Winner Winner Chicken-LESS Dinner

You should know that I gave myself a good chuckle over the title of this post. :) I don't have any pictures to go along with this, but we finally found a good vegetable noodle stir-fry sauce (er-thingy) that we like!! This will probably become a regular menu item at our house; Honeybear likes him some good asian noodles, and is more happy about going meat-less when I can give him some comfort food like this. Heck, we all know he puts up with a lot so I'm happy to oblige.

For the sauce:
3/4 c. water
1 T chicken bouillon powder
1 T sugar
2 T white wine vinegar (the original recipe called for Sherry, but obviously I don't have a bottle of that lying around.)
1 T oyster sauce (this stuff made ALL the difference)
1/2 t salt
1 t cornstarch

Mix all together in a saucepot and heat until thickened. Pour over your favorite stir fry. We had ours with green onions, carrots, water chestnuts, mushrooms and peas. Also chinese egg noodles. You know, the lo mein sort. I have yet to find them in Vernal, but I did find some at Sunflower Market last time I was out visiting the folks. I tried rice noodles once before, but Honeybear called that a no-go. ;) Anyway, the sky is the limit. Also, you won't need every bit of sauce, as it is rather concentrated. But according to the site where I found this, it will keep in the fridge for about 4 weeks.

My New Love

This is it! The blender I've been waiting for all my life. But it is oh, so much more than a blender. This baby is going to revolutionize our lifestyle. Already has. Check out that green smoothie! Mostly romaine. And my kids gobbled it up. I had to make it twice. Parker told me he liked it because it tasted "fresh". So we do this twice a day. Not this exact smoothie of course; for breakfast it's usually a fruity concoction with lots of added spinach, (even did broccoli one day!) flax and spirulina. Then for lunch we go a little more heavy on the veggies. I'm determined that not only should we cut out the bad for you things, but add in as much of the good as we possibly can. If that means drinking our veggies, by gosh we're going to do it!

I will say, I feel better already. I've had more energy. I finally know what it feels like to really be full. I don't feel snacky all the time, and when I do eat something unhealthy, oh baby do I notice it. And pay for it.

The other great thing....I can make my own baby food in this bad boy. Last week in our Bountiful Basket we got two bunches of asparagus. Then this week we got another three. Now, I like asparagus pretty well, but I knew there was no way I was going to get my family to eat it 5 times in two weeks. So I steamed a bunch of it up, tossed it in this bad boy, and viola! Baby food! Seriously, I am one happy mama. You would be too if you could see Princess P's smoothie stache every morning, and hear your kids get excited over drinking up some veggie goodness.

For anyone who's interested, here's the recipe for this green delight courtesy of my Vitamix cookbook:

Sweet Lettuce Smoothie:
1 c green grapes
1 c romaine lettuce
1/2 medium apple, halved
1 c ice cubes

Put ingredients in the blender in the order listed, blend and enjoy!

Oh, in case you're still reading about my love affair with small kitchen appliances, one more thing..... I can also make soup in this. Like start to finish, 5 minutes and we're done. Toss everything in, turn it on and leave it going for 5 minutes, and it's hot and ready to serve. My life has been so much easier since we got this. Thanks to my honeybear for spoiling me, and for being willing to go along with my unusual dietary habits. He's such a good sport. Love you babe!

Yummy Yams

I'm sure that most of you have a recipe similar to this, but for those who don't.....I hated yams growing up. We only ever had them at Thanksgiving, and I couldn't figure out why in the world they were a once a year "treat". I thought they were nasty. Of course, we had the canned kind with marshmallows on top. But, in the last few years, my sister has been making this yummy concoction, and once again, it has been proven that fresh is better. These yams are so good that last year my husband actually said he would refuse to go to Thanksgiving dinner if these yams weren't on the menu. So thanks, sis, for bringing the fam together!

6 c. cooked yams, mashed (3-4 depending on size)
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla

Combine mashed yams with sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan.

1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. butter
1 c. chopped pecans

Mix together until crumbly and sprinkle over potatoes.
Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.