Thai Egg Rolls

4 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded onion
1 lb. ground turkey (chicken, beef, or pork)
1 or 2 garlic cloves
1/2 small package bean thread noodles (boiled and cut)
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup hoison sauce
4 eggs

Spring roll wrappers

Combine all ingredients and roll in spring roll wrapper. Seal end edge of wrapper with egg whites. Cook in oil 375 for about 8 minutes. (Freezes well once cooked. Reheat in oven at 400 for 20-25 min. or until crispy and heated through.) Serve with dipping sauce and rice.

Creamy Pesto Chicken (or Shrimp) with Pasta (Gnocchi, Cavatapi, or Linguini)

This is a variation on a recipe from the Food Network that was featured on Oprah, CNN, etc. It is also a variation on a dish served at the Corner Bakery (Pesto Cavatapi) in CA, Chicago, etc.

1 tbsp butter (15 mL)
1 tbsp olive oil (15 mL)
2 tbsp flour (30 mL)
2 cups 1% milk (500 mL)
1/2 tsp pepper (2.5 mL)
375 g pasta (11 oz)
2/3 cup grated low-fat Parmesan cheese (7 mL)
1/4 cup pesto (60 mL)
Grilled Chicken (or Large shrimp, cooked peeled and deveined (454g or 1 lb)
Chili flakes (optional)
Crushed red pepper, optional FYI: I added 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Directions:

Boil water for pasta. Melt butter and olive oil in a nonstick fry pan. Stir in flour until pasty, then add milk, stirring constantly. Season with pepper. Add pasta to boiling water. Set timer for 3 minutes for Gnocchi (or follow package directions). Stir Parmesan cheese into cream sauce. Blend in pesto and cook for a few minutes on low until thickened. If the sauce gets too thick it’s ok to keep adding milk a little bit at a time. Stir in chicken to heat through. Serve over hot pasta. Yuuuuummmmy!!!!!

(Meal group: Boil Gnocchi - set timer for 3 minutes, or substitute your favorite pasta. Bring the sauce to a boil on medium heat, then simmer until it thickens. The chicken is already cooked through. I don't know how well cream sauces freeze so you may choose to eat this one sooner than later.)

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

3 chicken breasts
1 cube butter
1 package Italian Seasoning (like you'd make salad dressing with)
8 oz cream cheese
1 large can cream of chicken
1/2 cup water

First, take out cream cheese and set on counter to bring to room temperature.

Cook Chicken, butter, and Italian dressing seasoning in crock pot on high for 3 hours, stirring ever so often to coat chicken with seasoning. Take Chicken out and shred. Before putting chicken back in crock pot, add cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, and ½ cup hot water to seasonings. Stir until smooth-you may need to let it heat up a few minutes to get cream cheese completely mixed in, then add chicken and heat back up to bubbly.

Serve over fettuccine noodles. Top each serving with fresh parmesan cheese.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

3 chicken breasts, roasted and shredded
½ onion, diced
½ green or red pepper, diced
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¾ tsp sugar
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans cream of chicken soup
½ cup pace picante salsa
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Saute onions and green pepper in 1 T olive oil until tender. Add remaining ingredients except salsa and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add salsa, and heat to boil. Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips, and cheese.

(Meal exchange: Bring soup to a boil, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Top with cheese, chips, and sour cream. Also good with corn added, if you want more veggies.)

July Meals

Creamy Pesto Gnocchi w/ Grilled Chicken - Julianne

Chicken Enchilada Soup - Elisa

Shish Kabobs - Tawnee

Porcupine Meatballs - Laurie

Crock Pot Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo - Naomi

Thai Egg Rolls - Julie

Cream Cheese Chicken - Emily

Tacos - Brandi

Tortiloni Marinara - Margaret

White Chili - Britta

Sweet Pork Tacos or Burritos

Sweet Pork
1 4 lb. pork roast
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Mix brown sugar, pepper, garlic salt in small bowl. Rub brown sugar mix on pork roast. Wrap roast in 4 layers of tin foil. Bake roast at 275 degrees for at least 6 hours (pork is amazingly tender if cooked for 9 to 11 hours). Shred pork, stir in sauce, simmer in sauce for 5 minutes, serve, enjoy!

Sauce
1 c. light corn syrup
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1/4 c. water

Mix all ingredients, warm in microwave, pour over shredded roast, simmer for 5 minutes.

Slow Cooked Beans over Rice
6-8 c. water
1 lb. dry pinto beans (black are also good) (1 lb. is about 2 c.)

Cook in crock pot on low for about 5-8 hours (some take longer depending on hardness of water and dryness of beans). About an hour before beans are fully cooked, stir in the seasoning mix from below. Continue cooking until done. Serve over plain cooked white rice.

Seasoning Mix
1 onion, chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1-2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. tapatio Mexican hot sauce (more if you want spicier)

Heat skillet with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Add onions and garlic. Cook until clear and soft. Add pepper, salt, and tapatio. Mix into cooking beans.

Cafe Rio Salad Dressing
3 fresh tomatillo peppers
1 pkg. ranch buttermilk dressing mix
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth

Pizza Braid

One White Loaf Rhodes Frozen Bread Dough
Pizza Sauce
Pepperoni slices
Canadian Bacon slices
Mozzarella cheese, grated

Let the bread loaf thaw on a greased cookie sheet with plastic wrap (sprayed with Pam) covering it until double in size. Remove plastic wrap, and smash with hands to create a large rectangular piece of dough. Spread desired pizza sauce down the center of the loaf length-wise, leaving about two inches on each side of plain dough to twist later. Place desired toppings down center of dough, and cover with cheese. Take a knife and slice strips from the center of the dough out to the edges about an inch apart on each side - be sure to make the same amount of slices on each and have them line up on each side of the loaf as best you can. Then, starting on one end, pull a strip on each side up to the center of the dough, and twist twice and lay flat over the middle, until all the pizza is braided up. (Tuck the end in and then twist over for the edges). Bake immediately at 325 for 20-25 minutes or so, or wrap in plastic wrap and foil and place in freezer.

Russian Chicken

6-8 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced (or use tenders)
1 (8 oz) bottle of Russian Dressing
1 small jar of apricot jam
1 package dry onion soup mix
2 tsp curry powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dressing, jam and onion soup mix together. Pour over chicken. Bake, for 1 hour (cover for the first half of cooking). Serve on its own or with rice.

Garlic Roasted Chicken

3 to 3 1/2 lb. cut-up friying chicken, skin removed
3 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon grated gingerroot
4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken pieces in ungreased 12 x 8-inch baking dish. In small bowl, combine all remaining ingredients; blend well. Brush chicken with soy mixture.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear, basting with drippings halfway through cooking.

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

12 chicken tenders
1/2 bucket Spinach Artichoke Dip (from Deli section at Costco)

Place chicken tenders in baking dish. Spread dip on top. Bake for about 30 min. at 350 degrees, or until done. Serve over rice.