Cold Sesame Noodles with Golden Garlic

I found this recipe in the AllYou magazine and pinned it!  Well, I figured I could "healthi-fy" it just a bit so here's the link to the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cold-sesame-noodles-garlic-50400000109733/
And here is mine:

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• INGREDIENTS:
• Salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 pound Ronzoni Garden Delight Spaghetti
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 Green Onions

DIRECTIONS:

1. 1. Bring 12 qt Stockpot of salted water to a boil. Warm oil in 12" Skillet over medium heat. Press garlic with garlic press and cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove with  slotted spoon; set aside. Add celery, bell pepper and carrots to skillet and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. 2. Add spaghetti to boiling water and cook until tender yet firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well and rinse under cold running water.
3. 3. In large bamboo bowl, whisk together soy sauce, almond butter, vinegar and sesame oil until blended. Add spaghetti to mixture and toss until well coated. Stir in cooked vegetables. Sprinkle golden garlic and scallions over pasta just before serving.

One Pot Orange Chicken

And in less than 30 Mins!

Ingredients:
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
• 1/3 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 T salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 T ketchup
• 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
• 4 T brown sugar
Bell Peppers & Zucchini if you'd like.  I did use 1 orange, 1 red, 1 green and a zucchini.

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Pour the flour in a small bowl.

Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.  

Take it out of the pan and let drain onto a paper towel.  

Toss the veggies into your pan and stir fry for appx 5 mins or until softened.

Add the chicken back into the pan and stir for 2 mins, just to brown every thing up.  

Pour in the orange juice mixture and toss a few times getting everything coated and the sauce warmed up.

Serve over rice.

Most Scrumdiddleyumptious Crepe Recipe

I am in LOVE with Crepes lately!  I finagled a recipe and am lovin' them!  Too bad I can't eat them everyday...all.day.LONG!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

2 TBSP butter (melted)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C. flour

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all of the above together, except the flour.  After it's all mixed, add the flour in a little at a time until it's all mixed.

In a 8" pan, put a little butter or olive oil.   Add 1/4 C. of the batter to the pan and swirl the batter around.  Let it cook on one side for about 30-45 sec then flip over an cook 30-45 sec longer.

Remove from pan and place on a plate.

For the filling, I like to make a homemade whip cream and top with fresh fruit.

Here's my homemade whip cream recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 C heavy whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 oz vanilla

2 TBS powder sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Put the whipping cream into a (preferably metal) bowl and freeze for about 3 minutes.  In another bowl, whip up your cream cheese and add the vanilla.  Take the whipping cream and beat it until soft peaks form, add the powder sugar.  Then mix in the cream cheese mixture.

Hope you enjoy!

Yeastless Almond Date Bread

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups whole wheat flour (preferably stone ground)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups rice milk (works with any liquid) or 1 1/2 cups water (works with any liquid)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 tsp Korintje Cinnamon  

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400*

Measure all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix all wet ingredients together.

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together first.  Slowly add the wet ingredients.  

The batter will be wet, but not soppy.

Place the dough into the Stoneware Loaf Pan.  

Bake at 400* for 40 mins.

Remove from oven and let stand in your pan for 2 mins then transfer it to your Stackable Cooling Rack & allow to cool completely.

Couscous Stir Fry

Jose and I are doing the 21 Day Daniel Fast.  We started the first of January and will be going until the 21st, duh...haha!  Anyway, my kitchen skills have been challenged, but MAN, don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm kicking butt!
This is a quick recipe that I threw together Sunday after church.  I thought it turned out super yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1-Cup of Couscous + 1 1/4 cup of pure veggie stock to prepare
1-Container of Firm Tofu
4-Celery Stalks
1-Onion, your choice of type
4-Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:
Bring the veggie stock to boil, add salt if desired.  Put in the Couscous, cover & remove from heat.  Just leave covered until your done with the stir fry.

For the Stir fry, I take my 12" Skillet and drizzle the bottom with Olive Oil, you really don't need too much.  Slice up the Celery, chop onion and garlic.  Cut your tofu into bite size pieces.
Heat your pan on med-high heat with the oil, just until it's like water in the pan.  Add the onion, celery and garlic.  Cook until the onions are translucent and celery is at a soft crunch.  Add the tofu and cook until the celery is soft and tofu is a bit brown.  Toss in the couscous and serve.
This can be seasoned with garlic salt or just regular salt.
Hope you enjoy, this was my first tofu recipe.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Ingredients:

2	cups all-purpose flour
1	cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	teaspoon salt
1	cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4	cup granulated sugar
1/4	cup powdered sugar
2	teaspoons vanilla
	Additional powdered sugar (approximately 3/4 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In Small Batter Bowl, combine flour, pecans, cinnamon, and salt; mix well and set aside.
2. In Classic Batter Bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; beat on low speed just until dry ingredients are incorporated.
3. Using Small Scoop, drop level scoops of dough, 1 inch apart, onto flat Baking Stone. Bake 12-14 minutes or until cookies are set but not brown. Remove cookies to Stackable Cooling Rack; cool 5 minutes. While cookies are still warm, roll in additional powdered sugar to coat. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies

Nutrients per serving: (2 cookies): Calories 160, Total fat 11 g, Saturated Fat 5 g, Cholesterol 20 mg, Carbohydrate 15 g, Protein 2 g, Sodium 100 mg, Fiber less than 1 g

***To order products please contact Melissa Herrera at http://pamperedchef.biz/back2table

Celebration Cookie Mix

Ingredients:

1/2	cup granulated sugar
3/4	cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2	cup white or semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3/4	cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2	cups all-purpose flour
1/2	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1/4	teaspoon salt
1	cup quick or old-fashioned oats
1/2	cup pecan or walnut halves, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. In Small Batter Bowl, layer ingredients as follows, gently patting each layer before adding the next ingredient: granulated sugar, cranberries, chocolate morsels, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats and pecans. Cover with lid. Attach the preparation directions below and give it as a gift.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Nutrients per serving: (1 cookie): Calories 120, Total Fat 6 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Carbohydrate 16 g, Protein 2 g, Sodium 85 mg, Fiber less than 1 g

Cook's Tips: Give this recipe to the gift recipient:

Celebration Cookies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 recipe Celebration Cookie Mix

Preheat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine butter, eggs and vanilla; mix until well blended. Add cookie mix to butter mixture; mix until well blended. Using Medium Scoop, drop 12 level scoops of dough, 2 inches apart, onto Rectangle Stone. Flatten dough slightly using back of scoop. Bake 13-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove to cooling rack.