Cinnamon Cashews

CROCKPOT CINNAMON CASHEWS
Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 Egg White
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Cups cashews
1/4 C. Water

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, mix together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the egg white and vanilla until it’s a little frothy. Add cashews. Make sure the nuts are thoroughly coated in the egg white mixture. Add cinnamon mixture to the nuts and toss until coated.
Thoroughly spray with the stoneware of your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray and add the mixture of nuts and sugars.
Cook on low ( with the lid on) 3-4 hours stirring every 20 minutes. In the last hour, add the 1/4 C. of water and stir well. This ensures a crunchy yummy coating. (*make sure after you've added the water that you continue to cook the nuts for another 45 minutes to an hour.)
You have to stir really well, especially as it gets later in the cooking process.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the nuts flat to cool. The nuts will be sticky at this point, so make sure you separate them a little and have no large mounds

Fall Party Idea

Fall is fast approaching, but we want to hold onto summer as long as we can.  What says summer better than Lemons and Limes?  You can host a Lemons and Limes party with minimal effort.  It's EASY!

Send invitations with a list of suggestions for recipes for dishes using lemons and limes.
Tell people that the first four to respond get to choose if they want to bring a main dish, side or dessert and after that, you will assign categories.  In reality, you just want to make sure that you don't have 10 people show up with lemon bars.  If you want to have a small party, just send them the recipe once they RSVP.  I find that 8 to 10 is the perfect number of people for us and our kitchen.  I've had up to 30, but we like smaller, more intimate groups.

I have some suggestions below for recipes.  If I have the recipe, I will link it, but some are pretty simple and you don't really need a recipe:


Main Dish:
Lemon Chicken
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Chicken and Lime soup
Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken
cinnamon and lime chicken fajitas



Side Dishes
Lime Rice
Fresh Mango salsa
Lime biscuits
Lime salad
salad with cilantro lime dressing
roasted garlic lemon broccoli
lemon pepper veggies
skillet corn link to recipe


Desserts:
Let them come up with desserts.  

Decorate your table with bowls of lemons and limes.  Use bright yellow plates and cups.


What a refreshing party!

Spicy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

You can get a head start on this meal by cutting your chicken up into bite sized pieces before freezing it. 



Ingredients
1 pound chicken breast, skinless and boneless, cut into 1 inch cubes
salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil
8­ oz spiral pasta 
2 cups fresh broccoli cut into bite sized pieces
 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 slices bacon, cooked, drained of fat, chopped





 Instructions
 1. Season both chicken breast halves generously with salt and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high ­medium heat in a large skillet. Add seasoned chicken breast halves and cook until no longer pink inside. Remove from skillet.  Set aside.

 3. Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Add broccoli to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water.

 4. To the same skillet that the chicken was cooked in, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes ­ cook on medium heat for 1 minutes until garlic is fragrant. Add tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon dry basil, stir and bring to boil ­ immediately reduce to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Add shredded mozzarella cheese to the sauce and stir to melt until cheese is completely melted and the sauce thickens ­ 30 seconds. With heat on simmer, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and stir to combine.

 5. Add cooked and rinsed pasta, broccoli, cooked sliced chicken, and half of chopped cooked bacon to the sauce. Mix to combine.  Top with remaining bacon.