I got this from Real Simple's October 2012 magazine.  It was really, really good. I'm a sucker for anything involving sesame oil.  I've doubled the recipe here, because I like to cook enough for two night's meals.  So this should make 8 servings.  I found the Soba noodles in the Asian aisle at Albertson's - they didn't have any at Wal-Mart.  Just so you know.

Spicy Pork and Soba Noodles

Ingredients

• 12  ounces  soba noodles
• 2 1/2 pounds  pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
• salt and black pepper
• 2  tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1  English cucumber, sliced
• 4  scallions, chopped
• 2  red chili peppers, sliced
• 4  tablespoons  rice vinegar
• 4  teaspoons  sesame oil

Directions

1. Cook the soba noodles according to the package directions.
2. Season the pork with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In batches, brown the pork, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a large bowl.
4. Toss the pork with the noodles, cucumber, scallions, chili pepper, vinegar, sesame oil, and ½ teaspoon salt.

Wasabi Cranberry Salad

I got this recipe on the back of a pre-packaged Dole salad - I believe it was the Tender Garden salad.  As I looked at the ingredients, I was like, oh yeah.  I'm sooo making this.  So I kept the recipe and I made it.  And it was fantastic.  My hubby looooved it, especially the bits of roasted butternut squash.

Wasabi Cranberry Salad

Salad Ingredients
Tender Garden pre-packaged salad (or whatever greens you have on hand.  I had a mix of arugula, spinach, and green leaf lettuce leftover from another green salad a few days earlier, and it tasted fine)
Smoked turkey (I just unfroze some leftover Thanksgiving turkey and tossed it in there, and it was great)
Oven-roasted butternut squash
Toasted pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas.  I found them in the Hispanic aisle of the grocery store)

Dressing Ingredients
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp dried cranberries
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp. wasabi powder or paste
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper, to taste

So first, you'll need to roast your squash.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Peel the skin off the whole squash.  Cut your squash in half lengthwise.  Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and goop.  Put the halves on a baking sheet, the side with the now-hole you scooped stuff out of, up.  Place 1 tsp of butter in that little hole.  Sprinkle brown sugar over all of the rest of the side of the squash that's facing up.  Roast for one hour.

I can't remember if I used the whole squash in my salad - I think I did.  I had enough greens to make two days of salad, so I used one half one day and the other half the other day.  Anyways, after the squash has roasted and cooled, slice it into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle it on top of your greens.  Add as much turkey as you want and as many pumpkin seeds as you want and toss it.

Put the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  I only used half the dressing one day and half the dressing the other day for this salad.  You just kind of pour it on and toss it until you feel that there's a good dressing-to-greens ratio.  Sometimes if you pour too much, the salad gets soggy, and that's obnoxious.  So it's better to be careful and add a little at a time until you get the saturation you want.

Thumbprint Cookies

 Oh baby.  These are so good.  I might have to go snatch a couple before I pick up my son from preschool.

These are fantastic when you're looking to kind of...get rid of all that extra jam and jelly sitting in your fridge.  I end up accumulating a lot of jam and jelly.  People give it to me, plus I use it in some of my marinades.  I currently have orange marmalade, strawberry jam, peach jam, and apricot/pineapple jam. 

So I decided to whip up a batch of these puppies.  They're sooooo good.

Thumbprint Cookies

makes 2 dozen

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
jam or jelly, any flavor

Mix margarine, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.  Sift flour and salt, then add to the sugar mixture.  Roll dough into balls.  Beat egg whites slightly with fork.  Dip balls into egg whites.  Roll in nuts.   Place at least an inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.  Press thumb gently into center of each.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  After they cool, fill them with the jams or jellies of your choice.

Cumin-Oregano Chicken

Sorry, dude, I forgot to take a picture of the chicken when it was done, so you get a picture of the rub I used. :) 

I got this recipe from Real Simple magazine (one of Ben's favorites) from October.  And dude, it was YUMMY.  Even my toddler ate this chicken, and he usually hates chicken.  Or any other kind of protein except for bologna and peanut butter.  So we were really happy with this.  I've doubled the recipe, since we're cooking for six.

Cumin-Oregano Chicken

2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

This recipe makes enough to season 3 pounds of protein.  Combine the ingredients in a small bowl.  Just before cooking, sprinkle the rub on the protein, pressing gently to help it adhere.  Cook in a 9X13 pan for one hour at 350 degrees. 

This can be used on any lean protein, from a fish fillet to a pork tenderloin.  I just did this with chicken.

Apple and Celery Salad with Peanuts

What a delightful surprise!!  Ben sent me a link about a week ago - it was a cute little article from epicurious.com about the "food horoscope" for the year.  It gave 12 recipes to try out for the 12 months of this year - healthy, yummy-looking recipes.  Last week, I tried a salad from the list; it was a bust for us.  So I was nervous about this salad.  But it was FANTASTIC!  And the lemon juice/olive oil dressing keeps the apples from browning, so you can have it a second night!!  I seriously could not get enough of this salad.

Apple and Celery Salad with Peanuts

Ingredients

2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
3 red apples, cut in bite-sized pieces
2 green apples, cut in bite-sized pieces
4 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch-thick julienne
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preparation

Whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, and olive oil.  Put the other ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour the lemon juice dressing on top and toss well.

Beef and Black Bean Chili

I got this out of the Better Homes and Gardens magazine for December 2012.  Oh my GOODNESS, was it ever good.  I had to double it for my family's use (I cook every other day and just make the meals very large so that we have leftovers on the second day), so you'll see the doubled recipe here.

Also, the directions say to put everything in a crock pot, which is awesome, but if you don't have the four hours to spare, you can certainly just simmer it on the stove for 20 minutes, because the beef is already pre-cooked and the vegetables are already softened in a skillet.  So. Just food for thought.

You know what makes this chili so good?  It actually has COCOA in it.

Beef and Black Bean Chili

24 oz. ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
2 green peppers
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 15- or 16-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups beef broth
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
4 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. paprika
Toasted baguette slices (optional)
Sliced green onions (optional)

1.  In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion, green pepper, and garlic over medium heat until browned.  Drain fat.  Transfer meat mixture to a slow cooker.  Add beans, tomatoes, broth, cocoa, chili powder, cumin, and paprika.
2.  Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.  Top with baguette slices and green onions, if desired.  

Pear-Lime Salsa

I was looking for something to go with some chicken enchiladas I made last night. (They were a new recipe, and I kind of felt...meh...about them, so I'm not putting them on here.  They're not shimmy-worthy.)  Anywho, I was making dinner for both my family and another family, so I wanted to make it nice and actually have three dishes on the plate instead of our normal two.  So I made this salad to go with it - which is one of my faaaaavorite Mexican salads, and then I saw a recipe for pear-lime salsa.  I thought it would be a perfect salsa for winter, with the pears and the lime juice and all. 

You can chop up the stuff and mix it all together, or you can throw it in the blender to mix it all together.  I like my salsa more runny, so I chose the blender.  If you make it chunky, it might not last overnight, since pears brown so quickly.  But my runny version is still looking and smelling very fresh today, which is great.

Pear-Lime Salsa

Makes 2 cups

2 medium shallots
1 poblano chili pepper, stemmed and seeded
2 pears, halved and cored
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp. achiote powder or 3/8 tsp. chili flakes