Whats for dinner?

so, tonight i'm going very traditional (well...traditional for us) a good old meat and potatoes meal. Boiled potatoes, to be served later with sour cream, butter and chives, chicken legs, sprinkled with Club House Barbecue Chicken seasoning (can't live without this stuff) and panko bread crumbs, and the baked in the oven at 375 for around 35-40 minutes, till done, and on the side, we are having roasted asparagus, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and 2 small cloves of minced garlic.

sounds good to me. yum yum.

whats on the radio you ask? CeLo's F(orget) you. love this song...both versions. lol!! gets me dancing every time!!

cheers all. happy eating!

Gluten Freen Thai Night at our house!!

So, one of my lovely pals is celiac. (for those of you who don't know, that means she can't have any gluten...i know...poor girl!!) And whenever she comes over for dinner, I try extra hard to make something that she doesn't have to pick through to eat, so this evening I decided to make Thai food. Pretty much Gluten free as is...so we were good to go with only some minor alterations.

I made 2 recipes. The first is a Gluten Free Vegetarian Spring Roll with a Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce. the only thing I have to say about this recipe is Y.U.M!!!! make it!! ok, maybe that constitutes 2 things but whatever...just do it. these are amazing!! the prep work takes a bit, but in the long run they are pretty easy to make, and only require a few "specialty" ingredients. you can click HERE to see the original recipe on the website, but i will post it here as well.

Ingredients

1¼	oz. dry rice vermicelli (thai rice noodles), or enough to yield about 1 cup cooked
1¼	cups shredded carrot
1¼	cups shredded cabbage
2	scallions (white and green parts) sliced very thin
15	fresh basil leaves, chopped
15	fresh mint leaves, chopped
2	tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
¼	cup peanuts, crushed
1	tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1	tablespoon gluten free soy sauce (Tamari)
½	tablespoon fresh lime juice
1	teaspoon toasted (dark) sesame seed oil
15	(8-inch) round gluten free spring roll wrappers (made from tapioca or rice; the Asian section of your market)
	Thai Style Peanut Sauce ingredients:
½	cup warm water
½	tablespoon sugar
½	cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1½	tablespoons gluten free soy sauce (Tamari)
1	tablespoon coconut milk
1	tablespoon fresh lime juice
1	teaspoon Chinese chili paste (use spicy or sweet chili paste depending on your taste preference)
1	large clove garlic, finely chopped

Preparation

Step 1	Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Remove from heat and stir in the rice noodles. Let stand 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until soft and opaque. Drain and rinse under cold water for 30 seconds; drain again. Cut into 1-inch lengths and transfer to a large bowl.
Step 2	Add all of the remaining ingredients, except the rice papers and sauce, to the noodles and mix well.
Step 3	Prepare a bowl of warm water large enough to dip the rice papers. Working with one at a time, dip the rice paper in the warm water until it begins to soften, 8-10 seconds. Transfer to a flat work surface. Working quickly, put about 1/4 cup filling on each wrapper. Fold the bottom of the wrapper up over the filling, and then fold each side toward the center.  Roll from the bottom to the top of each roll, as tightly as you can without ripping the wrapper. Wrap in plastic to keep from drying out. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Serve at room temperature, with Peanut Dipping sauce. Alternatively, refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight, and serve chilled or return to room temperature.
	To prepare Peanut Dipping Sauce:
	In a small bowl, combine the warm water and sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients, whisking until smooth and well blended. Serve at room temperature.  _________________ the next recipe i made was Thai Chicken Satay with the same peanut dipping sauce from above. the recipe was from (surprise, surprise) allrecipes.com.  you can find the recipe HERE. my recipes were made exactly as listed, except for a few items. whenever it called for soy sauce, or tamari, i just added some salt. i added a bit of extra dark sesame oil in the spring rolls and the peanut sauce, and i did not use any cilantro, because i don't care for the flavour. I marinated the chicken pieces for about 2 hours, and they tasted wonderful. i didn't grill my chicken on skewers...i just sauteed it in a pan. i also used a bit of the thick coconut cream from the top of the can, with some sesame oil in my pan before i sauteed my chicken pieces. it added an extra bit of flavour to the chicken and was lovely.  so, next time you have a hankering for thai food, but the bank won't allow the take out bill, try your hand at making it yourself!! it's totally worth it, and amazingly delicious!! cheers!