Noodles with Peanut Sauce

recipe courtesy of bettycrocker.com

My mom is the one who inspired me to cook and try new recipes. Even when she had a busy day at school, she always made dinner. She claims that when she got burned out we'd eat frozen foods (ie. chicken patties), but I rarely remember that happening. And, I really have been so burned out on cooking--so thanks to everyone for keeping this up. My mom tried this recipe and Jordyn and I drooled over it while visiting. She let us try it and I had to make it at home, although since I have become such a lazy chef (who have  I become?!?!) I had to improvise.

Ingredients:

5 oz uncooked rice stick noodles
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated gingerroot
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
4 oz canned bean sprouts
1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 medium green onions, sliced (2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

Instructions

Heat 2 qts water to boiling. Break noodles in half and pull apart slightly; drop into boiling water. Cook uncovered 1 minute; drain. Rinse with cold water, drain.

Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, gingerroot and red pepper in small bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Gradually mix in broth.

Place noodles ina  large bowl. Add peanut butter mixture, bean sprouts, bell pepper, and onions; toss. Sprinkle with cilantro.


MY VARIATION

My mom added chicken to hers. If anyone here has had  the kabobs with peanut sauce from Thai restaurants--this sauce is very similar--and it's my fave! I decided to do a kabob version, but just grilled my chicken and cut it into chunks. I didn't have rice noodles but I have PLENTY of spaghetti noodles in my food storage. So, I used that! I omitted mostly everything cause I didn't have it on hand. But, I did have chives. I doubled the sauce, mixed it with spaghetti noodles and grilled chicken chunks.

And guess what?

Brent said, "This is really good."

If that doesn't convince you to try it, what will? :)

Crunchy Romaine Toss

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and made it the other day for a BBQ. It was soooo good and I will definitely make it again. It has kind of an Asian flavor to it with the Ramen and soy sauce so if you need a quick salad for your next BBQ this is one to make!!

Crunchy Romaine Toss

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, broken

1/2 cup chopped Almonds

1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli

1 small head romaine lettuce, torn

4 green onions, chopped

Directions

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the sugar, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper; shake well. Spread broken Ramen and almonds on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with the seasoning packet from the Ramen. Bake in the oven at 400 for 10 min or until golden in color. In a large bowl, combine broccoli, romaine and onions. Just before serving, toss with dressing, almonds and noodles. Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Korean Beef Tacos

Pinterest Recipe #2= Success

3-4 pounds beef roast (I used a trimmed chuck roast)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 head garlic, peeled

1/2 onion, diced

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated (i used 2.2 tsp dried)

2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 whole jalapeno, diced (be careful! use gloves!)
**I substituted a jar of the diced green chilis because i don't like handling jalapenos and it turned out well.

Dump everything in the Crockpot and cook for 8-10 hours. I stirred the beef about an hour before dinner and it just fell apart.

We ate the meat as suggested in tacos with tomato and queso fresco and they were really good. We both agreed that this meat would also taste really good over rice, so tonight we are going to have the leftovers over rice.