Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I don't have an ice cream maker yet, but when I get one, I want to make this.

Ingredients

• FOR THE ICE CREAM:
• 12 ounces, weight Strawberries, Hulled And Sliced
• 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• ½ cups Half-and-half
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• _____
• FOR THE MIX-INS:
• 4 ounces, weight Strawberries, Hulled And Finley Diced
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ cups Bittersweet Chocolate
• 1 teaspoon Heavy Cream
• 3 whole Chocolate Graham Crackers

Preparation Instructions

For the ice cream:
In a blender or food processor puree the strawberries, cream cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, lemon juice, sugar and salt.
Pour ice cream base into your ice cream maker and churn per manufacturer’s instructions, approximately 30 minutes.
While the ice cream is churning, prepare mix-ins if desired.
For the mix-ins:
In a small bowl combine the strawberries and sugar, mix well and place in the freezer
Melt bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream in the microwave in 30 second intervals at 50% power. Stir after each interval. Repeat until melted.
With a spatula cover the chocolate graham crackers with melted chocolate and place in the freezer.
Approximately 5 minutes before ice cream is done, remove strawberry mixture and graham crackers from freezer. Add macerated strawberries to the ice cream while still churning. Roughly chop graham crackers and add to ice cream.

http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2012/05/strawberry-cheesecake-ice-cream/

Homemade salsa

This is from my friend April Young who lives in Katy, TX.

I use my blender to chop everything up, but a food processor is easiest. Be warned, it makes a ton of salsa.

10 roma tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 white onion
2 jalepeno peppers 
1 Anaheim pepper
2/3 can crushed tomatoes
3 Tbsp garlic salt
2 tsp sugar
Juice of 4 limes or to taste

Mix it all together and serve

Sugar cookies with too much butter in them

Make sugar cookies like normal, but put in way too much butter. The edges of the cookies will kind of carmelize. Also a little salt on the top is a good idea.

P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

3 tbs oil

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup water chestnuts

2/3 cup mushrooms

3 tbs chopped onions

1 tsp minced garlic

4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs rice wine vinegar (we used half rice vinegar and half red wine vinegar)

2 tbs ketchup

1 tbs lemon juice

1/8 tsp sesame oil (we used olive oil)

1 tbs hot mustard (we used dijon)

2 tsp water

1-2 tsp garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs brown sugar

1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar (same as above)

Directions

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Mis well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve. (This is very runny and so we put it in a pot on the stove and added some cornstarch to thicken it a little and we liked it like that.)

Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well. (We just added this to the special sauce in the beginning.)

Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chile sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps. (We also added the garlic chile paste to the special sauce in the pan all together with everything else.)

Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Sauté chicken breasts for 4 to 5 min per side or until done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool. Keep oil in pan and keep hot.

As chicken cools, mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.

Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice wine vinegar together in a small bowl.

When the chicken is cool, mine it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are. With the pan sill on high heat, add another tbs of oil. Add the chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts, and mushrooms to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and sauté the mixture for a couple of minutes then serve it in the lettuce "cups". Top with Special Sauce.

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Thai Peanut Satay

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/chicken-satay-with-peanut-sauce/

Ingredients
2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into Bite Size Pieces
_____
FOR THE MARINADE:
4 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce
4 Tablespoons Lime Juice
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 teaspoons Cumin
4 teaspoons Coriander
2 teaspoons Turmeric
_____
FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE:
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
⅓ cups Onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Chili Powder
5 Tablespoons MARINADE
¼ cups Brown Sugar, Packed
½ cups Water, Or More If Needed
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter, Do Not Use Natural Or Low Fat
1 whole Lime, Cut Into Wedges, For Garnish
1 bunch Fresh Cilantro For Garnish, Chopped

Preparation Instructions
1) Combine all marinade ingredients and whisk well to combine. Reserve 5 tablespoons of marinade for the sauce and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the sauce. Set the remaining marinade aside.
Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and skewer*. Skewer your chicken pieces on presoaked (in water) wooden skewers or metal skewers. Pour remaining marinade over chicken skewers being sure to coat thoroughly. (I use gloves, because the turmeric can stain your hands). Marinate chicken in the refrigerator for an hour.
2) For the peanut sauce, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions for 5-7 minutes. Add chili powder and the reserved 5 tablespoons of marinade, brown sugar, and ½ cup of water. Keep the pan over heat until very hot. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, carefully whisk until completely incorporated. Add additional water if the sauce is too thick. Loosely cover the pan and set aside. To warm the sauce, do so in microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds at a time and stir between. Heat until just warm. If you over heat the sauce, the oil will separate.
3) Preheat grill and cook skewered marinated chicken over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes. Serve chicken with peanut sauce and garnish with cilantro and fresh lime wedges. Makes approximately 32 – 6″skewers for appetizers or 8 dinner size portion skewers.*I like to skewer the chicken first before the marinade is added. It’s much less messy and when you’re entertaining, you won’t have to skewer the meat while you have guests. Again, I recommend using gloves.

Quinoa Burger

I found this on pinterest, but the recipe and photo came from Eating Well, Living Thin. Elliott, who is in the phase of not trying new foods, or old foods that we just haven't had in a while, loved this. And before bed he asked for more.

2 rounded cups cooked quinoa (see note below for cooking instructions)

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated (OR 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed)

3 eggs

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 green onions, including white parts

1 /2 teaspoon Splenda or sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

.

To cook quinoa:

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

.

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick. Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Makes approx. 10 burgers.

Serve with Tzatziki, or fry sauce, and top with avocado and tomato.