Mini shrimp bites and Ramen noodle salad

Shelby is in town for a few days for the K-ACTE conference, so we have had a chance to hang out the last two nights!
The first night, we went to Cheddar's, which I normally like because it's casual and pretty quick, and we've always had good food. This trip made me not want to go back for a long long time! My food was not very good, and Shelby had a dead fly in her water. Gag!! They did give us both of our meals free, but the dead fly=no return trips for a while.

Last night, she came over and we made a really great meal. I was so glad she was here to help because I would have probably run out of steam about halfway through!
I had wonton wrappers, and I wanted to make something shrimpy or crabby:)
Norris' favorite salad is Asian Ramen Noodle Salad (I know, fancy!), so we made that, too.

Recipes:
Mini Shrimp Bites (from http://www.allrecipes.com/, a great website!)



Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour Yields: 16 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound medium shrimp - cooked, peeled and deveined
6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups finely chopped cabbage
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
48 wonton wrappers
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons water
DIRECTIONS:
1.Chop shrimp; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add mozzarella cheese; mix well. Stir in the cabbage, onions, carrot, soy sauce, garlic and shrimp. For each shrimp roll, place 1 tablespoon of shrimp mixture across the bottom third of a wonton wrapper to within 1/4 in. of bottom and side edges. Combine flour and water until smooth; brush a 1/4-in. wide strip on side edges and fold side edges over 1/4 in. Brush side edges and top edge with water mixture. Fold bottom third of wonton wrapper over filling, then bring top over and pinch edges to seal completely.
2.Lightly spray rolls with nonstick cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Serve warm.

I don't really remember to take pictures of food, but they were great! We dipped them in a little soy sauce. I think next time I will make some sort of asian sweet chile sauce rather than plain soy sauce; that would have made them perfect.


Ramen Noodle Salad:
1 package ramen noodles (any flavor; uncooked)
small package slivered almonds
3 T sesame seeds
1 T margarine
1 head Napa Cabbage

1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c Splenda
1/2 c white vinegar
2 T soy sauce

Break up the uncooked ramen noodles (save the flavor package or toss it; you don't need it for this recipe!) into small pieces. In a medium sized skillet, melt 1 T margarine. Toss in the ramen, slivered almonds, and sesame seeds. Stir occasionally and toast them in the skillet. They should be crunchy and golden brown.

Clean and chop Napa Cabbage while toasting those ingredients. I like to chop it into really small shreds.

Mix together oil, sugar, Splenda, vinegar, and soy sauce. Shake it, shake it real good!! Put this in the fridge until ready to serve.

Right before you're ready to serve, toss the dressing into the cabbage and top the salad with the crunchy topping. YUM!!


Both recipes were a hit with both of us girls and with Norris! We made 30 of the wontons (rather than 48, since I used some last week) and between the three of us, we ate all but two. Hope you enjoy!