Potstickers

This is a recipe from Alton Brown that I altered a little. Another family favorite, and they are really very easy to make. I made 60 of them last night. We ate some and I put the rest in the freezer for another meal.

Potstickers

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/4 c. finely chopped green onions

2 T. finely chopped red bell pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp. ketchup

1 tsp. yellow mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

30 round wonton wrappers (one package has about 60)

Water, for sealing wontons

3 to 4 T. Canola oil, for frying

1 1/3 c. chicken broth, divided

Preheat oven to 200°F. Combine the first 11 ingredients in a med-size bowl. Set aside. To form the dumplings, remove one wonton wrapper from the package. Brush 2 edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1 tsp. of the turkey mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges, and shape into a dumpling shape (the back of the wonton package shows how to do it) . Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the filling is gone.

Heat a sauté pan over med-heat. Brush with oil once hot. Add 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 min, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove wontons to a heatproof platter and place in a warm oven. Clean the pan in between batches by pouring water and allowing the pan to deglaze. Repeat until all the wontons are cooked.

Serve with sauce of your choice.

Garlic Bubble Bread

This is the funnest bread ever, and so yummy! It's just like garlic bread in flavor, only it breaks apart in little "bubbles". So much fun for the kids.

Garlic Bubble Bread

1 pkg (or a scant T ) yeast

2 T warm water

1 c warm milk

1 T sugar

2 tsp butter or margarine

1 tsp salt

3 to 3 1/2 c flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 white - next time I'll try all ww)

1/4 c butter or margarine, melted

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, 2 tsp butter, salt and 1 cup of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Divide each portion into 12 pieces. In a shallow bowl, combine melted butter, garlic powder & Italian seasoning. Shape each piece of dough into a ball and dip in the butter mixture. Place in a greased 9x5x3" loaf pan. Pour any remaining garlic butter over the top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 min.

Bake at 375° F for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan.

Asian Chicken Salad

This is a wonderful salad to serve as a main dish. It has tons of flavor and lots of delicious crunchy veggies. My family really enjoys this one. I have found that if you cook your chicken this way, it will be more moist and flavorful for the salad than if you boil or broil it.

Asian Chicken Salad

1/2 to 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 T olive oil

Season salt, garlic powder, & black pepper to taste

1 lb fresh asparagus, cut into pieces

1 red pepper, cut into strips

3 c shredded green cabbage

3 T olive oil

2 T soy sauce

2 T peanut butter

1 T sesame oil

1 garlic clove, mincedd

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 c chopped green onions

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Saute the chicken in the olive oil seasoning with seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir-fry until no longer pink. Set aside. Meanwhile, steam the asparagus for about 10 minutes until slightly tender, but still bright green and crisp. Combine the chicken, asparagus, peppers, and cabbage in a large bowl.

Whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, garlic, salt & pepper in a small bowl. Pour over the salad mixture and toss to coat. Add the green onions and toss.

Jamaican Red Beans and Rice

Another coconut recipe! :) This one is SO good. My whole family just devours this stuff. It's so super easy and fast to make too. We served ours with mashed sweet potatoes.

Jamaican Red Beans and Rice

1 T olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 c cooked brown rice (I use brown Minute rice)

2 (16 oz) cans red kidney beans, drained & rinsed

1 (15 oz) can coconut milk

Salt & pepper to taste

In a soup pot, heat the oil and add the onion, sauteing over med heat until translucent. Add the garlic and saute a couple minutes more. Add the rice, beans, and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Coconut Chicken Thai Soup

I am a coconut fanatic! I LOVE anything with coconut, whether it be savory or sweet. This is one of my family's absolute favorite soup recipes! It can be made in the Crock-pot or on the stove and turns out SO yummy. I love all the different flavors - lemon, cilantro, garlic, coconut...mmm!

Coconut Chicken Thai Soup

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into pieces

4 c chicken broth

2 c carrots, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp lemon zest

1 15-oz can coconut milk

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

1 c mushrooms sliced (you can use canned straw mushrooms instead)

1/4 c cilantro, chopped

In a 3.5-5 quart Crock pot combine the chicken, broth, carrots, onion, ginger, garlic, and lemon zest. Cover. Cook on low for 6-7 hrs or on high for 3-3.5 hrs.

Stir in the coconut milk, sweet pepper, mushrooms, and cilantro. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes.

Homemade Pizza

I think everyone probably has a favorite pizza crust recipe, but I thought I'd share ours. Josh and I came up with this recipe when we first got married because we wanted a whole wheat crust. It turned out really good and we've been using it ever since! Our kids LOVE it too. If you have one, I totally recommend using a pizza stone. We use ours all the time. The pizza turns out perfect. :)

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. + 2 -4 T water

2 T. olive oil

Mix the ingredients. Knead together until smooth. Roll out into a circle big enough to fit your pan or stone. Sprinkle the stone/pan lightly with cornmeal. Place the circle of dough on the stone/pan. Top with sauce, cheese, and toppings of your choice. Bake at 425°F for 15-20 min. Simple as that! You can use whatever toppings you like. We like red peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, pineapple...

Sweet & Sour Meatballs & Chinese Cabbage Salad

For dinner tonight we had a couple of family favorites. :) I originally got the sweet & sour meatball recipe from my cousin out of a family cookbook that I made years ago. I altered the recipe a bit, and my family just LOVES these. Meatballs are just fun! :) We serve the meatballs over either brown rice or brown basmati rice.

The Chinese cabbage salad recipe is one that Josh and I created together when we first got married more than eight years ago. Josh was a vegan at the time, so we were always looking for and making up yummy recipes that we could eat together. Hope you enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

1 lb. ground turkey

3/4 c. oats

1 eggs

1/2 c. onion, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Sauce:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c water

1/4 c vinegar

1 tsp mustard

1/2 c barbeque sauce

Mix all the meatball ingredients, form into balls, and place in a 9 x 13” pan. In a saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients and boil for one minute. Pour 1/2 of sauce on meatballs. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Take foil off and bake an additional five minutes to brown. Serve over rice and pour additional sauce on top.

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Chinese Cabbage Salad

1 med. cabbage, shredded

4 med. carrots, shredded

2 pkg. Ramen Noodles, crushed (optional)

4 T. almond slices

1/2 c green onions, chopped

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. black pepper

3 T brown sugar or other sweetener

1/4 c canola oil

1/4 c. vinegar

In a saucepan, cook vinegar and sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the salt, pepper, 2 Ramen flavor packets and oil. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine cabbage, carrots, crushed noodles, and onions. Pour on dressing. Toss evenly. Refrigerate until cool. Sprinkle with almonds.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is my all-time favorite banana muffin recipe! It's perfect for using up overripe bananas. They never last long in our house!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 egg

1/3 c. canola oil

1/2 c. sugar

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. oats

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, beat the egg, oil, and sugar until smooth. Stir in the mashed bananas. Mix in the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just moistened. The batter will be quite thick (if using whole wheat flour). Stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill greased muffin tin with muffin batter. I find that with whole-wheat muffins you can fill them all the way to the top with batter and they'll come out just right. With white flour, you will only fill them about 3/4 full. Bake at 375° F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Biscuit-Topped Casserole

This is a recipe that I tried out the family for dinner the other night. It was a HIT! The kids loved the little whole-wheat biscuits on top. It was super yummy and pretty healthy too! For this recipe, I used a recipe from a cookbook as a base, then completely altered it to make it my own. I like how it turned out! I used my own biscuit recipe for it. These biscuits taste SO good if you can make them with coconut oil, but regular shortening works just fine too. :)

Biscuit-Topped Casserole

1 lb. ground turkey

1 onion, diced

1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes

2 c. frozed mixed veggies

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Biscuits:

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 T. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. shortening or coconut oil

1 egg

2/3 c. milk

Cook the ground turkey and onion in a large skillet until meat is brown. Stir in the tomatoes, mixed veggies and tomato sauce. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13" baking dish.

For the biscuits, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the shortening until crumbly. Beat the egg and milk together then stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/2" thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter.

Place the biscuits on top of the casserole. Bake at 400° F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Top with shredded cheese if desired.