs

The Turkey and Bean Chili is a Cooking Light Recipe.  It was a little mild so, I added cayenne pepper and some Chili Ancho to spice it up.

The Spicy Black Bean and Chicken Chili is also very healthy.  I also added some cayenne pepper to this.

Classic Chili

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 3 cups yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 15 oz can kidney beans
• 1 cup picante sauce (I used medium)
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tbsp oregano
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 16 oz cans chopped tomatoes
• 15 oz can black beans
• 1/2 lb mushrooms, quartered
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 3 tsp salt

Brown beef, onions, peppers, and garlic in a large dutch oven.  Drain mixture.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil for three minutes.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring often.

I omitted the mushrooms and doubled up on the meat.  I cooked all three chilis in crockpots.  (Oh and Caroline – if you’re reading this – the cornbread was the sweet you were tasting.)

The cornbread was another “recipe” I got from Amy.  I’ve always made cornbread from scratch until I tasted hers.  It’s to die for.  I’ve always said some things are just better store bought, and I suppose this is one of them.  It’s the box of Krusteaz from the grocery store.  Wonderfully delicious and sweet.

We had a great time as usual.  It’s nice to know that with all of our busy lives, we at least see everyone once a month.

And if you know Adam, you will laugh out loud when you see the picture below.  Because it is clearly a joke.

Sunny Fall Days

Sunny fall days.  What could be better than that?  Yesterday was perfect.  After church, we walked over to the pumpkin patch and had a picnic {see below}.  After James’ nap, he hugged

kissed,

and counted his pumpkins.

Then, we all went outside where Justin carved the bigger pumpkin, and I roasted the seeds.  YUM!

James walked around the backyard eating an apple.  He’s had apple slices before, but he felt so big boy carrying it around like Daddy does.  If you haven’t had an apple lately, apple season is here!  They’re so good in the fall.  James’ favorite is Macintosh, which is what I ate growing up.

He played a little t-ball.

And ate a little apple.

While I was roasting the seeds, we found James dancing in the living room.  His dancing turned into self-inflicted dizzy spells.

I was making a salad for dinner and decided to wash, dry and jar all the lettuce.  I got the idea from this Salad in a Jar website.  Our lettuce always goes bad, and I hate washing it off each time.  Plus, if it’s all ready to go, then hopefully we’ll eat more salad.  Either way, James loves to get his hands on my salad spinner so, we decided to let him “help”.

Sometimes pictures just don’t tell the story well enough.  Here’s the video.  {I love how he watches himself in the dishwasher.}

And now every time, I open my refrigerator, I’m refreshed to see this:

 

A simple day.  A family day.  Activities that did not cost any extra money.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

Oriental Coleslaw Recipe

I get an email/text/phone call about once a month for my Oriental Coleslaw Recipe.  To make my life a little easier and to fill your bellies with the best side dish ever, I’m posting it on the blog!

I have to give credit to my mother-in-law, Lisa.  I first tried this at her house.  I then, found a recipe online and tweaked it.  I wouldn’t say we could call this healthy since it has Ramen Noodles in it, but I will post the recipe I found, and then my healthier version.

Oriental Coleslaw

• 1 Ramen Noodles packet (oriental or chicken flavor)
• 1 16 oz package coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 4 green onions, the white parts diced

     Dressing:

• Ramen seasoning packet
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Toast almonds and sesame seeds (separately) in a dry frying pan on med-high heat.  Do not walk away.  Keep stirring until toasted.  Set aside in bowl or on plate.  You can make the dressing ahead.  Mix all ingredients together, putting the almonds, seeds, and broken up uncooked noodles in at the very last minute.

If you’ve had my oriental coleslaw, this is how I make it a bit healthier.

Dressing:

• Ramen seasoning packet
• a little over 1/4 cup of canola oil
• 1/4 cup of Red Wine Vinegar
• No salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp pepper

ENJOY!