Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

• 2 qt. Strawberries sliced
• 1 C. sugar divided
• 2 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese softened
• 3 T. orange juice or lime juice (I prefer lime squeezed fresh)
• 3 C. whipped Whipping Cream
• 1 loaf (10 oz.) pound cake cubed (Sara Lee in the freezer section works great)
• 1 large chocolate bars grated
• chocolate swirls and strawberries to garnish

1. Toss strawberries with ½ C. sugar. Allow to chill in refrigerator until juicy. (About an hour)

2. Cream together the citrus juice, cream cheese and the remainder of the sugar. Add whip cream and blend until creamy. (Make sure you blend the cream cheese, citrus juice and sugar first, or the acid will curdle the whipped cream.)

3. Drain juice off the strawberries and drizzle onto the cake cubes.

4. Layer in trifle bowl as follows:
½ cake cubes on bottom
1/3 cream cheese mixture
½ strawberry mixture
chocolate shavings
the rest of the cake cubes
1/3 cream cheese mixture
the rest of the strawberry mixture
chocolate shavings
the rest of the cream cheese mixture
chocolate shavings
Strawberries to Garnish

Chocolate Blueberry Cake

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For Cake- Mix dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. In blender combine water, egg, and blueberries. Blend until smooth. Add liquid mixture to flour mixture. Beat with mixer, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Pour into greased 8x 8 square pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Ganache
• 1 cup reduced fat whipped topping, like Cool Whip lite
• ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• For Blueberry Sauce
• ½ cup blueberries
• ½ cup reduced fat whipped topping

Meanwhile for Ganache- in small microwave safe bowl combine chocolate chips and whipped topping. Microwave for 30-60 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Set aside. When cake is cool, cover with Ganache. For blueberry sauce- blend thawed blueberries and whipped topping in blender until smooth and liquid. Drizzle over cake.

Peanut Trix Squares

1 cups sugar 1 cup corn syrup
1 stick butter
2 cups roasted salted peanuts
1 cup chocolate chips
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup roasted and salted peanuts 6 cups Trix cereal or similar favorite


1. Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Butter a large 9x12 pan or similar and set aside.
3. In a 5 quart sauce pan bring sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil.
4. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
5. Once the marshmallow mixture has melted, add the peanuts and chocolate chips.
6. Pour marshmallow mixture over the cereal..
7. Press mixture into a prepared pan, cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (don't use chicken breasts)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup cashews
Combine flour and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat with flour mixture. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Add cashews and stir. Server over rice.

Pasta Salad with a Thai Twist

• 1 lb. of linguine pasta cooked or 1 lb of rice noodles softened in hot water for 10 mins. (I like the rice noodles best, but sometimes they're hard to find in a regular grocery store.)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 T. green, yellow, or red curry paste or just use curry powder.
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/8 c. fish sauce or soy sauce

Note: fish sauce is the Thai version of soy sauce. It is just what it says it is. They take fish and put them in a barrel and let it ferment for months and then drain off the liquid. It smells horrible, but it sure makes the food taste good.

In a big sauce pan place the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to a simmer. Add the sugar and fish sauce or soy sauce. Taste and adjust to your liking with more sugar, or more soy sauce. Add the hot cooked noodles and toss. You want the noodles to absorb all the coconut milk and then cool down.

Salad
• 1 head Napa cabbage chopped
• peppers sliced (A combination of red, yellow, and orange is best. You know it's all about the presentation!)
• purple cabbage
• matchstick carrots if you don't have colorful peppers
• fresh bean sprouts
• a bunch of green onions sliced
• some cucumbers sliced
• 1 bunch of cilantro chopped or a lot of chopped fresh basil (Basil is best!)
• sliced water chestnuts
• a few big handfuls of baby spinach (you can add more or less of this to stretch the salad)

In a really large bowl add all the ingredients above.

Any of the veggies can be adjusted to your liking. If you don't have something don't worry. Just improvise or add a little more of something else. Once the noodles are cool toss them in the bowl with all the veggies.

Dressing
• 1 c. olive oil
• 3/4 c. rice wine vinegar
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. seasame oil (optional)
• 1/2 t. ground ginger

Toss the salad all together and make all sorts of yummy sounds! Sprinkle a handful or two of chopped peanuts, or sugar glazed almonds. Taste it. I usually add a little more sugar, but it's up to you. This salad is huge so make sure you have a big group since it doesn't keep at all.

Raw Sprouted Quinoa Salad

1 cup sprouted quinoa (simply soak quinoa for at least 4 hours preferably overnight, rinse well, you
can then use immediately or let sprout for another day in colander)
½ lemon juiced
10 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
5 or 5 sundried tomatoes thinly sliced
2 T. golden raisens
2 green onions chopped
½ red onion chopped
3 T. fresh mint finely chopped
¼ cucumber finely chopped

Add all the above in a bowl and leave for a few hours to marinate together, the flavors are more intensely infused if left over night in the fridge.

The Woods on Ninth Hawaiian Pork Skewers

www.thewoodsonnith.com

In a bowl combine the following:
3 T fresh lime juice
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
1 t powdered ginger
2 T water

Then add: 1 ½ pound boneless pork butt cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
Marinate for one hour.

Thread pork onto 8 inch bamboo skewers and grill on a HOT grill for 5-6 minutes a side.

Serve with rice pilaf, or alone as appetizer.