Chinese Dumplings and Chow Mein recipe (Winnie C)

Chinese Dumplings (potstickers)

Ingredients:
Filling:
1 lb ground pork
1 Tbsp fresh ginger (minced or finely chopped)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
7-8 leaves of Napa (finely chopped into pieces)

Chinese dumpling wrapper
(they are the circled ones)
¼ c water (for sealing up the wrapper)

Directions:
1. Mix all the filling ingredients together.
2. Put a tbsp of filling in the wrapper. Wet the sides of the wrapper with water. Seal the wrapper up.
3. Place the dumpling onto a cookie sheet or plate.
4. If you are only cooking some, then put the rest in the freezer on the plate. (This will prevent them from sticking together. Leave it in the freezer for about an hour then you can put then in a zip lock bag. You can cook them later. They can last for a couple of months.

Cooking:
1. Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan. Put dumplings in the pan. Pan fry for about 2 mins.
2. Add ¼ c of water in the pan and cover the pan. Should cook about 10-15 mins or until the water evaporates. (Note: cooking about 12-15 dumplings)
3. Uncover the pan and then the dumplings fry about 1 min longer.
4. Ready eat.

Dipping sauce:
Soy sauce or Chinese dumpling sauce.

*You can buy the Chinese dumpling wrappers (produce area) or sauce (Asian aisle) at the Fry's*


Chow Mein

Ingredients:
Chinese style dried noodles (they need to be thin, kind of like thin spaghetti)
1 Chicken breast or 1 slice boneless pork loin – thinly sliced into small pieces
Marinate: 2 tsp of cornstarch, 2 Tbsp of soy sauce
4 eggs
½ cabbage head (chopped)
3 stalk of celery (thin slices 2 in. long)
3 carrots (thin slices 2 in. long)
3 stalk of green onions (thin slices 2 in. long)
5 dried Chinese black mushrooms, thin slices (optional)
salt
oil
Soy sauce
Osyter sauce

Directions:
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in water for about 3 hours. Then you need to slice them.
2. Boil water for the noodles. Cook them "al dante"…you don't want them too soft.
3. Drain the noodles. Add 4 Tbsp of oil to the cooked noodles and some salt. Mix up the noodles. This will prevent the noodles from sticking together.
4. Marinate meat in the ingredients mentioned above. Sir fry the meat…cook thoroughly then put aside.
5. Scramble the eggs then put them aside.
6. Stir fry the mushrooms and add 1 tsp of soy sauce…then put them aside.
7. Add 2 tsp of oil in wok…wait till it's hot, then put celery, carrots and chopped cabbage in the wok. Stir fry about 1 min.
8. Add the noodles and stir fry together. Then add mushrooms, meat, and eggs in.
9. Stir fry everything except for the green onions. Then add about 3 Tbsp of oyster sauce (or however much to your taste).
10. Turn off stove. Mix in green onions.
11. Ready to eat.

Best Ever Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake (from Kraft) (Robin B.)

1 pkg. (8 squares) Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
1 pkg. (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
4 eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 tub (8 oz.) frozen COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round baking pans. Chop 2 of the chocolate squares; set aside. Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil and water in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 min. Stir in chopped chocolate. Spoon into prepared pans.
BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 min. Loosen cakes from sides of pans. Invert onto racks; gently remove pans. Cool cakes completely.
PLACE frozen whipped topping and remaining 6 chocolate squares in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth, stirring after 1 min. Let stand 15 min. to thicken. Place one cake layer on serving plate; top with one-fourth of the chocolate mixture and second cake layer. Spread top and side with remaining chocolate mixture. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Olive Garden Lemon Cream Cake (Robin B.)

This recipe is easy. I messed up the crumbs this time but hopefully it was enjoyable anyway!

* 1 (18 1/4 ounce) betty crocker white cake mix (I used Pillsbury)
* 1 1/4 cups water
* 1/3 cup oil
* 3 egg whites
* 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 4 teaspoons lemon juice
* 1 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 1/4 cup cold butter
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* powdered sugar (for garnish)

Directions

1. Make white cake following directions on box. Pour batter into 10-inch greased cake pan, or springform pan, and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 - 45 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely when it comes out of the oven. (I traced the bottom of my springform pan and lined it with a circle of parchment so I could completely remove it from the pan after it cooled a little.)
2. Make lemon cream filling by mixing cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice.
3. Whip cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Combine cream cheese mixture with whipped cream. Stir by hand until blended.
4. Make crumb topping by combining flour and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Use your hands to mix cold butter into flour and sugar. Break butter into smaller and smaller pieces as you incorporate it into the dry ingredients. Be sure not to press the mixture together. You want to end up with a very crumbly consistency with pieces no bigger than a pea. (If you have trouble making small crumbs, pop the bowl into your fridge for a few minutes.) Chill this crumb topping until you are ready to use it.
5. When the cake is cool, slice it in half through the middle and remove the top. Spread all but 1/2 cup of the lemon cream mixture onto the bottom half of the cake, then carefully replace the top half of the cake.
6. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of cream filling over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the cake and press it onto the sides all the way around the cake.
7. Now chill the cake for at least 3 hours before your serve it. When you are ready to dig in, slice cake into 12 slices. Serve each slice topped with powdered sugar tapped through a strainer.

BBQ Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1/2 can black beans, drained
1/2 can corn, drained
1/2-1 head romaine lettuce, thinly sliced
1 avocado, cubed
3/4-1 C. cheddar cheese, grated
2 green onions, sliced
1 tomato, cubed
tortilla chips, broken up
1/2 C. salsa
1/2 C. Italian dressing
BBQ sauce

1. Bake or grill chicken until desired tenderness. Shred using two forks. Place shredded chicken in a Tupperware container. Add desired amount of BBQ sauce and toss until meat is evenly coated.

2. In a salad bowl combine all of the ingredients, minus the chips(add those at the very end to prevent them from getting soggy). You can add what you like and how much you like of each ingedient. You could even add in olives or red bell pepper.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together equal parts of the salsa and Italian dressing.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad. Toss and enjoy!

Chicken Pasta Salad (Kristi H)

1 Tbsp italian seasoning, or your own mixture of basil, oregano, marjoram, & thyme
1/3 c dried onion
2/3 c olive oil
1/2 c sugar
1 c red wine vinegar
3 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
16 ozs cork screw pasta, cooked, drained & cooled
1 cucumber, diced
2 c fresh broccoli, chopped
1 c mozzarella cheese, shredded

Combine seasoning, onion, oil, sugar and vinegar and set aside. Toss remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Blend vinegar mixture if possible, or stir vigorously, then add to pasta mixture. Let salad chill for a few hours (best over night) to let the pasta soak up the sauce flavors, if time allows. Be sure to stir up everything before serving.

Spinach Salad (Laura M)

Dressing: 1/2 C Olive Oil 1/4 Cup Cider Vinegar 1/8 C Sugar 1 1/2 Tbl Brown Sugar 1 Tbl Worchestershire Sauce - Mix and let sit for awhile Salad: Spinach leafs red onion sliced thin bean sprouts bacon (fried and crispy) Chopped Hard boiled eggs (about 4) Sliced Mushrooms Sliced Mix all ingredients and drizzle desired amount of dressing over salad and blend well.

Spinach Salad (Winnie C)

Spinach Salad

1 bag fresh spinach

1 can of water chestnuts (Drain water)

4 boiled eggs

1/4 cup cooked bacon (cut into pieces)

1/2 cup sprouts

Toss together

Dressing

1 cup veg. oil

3/4 cup sugar (I have used 2/3 and it taste good, you could even try 1/2 if you wanted)

2tsp worchester sauce

2tsp onion salt

1/2 cup vinegar

1/3 cup ketchup

Blend in mixer and pour over salad and toss. Put dressing on right before you eat, it can make it a little soggy if you don't. Also I only use about half of the dressing.

Pineapple Cabbage Salad (Teresa H)

3 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained

2 large red apples, chopped

½ cup raisins

½ cup almonds

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

Fresh coconut curls

2-3 Tablespoons mayonnaise

Mix well. Sprinkle nuts as you serve slaw for crunch.

Serves 6-8

Herbed Italian Pasta Salad (Robin B)

1 (16oz.) package rotini pasta
1 can (8oz.) tomato sauce
1 cup Italian dressing
1 tsp. Dried basil leaves
1 tsp. Dried oregano leaves
1 cup sliced mushrooms
5 roma (plum) tomatoes coarsely chopped (1 ½ cups)
1 large cucumber coarsely chopped (1 ½ cups)
1 medium red onion chopped
1 can (2 ¼ ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained

1. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package. Rinse with cold water; drain.
2. Mix tomato sauce, dressing, basil and oregano in large bowl. Add pasta and remaining ingredients; toss. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. 12 servings.