Gado Gado

I loved this! It made a fabulous dinner salad. The recipe is adapted slightly from Cate's World Kitchen Blog.

In the rice cooker:
2 cups brown rice
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp turmeric

Layered in a bowl:
6-8 cups washed, roughly chopped spinach
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage
3 carrots, shredded
3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced:

For the dressing:
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/3 cup warm water

Fried to go on top:
2 tbsp oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced and separated into rings

Veggie Pizza

This is what I did:

(1) Made pizza crust (whole wheat) in the bread machine and then grilled it on the indoor grill.

(2) Spread it with flavored cream cheese.

(3) Topped it with finely-diced mixed frozen vegetables and a sprinkle of feta cheese.

Yum!

Mexican Lasagna

This is really good.

1. Make one pound of rotini. (I used whole wheat.)
2. Add one can of chili, one can of Mexican tomatoes, and one cup of corn to the pan.
3. Top with a little shredded cheddar cheese.

No-bake Cookies

I liked these. If you have never had no-bake cookies before, you should know that they taste more like fudge than like cookies. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.


Ingredients

* 2 cups white sugar
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 pinch salt
* 3 cups quick cooking oats
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* a handful of pecan pieces



Directions

1. In a saucepan bring sugar, cocoa, butter, milk, and salt to a rapid boil for 1 minute.
2. Add quick cooking oats, peanut butter, pecans, and vanilla; mix well.
3. Working quickly, drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool.

Smoothies

I never make smoothies anymore but the boys make them all the time. I know there are a million smoothie recipes, but I thought I'd list mine since it makes good use of yogurt on sale and powdered milk (which adds amazing thickness to it).

In a blender, combine:

1-2 bananas
1-2 containers of yogurt that have been frozen (we buy it on sale and freeze it)
1/2 cup of powdered milk
about 1 cup of milk
optional: berries of any kind

Strawberry Jam

So easy, SO delicious, cheap (when the strawberries are on sale), and so much better nutritionally than the kind I usually buy.

(These are the directions inside the box of low/no sugar pectin.)

(1) Wash, stem, and mash 1.5 pounds of strawberries with a potato masher.

(2) Put 1 3/4 apple juice in a pan and add the pectin. Stir and bring to a hard boil and boil for one minute.

(3) Pour the juice over the berries and stir for one minute. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and stir.

(4) You can refrigerate this for 3 weeks or freeze it for one year.

Seriously, I will probably never buy jarred jam again because it would seem disgusting after this.

Granola Bars

I think this is a "deceptively delicious" recipe, but I modified it.


* Nonstick cooking spray
* 2 cups old-fashioned oats
* 1 1/4 cups flour, mix of whole wheat and white
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup butter, chilled
* 3/4 cup low-sugar grape jelly
* 1 cup spinach puree

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8" x 8" baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and vanilla and stir to mix well.

Add the butter and cut it quickly into dry ingredients.

Set aside about half of the oat mixture; press the rest firmly into the pan. Bake until lightly browned at the edges (but not fully baked), 13 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the preserves with the spinach puree in a small bowl.

Spread puree over the partially baked oat layer, then sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Bake until topping is slightly browned, 25 minutes. Cool thoroughly before eating.