Chicken Larb?  Sounds funny, but it is actually quite good!  Use any type of curry sauce you like, we used mild curry sauce because it was what we had on hand, and it had good curry flavor without any heat.  In consideration of time, we used ground turkey meat, which may have had more fat (dark meat), so we look forward to trying it with chicken breast.  We served it on tortilla shells so the kids would eat it, and we all really enjoyed it!  Found on Cooking Light's web site. 

Chicken Larb


Other Time: 27 minutes minutes

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 filled cabbage leaves)
2 tablespoons red curry paste

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/3 cup chopped English cucumber

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

8 cabbage leaves

Thai chile paste (optional)

1. Combine curry paste, chicken, and salt in a food processor; process until smooth. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done, stirring to crumble. Remove pan from heat; stir in cucumber and next 3 ingredients (through juice). Place 2 cabbage leaves on each of 4 plates; divide chicken mixture evenly among leaves. Serve with chile paste, if desired.
CALORIES 174 ; FAT 4.9g (sat 0.6g,mono 2.6g,poly 1.3g); CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 29mg; CARBOHYDRATE 4.1g; SODIUM 507mg; PROTEIN 26.7g; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1mg
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2011

S'More pancakes
These are as sweet as the name sounds...definitely a KID pancake.  I tried a bite and it was too much for me, but they might not be bad with just syrup.  My kids said they were awesome though!  I got this recipe from my friend Heather at Out of the Box Into the Kitchen, who got it from Sweet Luvin' In the Kitchen

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/4 cups milk

2 eggs

2 tbsp oil

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Marshmallow Syrup


1 cup marshmallow fluff

1/4 cup HOT water

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

Place batter onto hot, greased griddle. Sprinkle on a few chocolate chips. When bubbles start to form on the top, flip and continue to cook until browned.

To make syrup, combine fluff and hot water until soup. Drizzle over pancakes.

My birthday cake!

This cake starts out easy with a boxed cake mix.  The mousse is wonderful, although it is a bit of work.  But totally worth it in the end.  Even Rob loved it!  This one came from myrecipes.com.  I had to alter it a bit because we only had one pint of whipping cream, but it turned out fine.  Very moist and even better the second day!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse Cake






Yield: 1 (8-inch) cake or 8 parfaits





1 (18.25-ounce) package devil's food cake mix without pudding

2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided

1 (10-ounce) package peanut butter morsels

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Garnish: chopped roasted peanuts



Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour into 2 lightly greased 8-inch round cakepans. Bake according to package directions. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely.



Combine 2/3 cup whipping cream and peanut butter morsels in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until morsels melt and mixture is smooth; remove saucepan from heat. Stir in vanilla extract, and cool 25 minutes.



Beat 1 1/3 cups whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir one-third whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Fold into remaining whipped cream. Spread between cake layers; cover and chill.



Bring remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Add chocolate morsels; remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth.



Pour glaze over cake; garnish, if desired. Serve warm, or chill and serve at room temperature.



Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse Parfaits: Cut cooled cake layers into cubes. Layer 8 Parfait glasses evnly with two-thirds peanut butter mixture, cake cubes, and half of cocolate mixture. Top with remaining peanut butter mixture and chocolate mixture; sprinkle each parfait with chopped peanuts, if desired.

This recipe came from Bon Appetit in 2006.  We tried it once and we amazed at how good it was!  Obviously it made it into our "repeat" cookbook.  We don't make it often because it's rather time consuming.  But if you make the sauces ahead (and there are instructions for making ahead) it actually throws together rather quickly come dinner time!  We haven't made any changes to this recipe so the credit goes fully to Bon Appetit magazine.  This a definite "company" dish...go ahead and cook this for your boss, you just might get that promotion!


Pretzel-Crusted Pork Chops with Orange-Mustard Sauce Bon Appétit
September 2006
Grouse Mountain Grill

Crushed pretzels make a better-than-breadcrumb crust.

Yield: Makes 8 servings

1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

2 oranges

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 large eggs

2 cups crushed pretzel sticks (about 5 ounces)

8 1-inch-thick center-cut pork rib chops

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided

Simmer balsamic vinegar in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer to small pitcher. DO AHEAD: Balsamic reduction can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Using vegetable peeler, remove peel from oranges (orange part only) in long strips. Slice peel lengthwise into very thin strips. Place peel in heavy small saucepan and add enough cold water to cover peel by 1 inch. Bring to boil; strain. Repeat 2 more times. Return peel to same saucepan. Add 3/4 cup water and sugar. Boil until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain. DO AHEAD: Candied orange peel can be made 2 days ahead. Place in small bowl, cover, and refrigerate.

Mix cream, mustard, and 2 tablespoons candied orange peel in heavy small saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce is reduced to 1 cups, about 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Place flour in shallow bowl. Whisk eggs to blend in another shallow bowl. Spread crushed pretzels on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Working with 1 pork chop at a time, press 1 side of chop into flour, dip floured side only into eggs, then press into pretzels, coating 1 side only. Transfer to baking sheet, coated side up. Repeat with remaining pork chops, flour, eggs, and pretzels. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in each of 2 large ovenproof skillets over medium-high heat. Add 4 pork chops to each skillet, coated side down, and cook until brown, about 2 minutes. Turn chops over and transfer both skillets to oven. Roast until pork is cooked through and thermometer inserted horizontally into chop registers 140°F, about 10 minutes. Let chops stand 5 minutes.

Rewarm sauce. Spoon 2 tablespoons sauce onto each plate and place chop atop sauce. Drizzle with balsamic reduction and garnish with remaining candied orange peel.