Chicken & Asparagus Pasta Salad

Cook whatever kind of pasta you have or like according to the package.

Cut up asparagus and cook it for a few minutes.

In a bowl mix together your pasta, asparagus, tomato, fresh mint and some cooked chicken.

In a small bowl combine honey, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and basil.

Toss the pasta salad with the dressing.

It was good warm or cooled. I would rate this about a 4.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

Melt 8 oz chocolate and 2 sticks of butter together and let it sit and cool.

Combine 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of sugar and whisk it until puffy. It might be about 10 minutes.

Stir in the cooled chocolate and 4 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract if you want a mint flavor).

Pour the chocolate mixture into buttered and floured ramekins (or mugs) half-way. Place chocolate chips in the center and then pour the remaining mixture to cover the chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for about 14-17 minutes.

This recipe needed less nutmeg and more lava. Maybe I cooked it too long. It was really good and my family rated it a 4.2.

Bread Pudding with Apples and Raisins

I have never had bread pudding before because I didn't know what I would think about "soggy bread" pudding style. Not my kind of thing, but I thought I would give it a shot when I had extra hamburger buns.

I tore up four hamburger buns and placed them into a greased pan. I cut up one apple and tossed it with the bread with a handful of raisins.

In a seperate bowl I combined 5 eggs, 2 cans of canned milk, some extra milk, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. I poured the mixture over the bread and let it sit for about 1/2 hour.

I baked it at 350 for about 30-45 minutes, until set and the fork comes out clean.

It was not bad for my first time, but I think it needs some more flavor. I would rate it about a 2.5.

If anyone has a recipe for a really good bread pudding I would love to try it.

Orange Pull-Aparts

This is a combination of our family's favorite cinnamon pull-aparts (also known as monkey bread to some of you) and orange rolls.

Cut up 3 packages of pop up biscuits (each biscuit into quarters).
In a ziploc bag combine sugar and one zested orange.
Shake the biscuits in the sugar. (You might have to do some at a time.)

Pour some melted butter on the butter of a bundt pan and pour some of the sugar on top of it. Place about a third of the sugar covered biscuits in the pan, pour some butter on the biscuits and sprinkle with a little sugar. Repeat these steps until the biscuits are all done.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I love cinnamon pull-aparts. This was the first time i've tried the orange ones. To make the cinnamon was you do the cinnamon and sugar instead of the orange zest and sugar.

I would rate this about a 5 because I love love love them.

Thai Red Curry with Green Beans and Eggplant

Job loves curry, especially curry with eggplant. I've made pineapple curry, which was good and probably the easiest curry to make. I thought I would try a different kind. I found this recipe on-line. It doesn't have meat, but you can put meat in it if you want to. Job also likes his saucier so he can "sop" his rice in it. I added extra coconut milk.

In a saucepan combine 1 lb eggplant and 2 tablespoons oil. Cook for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine 3-4 tablespoons of coconut milk with 1 tablespoons ginger, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1 tablespoon red curry paste.

To the saucepan, add 1 lb green beans (i cut mine into smaller pieces), 1 red onion, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar and 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (more if you want it saucier).

Stir in your curry paste mixture and simmer for about 8 minutes.
Stir in 1/2 cup thai or sweet basil leaves and 2 teaspoons lime juice.
Serve with rice.

This was actually really easy and better than I thought I could make. It makes me want to try more currys, especially since my husband is a fan of them.

I would rate it about an 8 because I think there might be a better red curry recipe and my eggplant was soft to begin with.

Recipe Overload

Sorry it has been a while since I have posted anything. It's not that I haven't made anything yummy ... I have. Here are lots of yummy meals from over the last couple of weeks. Enjoy. Tonight .... Thai food. Coming soon ... Tangelo Creme Brulee. Wish me luck because I have not made Creme Brulee before.

Chickpea Pot Pie

This is an alternative to a classic Chicken Pot Pie. Instead of chicken ... chickpeas. It was actually really good. It made a ton of stuffing, enough for 2 pie pans and 2 small individual servings. I froze 1 pie pan and passed along the individual ones for Job's brother and sister-in-law to freeze them.

In a large saucepan cook 1 onion and 2 tablespoons. Add 2 garlic cloves, 3 celery ribs, 2 carrots and 5 cups of broth (i used chicken, the recipe called for vegetable).

Add 2 cups frozen corn, 15 oz garbanzo beans, 2 tablespoons parsley, 1 tablespoon sage, 1 tablespoon marjoram and 2 bay leaves to the broth. Simmer for 30 minutes and then remove the bay leaves.

Stir in one 16 oz package of pot pie or egg noodles and cook for 5 minutes.

Mix together 1 more cup of broth with 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and then add to the pot. Stir in 4 oz cream cheese (i added 8 oz) and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

Remove from heat and mix in 2 cups of peas and 2 cups of green beans.

Pour into a greased pie pan and top with a sheet of frozen pastry puff. (i made my own pie crust).

Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

This was really good and i would rate it a 9.