TWD - Oatmeal Breakfast Bread with Pecan & Caramel Milk Chocolate Chunks and Maybe a little Dinner

I have been playing with homemade granola recipes all week and completely spaced on baking Tuesdays with Dorie's Oatmeal Breakfast Bread until Monday afternoon. I loved the idea of the bread but wanted handle-able small loaves; so why not miniature loaves. Then I looked at the dried fruit, sighed, and just couldn't. The double-batch of granola and me nibbling incessantly on said granola has wore out my chewing muscles . . . Layman's terms: My jaw is sore; strange dilemma. My inspiration for a substitution came from me digging through my hoarding secret spot (you know you have one too, smile, wink, wink) and finding a bar of Pecan & Caramel milk chocolate waiting to be broken into chunks. Perfect since the topping also has pecans.

The batter was enough to fill 7 little loaf pans. Too cute! Imagination and plating seemed to be exceptionally hard for me to handle tonight so here we are in all our glory.

New dilemma, You know you are tired "when" you slice the bread as mentioned by Dorie and look at the toaster, then look at your miniature slice and FINALLY see how the toaster will eat the itty bitty slice of bread if you drop it in. I do not see toasting in my immediate future.

Thank you Natalie of Oven Love (cute name for a blog!) for hosting this week and picking the Oatmeal Breakfast Bread. We love the bread and will get to share with my parents, who are visiting from Arizona. I can not wait to check out the rest of the group's loaves and if you want the recipe, click on Natalie's blog link or, better yet, Buy Dorie's cookbook. Don't forget to check out the Dorie baker list to see the rest of the groups gorgeous loaves!

Dinner was even spacey for me tonight so I semi-cheated but thought I would share because the dinner ended up delicious, which is still beyond comprehension.

I made Thai Chicken Fettuccine and the whole dinner took less then 20 minutes to make. I bought a package of handmade Pappardelle pasta (the company is out of Seattle) a week earlier and have been looking at the package in the refrigerator, waiting for it to speak to me. Nothing; "and" I had half a jar of salsa leftover, 1 orange, a bunch of cilantro screaming to be used and boneless chicken breasts in the freezer - SO, throw in a little creamy peanut butter and we have the Thai Chicken Fettuccine recipe.

I also cheated and used a package of Thai Shrimp Gyoza from the freezer section at Trader Joes. How could I possibly pass up a package that Clearly states the Gyoza was handmade in Thailand? I had to make my own sauce though.

THAI CHICKEN FETTUCCINE

(made 4 servings)

* 3/4 cup salsa

* 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

* 2 tablespoons orange juice

* 2 tablespoons honey

* 2 teaspoon soy sauce

* 8 to 10 ounces uncooked pappardelle pasta

* 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

* 1 tablespoon canola oil

* 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped

* 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions:

* For sauce, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Cover and microwave on high for 1 minute; stir. Set aside.

* Cook pappardelle according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Add red pepper; cook and stir until crisp-tender.

* Drain pappardelle; top with chicken mixture and sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro.