CHILI STEAK MARINADE

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 teaspoons Chicago or Montreal steak seasoning
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients.  Marinate 2-3 pounds of your favorite cut of meat for around an hour.  We prefer thick-cut sirloin from Costco.  Grill at 400° for 8 minutes on the first side, flip and continue to grill for 5 more minutes on the second side (for medium rare).  You can spoon on more marinade as it cooks. 

CRANBERRY SALSA WITH CREAM CHEESE

1 12-oz package fresh cranberries
¼ cup green onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash of salt
2 8-oz packages cream cheese
 
Put your cranberries in a food processor.  Chop up green onions, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Add all ingredients but the cream cheese into a bowl. Mix them all together, cover and store in the fridge for at least 4 hours. The sugar needs some time to soak in to the cranberries and break up their bitter taste.  When you are ready to serve, place cream cheese bricks on a plate.  Spread the cream cheese out as evenly as you can.  Pour cranberry mixture over the cream cheese.  Spread it all around.  Serve immediately with Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers or tortilla chips.

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD WITH SPICY GINGER DRESSING

• 1 boneless chicken breast, skin removed
• 1 medium-sized Napa (or Savoy) cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 small tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 mango, thinly sliced
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 2 tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
• handful of fresh mint, chopped
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• handful of roasted peanuts

Spicy Ginger Dressing

• 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation
1. To poach chicken, place the breast in a small saucepan and add water, about 1 inch above the chicken. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiled, immediately lower heat to a very slow simmer and partly cover for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken to cook in hot water for another 15 minutes. Once cooled, shred chicken and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the spicy ginger dressing.
3. Add the cabbage, chicken, carrots, tomato, mint and cilantro to the large bowl and toss gently. Top with mango slices and roasted peanuts. Garnish with scallions and roasted sesame seeds, and serve immediately.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Soup:

3 quarts water

chicken broth (you can use 20 bouillon cubes, 2 cans of chicken broth, or whatever chicken broth seasoning you have on hand.  I always just put in enough to the desired taste. You can always add more at the end, and as you go.

1/8 c. dried onion

4 c. celery (chopped)

4 c. carrots (chopped)

4 chicken breast cooked & cubed or I use one “ready to eat” full rotisserie chicken and shred it  

*In a large pot, add the chicken base to the 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil. Add onion, chopped carrots and celery. While the vegetables are cooking, I make the noodles:

Noodles:

5 Eggs               ½ c. cold water 

1 tsp. Salt          1/3 c. olive oil

Flour

Beats eggs with wire Wisk. Add olive oil, cold water and salt. With wooden spoon add flour until you have a soft dough. It will be sticky, which makes really good noodles-(instead of having too much flour). I just keep adding flour until it forms a sticky dough. You can always add more flour as you go. But, the least amount the flour the better.

Flour your surface and roll out to ¼ inch thick. Using a pizza cutter- cut the dough into thin (or fat J) strips. (About 2-3 inches long). Drop one at a time into your pot, while the vegetables are still cooking. Add your chicken pieces. The noodles take about 12 minutes to cook depending on the temperature of water. Serve with chopped green onion on top.