CASHEW CHICKEN

Everyone loved, loved this!  There wasn't much left.  If have company over..double recipe.  Found the chicken in the freezer section - used the whole bag.  Think this would be a good recipe to replace chicken with beef and bell pepper with broccoli.  We liked without the green onions.  Took about 30-40 minutes from start to finish.  Good with steamed broccoli, peas and corn.

UPDATE: Would have this any day over Safeway chinese.  Yum!  Good with chicken breast as well.  I didn't have green onions so used celery (added with bell pepper).  Also did some slivered almonds because I only had salted cashews (did any some).  Used Soba noodles (3 pak).  Didn't chop up water chestnuts.  Would be a good meal to take to a family.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/cashew-chicken/

Prep: 5 Minutes	Level: Easy
Cook: 10 Minutes	Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 6 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs, Cut Into Small Cubes
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• 1 Tablespoon Chopped Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Chopped Fresh Ginger
• 1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Chopped
• 1/4 cup Sherry Or Chicken Broth
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1/2 cup Drained Canned Water Chestnuts, Coarsley Chopped
• 1 cup Unsalted Cashews (be Sure To Use Unsalted)
• 2 whole Green Onions, Thinly Sliced
• Cooked Rice Or Noodles, For Serving (if Desired)

Preparation

In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Set aside. 

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat and add the chicken in a single layer. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt, then leave it alone for at least a couple of minutes to give the chicken a chance to brown. When the chicken has turned golden, stir it around so that it can brown on all sides. Throw in the garlic and ginger and stir to combine. Stir in the bell pepper and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

While the pan is still hot, pour in the sherry. Stir it around, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen all the flavorful bits. Turn the heat to medium-low and pour in the sauce mixture, then mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water to make a slurry and pour it in. Stir the sauce for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken, then add the water chestnuts and cashews and stir to coat everything with the sauce, adding a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.

Finally, sprinkle on the green onions. Serve with cooked rice or noodles.


CHINESE CASHEW CHICKEN 
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/chinese-cashew-chicken-30-minute-meal/

We all loved this especially Scott.  I doubled the recipe so we would have enough for lunches.  I also added celery, frozen broccoli and sugar snap peas.  I also used roasted garlic.  If the cashews are salted - rinse them first.  I roasted them by toss them in 1-2 tsp oil and roast at 200 for 5-10 minutes.  Had pineapple on the side.  Would be good with yakisoba noodles.  Abagail didn't like the cashews so next time I will not add and just have everyone put some on their dish if they want.

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon grated or finely chopped fresh ginger (or ginger paste from a tube)
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded, cored and diced into bite-size pieces
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups roasted cashews (I prefer unsalted)

SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Place the diced chicken in a medium bowl and toss with the 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
2. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
3. Rinse the chicken in a colander and pat dry (I leave the rinsed chicken in the colander, grab a bunch of paper towels and dab all over the surface, kind of turning the chicken as I pat dry).
4. In a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. You want the skillet very hot.
5. Add the chicken in a single layer and stir constantly; the chicken should turn white as it cooks – but not get overly brown. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes (it’s ok if it isn’t fully cooked yet; it will cook more in the next few steps).
6. Scoot the chicken to the edges of the pan. Add another drizzle (a teaspoon or so) of olive oil to the center of the skillet.
7. Add the garlic and ginger to the center of the skillet and mash gently as it cooks, about 30 seconds.
8. Add the green peppers; stir to combine the chicken, garlic/ginger, and peppers.
9. Whisk the sauce to recombine, and add it to the skillet. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened, the chicken is cooked through, and the peppers are crisp-tender.
10. Remove from the heat, add the cashews, and serve over hot, cooked rice (if desired).

MEAL WEEK OF EASTER (WHAT JESUS WOULD HAVE EATEN)

We have done this for about the past 5-6 years.  The kids really like. Jackson asked this year if we can do it every year.  He said it is one of his top 5 meals that he likes.  We normally sit on the ground.  This year I opted to sit at the table - getting too old :-)  

Here is a list of things we normally have:

meat - steak, lamb or fish
green salad - dressing: olive oil, basalmic and garlic clove
grapes
strawberries (or any other berries)
olives (Safeway has a fun olive bar)
bread (didn't like levened bread using make homemade, focaccia or pretzel rolls)
hard boiled eggs
grape juice 

For dessert something to do with honey (WinCo has honey sticks in the bulk - loved the coconut one).  

MEAL IDEAS - TO TAKE TO OTHERS - FEED MISSIONARIES

These are some I have done before and worked out well:

Dessert ideas for any meal:
Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake
Texas Sheet Cake
Cinnamon Rolls


Taco Soup
Doritos
Cheese
Sour Cream
simple dessert - ice cream sandwiches goes well.  Did Peach cobbler (Colorado Peach Cobbler - Taste of Home) one time with ice cream - went over very well
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Hawaiian Haystacks
rice
all the toppings
Dessert - cobbler or cheesecake
(for Jackson's baptism we had 15 adults and 4 kids - I did two BIG cans of cream of chicken, 1 BIG can of chicken broth (bigger than 32 oz), 4 cans of chicken and 2 cream cheese - we had about 2-3 cups of mixture left.  Did 10 cups dry rice (5 cups in 2 different ones) the one rice cooker only had 1-2 servings out of it.)
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Sloppy Joes - Pioneer Woman (makes lots)
hamburger buns (toasted?)
slices of cheese
bag of chips (when I did this meal with Lisa - she made pretzel salad and a broccoli salad to go with it - was perfect!)
any kind of dessert would be good 
Lisa and I took this meal (see her salads) to 3 families plus our own.  I doubled the recipe plus I added a little extra meat (did a little less than 1/2 turkey).  It was 9 adults and 12 kids.  Gave each kid 1/4 c and for each adult 1/4 plus 1/8.
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Chicken Noodle Soup (McCleve 2nd edition cookbook with homemade noodles)
Cranberry bread/biscuits/scones or homemade bread or pumpkin biscuits
any kind of dessert
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Homemade Mac & Cheese
Meatballs
Homemade bread or somekind of biscuit/scone
Broccoli/green beans/corn/peas
Dessert - coca cola cake / zucchini brownies
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Breakfast:
Taste of Home - potato dish (with sausage)
coconut bread
Egg chili casserole (McCleve 2nd edition - one from Candace)
Fruit - one kind or a salad
Dessert - not really one needed.  The coconut bread is really sweet.
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Steak Salad
Dressing
Rolls
Dessert - anything
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Ranch Pork Chops (plate/tinfoil/meat/tinfoil)
Pretzel Rolls or homemade bread (brown lunch bag)
**worked really well to cook pork for 10 minutes while doing water bath for rolls then cooking both at same time to finish
green salad (in a gallon zip lock bag) with dressing (put in a cup for them to keep)-made day before
oatmeal cookies for dessert (quart zip lock bag) - made day before
canned or fresh corn (just gave them the can) mashed potatoes and gravy would be good too
can of Mandarine oranges (just gave them the can) - or a cut up fresh fruit would be good too

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Cream cheese chicken
Rice
can of mandarine oranges (or fresh fruit)
broccoli/corn mix
french bread or other bread
dessert (it was summer so I did Little Debbie snacks, ice cream bars or sandwiches would be good too)

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Loaded Broccoli Cheese and Bacon Soup
Homemade bread or rolls

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We did this with the missionaries - they had had it about a week before at someone elses house, but seemed to like it.  Asked for honey & butter to put on it which was great because I hadn't thought about it.  So good!  What was so nice about this meal is I made the dessert the day before, started the chili in the morning and got everything ready for waffles except for fridge stuff.  Then I only had to put together salad, drink and make waffles. Was easy cleanup too.

Chili - Steve's recipe (Candace folder)
Cornbread - McCleve 2nd edition - made waffle style
Green salad - got a bag of romaine with veggies and bad of ice berg with veggies and mixed the two.  Added tomatoes and cucumbers.
Grated cheese & sour cream to go on top
Dessert - chocolate lush, but anything would be good

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Tostadas
5 cup salad (Pima pg. 33)
George Strait Spanish rice (Cowboy Cookbook)
vegetable
apple cake (Cowboy Cookbook)

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This meal went over very well with the missionaries and it was easy to prepare and easy clean up

Crockpot Egg Casserole (with salsa or one requested ketchup)
Scones
Cottage Cheese
fresh oranges (peeled)
canned peaches
Drink: hot chocolate, orange juice or water

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Homemade soup bowls
Loaded Broccoli Cheese and Bacon soup
Orange Pinapple cake for dessert

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Beef and Tomatoes
Rice
Pot stickers or egg rolls
Broccoli

THINGS TO REMEMBER / TIPS

TIPS AND THINGS I HAVE TRIED AND LIKED AND DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

*hot water with lemon - one small mug full of hot water + 1 tsp. lemon juice + 2 tsp. fiber supplement - This is a great substitute for hot chocolate. Also a good thing to have before going to bed or in the morning.

*Can freeze lemons and limes whole - then defrost and juice or zest.

*sprinkled wheat germ on top of grapefruit - liked it. Abagail ate it too.

*Egg replacement in recipes: 1 T flaxseed meal to 3 T water. Let soak for 2 minutes.

*How to deseed a pomegranate: cut pomegranate into sections and put in a bowl of water. Pop seeds out in the water. They will float to the bottom and everything else will float to the top.

*I don't like cilantro neither do kids but Scott does in small amounts.

*Rice and left over spaghetti freeze really well.

*Can use plain greek yogurt in recipes instead of butter, mayo or sour cream. Is also good on top of anything you would put sour cream on top of (potatoes, taco soup etc.)

*Substituted black refried beans in brownies instead of oil - no one noticed and everyone liked them..hee..hee.

*Cheese is best at room temperature.

*Add seasonings last 20 minutes of bake time - will then have the most flavor. Always remove the bay leaf - it can make your tongue tingle if eaten.

*Drain moisture from your potatoes before making hash browns (put the shredded potatoes in a towel or paper towel and sqeeze).

*freeze extra bread (or the heels) and then when there are lots put in food processor to make bread crumbs.  Use within a few days or freeze.

*left over buttermilk can be frozen to be used later. Can make own buttermilk by adding 1T lemon juice, 1T white vinegar or 1/2 tsp cream of tarter to 1 cup milk.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Or whisk together 3/4 cup plain yogurt to 1/4 cup milk.  

*Can make own taco shells by frying 15 seconds per side.  Make sure to fold over.
Can also bake them in the oven by putting them upside down over oven tray slats.

*Whipping cream: fill a jar one-quarter full with cold heavy cream then seal and shake until cream is thick and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.


*make own BROWN SUGAR - 1 cup sugar with 4 tsp of molasses for light, or 1/4 cup molasses for dark

*to get rid of the pickle smell in a jar.  Put some oxiclean mixture and water and soak overnight.

*Some foods that are proven to boost metabolism: tomatoes, water, spinach, fish, cottage cheese, lemon, egg whites, avocado, apples, blueberries and almonds.  Sleep is very important too!

*to clean grease off burners on the stove - put them in a ziploc bag with about 1/4 c of ammonia and seal the bag.  Let it sit overnight then wipe with a sponge.

*Fun way to make cornbread - waffle maker.  Used recipe in McCleve 2nd book.  They were even better when we warmed up the extras on 350.  Make them more crunchy.  Some of us just ate the chili and then topped waffles with butter & honey - yum!

*Miranda Ealy gave me this tip after she brought super soft peanut butter cookies to YW (Bro. Cunningham said they were the bomb).  Only cook cookies for 8 minutes then leave on rack for 2 more minutes then place in a container that you can cover.  The moister is then locked in.

MEAL IDEAS

Manti Chicken (2nd McCleve Cookbook) -has to marinate overnight

http://cardoncooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/grilled-pineapple.html

Grilled Pineapple (don't add the cloves)

corn on the cob

Pioneer Woman potato salad
Dessert - Dole Whip 

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Homemade Mac & Cheese

Homemade Meatballs - Pioneer Woman

Green Beans or Green Salad or both

Oranges or some other fruit

Bread (optional)

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Rootinest, Tootinest Rice Casserole in the West - Cowboy Cookbook pg. 56

Yosemite Sam's Cranberry Chicken - Cowboy Cookbook pg. 151

Cottage Cheese

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On the Border Chilies Rellenos Casserole - Cowboy Cookbook pg. 164

Strait-Shootin' Spanish Rice - Cowboy Cookbook pg. 53

Chips & Salsa

Dessert - frozen blueberries or Sherbet Cups

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Judy's Dish - McCleve 2nd cookbook (one of Scott's favorites)

5 cup salad - Taylor or Pima Cookbook

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Fish

Hot cabbage with tomatoes

Good bread warmed in oven and then dipped in balsamic vinegar/olive oil

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Fish

potatoes - oven cooked or boiled with butter & herbs

salad

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Pesto Pasta

Ranch covered Pork Chops

Applesauce with raisins

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Aloha Chicken Kebabs pg. 95 Deceptively Delicious

Deviled Eggs pg. 99 Deceptively Delicious

Honey-Pineapple Sweet Potatoes pg. 145 taste of home 2009 Quick Cooking

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Ginger Honey Glazed Salmon

Sweet & Crunchy Quinoa Salad

Homemade Wheat Bread w/jam or honey

Gouda Cheese

(Green salad would be good with it too)

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Wild West Sizzlin' Chicken Tacos

Yellow Squash that has been pureed

BBQ Beans

Jello

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Bacon and Mushroom Savory Pie - Friends Cookbook pg.68

Butternut Squash Casserole

Pears or Peaches
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Spanaza (one of Scott's favorites) - made from scratch
Pretzel Salad - Pima cookbook (what Lisa Gray is famous for)
Green Salad, corn on the cob or green beans
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Best-Ever Pot Roast - Cowboy Cookbook pg. 124 (everyone LOVED it)
mashed potatoes
green beans
biscuits
UPDATE: with leftover make pot roast soup - yum!  (see post)

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Hamburger Soup - McCleve 2nd edition

crackers

green salad
Dessert - Carrot Cake
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CINCO de MAYO 2012
fresh tortillas from Broulims
tortilla chips & doritos
lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream
Cafe Rio pork
Cafe Rio lime rice
black beans (from a can - used S&W family collection)
Avacado Salsa
Tres Leches (Pioneer Woman) would be a good dessert
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Crispy Ranch Chicken
Smashed Potatoes
Broccoli or green salad would be good
Jello Salad (had peach - Taylor cookbook - but any would be good)
7-UP Biscuits (meant to make, but forgot)
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END OF SCHOOL/SUMMER KICK-OFF 2012
read in a magazine about a family that went out for all you can eat pancakes the last day of school to talk about what they want to do during the summer.  Instead of going out - we made the following meal.  It was really good and fun to talk about what we want to do during the summer.  Also went over a weekly calendar and what chores the kids would have.  Printed it out and put on wall.
Bacon
Hearty Brunch Potatoes - Taste of Home Family Collection pg. 41
Pumpkin Pancakes with nutella or buttermilk syrup
Apricot Cheese Kugel - Taste of Home Family Collection pg 221
fruit salad (apricots, strawberries, frozen blueberries & blackberries)
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pork chops
corn on the cob
7-up biscuits (or cheddar biscuits)
tomato/cucumber salad (marinated in dry italian dressing)
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Cafe Rio pork (made cheese crisp and put in bowl with rice, beans, lettuce and tomatoes. Topped with sour cream and guac)
Brazilian lemonade
2nd night - made a little burrito and as a side had Citrus-Mango Slaw
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Party Chicken
beans (Bush)
tomato, cucumber, bell pepper salad
Brazilian lemonade
homemade bread
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my kids had 2nds in everything - perfect summer meal!!!
Mandarin Glazed Beets - 2006 Taste of Home pg. 141
Susan's Broccoli Salad - Cowboy Cookbook
Cheese Crisp
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Nachos - 2009 Quick Cooking tasteofhome pg. 282 (makes a lot - lasted about 5 meals)
chips
any kind of veggies (we had corn/pea/green bean mixture)
or any kind of fruit
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Chinese Dinner - McCleve 2nd edition pg. 105
Egg Rolls - dip in sweet & sour sauce (Abagail especially liked)
Beef or Chicken Stir-Fry (we did chicken)
Rice
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Ham
cranberry bread with cream cheese (butter good too)
homemade creamed corn
perfect potatoes au gratin
fruit (we had pumelos)
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Hearty Brunch Potatoes
Orange Julius
Coconut Bread, Strata, french toast/pancakes or eggs
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French Dip Sandwiches
Chips
Fresh Veggies
S'more cupcakes
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Homemade soup bowls
Loaded broccoli cheese and bacon soup

MAC & CHEESE IDEAS

Mac & Cheese is not my favorite, but with one of these mix-ins I think I would like it better. I remember growing up my brother, Jimmie, would say when I wouldn't eat Mac & Cheese - Do you like cheese? Do you like macarroni? Well then you should like Macarroni & Cheese. Brothers! Jackson & Scott both love Mac & Cheese and probably wished we had it more.

• Most popular recipe is Mini Octopus found at http://kraftfoods.com/fall
• Can add 1 cup frozen vegetables. Put in the pot with the noodles during the last 5 minutes.
• MEAT - 1# beef, cooked. VEGETABLE - 1 can (15 oz) Mexican style diced tomatoes, drained; 1 can (10 oz) mushroom pieces and stems, drained.
• MEAT - 1 can (6 oz) tuna, drained. VEGETABLE - 1 can cream of mushroom soup; 1/2 cup of both milk and frozen peas.
• MEAT - 2 bonless skinless chicken breast, cooked, chopped. VEGETABLE - 1 can (15 oz) Italian style diced tomatoes, drained; 1 green pepper, chopped.
• MEAT - 1 cup pepperoni slices (about 1/4#). VEGETABLE - 1 green pepper, chopped; 2 tomatoes, chopped.