Sesame Noodles

First let me just apologize for this picture. It was just sitting on the counter waiting to be eaten and I remembered I needed a picture. So I didn't try to make it look fancy. It's just as is. Also, I just had angel hair pasta on hand, so it looks a little "off," but I promise you it's good!

I have no idea where my head was at, but as I was preparing meals for our "health week," I looked at my plans for buffalo chicken lettuce wraps and thought an Asian noodle side dish would pair well. They were both great on their own, but together I have no idea why I put them together! It's not even really like they're super healthy, but hey, I had already drowned chicken in hot sauce so.... we'll just go with it.

These had really good flavor, most likely due to the sesame oil used! My husband loooooves sesame oil so I had zero reservations about the whole thing. They were deeeelicious! Of course. Pioneer Woman, right? Not to mention, this whips up FAST. You're using thin noodles so they don't take long at all and everything is just kind of dump and mix and go. Loved it!

What you will need:

• 12 oz. thin noodles, cooked and drained
• 1/4 C soy sauce
• 2 T sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 3 T pure sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. hot chili oil
• 4 T canola oil
• Green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients (minus the noodles) together in a bowl
• Toss the cooked and drained noodles with the oil
• Top with green onions (optional)

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Our family was so lucky to get to spend the holidays with all my family this year! It's pretty rare these days so I'm glad we got to make a lot of memories!

One of the things we did was doing a Chinese food potluck for New Years Eve. Best. Idea. EVER! I feel like it might have to be tradition now no matter who is around! Everyone made such delicious food, and lucky me I was able to find a crockpot teriyaki chicken recipe from the Flavorite. It made things so easy with how crazy my New Years Eve day was. I knew I wouldn't have the time to cook something later in the day or spend much time on it.

This was perfect, although my chicken got really tender and it kind of turned into shredded teriyaki chicken. Woops! This picture was taken a couple days later with leftovers so it's not as juicy looking. But you get the idea! I actually doubled the sauce recipe and I think it turned out great that way!


What you will need:

• 2 lbs. boneless chicken
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C soy sauce
• 2 T cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp water
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• Sesame seeds

Directions:

• Mix the brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger and garlic in a bowl
• Pour the sauce over the chicken in a slow cooker
• Cook on low for 4-6 hours
• Remove chicken from slow cooker
• Pour sauce into a pan and bring to a boil
• Mix cornstarch and water together in a small bowl
• Slowly pour cornstarch mix into the sauce and mix together
• Turn heat to medium and stir until sauce thickens (about 2-3 minutes)
• Add sesame seeds if desired
• Cut up chicken and place back into slow cooker with sauce until ready to serve