Lean Cuisine Asian Flavor and Gyozas (Recipe!)

December is a busy month for us and my husband works long days,

so a lot of the time when dinner comes around it's just myself and the kids.

On especially busy nights - like Wednesdays - when we are running from one

activity to the next and it would be so easy to go through the drive-thru for dinner,

I'm always looking for quick & healthy meal options - enter Lean Cuisine!

The kids are happy with dino nuggets and fruit and veggies,

but let's just say we don't have the same taste and I want something more.

The other day I was shopping at Sam's Club and checked out the frozen foods section

to see if I could find the Lean Cuisine Asian Flavor 6-Pack.

The 6-pack was conveniently located in the frozen meals and I was super excited

to find this single-person serving meal that I could enjoy while the kids

enjoyed their meal.

(You can read about my shopping experience in my Google+ Story.)

This week Thursday was busy, but not as busy as Wednesday, so I had a little

extra time to prepare a yummy side dish to pair with my Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken.

I chose to whip up gyozas - a family recipe from my sister-in-law.

They are a Japanese fried dumpling and super yummy!

You'll need:

1 lb. ground beef

1 c. cabbage

1 small onion

2 T. soy sauce

salt, pepper, garlic to taste

wonton papers

oil for frying

Brown your ground beef and drain.

Add cabbage and onion and cook until cabbage begins to turn translucent.

I was feeling adventurous Thursday so I used broccoli and shredded carrot instead.

Season with salt, pepper and garlic.

Add soy sauce.

Spoon into wontons and roll up.

To roll: fold the top corner over to the bottom corner - but just far enough to cover the filling.

Fold in the side corners one at a time and then fold the bottom corner up over

then all.

Your little gyoza will look like this!

Fry up by heating up some canola oil and frying each side for 5-10 seconds.

Watch them closely - they fry quickly.

While they cooled - because they are HOT! -  I popped my Lean Cuisine in the

microwave for 4 minutes and tidied up the kitchen while I waited.

While my Lean Cuisine cooled, I plated and served the kids.

They were excited for one of their favorite meals :)

My Sesame Chicken looked delicious and I was excited to try it with my gyoza

for a completely delicious meal!

I got fancy and put it all on a paper plate and was ready to enjoy!

I was grateful for a quick and easy meal that I would like, on an evening

when I did have time to prepare a big meal for the family.

If you're interested in making gyozas, I've got a cute little recipe card you can
print and use. Just right click and save!

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Nestle Lean Cuisine #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.

Recipe: Easy Peasy Homemade Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone!
Or Happy ThankYouGivings Day as we say in my family :)
I'm sharing one of my favorite (and easy) recipes to make for the special day.
Hope your day is awesome and family drama is minimal!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Cranberry Sauce

1 lb. fresh cranberries

1 c. water

1 1/2 c. sugar

Rinse the berries in a colander and remove stems and bad berries.

In a medium saucepan, heat the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Then bring the syrup up to a boil and pour in the cleaned berries. Adjust the heat so the mixture maintains a simmer and cook until all the berries pop or crack open, about five to seven minutes.

Take the sauce off the heat at this point, or simmer it down to the desired thickness. Remember the sauce will thicken a little while cooling. Chill overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

While simmering the berries, additional ingredients can be added for more flavoring such as orange zest or spices like cinnamon. (I don't. I'm a purist)

Acini di Pepe Chicken Salad

When I was in college one of my fab freshman roommates

had a mom with a fabulous chicken salad recipe.

It is a party in your mouth with the perfect blend of 

salty (cashews) and sweet (grapes) with some fun texture

going on with the acini di pepe pasta that is cooked in chicken bouillon.

PARTY IN YOUR MOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's your lucky day because I'm sharing this fab recipe with you today.

It's the perfect dish to serve at a luncheon or a baby shower.

You'll get lots of compliments.

My roommate's family ate it on rolls . . . if I remember right . . .

I could be making that up, but it's good nonetheless.

I always double the grapes and cashews,
but that's because they're my favorite part - you can stick to the
recipe if you're a stickler that way:)

You can download the recipe card {HERE}

Pure Deliciousness: Zucchini Brownies

 

 These are seriously delicious.

Like knock your socks off amazing.

I might be biased, but I love them.

My friend Kara Noel said they are more like a cake than

a brownie, you say tomato, I say tomato :)

Whatever they are, they are fabulous

and you'll be begging for more.

It's best to make these when you have somewhere

to take them, so you don't eat the entire pan by yourself.

In addition it's a much better alternative to getting rid

of your overabundance of garden zucchini than dumping

them on your neighbor's doorstep - leave these instead!

Plus, if you use Greek yogurt instead of oil, they are practically health food.

Well, that is until you frost them.

You don't have to frost them, 

but that's what my mom does, so it must be right.

Don't forget the milk!

This is my mom's chocolate frosting recipe.

She doesn't deal in absolutes when it comes to frosting,

so play around with the amounts until you're happy with the

consistency and flavor.

 

If you'd like to recipe cards - just right click and "save as".

Unless you're a Mac, then I'm not sure what you do.

Wave your hands above the mouse pad?

Easy Peasy Faux Peach Cobbler

 This is seriously the easiest dessert to make and every loves it.

I know some people call it a dump cake,

but that just doesn't sound very good - if you get my drift.

So I like to call it a faux peach cobbler.

 

You'll need:

2 cans of peaches in juice

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 c. butter (cut into 12-16 slices)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

Starting with the peaches, layer in a 9x13 pan in the order listed.

Place the butter slices even across the top of the cake mix layer.

You can use more or less of the brown sugar, depending on your tastes.

 I always mean to snap a picture of the cobbler before the group digs in,

but I'm always too late.

I like to top mine with whipped cream or ice cream.

My husband likes to eat it straight up.

I straight up did my nails this week too.
A little cupcake to brighten my day!

Delicious Green Smoothie Tips

Lately I've been obsessed with green smoothies. 

I'm always looking to put more green veggies into my life 

without having to eat bowls of broccoli with each meal :) 

Enter the green smoothie!

 

So I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks that I've learned over

the past few months that have made me love

these crazy looking monster smoothies

that make my kids go,

"Eww! I can't believe you're drinking that!"

I had JT fooled for a little while,

until he saw me shoving handfuls of spinach into the blender :)

Isabella was always wise to my plot,

but she prefers to eat her spinach steamed with

salt and butter, so at least she'll eat it green stuff.

What's in my typical smoothie:

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup ice

3-4 handfuls of spinach

1 banana

1-2 handfuls of fresh berries

1 swirly squirt of honey or agave

2 tablespoons milled flaxseed

This recipe usually makes 2 servings, 

so I fill up another cup and freeze it for the next day

so I'm only having to make a smoothie every two days.

I'm blending in my KitchenAid.

I'd love to have a VitaMix or a Blendtec,

but for now they remain on my Wishlist :) 

What I've learned:

• No cow milk or yogurt. From what I've read the yogurt and milk don't jive with the fruit juices and greens so they are best left out.
• Use ground or milled flaxseed to get the most of out of your flaxseed. Whole flaxseed will just pass right through you.
• Don't sweeten. I know, I know, I add honey :) But I'm trying to wean myself off of the extra sugar and just embrace the fruit flavors.
• Blend and blend some more. I don't want any chunky chunks in my smoothie, so I blend that sucker to death.
• Don't use overripe bananas. Well, unless you like the flavor. But I don't and I don't like my entire smoothie to taste like a REALLY ripe banana. And nothing I've ever added has masked the flavor of a banana that's too ripe.

I think that's it.

Do you love green smoothies?

What's in yours?

Fluffernella S'mores

My mom was visiting last week.

She came to watch the kids so I could take 18 girls

age 12-17 to camp for four days.

The food there was amazing,

but one thing was missing - S'MORES! 

There was not one s'more made or eaten the entire time I was there.

What is camping without s'mores?

So, when I cam home and found an opened jar of nutella

on the counter from my mom's visit, a box of graham crackers,

and my marshmallow creme stash I knew what had to be done.

And Fluffernella S'mores were born.

They are gooey deliciousness and no campfire is required :)

The kids are crazy for them,

so I think they will become a favorite treat this summer.

Now, go, spread the Fluffernella yumminess with someone you {LOVE}.

It's the right thing to do :)

Funky Friday Feature: Polka Dots on Parade

Hi Friends!!

I'm Jaime from Polka Dots on Parade and I'm soooooo excited to be guest posting on the Funky Polkadot Giraffe today!!

It's especially exciting since I know Kyla in real life and she is one of my great crafty inspirations!! We are friends first because we are related by friendship - our Mom-in-laws are besties - and second because of our serious fabric addiction!

I spend most days in my pajamas, homeschooling my sweet boy and reading as many books as possible to my sassy adorable little girl! It's always a new adventure around here!

My great love besides fabric is food!! Today I want to share a couple of fun foodie ideas for the upcoming patriotic holidays!

I LOVE red, white, and blue and I'm so excited to start the patriotic season with my favorite course, DESSERT!!

This was my original vision - A cupcake flag!!

Everything is better made out of cupcakes, right?!?

Can't you just taste them?!?

Between the fresh fruit and the marshmallows,

this is an all-ages crowd pleaser!!

My second idea uses up the not so cute cupcakes that I always seem to end up with! Am I the only one??

These are so patriotically adorable!!

Happy Eating this season!!

I hope you'll POP on over to Polka Dots on Parade

for more fun food and crazy craftiness!!

Thanks for having me Kyla!!