Thai Spring Rolls (or Egg Rolls)

I love to make homemade egg rolls, and these are DIVINE!

• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1/3 head of green cabbage, chopped
• 5 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup bean thread noodles
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs (use cilantro, basil or mint, your choice)
• 1/4 cup carrots, grated or julienned
• 1 tbsp lime juice plus extra for chicken
  
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated (optional)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 container of firm tofu
• egg roll wrappers

First, you have to cook your chicken. I start by chopping it into very small cubes, we're talking maybe a half inch or so, and then saute it in olive oil with salt and pepper and quite a bit of lime juice. When the chicken is just browning, toss in the tofu, cut into the same size cubes.

In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients. (You need to soak the bean thread noodles in warm water first.) Mix together.

Then you need to wrap your egg rolls! You need a small glass or dipping container of some sort of water mixed with a tiny bit of cornstarch. You start by laying the wrapper like a diamond. (Make sure that you keep the other wrappers covered while you work, they dry out so quick! I like to use a wet paper towel.) Put about 2 Tbsp of the filling in the middle, in a semi-line. Start by folding the top over. Then, fold the sides over. You want to keep this tight. Roll it until you are almost at the end, and then dip your finger in the water/cornstarch mixture and wet the tip. It will stick.
I lay them on a cookie sheet, and keep them covered with a dampish dish towel so they don't dry out. When you are all done, deep fry until just golden brown. Delicious, and surprisingly quick!

(I also saw on a cooking show that you can bake them in the oven if you brush some oil on them. Cook at 400 until golden brown. They supposedly are really crispy. I haven't tried it.)

Bran Muffins

This recipe makes a lot of batter. It stores in the refridgerator for up to 6 weeks. I make it in my big tupperware bowl with a lid.

6 cups fiber one cereal (1 1/2 sleeves)
2 cups boiling water
combine and put aside

1 cup butter, soft
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
mix together in large bowl

1 quart buttermilk

5 cups flour
5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
mix together

Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to butter sugar mixture. Keeping it moist at all times. Once you have combined all buttermilk and flour add fiber one that has absorbed all of the water. Mix together well. Put in ungreased (teflon coated) muffin tins. Bake 400 degrees 18-20 min for regular muffin tin and 12-14 min for mini muffin tin. Great for a quick, hot breakfast.

Chicken Scallopine

I got this recipe off thepioneerwoman.com. She has some amazing recipes. Check her out.
Linguine noodles cooked acording to package directions.
4-6 boneless chicken breasts
Flour
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
Fresh mushrooms
1 Cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream (you can use 1/2 and 1/2)
1 tbsp capers (optional)
chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional)
Parmesan Cheese

Flatten chicken to uniform thickness. I put between waxed paper and used a can of beans to flatten. Salt and pepper both sides. Dredge in flour. Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken until golden brown. Remove to plate and set aside.

Throw mushrooms in pan and stir. Add chicken broth and squeeze juice of lemon in. You can use less, or more, if you would like. Stir to deglaze pan, then cook vigorously for 1 min. to reduce sauce. I swore to Merlaine that I would never cook anything that had to be reduced, but it was very easy.

Pour in cream and stir, add capers and parsely and stir. Turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don't undersalt.

Place pasta and chicken on plate and top with sauce, it will be runny. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. This may not be a very kid friendly meal, but very adult friendly. Yummy.

Breakfast Scramble

So, yesterday I went to a Williams-Sonoma class on Breakfast, and it's got me thinking about breakfast. So, this morning, I made an incredible omelet. Seriously- amazing. I don't usually like omelets that much, but this one was really, REALLY good!

Ingredients:
Butter
Mushrooms
Onion
Bacon
Eggs
Milk
Swiss Cheese (or other type of cheese)

So, I used a little more than half of a carton of mushrooms. I used plain button mushrooms, but I think it would be even better with baby bellas or crimini. I sliced them up thinly. Then I took about 1/4 of a smallish onion, diced really small. I put 1 Tbsp butter on a saute pan at med high heat and cooked the mushrooms and the onion together, after doing the salt and pepper thing, of course. Once the mushrooms were starting to wilt up pretty good, I added 3 slices of chopped raw bacon. I did have to use a paper towel to drain some of the grease, but it's better if you cook them all together.
Once those were about done, I put 6 eggs and 1/4c milk in a bowl and beat it. Then I poured it into a DIFFERENT saute pan, and did the scrambled egg thing. Once the eggs were almost done, I added the mushroom mixture and about 1/4c cubed swiss cheese. It needs to be cubed so you get pockets of cheese. When you grate the cheese, it just kind of mixes in. I used swiss because it was what I had, and it was good, but swiss doesn't melt super great. I might try a white cheddar next time. I like white cheddar better than orange.
Serve just as the cheese starts to melt.