Curry Coconut Chicken Stir-Fry

Giselle posted the following on Facebook a day or so ago:
"Anyone looking for something different to eat tonight! I did this and it's yummy! I did only use green curry paste and I used my zucchini from garden for my veggies along with yellow squash all cut up small ...the kids and hub loved it...my new fav for the moment!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvSDgcu454w" 

Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cups water
2 cubes Chicken Bouillon
3 cups chopped Broccoli
1 small can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 large chopped Carrots
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
4 oz. Cream Cheese

Simmer vegetables in water and bouillon until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until smooth. Makes 5 (8oz.) servings.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Grilled Corn on the Cob

If the ears have many layers of husk on them, peel off the first few only, leaving a few layers for protection. Soak the whole cobs in a pot of cold water for 15 minutes. Be sure the ears are completely covered with water. This will provide extra moisture for cooking and will steam the corn kernels inside the husks. While the corn is soaking, preheat the grill to a medium temperature.

After soaking, remove the corn from the water and shake off any excess water. Begin by pulling the husks of the corn back (but do not completely remove them). Remove and discard only the silk.

Brush the kernels with olive oil or butter. If desired, before you re-wrap the corn in the husks, add a little salt and black pepper. Then reposition the husks back over the kernels and tie each ear with a piece of loose husk or twine.

Place the prepared ears of corn on a medium heat grill, rotating the corn as needed to keep it from getting charred too much on one side. After a couple of turns, place the corn husk on an indirect heat (moved to the side of the grill) or on the top shelf of your grill, and close the cover.

Allow the corn to slowly continue cooking for approximately 15 minutes.

Zucchini Chicken Casserole

Zucchini Chicken Casserole

1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing, prepared
1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of chicken
1 pint sour cream
1 grated onion
1-3 cups cooked and cubed chicken
3 cups diced zucchini
1 cup grated carrots

Boil vegetables until tender. Drain. Mix all ingredients together and put in casserole dish. Cover with grated cheese if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.

Fake Lasagna

Fake Lasagna
Brown 1 lb ground beef. Add 2 large cans Spaghetti Sauce. Heat. Cook 1 ½ cups elbow macaroni. Slice and steam 2 zucchini. Add cooked noodles and steamed zucchini to sauce. Take off heat and add 1lb cottage cheese, 1 cup cubed or shredded mozzarella. Stir as little as possible. Serve with garlic bread.

Pork and Zucchini Stir Fry

Pork and Zucchini Stir Fry

approx 1 lb Boneless Pork Ribs or Boneless Pork Chops
3 Zucchini or Yellow Squash
BBQ Sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Rice

Cut squash into long, thin strips. Steam in microwave about 3 min. Cut Pork into small pieces and place in large skillet. Cover in equal parts Teriyaki and BBQ sauce. Simmer until meat is cooked. Add squash. If desired, add more sauce. Cook for a few minutes until squash are cooked through. Serve over Rice.

Garden Vegetable Recipes

Over the next few days I will post the recipes from the handout last night. I know some people like to store recipes on their computer, so this way you can copy and paste rather than re-type the recipes. And those of you who didn't get to make it to the Relief Society Meeting can see what we talked about (there should also be handouts available on Sunday). I showed how to make zucchini and eggs, as well as zucchini brownies - and we all tasted the finished product. Then we talked about different recipes that we all like to make using produce from our gardens.

Those of you who shared recipe ideas with us last night are welcome to post your recipes too - the more, the better!

Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini Brownies
recipe from Angelic Jackson

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups shredded zucchini

Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan. Mix oil sugar and vanilla. Add the flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Mix. At this point you will think that there is not enough liquid but keep going – it will work! Add the 2 cups zucchini and mix…and mix until you get a gooey mixture. Spread in 9x13 pan and bake for 25-30 min. Dust with powdered sugar or top with frosting.

August Releif Society Meeting

This month we will talk about Recipes using vegetables from our gardens.

I have been trying out different recipes using zucchini recently since that is what we are getting a lot of from our garden right now. So hopefully I will have several tasty recipes ready to share with you all!

If you have a favorite recipe using vegetables out of your garden, bring it with you to share on Wed, August 18 from 7-8:30pm. See you there!

Zucchini and Eggs

We have been getting a few zucchini out of our garden this past week, so I thought I would share one of our favorite ways to eat it. We love zucchini and eggs for breakfast and it is super easy!

1 zucchini
3 eggs, beaten

Thinly slice zucchini. Steam in microwave for approx 4 min. Spread out zucchini in an even layer in a lightly greased frying pan, and pour beaten egg evenly over top. Cook until egg is firm. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


We don't really follow a recipe, but those are the amounts I used this morning for the 2 of us :)

Freezer Dinner website

I came across this website the other day in the Deseret News - http://www.freezerdinner.com/ The website is for this gal's cookbook, but she has quite a few recipes posted, as well as tips for freezing different things.

Banana Bread

I have always had a hard time with banana bread. With every recipe I have tried, I can't get the center to cook all the way without overcooking the edges unless I made mini loaves...that is until I found the recipe below in the Relish magazine that comes in the paper. Last night I made this recipe again and added chocolate chips - boy was it tasty!

Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/3 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees. Coat an 8x4inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir well.
3. Combine banana, sugar, egg, egg whites, buttermilk, and oil; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just evenly blended. Pour into pan.
4. Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack. Serves 12

Just FYI - if you use yogurt, be sure to use plain yogurt. I used vanilla yogurt once thinking that it would be close enough, but the bread had a weird aftertaste to me. I usually make buttermilk to use in this bread (see tip below).


Cooking Tip: If you don't have buttermilk on hand, use 1/3 cup milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before adding to the recipe. (I have heard you can use vinegar instead of lemon juice, but have never tried it)

~Samantha

Website Link - 4th of July Cake

I have found several fun, easy recipes on http://www.kraftrecipes.com/home.aspx They have fun holiday recipe ideas!

A few years ago I made this cake. It was super easy and everyone at the family party I took it to thought I was so cleaver. I copied the recipe and picture below from the website.

Wave Your Flag Cake

Ingredients
4 cups fresh strawberries, divided

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (6 oz.) or 2 pkg. (3 oz. each) JELL-O Gelatin, any red flavor

ice cubes

1 cup cold water

1 pkg. (12 oz.) prepared pound cake, cut into 10 slices

1-1/3 cups blueberries, divided

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Directions

Slice 1 cup strawberries; cut remaining strawberries in half. Set aside.

Add boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice cubes to cold water to measure 2 cups. Add to gelatin; stir until ice is melted. Refrigerate 5 min. or until slightly thickened (consistency of unbeaten egg whites). Meanwhile, cover bottom of 13x9-inch dish with cake slices. Add sliced strawberries and 1 cup blueberries to thickened gelatin; stir gently. Spoon over cake slices.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Spread with COOL WHIP. Arrange strawberry halves on COOL WHIP for stripes of flag and remaining blueberries for stars. Keep refrigerated.

Gluten

I have taken a while to get a post together on this because I was wanting to provide some links to good articles and resources that might be helpful. Unfortunately, I haven't found many that I would consider entirely helpful.

Anyways, at the Relief Society Meeting a few weeks ago, there was a question asked about gluten - what it is and why people say its bad for you. I will do my best to answer - you are welcome to ask more questions if I am not covering what you want to know. And sorry for the lengthy post!

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. A bigger list of gluten containing foods here. Developing gluten (by kneading) changes the texture of baked goods, which is why more kneading leads to chewier products (good for pizza and bagels), while less kneading yields tender baked goods. That is also why different there are different flours - bread flours are higher in gluten while cake flours are lower in gluten.

For some people, eating gluten can cause serious health issues. Celiac disease is an intestinal disorder in which the person cannot tolerate gluten - When a person with celiac disease eats gluten, the body's immune system attacks the gluten and damages the small intestine. This can make it hard for the person to absorb other vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. There is a good, short, basic article here about celiac disease.

Some other people may have minor intolerance to gluten - its the same concept as lactose intolerance where some people have full-blown lactose intolerance and some people don't but they have a hard time digesting some dairy products. People who have an intolerance to gluten may have symptoms such as gas or bloating when they eat gluten. If you think you have an intolerance to gluten, talk to your doctor before going on any diets because by going on an unsupervised gluten-free diet, you could be masking the signs that would allow a doctor to get an exact diagnosis and look for related problems.

There are some people that claim that gluten can cause cancer and other health problems, but I have not seen any science that backs that up. I have seen information that those with celiac disease are at higher risk for cancer in the small intestine, so that may be where that claim stemmed from.

Some people claim that you can lose weight by cutting gluten out of your diet, but if you do lose weight it is more likely because you have reduced your overall caloric intake. Here is a pretty good article on gluten free diets and weight loss.

There are some people that say a gluten-free, casein-free diet may help Autism, but there have been no scientific studies to back that claim up. Some people do report a relief in symptoms after following the diet. If you are considering trying this diet to relieve symptoms of Autism, talk to a health-care professional (like your doctor and a registered dietitian) because there can be side effects and potential nutrient shortfalls when a the diet is self-prescribed. For more info here is a short article from the American Dietetic Association.

I apologize again for the length of the post - it was the best way I felt I could pass along the information I found.

~Samantha Rasmussen

Broccoli Bake

If you picked up a Bountiful Basket last weekend, you probably got a couple heads of broccoli. I thought I would share one of the recipes we really like that has broccoli in it.

Broccoli Bake

4 cups chopped Broccoli
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans condensed Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 tsp dried Basil
1 Tbsp dried Minced Onion
3/4 cup shredded Cheese
around 2 or 3 cups cooked rice
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Cook broccoli until crisp-tender. Combine soup, cheese, onion, and basil. Add broccoli to mixture. Coat the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan with the rice. Put the soup and broccoli mixture on top of the rice. Combine melted margarine and bread crumbs and layer sprinkle over the casserole. Bake at 375 degrees for around 20 min.

*Sometimes I add a cooked, diced chicken breast or some cauliflower to the soup and broccoli mixture

If you have a good recipe that uses Broccoli, please share it with us :)
~Samantha Rasmussen

Chocolate Drop Cookies

I made these last night and they were sooo good! I found the recipe here.

Chocolate Drop Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 cup Chopped Walnuts (If you're not a fan of nuts, you can relpace them with Chocolate Chunks!

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the shortening, milk, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.

Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

~Samantha Rasmussen

P.S. I am still working on putting together that information on Gluten - sorry it's taking so long

Questions from last night

I wanted to get you guys some information on some of the questions that were asked last night. I am doing research on the question about Gluten and will put together something on that. In the mean time, here is the article that talked about eating sprouts when you are pregnant: http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/foods-to-avoid-when-youre-pregnant Basically it says that there is a bacteria that can get into the sprouts that may be harmful for a pregnant woman to consume. If you cook the sprouts there is no danger. When you are pregnant, your immune system is weaker and that is why there is no risk to non-pregnant persons.

Anyways, I hope that was helpful to someone. I don't know how much of a danger there really is, but if you are pregnant just be aware and maybe talk to your doctor.

Samantha Rasmussen

More FHE Treat Ideas

These were on the handout that I gave tonight at the Relief Society Meeting. The nest post is a recipe that was on the handout as well. Hope this gives you a few ideas :)

~Samantha Rasmussen

• Gold fish crackers for becoming “Fisher’s of Men”
• Build nachos on paper plates for a lesson on learning “line upon line, precept on precept, here a little and there a little”
• Oreos* with a lesson on the scriptures – sometimes the good stuff is inside
• Animal cookies for a lesson on the creation or Noah’s Arc
• Cut out bread and cheese hearts using a heart-shaped cookie cutter to go with a lesson on love or make heart-shaped sugar cookies for a sweeter treat
• Make a food storage recipe to go with a lesson on preparedness (see handouts from Ashlie or recipes on sites such as http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/recipes/ or http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com) 

*Home-made Oreos

2 eggs

½ cup oil

¼ cup flour

1 Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Filling: 2 cups Powdered Sugar, 4oz Cream Cheese, ¼ cup butter (if desired)

Instructions

Mix eggs, oil, flour and cake mix. Drop by teaspoon to form cookies. Bake at 325° for 10 min. When cool (not cold), spread one cookie with frosting and top with another. Keep in sealed container for soft, chewy cookies.

Scripture Cookies

Recipe from: “Kitchen Krafts: Scripture Cookies,” Friend, Aug 1989, 22

To find each ingredient, look up scripture reference and fill in blank. Some clues are subtle, so check list of ingredients on bottom of page before making cookies.


    3/4 cup “The words of his mouth were smoother than ____” (Ps. 55:21)
    1/3 cup “Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy ____ and honey” (2 Ne. 26:25)
    1 1/2 cups “To what purpose cometh there to me … the ____ ____ from a far country?” (Jer. 6:20)
    2 “As one gathereth ____ that are left, have I gathered all the earth” (Isa. 10:14)
    2 cups “And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine ____” (1 Kgs. 4:22)
    1 teaspoon “Take thou also unto thee principal spices, … and of sweet ____ half so much” (Ex. 30:23)
    1 teaspoon “Ye are the ____ of the earth” (Matt. 5:13)
    1/2 teaspoon “The kingdom of heaven is like unto ____ (Matt. 13:33)
    3 cups “Nevertheless, … ____ for the horse” (D&C 89:17)
    1 cup “And they gave him … two clusters of ____” (1 Sam. 30:12)

1. Beat first four ingredients together.
2. Mix in remaining ingredients.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350° F for 15 minutes.

Answers: 3/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups sugar (sweet cane), 2 eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (leaven), 3 cups oats, 1 cup raisins. (This recipe basically makes oatmeal raisin cookies)

FHE Treat Ideas

As I was getting ready for the Relief Society Meeting tonight, I came across 3 websites and a recipe book with some fun ideas for Family Home Evening treats. Here are the links:

http://lds.about.com/od/fherefreshments/a/fhe_recipebook.htm  (the pdf for the recipe book is at the end of the directions) 

http://www.family-home-evenings.com/2008/06/yummy-fhe-treat-ideas.html

http://www.ldssplash.com/fhe/fhe_treats/family_home_evening_treats.htm

http://www.neighborjanepayne.com/read.php?SD=1&SS=129&A=368&SA=389

I hope to see you all tonight at 7:00 at the church! ...and don't forget to bring your favorite Family Home Evening treat to share :)

~Samantha Rasmussen

Relief Society Meeting Reminder

We are excited for our first Relief Society Meeting with the new format!

It will be 7-8:30pm Wed, June 16 at the Church. 

There will be three classes offered, you may attend them all or just the ones suited for your needs. The schedule will be as follows:

• 7-7:45pm - Wheat 101
• 7:45-8pm FHE Treats (Please bing your favorite FHE treat to share!)
• 8-8:30pm Family Home Evening Packets

There will also be a quilt set up for those interested and a nursery will be provided.

Heart healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Over at the Self Reliance blog Ashley has been talking about honey and oatmeal so I found a recipe that has both.  I got this recipe out of the Woldwide Ward Cookbook.  They have no surgar and no butter but has honey, oatmeal and whole wheat flour.  They were good!

1/2 C canola oil
1 C honey
4 egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 C whole wheat flour
1 C white flour
2-3 C Oatmeal
3/4 C walnuts
I added 1/2 bag of chocolate chips too. :)

Mix oil and honey well. Add egg whites and continue mixing until well blended.  Stir in remaining ingredients mixing after each addition.  Drop onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 350 degrees for 10 min.  Makes 3-4 dozen.  Hope you enjoy these and you don't have to feel too guilty.  Becky Graves

Taco Braid

1 teaspoon active dry yeast        Filling:
2 tablespoons sugar, divided      1 pound lean ground beef
3/4 cup warm water, divided       1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter, softened   1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk     2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 egg, beaten                              1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt                        1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 cups flour                                 1/4 cup sliced olives

     In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup water; let stand for 5 minutes.  Add butter, milk powder, egg, salt and remaining sugar and flour.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
     **I use a Bosch so I just add flour until it scrapes the sides, then let it mix for 10 minutes.  Then you don't have to let it rise for an hour, it's just ready to go.
     In a skillet, cook beef and mushrooms over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in tomato sauce and taco seasoning.  Set aside 1 tablespoon beaten egg.  Stir remaining egg into beef mixture.  Cool completely.
     Punch dough down.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 15 in. x 12 in rectangle.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Spread filling lengthwise down center third of rectangle.  Sprinkle with cheese and olives.
     On each long side, cut 1 inch wide strips about 2-1/2 inches into center.  Starting at on end, fold alternating strips at an angle over filling.  Pinch ends to seal and tuck under.  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.  Brush with reserved egg.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to wire rack.  Yield: 12-15 servings.

Karin Jacobson

Peanut Butter Mousse

I saw this recipe on Studio 5 and we tried it out...something different and very yummy...not diet food!

3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
2 c. heavy cream (cold)
1 Tbl. vanilla extract
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (optional for decoration)

Beat the cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form; refrigerate. Cream together the cream cheese, sugar, milk, and peanut butter. Fold in the cold whipped cream until a creamy smooth textured mousse forms. Refrigerate until very cold.

Peanut butter mousse can be served by itself or as a cupcake filling/frosting. We made heart shaped German Chocolate cupcakes, cut them in half, put the mousse in the middle, and spread it on top.

There's a picture of the cupcakes we made on my blog!

Creamy White Chili

This chili is super easy and soooo dang good!  
Creamy White Chili
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies (if you like less kick, add just one can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream


In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. (I boil my chicken with the onion and garlic powder until it is tender enough to shred.)  Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately. This is especially good served with tortilla chips. Makes about 6 servings.
 
To make your own tortilla chips, lightly brush olive oil over both sides of fresh corn tortillas, cut into strips or triangles and bake at 400 degrees until crisp.
 
Enjoy,
Missy