Chinese Chicken Salad - Ramen Style

It's planting season here and my personal in-house farmer friend has got his garden on!  Us rookies admitted that we completely over planted last year and definitely learned our lesson.  So, we discussed this year's selections and he mapped out his seedlings to get started.

Last year we definitely realized that in order to achieve our cases of dill pickles that my husband is so great at, we need much, much, much more fresh dill to be planted.  There are so many people that make dill pickles here, I swear the dill is going to be sold on the black market.

Good thing our fresh produce is right around the corner, because we cannot get enough of this Chinese chicken salad.

Oriental Cole Slaw with Ramen Noodles (a.k.a. Chinese Chicken Salad)

1 bag shredded mixed cabbage with shredded carrots
2-3 green onions, chopped 
1 package chicken flavored ramen noodles, crushed
2 ounces slivered almonds
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
2-3 cooked chicken breast, diced

Dressing:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1 package ramen seasoning (from the noodle package)
1/4 cup Best Foods Real Mayonnaise with Olive Oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Put crushed ramen noodles, slivered almonds and sesame seeds in a pie dish and bake 5-10 minutes, until ight brown.

Mix all dressing ingredients.

Combine cabbage mix, green onions and toasted noodles, almonds and sesame seeds.  Wait to toss with dressing until just ready to serve.

Friday's Fish Fry for Blake's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my brother Blake.  I am so happy to know that I am not the only one that is "40-something" in our family now. (Although I won't be able to say that much longer, as I will be pushing to higher digits soon - yikes!)

Of all his attributes, Blake has two very outstanding qualities, great guitar player and great cook.  When he was in Jr. High, he was an aspiring future Eddie Van Halen.  He even convinced my mom to let him perm his hair, so he could have those long wavy locks and feathered bangs of the "big hair bands" like Van Halen.  I must say between his endless guitar practicing (in our basement music studio that he built with his buddies) and the hair, he was a very close second to the all wonderful "Eddie".  How many sisters get to have Happy Birthday To You played on an electric guitar, for your special day.

Blake is also quite the awesome cook.  He makes these unbelievable Halibut Cheeks.  Growing up in Alaska, you have access to some of the best, freshest halibut in the world, right in your own backyard.  Blake does these phenomenal beer battered halibut nuggets that are out of this world.  Hard as I try, I still have not been able to duplicate them.

That being said, we did our best with making Fish 'n Chips for Fish Friday with homemade tartar sauce and steak fries.  Really messy...really delish!!  The leftovers made perfect fish tacos for Saturday's lunch as well.

Happy Birthday Blake - hope you have wonderful and memorable day!!

Beer Battered Fish and Chips

Courtesy of Paula Dean

1 (12-ounce) bottle beer
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 1/2 pounds cod fillets, skinned with bones removed, and fish cut diagonally into 1-inch-wide strips (5 to 6-inches long)

In a Dutch oven, heat oil to 375 degrees F.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F,

Batter:
In a large bowl, pour in 1 bottle of beer. Sift 1 1/2 cups flour into the bowl, whisking in gently until just combined, stir in House Seasoning. Pat fish dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper and coat the fish in the beer batter. Dredge the pieces of fish in 1/2 cup of remaining flour and slide into oil as coated. Fry fish, turning over frequently, until deep golden and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Fry remaining fish in batches, returning oil to 375 degrees F between batches.
Serve fish with French fries.

House Seasoning: 1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Peas Bonne Femme from JoAnne and Dick

Today was a very special day for Joanne and Dick, my husband's sister and her husband.  Today after many years of a beautiful, wonderful and strong marriage, they had their marriage blessed in the Church.  Such a very spiritual day especially since it is also the 1st anniversary of my husband's father's passing last year.

Still love birds after all these years.

In celebration of Dick and JoAnne's special day, we made Dick's very special Peas Bonne Femme from the family cookbook.  The first time we had these many, many years ago my then future husband and I thought it was such a strange way to make peas and had never seen anything like it.

I am here to tell you that anyone who claims to not like peas, after they have had these, they are a lifelong fan of them.  After all these years, this dish has definitely turned into one of our "go to" side dishes.

Peas Bonne Femme
Celebrating JoAnne and Dick

3 to 4 green onions
1 bag (regular size )frozen peas
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons Lawry's seasoned salt
2 to 3 red leaf lettuce leaves

Saute the green onions in a skillet with a tablespoon of butter.  Once they have softened, empty the frozen peas into the skillet with the onions.

Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the peas.  Place the lettuce leaves on top of the mixture.

Cover with a lid and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until cooked through.  Discard lettuce and serve.

Spaghetti Squash and Ya Ya's Farm

Today I was lucky enough to visit one of my favorite places in Longmont...Ya Ya's Farm (a.k.a.), the Hops & Heifers farm owned by Oskar Blues.  The company I work with remodeled their awesome farmhouse retreat last year and today I photographed it for our marketing website.

I love going to the farm and just sit for a moment in peace.  It is breathtakingly beautiful, quiet, tranquil and the sun always shines there.  Their goats are actually used for their amazing "Fried Green Tomatoes and Goat Cheese" appetizer on the menu at Oskar Blues Restaurants....so delicious!!! I could eat plates and plates of this stuff.

My buddy always smiles at me when I come to visit.

Trouble is about to happen.

I wonder what Angus and Theo would think
if I brought this little guy home.

In the spirit of being on the farm we made our baked spaghetti squash and marinara sauce.  So fresh and hearty for photographing or working the farm.

Spaghetti Squash with Marinara Sauce

2 whole spaghetti squash
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups prepared (jarred) marinara sauce

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Split the squashes in half and scrape out seeds. Line an oven tray with aluminum foil. Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place flesh side down and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile heat the marinara sauce in a large sauce pan.

When squash is cool enough to handle, using a large kitchen spoon or fork scrape the strands of squash from the inside of the skin. Toss the spaghetti squash in a large bowl with a little butter and garlic salt.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Serve with the marinara sauce either drizzled on top of the spaghetti squash or on the side with your favorite cheese bread.

Honey Ham Biscuit Sliders - Wife Of The Year

This morning I won the "Wife of the Year" Award.  Well, actually it was self-awarded, but I'm sure many would agree with me.

Today was the first golf tournament of the season - yeah !!!!  I get my mornings back to myself again...pajamas, coffee time, food episodes, reading magazines, blogging, manicure, pedicure...ah, the life of a golf widow.

However, the weather was 30 degrees with a chance of rain and snow.  Tournament still on, husband bundled up and ready to go.  Tee time set for 9:20 am.  However he realizes that he never had a chance to buy his "winter" golf gloves before the tournament.  Slight issue...sports stores don't open until 9:00 am., and there is no way he will have time to drive out, purchase gloves and make his tee time, in time.

"Honey, will you please run out and buy the winter gloves for me and hand warmers and drop them off a the clubhouse before my starting time?"  This was all asked as I was in my pajamas, just put the recliner in "lounge position" and topped my coffee off with my own warmer.  I'm not going to say what went though my mind at that point (because he also reads this blog...)

The only saving grace he had was that I also needed to do the weekly dinner menu grocery shopping and needed to get out eventually...just wasn't planning on that early.

Needless to say, he made it through 13 holes,
and then this happened.

For those chilly tournament mornings, these are the best little breakfast sandwiches.

Honey Ham Biscuit Sliders
Courtesy of  plainchicken.com

1 can Grands Jr Butter Tasting Biscuits (10 count)
1/2 lb deli ham, shaved
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/4 cup honey mustard dressing
1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp honey
Preheat oven to 400.

Lightly spray a 9-inch pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Separate each biscuits into two layers.  Spread each layer with honey mustard and top with swiss cheese.  Place half of the biscuits, cheese side up, in the bottom of prepared pan.  Top with ham.  Top ham with remaining biscuits, cheese side down.  Brush biscuit tops with melted butter.

Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.  Heat honey in microwave for 20 seconds.  Brush biscuit tops with warm honey.  Serve immediately.

Taco Tuesdays - Tri-Tip Version

Mornings in our house are extremely busy, even more hectic than our evenings, I think.  We have four people trying to squeeze in showers in the allotted amount of time, I of course need my 15 minutes of coffee/wake-up in my chair time, lunches to prepare and I try to get a couple loads of laundry done, so it is not overwhelming on the weekends with trying to fold 37 loads.

Well today was no different and just as crazy.  As I was in the kitchen tidying up (because my OCD kicks in and I hate coming home to a messy kitchen) and cleaning the counters off, I hear one daughter yell from her room, "Mom, will you please make me a cappuccino to go ?" Not two seconds go by and the other one yells, "And could you please toast me a bagel with butter?"

I looked at my husband in dismay and said, "Does this look like Starbucks drive-thru to you?" Since when did I become their personal Barrista???

The Princesses' personal cappuccino machine.

Since my Barrista mornings are so busy, I try to plan the dinner menus a week ahead of time and use my crock pot as much as possible.

This taco meat is so easy, juicy and flavorful!!!  Best part...it's all ready to go when you walk in the door from a long day at work.

Prep before leaving for the day.

Awesome dinner when you arrive home.

Ultimate Tri-Tip Tacos

2-3 lbs. Tri-Tip steak
1 or 2  jars favorite salsa (depending on your size of steak)

Put tri-tip in crock pot.  Empty both jars of salsa over meat.  Cover crock pot with lid.  Set to low setting and let cook 8-10 hours.

When ready to eat, shred the beef with two forks (like you are making shredded pulled pork), in crock pot.
Serve on flour or corn tortillas with your favorite accompaniments.

**Also really delicious if you want to do a taco salad with or without a flour tortilla bowl.

Green Eggs and Ham - "Angus The Ham"

We take the boys to their spa for a shampoo, rinse and blow dry every 2 weeks at our favorite self-serve dog spa, Paws 2 Groom.

They have the best set up there for a DIY dog treatment area.  All the shampoo, combing/brushing accessories and dryers at your fingertips.  Spa day is by far Angus' favorite day every month.  He loves all the warm bath water and personal attention he gets for that hour.

There's King Arthur...and then there's "King Angus".

When blow dry comes, he gets up on his "throne", crosses his feet and gets this look on his face that says, "Serve me now, you peasant".  He loves to ham it up and work the room like he is actual royalty.  He walks out of there thinking he is pretty special and struts his newly clean coat.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and my dog "The Ham", I couldn't resist by making Green Eggs and Ham (bacon in this case - that counts doesn't it??) for the first time in my life.

Heather and Matt came over for the festive dinner and I made this version of deviled eggs for our appetizer. Nothing difficult, just added green flood coloring to the deviled egg mix and topped it with a small piece of crisp bacon.  My husband and kids looked at the creation, looked at me and shook their head.  I blamed it on the blog...said I needed something fun to post.  They ate it and loved them!

We also had fun with making the secret recipe for a Shamrock Shake - delish!!!  My daugher perfectly got the taste of the original shake.

Since we didn't have enough green going around I also made a batch of cookies for the girls this week, green mini M&M's and mini chocolate chips.