Coconut Rice

I got this recipe from maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com (adapted from Natalie Heath)
1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups coconut milk
1/3 -1/2 cup sugar
¾ cup milk

First rinse the jasmine rice with cold water until your water is clear and not white. Put the rinsed rice in a medium pan and combine with sugar, milk, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then turn to low. Cover and cook for about 25-35 minutes. Stir rice and milk every 5-10 minutes. Rice is done when milk is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve warm. Serve with Island Pork Tenderloin.

It is important to use the jasmine rice and coconut milk. It won't taste the same if you just use regular rice and only regular milk. My mom and I love a dish that is this rice topped with mango. Mmmm!! SO good. We also loved it with the Island Pork. Pin It

Island Pork Tenderloin

I got this recipe from maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com (adapted from Epicurious.com)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 LB total)
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup packed dark brown sugar I used light brown sugar
2 TBS finely chopped garlic
1 TBS Tabasco


Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140°F, about 30 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155°F while standing.)Serve warm or cold with coconut rice.

I followed these directions except that I used a pork roast rather than tenderloin and my meat took longer to cook. So I ended up having to cut the pork into slices and continue to cook it so that it would cook faster. It turned out pretty good though because then the sauce covered all the surfaces of the meat rather than just the edges.


Mmmmmmm!!!!!! Pin It

Toffee Butter Crunch

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup finely shopped pecans or almonds

1. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan; set pan aside.

2. Butter sides of a 2-quart heavy saucepan. In saucepan melt butter; add sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium;; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently until thermometer registers 290 degrees F, soft crack stage. Watch carefully after 280 degrees F to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour candy into the prepared pan, spreading quickly.

3. Let candy stand about 2 minutes or until set; sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When chocolate has softened, spread over candy. Sprinkle with nuts. Chill about 20 minutes or until firm. When firm, use foil to lift it out of pan; break into pieces. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

I followed this to a t and it still scorched a little. However, instead of chocolate chips, I took a Hershey's bar and broke it up, sprinkling the squares across the toffee. It worked too. The heated toffee melts the chocolate. Don't be afraid to spread it. By that point the toffee will be firm enough that you won't be misshaping it.


Enjoy! Pin It

Pin Wheels

Caramel:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup karo syrup
1/4 lb butter
1/2 cup canned milk (evaporated)
1/4 tsp salt

(triple to make a double batch) Cook caramel until firm ball (between 230 and 232 degrees). Whip slightly and pour in buttered cookie sheet. Once cool, put on wax paper on counter. Roll out melted marshmallows on top until they reach the edges. Marshmallow layer is on top of caramel layer, roll like a jelly roll. Slice and enjoy.

Marshmallow:

20 big marshmallows
powdered sugar: enough to make it a consistency that you can roll out

Put marshmallows in a glass bowl and microwave for ten seconds. Stir until they are a little gooey. Put in for ten more seconds and stir again. Repeat until marshmallows are melted. Add powdered sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a good consistency. You may knead the marshmallow with your hands if desired. Don't overcook the marshmallow or they will go hard and brittle. Pin It

Marinated Pork Chops

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 pork chops, trimmed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, thoroughly blend soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup.

Place pork chops in a medium baking dish, and spread with 1/2 the sauce.

Bake pork chops 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn, and spread with remaining sauce. Continue baking 30 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chops has reached 160 degrees F.


I got this recipe on allrecipes.com. Holy cow, it is DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! I will never ever ever make another kind of pork chop again. And it was so stinkin' easy. Holy cow. I mean pig. It's almost like a teriyaki chop...almost. They're so good I want to make them again. Mmmm.


The only thing I would change is that I doubled the sauce recipe and it was just barely enough. If you want a lot of sauce for dipping or if you want to serve it over rice, I suggest you at least triple, maybe even quadruple the recipe for the sauce.


Despite the title, the chops don't have to marinate. I stabbed my chops with a knife and then poured the sauce over the top so that the sauce could incorporate in the meat, but otherwise I threw those bad boys right in the oven. I did not serve them with rice, though that would have been yummy too. I served them with fried potatoes. Pin It

Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi

**Warning, this recipe is not cheap, and you must be 21 or older to make it...or at least buy the ingredients.**

1 cup white cooking wine
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled, de-veined
3 tsp minced garlic.

Melt butter and mix with other ingredients. Cover shrimp with butter sauce and bake at 350* for 6-7 minutes. Be careful not to over cook the shrimp (or they will get rubbery). Shrimp is done when it has turned pink.

The last few times we have made this recipe, we have been disappointed that we can feel a burning in our throat as we eat the shrimp...aka not all the alcohol burned off. So we had to keep cooking it until it did burn off, and then the shrimp was over-cooked and it all went to pot.


So. Tonight I made this recipe again and I swore not to get my husband or myself drunk off our shrimp scampi. We value our temple recommends. What I did tonight was melt the butter, we used salted butter (I think it flavors better), and wine in a sauce pan. I cooked it to about boiling, and then I simmered for a few minutes. We also added the garlic while simmering to get the flavor in the sauce. Pour the butter sauce over the shrip and put it in the oven un-covered.


We've used the pre-cooked shrim a few times, so you just have to watch it to know when it's done (because it's already pink). We put the shrimp in the oven for about 8 minutes. We knew it was done when we could open the oven door and not feel like we were walking into a bar. Seriously, if all the alcohol isn't cooked off it smells like a drunk. A very garlicy drunk.


Enjoy! Pin It

1-2-3 Peanut Butter Cookies

1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter

Mix ingredients together and bake on cookie sheet (tablespoon sized portions flattened with a fork) for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

This has to be the easiest recipe ever created. And it was probably made easier by the fact that Tyler made them since I was a little under the weather. Have you ever seen an easier recipe? And it's quick and not to expensive either since it's mostly things you have on hand. Tyler used half creamy and half crunchy peanut butter and they were divine.


Thanks Hanna! Pin It

Chocolate fondue in a CROCK POT!

I found this awesome recipe here. I knew I just HAD to try it out and I'm so glad I did. It's mondo easy and super good. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet, dark, milk, or white. Your choice.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
optional (*Note from Deborah: You know that I do not promote the use of alcohol, especially in recipes where the alcohol does not cook off. However, I told you I'd leave recipes in their original form, so I have. Furthermore, I think these may give you an idea of different ways you could flavor your fondue.)
you can doctor this up with:
1 T Grand Marnier
1 T rum1 T Peppermint Schnapps
1 T Bailey's Irish Cream
1 tsp peppermint, orange, coconut, etc. extract
pinch of espresso powder
The Directions.
The proportions here fit into a Little Dipper. Although the booklet that comes with the Little Dipper says that it only holds 1 cup of contents, I proved this wrong with my earth-shattering discovery that a whole can of Progesso Clam Chowder fits perfectly.

If you do not have a Little Dipper (psst. the holidays are coming...) you can put an oven-safe dish inside of a larger crock pot. Do not add water. There's no need to create a water bath for melting chocolate in the crock pot. It melts nice and slow. Or! you can quintuple the recipe and have a good ol' time.

Put chocolate chips in the crock pot. Add the heavy cream and teaspoon of vanilla. Cover. Plug in and cook on low (or the ON setting for the LD) for about an hour. Stir. Serve with apple chunks, banana slices, cubes of pound cake, strawberries, or marshmallows.

Isn't this the perfect recipe? It's easy, it's entertaining, it's delicious, it's impressive, and it is SO good! If I gave out gold stars, this would get five.

I tripled the recipe because we had company coming over. It was more than enough. But that's ok because guess what? It re-warms nice and easy and might almost be better the second day
.

Mmmmm, I love chocolate. Tyler prefers milk chocolate to semi-sweet, so that's what we used. But it might be a little too rich for the faint of heart.

I freeze my chocolate chips to make them last longer. I did put frozen chips in the recipe. It took a little longer for them to melt, but it was ok. It just meant that I had to stir every ten minutes or so to make sure the outside melted chocolate wasn't burning.

In goes the cream. Yes, we used heavy whipping cream like the recipe calls for. You'll only need a pint. Like I said, I tripled the recipe and had about a half cup left of cream.

The melted chocolate makes me think of Willy Wonka and the fat kid who gets sucked up into the tube because he fell in the chocolate river. If the river was made of this chocolate, let me just tell you that it'd be worth it!

And here:

We have Kadie, Kaleb, Ryan and Tyler. We just put the crock pot in the middle and made everyone swear on pain of death that they wouldn't double dip. We served marshmallows (strawberry and regular, but you honestly can't taste anything but fluffy chocolate), pineapple (canned, but you could use fresh if your ambitious), maraschino cherries, banana slices, and apple slices. They were all someone's favorite. We wanted to try strawberries, but they were outrageously expensive.

We're not fancy, we don't have fondue sticks. We just used forks (or hands as Tyler is demonstrating) and they worked swimmingly.

This is so good, you really should try it. It'd be a great dessert idea for company or for Valentine's Day.

Cheers!

Pin It

The World's Best Fish Recipe

If your house is like mine, your husband/father/brother/son likes to go out and bring home the bacon...or wild game of some sort. And then you're left scratching your head saying, "What do I do with a dead fish?" Or "how do I prepare elk meat?"

For years Tyler would bring home a fish and expect me to prepare it. And being the doting, loving, submissive wife I am (haha! *snort*), I always obliged. So for years we ate fish seasoned with butter, garlic and dill. Sounds good, right? No. Wrong. It's not good. Wild fish taste like what they eat. What do they eat in a lake or river? A lot of moss and bugs. Yeah. Ew. Butter and dill are great on a salmon or a halibut. But they don't go well with moss.

After that I dreaded Tyler going fishing because I didn't want to have to make whatever he caught. I think he dreaded it too because he didn't want to have to eat it. But then we found a couple of really good recipes, and now we LOVE when he brings home fresh fish!

This is his most recent spoil. Caught from Henry's Lake here in Idaho. Tyler was pretty proud of it. I always look at raw food suspiciously. If it still has scales and fins (or fur or feathers) it's not quite food yet. As soon as it's nicely packaged and sitting on the shelf at the grocery store, then I think of it as food. Anyway, here is the recipe that had no name, so I gave it one:)

The World's Best Fish Recipe

1 salmon fillet (we never catch salmon around here, so we use trout. I'm sure you could buy salmon and use this recipe. And when it says fillet, it's not talking a little chunk of fish, it's talking one half of the fish meat that has been cut away from the scales and bones to make a nice portion of fish.)
2 cups fresh lemon juice (we use concentrated lemon juice, so we only use about a fourth to a half of the called amount)
1 cube butter (yes, it pains me to say that Tyler uses real butter in this recipe. I didn't find this out until last night when he replied, "why do you think you like it so much?")
1 T Fish seasoning of choice (we use Old Bay, but you could use a designated fish seasoning, dill, garlic blend, thyme, a mixture of all kinds of seasonings...)
1/4 cup brown sugar (essential ingredient)
lemon zest (we do without)
black pepper

Preheat the over at 350*.
Make a tin foil bowl (on a cookie sheet) and place the fillet inside. Melt the butter and mix with lemon juice, seasoning, pepper, and brown sugar. Drizzle the butter mixture over the fish.
Once the oven is preheated, switch to broil. Put the fish on the upper rack. Check on the fish after 8 - 9 minutes. Pull the meat using a fork. If the meat is pink and flaky, the fish is done.
Once preheated, switch to broil.

Mmmmm. Look at all that butter! That's liquid gold in our house!


It really is very tasty. It's sweet and tangy and you can't even taste moss:) I hope you get to use this recipe sometime. Pin It

Ranch Chicken with Cheese

1/2 c Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing
1 TBSP all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Combine dressing and flour in a shallow bowl. Coat each chicken breast with dressing mixture. Place on ungreased baking pan. Combine cheddar and Parmesan cheeses; sprinkle on chicken. Bake at 375* for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.

First of all, can I just say YUM!!! I LOVE this recipe. Tyler...not so much. He tolerates it for my sake:) I got it out of a Ranch cookbook. All the recipes include Ranch. Heaven. I'm in heaven. Ok, back to earth. This is one of those recipes I've made so much and I changed so long ago that I really don't know what I do. But let me say this, 1/2 cup of Ranch dressing is NOT enough for 4 chicken breasts. I'd double it at least. Then if you need more you can always make more.


Also, who has shredded Parmesan on hand? Not me. I use the fake powder stuff and mix it in with the Ranch and flour.


You know how I am with coating chicken, I just pour the ingredients over the top, making sure there is enough extra sauce for dipping. Then I cover with cheese. I don't sprinkle. Sprinkling is for weaklings. I cover with cheddar cheese. Then I bake until the cheese is melted and the chicken is done. Absolutely delicious! Pin It

Cheesy Hamburger Hash

1 lb ground beef
1 TBSP butter or margarine
1 bag refrigerated diced potatoes with onions
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1 TBSP pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning
1 1/2 c shredded pizza cheese blend (mozzarella and cheddar)
2 TBSP fresh parsley

1. Cook beef in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain. Remove beef and drippings from skillet.

2. Melt butter in same skillet. Add potatoes. Cover and cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in beef, tomatoes, and pizza seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

3. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Cover and heat until cheese is melted.

I got this recipe from a quick and easy cook book. Want to know why it's quick and easy? Because the ingredients are already prepared! Ok, so that makes it quick and easy, but it also makes it pricey. I am not about to buy frozen potatoes when I live in potato country. (Tyler raises his eyebrows at me when I buy frozen seasoned fries, but he's learned to live with it.) I don't buy a can of diced tomatoes, I dice my own. And I don't buy shredded cheese. I just use a little elbow grease and shred it myself.


Here's how I do it: I brown the hamburger. Then I throw in the potatoes - into the same skillet with the beef. If I'm not in a hurry I'll pull out the meat and drain off the grease, brown the potatoes and then throw the meat back in. But if I'm in a crunch, the potatoes go in with the meat (once the meet is cooked). I season heavily with garlic powder, onion powder, and Mrs. Dash. I use Mrs. Dash religiously. So if you're not a Mrs. Dash kind of person, just use some sort of seasoning you think would go well on fried potatoes. You can use pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning if you want/have it. I just never have.


Voila. The meal is complete. It's pretty much just frying meat and potatoes. I dish out the hash, sprinkle it with cheese and top it off with diced tomatoes if I have them. If I don't I do without. Salsa might also be pretty good on this. Try it out and let me know.


PS. I fry potatoes all the time, but you may be new to this. When I fry potatoes I first melt butter in a skillet. I chop my potatoes small because the smaller they are the faster they will cook. Once the butter is melted, I pour in the potato chunks. Then I LEAVE THEM ALONE until I hear them start to sizzle and I can see the edges darkening (you can see the potato cook). I season them and stir them up to fry the other side. They are done when they are soft, but I love my crispy, so I cook mine until they crunch on the outside. Mmmmmm. Pin It

SUSHI!!

Look me in the eye and tell me you've never wanted to try/make sushi. We are a big sushi family, but it is SO expensive. Well, here is a "relatively" cheap way to make sushi. I say relatively because the ingredients are pricey, but you can make many rolls of sushi with the ingredients.

This is a basic recipe.

You will need:
sea weed paper (I am not a huge fan of the sea weed. It's fine, but I prefer a soy paper. It has less flavor and it's not as chewy.)
Rice
shrimp (precooked, de-veined, shelled)
imitation crab
avocado
cream cheese
other possible ingredients: cucumber, tuna, carrots, etc.

This is a cool little tool that has a name that I don't know. It's a sushi roller. It helps me keep my sushi together as I roll it. You could probably survive without it, but it sure is handy.

First step is to cook the rice. You can use regular rice. Tyler and I found sushi rice on sale for a dollar at the local grocery store. So we use that. When your rice is cooked, you can season it a little with rice vinegar or just leave it plain.

Rinse and thaw your shrimp and crab.

Lay a piece of nori (the seaweed paper or soy paper) on the sushi roller. Now you need a row of rice. Make sure it's evenly distributed including at the ends.

Now you just have fun with the other stuffings. We love shrimp and cream cheese,

crab and avocado.
We really pile it on. I promise it won't be too big. You'll see once you roll it up. Which is the next step.

Turn the sushi roller so the filling is closest to you. This part can be kind of tricky. You need to hold in the filling while rolling the sushi. Make sure you roll tightly or else everything will fall out when you cut it.

Now you get to slice and enjoy. Use a very sharp knife to slice so that you're not tearing. I didn't measure, but these slices are, I dunno, half an inch to an inch thick.

Voila. Yummy, "healthy" sushi.
Try it out and let me know what you think! Feel free to add or subtract to make your sushi delicious. Tyler and I ate four rolls between the four of us. But we were really hungry:) Pin It

Marbled Chocolate - Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup egg substitute (2 eggs)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined.

Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

I made this last night. It was SO good!! Oh my gosh. I am not a banana bread fan, but I sure do love chocolate:) This is definitely a keeper recipe. It's pretty easy (hey, even I could make it!) and it'll impress your friends:) This recipe is for one loaf.


I did follow all the directions except I used milk chocolate chips (though I've had it with semi-sweet and it's delicious as well) and I didn't measure them. I just poured in a bowl until I thought I had enough:)



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Thai Chicken Wraps with Peanut Sauce

4 chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. salt
4 t. sugar

Combine ingredients and rub onto chicken breasts. Broil until done. Cut into thin strips.

1 red onion, cut into thin wedges (we used regular onion)
2 t. oil
1 c. shredded cabbage
1 c. shredded carrots
4 green onions, sliced (I didn't have these on hand, so I left them out)
1 T. grated ginger root (or 1/2-1 t. ginger powder)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Saute the veggies, garlic and ginger until tender.

1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. soy sauce
3 T. water
2 T. oil

Heat peanut butter and sugar until sugar is melted. Add garlic, soy sauce, water, and oil.

3 cups warm, cooked rice
6 large flour tortillas

Assemble wraps with rice, cooked veggies, chicken strips, and peanut sauce. Yummy!

This is a recipe from my brother and sister-in-law. The notes off to the side are theirs. I don't have anything to add except I don't broil my chicken, I bake it. Pin It

Pita Bread

1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
1 1/4 c luke warm water
3 c flour
2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 500*.

Dissolve yeast in luke warm water. Stir in flour and salt. Stir into a rough ball. Knead on floured surface until smooth, adding flour as necessary.

Divide into 6 balls and knead each until smooth and round.

With a rolling pin, flatten each until 1/4'' thick and 4-5'' diameter.

Arrange rounds upside down on baking sheets.

Bake in a very hot over (500*) for 5 min or until puffed in the center.

Once finished, cut pitas in half. This creates the pocket.

If they are starting to burn and are not puffing, just pull them out and cut a slit in the pita to make the pocket. We fill ours with chicken salad, but you can also use regular sandwich fixings and lettuce. Very easy. Company will be impressed that you made home-made pitas. If your pitas are not puffing, try using almost hot water to dissolve the yeast. It seams to help. Pin It

Easy Pizza Dough

1 TB yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 TB oil
1 c warm water
1/4 tsp salt
2 c flour

Mix the yeast with half the flour (1 cup), sugar and salt. Add really warm water and oil. Mix, adding flour, until velvety. Let raise (in a bowl covered with a towel) and punch down. Roll out onto pizza pan or cookie sheet.

This is definitely a family favorite! We cook our pizza on a cookie sheet, but if you have a pizza pan or if you want to do smaller pizzas for "personal pizzas" that's fine too. Once you roll out the dough, cover it with spaghetti, marinara, tomato, ranch or pizza sauce. Then top with cheese (we usually use cheddar because that's what we have on hand) and fixings. Our personal favorites are pepperoni, sausage, breakfast bacon, or chicken. We use ranch and chicken to make a yummy pizza. I'm not a veggie person, but if I were I would add peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, onions and the like.

Bake at 400* for ten minutes.

Enjoy! Pin It

Cabbage Salad

1/2 - 1 head cabbage
2 TB slivered almonds
2 green onions
1 pkg Teriyaki chicken Raman noodes
2 TB sesame seeds or slivered almonds

Dressing:
1 pkg Raman seasoning
1 TB sugar
1/4 c. oil
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
3 TB vinegar
1/2 tsp Accent
water - enough to make 1/2 c after dressing ingredients are mixed

Shred cabbage (or chop or whatever), mix in almonds, onions, Raman noodles, and sesame seeds/slivered almonds. Toss in dressing.

We make the dressing before hand by at least an hour and let it sit to mix the flavoring. If you can't find Teriyaki chicken, you can use regular chicken, it will just have a different flavor.


We usually double the dressing recipe, but if you leave it the way it is it will be fine. It'll just have a lighter flavor. Pin It

Tyler's Mac 'n Cheese!!

This is a coveted recipe, just ask my mom. And actually, for those of you who follow recipe's to the T, sorry, this isn't for you. Ok, so here's what you need to work the magic:


pasta shells (any pasta will work, but really only shells taste good)
green onions (two or three)
garlic (fresh is best, but bottled will do)
oil (olive or canola)
chicken bouillon (powder or cube)
grated cheese (we always use cheddar, but when Tyler was in Russia he used Gouda)

Dice the onions and garlic. Pour a little bit of oil in the pan. You want enough that it covers most of the bottom of the pan, but too much and you'll have very oily mac 'n cheese. Saute the onions and garlic in the oil until the garlic starts to turn a golden brown.

Then pour in the pasta shells. Yup, just pour 'em in. No water, no nothing, just shells. Cook the shells in the pasta for a few minutes, stirring occasionally - frequently. Coat the shells in the oil. After a few minutes, they should also start to brown just a little. You don't want them to burn, but you do want to see signs that they are cooking.

Fill the pan with water to the level of the pasta - just enough to cover the shells. You can always add more later but it's hard to take out, so less is better.

Sprinkle chicken bouillon over the water and stir it in with the pasta. I'd guess maybe a tablespoon or two. If you're using cubes, just one cube probably. Maybe two if you're making a big batch. You get a lot of your flavor from the bouillon, but also all of the salt. Too much and you'll have salty mac 'n cheese.

Bring the water to a boil, then let it simmer. The water should all boil down/off and the shells will be soft. If the water is gone and the shells are still hard, add some more water and boil a little longer. If you still have a lot of water left and your shells are are soft, pour out the excess water.

Pour the grated cheese over the top. I usually grate while the water is boiling. I can't even guess how much to use because it depends on how cheesy you want and how much pasta you've cooked. Mix the cheese in with the pasta (while it's still on low heat) until it melts.

Voila. A delicious meal that is so good! When it's Tyler's turn to cook my options are Hamburger Helper or mac 'n cheese:) Pin It

Greek Chicken

Chicken in pieces
lemon juice from lemon
Basil
Oil
Lemon pepper seasoning
Oregano

Mix together juice from 1 lemon with enough oil to coat chicken pieces. Coat chicken and place on baking sheet.Sprinkle lemon pepper, basil and oregano to taste on one side. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Turn over and sprinkle spices on other side. Bake 30 minutes. Turn and bake 20 minutes more. Serve with rice or over salads.

This is my kind of recipe! No measurements whatsoever. Yeah! Ok. There is SO much I've changed about this. First of all, cut your chicken in pieces depending on what you want to do with it. Bigger chunks, or strips, if you're just eating it. Smaller chunks in you're eating it over rice. Even smaller chunks if you're tossing it in a salad.


The lemon juice I do NOT squeeze from a real lemon. Walmart has done the dirty work for me. I buy a huge bottle of lemon juice concentrate and use it religiously. Oil: use canola or olive. They're the healthiest for you. If I'm wrong, let me know. I use about half a cup or so of each (maybe more, maybe less, but that gives you an idea).


I am not adverse to doing things the easy way. When a recipe says "coat," unless I'm frying it, I don't coat it. I usually just pour the mixture over the top. It's a lot easier and you get pretty much the same results. However, with this recipe I do coat (just because). I drop all my chicken pieces in the lemon juice/oil mixture, then pull them out and arrange them in a glass baking dish. The recipe tells you to put the chicken pieces on a cookie sheet, but if you do they will tear your throat up as you swallow because they are so hard and dry. I now use a cake pan and it works great. I don't cover when I bake this chicken, but if you have a problem with dry chicken, cook it in a glass dish with tin foil over the top.


Then I sprinkle with lemon pepper (too much and you'll have lemon chicken instead of Greek), and then I generously pour over the basil and oregano. I LOVE basil!

I bake on one side for about 20 minutes, flip, sprinkle and bake for about 10 - 15 more minutes. This does not need to bake for an hour and a half! Just watch it.


This is one of my absolute all time favorite ways to eat chicken! Mmmm. Double the recipe if you want leftovers!:) You can make up some cucumber tomato salad to go with it, or fry up some potatoes, or boil some carrots (which is what we did). Oh, and a special thanks to Julie Hinck who provided us with a fresh loaf of homemade french bread to perfect our delicious dinner.


I'm not ashamed to admit that I ate half the loaf all in one sitting.

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Cucumber Tomato Salad

2 cucumbers, sliced
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cup sliced red onion
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill weed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a large bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, salt, dill, pepper, and oil. Add cucumbers, onion, and tomatoes. Toss, and let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

**This is a great way to use your extra tomatoes or cucumbers from the garden. Or an excuse to buy cucumbers:) This seriously is one of the best cucumber tomato salads we've ever tried. We didn't peel the cucumber, but you can if you'd like. It doesn't sit well in the fridge, the tomatoes tend to go mushy just a bit. So make sure you're going to eat it all or serve it at a picnic. And if it's going to be a while before you serve it, make the dressing ahead of time and then mix it with the veggies fifteen minutes before you serve. That way they won't go soggy before you eat them. Pin It

Sour Cream Potatoes a.k.a Funeral Potatoes

Sour Cream Potatoes

6 medium potatoes peeled, cooked and diced (russets are best)
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 tsp. dry minced onion
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated (not sharp)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix sour cream, soup, onion, and cheese together. Add potatoes and salt/pepper and pour into a 9X13 pan. Bake at 360* until hot and bubbly.

Any recipe that says to bake until bubbly has to be good! Trust me, it is. We usually sprinkle cheese on top since I'm a sucker for cheese. Anyway, it's easy and so good. It's relatively cheap, depending on the price of sour cream and cheese. It's what we call Soul Food. Pin It

Cashew Chicken

Cashew Chicken

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1 cup hot water
1 lb skinned, boned chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 (8 oz) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 8-oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/2 cup cashews, toasted
3 cups hot cooked rice

Dissolve bouillon granules in hot water; set aside.Brown Chicken in hot oil in large skillet over medium heat. Remove chicken, reserving drippings in skillet; set chicken aside.Combine cornstarch and soy sauce; stir until smooth. Stir in bouillon mixture, green onions, brown sugar and ginger. Set aside.Cook mushrooms, green pepper and water chestnuts in drippings over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender.Add chicken and bouillon mixture to vegetable mixture; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until thickened. Sitre in cashews, serve over rice.

Ok, we do not use the mushrooms and peppers. We do zucchini, but we've had it with the mushrooms and peppers and it's ok too. We also don't use ground ginger. We have chopped, the kind that comes in the little jar and you have to refridgerate after opening. I don't know what the conversion is, but I use the same amount of wet ginger as the recipe calls for for ground ginger. Personally, I think it could use a little more, but Tyler doesn't think so. I like ginger though. We also cut out the whole pull the chicken out and tender the veggies in the drippings. We just put the veggies in when the chicken is cooked, let them cook for a few minutes, then throw in the bouillon mixture. It has to simmer for a while to thicken anyway, and our veggies get too done if we cook them too much longer. We use the sliced chestnuts, but we chop them. We always double the recipe. And lastly, we leave the cashews off and let the individual dish their cashews. Mmmm. It's soo good. I hope you enjoy it! Pin It