Sweet and Sour Chicken #2

I love sweet and sour chicken. I have to force myself not to make it and eat it on a regular basis. I few months back I posted a sweet and sour chicken wing recipe that I've eaten all my life. My mom received the recipe from a family friend in New Mexico and its a favorite in our family. Back when we were growing up we made it with the wings all the time because wings were cheap meat back then but now that chicken wings have become a favorite they are a little pricey. Yet I still have cravings for the dish so I've come up with a great way to enjoy the food without the price of chicken wings. I use breaded uncooked chicken tenders, which I can usually find at a local store called Winegar's mismarked for $1.49 for a 20 lb box. Here's the originial recipe calling for wings but without a picture:
http://norahsrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/08/sweet-and-sour-chicken.html

For the dish I made tonight I just fry the breaded chicken on the stove top just until crispy and brown. Then I make the sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons ketchup
Mix sauce, heating until sugar dissolves.
I then place the chicken tenders on a cookie sheet and cover them with sauce.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until cooked, turning chicken over every five minutes.

Black Forest Brussels Sprouts

I like brussels sprouts. No one else in my family does but I really like them. Over the weekend I bought a huge bag of fresh brussels sprouts at Costco and was going to steam them and add butter and garlic like usual. Lucky for me the November issue of Rachel Ray's magazine arrived in the mailbox. I have to say I loved this recipe. The sprouts lost a little of their bitter flavor and turned a not really sweet but different flavor. I tried my hardest to get others in the family to try them but no takers. They really don't know what they missed out on.

3 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
12 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 onions (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the brussels sprouts for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, stirring, until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes; drain, reserving the bacon fat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet, then stir in the onions and cook over medium heat, stirring, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and increase the heat to high. Add the brussels sprouts and cook, tossing, until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the onions and half the bacon; season with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining bacon.

Taco Pasta Bowl

I noticed this recipe in the local newspaper, the Standard Examiner, and thought it was something we'd like. I guess its suppose to be like the bowls that Taco Bell is selling only a healthy take on it. Overall it was pretty good and given the fact the kids actually ate some makes it a winner in my book. I changed a few things from the original recipe. I added onions and garlic to the ground beef while it was cooking. I also, by mistake as I usually don't buy canned enchilada sauce, added way too much sauce. Next time I'd for sure add alot less enchilada sauce, probably the amount called for, and make my own sauce the next time. I find canned enchilada sauce to be bitter. I also served the dish with fresh cut onion on top because I just really like onions. This was a quick and easy meal to make.

1/2 lb ground round or turkey or chicken

15 1/2 ounce can chili beans (do not drain)

10 ounce can no salt added diced tomatoes

2 ounces chopped green chilies

10 ounce can enchilada sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

3/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3 cups cooked pasta shells

1 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

1/2 cup reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook ground round in a large skillet over medium high heat, stirring to crumble; drain. Stir in chili beans, tomatoes, green chilies, enchilada sauce, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes. Add pasta to mixture and heat 3 minutes. Stir in cheese until melted and well blended. Serve in bowls. Serves 6.

CrockPot Country Style Ribs

So I had some boneless country style pork ribs that needed to be cooked. I also wanted to cook them in the crock pot instead of via any of my normal ways. I ended up making up a recipe by combining several recipes into one.

I had 1 1/2 lbs boneless ribs and I browned them in a skillet with some oil.

I then placed them in the crock pot and cooked on low heat for 6 hours.

I drained the liquid from the ribs and mixed the following items together and added it to the crock pot and the ribs:

1 cup ketchup

1 cup bbq sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped onion

4 dashes of Tabasco

2 Tbsp. Prepared mustard

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

I then cooked the ribs for another 2 hours on low heat and served them over rice.

Green Beans similar to Golden Corral

I love the green beans they serve at Golden Corral. I try not to eat at Golden Corral anymore so I've been trying to find the perfect recipe to duplicate their green beans. While this one is not it, it did taste really good. Bonus being my three little boys at the beans. I think if you add some butter after its done cooking and right before you serve it then it would more closely match the Golden Corral green beans.

1 lb green beans, trimmed and snapped into 2 or 3 pieces

1 medium or large onion, chopped

1 ham steak or ham slice, trimmed and cut into very small pieces

1 clove of garlic, minced and made into a paste

about 1 cup of water, although you may need to add more water

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper

Heat the oil and add onion. Cook only until the onion starts to soften. Add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer until beans are soft and the water evaporates. You will need to use a lid on your pot.

Garlic Chicken Faralle

Okay this was a dish loved by everyone in the house. I'm posting the recipe with the original recipe however when I made it I left the chicken out of the dish. I still served it as a main dish but I left the chicken out. The flavors were good. The chicken probably would have made my husband not like the dish. Very easy to make and it was eaten by everyone. I found the recipe here:

http://realmomkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/garlic-chicken-farfalle.html

16 oz. Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt
1 Tbsp. pepper (I just sprinkle in son pepper 1 Tbsp seemed way to much)
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon, crumbled
1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice
In the crock pot cool chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6-8 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred (it just falls apart). Set this aside. About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

Blitz Bread

I wanted a bread for the soup I made the other day and didn't have time to make the divine breadsticks I'v posted before. I remember seeing this on another blog I visit so I decided to give it a try. I could not get two kids to eat it at all. One at the bottom but not the top. Dh and I loved the bread and I can't wait to make it again. I used the Johnny's garlic spread for the herbs. I found the recipe here:

http://realmomkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/blitz-bread.html

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water

3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 cups (14 ¾ ounces) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

3 teaspoons dried herbs

dried herbs for sprinkling

1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan ( I used non-stick spray), and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.

2) Combine all of the ingredients, except the dried herbs for sprinkling, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds. (I used my kitchen aid, but didn't use the dough hook. I used the paddle type attachment. The one I use to mix cookie dough)

3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it is puffy.

4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.

5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.

6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.

7) Bake the bread till it’s golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.To make cheese-stuffed bread: Add 1 cup crumbled feta cheese to the dough after it's been kneaded for 60 seconds.

Semi-Minestrone Soup

I started out thinking I wanted to make minestrone soup but I didn't have any canned kidney beans and I forgot to soak the dried ones plus I had some defrosted sausage to use. So I ended up subbing the sausage for the beans and it turned out pretty good. I started with a recipe that I wanted to try but I was out of almost half the ingredients so I guess you can say this is an original recipe. The adults in the house loved the soup. The kids picked the sausage out and ate only that.

1 medium onion, chopped

5 stalks celery, chopped

5 carrots, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cube chicken bullion

1 cube beef bullion

28 ounces crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup brown rice

half a head of chopped cabbage

1 pound Italian sausage

5 drops tabasco sauce or less depending on your taste

3 cups water

Cook sausage until brown. Halfway through cooking add onions and celery. Add carrots and garlic. Add water and tomatoes, bullions, and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil and then add cabbage and rice. Bring back to boil then let simmer 3-4 hours. Add tabasco sauce to taste. Serve.

Coleslaw

I made coleslaw from scratch. Totally. I shredded a head of cabbage, some carrots, and green onions. It actually tasted really good. Much better than any other attempt at making coleslaw on my own. Even dh commented on how good this attempt was. So I found this recipe here:

http://thespottedapron.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/seans-pulled-pork-my-homemade-coleslaw/

I didn't use the pulled pork recipe they had posted because I really really like my South Carolina pulled pork recipe. I posted the recipe and a picture a few months ago. I'm copying her recipe although I didn't used the bagged stuff. I chopped all of my vegetables, mainly because I had a huge head of cabbage from a CSA pick up.

To cheat and make the chopping go quicker, I used a bag of broccoli slaw and a bag of chopped purple cabbage in addition to the carrots I sliced on the mandoline. The flavor and crunch were great. But if you want to really slice and dice, use ½ head of savoy cabbage and ½ head of purple cabbage. You can also add fresh parsley or green onions. Adjust the recipe to your taste and what you have in your pantry or garden.
1 ½ tablespoon whole-grain mustard or a good quality Dijon mustard
1 cup mayonnaise 

1/4 cup sour cream 

1/2 lemon, juiced 

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 

2 teaspoons sugar 

1 bag of broccoli slaw 

1/2 head purple cabbage, finely sliced 

2 carrots, sliced on mandoline or julienned
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine the mustard, mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, vinegar and sugar and mix well.
Add the finely sliced cabbage, broccoli slaw, and carrots to the dressing. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow the flavors to marinate.
Serve when you are ready, cold or at room temperature.

Green Bean Soup

This is a pretty simple and easy to make soup. It also doesn't have alot of ingredients or pricey ingredients so you can say its a frugal meal. This is a very basic soup and lends itself to whatever your tastes may be. I'm sure there are endless possibilities for making this soup.

2 lbs fresh green beans with the ends snapped off and snapped into bite size pieces

one onion chopped

3 garlic cloves minced (use less if your not a garlic fan because it does taste like garlic)

ham hock, or diced ham, or bacon bits- as much as you like or one ham hock

Place everything in the crockpot and cover with water. Add salt and pepper to your taste. And add about 1 tablespoon paprika. I also like to add about 2-4 drops of tabasco sauce. Cook on high heat for 6 hours or low heat for 8-10 hours. Serve.