RECIPES AND LEAVING ON A JET PLANE.

none of my bags are packed, but henny and i are jet-setting for the east coast in a few days. i broke the news to hallie yesterday and and she bawled. hey - not my fault she grew up and now has to go to school!!

i wish i could take her. so bad. i never feel complete without that little girl.

anyway, we are off to visit dear-friend sarah. i haven't seen her in a million years so i figure we're due. so now i get to figure out how to deal with bottles/formula on an airplane - suck - and how much crap to pack overall. i've gotten some great advice, so i think i have a grip. i'm just worried about warming up the bottle on the airplane. that's it. nothing else. just the bottle being warm on the airplane.

such 1st world problems right there.

let's see...i've been smokin' my goals for february (see the original post here) and will do an official report tomorrow. i know you (mom, barb) can't wait.

here's a few recipes i pinned and actually made from pinterest!

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

recipe and photo via here

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 softball-sized onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1 cup beef stock
Salt and ground black pepper
4 dinner rolls
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup provolone, shredded

In large skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and then brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and green pepper and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes.

Split open rolls and remove most of the soft insides, leaving a bed to hold the meat mixture. Toast the rolls and set aside.

While the meat is cooking, melt the butter in a medium-size pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in the cheese.

To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

Keri's Notes:

these were...good. nothing spectacular, but good. i didn't do the cheese sauce and that might have taken it up a level. I just melted provolone over a bun. I actually didn't even eat that - just ate the mean mixture over lettuce. I liked it, it just wasn't that exciting for me!

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Skinny Pumpkin Muffins/Cupcakes

i will make these again and again. you just can't beat how easy and low-fat they are. they are suuuuper moist. i made full-size muffins and drizzled some frosting i had leftover in the fridge (just melted it in the microwave and drizzled away). i also made some mini muffins and dipped the tops in melted butter and rolled in a cinnamon/sugar mix. they were perfect for brunch the next day.

recipe and photo from here

Ingredients:

• 18.25 oz cake mix - super moist (I used Aldi's brand yellow cake mix)
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin
• 1 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers.

Combine cake mix and pumpkin spice in a large bowl. Add pumpkin puree and water, mix about 2 minutes.

Keri's Notes:

make them.

***

Cashew Chicken - holy crap these were so good.

recipe and photo via here

Ingredients

For stir fry sauce:
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar  (i just used cider vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
•  
For Cashew Chicken:
• 2 chicken breasts (about 3/4 lb. total), diced
• 8 leaves of greenleaf or iceburg lettuce
• 3 tablespoons canola oil (or oil of choice)
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cashews, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For stir fry sauce:
1. Mix all ingredients making sure to dissolve brown sugar. Set aside.
For Cashew Chicken:
2. Heat canola oil in pan over medium to medium high heat. Add diced chicken and brown (about 4-5 minutes). Remove chicken from oil. Add onions, garlic and 1 teaspoon soy sauce to pan; brown. When onions and garlic are brown and tender, add stir fry sauce, browned chicken, and cashews. Saute mixture for a few minutes and remove from heat.
3. Spoon chicken mixture into individual lettuce leaves. Add your favorite hot sauce, more cashews or basil.

Keri's Notes:

seriously, so good. a little bit of heat, but the flavors are delicious. i ate mine over lettuce instead of doing the lettuce wraps and it was delicious, even cold for lunch the next day.

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Crispix Mix

• 7 cups Crispix, or whatever cereal
• 1 cup nuts (I used peanuts)
• 1 cup pretzels
• 3 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Arrange the Crispix cereal, nuts and pretzels on the baking pan/tray. Mix together to evenly distribute the contents.

Pour the melted butter into a bowl. Stir in the garlic salt, onion salt, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce until thoroughly combined.

Pour the melted butter mixture of the cereal mix on the pan. Coat the cereal, nuts and pretzels evenly, using a pastry brush to help if needed.

Place in the oven and bake at 250ºF for approximately 45 minutes. Keep checking the mixture and stir it every 15 minutes to prevent sticking.

During the cooking, spread out paper towels on the kitchen bench to allow the mix to cool off.

Remove from the oven and spread out on the paper towels to cool.

Eat

Keri's Notes:

this was good - very basic. i had crispix in my pantry that needed to be used up or thrown out, so i made this recipe. it was fine - nice and salty. i didn't have any prezels so i just used peanuts and it was great.