Sesame Noodles and Asian Chicken

Tried this new recipe last week and tweaked a few things for us. It was so easy and super delicious! This is one of my new favorites. It's a little spicy for the little ones, but that is easily fixed by omitting the crushed red pepper. This would be a great dish to serve for a dinner party....maybe I should have one.

Asian Chicken

adapted from jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

2 tsp garlic

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tsp Hoisin sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp ginger

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 tbsp peanut butter

1/3 cup hot water

5 chicken breasts, cut into long strips

Place peanut butter and 1/3 cup water in the microwave and heat for 1 minute. Stir until smooth and combined well.

Place all ingredients but the chicken into a 9x13 pan. Stir them around to incorporate. Place chicken in sauce, turning to coat. Cover the pan and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Grill the chicken for about 7 minutes over medium heat. Turn the chicken and cook until cooked through. Serve with sesame noodles.

(Could also put the chicken on skewers before placing in marinade. Make sure you soak your skewers for about 20 minutes before adding the chicken on them. This prevents them from burning on the grill.)

Serves 5

Sesame Noodles

adapted from jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

4 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp white sugar

3-4 green onions, chopped

1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 (14-16 oz) pkg thin spaghetti noodles

Cook pasta according to pkg directions. While noodles are cooking, add all ingredients but the onions and sesame seeds into a large bowl. Stir until they are all mixed together. When the noodles are done cooking, drain all of the water. Immediately add the noodles to the sauce. Add the sesame seeds and stir everything together. Sprinkle with green onions and serve with Asian chicken. Delicious!

Serves 6-8

Mississippi Mud Bars

Last night we had a recognition program for one of my Laurels. My counselors and I can't seem to do anything small. We had delicious treats for everyone. My contribution were these Mississippi Mud Bars. You can't go wrong with Paula Deen-lots of butter and sugar makes anything taste amazing!

Mississippi Mud Bars

paula deen

1 cup butter

1 cup milk

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup water

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3 cups mini marshmallows

Mississippi Mud Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 15x11 inch jelly roll pan. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in milk, cocoa, water and eggs. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour and baking soda. Pour butter mixture over sugar mixture, whisking to combine. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Immediately sprinkle marshmallows evenly over hot cake. Pour hot Mississippi Mud Frosting over cake, spreading it with knife if necessary. Let cool in pan completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Mississippi Mud Frosting

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

4 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in milk, cocoa and vanilla. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Whisk in confectioner's sugar until smooth.

I had such good intentions for doing some amazing cooking this summer-I've been cooking, just not blogging. This summer has been so busy! Between work, my family and young women, I pretty much don't do anything "extra". I am hoping that now that girls camp is over and once swimming lessons are over, life will calm down just a bit. Did I mention girls camp is over? Hallelujah!!!

One thing I have been doing this summer is watching this beautiful garden grow. We planted a garden with our neighbors this year and it is growing beautifully! We have lots of tomatoes, squash, radishes, carrots, green onions, peas, beans, potatoes, peppers and some pumpkins. We picked a huge bowl of peas last week that taste so good! It has been a great experience to take care of our garden. I'm grateful everything is growing!