Sunday, August 17, 2014

Homemade Spicy Cashew Chicken GF



Cashew Chicken Recipe


  • 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
  • 2 dried hot red peppers, sliced, seeds and all (or about 1 - 2 tsp red pepper flakes, to taste)
  • 1 bunch, about 10, green onions, sliced, both white parts and green parts
  • 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 1 Tbsp tamari soy sauce, (used gluten free soy sauce)
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • several dashes sesame oil
  • 3/4 cup raw cashews that have been lightly toasted   (used roasted salted cashews)
  • snipped chives for garnish
  • Cooked white or brown rice

  • Added
  • 1/2 yellow onion chopped
  • 2 small yellow and red bell peppers
  • 1 can (8 oz) water chestnuts
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a small bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the cornstarch, making sure to get all the chicken coated.
  2. Heat the oil in a wok or large saute pan over medium high heat. When the oil is nice and hot, brown the chicken on all sides. Do this in batches, so you don't crowd the chicken. The chicken needs space in the pan to brown well. Set the browned chicken aside on a plate.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger, and hot pepper to the pan and stir fry for a few minutes. Add most of the scallions, (reserve a handful for garnishing later.) and the chicken back into the pan and toss to combine.
  4. Add the vinegar, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, if using, and the water to the pan. Mix everything well,bring up to a simmer and cook gently for a minute or two until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick and glossy. Taste it now to see if you want to adjust any seasonings.
  5. Add the cashews to the sauce, and sprinkle on a few dashes of the sesame oil. Serve over hot rice garnished with the rest of the scallions, and some snipped chives. I also threw on a few more cashews.
NOTES
To toast the cashews, put them in a small saute pan over medium heat and toss them until they start to brown lightly and you can smell their aroma. Watch the pan and don't let them burn.

This was a hit with my family!  My husband loves Cashew Chicken but we don't eat  Chinese Food out much due to the restaurants mostly using gluten soy sauce to its great to make it at home and still enjoy some of your favorite foods. 

Source: the view from the great island





Friday, May 30, 2014

Taco Casserole





1 7oz. bag Nacho Cheese Doritos, crushed
1 lb. hamburger, browned
1 pkg. taco seasoning, mixed according to directions
1 (8 oz.) pkg. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 oz.) pkg. shredded Mozzarella cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Sliced tomato


Layer ingredients in 9 x 13 pan as listed - crushed chips, meat and seasonings, 2/3 of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Romaine Salad with Lemon


Romaine Salad

3 cups of Romaine Lettuce
1/2 avocado chopped
1/4 cup red onion
1/4 fresh lemon juice
Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper seasoning


Mix all vegetables together, squeeze fresh lemon juice over salad and sprinkle top with Mrs. Dash.

This is a very healthy and tasty salad.  Add various vegetables of your choice to change up this recipe.  Because of dieting I didn't want too many fats so I left out my olive oil dressing and added fresh avocado and lemon juice instead.  To my surprise this is very tasty.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Un ~Stuffed Cabbage Rolls





Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small cabbage, chopped
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.
Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.
Yield: Serves 6 to 8


(This recipe was very tasty, you can put it over mashed potatoes, rice or in lettuce as a wrap.  Even picky none cabbage eater will eat it if the cabbage is shredded.)


Source

Friday, January 10, 2014

Coconut & Almond Shake






Coconut & almond



1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 scoop chocolate protein powder                                                                   
½ cup spinach (or other veggie)

1 tablespoon unsweetened almond butter'

1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup of ice



Blend 5 ice cubes with the vegetable, then add almond milk, almond butter, protein powder, coconut and 5 more ice cubes and blend until frothy and thick.


(I was out of spinach so I used celery and didn't have fresh coconut, so I used coconut extract.  Still very tasty.)


Source

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Healthy Pumpkin Shake






Healthy Pumpkin Protein Shake


1 cup unsweetened almond milk                                                                               
 ½ cup  canned pumpkin puree
1  small orange
1 tablespoon of mulled flax seed
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup of ice
cinnamon, to taste.  ( I love cinnamon so I shake a lot in mine)


Put ice into blender and add orange and blend until pulped.  Then add all ingredients until frothy.  Note:  use 5 ice cubes for more liquid texture or at least 10 ice cube for more thicker shake.   Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Cabbage Soup Weight Watchers Recipe



Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8Yield:
1.0
cup Units: US | Metric
3 cups nonfat beef broth (beef is the best) or 3 cups nonfat vegetable broth (beef is the best) or 3 cups nonfat chicken broth (beef is the best)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt & pepper


Directions:

1
Spray pot with non stick cooking spray saute onions carrots and garlic for 5 minutes.
2
Add broth, Tomato paste, cabbage, green beans, basil, oregano and Salt & Pepper to taste.
3
Simmer for a about 5-10 minutes until all vegetables are tender then add the zuccini and simmer for another 5 or so minutes.
4
I have tried different variations. Leaving out green beans. Adding chopped green onions in addition to the yellow onion.
5
All very good. You can customise it a bit.

Made this recipe and left out green beans and zucchini and still very tasty.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Black Eyed Peas and Cabbage Stew





1 TBSP olive oil
3/4c onion, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
2c chicken broth 
3/4c brown rice
2 cans black-eyed peas with liquid
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles with liquid
2 cloves garlic, minced
1c cooked cabbage
1.  In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
2.  Add the onion, green pepper, red pepper, and celery; cook and stir until tender.
3.  Add the broth, rice, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, and garlic.
4.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer approximately 1 hour.  Add the cabbage during the last 15 min.

I made this for New's Day and we had steak on the side with it.  Very tasty.  But this makes quite a lot so the second day I added 2 more cups of chicken broth and beef sausage, but any sausage will work and then the whole pot was gone.  My baby grandson loved this too.