Sun dried tomato and basil pesto

1 - 3oz package sun dried tomatoes
1 bunch fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
1/4C finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4-1/3C olive oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined.  Use on pasta, slather on bread, or use it for my wild rice sausage egg bake.

Wild Rice and Sausage Egg Bake

What do you do when you all of the sudden have to make breakfast for 7 people? You improvise.  I had everything I used in this egg bake in the house already.

4 cups wild rice, cooked
1lb mild Italian sausage
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4C sun dried tomato pesto
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

12 eggs, whisked
1/2C sour cream
1/3 bunch parsley,  chopped
1tsp Dijon mustard
1tsp siracha
Salt and pepper

2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Sauté the onions in 1-2T olive oil until they become translucent.  Add the minced garlic and sausage and sauté until the sausage is done.  Add the wild rice, salt, pepper and pesto into the pan and combine.  Remove from heat.
Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour the wild rice and sausage into the dish.

I another bowl, add the eggs and whisk.  Add sour cream, Dijon mustard, siracha and the salt and
pepper.  Whisk to combine.  Add in parsley.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the wild rice and sausage.  Top with shredded Swiss cheese.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F for 30 min.  Top with tin foil and continue baking for another 10-15 min or until center is set.

Everyone said this was the best egg bake they'd ever had.  This is a definite make again.

Wild rice, chicken and mango salad with poppyseed dressing

For the salad:

The meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
1 Celery heart
1/3 bunch of parsley
3 Mangoes (I used Champagne mangoes, they're smaller than traditional mangoes)
4 Cups cooked wild rice
3-4 cloves garlic

Cashews or almonds for topping if desired.

For the dressing:

1/3C sour cream
1/4C mayo
3T honey -or- 3T frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (do not add water).  Add more if needed.
1/2C milk
1tsp Dijon mustard
1T poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper

Chop all of the salad ingredients and place in a large bowl.  When cutting your celery, make sure you also chop the leaves, they're the most flavorful part of the celery.

Combine all of the dressing ingredients - I just put everything in my Tupperware salad dressing shaker. You can also whisk or use an immersion blender.

Pour half of the dressing over the salad and stir to coat.  Continue adding dressing as desired.
Top with cashews or almonds just before serving.

Salted Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies were born out of my love for all things salty + sweet.

I double dog dare you to eat just one.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 package caramel bites (they're little unwrapped caramels in the baking section by the choc chips)

Fine sea salt for dusting.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and caramel by hand. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto parchment lined and greased baking sheets.
Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with fine sea salt.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. I had to spray cooking spray on my spatula to get them to lift nicely.  The caramel tends to stick to the spatula.

Then try not to eat them all. 

Ham and Swiss Stromboli

1 package pre-made pizza dough (I use Trader Joe's).  If you have time, this is the recipe I use for pizza dough
3/4 lb deli ham, diced
1 1/2C shredded Swiss cheese (please shred your own!)
10-15 green olives, chopped fine
1T finely chopped garlic (I use the pre-chopped garlic in the jar from TJ's)
1T fine ground Dijon mustard
1tsp Italian herb seasoning
olive oil -or- 1 egg white

Chop and saute the ham for a few minutes.  Place on a paper towel and press with another paper towel.  You need to get all of the moisture out of it otherwise you're Stromboli will be wet and mushy and that would be gross.

Flour your work surface and roll out the pizza dough until thin.

Combine the garlic, mustard and Italian seasoning in a bowl, stir and spread evenly over the dough (it will look sparse).

Spread the ham, olives and Swiss over the dough, keeping the toppings about an inch from the edges.

Starting farthest away from you, roll the dough in on itself forming a log.  When you get to the end, pull the edges up and around nice and thin and pinch to seal.  Roll the Stromboli over so it is seam side down.  Tuck the ends under, making sure there is no ham or cheese sticking out (it will burn).

Place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Brush the entire Stromboli with olive oil or an egg white.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 min (mine was 30) or until crust is golden brown.  Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

And enjoy.  Its pretty freaking amazing.  

Homemade Tartar Sauce

3/4 C mayonaise
1/4 C sour cream
6-8 mini pickles, chopped fine
2T capers
1T dijon mustard
2tsp minced or crushed garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
pepper to taste

Combine all but 1/2 of the pickles in a food processor, or use an immersion blender.  Mix until combined well.  Stir in remaining pickles.

This is also great with chicken, or as a spread on a sandwich.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 pkg of chicken breast (3-4 breasts)
1 container chicken stock (from Trader Joes) (about 3-4 cans)
½ bottle of Frank’s Red Hot BUFFALO sauce
1 whole celery heart, chopped fine (including leaves)
4 large carrots, shredded
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ white onion, chopped
1 container sour cream
2 small cans cream of chicken soup
3-5 cups milk, depending on the consistency you want
Juice of 1 lemon
Celery seeds 1 tsp
Celery salt to taste, 1-2 tsp
Smoked paprika to taste (start with 1/8 tsp, I used about ¼ tsp)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 packages of frozen Jasmine rice (from Trader Joes) microwaved for about 2 minutes or about 4 cups       cooked jasmine or basmati rice.
1 wedge blue cheese, split in half
Green onions, chopped

1. Place chicken, stock, celery seeds and hot sauce in stock pot and simmer on low for 1-1.5 hours until chicken is cooked through and you’re able to shred it with a fork. Leave all of the broth in the pot.

2. While the chicken is simmering, chop celery, onion and garlic and set aside.

3. After chicken is shredded return it to the pot with the cooking broth and add celery, onion, garlic, paprika and celery salt. Set heat to medium. When the soup starts to boil, add milk (start with 3 cups, add more to desired consistency), cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Crumble ½ wedge of blue cheese. Return to low boil and add lemon juice and crumbled blue cheese. At the end of cooking time, add cooked rice and stir.

4. Top with crumbled blue cheese and chopped green onions.

Milk and Honey White Bread

This bread is up there on my list of favorites!


Taken from:
 http://theslowroasteditalian.blogspot.com/2011/07/milk-and-honey-white-bread.html

4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packets)

2-1/2 cups warm milk (110° to 115°)

1/2 cup honey

6 tablespoons butter, melted + 2 tablespoons reserved for greasing bowl and butter top

1 tablespoon kosher salt

7 cups all-purpose flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, warm milk and honey.  Swirl with your fingers or a spoon to dissolve the yeast.  Allow to sit until the yeast starts to bubble and becomes aromatic, about 5 minutes. 

Add butter, salt and 4 cups of flour, mix on low using dough hook, until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and shape into two loaves. Place in greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350° for glass and dark pans (375° for light metal pans).  Brush tops with melted butter.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. 

Makes 2 loaves.

Refrigerator Pickles

Fresh, crunchy pickles are my absolute favorite treat.  Make sure to use Persian, French or Kerby cukes -- their skin is soft and they are seedless -- as regular garden cukes have a tough skin and do not make a nice pickle.

15 Persian cucumbers, sliced in rounds (I get mine at Trader Joes)
2 quarts water
1 cup white vinegar
1/3-1/2 C sea salt

1 onion, sliced
1 bunch of fresh dill or 1 Tbsp dried dill
4-5 cloves garlic - peeled and crushed, but not chopped
sliced jalapenos - optional

In a saucepan over high heat, combine water, vinegar and salt.  Bring to boil and turn off heat.
While waiting for liquids to boil, take out quart sized canning jars OR heat safe containers.

Place garlic, dill and sliced onions in the bottom of each jar.  Place cucumber rounds on top of the onions.  Fill each container to the top with the pickling liquid.  Top the containers and place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before eating.  Pickles will last for 2 weeks.

Chipper Bars

Taken from Cooks.com

These bars come with a WARNING:  You can't just eat one.  You'll eat an entire row....or 2....not like I know anything about that.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 c. oatmeal

1 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 c. butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/3 c. peanut butter

1 c. chocolate chips

In large bowl, mix oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, butter, soda and salt. Mix until crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mix; set aside. Press remaining crumbs on bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch pan. 

In small bowl, stir milk, and peanut butter. Pour evenly over crumb mix in pan. 

Sprinkle with chocolate chips. 

Put reserved crumb mix on top. 

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Cool and cut into bars.  

Inhale.

Monkey Bread

Make this.  No seriously,  Make it.  

Recipe taken from Smitten Kitchen - the best food blog out there.

Dough
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, divided (2 tablespoons softened, 2 tablespoons melted)
1 cup milk, warm (around 110 degrees)
1/3 cup water, warm (also around 110 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid rise, instant or bread machine yeast
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 teaspoons table salt

Brown Sugar Coating
1 cup packed light brown sugar (CI advises against dark brown, which they feel imparts too strong of a molasses taste; I suspect it wouldn’t bother me)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 ounces), mleted

Cream Cheese Glaze
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons powdered sugar, plus extra if needed
2 tablespoons milk, plus extra if needed
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Get oven and pan ready: Adjust oven rack to medium-low position and heat oven to 200°F. When oven reaches 200, turn it off. Butter Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Set aside.

Make dough: In large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast.

To proceed with a stand mixer, mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. (The dough should be sticky but if it is too wet to come together into anything cohesive, add an additional 2 tablespoons flour.) Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball.

To proceed by hand, mix flour and salt in large bowl. Make well in flour, then add milk mixture to well. Using wooden spoon, stir until dough becomes shaggy and is difficult to stir. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and begin to knead, incorporating shaggy scraps back into dough. Knead until dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes. Shape into taut ball and proceed as directed.

Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray or a tablespoon of neutral oil. Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with more cooking spray or oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 50 to 60 minutes.

Make brown sugar coating: Place melted butter in one bowl. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a second one.

Form the bread: Flip dough out onto floured surface and gently pat into an 8-inch square. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces. I found it helpful to immediately separate them from the rest of the “grid” or they quickly reformed a big doughy square in 64 parts.

Roll each piece of dough into ball. Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl. (I found a fork to be helpful for this process.) Roll in brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in Bundt pan, staggering seams (something I didn’t do, but should have) where dough balls meet as you build layers.

Cover Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan, 50 to 70 minutes.

Bake bread: Remove pan from oven and heat oven to 350°F. Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel might begin to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes. (The reason for the “might” is that CI says that it should, but mine did not bubble, leading me to bake mine for an extra 5 to 10 minutes, during which it still did not bubble but go the dark crust you see in the photos. Next time, I’d take it out sooner.) Cool in pan for 5 minutes (no longer, or you’ll have trouble getting it out) then turn out on platter and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Make glaze: Beat cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth and light. Add milk and vanilla and this is where you can kick me because I completely forgot I was a food blogger for a minute there and know I added a touch more milk and sugar but did not write down how much. I have some nerve! Just taste and adjust — you’re looking for something that tastes equally tangy and sweet, and texturally thin enough to drape over the bread but thick enough that it will not just roll off completely.

Drizzle the glaze over warm monkey bread, letting it run over top and sides of bread. Serve warm.

Fish Tacos

3 White fish fillets - I used Tilapia

1 pint cherry or golden tomatoes, halved

1/4C white or purple onion, chopped

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

2tsp cilantro, finely chopped

Rind of 1 lime, shaved

Juice of 1 lime

Sour cream

1 avocado, cubed

Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper

Corn tortillas

Spray fish fillets with non-stick cooking spray and lightly dust with salt and pepper.  Saute in pan over medium heat until fish flakes apart.

Salsa:  Add tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, lime rind, lime juice and a pinch of salt in bowl.  Stir.

After fish is done cooking, place in foil and set aside.

Re-coat saute pan with non-stick spray and place tortilla in pan.  Sprinkle cheese on tortilla, leaving tortilla in pan until cheese is melted.

Place tortilla on place, add fish, salsa, avocado and sour cream.

Granola Goodness

My super cute friend Jess brought me a jar of her Coconut + Chocolate Granola last week.  I ate it in like 3 minutes.  So of course when I think of making it, it's 10PM and the kids are in bed.  So, with a few modifications, this is what resulted:  Sweet + salty + chocolaty + crunchy granola.  YUM.

Check out Jess' recipe at her fab site.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

3C rolled oats
3C quick steel cut oats
1.5C toasted pecans
1/4C sugar
2 tsp coarse sea salt
3/4C honey
3T butter
1C semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini)

Combine dry ingredients except for chocolate chips.

Melt butter in the microwave, approximately 25 sec.  Add honey to butter and heat for another 20 seconds.  Stir until mixed well.

Pour the mixture over the granola and stir well.

Place on baking sheet and spread out evenly.  Bake @ 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through baking time.

Remove from oven and allow to fully cool before adding chocolate.  If you don't, you'll have a bit of a chocolaty mess - not like I did that or anything.....

Store it in an air tight container for several days (not like it will last that long).

Santa On A Stick

I hail from the land of the great Minnesota get together, the Minnesota State Fair. A place where you can get anything and everything on a stick - from Alligator to deep fried Twinkies.  In keeping with the tradition of the fair and the spirit of this season, here comes Santa - on a stick.

Supplies:

1 stick, preferably dry and breakable, any length

Off-white felt

Felt color of choice, for hat

Hot glue gun, scissors, sharpie

Cut your felt pieces

Mustache: 3/4" x 1"

Beard:  1.5"x 1"

             2.5" x 1"

          3" x 1"

For the hat, measure around the stick and add about 1/4".  This will be the base of your hat.  You can make it as tall as you want.  Cut in a long triangle.  Mine is about 6" tall.

Cut out your beard, mustache and hat as pictured above.

When choosing a stick, pick a longer stick and break it in half.  The breaking point will become the face of Santa.  Trim down the top of the stick so only about 1" of the heart of the wood is showing.

Next, hot glue the beard onto the stick in layers, starting with the longest length.  

Add the mustache last.

To make the hat, run a bead of hot glue down one side of the triangle, starting at the tip and stopping about 1/2" from the bottom (see picture below).

Next, put Santa's hat on, only gluing the back.  This will keep the hat looking a little loose in the front, and allow you to move it a bit so his eyes don't get covered.

The last step is to give him some eyes - I used a sharpie.

How can you use your Santa?

1. Tie him on a gift. 

2.  Stick him in the snow to greet your guests.

3.  Put a bunch of Santa's in a can and use for a Christmas centerpiece. 

4.  Attach a ribbon and hang him from your tree.  

5. Add him to a wreath

Enjoy Santa on a stick!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Lemons and blueberries are a match made in heaven.  Add them to a semi sweet muffin batter and they're out of this world delish.  No jokes, these will be the BEST muffins you've EVER had!!!!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen (in my opinion the best cooking blog out there)

Yield: 14 large or 56 miniature muffins


1 1/8 cups sugar, divided
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (from two large lemons)
1T lemon juice
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 container fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 14 standard muffin cups (or 56 minis) with paper liners. Mash 1/8 cup sugar and lemon peel in small bowl until sugar is slightly moist. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar. Beat in flour mixture.  Carefully fold in blueberries, as to not break them up.

Divide batter among muffin cups, about 2/3 full.  Bake muffins until lightly browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes (baking time was on the shy side of 20 minutes for mini muffins).

Devour.                In about 2 seconds.               Seriously.                They're that good.

Baby Gifts

Some of my most favorite things to sew are baby gifts - especially those of the girly variety.  Our fab friends just welcomed a sweet baby girl to their family, and Mama got her sew on.

My new obsession is freezer paper stenciling.  There is a great tutorial on MADE that I used to get started.

Next up is my go-to baby gift - the tag blankie.  All you need is one yard of furry fleece (I get mine at JoAnn's) and several ribbon choices cut in 4" lengths.  I get most of my ribbon at Michaels, and have had some luck with the ribbon grab bags at Hancocks.

The baby item I get the most requests for are the flannel burp cloths.  They are super cute and super absorbent.  I made a smaller version of the burp cloths to use as diaper wipes for PBJ.  Yes, I had to wash them, but when you cloth diaper, you're washing non-stop!  The best part about these is that they hold up through multiple kids.  I have friends that have used these with 3 kids and they're still their fav's.

Last up in the gift basket was this adorable 5 minute headband.  I scored several of the plain headbands at a trip to Hobby Lobby.  Though we don't have a Hobby Lobby remotely close to us, I stop whenever I see one to stock up on some of their great finds!

To make the headband, I deconstructed a silk gebera daisy - removing the plastic back and center.  Pin the petals to the headband and sew a small X using your machine - ensuring not to sew over the hole* in the center of the flower.  Attach a button or scrap booking brad* to the center of the flower and VOILA! 

*If you're using a scrap booking brad as the center of the flower (as I did) you need to make sure not to stitch over the hole in the petals.  When attaching the brad, splay out the brad arms in between layers of the petals so it doesn't scratch the infant's head.

All of these baby items are quick and easy options for a memorable, handmade gift!

Sewing Room Organizer

I recently built this wall-mounted organizer for my sewing room.

Materials:

1/2 Sheet (28") pegboard
1 - 12' Pine 1X4
2 - 1/2" dowels, cut to 28"
4- cement wall anchors, for ends of dowels
3- large cans - recycled from my Marinara Sauce recipe
fabric to cover the 3 cans
pegboard hooks
1 can multi-surface spray primer
1 can brown spray paint

I made the box for the bottom first and mounted it to the pegboard. I then cut 2, 4" lengths of the 1X4 to make the ribbon holder. I used a 1/2" drill bit to drill holes in the 1X4's to hold the dowels. I mounted the 1X4 pieces to the pegboard. I flipped the whole thing over and mounted small scraps of wood on the back- top and bottom- to allow for the use of pegboard hooks. If you mount it directly to the wall, you wont be able to use the hooks. I pained the whole thing, including the dowels and let them dry for a few hours. I (eh- em, my hubby) hung the organizer and then added ribbon to the dowels, and put the cement anchors (4 for $1) on the ends to hold the dowels in place. I covered the cans with fabric to match the roman shade and chair cover I made for my sewing room. I drilled a hole in the cans to be able to hang them with the peg hooks. The covered cans in the box are Crystal Light containers covered with scrapbooking paper.

1 hour build/paint time

2 hour dry time (1 coat primer, 2 coats paint)
1/2 hour for hanging, covering the cans and organizing it.
Total cost was about $12.

Love it!

Softie Dolls

One of my new blog reads is TaDa! Creations. Angel had posted a softie doll tutorial she used from 60 Piggies. Follow the link for the tutorial!

These adorable dolls will go in Bubba and PBJ's Easter baskets, along with a few other goodies. I know I will be making many more dollies from this tutorial!

French Onion Soup

I recently invested in a hand held mandoline from Target. Best $15 I've spent in awhile! It will make the job of slicing all of these onions much faster and will spare you the burning eyes and tears!

8 Medium-large onions, sliced thin, and then cut in half.
3T Butter
4 Cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4C Soy sauce
1/4C Balsamic vinegar
2T Worchestershire sauce
1/4C Beef stock
3/4CWhite wine
Salt and pepper to taste
10C beef stock
1 french baguette, sliced in 1" slices
Guyere, swiss or provolone cheese - 1 piece per planned serving.

1. Thinly slice the onions and mince the garlic. Melt butter in large saute pan and add onions and garlic to pan.

2. In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, worchestershire sauce, beef stock and white wine. Mix and add to onions.

3. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for at least 2 hours, until all the liquid has been absorbed and onions are a dark brown color. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add the beef stock to the onions. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Add more liquid if necessary.

5. While the soup is coming to boil, place baguette slices on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for a few minutes at 400 degrees.

6. Set oven to broil. Ladle soup into oven safe bowls. Place 1 pc baguette on top of soup, and top bread with cheese. Place bowls on a cookie sheet and set in oven for 1-2 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately.

**The bowls will be VERY hot!

Thai Peanut Chicken

Adapted from Sisters Cafe

1lb whole grain spagetti noodles

SAUCE:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1T freshly grated ginger, or 1tsp powdered (use more as desired)
1/2C creamy peanut butter
2T sesame oil (available in the Asian food section)
1/4C soy sauce
3T brown sugar
1T rice vinegar
1tsp red pepper flakes
1C hot water

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a food processor until completely smooth.

2T olive oil
1/2C chopped white onion
1/2C chopped red pepper
3C chicken, cooked and shredded
1/4C chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1/4C peanuts
2T sesame seeds

1. Make sauce and pasta set aside.

2. Saute olive oil, white onion, red pepper and cilantro in pan until onion in translucent. Add chicken and heat through.

3. Combine everything in large pot and heat through. Plate the dish, top with peanuts and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

**This makes a HUGE batch. It does freeze and reheat well though.