Chinese Chicken Salad

This salad is super healthy and fresh, perfect for a summer night. Not to mention it is beautifully colorful and a show stopper at dinner parties.

Ingredient

1/4 of a head of Red Cabbage

1-1 1/2 heads of Romain Lettuce

2 Carrots 

1 can of Mandarin oranges

3 green onions

1/2 package of noodles (your choice)

2 chicken breasts or rotisserie chicken

Chow Mein Noodles

Put your noodles on to boil. While your noodles are cooking chop cabbage, lettuce and green onions. Grate carrots. I already had left over chicken, but If you don't boil the chicken breast. When the noodles are done, drain and rinse with cool water. Mix into salad once they have cooled. I topped the salad with Mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles. Add the dressing to each individual serving. DO NOT pour over the entire salad, the salad will not keep over night if you do this. 

Dressing

3 Tblsp of Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
6 Tblsp of rice Wine Vinegar
3 Tblsp of Soy Sauce
2 cloves of Garlic Chopped
1 tsp of chopped Ginger (powdered ginger works too)
Pepper to taste

Mix all together in a bowl. Adjust to your taste. You can always add more soy sauce or ginger. Its up to you.

Crochet Rag Rug- making progress

You know those $4.80 shirts you buy from Forever 21 and then wear once and wash and then they shrink and become all crooked?? Yeah that's what I used for this rug. Plus I am cleaning out my closet after having a baby and well, I'm not the same size I use to be. I have no plan for this rug yet. It will probably end up in Ellie's room. I am loving it so far. I stayed up until midnight the first night working on it and my hands were killing me. I'm going to have to hit up the thrift store since my closet is now empty. 

Here is what I have so far.

Here are the instructions I used

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Crocheted-Rag-Rug

Think of making a rug before you take your next bag of clothes to the thrift store.

Very Berry

A new color added to my Etsy shop!

Orzo Pasta

Ingredients

1 cup orzo pasta

2 cups water or chicken broth

2 tblsp of butter

1.5 tblsp of olive oil

1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

3 cloves of garlic

mushrooms

spinach

Italian sausage (pre-cooked)

salt and pepper

How To

1. Brown the orzo pasta in the 2 tblsp of butter, once browned add water or chicken broth, bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer until the water has been absorbed.

2. In a large skillet heat olive oil. Add diced garlic and saute for only a few minutes, add mushrooms. Just before the mushrooms are completely done add sausage ( mine were leftovers so they were already cooked and only needed to be heated up). Add about 2 cups of spinach and cook until wilted. 

3. Once orzo pasta is done add to the skillet and mix, mix, mix. Add the Parmesan cheese and mix until melted. 

This was a really easy and FAST dish. I was surprised at how fast it was! Enjoy

Every Girl Needs Something Pink!

I can't resist buying more yarn in bright Spring colors. Here is some hot pink to brighten your mood. I have started making bows too! More to come...

Blue, Red, Aqua

New colors are up in my Etsy shop!

BBQ Chicken Salad

I was proud of myself this week I used all my left overs! That is a big deal in my house. I usually get tired of the same food, and I'm usually not creative enough to change things up. This week was an exception. I made bbq chicken earlier in the week and chopped it up for the salad. This was delicious. SERIOUSLY!

Ingredients

Romain Lettuce

roasted corn

black beans

diced chicken

diced tomatoes

black olives

avocado

cilantro

I used this recipe for the corn and it was tasty http://bevcooks.com/2013/02/bbq-shrimp-minestrone/

Dressing

Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce mixed with Honey Mustard dressing

Garlic bread

Sensory Block for Penelope

I had an Easter order for a sweet little girl names Penelope. What a great gift to find in an Easter Basket right?

Creamy veggie pasta

This meal is really quick and easy for that busy night when you dont start dinner until 6:30. Yeah we have a lot of those at our house.

Ingredients

1 package of pasta (your choice, anything works)

2 yellow squash

2 zucchini

1/4 white onion

2 garlic cloves

1 can diced tomatoes

White cooking wine

Heavy cream

butter

Put pasta on to boil

Sautee onions and garlic in 2 tblsp of olive oil on medium to low heat. Add the zucchini and squash. Add 2 tblsp of butter. I like the zucchini and squash to be a little crunchy still. Cook to your preference. Add the can of tomatoes with the juice. Let simmer. Add 1/4 of cooking wine to give it a good flavor. Add heavy cream right before serving. Use half of the half pint container. Once pasta is done add to the sauce and mix together. 

Perfectly, delicious, easy meal!!!