Pad Thai

4 ounces fettuccine-width rice stick noodles (pad thai noodles)

1/4 cup peanut oil

1/4 cup tamarind paste

1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla)

1/3 cup honey (agave nectar might work, never tried it)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs

1 small head Napa cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)

1 cup mung bean sprouts

1/2 pound peeled shrimp, pressed tofu or a combination (I like just chicken)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 limes, quartered.

1. Put noodles in a large bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let sit until noodles are just tender; check every 5 minutes or so to make sure they do not get too soft. Drain, drizzle with one tablespoon peanut oil to keep from sticking and set aside. Meanwhile, put tamarind paste, fish sauce, honey and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring just to a simmer. Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside. (Increase other ingredients, NEVER the sauce amounts, to make more, the sauce goes FAR)

2. Put remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when oil shimmers, add scallions and garlic and cook for about a minute. Add eggs to pan; once they begin to set, scramble them until just done. Add cabbage and bean sprouts and continue to cook until cabbage begins to wilt, then add shrimp or tofu (or both).

3. When shrimp begin to turn pink and tofu begins to brown, add drained noodles to pan along with sauce. Toss everything together to coat with tamarind sauce and combine well. When noodles are warmed through, serve, sprinkling each dish with peanuts and garnishing with cilantro and lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings. (More veggies=more servings)

Tamarind Paste recipe (if you can’t find actual tamarind paste)

Ingredients

•   1 tbsp chopped dates

•   1 tbsp chopped prunes

•   1 tbsp chopped dried apricots

•   1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Place all fruit into a small bowl and pour enough boiling water over them to cover completely.

Let stand 15 minutes and drain.

Place drained fruit and the lemon juice into a food processor, blend to a thick paste.

Store in the fridge or use immediately.

OR

lime or lemon juice (Substitute two tablespoons juice for every teaspoon of tamarind paste

OR

In one of those mini food processors, just mix raisins and lime juice until you have a thick paste... perfect substitute

Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour (see my mix)
Mix in separate measuring cup then add once butter and flour form roux:
1 1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
2 1/2 Cup Milk (I like 2%)
1 1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch - make sure it is mixed in with the milk and broth
After stirring in Milk mixture, add seasonings:
I like:  Onion powder, garlic powder (sparingly used!!!), Goya Adobo (any chicken season would work), and a bit of dried Basil
Whisk on medium heat continuously till it comes to a boil then remove from heat
(I also have added 2 Tbsp of Sour cream when I make the roux, melting with the butter before adding the flour, makes it pretty tasty!)

5 Cup Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
1 can chunk pineapple
1 can mandarin oranges
1 Cup marshmallows
1 Cup coconut
1 Cup Sour Cream

Drain pineapple and mandarin oranges, add all together and stir
Excellent add ins:
Fresh Strawberries, Apples, or Pears - no other changes to the recipe, just add and enjoy

Hot Milk Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/4 C Milk
1 cube butter --> scald then cool (milk and butter)
4 eggs
1 3/4 C sugar --> beat till fluffy (eggs and sugar)
2 C flour (gluten free flour works great)
MIX (all above ingredients)
then add
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Bake at 350* in floured pan for 25 min or until golden (NOT too brown)
then add frosting:

Frosting/Topping:
6 tsp butter
2/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C cream (sweetened condensed milk works - not as good)
1 C coconut
1 tsp vanilla

broil till frosting carmelizes and starts bubbling all over

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2-3 Chicken Breasts Cut into small strips

9 oz. Apricot Preserves (Half a jar)

1 Pkg. Onion Soup mix

8 oz. Thousand Island Dressing (Half a bottle)

Directions:

Place raw chicken in small dish, spread preserves over top, sprinkle with soup mix, and cover all with salad dressing. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. Serve over rice (about 3 cups seems the right amount)

Ginger Bacon Chili

Sautee diced White onion with package sliced up bacon

(remove most of fat, or use turkey bacon) with salt and pepper

Add 1 tsp Brown Sugar and ½ tsp ginger – cook till bacon gets a little crisp

In crock pot:

2 Can tomato sauce

1 Can Black Beans

2 Can Kidney Beans

1 Can Corn

1 Can diced tomatoes with green chili

½ tsp each: cumin, garlic powder, onion powder,

mustard powder, mesquite seasoning, goya adobo seasoning

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

¼ Cup vinegar

Add onions and bacon and slow cook on high for 2 hours.

Pumpkin Brownies

In a large bowl, mix:
1 cake mix of either spice or carrot cake any brand
1 30 oz can of solid pack pumpkin (Or 2 15 oz cans)
1 6 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips. (The bittersweet are a little TOO bitter for this recipe, I use milk chocolate and MORE than 6 oz.)
Spray a 9x11 cake pan. Dump in batter. It's thick like brownie batter. Spread evenly. Bake for 40 minutes at 350. Serve with a dollop of whipped topping.
Yummy! A full serving of vegetables in every serving. Rich in Vitamin A, No cholesterol, and the only fat is from the chocolate chips. 1/16 of the recipe (without the whipped topping) is about 175 calories. It's very filling, so you're not tempted to eat a giant serving.