Fajita Salad

I bought a big package of Ramen noodles several years back that came with recipes on it. I cut them out and pasted them in my book o'recipes but haven't got around to trying any of them until now.

I have to admit that Ramen noodles are my most sinful of guilty pleasures. I know they're so bad for you, but there's something so comforting about cuddling up with a bowl of Ramen with enough shredded cheese to make a gooey mess. Om nom...

But THIS is a Ramen recipe I don't have to feel guilty about! It makes four servings, so you don't have to worry about taking in all that Ramen sodium all at once, and it can't hurt that this salad is SUPER delicious!

Fajita Salad

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon chili oil (or vegetable oil)
• 8 ounces chicken
• 1 red pepper, cut into strips
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• Assorted salad greens
• 1 pkg. chicken-flavor Ramen noodles, broken before opening bag
• Avocado & tomato wedges (optional)

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chili oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1 packet Ramen chicken seasoning
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro or 1 tablespoon chopped dried cilantro

Instructions

1. Pat chili powder onto chicken. If using chicken breasts, shred or cut into bite-size pieces.

2. Brown chicken in hot oil. Add pepper and onion. Cover; cook until done. Drain fat from chicken mixture.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together dressing ingredients.

4. Toss together chicken mixture, dressing, and Ramen noodles. Serve over greens. Garnish with tomato and avocado, if desired.

Ham "Sushi"

My friend, Bethany, passed along this lil' recipe to me, and I was immediately intrigued! Hubby has been itching to try making sushi, but I'm still hesitant, unsure of how I feel about preparing raw fish. However, this sushi look-alike is simple with only three ingredients, and I don't have to worry about scary bacteria or cooking sticky rice!

Ham "Sushi"

Ingredients
Sliced ham
Whole dill pickles
Cream cheese

Instructions
1. Spread warmed cream cheese onto one side of a ham slice.

2. Place pickle in middle of ham slice, on top of cream cheese.

3. Roll one side of ham around pickle and follow with the other side.

4. Turn the roll over to where the ends of the ham slice are facing down so it won't unroll while you're slicing it. With a serrated knife, slice the roll into about 1" long pieces and repeat for as many servings as desired!

As the rolls include ham and dill pickles, they're pretty salty, so I'd guess the serving size is about one and a half pickle's-worth of rolls. Or one pickle's-worth. Or just enough to not make yourself sick!

Spicy Turkey Spaghetti

So I know I vowed to never use meat in spaghetti again, but I couldn't resist trying this turkey spaghetti recipe. Turkey sausage is fun, but the recipe's greatest attraction to me is the squash. I love randomly including veggies in pasta! Why not?

Honestly I don't have much to say about this recipe. It's pretty simple but easy to throw together and pretty tasty too!

Spicy Turkey Spaghetti
From Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals
4 servings

Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked turkey Italian sausage (remove casings, if present)
1 cup cut-up yellow squash
1 small red sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 14-ounce jar red pasta sauce
8-9 ounces dry pasta
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions
1. In a large skillet cook sausage, squash, sweet pepper, and onion over medium heat until sausage is brown.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

3. Drain off fat from sausage and veggies. Stir in pasta sauce; heat through.

4. Serve sausage mixture over pasta. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Strawberry Muffins

I love our local supermarket. Like every other grocery store nowadays, they have a rewards card program, and not only do you receive gas points and coupons, but throughout the store they often have 2 for 1 specials of which you can take advantage if you have the rewards card. Imagine my delight when there was a 2 for 1 special on strawberries last week! I felt like I had hit a gold mine!

Unfortunately in my foolish excitement, I didn't think Hubby and I could eat two cartons of strawberries before they went bad, so I froze the second carton in a plastic bag. This in itself wasn't a poor decision; the error came when I subsequently thawed the strawberries...and they turned into mush. I knew the only solution was to bake them! So I scoured my recipe books, and while this recipe doesn't suggest strawberries, the Joy of Cooking offers a delightful blueberry muffin recipe which works just as well with strawberries!

The strawberry mush made these muffins incredibly moist, so I think my freezing and thawing mishap turned out for the best!

Strawberry Muffins
12 muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tablespoons warm melted unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Now I must quote a very wise word of advice from The Joy of Cooking: "If muffins must be made hours before they will be consumed, or even the day before, you are wise to use 6 to 8 tablespoons butter...." I followed this advice by using 6 tablespoons, and my friend Meagan who tasted them a few days later commented on how buttery and moist they tasted. The Joy of Cooking know their stuff!

Instructions
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a standard 12-muffin pan or line with paper cups.

2. Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl: flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Whisk together in another bowl: eggs, milk, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. Add liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix together with a few light strokes just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix; the batter should not be smooth.

4. Fold strawberries into the batter. I dumped the strawberries in a line in the middle of the batter, then spooned batter from the sides on top of the berries until they were all covered.

5. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

This photo illustrates why I don't consider myself a "baker." I'm too messy!

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in 1 or 2 of the muffins comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before removing from the pan. If not serving hot, let cool on a rack.