Thai Peanut and Chicken Flatbread

Ingredients

For flatbread:

Use Naan bread or your own homemade pizza dough.

• (you can also use store-bought pizza dough if you'd like)

For Toppings:

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 large chicken breast half (I used leftover chicken)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 2 green onions, chopped
• ½ cup white bean sprouts
• ¼ cup carrots, shredded
• 1 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
• 1 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional)

For Peanut Sauce:

• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp thai red chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• Salt to taste

Instructions

Make flatbread:

1. Preheat oven to 475F. Heat grill pan. Bake flat bread or pizza crust until golden.

Make Chicken.

1. Lightly pound chicken breast to about ¼ inch thick. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When grill is hot, add the chicken and cook until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let sit for a few minutes. Dice chicken. (or skip this step and use leftovers like I did!)

Make sauce

1. Combine all ingredients for peanut sauce in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a gently boil for one minute. Use ¼ cup peanut sauce and mix with chicken.

Assemble flatbread.

1. Cover flatbread with peanut sauce, leaving a little left to drizzle at the end. Add half the cheese, then chicken, grated carrots, and green onions. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the flatbread then top it with the chopped peanuts.
2. Bake in oven until crisp and cheese is bubbly and golden, about 12-15 minutes.
3. When flatbread is finished, top with bean sprouts, drizzle with remaining peanut sauce and then sprinkle with cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately.

Jen's Savoury Pumpkin Dip

Everyone will love this delicious and simple savory pumpkin dip -- perfect for all kinds of dipping!

PREP: 5 MINS TOTAL: 5 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat cream cheese)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling!)
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
• 4-6 slices of bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 Tablespoons Chili Sauce
• 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Stir all ingredients together using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until combined.  Serve garnished with extra bacon and green onions if desired, or cover and refrigerate until use. It was definitely better the next day, and even better the day after that. 

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza Pie

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups warm water
• 3 tsp. yeast
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/4 cup golden crisco
• 2 tsp. salt
• 4 - 4 1/2 cups flour

Toppings

• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups pizza sauce
• 300 grams thinly sliced pepperoni
• 4 cups grated mozzarella cheese or more if you like it cheesy
• your favourite additional toppings (mushrooms, peppers, sausage, etc.)

In a kitchen aid mixer, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar and let sit until frothy. Add in butter, butter flavoured Crisco and salt and mix until combined. Add in flour, a small amount at a time, and mix with a dough hook until dough is well mixed. Let rise slightly and mix again. Roll out dough into one large pan or two 9X12 greased baking pans. Let rise again slightly and then roll out thin and stretch to create an edge up the side of the pan. Bake until crust begins to brown.

Add salt and pepper to ricotta and then add eggs. Mix to combine. Spread mixture out onto browned crust. Top with pizza sauce. Add pepperoni and other toppings. Top with cheese. 

Bake until done. Let sit 10-15 minutes before serving. 

Super Easy Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 package your favourite pasta (I used tri-colour pasta shapes)

1 cup of your favourite veggies (I used julienned carrots and diced green peppers)

2 tablespoons oil (I used basil olive oil)

1/2 cup - 1 cup of mayo or Ranch dressing or a mixture of both

1 tsp sugar

milk to thin

Instructions:

Cook pasta as directed. Drain and rinse with cold water. Toss with oil (this will help the dressing not to absorb into the pasta and keeps the salad creamy. Mix mayo/ranch dressing with sugar and milk (should be a pourable consistency). Pour over salad. Can be refrigerated to blend flavours before serving. 

Club House Croissants

Ingredients:

10 Croissants, cut in half

1/2 cup mayonaise 

shaved deli honey maple ham

shaved deli turkey breast

4 slices swiss or cheddar cheese

lettuce (I used butter lettuce) 

10 slices bacon, cooked in strips until crispy

sliced red onion

tomato if desired

Instructions:

Spread croissants with mayo (and mustard if desired). Stack ham, turkey, cheese, lettuce, bacon, onion, and tomato on one half of cut croissant. Top with remaining half and eat!

Crockpot Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

1. 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used frozen)
2. black pepper, to taste
3. 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4. 1/4 cup honey
5. 1/4 cup tomato paste
6. 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
7. 2 cloves garlic, minced
8. 1 tsp sesame oil
9. 1 tsp onion powder
10. 1 tsp sriracha hot chili sauce, optional
11. Add at serving time:

1/4 package rice vermicelli, softened in warm water and cut into smaller pieces with kitchen shears

1 can water chestnuts, chopped

1. 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
2. 2 green onions, chopped for garnish
3. Lettuce for lettuce cups (I used butter lettuce)

Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce

2-3 tsp red sweet chili sauce

1-2 tsp sugar, to taste

Instructions

1. 1. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and season with black pepper.
2. 2. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, tomato paste, vinegar, garlic, 1 tbsp water, sesame oil, onion powder, and sriracha hot chili sauce if desired. Pour over chicken and cook on high 3-4 hours.
3. 3. Remove chicken, leaving any sauce in the slow cooker. Shred chicken with two forks (or use your Kitchen Aid with the batter attachment); set aside.
4. 4. Add softened noodles and chopped water chestnuts to remaining sauce in crockpot. Then return chicken and mix well.

5. Mix ingredients for Peanut Sauce and serve as a dipping sauce or add to lettuce cups before wrapping.

1. 5. Scoop desired amount of filling from crockpot into large lettuce leaves and top with sesame seeds and chopped green onions for garnish.
2. This could also be served over rice if you prefer that over the lettuce cups.

Broken Glass Jello Cubes

INGREDIENTS:

8 small boxes of jello (3 oz), different colors
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 envelopes unflavored knox gelatin
water

INSTRUCTIONS:

Dissolve each box of jello separately, using just 2 cups of boiling water per flavor. Pour into individual containers (I used 9X9 glass pans) and chill overnight.

Once solid, cut the flavors of jello into small blocks and mix together carefully in a glass 9×13 pan.

In a separate bowl, dissolve 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin in 2 cups hot water. Let cool a bit and stir in the condensed milk. Cool to touch and pour cooled milk mixture over jello and chill overnight.

Cut into squares and serve.