Shrimp Lo-Mein

So have you ever gotten that craving for Chinese food that won't go away? I have, and believe me, with Chinese "fast food" restaurants around here just about every block and in every mall its hard to find one that you like, then remember the name of the dish you like and then remember which restaurant it came from. So I was looking around on the internet and came across this one recipe for Lo-Mein. It sounded good and I happen to like Lo-Mein, and my husband and I both like Chinese food so I decided to give it a try. This has been adapted from a Better Homes & Gardens recipe on Yahoo's recipes. This recipe turned out great and it also gave you a BIG dose of veggies.

Shrimp Lo-Mein

1 pound fresh or frozen medium/large shrimp (I opted for frozen)
1/3 cup water
3 Tablespoon Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch (if no cornstarch you can use 1 1/2 TEASPOON of white flour)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 Medium onion, chopped
2 cups cabbage, shredded
2 cups fresh or frozen pea pods (I opted for frozen baby sugar snap peas)
2 medium carrots, shredded (use a peeler for this goes quicker)
4 oz wheat angel hair pasta (Okay so I didn't use exactly 4 oz)
2 green onions, sliced

1) Thaw shrimp if frozen. Cut shrimp in half length wise or width wise. Set aside

2) For sauce: In a small bowl combine water, soy sauce and cornstarch. Set this aside as well.

3) Pour oil into a wok or large skillet, add more oil as necessary during cooking. Preheat over medium high heat. Stir fry celery and onion in hot oil for 2 minutes. Add cabbage, fresh pea pods (if using) and carrots; stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes more until veggies are crisp and tender. Remove veggies from wok/skillet.

4) Add shrimp to hot wok/skillet. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque. Once opaque push shrimp from center of the wok/skillet.

5) Stir sauce and add sauce to center of the wok/skillet. Cook and stir until bubbly. Return cooked veggies to the wok/skillet. Add hot cooked noodles, green onions and thawed frozen pea pods. Toss all ingredients together to coat with sauce. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes more until everything is heated through again.



**Make ahead tip** Prepare vegetables then cover and chill up to 4 hours before cooking with shrimp.


While I haven't tried it yet, I believe it would be easy to change this to a chicken recipe.

Please let me know what you think.

First posting and Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

So this is my first post, a friend of mine recently started hers (Thanks Brooke!) and I figured this would be easier than emailing dozens of people different things and different times. Sadly I don't have any pictures at this time but I will soon, hopefully. So here is a recipe for the cinnamon rolls and I have a few other that I will probably be putting on here as well. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may vary)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, semi-packed
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter melted

1) In a large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, approximately 10 minutes. In a small sauce pan heat buttermilk until warm to touch, stir often as you don't want the buttermilk to clump on you.

2) Pour the buttermilk and oil into the yeast mixture and mix well all the way through. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir the flour mixture into the liquid 1 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 20 times. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. While dough is resting in a small bowl stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and butter.

3) Roll dough out into a large rectangle. Spread the brown sugar mixture all over the dough, roll up into a log and pinch the seam to seal. Slice into 1 inch pieces and place cut side up in a lightly greased 10x15 baking pan. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate overnight.

4) Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.




Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup hot water

Pour ingredients into small mixing bowl and combine by whisking together pour over cinnamon rolls while hot or whenever you wish.