Cheese Dipping Sauce

Again, stranded in the apartment because of the hurricane, Dave and I were looking to try a new recipe. I was craving cheese fries, so we looked to see if we could find a cheese sauce to make with ingredients we had on hand. We came across the recipe below. Score!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese (we used half colby jack, half pepper jack)
1 tsp prepared mustard (we used dijon)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.
2. Meanwhile, measure out the milk, and pour a bit into a small bowl with the cornstarch. Mix until smooth, and combine with the rest of the milk.
3. Once butter is melted, slowly pour in the milk/cornstarch mixture.
4. Stir continuously until the sauce has thickened.
5. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in cheese and mustard. Continue stirring until the dip is smooth.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste
7. Serve warm.

We had this with sweet potato fries, and it was awesome! (the ones in the above photo are the frozen variety, but would have been even better with these)
The sauce is slightly gritty (not bad, though) if you eat it alone, but on the fries you couldn't tell and the sauce felt perfectly smooth.

When we make it again, we'll probably mix cheddar with the pepper jack for a stronger flavor.

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.

Garlic Breadsticks

Since it is rainy, cold, windy, and hurrican-y out, Dave and I wanted to bake some nice warm bread. We decided to make some garlic breadsticks! (sorry they look yellow in the above pictures...I should have photoshopped the color)

Here's how to do it:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups very warm water
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt

Garlic Butter Topping:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp table salt

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture should become frothy.
2. While waiting, preheat oven to 200 degrees.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a medium sized bowl), combine flour and salt.
4. Add yeast mixture and melted butter to flour mixture.
5. Mix with dough hook attachment on stand mixer or stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined.
6. Knead dough for a few minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
7. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray. Pull off small pieces of dough and roll out into strips- remember that they will double in size! (we ended up with about a dozen long sticks)
8. Cover the dough with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick spray (on the side that will touch the bread) and TURN OFF THE OVEN (keep the door closed, of course)
9. Allow the bread to rise in the warm oven for an hour.
10. Once they have doubled in size, remove from oven, then preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
11. Let the bread get back to room temperature, then remove plastic wrap and bake in preheated oven.
12. Make butter topping: Microwave butter until melted, then whisk in garlic powder and salt.
13. After 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half of the butter mixture (which smells amazing!), and return to oven for another 6 or 7 minutes.
14. Immediately upon removal from the oven, brush the other half of the butter mixture on the sticks. (don't be stingy! You want it to soak in)

I know it's a lot of steps, but including the one hour rise time, the whole process only took 1 1/2 hrs.

Recipe from the Country Cook.
1 tsp table salt

Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream Pie

Wow...the title of this recipe says it all, doesn't it!?

Dave and I made this on a whim- we were not expecting any guests or company- we just couldn't resist making it once I found the recipe! What was awesome is that it lasted for just over a week since it was wrapped up in plastic in the freezer, although I'm sure it would have lasted at least 2 weeks.

Ingredients:
1 box Oreo Cookies
6 tbsp melted butter
2 cups cold heavy cream
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 bottle Smucker's Chocolate Fudge Microwave Topping (we only used about half)

Directions:
1. Finely crush about 25 Oreos in a food processor. Mix with melted butter and spread in the bottom of a 9″ round pan for the crust. Freeze for about 10 mins.
2. Lightly crush the remaining Oreos into large pieces, and set aside
3. Whisk sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla in large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks, then fold the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture.
5. Pour half of the peanut butter ice cream mixture on top of the frozen Oreo crust.
6. Heat chocolate fudge according to the directions on the bottle, and pour half of the bottle in a layer over the ice cream.
7. Add the remaining ice cream, hot fudge, and top with the Oreo cookie pieces. Freeze for at least 6-8 hours before serving.

This pie was just heavenly. Dave and I had some leftover peanut butter filling that didn't fit in the pie crust we made, and that was delicious just on its own. Make sure to let the pie thaw out a few minutes after taking it out of the freezer.

Recipe and photo from Kevin and Amanda

Sesame Crusted Chicken

A quick and easy meal!

Ingredients:

• 18 oz chicken tenderloins
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
• 6 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp course salt
• 4 tbsp panko
• olive oil spray
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick oil spray.
2. Combine the sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl, and the sesame seeds, salt and panko in another.
3. Place chicken in the bowl with the oil and soy sauce, then into the sesame seed mixture to coat well.
4. Place on the baking sheet; lightly spray the top of the chicken with oil spray and bake 8 - 10 minutes.
5. Turn over and cook another 4 - 5 minutes longer or until cooked through.
6. Serve with rice (optional)

Servings: 4 1/2 • Serving Size: 2 chicken tenders •
Calories: 196.9 • Fat: 9.1 g • Protein: 22.9 g • Carb: 5.7 g • Fiber: 1.5 g • Sugar: 0.3g Sodium: 400 mg


Recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes

Asian Beef Tacos

Wow, it's been months since I last posted! Matt, Melissa...where are your recipes? Haha, I know I've been bugging you guys to add something- sorry!

Last week Dave and I helped our friend Theresa paint her living room. We brought over some ingredients and ran the crock pot all day so we would be rewarded for our hard work with a delicious meal! (recipe serves 4)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 tsp chili garlic sauce
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 lb flank steak, cut crosswise into 2 1/2 inch strips
4 scallions, cut into 2 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 small head lettuce, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (we omitted this since we did not have any cilantro)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
8 small flour tortillas
Toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
1. In a 5- to 6- quart slow cooker, combine the soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce and cinnamon. Add the beef and turn to coat. (it doesn't look like much liquid, but trust me, it's fine!) Cover and cook until the meat is tender and shreds easily, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Fifteen minutes before serving, thinly slice the scallions lengthwise. In a bowl, toss the lettuce, scallions, cilantro and vinegar. Serve the beef in the tortillas and top with the lettuce mixture. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

This recipe was juicy and delicious (we kept trying to savor the "precious juice" that was left in the crock pot!)


Sorry for the poor cell phone photo! We'll definitely make this again soon, so we'll update with a better pic.