Thai Chicken Curry

1 can coconut milk
1 T. green or red curry paste
Mix together, then add:

¼ C. brown sugar
1 T. fish sauce
1 ½ T. basil (dry)
1 ½ t. lime juice
1 C. snipped cilantro

Then add:
1-2 C. Chicken (already cooked & cut up)
2 C. Veggies

Serve over rice.

Notes from Kelly Peterson, who gave me the recipe: "Above is the recipe as I received it.
I really like the Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk (HEB). I have also used the juice from an entire lime, and it works great. I use frozen veggies (there’s an organic medley at Costco that I love with carrots, corn, green beans, and peas). It works best to set them out for a few hours to thaw before adding them to the curry. I hope you like it!"

Kristin's note: I don't care for fish sauce, but you might love it like Kelly's family does.

Thai Peanut Sauce Recipes

These are awesome, but made "as is," the spicy peanut sauce had more heat than the rest of my family cared for. They don't like it as spicy as I do.

Spicy Ginger Chicken
From Sherry Johnston

6 T. soy sauce
1 T. honey
1 T. ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. minced ginger root
1/4 tsp. turmeric
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Cooked Jasmine or sticky rice
1 recipe Spicy Peanut Sauce

Combine first 7 ingredients and mix. Pour marinade mixture over chicken breasts and refrigerate and marinate for at least 30 minutes (2 hours or more is ideal). Grill or bake chicken and serve with rice. Spoon Spicy Peanut Sauce (recipe below) over the chicken and rice.

Sherry’s Tip: Make enough chicken to have a couple extra chicken breasts and chop those to use on Thai Pizza (see Sherry’s pizza recipes in “sampled” section) the next night.

Spicy Peanut Sauce
5 T. creamy peanut butter
¼ C. soy sauce
2 T. lemon juice
¼ C. brown sugar
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients in food processor or blender (or stir it up really well).

Note: For Sherry’s family (2 adults, 3 children), one batch of this recipe will serve as the topping for their Spicy Ginger Chicken one night and the sauce for Thai pizza the next night. You may need to double the recipe to have enough for both nights, depending on the size of your family and how much sauce you like.

Thai Pizza – Spread Spicy Peanut Sauce (recipe in “additional recipes” section) over crust. Top with mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses. Add chicken (leftover Spicy Ginger Chicken from recipe in “additional recipes” section works well!), chopped cilantro & shredded carrot pieces (if desired). Top with a little cheddar & parmesan.

Coconut Chicken Curry

from Karalee Garber

2 pounds chicken breast, cut into strips or cubes
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 ½ Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. curry powder
½ onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 potatoes, medium dice
1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
3 Tbsp. sugar
Jasmine rice, cooked

After chicken is cut, season it with salt and pepper, set aside. Heat the oil and curry powder in a large skillet, over medium-low heat, for 2 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and stir in onions and garlic, cook until onions are translucent. Add chicken and cook until it is no longer pink. Add the potatoes, coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes or until potato chunks are tender. Serve over cooked rice.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are a family favorite. Bisquick makes them quick and easy.

2 cups Bisquick

2 very ripe bananas, mashed well

1/4 cup oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Fill greased muffin tins or paper muffin cups 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 15 min. or until golden brown at 400 degrees.

Coleslaw

I love coleslaw! I should make it more often. I got a recipe from allrecipes.com (original recipe called "Restaurant-Style Coleslaw" and given 4 1/2 stars), but I altered some things. It's great! Here's how I made it:

2 (16 oz.) bags coleslaw mix (or, thinly slice cabbage and shred carrots to equal 12-13 cups cabbage/carrot mix)
4 Tbsp. minced onion (I finely diced fresh yellow onion)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. celery seed
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar
4 Tbsp. lemon juice (I used 2 small, fresh lemons)

Combine coleslaw and onion in a large mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a smaller bowl and beat until smooth. Pour dressing over coleslaw mixture and toss well. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Amazing Pancakes!

This recipe is from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook! Sometimes I secretly wish that I was married to the dude in charge of ATK so he could do all the amazing cooking at my house, but Steve is way cuter!

This is their standard pancake recipe, although I would consider it a buttermilk pancake recipe!

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 T. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg

3 T. unsalted butter, melted

2 C. buttermilk

1-2 tsp. vegetable oil

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, and then the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated (a few lumps should remain). Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Brush the pan bottom with 1 tsp. oil. Using 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet (only 2-3 pancakes will fit at a time) and cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 min. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 1 1/2 min. longer.

They suggest heating your oven to 200 degrees and putting a cookie sheet with a cooling rack on it to keep the pancakes warm while you cook them all.

*If you do not have buttermilk on hand, whisk 1 T. fresh lemon juice with 2 C. milk in a medium bowl and set aside for a few minutes to thicken.

I had to scrape the batter out of my 1/4 C. measure with my finger (I'm sure a mini spatula would also do the trick), and spread it around a little. The batter is so thick I thought I was making muffins for a second! These pancakes were so fluffy and delicious! I only ate two they were so big! 

I always try to follow their directions pretty precisely, since they did test to get this perfect recipe after all! :) I don't always have unsalted butter on hand though, so I used regular. They recommend using unsalted butter in everything because butter peeps put different amounts of salt in their butter and it can throw off your recipe.

Spam Musubi

I know, I know. "What in the wor-.....SPAM?" you are saying to yourself. Us Squires did not grow up on canned meat, thank you very much. Spam is...weird. And in a can.
And it tastes weird.
Right?

Well, I am here to prove to you that Spam can actually be pretty delicious. I was introduced to this food by my old roommate April, who was from Hawai'i. It is a very common food there, and if you go to an L&L it will most definitely be on the menu.

So here it is.


Spam Musubi

Ingredients:
-2 cups cooked sticky rice
-1 can of spam
-1/4 c. teriyaki sauce (I use Yoshida's from Costco, and it's pretty delish)
OR substitute with 1/4 soy sauce with some sugar (about 2 tsps.) mixed in over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
-2 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)

Take the Spam out of the can, and cut it in slices about 1/4-1/3 an inch thick.
Soak these in your sauce for a few minutes, then place in a frying pan. Fry until brown.
Take rice and pack until you have a small cake of rice. I usually use my hands, but you can use anything that works for you (including the empty Spam can).
Then, place the cooked spam on top. Break a strip of nori off the sheet, about 2 1/2" wide.
Wrap the nori around the rice and spam.
Get your finger wet, and wet the place where the ends of the nori overlap. Once these are wet, they should stick together.
And voila! You have your Spam Musubi!

This recipe makes 5-6 rolls. Two are usually good for me, though sometimes I will eat three. A yummy, easy meal!