Shrimp Stir fry with Coconut Sauce

I have been on a serious Asian food kick lately and this is one of the new recipes I tried. The coconut sauce was delicious and creamy and the tender shrimp went great with the crunchy snow peas and peppers. The best part of this meal is it only takes about 30 minutes and the frozen shrimp you just run under water until thawed so it is a great meal right after work!

Ingredients

1 recipe Coconut-Curry sauce (below)

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced (any type will do)

8 ounces snow peas, strings removed

1 can water chesnuts

1 cup bean sprouts (optional)

½ onion, sliced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon of butter

½ carton of mushrooms

Coconut Sauce

1 can coconut milk

1 cup of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of garlic or 3 small garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 tablespoon crushed chili peppers

Salt to taste

Heat butter in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté then add bell peppers and sauté a little more. Add shrimp, and everything else including coconut sauce.

Cook and cover for 5 minutes until mushrooms and snow peas soften, bring to a light boil until softened. If sauce is still to runny add cornstarch until thickened.

Dish up with rice, and enjoy

Crock Pot Beef Stew

I love to use my crock pot especially on a cold day..This is one of my favorite Fall and Winter dishes!

Ingredients

• 3 pounds cubed ( I like mine sliced thin) beef stew meat
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup baby carrots diced
• 4 large potatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups of beef stock
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 onions, sliced (half of them used for large skillet with meat, the other half for crock pot)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp garlic salt of powder
• 3 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
• 1 bag of peas
• 2 tablespoons of flour

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, onions and some garlic salt, black pepper, and salt, and cook until evenly browned on the outside. Transfer to a slow cooker along with the carrots, potatoes, parsley, and pepper. In a small bowl, stir together 2 cups of boiling water and dry soup mix; pour into the slow cooker.
2. In the same skillet, melt butter and saute onions until softened; remove to the slow cooker. Pour red wine into the skillet, and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. Remove from heat, and pour into the slow cooker.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to Low, and cook for 6 hours, or until meat is fork tender. In a small bowl or cup, mix together 2 tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup warm water, and put peas into the stew. Stir into stew, and cook for 30 minutes, or until thickened.

Glazed Poppy seed Bundt Cake

I have a serious obsession with desserts and this is one of my FAVORITES and it is super easy. This cake is moist and light and the buttery glaze is delicious without being too heavy. My husband LOVES this cake and can eat half of the cake!

1 yellow cake mix

1 (5.1 oz) Large box of instant vanilla pudding

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/2 cup pineapple or orange juice (I use pineapple)

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

Mix yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding and poppy seeds. Add juice, oil, and sour cream and mix. Add 4 eggs one at a time, mix well. Grease I use cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes (don't over bake).When the cake is about 10 minutes from being done start the glaze

Glaze:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup butter (1 cube)

Bring ingredients to a boil and keep bubbling until ready to pour over cake. Then pour the glaze overtop of cake, Give it a few minutes to soak in and then turn it out onto a cake plate. Optional: dust top of cake with powdered sugar.

Nutter Butters

These are fun to make for any holiday!

1 package Nutter Butter Cookies
1 14oz bags of white chocolate candy coating
1/4 cup red candy coating
Blue colored sugar (instructions below)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
To melt the candy coating, empty contents of the bag into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals stirring between until the chocolate is melted consistently. Place the Nutter Butters into the coating, covering them completely. Use a fork to "fish" the cookies from the coating shaking the fork back and forth lightly to remove any extra. Place the cookies on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with blue colored sugar. Cool completely until coating hardens.
Melt red candy coating using the same method as above. Transfer to a plastic bag. Using scissors, cut the very tip off the sandwich bag. The smaller your cut, the smalled the drizzle. Use the sandwich bag to pipe the red coating back and forth over the cookie until you reach the desired look. When the drizzle has hardened (you can put them in the freezer to speed up the process) brake off any extra chocolate with your fingers.
Colored Sugar

Blue Colored Sugar:

This is so simple. All you have to do is put some sugar (1/4 cup) into a sandwich bag. For good measure it is best to double bag the sugar. Then place some food coloring into the bag w/ the sugar and squish it around and shake it until the color is blended with the sugar. Add more food coloring until you reach the desired color.

Sunshine Jell-o

I got this recipe from Mike’s aunt Laurel…It is Divine, and it is so easy and quick. It seems like I always need to take a salad to some family or church event and this one is quick and really yummy! It reminds me of the sunsets that we are having in Arizona! Gorgeous!

Ingredients:

1 large package of orange jell-o

2 small packages of cook lemon pudding

1 large package of instant vanilla pudding

1 large cool whip (8 oz)

3 small jars of mandarin oranges

4 cups of milk

Directions:

Cook lemon pudding over stove using 4 cups of milk, bring to a boil. While lemon pudding is trying to cook, have 2 cups of water boiling for orange jello. Mix the 2 cups of boiling water to the orange jello make sure the gelatin is dissolved. In a large baking pan mix the lemon pudding together with the orange jello. Mix the jello and pudding mixture together with a wire whisk or mixer. Place into refrigerator and let it settle (firm). After the jello is settled, in a large bowl mix 2 cups of milk with the large package of instant vanilla pudding. Pour pudding mixture into a separate bowl or into the cool whip container (if there is enough room to mix). Mix the cool whip and vanilla pudding together. Pour over jello and decorate the top with mandarin oranges. Keep refrigerated.

Mexican Chicken

This is a regular in our house. I love to use the crock pot it is so easy! (We halved this recipe, There are only two of us!)

(Makes 10-12 servings)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups frozen corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cups Pace salsa, divided (we used the black bean and corn salsa)
Tabasco sauce (or any other hot sauce), to taste.. (**optional.. this isn't part of the original recipe but we added it for an added kick)
10 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese, cubed
cooked rice (I made a Spanish rice of sorts by adding a little tomato sauce, cumin, onion, and garlic powder to the rice while cooking, but I love regular rice with it to and you can just stick it in the rice cooker)
shredded cheddar cheese

Combine beans, corn, garlic, cumin and 1/2 of the salsa in slow cooker. Arrange chicken breasts over top. Pour remaining salsa (and optional hot sauce) over top of chicken. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours or on low 4-6 hours. Remove chicken and cut into bite size pieces. Return to crockpot. Stir in cream cheese. Cook on high until it melts. Spoon chicken and sauce over cooked rice. Top with cheese. Yummy!

Banana Cake

This is my husband’s favorite desert and it seems every time I get bananas there are a few that do not get eatin’ so here it is..A great recipe to use with those bananas that are left over!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 1/8 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
4. For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add confectioners sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake.