This year I have a number of goals and as I was putting together my to do list for 2012 I thought “wouldn’t this be fun to share with readers of Pancakes and Flowers!” Partly because on that to do list is “find a creative outlet” and I loved using this blog as a creative outlet. Not only because I enjoyed writing it but I also really enjoy cooking meals, taking photos and sharing my experiences with friends.

So here’s my list for the year:

• Find a creative outlet
• Join a garden or get a yard (so I can grow my own veggies!)
• Move somewhere new (a new city or a new neighborhood I’m up for either. I think it will help with the garden idea!)
• Get a really good workout at least 3 times a week
• Seek professional growth

At the beginning of each month I’ll give you an update on where I am with these goals. Plus I will try to write two additional posts each month. So keep an eye out for a bunch of fun posts in 2012!

Ingredients
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tbsp chopped shallots
1 clove chopped garlic
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp ground mustard
1.5 tsp fresh ground pepper

Place all ingredients in food processor and go!

Here’s the deal… This is not as thick as store bought, which could probably be fixed by using yogurt instead of buttermilk. It is good though, the red pepper, shallots, mustard and garlic make it more flavorful and exciting then I’m used to. It’s definitely different from the prepared stuff from the store!

I think I’ll have to keep testing it out!

A smoothie is a very basic thing and the only things required to make one is fruit and a blender. That’s right, just put some fruit in a blender and you have it! Instant smoothie! But of course, I do it more complicated; I add yogurt, use frozen fruit, sometimes invite along a friend called agave and often a friend called flax. Yes, I pump it up!

Suggested Ingredients:
1 cup frozen berries
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 tsp agave nectar or 1/2 banana
1 tsp ground flax or 1 tsp almond butter

Place it all in the blender and blend to smooth. Now it is a smoothie!

It is so easy to make chicken salad, but I did not even know about it until I started dating, my boyfriend, Jack. You see, Jack’s dad makes chicken salad, and I was afraid to try it, because it looked weird and gross. Jack’s mom even makes chicken salad with fancy things like grapes and rosemary in it. Dating Jack has resulted in me making chicken salad and even ordering it at a restaurant! I recently learned that my dad likes chicken salad, but my mom hates and will never make it for him. She is so mean, except she leaves leftover chicken in the fridge for me to make into chicken salad!

You really have to sing more when you cook, it makes the food come out better, even if ou just sing in your head!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups shredded/chopped  chicken
1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup mandarin oranges
2 TBSP mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up ingredients and mix together, coating well with mayo. Serve on a bed of lettuce, if you want to eat it like me!

This is good. I am not crazy about citrus, I am more of a berry person, but canned mandarin oranges were available, so that was the fruit I used. You could sub almonds for the walnuts, grapes or dried cranberries, halved grapes, halved cherries, persimmons, chopped mango, or raisins for the oranges, and I don’t know what you could do about the celery, maybe apples. And really I think most any fruit could be used in there, scallions too, you could use them. And I also think it would be good with some herbs or spices that you like. Be creative with this one! You will like it more if you use the things you like. You could even try salmon or tuna instead of the chicken. I trust you to try it out in many combos and let me know how it went.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP Dr. Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP plus 1 TSP water
1/4 TSP sugar
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/8 TSP sesame oil
1/2 TSP cornstarch
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
1 scallion, slivered

First I grilled the chicken on the BBQ, but ou could use an indoor grill or grill pan. It takes a few minutes on each side, make sure it is cooked through! In a sauce pan combine the liquid aminos, vinegar, 1 TBSP plus 1/4 TSP water, sugar, oyster sauce and oil. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Combine the cornstarch and the rest of the water in a bowl and add this into the sauce you have going on the stove, return sauce to a boil and it should thicken pretty good in about a minute. Remove the sauce from heat. Toss the chicken with the sauce and serve garnished with scallion and peanuts!

I got this recipe from Megan, my dear boyfriend’s mother. She got this recipe from The Philosopher’s Kitchen by Francine Segan. Megan had omitted a few ingredients and I made it the same way she did.

I want to state that this is really a lovely thing to eat, delicious and good; hearty even. My father, my entire life, refused to eat squash. My mom, my sisters and my self like squash, a lot. But we rarely eat it because he doesn’t like it. He won’t eat eggplant, he won’t eat whole wheat bread, he won’t eat lots of things. He is sort of annoying because of this… but to the point! My dad liked this, he took leftovers for lunch and he bragged about how good it was to his coworkers! I know this because the next day, he called me from work to ask what type of squash it was and told me how he was telling all the guys. He is so ridiculous!

Preheat oven to 425. Rub the squash halves with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place, cut side down, on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. While the squash is in the oven,  sauté the onion in the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat for about five minutes.  Add the sausage and cook until well browned.  Transfer to a large bowl and mix with the bread cubes. Add the wine, chicken stock, cumin, and parsley to the pan stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits.  Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until reduced by half.  Pour the liquid over the sausage-bread mixture and toss until absorbed. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lower the oven to 375.  Divide the filling among the acorn squash halves.  Place the filled squash to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the filling is browned and the squash is cooked through. Top with shredded radicchio.

We ate this with a salad of romaine and radicchio and some bread with butter. So tasty and very filling!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup oatmeal
Sprinkle of salt
1 apple, grated 
Cinnamon to taste
1 TBSP almond butter

Cook oatmeal in boiling water with a sprinkle of salt. When oatmeal is almost totally cooked, add the apple and almond butter, mix in well until perfectly creamy and remove from heat. This is when you add as much cinnamon as you like. Perfecto? Perfecto!

Eat this, it is awesome!

Anyway, the Coking Light recipe was for Macadamia Nut-Pesto Fettuccine, but Jack couldn’t find macadamia nuts at the store and we had walnuts. And we had penne, so we went with that as well.

Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat pasta, cooked and drained
3 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup half-and-half
3 TBSP roasted walnuts
3 TBSP grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Take basil, half and half, walnuts and parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper, place in the blender or food processor until you have a smooth GREEN mixture. It is so green! Toss with pasta and serve.

We had ours with salad and ciabatta. There was so much leftover though, we thought it would be four of us for dinner and it was just two. So I ate lots more salad and less pasta which contributed to even more leftovers. I totally dug it though! The lemon juice, Parmesan, walnut and basil all stood out well. And every once in a while there was a nce little walnut crunch! I like crunch!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 oatmeal
A sprinkle of salt
1 banana, mashed
1 TSP peanut butter
1 TSP almond butter
1.5 TSP chopped walnuts
Cinnamon (optional)

Bring water and salt to a boil, add oat and cook for about five minutes, stirring as needed. Mix in mashed banana, peanut butter, almond butter and walnuts. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired!

This is good with tea or some milk. And it’s probably the most smile producing oatmeal I have ever made! Except maybe the mango oatmeal, which I smiled about because it as so unexpected, but this is more of a happy memories smile.