15 minute chicken pad thai!

so last night on my Facebook live video i mad the world of promises ! and in usual Ashley fashion i fell asleep without posting the recipe. that i promised to do. but hey !! look at me now i'm up at 4:18 typing it all up. this is actually my second time typing this up. my cat loves to walk on my lap top so therefore everything was deleted (insert rolling eye emoji ) lol ... anyways here is the recipe ... because it was live i forgot to snap a pic, but there is plenty left in the kitchen so once the sun comes in i will go in and snap one. although i think i still may have one saved from the last time i made it... and if you need further reference feel free to visit my Facebook page and you can watch the live video of me making this start to finish ! happy cooking everybody !!! 


Easy Chicken Pad Thai !! 

• 10 oz Thai rice noodles

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (I pefer thighs)

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 4 Tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 Tbsp lime juice

• 2 Tbsp fish sauce

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips and strips halved

• 1 1/2 cups matchstick carrots

• 4-6  cloves garlic (minced)

• 4 green onions, whites minced, greens sliced into 1-inch pieces

• 2 cups bean sprouts

• 3 large eggs

• 1/2 cup roasted cashews 

• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

• Red pepper flakes and sesame seeds (optional)

in a 6qt stock pot heat water until boiling. add noodles and cook until done (watch because they cook faster than regular noodles)- when finished strain and set aside
mean while make the sauce by combining : sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar and soy sauce.- set aside
season chicken with a tad of salt and pepper just to taste because the soy sauce has a lot of salt. and pan sear in oil until cooked through. depending on thickness of your chicken this should take no longer than 4-5 minutes. once chicken is done transfer to a plate.
to the same pot you cooked your noodles . all olive oil to coat pan, and add all veggies cooking until tender. spread the veggies around the pot and crack 3 eggs in the middle and then scramble them ... adding a little salt and pepper to the eggs. ( but just a pinch ) once egg is cooked, add chicken, prepared sauce and noodles. toss with tongs until all is coated and transfer to a big bowl. i love to garnish with cilantro , cashews , sesame seeds and a extra squeeze of lime juice and green onions if you have extra on hand.

Pecan Cinnamon Buns !

I used to hate yeast. In-fact, as much as I love to bake , I would avoid recipes that called for it because it  never seemed to come out right. But this past year I pretty much mastered it! there is not one recipe that calls for yeast that I'm afraid of. Once your milk, or water is the correct temp, you can almost never go wrong. I have read so many recipes for the perfect cinnamon roll but nothing compares to this one .To me what sets these apart is the almond & vanilla extract that is mixed into the cinnamon sugar. It really gives it a unique taste and brings out the flavors of the pecans .

dough-

2 ¼ tsp of yeast
1cup of warm milk
½ cup sugar
1 stick of soft butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour

filling-

¼ soft butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup brown sugar
3T cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans

icing-

6 T butter
½ tsp vanilla
⅛ tsp salt
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup soft cream cheese

First: mix the yeast in the warm milk. until ready. then cream the butter, sugar , salt and eggs in your mixer. add in flour and yeast all at once. mix until ball forms and its not sticking to the sides of the bowl. once ball is formed spray a bowl with non stick cooking spray (i use the baking one with flour in it ) and rest a towel over it . let rise for 45 min.

Second:  roll out dough. mix the sugar with the almond and vanilla extract and add cinnamon & pecans . spread evenly over buttered dough and roll up. you should get about 12 buns. place buns in a buttered baking dish in rows of 4. cover with a cloth and let it rise again until doubled in size about 45 more minutes.

Last: pre-heat oven to 325 and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Top with icing.

Come Join my Cooking Class !!

Cookie Monster Ice Cream!

Well folks as you all know I've been MIA on the blog lately - and by lately, I mean a couple of months or two or three.  Life just got so busy ! I've been catering more events, helping the husband book events and we are in the middle of opening up a studio! (super exciting stuff) Oh ,and don't get me started on the kids!  So to answer the question that keeps coming to my inbox-   Yes! I've still been cooking. Just not much energy left to write. But the time has come , I'm reorganizing & refocusing ! hoping to post 1-2  recipes/crafts a week.  If you have any questions please feel free to write me :) thanks for sticking with me & stopping by!
Happy Cooking <3

My little one has been sick with a cold. So my 4yo came up with a solution to help his throat. "Lets make him ice cream mommy" She wanted to make cookies n' cream (her favorite) but I recently saw on pintrest this cookie monster ice cream , which after reading, it's the same as cookies n' cream except it has two kinds of cookies and a few drops of blue food coloring.

its so easy and uses no machines!  Here's what you need:

2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 drops of sky blue food coloring
1 cup of crushed oreos
1 cup of crushed chocolate chip cookies
1 can of sweetened condensed milk

in your mixer beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

in a separate bowl combine remaining  ingredients . once all is mixed fold the mixture into the whipped cream. put in a tupperware container and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight . scoop and enjoy!!

steak au poivre!

steak au poivre is usually made with a thicker cut of meat such as a filet, but my fav is rib eye so rib eye it is!

this steak is super simple and super elegant !

4 steaks
kosher salt
fresh cracked peppercorns
1 stick of butter
1 cup of heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp of cognac


take your steaks out 30 minutes prior to cooking. season really well with salt and pepper. melt one stick of butter into your cast iron skillet and add steaks once butter has turned a tad brown.

once steaks are cooked about 2-minutes per side depending on thickness. take you steaks out and place on a plate. with a tented piece of foil. turn off your stove and to the pan (brown bits and all) add the cognac and ignite the alcohol and shake pan until the flames are gone. return the pan to the stove and add cream. bring to a boil and reduce heat, and cook for 3-4 minutes until sauce has thickened. serve over steak and serve with the potatoes.

creamy tartiflette !

4 large potatoes 
1 block of havarti cheese 
Butter 
Heavy cream 
Black pepper 
Thyme 
5 slices bacon 
1 large onion 
2 slices of potato bread (for fresh crumbs )

I peeled and diced 4 large potatoes and boiled them in salted water until tender . 

Drain from water and set aside .
Next I cut up some bacon about 6 slices and one large onion .
In a fry pan . Cook onion and bacon until golden brown season with black pepper .
Once onion & bacon are done add potatoes to the pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes .

To make bread crumbs , just put two slices of potato bread in your food processor .

To assemble :
In a casserole dish or individual ramekins spoon in some potatoes and top with a layer of havarti cheese then another layer of potatoes topped with another layer of cheese .
Pour in some heavy cream and Top with fresh potato bread crumbs and melted butter . Bake at 400 until cheese is melted, bubbly and golden brown !
Garnish with fresh thyme and fresh cracked pepper .

split pea and ham soup!

• 16 oz yellow split peas
• 1 smoked ham hock or shank
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 carrots, sliced
• 6 celery stalks, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 8 cups of reduced or no sodium chicken broth or water
• 20 oz frozen green peas
• sea salt and black pepper to taste

 Combine all the ingredients in a large soup pan over high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and continue cooking over medium low for 1 hour or until the peas are tender.  10 minutes prior to serving, remove the bay leaves, add the froze peas, ham from the shank (diced) and season to taste with salt and pepper.