Authentic Chinese Spring Rolls

A Chinese friend of mine taught me how to make these, and they are SOOOOO yummy and very easy to make. (I should've taken pictures and I didn't... forgive me.)

Ingredients:
3-4 zucchini, diced small
2 medium-sized purple onions, slivered
1.5-2 pounds chicken thighs, cut into small chunks/pieces/slivers
soy sauce
salt
phyllo dough (cut roughly into 5 x 8 inch rectangles or triangles of that same basic size--it'll work out great either way)

Directions:
Marinate chicken pieces in 1-2 Tbsp (or more, if desired) of soy sauce. Sprinkle with salt.

Mix marinated chicken, zucchini, and onions until well-mixed in bowl. Then use 1-2 heaping Tbsp. of mix per eggroll wrapper/phyllo dough piece.

Place mix at base of wrapper/dough and roll twice. Then fold sides in and keep wrapping to the end of the dough.

Fill corn oil to about 2-3 inches deep in a small sauce pan and heat. Once ready, quickly (and carefully!) place eggrolls side by side in the oil so that they press up against each other to help keep them wrapped. Use tongs or chopsticks to keep the dough from unrolling as needed. Fry in oil until the dough is a nice golden color, then turn over if needed to brown the top.

Place on paper-towel lined plate to cool and serve hot, warm, or room temperature-- it's delicious no matter how it's served! ENJOY!!!

Make-Your-Own Seasoning Mixes

Here are a few from-scratch seasoning mixes I picked up from an online friend:

Chili Seasoning
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp season salt
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Add 1 Tbsp seaoning to 1/2-1lb browned ground beef. (add 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 can beans and you've got chili)

Taco Seasoning
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp onion flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder/salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp sugar

Add to 1 lb (or so) browned ground meat along with 2/3 c water.

Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1 Tbsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp celery salt
2 Tbsp salt

Mix together. Store in a tightly sealed container.

To use:
1/4 c white vinegar
2/3 c canola oil
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp mix

ANGEL CROCKPOT CHICKEN

Shared by a Sonlight friend of mine:

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb chicken breast (boneless/skinless)
¼ cup butter
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
10 oz can Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
½ cup dry white wine (note – my friend uses white grape juice and it is fine)
4 oz. Cream cheese with chive and onion
hot cooked angel hair pasta

INSTRUCTIONS:
Place chicken in bottom of electric crockpot. You don’t have to cut it up now. It will be so tender when it is done you can do that as you serve it.

In medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the salad dressing mix.
Stir in soup, wine/juice, and cream cheese until combined and smooth. Pour over the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked pasta. Sprinkle with chives if desired. Makes 6 servings.

The friend who shared this recipe with me said: "It smells so yummy while it is cooking! You can serve it over spaghetti, and I have in a pinch, but the angel hair pasta is much better with it - I don't know why."

English Muffins to try

English Muffins

Cornmeal
1 1/4 cups very warm water
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
1/4 cup butter softened

Grease large cookie sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Mix sugar in water; dissolve yeast in sugar-water mixture. When yeast is frothy, add salt and 2 cups flour. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth (2 to 3 minutes). Add butter and 1 cup flour; continue beating until batter is smooth. Gradually, add in remaining flour, then beat until batter is smooth, sticky and thick. Turn out onto a well-floured pastry cloth, board or sheet. Coat all sides of the dough with flour. Cover with bowl and let rest 5 minutes. Knead dough five minutes until smooth. Roll out ¼ inch thick. With a biscuit cutter or a large can, cut into muffins. Place onto cookie sheet coated with cornmeal. Let rise in a warm place, covered with a towel about 50 minutes or until double in size. Bake muffins on ungreased griddle or skillet until golden brown, about 7 minutes on each side. Cool on wire rack.

Chicken Pocket Sandwiches

Let me just preface this by saying that this is one of the first recipes I've ever made where the ingredients are native to a place other than America. I *THINK* it's easily adaptable, but you'll have to try it and let me know.

Here's how I make it here in Turkey:

CHICKEN POCKET SANDWICHES
(Thanks to my friend Kelly for this tasty recipe!)

* Milfoy (Frozen pastry dough squares)
* 1.5-2 pounds of chicken, cooked and shredded
* 8 ounces cream cheese
* 1 tsp garlic salt
* one red bell pepper, finely chopped (optional)
* 5 green onions (5 onions, not 5 bunches), finely chopped (optional)

1- Cook & shred chicken, chop bell pepper and green onions.
2- Mix chicken & veggies with cream cheese and garlic salt.
3- Put one heaping Tbsp of mixture in each pastry square and tightly seal.
4- Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.


*** So, I think a good substitution for this would be to use something like Pillsbury crescent rolls (*but not break them up into the individual triangles, and instead use 2 of them at a time*) and make oblong pockets, filled with more than just the 1 Tbsp I mentioned above. You'd still seal them up carefully and possibly baked for 10-15 minutes, perhaps a little longer depending on how they cook on bottom. You want them to be crisp, but not burned. ***

These tasty sandwiches are absolutely delicious, and the recipe makes a good amount of them (great for having some left over for kids' lunches, etc.). Eat & enjoy!


(FYI-- I also adapt this same recipe by using taco-seasoned beef mixed with cheddar cheese for the filling, to make taco pockets.)

A Few Christmas Recipes

I figured I'd consolidate some of the recipes I'm using this Christmas into one post, so I'd have them for future reference.




FOR CHRISTMAS MORNING:

• CINNAMON ROLLS 101- these seriously sound like they will cause all who consume them to instantly commence with the "Mmmmm"s. I can't wait to try them.
• (And for some other morning, because they look so amazingly delicious: ) Cinnamon Sugar French Breakfast Puffs- Buttery, sugary, cinnamony moist breakfast muffins. They look positively sinful.
  

FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER:
This year, we're going to do a Texas-themed Christmas, seeing as how it's technically our first Christmas outside of America. So, we're doing chicken & cheese enchiladas, classic beef tacos, enough guacamole to feed a small army, some salsa, and I'm going to try to make refried beans from scratch without pinto beans. :) I honestly have no idea if or how that will work. Here are some recipes I'm going to pick from:

• Molly's Refried Beans - These require bacon, which we can't get here. So I might need to get a fatty piece of turkey or something to make them.
• Refried Beans with all the facts- This site gives GREAT information about when and why to make beans from scratch, and her recipe sounds great too.
• Delicious-sounding refried beans- These sound really good, and she gives the step-by-step basic instructions for those of us who get scared about making things like beans from scratch. (Which sounds so silly, because most of the world makes beans from scratch, but we Texans with our delicious canned refried beans are spoiled!) ;)
  

Get Your Hot Links Here!

Here are a couple of "hot links" I've found recently:

• Beth Moore's version of KING RANCH CHICKEN! (A Texas favorite that I've eaten many times but have never actually made-- this is DELICIOUS!!!)

• Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie, courtesy of Mrs. Sewell of Serving God & Family.

ENJOY!