I made these last week to go with our Peanut Noodles and Chicken I blogged about last Tuesday. These were a great side dish for an Asian infused meal. Very tasty and original.

The only down side was they were a little messy to make and roll out but nothing about them was hard. I originally saw them in Family Fun Magazine back in February 2010. It was an article about cooking with kids and while I wouldn't recommend making them with kids they were still not advanced by any means.

Scallion Pancakes

3 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Water, plus more for mixing
1/2 Cup Plus Two Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1) In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt then form the mixture into a mound. Make a well in the center and add the water, first filling the well, then pouring what remains around the sides of the bowl. Use a large spoon or rubber spatula to combine the ingredients into a soft, raggedy dough. If it doesn't pull together after about a minute of stirring, add water, one tablespoon at a time(up to 4), to help the dough take shape.

2) Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Working with floured hands, knead the dough until it's smooth and springy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Shape it back into a ball and set it aside to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

3) While the dough rests chop the scallions then set aside.

4) Roll the dough into a log. Halve it crosswise, then cut each half into three pieces. Place five of the portions in a large bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.

5) Dust your hands and work surface with flour. Roll the sixth dough portion into a fairly round, 1/4 inch thick pancake. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil onto the dough and spread it evenly over the pancake. Scatter 2 generous tablespoons of chopped scallion on top, leaving a 1 inch border.

6) Roll the pancake into a log. Beginning at one end, wind the log into a spiral as if shaping a cinnamon roll, then tuck the loose end underneath. Use your palm to gently press the dough into a disk. Dust the dough lightly with flour, then roll it into a pancake 6 to 7 inches in diameter.

7) Warm a medium size skillet over medium high heat, then coat the pan with 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. use a scallion slice to test the temperature of the oil. If it sizzles at once, the oil is ready for frying. If it doesn't , wait about 30 seconds and retest the oil with another scallion slice, repeating as necessary until the oil is hot.

8) Carefully lay the pancake in the skillet and fry it until its edges puff up and the bottom is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the pancake, drizzle another 1/2 teaspoon of oil around the edges of the pan, and continue frying until the second side is golden brown, about 3 minutes m0re. Transfer the pancake to a serving plate.

9) Repeat Steps 5 through 8 for each remaining dough portion. Serve the pancakes hot or warm, cut into quarters or sixths.

Since some of these steps are a little hard to visualize so check out this link with pictures to Family Fun Magazine.

Enjoy!

Whenever I make a dinner that my husband gets excited about it makes me happy. When he ate this one he said "Put it in the binder!" referring to the binder of our family favorites. I was happy about that because it was EASY!

I pulled this recipe from Family Circle Magazine back in October 2010 and it took me until now to try it. I was prompted by the desire to use up stuff in my freezer and chicken was on the list. I cheaped out on the bean spouts and cucumbers the recipe calls for but maybe when I make it this summer and we have more cucumbers than we know what to do with.

If you have leftover chicken this recipe is perfect.

Ok I think I have gone on and on about this enough. Add it to your menu plan for next week and you will be happy.

Peanut Noodles and Chicken

1/2 Pound Linguine
2 T Soy Sauce
2 T Lemon Juice
1/2 t Cornstarch
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1/2 t Sugar
1/4 t Red Pepper Flakes
1 t Sesame Oil
1 Pound Cooked Chicken, shredded
1/2 Cucumber, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1/2 Cup Bean Sprouts

Cook linguine following package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Mix together the soy sauce, lemon juice and cornstarch. In a medium size saucepan, combine peanut butter, garlic, sugar, reed pepper flakes and 1/2 cup hot water. Whisk in the soy sauce mixture and bring to a simmer. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat; stir in the sesame oil.

In a large bowl, toss together linguine, chicken and peanut butter mixture. Scatter cucumber and bean spouts over the top and serve at room temperature.

Tonight I made a new recipe for my little family - me, my husband, and our cat who was looking at me and so I let him smell it. Needless to say, he did not like it. Should I be offended? : ) Anyways, I was looking through recipes online and found this recipe on Eating Well. I think I made too much dressing because the arugula was a little soggy. It is a fun and interesting idea to have arugula in your pasta so I might try this again. It definitely helped us reach our veggie count for the day. Overall, I am not sure about this recipe but the reviews are great on the Eating Well website. My final suggestion would be to add bacon or walnuts. That would make this dish much better. If you decide to try it, let us know in the comments section below.

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday for a turkey that we smoked on the Traeger. It was amazing and so moist. If you have a Traeger grill I highly recommend trying a turkey on it. For me, however, the real star of the meal was the sides!

I made Garlic Cheese Rolls from Our Best Bites and Homemade Rice A Roni from Food Network Magazine.

First of all the Garlic Cheese Rolls were AMAZING! I had made them before but this time I didn't put them in a muffin tin like suggested. Instead I baked them in a 13x9" pan like cinnamon rolls. This kept the rolls softer and gooey in the center. My mouth waters just thinking of them. They came out of the oven about 20 minutes before the rest of the meal was ready and non of us could keep away from them. They ended up being appetizers as well as a side dish.

The Homemade Rice A Roni was also fantastic and so easy! I have now added it to "the binder" which means it is a new family favorite. I am always looking for side dish ideas and this was perfect. The recipe was from Food Network magazine but I am not sure which issue because I tore it out of the magazine to try. I love food network magazine and always find many things in every issue I want to try.



Homemade Rice A Roni (they call it Rice-Pasta Pilaf)

Toast 1/2 cup broken spaghetti in a pot over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in 1 cup rice add 2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup water, 2 garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon salt. Boil for 3 minutes, then stir, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes; fluff with a fork and smash the garlic. Stir in some butter and cilantro.

This week at work I got the opportunity to speak at a childhood obesity prevention workshop. We were highlighting the We Can! (Ways to Enhance Childhood Activity and Nutrition) program from the National Institutes of Health. If you have children, I highly recommend checking out the We Can! website. Anyways, they have a cookbook that I brought home and I am going to start trying some of the recipes. They are super healthy and kid friendly.

How does the week go by so fast? My new goal of posting every Tuesday was all but entirely forgotten until I was laying in bed at 11:00 last night. So better late than never...right?

This cake was something I spotted online when I was researching how to use up cake mixes I have. It jumped out at me because it looked very similar to Black Bottom Cupcakes a friend of mine made for us a few times. They were/are one of my husbands favorite desserts so I figured this was worth a shot. Also who can pass up a dessert with the name Fudge Lover's Cream Cheese Cake?

This turned out so good and gooey which I liked. I served it warm with vanilla ice cream that made it even better. It is a large recipe though so make it when you are expecting company. I took it to a family dinner for 6 and we still had leftovers. The leftovers were ok with my husband since he snacked on them the rest of the week.

I didn't make any alterations to the original Betty Crocker recipe so instead of copying it all down here follow this link. She took better pictures too!

Enjoy!

After church on Sunday I was in the mood for gooey warm delicious macaroni and cheese. I had a loaf of Pepper Jack cheese in the fridge that I wanted to use up so I decided to try it in mac and cheese. Of course my cooking began by scouring the Internet for what looked like the best recipe. I ended up deciding on an Alton Brown recipe from Food Network.com.

It was a bit more labor intensive than my quick macaroni and cheese that I have been making for years but so worth it. Right out of the oven with a crunchy top and oozing with cheese center. Perfect meal for a cold Sunday afternoon.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese by Alton Brown
(*with small changes by Sheena)

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded*
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup crushed cornflakes*

Directions

This week I made a Warm Tortellini and Cherry Tomato Salad from Cooking Light. It was a great easy weeknight meal. I tried to take a picture after I made this but it didn't turn out as great as theirs shown above.

I love using recipes from Cooking Light as they have all the nutritional content already listed so you know it's healthy. This is low in calories and packed with veggies.

I did make a few changes. I didn't add the artichoke hearts because I don't really like them. I also added more balsamic vinegar and cheese.

I would recommend trying this recipe as a meal or even as a side if you want some meat in your meal. My husband said it was even better the second day for lunch. We will definitely have this again. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

I am down to the wire for my new self imposed rule of a Tuesday post. It has been a busy and eventful day. I am very ready to get into bed and hopefully get a good nights sleep. Before I call it a night, I must share these yummy Chocolate Marbled Banana Bars. They are actually Chocolate Marbled Banana Nut Bars but since I am not a nut fan I left the nut part out.

I decided to make these after cleaning out my pantry and realizing I have several packages of Betty Crocker cookie mix that need to be used up. I also have lots of bananas being stored in the freezer and I want my freezer foods used up ASAP.

These bars were even better than I expected. Very delicious served with ice cream as dessert after dinner. I also noticed they are the award winning recipe from fall 2010, can't go wrong there!

Super easy dessert or even snack bars that will not disappoint.

Hello blog world! I can't believe how long our break turned out to be. I got married in November to Sheena's brother and have been working hard to create our new home together. Sheena also mentioned in her last post that she is expecting. There are so many exciting things happening in our family!

I met with Seanna over the weekend and we decided it is time to get back to our blog. After months of things keeping us from a normal schedule (wedding, honeymoon, vacation, pregnancy, new jobs, moving, etc.) we thought it would be a good idea to ease ourselves back into a normal routine. I am also finally feeling like cooking again so it should be much easier.

To kick off my first post I want to go back to where I left off and share some of my favorite foods from our trip to Disneyland. I researched the food for this trip religiously and read many posts on the Disney Food Blog.



The mickey shaped waffle at Carnation Cafe was a must for me. I have pictures of myself in the park as a little girl eating one of these waffles. It is a favorite Disney memory and oh so good. I especially liked the sausage that came with it.




At the same breakfast my husband got the cinnamon roll french toast. Talk about a decedent breakfast. It was rich and gooey and amazing with the frosting, butter and syrup on it. I figured we did a lot of walking so one killer breakfast wouldn't hurt.


One afternoon we decided to have a snack of Pommes Frites at Cafe Oreleans. They are basically french fries but so much better. They came with a garlic topping and a fabulous dipping sauce. Thinking about these fries makes me want to plan my next trip.



Finally I have to share our Mickey shaped pretzel. We got this in Disney California Adventure as a light lunch/snack. I love anything bready and this really hit the spot.

If you are planning a trip to Disneyland check out this post on Disney Food Blog titled The 5 Best Things I Ate in Disneyland. Great inspiration for a trip of eating!

I want to end by saying thanks for your patience as we unexpectedly took so much time off from the blog. Our new plan is for me to blog on Tuesday and Seanna to post on Thursday. I am excited to get ideas back up and to find cooking inspiration online.

Have a great night!

Wow it has been a long time! Have you missed me?!? Our vacation to California for Seanna and my brother's wedding turned into a long break from blogging. I came back with a nasty cold that has taken two weeks so far to get over (and I still have a cough!). So our kitchen has not seen many great meals lately. I have had great intentions but between being so tired and nothing sounding good we have had pretty lame meals.

I am hoping that forcing myself to put together a menu plan will help this week. I don't want to keep dreading the dinner hour every night. Since I still don't feel 100% I am not sure how much of this will actually happen but a plan is the first step.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Dinner at Mom and Dad's (THANK GOODNESS!)

Tuesday: Stir Fry (pineapple, broccoli, turkey, etc.), Cranberry Muffins

Wednesday: Meatloaf, baked sweet potatoes, green beans and sparkling cider to celebrate the Christmas season!

Thursday: Office Party- leftovers or frozen pizza for hubby

Friday: Dinner at Cousin's House

Saturday: Chili, Cornbread, Rice Kripsy Treats

Sunday: Annual Decorate the Tree and eat Thai Food night

Breakfast

Monday: Cold Cereal

Tuesday: Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

Wednesday: Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

Thursday: Pancakes

Friday: Cinnamon Roll

I made pumpkin bread from a healthy recipe that only called for egg whites. I couldn't bare to throw away 4 egg yolks so I decided to find a recipe that would use them up. I did a quick search on Allrecipes.com and came up with these little gems.

These were hands down my favorite sugar cookie I have ever made. I should also mention I don't normally like sugar cookies. These were different however- they looked just like store bought and tasted so light. They sort of dissolve the moment they touch your tongue. Amazing! I am going to add them to the Christmas Cookie baking list because I liked them so much.

The sprinkles were not part of the recipe but I got the idea a while back from Cooking During Stolen Moments. I thought it really made the recipe.

If you have egg yolks that need to be used up for any reason this is exactly where they can be put to good use.

I don't have a picture of these to put up with this post at the moment but so many people have asked me what Monkey Bars are that I have to share. I made these for the first time over the summer for my husband to take camping. I thought they were really good and light tasting. Perfect little snack or breakfast.

Monkey Bars
from Woman's Day September 2010

1 2/3 Cups Mashed Ripe Bananas (about 5 bananas)
3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Large Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 3/4 Cups Flour
1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15 x 10 baking pan with nonstick foil letting the foil extend about 2 inches above the pan at both ends.,

Whisk mashed banana, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly. Whisk in flour just until blended gently stir in 1/2 cup of the mini chocolate chips.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Holding foil by ends, left from pan onto a cutting board. Carefully cut lengthwise in 4 strips and then cut each strip in 10; remove foil.

Eat and enjoy! I have frozen these and they seem to hold up well.

Things are really getting busy here the closer we get to Garrett and Seanna's wedding. Just two weeks away now! I have my final bridesmaid dress fitting this week and a haircut scheduled. Because of the two evening commitments I will be relying a lot on my crock pot this week. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Dinner

Monday: Mom and Dad's

Tuesday: 20 to 40 Clove Garlic Chicken, mashed potatoes, pumpkin dinner rolls, broccoli. (this is a meal where freezer cooking comes in so usefully! The potatoes and rolls are in the freezer and the chicken will be in the crock pot.)

Wednesday: Turkey BBQ Sandwiches, coleslaw, canned fruit-evening hot chocolate

Thursday: French Dip Sandwich, broccoli, Festive Cranberry-Pineapple Salad

Friday: Pot Roast, fresh bread, broccoli, Risotto, apple strudel for dessert

Saturday: Out to Eat

Sunday: Annual Dinner in a Pumpkin for Halloween!

Breakfast
(I just have to say that my husband, who rarely ever reads my blog, did so last week on the morning he was supposed to get a Monkey Bar for breakfast and said "I didn't get a Monkey Bar today!" I thought it was funny since he really is the only person who knows if he had what I wrote in the plan. I will try to do better this week in sticking to what I plan.)

Monday: Steel Cut Oats

Tuesday: Steel Cut Oats

Wednesday: Pancakes (thanks to planning ahead)

Thursday: Monkey Bar

Friday: Cinnamon Roll

Also on my list this week is to make Pumpkin Coffee Cake. Doesn't that sound super??

Have a great week everyone!

To see more great menu plans visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Last year my friend Kelly and I had a pumpkin baking day. We decided to do it again this year but unfortunately our results were not as good. We started by purchasing pumpkins to cook and puree. That part went OK but the rest of the day was a comedy. We started by making a layered pumpkin bar. They took twice as long to bake as the directions said causing our dinner to get later and later. Once they came out we were so excited to try them but felt disappointed the moment they touched our lips.

Without being discouraged we moved onto the pumpkin brownies. Doesn't that just sound wonderful?? Well they were not. When we took them out of the oven and tried to eat them they were so rich with butter that there was no way to gag them down. We ended up throwing most of what we made away.


The night ended with Kelly dumping her plate of acceptable goodies on our front steps. I laughed so hard my husband made me come inside so I wouldn't wake the neighbors.

So I tell you this in hopes that you will share with me some of your favorite pumpkin recipes that would be worth trying. We plan to have a part two pumpkin day and hope that our efforts will turn out better.

I am having a hard time deciding what to put on this menu plan tonight because I am overwhelmed with the amount of recipes I have in front of me. Does anyone have a really great system for keeping recipes from magazines organized and sorted? I started with a binder then moved into a whole filing box system. My problem with the box is that they are not easily accessible so I don't really think about them. My problem with the binder is that I have pulled so many recipes now that I need multiple volumes to house all my recipes. Please please, please share if you have any ideas.

On another note I made pumpkin bagels this afternoon and they turned out so amazing. I am impressed with myself.

Dinner

Monday: Dinner at Mom and Dad's

Tuesday: Baked Chicken Taquitos (except I am going to use shredded beef from the freezer), canned fruit, Mexican Rice Salad

Wednesday: Ginger and Turmeric Chicken Bites, leftover Mexican Rice Salad, canned fruit

Thursday: Ranchers Stew, cornbread, fruit

Friday: Leftover stew, fun fall dessert (I need to take this to a party we are attending)

Saturday: Out to Dinner

Sunday: Seafood Casserole, green beans, fruit

Breakfast

Monday: Pumpkin Bagel

Tuesday: Egg Sandwich

Wednesday: Monkey Bar

Thursday: Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

Friday: Leftover Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

Saturday: Pumpkin Pancakes and scrambled eggs

Sometime this week I plan to make pumpkin coffee cake. Doesn't that sound super yummy??

To see more menu plans visit I'm An Organizing Junkie.

This has been quite the week so far. I have been working long days and we have had two evening commitments. I am ready for the weekend but there is still two days left to get through. I think I can, I think I can.....

Anyway that leads me to dinner. We had planned to have Chicken Fried Steak on Tuesday night but that didn't happen because we were out of the house at dinnertime. I thought I would make them tonight but that didn't happen either since I had to work so late. What I did instead was to run home during my short lunch and throw this into the crock pot. The recipe came from Fix It and Forget It. It was easy and actually really good. I think we will be having this again.

Swiss Steak

3-4 Tablespoons Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 1/2 Teaspoons Dry Mustard
1 1/2-2 Pounds Round Steak
Oil
1 Cup Sliced Onions
1 14 1/2 Ounce Can Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

Combine flour, salt, pepper, and dry mustard. Cut steak into serving pieces. Dredge in flour mixture. Brown on both sides in oil in saucepan. Place in slow cooker. Add onions. Combine tomatoes, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours, or high 3-5 hours.

Hope you enjoy it!

This was the last shower for Seanna before the big wedding day. I helped put this one together and I was so proud that I have to share some of the shots from the day.

These cookies I made myself and I was so happy with how they turned out. I think they look like something you would buy. We put one at each persons place setting.


We also got cupcakes for everyone from Saint Cupcake in Portland. I was drawn to them because of the boxes that fit our theme-pink!


These little petits fours came from Beaverton Bakery. Aren't they sweet??



Overall the shower was tons of fun. We had so many sweets even above what I took pictures of. We also served a signature drink-sparking bride.

This is going to be a a little different week than normal. I only have to plan meals for three days! Can you believe it?!? How easy is that!? I love eating out and having other people cook for me!

We also get our new beef this week! My hubby is going to pick it up tomorrow since he has the day off from work. I have about 3 pieces of last years meat to use up so that is part of my plan for this week.

We went out to the pumpkin patch today with some friends and then spent the evening baking. The products of our labor were not very good (more to come on that later) but we had a blast. That is what matters right??

I hope everyone has a great week!

Dinner

Monday: Out to Dinner

Tuesday: Chicken Fried Steak (I have never done this before but I am going to give it a shot), pumpkin dinner rolls, green beans

Wednesday: Sausage Pizza, salad, fruit

Thursday: Steak on the BBQ, broccoli, buttered noodles

Friday: Out

Saturday: Out

Sunday: I think out but if not we will be having Seafood Bake

Breakfast

Monday: Egg Sandwich

Tuesday: Monkey Bar

Wednesday: Muffin

Thursday: Oatmeal

Friday: Oatmeal

I also want to try making pumpkin bagels this week. I saw this recipe a couple weeks ago and have been wanting to try it ever since. I must make time this week.

See more menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie.