Mongolian Chicken and Caramel Bars

Yummy note:
Decisions, decisions... way too many wonderful recipes to choose from for this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment. My newest assignment for this month's SRC was a blog called Robin, Restored, formally known as Penny Pinching Provisions. Seriously, you must check out this blog and see all of the great ideas, meal plans, and recipes that Robin shares. Originally I thought I wanted to make something with zucchini as I had a few sitting on my kitchen counter just itching to be used. Instead, I stumbled on this caramel bar recipe as I was looking through Robin's zucchini posts! :) This one showed up below on the "you might also like" area and I decided it captured my sweet tooth instantly. Caramel bars with just a few ingredients, seriously, yummy. However, I couldn't stop with just one recipe though, I had to try out the Mongolian Chicken, as well! Wow, my husband thought we had take out as it was so good and it turned out beautifully. Not to mention fairly easy and affordable, too! I love that I had all the ingredients readily available to make this tasty main dish for a quick mid-week meal. I might just have to say that since I've been with the Secret Recipe Club, which is over a year now, I believe this is one of my favorites.
  

Mongolian Chicken 

Ingredients: 

For the Chicken:

1/3 cup canola oil

1 lb chicken, cut up into small pieces

¼ cup cornstarch

For the Sauce:

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp ginger

2 tbsp garlic

½ cup soy sauce

¾ cup brown sugar

Optional: green onions, brown rice, and veggies

Directions: 

Prepare the chicken pieces and cut into smaller bite-sized like pieces. Place chicken into a plastic bag and toss in the cornstarch. Shake the chicken pieces in the cornstarch until they are completely coated. Let them sit for about 10 minutes. While these are resting, start up on the sauce for the chicken.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok and add in the ginger and garlic and sauté quickly.  Stir in soy sauce and brown sugar. Simmer for about 2-3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside and reserve the sauce for later.

Clean the sauce out of the wok and heat up about a 1/3 cup of oil in the wok. Once it begins to heat up, add in your chicken and begin to sauté. Cook the chicken, probably about 5-7 minutes total, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Pour in the reserved sauce and simmer for a few minutes as the sauce thickens. Add in the chopped green onion to finish the dish. Remove from the heat and serve with rice. I paired it with a simple vegetable dish on the side as well, and it made for a well-rounded meal. 

...and now for dessert! 

Caramel Bars

I followed Robin's recipe and made just a few substitutions to suite our family's needs. For the butter, I used a soy margarine, and for the pecans, I used crushed pretzel chips! This was such a goey, salty, sweet, buttery, and delicious treat to enjoy. 

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup soy margarine
1 cup plus 2 tbps brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of crushed pretzel chips

Directions: 

In a saucepan, melt margarine and brown sugar until dissolved over medium heat. Cool slightly and pour into a bowl with the egg and vanilla. Stir together and add in the flour and baking powder. Once combined, add in the crushed pretzel chips and pour into a prepared lightly greased 8 x 8 pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the edges of the caramel bars start to crisp up. Wait until the bars are cooled and then cut to enjoy!

Dark Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Yummy note: It's almost nearing the end of the summer, and I finally got around to stirring up some homemade ice cream for the kids. It is not just any ordinary ice cream, as this particular ice cream is dairy-free! My oldest child would eat ice cream morning, noon, and night if I let her. Sadly, my youngest child never really gets ice cream due to a milk allergy, so I immediately wanted to fix that. He's had fruit sorbets in the past, but it just isn't the same cool creamy yumminess that you get from ice cream. So immediately, I went to my go-to website for dairy-free recipe ideas from Silk. They have some great tips here for cooking and baking with soy milk, so I knew this recipe from Silk was my starting point. I ended up adding in some dark cherries and some dairy-free chocolate pieces to make an amazing combination. The cherry flavor wasn't too overwhelming, but if you are looking for a strong cherry flavored ice cream, you might want to add in a few tablespoons of cherry juice/extract to bump up the flavor. Or perhaps if you are making this for an adult treat, I bet a nice cherry liqueur would be a wonderful addition to this delicious frozen treat.

Dark Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of soy milk (I used Silk Vanilla)

2 cups of soy creamer (I used Silk Original Creamer)

1 1/2 cups of pitted dark cherries

1/2 cup of agave or sugar

1 vanilla bean

2 tablespoons of arrowroot (or cornstarch)

1/2 cup of dairy-free chocolate chunks
Optional: 1/4 cup of cherry preserves or few tablespoons of cherry liqueur  

*Note: You want to yield about 4 cups total of ice cream mix to put into your ice cream maker.

Directions: 

Pit cherries and cut them into pieces. Place 1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk, a split vanilla bean, creamer, agave, and cherries into a saucepan. (Note: To prepare a split vanilla bean, cut the vanilla bean open and scrape seeds into the saucepan and toss the empty pod into the pan as well to infuse the flavor more.) Heat the mixture on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to simmer. Stir and remove from the heat. Mix 2 tablespoons of arrowroot into the remaining cold creamer and then whisk into the warm mixture. Cover the pan and let the mixture sit for about 15-20 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean. This next step is optional- if you want, puree the cherry mixture in a blender to chop up the cherries a bit. Do it to your preference; my kids like the smaller pieces, so I went fairly small, perhaps if you want large chunks of cherries you could just omit this step. Next, chill the mixture completely. This is very important or else the ice cream will not set up properly in your ice cream maker. Process the mix according to your ice cream maker's directions.

While the ice cream is churning, chop up about 1/2 cup of dairy-free chocolate chunks to toss into the ice cream mix. Towards the end of the ice cream processing time, add in your chocolate. You could also add in a flavorful cherry preserve or jam at the end to make ripple ribbons of fruit throughout the ice cream. Enjoy the soft set ice cream immediately, or freeze the ice cream for a few more hours in an air tight container until ready to serve. Makes about one quart of ice cream.

Serve with some fresh fruit!

Garnish with a dairy-free chocolate syrup! 

Want another fun ice cream idea? Use this recipe from Silk, but substitute the Soy Original flavor with the Silk Chocolate flavor! Treat yourself to a frozen chocolaty treat.

Pancake and Sausage Muffins

Yummy note: Seriously, these rock.  I think I saw it before and people called it a “puffin” – basically mini baked pancake muffins!  I’m not sure where I first saw something along these lines, but it is sure genius. Especially when you can bake the sticky gooey sweet syrup right inside the pancake and it doesn't get all over! It is an easy clean up on those busy days! There are a bunch of homemade mix recipes out there, but for our house, pancakes are often a quick meal for us to throw together. Knock yourself out and use a homemade pancake mix if you wish, but the Bisquick worked quick and easy. When we are busy and on the run, the least amount of hassle, the better. Using a premade pancake mix, like Bisquick, it is as easy as 1-2-3 practically to make handheld pancake muffins pretty quick. These are like a meal on the go, when you toss in some precooked sausage or bacon and drizzle in a little syrup. Delicious. Mnnnmnnmn… When I made these, both kids, seriously gobbled down I think atleast 2 muffins. It was a total hit.

Pancake and Sausage Muffins

Ingredients: 

2 cups Bisquick2/3 cup milk (we used soy milk)

2 eggs

about a 1/3 - 1/2 cup of pancake syrup

1 cup of cut up precooked breakfast sausage*

* Could also use various other add-ins instead of the sausage, such as bacon, blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, etc..) 

Bisquick mix in the pantry is a staple in my kitchen! 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your muffin To make the process even easier, use a large measuring cup or easy to pour bowl to stir the batter up in.

That way you can just pour the mix directly into the tins. Stir together the pancake mix, with the milk, eggs, and syrup. Mix together and pour in greased muffin pan or pour into cupcake liners. 

Top with already cooked sausage or any other additional add-in you’d like. 

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until they start to set up and get a little golden brown on top. Remove from pan and serve warm. These little things warm up nicely the next day as leftovers too, if they last that long! :) 

Enjoy with a little butter on top. Best served warm for breakfast, supper, or an anytime treat. 

 

  

Biscoff Graham Cracker Squares

Yummy note: For quite a while, I've seen a bunch of posts using this cookie spread called Biscoff. So a  few months ago, I purchased a jar as I looked a bit into it and realized it was nut and dairy-free! Bonus! That is the perfect combo in our house for the kids. Needless to say, it has since become a staple. My kids love the cookies and the Biscoff Spread. So now I often substitute the Biscoff spread for peanut butter in recipes. So in my cabinet, I had this half package of Biscoff cookies and a jar of Biscoff spread ready to be used... and it was perfect in Vicky's recipe from the blog Avocado and Pesto for Peanut Graham Cracker Squares. I thought that it'd be a nice sweet treat for putting my own yummy twist on it! Vicky from Avocado and Pesto was my luck of the draw for this month's Secret Recipe Club where we get to showcase another blogger's site. Avocado and Pesto had some great recipes like an avocado chickpea pesto salad, a breakfast sandwich with avocados, or peanut butter heath balls!? and the list goes on... Avocado and Pesto just had a site make-over not to long ago, and it looks fantastic, so make sure you check out her updated site! 

Biscoff Graham Cracker Squares

Ingredients: 

1 stick of butter 

1 cup of cookie crumbs - I used about a 1/2 cup of graham crackers and about 1/2 cup of Biscoff cookies crushed to equal 1 cup of crumbs 

1 cup powdered sugar 

1/2 cup Biscoff Spread (or peanut butter) 

Topping: 

2 tbsp Biscoff spread 

3/4 cup chocolate chips 

**Allergy note: I made these dairy-free by substituting the butter with soy margarine and vegan chocolate chips. I also substituted the peanut butter with the Biscoff Spread so that it was nut-free as well. 

Directions: 

Coat a small pan or container (like an 8x8 or 9x9 size) with cooking spray. To make the removal of the squares even better, line it with aluminum foil as Vicky mentioned in her original recipe, but just my luck, I ran out, so I had to just use the spray. It was ok, but I'm sure the foil would have rocked it. Note for next time..

Start by melting the butter and the peanut butter together. Next stir in the powdered sugar and cookie crumbs and mix until it is well combined. Press into your prepared container and chill for about 20-30 minutes until it begins to set up nice. 

Next, prepare your chocolaty topping by melting the chocolate chips and your 2 tablespoons of Biscoff spread together until smooth. Once smooth, pour chocolate topping on top of the cookie crust mixture. Chill until the treats are firm and have set up nicely. Cut into squares and enjoy! 

Sugar Cookie Bars

Yummy note:

Many family gatherings I've taken along some sugar cookies, you know the rolled out and cut into fun shape ones with cute frosting. They have always been hit with everyone of all ages. However, since the kiddos, I've been keeping an eye on recipes that really help cut some time off my preparation or that seem to be easy to do. I had bookmarked this recipe a few years ago and immediately printed it out for future uses. This Sentimental Sunday is about spending time with family and still being able to enjoy a homemade treat without a lot of time devoted to it. Sometimes it is such a pain to have to make the dough, chill and roll sugar cookies out and then not to mention putting the finishing touches on those cookies can take a couple of hours to complete. But with this recipe, it is so easy, yet sooo unbelievably tasty. They stay extremely soft and can even be kept in the freezer for longevity. They are just perfect to share with others, which is my favorite part of baking! This is super nice for a party as it makes about 4 dozen or so bars, perfect ready to share. I don't think there is much more to say about these wonderful cookie bars, other than to just make a batch to enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Bars

recipe found here from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

For the cookie bars: 
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2-3 tsp. vanilla extract
5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda

For the frosting: 
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)

*Note- I have substituted an equal amount of soy margarine and soy milk in this recipe for the dairy ingredients and still achieved great tasting results for dairy-free options. 

Directions:

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet, about a 13"x18" sized one. Cream softened butter and sugar in a mixer until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one until incorporated. Next, blend in the vanilla. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. 

Spread the cookie dough into the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer. Note, I had put a layer of aluminium foil on the bottom of the pan as well to have an easier removal of the cookie bar for cutting later. However, you can put the cookie dough directly into the greased pan. Bake only for about 10-15 minutes, or until a light golden brown color. You can test to see if it is done by sticking a toothpick in the center and see if it comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely before applying the frosting.

To make the frosting, beat the butter on medium-high speed in a mixer until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar until smooth. Then mix in the milk and add food coloring to tint.  Spread frosting over the cookie bars in the pan. 

At this point, you can freeze the cookie bars or cut into bars and serve. 

A Colossal Cookie

Yummy note: Oh my, this summer is sure upon us, with all of the activities going on, this Secret Recipe Club post sure seemed to sneak a bit up on me. I was going to traveling a bit right before this posting, so I knew I had to get on the ball and get going with my assignment for this month. I had a blog called Heavenly Treats and Treasures and the photos on this site sure did look heavenly, making it a hard choice while planning it out. I really wanted to make one of the sorbets, but my freezer hasn't really had the room for something more tossed in there, so strike that off the list.. next I thought these brioche buns as I've never made those before and I could use them in several of my planned meals, but then I saw this HUGE cookie! Score, that is so it.. and what was even better, I was easily able to adapt the recipe for my kids' milk and nut allergies. That really sells a recipe to me, as I can make something for ALL of us to enjoy. It is no fun to eat something delicious, while others have to watch,  I don't like to make something and not share... and that is what makes this cookie from Heavenly Treat and Treasures so nice. It makes a larger batch and it is perfect for sharing :)

 A Colossal Cookie

(with dairy-free adaptions)

Recipe adapted from http://www.heavenlytreatsandtreasures.com/2011/07/cookie-monster.html

Ingredients: 

1 lb. soy margarine

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, infused with a vanilla bean

2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups bread flour

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour* 

* Grace suggested a perfect substitution for this pastry flour that the original recipe called for. Make an easy mix of 4 cups of pastry flour by whisking 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour and 1 1/3 cups cake flour together. Just note, not to use all of this flour, you’ll have about 3/4 cup of leftover flour you can save for later use. 

2 bags of dairy-free chocolate chips (apprx. 2 lbs of chocolate pieces) 

Two of my staple ingredients in my dairy-free pantry-- LOVE these Enjoy Life allergy friendly chocolate chips and the Willow Run Soy Margarine for baking. 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly spray a 12” cast iron skillet with oil. The Heavenly Treats and Treasures recipe originally started out with browning some butter with a vanilla bean and making some heavenly browned butter. However, I made an adaption here, as I was using a non-dairy substitute and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Instead I used some of my vanilla bean infused sugar. I keep a jar of this in my cabinet for special recipes like this! It is easy to do, just place a vanilla bean, that is cut open and toss inside a jar of sugar. Make sure it is a tight lid and wait for few weeks to use for best flavor.

In a large bowl, whisk your pastry flour, bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. Next, in a separate bowl, cream the soy margarine and sugars on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Gradually incorporate flour mixture to wet ingredients, add about a third of flour mixture at a time to the other bowl. Last, add the chocolate pieces to the batter. 

Spread about a third of the dough into the prepared skillet. Bake in your preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes on the center rack. Adjust your time accordingly and don’t over bake, so remove cookie once the edges start to get golden brown. Cool on a baking rack for about 10 minutes, then decorate or serve as desired. Check out Heavenly Treats and Treasures for a gooey caramel sauce to top it with or see how I decorated the cookie below! I used a basic buttercream frosting recipe and made adaptions accordingly. 

Hooray for The Secret Recipe Club! 

Cut and serve in slices!

Instead of baking larger cookies for the rest of the dough, I scooped some dough and baked them in greased muffin tin cups! I baked them for about the same time, roughly about 20 minutes until they turn a golden brown. These were perfect to freeze leftovers, too!

Caramel and chocolate sauce drizzled on top of a warm cookie makes it out of this world. 

I also made some frosted cookie cups with the leftover frosting!  The cookie cups sink a bit in the middle perfect for a glob of frosting! 

Stop by and check out the Secret Recipe Club and see what it is all about!! 

fruit salsa

Yummy note: Oh, it is almost is almost the start of summer, I can feel it, each day goes by and it gets warmer and warmer. I could handle about 70-80 degrees all the time, I'll pass on the 90+ weather. So perhaps this will be a nice, mild summer in the Midwest. Or perhaps not, I guess we will have to wait and see. With the summer hot weather approaching, this is a perfect little side "salsa" fruit dish we just love here. You can eat it like a fruit salad with a fork, or do it with our favorite, utensil-free dipper - the cinnamon sugared pita chip! They are just delicious with this dish, so I highly advise to eat them together!  I love this dish, it's super simple, easy to toss together, and you have a wonderful side dish to take to that potluck or gathering! Or hide it out in your refrigerator and enjoy it all by yourself to cool off with this summer :-) 

Fruit Salsa

I think I originally saw a version of this recipe on the Today Show similar to this..  

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35928705/ns/today-food/t/creative-peanut-butter-sandwiches/#.T70Az-sV0ig 

Ingredients: 

2 kiwis 

1 pear 

2 apples 

1 lb of strawberries

3-4 tbsp of orange marmalade

8 oz of raspberries - optional  

2-3 tbsp sugar - optional - Depending on the tartness of the fruit, you may need to add in a few additional tablespoons of white sugar to the salsa. Just add this to your taste, though. Sometimes, the fruit is sweet enough on its own without the extra sugar. At most, I think I have added about 3 tablespoons to the entire batch.  

Directions: 

Make sure you have a nice knife handy, as that is about all this recipe needs! It really makes your prep job much nicer, if you can easily chop and dice your fruit with ease. So first, prepare the fruit by peeling and dicing the kiwis. Next, peel, core, and dice up the pear and apples. If you'd like, you could probably leave the skin on the apples here, but the kids seem to like the apples better without the skin, so I removed it for this salsa. Next, dice the strawberries. Toss all of the fruit in a large bowl and stir. In a small bowl, heat up about 3-4 tablespoons of the orange marmalade and add sugar if desired, and heat in a microwave just for a few seconds to warm up the marmalade so it can be pourable and liquid-like. Pour the warm marmalade over the chopped up fruit and stir until well combined. Chill salsa before serving. 

 

 

After a day of sitting in the refrigerator, the fruit begins to macerate more and becomes saucier.The salsa still tastes fantastic, however, it will have a bit more juice in it. Serve chilled and it is best with cinnamon sugary pita chips or tortilla chips.