Can you ever have too many cucumber salad recipes?

Summer is a'coming, and even if that means that us pregnant rollypollies will be staying mostly indoors, I still plan to enjoy summer-time treats. And this sounds perfect for a hot day:

This recipe is courtesy of genkileslie.

Cut a cucumber or two into thin slices, and mix with about a teaspoon of salt.
After 10 - 15 minutes, the cucumber slices should be limp. Squeeze as much water from the cucumber slices as you can.
Chop finely 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and mix with a pinch of salt.
Add about 250cc to 500cc of plain yogurt
add chopped garlic
add chopped fresh parsley
add pepper and salt to taste

This salad can be eaten right away but usually tastes better after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Asian Cole Slaw

My mother in law went to a party or a lunch or a something one time and she brought home this Asian Cole Slaw from her friend Tracy. (Who I will get to meet at the upcoming baby shower - and you better believe that I will let this woman touch the belly because this slaw is SO good.) So I tweaked it slightly from the original recipe but it's pretty much intact.

Asian Cole Slaw

What you need:
1 bag shredded Cole Slaw Mix
1 package Chinese noodles (you can use Ramien Noodles)
1/2 c Toasted Almond pieces (you don't want the slivers you want something with a good crunch)
1 bunch green onions chopped
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Rice Wine Vinegar (seasoned)
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (I use Cannola)
3 Tablespoons Agave Syrup (or you can use 5 Tablespoons of White Sugar - I try to stay away from the white sugar though)

What you do:

1. Put the noodles in a bowl and crunch up (you're not cooking them) so make sure there aren't big chunks of noodles
   
   
2. Layer the coleslaw, green onions and almonds on top.
   
   
3. Pour the liquids on top of that and cover with saran wrap.
   
4. Give it a little shake (make sure your saran wrap is secure - or better yet, use a bowl with a lid, something I never seem to remember). You want the noodles to be mostly at the bottom because they need to take in the most liquid so don't go to crazy.
   
   
5. Store overnight in the fridge to marinate.
   
   
6. Stir in the morning - it will have shrunken down in the bowl quite a bit. I find that I sometimes need to add another splash of vinegar and water depending on the noodle I use.
   

It's REALLY yummy, fresh and it's so fantastic really cold. I've taken this to a couple of picnics and everyone loves it - it's also great on pulled pork (which I think I'll post sometime soon) and throw in some grilled chicken and it's a meal.

Lazy Man's (or Busy Women's) Spicy Chicken Corn Chowder

Posted by Catnip

Back when dh and I were living in Northern Virginia we would sometimes go to Red Hot and Blue, a bbq restaurant that was just down the street from us. One of the menu items we both loved was their chicken corn chowder, which had just a hint of smoke and heat. Now that we're back in New England I can't get no RH&B, so I had to come up with my own version of the chowder.

Now, mine certainly isn't the same, and it would NEVER be called gourmet, but the flavors are perfect, it's hearty, and it's one of the easiest meals I make. I could boil the potatoes myself and I could bake the chicken myself (and sometimes I do.) I could also milk a cow myself (hee hee), and heck I could grow the corn too (well, probably not) but some nights I just don't have time to do anything but open cans. Do you have those nights too?

The point is, I'm giving you my easiest version of this, and you change it up however you want, k? The only super duper important things here are the roasted corn and the spices.

Lazy Man's (or Busy Women's) Spicy Chicken Corn Chowder

2 cans corn, one drained, one not!
2/3 bag frozen roasted corn (I had a 1 lb bag from Trader Joes)
1 package pre cooked diced chicken, or 1 cup diced baked chicken
1 can diced potatoes drained or 2-3 boiled potatoes diced
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 ½ - 2 cups milk
1 cup light cream (if using skim milk use more cream and less milk)
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper
chili powder
optional:
4-5 scallions or 1-2 small onions chopped fine
2 tbsp butter/margarine

(If using onions or scallions, start by lightly sautéing them in butter.)
Get a big pot and dump in all of your ingredients, all the corn, (including the can with the water), cream of potato soup, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, milk, cream. Slowly heat on Medium to a low boil (not roiling), then turn to low to simmer. If soup is too thick add extra milk or a little water, if too thin add extra cream or more corn. Add cayenne, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste, (remember the canned soup has salt already so go easy.)
Simmer for a few minutes to meld the flavors, and enjoy!

ps. Here's a printable pdf version if you want it! spicy-chicken-corn-chowder

The Contest

Do you win stuff? Does this happen to you? It never happens to me....I'm not sure why. Probably because I say things like "winning stuff never happens to me". Then I got to thinking that maybe it's not just me, maybe no one actually ever wins things. And everyone just thinks that they don't win anything. Not that I'm one to believe in conspiracy theories...obviously.

To counteract this negative string we've decided a Contest is exactly what this blog needs. Given this blogs focus on cooking we're giving away puppies....just kidding. We're giving a way some cooking stuff. Because really, you can never have too much cooking stuff.

Tell em what they win:
A beautiful set of 9 glass bowls, bamboo salad servers, and these FANTASTIC Silicone needs no paper liner muffin pans all from Crate & Barrel. Now there's a reason why you're getting this stuff...and it's because we want you to 1. Mix it up 2. Serve it up and finally 3. finish everything with a cupcake or a muffin because everyone likes one of those two things. It's the law. (or, if you didn't want to cook and you just wanted the C&B gift certificate we could work that out too)

So now to the effort part:
1. Leave a comment. Funny comments get two entires. Funny comments about food disasters get three entires. Non-funny comments get just one entry.
2. Pimp out Chop.Stir.Mix on your blog or e-mail it to people....you don't technically have to do this, but it would sure be nice. Because I'm a sucker for incentive, how about this? If you help this post get to over 50 comments we'll throw in a $50 gift card from American Express...so basically we'll give you $50 to buy groceries so you can make all of this stuff we're chatting up.
3. Have a recipe that you want to share...send us an e-mail...up there in the right hand side there's a link that says Email Us Here. Do that.

The winner will be selected with random number generator in ONE WEEK, that's Monday, the day after Mother's Day, May 12th . You must comment on this post before Sunday night.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Posted by Multi-Tasking Mommy

Last time, I posted my marinade recipe for flank steak on the bbq.

I mentioned that one of the sides that often compliments that meal is a summer creamy cucumber salad. It's yet another comfort food that my Mom makes and now I do too. The ironic thing is that I am the only one in my immediate family that enjoys this salad, so I end up eating the whole thing!

There are many variations on this salad and I don't have a specific recipe either, there is a little bit of guess work taste testing involved!

Salad Ingredients:

english cucumber thinly sliced

Other ingredients you can add to the salad if you wish:
chopped chives (fresh from the summer garden is the best!)
thinly sliced sweet onions
grated carrot
chopped tomato
...the list goes on...use your imagination!

Dressing:
light mayo
light sour cream
1-2 tbsp white vinegar (depends how bitter you want it)
dash of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Notice I haven't put many measurements (I don't know them), you can just add, stir and taste until you feel it's right. YOu can't really go wrong, and the result is guaranteed to be delish!

This salad also accompanies bbq'd hamburgers and hotdogs well too.

Naughty like Lindsay Lohan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Earlier in the week, I posted a healthy banana muffin recipe. Good for WW, good for fiber and omegas, and they actually taste good. But, here and now, I am posting the incredibly naughty Otis Spunkmeyer-esque banana chocolate chip muffins for those of us that are pregnant, or otherwise eating from the Fuckit Bucket (a term coined by Linda at All & Sundry that I love and use frequently).

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They are the moistest, tastiest mofo muffins I've ever made. Wanna know the weirdest part? It's made with mayo. At first, I was weirded out by the whole thing, but it works! And I make it with whole wheat flour and low-fat mayo so they're not TOO bad. And you could always substitute the sugar for Splenda for Baking. And you could eliminate the chocolate chips (but, why in the name of all that is good in the world would you do that?) and add maybe some walnuts?

Anyway, it's super easy and a great way to get rid of those bananas sitting in your fruit bowl that are turning all sorts of funkadelic colors. And everyone will love them. Promise. Go make them and then tell me how much you love me. Seriously.

THE WORLD'S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (or whole w
1 c. sugar (or use equivalent Splenda product)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/2 c. mayo
4 very ripe bananas
1/2 c. chocolate chips (the original recipe called for a whole cup but on my first try, it was too much, so I lowered it)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
2. In another bowl (I use my KitchenAid, which I swear I don't know how people live without), beat egg. Add in bananas and vanilla. Then mayo.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Add in chocolate chips last. The batter will appear slightly runny - this is okay!
4. Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of your muffins. Just watch them until the edges turn a golden brown and they pass the toothpick test. Cool and store on a plate loosely covered to avoid stickiness. If you put them in a bag or tupperware, they get gooey.
5. Email me to tell me how awesome I am.

Stuffed Flank Steak

I can't actually believe it but it will be 10 years this summer that this fantastic lady came into my life. Lisa was my college dorm roommate for 3 fabulous and fun years....there were many good times and I am a very lucky person to have her in my life. She has given us permission to post five of her favorite recipes...this one sounded so good that Flank Steak is on the grocery list for this week. Enjoy!

Stuffed Flank Steak

I came across this recipe online. Although I cannot recall where! I have altered the recipe slightly. I butterfly my steak and stuff it, but you can pound the steak and roll it around the filling. This is the first meal I made for my dad when he came to visit my apartment in graduate school! He was very impressed! I also made this for my brother and sister in law when I visited them in San Francisco. It is now my signature!

What you need:

· Flank Steak – as many pieces as you need to serve your family or guests. Cut into desired serving sizes

· Fresh spinach

· Diced red and yellow peppers: ½ each for 4 steaks

· Crumbled Feta cheese

· Salt and Pepper

What you do:

· Butterfly each piece of the steak ¾ of the way through creating a “pocket”

· Salt and Pepper both sides of the steak

· Stuff steak: cover the bottom of the inside of the steak with fresh spinach pieces; stuff with mixture of peppers and feta to the edge…can even overflow a little

· Cover broil pan with foil and place steaks on top

· Broil steaks until juices run clear or desired ‘doneness’

· Approx 15-20 min