Honey Miso Brussels Sprouts

1 lb brussels sprouts
3 tbsp miso paste
3 tbsp honey
1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Cut the brussels sprouts in half and coat them with the glaze mixture.
Bake at 400 degree F for 20 minutes.

Elderberry Tea

Ingredients

1 table spoon elderberry
1 tea spoon cinnamon
0.5-1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cloves

Add all the ingredients to 2 cups of water. Heat it to a boil, then simmer it or turn off the heat, leave it covered for 10 minutes. Good for cough, cold/flu, and some upper respiratory problems.

Smoothie Recipe 2

Since I have half open bag of blueberry, I made another blueberry smoothie recipe. Same settings as Smoothie Recipe#1.

• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 8 oz Dole canned pineapple juice
• 6 oz peach flavor Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon sugar (optional, I did it for Nikki, she wants it extra sweet)

Easy to pack lunch items

Food items and can be easily packed for lunch.

boiled egg

avocado
(fruits: apple banana kiwi berries melons grapes)

almonds
(nuts)

yogurt

cherry tomatoes

chocolate

edamame beans

baby carrots

dried cranberries

whole wheat bread/pita/pocket rounds

cheese

Hand Wash Dishes

• Add Water in 2 dishpans, approximately 2 quarts each.
• In one, add 2 teaspoons of liquid soap and 1 tspn. of borax and 1 tspn of baking soda. 
• In the other dishpan, add 1/4 c. white vinegar for the rinse water. 
• Wash glasses, silverware, cups, bowls/plates, then pots-n-pans.
• Rinse dishes in the vinegar rinse water, air dry. 
• Spray 3% hydrogen peroxide solution to dishes touched raw meat.

Perfect Boiled Eggs

Place eggs in a large pot, fill water to cover the eggs. (Half an inch to one inch of water above eggs. Do not crowd the pot with eggs, they may crack.)

Uncover the pot, bring the water to a boil, turn the heat off.

Cover the pot, let it stand for 15 minutes. (Do not need to remove the pot.)

Drain the pot and peel eggs in cold running water. Eggs come out perfect every time.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

2.5 lbs cubed stewing beef 
2 large onions, sliced
1 lb baby carrots
5 medium potatoes 
4 celery stalks
4 garlic cloves
1 quart beef stock
8 oz can diced tomato 


2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons flour to coat meat
garlic and onion powder
salt and pepper


Mix flour with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Coat beef with flour mixture. Brown coated beef in olive oil in frying pan for a couple minutes. Return beef in the crock pot. Add everything else to crock pot cook on High for 4 hours.  

Sugar's APPLE CRISP RECIPE

I helped Nikki picked out a book named Sugar's Yummy Fall from the Angle Cat Sugar series at her school Book Fair. The graphic is very "Asian looking" very Hello Kittish. Later we found out the character "Angle Cat" named "Sugar" in the book is created by Yuko Shimizu, the same Japanese lady who created "Hello Kitty".

Well, the book ended up to be a wonderful choice. It's in season, comes with scratch and sniff stickers and a yummy fall recipe in the back. Most of all, Nikki loves reading it and I get more dessert ideas from this book. 

Here is the list of ingredients I used: 

5 medium sized apples

2 table spoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup plain oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter cut into pieces

Directions: 

1.Preheat oven to 375 deg. Butter 9x9 inch backing pan.

2.Cut apples into thin slices, 1/6 to 1/8 inches thick. 

3.Coat apple slices with white sugar and cinnamon. 

4.Mix flour, oats brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. 

5.Pour apples in buttered pan, sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the apples. 

Bake for 35 minutes until the apples are soft and juices are bubbling, toppings is golden brown. I spent more time slicing the apples than baking the dish. This recipe is a keeper, can easily replace the Publix cobbler one since I can make my topping mix without buying the Publix brand. The two dishes taste similar. Oats add some textures to the dish, which we all enjoyed very much. 

Publix Season's Peak Fruit Cobbler

This one is the Apple Cobbler.
Makes 8-9 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 2/3 cup cobbler mix (12oz)-bought from store bakery
3/4 cup of milk
3 cups of bite size apples (or any fruits in season)

Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 9x9 square baking dish.
Combine cobbler mix with milk, mixing well; pour over melted butter.
Spoon fresh bite size fruit pieces over batter; do not stir. Bake 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Printed on the label of Publix Fruit Cobbler Mix Packaging.

Glazed Nuts

Again, there are many recipes for glazed nuts. Here is my version, simple and easy to do. Baking takes awhile, let the oven do the work. Perfect for movie night besides popcorn. Movie of the night "Wings" from 1927. Wooaaa, silent!

1 egg white, beat lightly
1/4 c. brown sugar +1/4 c. regular sugar
2 tbsp. cold water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. mixed nuts, (I used almonds, pecans and walnuts)
Spread mixture in baking pan. Bake at 250 degrees for 35 minutes. Take out and stir the mixture, bake for another 20 minutes.

Sausage and Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Quick and easy fix.
Publix brand potato flaks to make the mash potato approximately 2 cups.
1 tsp garlic powder
1 pack Johnsonville smoked turkey sausage (13.5oz) diced, comes in with 6 sausages
8oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of regular whipping cream

Steps:
1. Combine potatoes and garlic powder
2. Spread in 2 quart baking dish and sprinkle with diced sausage
3. Add cheese and whipping cream
4. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Idea from "The best 1001 short, easy recipes" instead of ham, smoked turkey sausage is used.

Smoky Pork with Quinoa

Total Time: 30 min
Pork:
2 lbs pork tenderloin
2tbsp McCormick smokehouse maple seasoning
1 tbsp olive oil

Quinoa:
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
1 and 3/4 cups organic chicken broth
2 tbsp maple syrup
3/4 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 tsp (same)smokehouse seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of peas

Steps for pork:

1. Season pork with smokehouse maple seasoning.
2. Heat olive oil over medium high to brown pork all sides.
3. Heat oven 450 degrees, roast pork for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reach 170 degrees. Remove from oven.

Steps for quinoa ("kin-wa") :
1. Meanwhile, in medium size saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium high heat, add quinoa, onion to saucepan, stir in chicken broth, syrup and cranberries.
2. Add smokehouse maple seasoning and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
3. Stir in peas, turn heat off. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Slice pork and serve with quinoa. Got the idea from September issue of Family Circle.

Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is inspired by the party food we had at neighbor baby Paeton's birthday party. I was told the original dish was made with her grandma's secrete recipe. I did manage to find out one secrete ingredient-the dressing*.

Here is my version of the salad:
1 cucumber
1/2 medium size red onion
1 medium size Heirloom tomato
2oz Pepperoni minis
7oz Tri color Rotini
4oz gorgonzola crumbled cheese
1/4 cup pickled olives
*Girard's Champagne dressing

After School Snack

Banana Roll Up

Whole wheat tortilla (or Flat bread)
Peanut butter (Also try almond, or cashew butter)
Nutella
Banana

Spread a layer of peanut butter and another layer of Nutella on tortilla or flat bread, place a banana on tortilla and roll up.

I used spinach flat bread in this picture and mix nut butter from Target. Nikki likes it very much, for breakfast or after school snack.

My Coconut Curry Beef Recipe

Total Time: 4.5 hours

1.5 lb stew beef
1 tbsp curry powder
1 (13.5oz)can coconut milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt to taste
1 medium carrots
1 cup of mushroom
2 medium onions
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 tsp chilly powder
2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Steps:
1.Brown beef with salt in skillet.
2.Transfer to crockpot along with onions, carrots, mushroom, garlic and ginger. Add mixture of coconut milk, curry powder, brown sugar and chilly powder. Stir, cover and cook on Low for 4 hours.
3. Add cherry tomatoes halves and cook for another 20 minutes on Low.
Serve on rice or noodle of your choice(try black rice, or pasta). Another East meets West dish.