Finnish Pancakes

My pregnant-culinary adventures have basically consisted of me staring at recipes that I find on the internet.
And I've decided to finally start giving them a try!

So here is a recipe I found for Finnish Pancakes. 

To be honest, I have no idea what they are supposed to taste like...
But these turned out pretty good.

I'm not much of an egg person, and these were a little too "eggy" for my taste.
But Zach loved them.

So here you go. pretty simple!

3 tbsp butter, melted
4 eggs
2 c milk
1/2 c flour (I'd add a little more than half a cup)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 450^o, and pour the melted butter into a 9″x16″ baking pan.
Beat eggs until foamy but not whippy, until well-blended. Beat with milk, flour, sugar and salt. Pour into pan with butter and bake 20-23 minutes.
Serve any way you like!

recipe via omnomicon.com

Fry Bread

Ok, so since I've been pregnant I've been craving Navajo Tacos.
I found this recipe for fry bread and decided to give it a try... how hard could it be, right?

Actually, not hard at all!
I made the last few a little thicker than the rest and added butter and powdered sugar.
DELISH!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 - 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
• 1 Tbsp butter or shortening, melted
• Vegetable oil, for frying (sometimes I use half olive oil)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, yeast and salt. Whisk melted butter into warm milk and pour milk mixture into dry ingredients. Stir until mixture comes together and forms a ball, dough should be slightly sticky and elastic so add an up to an additional 1/4 cup milk as needed. Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest 10 minutes. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large cast iron skillet to 350 - 360 degrees over stove top. Divide rested dough into 12 equal pieces. Working with floured hands and one piece of dough at a time, roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 6 inch circle and gently drop into hot oil, and cook until golden brown 1-2 minutes per side (second side will cook faster). Remove from oil and drain onto a plate or baking sheet lined with paper towels. Serve warm with Navajo Taco topping or for dessert, spread with honey butter.

Recipe via cookingclassy.com

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Cups

This is a made up recipe. I bought the ingredients for something completely different that didn't work out the way I'd hoped. These are delicious and happy and summery. So make yourself a July treat.

Ingredients:
Cupcake liners
8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
2 Tbs granulated sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
The zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
2 cups whipped cream
7 or 8 Mothers Oatmeal Cookies (they're the ones with the icing on them)
4 Tbs Melted butter

Directions:
Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and juice of half a lemon
Fold in the whipped cream - gently and then fold in the lemon zest
This is your filling

For the crust -
Crush up the cookies as finely as you want
Melt half a stick of butter (4 tbs)
Mix with the cookie


In a cupcake tin, line with cupcake liners and firmly press about 1/4 to 1/2 and inch of crust into the bottom of each. Top with the cheese cake filling (as much as you want). Refrigerate for an hour to two hours and eat them outside on your back porch in the sun.

Kung Pao Chicken

I don't know what my Asian food deal is lately... but how bout some more!
 

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into 1-2 inch pieces
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup roasted peanuts (this is optional... for me, not included)
White rice, prepared per instructions

Prepare rice. Combine chicken and cornstarch in a bowl and toss until evenly coated. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in another bowl and set aside for later. Heat a large skillet or wok with sesame oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is smoking hot add the chicken and stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes to the pan and stir fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce/vinegar/sugar mixture to the pan along with the cooked chicken (and peanuts). Coat the chicken and peanuts with sauce and heat thoroughly. Serve over rice

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I found this recipe on FortheLoveofCooking.blogspot.com
I was nervous because I don’t make asian food often…haha but this was so tasty. You HAVE to try it.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks

2 tsp corn starch

1 egg white

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sweet yellow onion, chopped (optional… I didn’t use it)

2 baby red, yellow or orange bell peppers, chopped

1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped

1/4 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup of pineapple juice

1/4 cup of white vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp fresh ginger

Combine the chicken pieces, cornstarch, egg white and salt in a bowl and set aside for a few minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, pineapple juice, vinegar and brown sugar. Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar if desired.

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat until HOT. 

Add 1/2 tbsp oil and swirl to coat. Add the chicken and spread out into one layer. 

Let the chicken cook, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned. 

Flip the chicken with a spatula then continue to cook for an additional minute. 

The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. 

Remove from the skillet onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil to the skillet then add the onion. 

Cook for 1-2 minutes then add the bell pepper and ginger. 

Fry the vegetables for 1 minute then add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. 

Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken pieces back in. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. 

The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut in half. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking. 

Serve over steamed rice.

Summer Salsa

This is a really quick and easy salsa recipe. You can always add more ingredients or replace some.

Ingredients
3 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 jalapeño, stem removed and roasted
3-4 small cloves garlic
2 tbsp cilantro
3-4 tbsp water
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste
½ tsp. crushed red pepper

Directions

In a blender/food processor, add tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro and water and pulse a few times until completely smooth.

Add oil to a deep skillet, then pour in tomato puree. Season with salt and crushed red peppers and simmer uncovered stirring occasionally, 20 to 25 minutes.

The color of the salsa will be really light at first, but as it simmers you will see it become a really beautiful dark red.

4 Cheese Penne

I had originally bought these ingredients for a different recipe... but then I lost the recipe! So, I made this one up instead.

Ingredients

2 TBS butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper

2 cups heavy cream

1 TBS fresh chopped parsley

2/3 cup freshly grated Romano

2/3 cup shredded Parmesan

2 cups shredded mozzarella

2 tbsp. ricotta cheese

1 pound penne rigate pasta

 Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions

In a large skillet, melt butter and add minced garlic on med-low heat cook until barely golden

Add the heavy cream, parsley, salt and pepper heat through on Med heat
stir in Romano, Parmesan, and 1 Cup mozzarella until cheese is melted and well blended.
Add ricotta and mix until well blended.
Add Pasta and toss to coat.
Add the remaining cup of mozzarella toss to blend/melt.

Enjoyyyyyy.