Sara's Vanilla Wafers

I stole this recipe from Sara's recipe blog!  Hehehehehehe...

1/2 cup butter, softened (no substitutions)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; beat. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls two inches apart onto undreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350* for 12 minutes, or until edges begin to turn brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

Sara's Vanilla Pudding

I just stole this recipe from my friend Sara's blog!  It was so yummy!

Mix in a saucepan:
2/3 cups sugar
dash of salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. flour

Gradually stir in:
2 cups milk (1%-whole)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring contstantly--and I mean constantly! Mixture will thicken. Boil one minute; remove from heat.

Slowly stir half of the mixture into 3 beaten egg yolks in a separate bowl. Then pour egg mixture back into the pan and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Blend in:
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. butter
Cool. Serve with vanilla wafers. :)

Kale Salad

4-6 cups of kale, washed and ripped into bite sized pieces
juice of one lemon (about 2 Tbsp.)
3-4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
crushed red pepper (about 1/2 tsp.)
pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I toasted 2 pieces of small bread in the oven and blended them in my blender)
2/3 cups Asiago, Tuscano (sp?) or parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Place kale in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, garlic, red pepper, salt and pepper. Pour over kale and toss. Toss in cheese. Toss in bread crumbs.

Kale can be purchased at Sprouts or other health food/farmers' market type stores.

I got this recipe from my friend Allison! :)

Sesame Chicken with Orange Ginger Sauce

3 cups cooked rice

Chicken:
6 boneless chicken breasts (I use fillets because they cook faster)
3/4 cups sesame seeds
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. canola oil

Dip chicken in sesame seeds to coat. Season with salt. Saute chicken in oil until light golden brown. Place chicken in a baking pan and finish baking for 20-30 minutes (depending on size of chicken pieces) at 350*.

Sauce:
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. peeled and finely chopped ginger root
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups orange marmalade
1/2 cup water or orange juice
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce

Saute the ginger root and garlic in a saucepan with oil for three minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients and stir on low heat until bubbly. Serve over chicken with some rice. Serves six.

Graham Crackers

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I grind my own)
1 1/2 cups graham flour (I used about 1/2 cup white flour, 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 wheat germ)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened (1 and 1/2 stick)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add honey, egg and vanilla. Beat until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes. Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut out shapes. (I used mini animal cutters, or you can cut them into 2" X 2" squares with a pastry cutter and poke with a fork.) Place on baking paper lined baking pans. Bake at 350* for 7-8 minutes for small cookies or 10-12 minutes for 2" cookies. Cool 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. Eat straight, serve with milk, or make s'mores out of them!

Veggie Quiche

Crust: Use the same crust as the mini asparagus quiche recipe from April of this year. Spray pie plate with cooking oil spray. I also roll my pie crusts out on baking paper; then I fold the crust into quarters, using the baking paper it's on. It makes it easier to transport the crust to the pie plate. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375*.

Filling:
4 cups finely chopped veggies (I used asparagus, broccoli and zucchini.)
1 Tbsp. dried onion

5 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Mix dried onions with the veggies.  Place veggie mix into the cooled pie shell. Mix salt and pepper into the eggs, beating swiftly. Pour egg mixture over the veggies. Put parmesan cheese on top. Top off with cheddar. Bake at 375* for about 40 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Serves 6.