Japanese Salad

2 cups cooked chicken
2 Tbsp toasted almonds
1/2 head cabbage, shredded (I used a bag of already shredded cabbage)
2 green onions
2 packages Ramen noodles, crushed
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Mix together and pour dressing over top.


Dressing
2 Ramen Seasoning packets
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup oil
3 Tbsp vinegar
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Mix together in container with a tight fitting lid.  Pour over cabbage mixture.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

From the Kitchen of Alesha Whitney

Ingredients

2 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 ears fresh corn, cooked, cooled and kernels cut off the cob
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced shallots (you'll need one medium shallot)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest (be sure to zest the limes before juicing them)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more to garnish
2 Hass avocados, diced

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with a few sprigs of freshly chopped cilantro if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Super Moist Low Fat Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 18.25 oz Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix
• 1.4 oz sugar free, fat free, instant chocolate pudding
• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 1/3 cups water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

Combine pumpkin puree and water in a large bowl; mix to combine. Add chocolate pudding mix and mix well.

Add chocolate cake mix and beat 2 minutes.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake about 25 - 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.


For the glaze, make your favorite butter cream icing, but add a little more milk to make it a bit more runny. Drizzle the icing on the cupcakes in a random pattern.

Here is my favorite butter cream icing recipe:

1 box powdered sugar
1 cube butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Whip together until frosting consistency. Add more milk to taste.

For chocolate frosting alternative, add 2-3 heaping tbsp powered cocoa to above ingredient list.

South Western Egg and Hash Bake

1 package Frozen French Fries (2 1bs), or Hash Browns, thawed & cut into cubes

10 breakfast sausage links, cooked and cut/chopped small

1/2 (med/large) onion, chopped, lightly sautee'd

2 cups (or more) cheddar cheese, grated

6-8 whole large eggs, beaten/whisked

1 Rotel 10 oz can, Original (optional)

1/2 cup milk

Sea Salt

Pepper

Onion & garlic powder

Basil

Chives

Butter or EVOO or Butter flavor oil spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 qt, 13x9 baking dish. Place the potatoes on bottom of dish.

Sautee' chopped onion in skillet. If sausage is not already cooked, cut up and cook with onions. Crumble the sausage. Drain any fat.

Whisk together eggs and 1/2 milk. Add powdered garlic and onion, salt, pepper, whisk and then pour over potatoes.

Layer with half the cheddar cheese. Spread Rotel evenly over top of potatoes. Then evenly distribute the sausage and rest of cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove cover; return casserole to the oven and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 min. Let stand 5 min before serving.

For added creaminess, make some sunny side up eggs in skillet and place ontop of casserole. When cut into, it should be nice and runny. May also serve with ketchup, some salsa, sour cream & avocados.

Green Smoothie

This smoothie is so customizable. There really is not much to it. Add your choice of fruits, liquids, and optional protein, then put a couple of handfuls of raw spinach into a blender. Blend for about 2 minutes, then pour into a glass and enjoy. It's that easy!


Fruit examples:
Frozen Mixed Berries
Bananas and Strawberries
Mangoes and pineapple
Melons, grapes, and strawberries

Liquid examples:
Milk
Orange Juice
Pineapple Juice
Water

Protein examples:
Yogurt
Greek Yogurt
Protein Powder
Peanut butter

If you use Mixed Berries in your drink, don't be surprise if your end result looks like this:

It still tastes really good.

Fritatta

1 cup chicken sausage (any flavor) sliced (can use any type sausage you want to.
1/4 cup chopped green onion
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (can use any type cheese)
vegetables: I used spinach, zucchini, mushrooms. You can use any veggies you need to use up or that your family likes.
4 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the eggs, cheese, milk,onion, salt and pepper, and sour cream together in a bowl. Heat the oil in a nonstick, ovenproof skillet. Add the veggies and saute until the veggies are softened a bit and coated with the oil. Reduce the heat to medium, pour in the egg mixture and stir quickly to combine. Cook until the eggs are set around the edges, around 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the eggs are set, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Deena Callahan

Sticky Buns

12 Rhoades dinner rolls

½ C. Butter

1 C. Brown Sugar

1 lg. box vanilla pudding-cook and serve

2 T. Milk

1 t. Cinnamon

Mix and heat until butter is melted (Don’t boil). Pour in bottom of 9x13 pan or a bundt pan. Put frozen rolls on top-let rise and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.