Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Chinese-Style Chicken Salad


1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Oriental sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 whole medium-sized skinless, boneless chicken breasts, each cut in half
2 cups finely shredded romaine lettuce
2 ozs. Chinese pea pods
1/4 sliced canned water chestnuts
1/4 cup mandarin oranges

In a bowl, mix together rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil pepper and garlic. Set aside. Grill or microwave chicken breasts; let cool before cutting into strips. Set aside. Toss together in a bowl: lettuce, pea pods, water chestnuts. mandarin oranges and cooked chicken strips. Pour dressing over salad mixture and serve cold.


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Thursday, July 22, 2010

What's In Your Kitchen?

Mine has Potted Possum Sauce and Pickled Possum Peckers and Moonshine Jelly
Mouth Watering! True Southern Cuisine!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Brunswick Stew - The Easy Way

 2 cans chicken
2 cans BBQ pork
2 cans BBQ beef
1 can tomatoes (16 oz.)
1 regular can cream corn
1 regular can whole kernel corn
1 grated onion
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Mix together very well, squashing and squishing with your hands, breaking up every lump and chunk of meat. Cook in crock pot on low for 6 to 8 hours. You will be very pleased.
*You can find the canned chicken, barbecue pork and beef in the grocery isle with the canned beef stew, tuna, canned salmon, and chili, etc.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Beef Tacos and Cheese Rollups - Kid Created


Occasionally, we have taco night. Doesn't everybody? My grandchildren do not like tacos, but they like cheese rollups. My daughter doesn't like hard shell tacos. So tonight we made everything everybody likes...in the microwave!

1 lb ground beef
1/2 pack taco seasoning
Shredded cheese of your choosing
Cheddar cheese dip or spread
Shredded or cut lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Sour cream
Hard shell tacos
Flour tortillas



You are basically doing the same thing you would if you were cooking the meat on the stove, but you are doing it in the microwave.

Put the ground beef into a microwave safe dish. Add the half packet of taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of water. With a spatula, chop beef until completely broken up. Cook on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave and chop with spatula again, also making sure taco seasoning is thoroughly mixed with beef. Cook for another 1 1/2 minutes. My microwave is 1100 watts and the two cycles were sufficient. If you have a lesser wattage, cook another minute at a time until beef is done. Drain drippings from meat.

Grab a taco shell and add the condiments of your choosing and enjoy!

For the rollups:



Take a flour tortilla and spread with cheddar cheese dip. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Roll up and heat in the microwave on high for 15 seconds. My grandson likes meat, so we also added meat to his. My granddaughter does not eat meat, so hers was just a cheese rollup. His was served with a side of fresh tomatoes. Hers was served with fresh strawberries. They had yogurt for dessert.


My daughter used the tortillas instead of hard taco shells.



It is not halloween! It is July. My grandchildren found their last year's halloween costume and just had to "squeeze" into them and play dressup. They also went trick-or-treating in the kitchen.

Food, family and fun!!! Life is good. Our family is very blessed.



Saturday, July 10, 2010

Cabbage Beef Stew

Ingredients


o  1 head of cabbage
o  2 cans of diced tomatoes
o  1 pound browned ground beef
o  1 chopped onion
o  2 cans beef broth
o  1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
o  salt and pepper to taste


Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.






Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Tilapia Filets

During this incredible heat wave we are having, the last thing I want to do is to turn on my electric stove or oven. This is a good time to use a crockpot, a microwave or even that George Foreman grill you got for Christmas.

Ingredients:

    * Cooking spray
    * 1/4 cup lime juice
       plus a little extra for brushing onto fish
    * 4 (6-ounce) Tilapia fillets
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 1?2 teaspoon garlic powder
    * 1?3 cup light mayonnaise
    * 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish, or more to taste
    * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
    * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
    * 1 teaspoon crushed cilantro

Process:

Mix all ingredients together and let stand while cooking fish.

Spray the cooking dish and brush lime juice on both sides of the tilapia. Microwave on high for 1 minute per fillet or cook in George Foreman grill for 2 minutes and turn and cook one more minute. Overcooking causes the fish to be dry.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Stew Pot - Kid Created

1 small can of kernel corn
1 pound stew beef
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans Veg-All or other mixed Vegetables
1 teaspoon sea salt
whatever leftovers you have in the refrigerator
(we had about a half cup each of green beans and butter beans)

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Eat with sweet corn muffins ... and butter. Our kids say that's the best part. A side of fruit is also pretty agreeable.

The kids are 5 and 2. It was so easy for them to make this stew. The only thing they could not do was open the cans.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Lamb Chops


You can see that the chops were just sliding off the bone as my Granddaughter held one up. They were very tender.



6 frozen lamb chops
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
juice squeezed from half an orange
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
dash of liquid smoke

Add all ingredients and cook on low in crock pot for 4-6 hours.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Twice Baked Potatoes


4 white potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup scallions or chives, sliced

Wash the potatoes well, and using a fork, poke the potato in several places on the top and bottom. Place all 4 potatoes on microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the potatoes over at the half-way cooking point.  Remove the potatoes and quickly wrap in aluminum foil, and let sit out on the counter for about 10 minutes to allow the cooking process to complete, and let the potatoes cool to handle.

Meanwhile, mix together the butter, sour cream, milk, and cheese in a separate mixing bowl.  When the potatoes have cooled,  cut them in half and scoop out the center of each potato and add this to the butter/sour cream mixture.  Mix together well, and if desired, add a dash of salt and pepper to taste.  Finally, spoon the mixture back into the potato skins, replace on the microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 3 to 5 minutes, until the potatoes are heated through again. When you remove the potatoes from the microwave, sprinkle the top with the scallions and serve.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Horsey Beef Pasta

(a rich and spicy crock pot recipe)



2 pounds stew beef
2 cans original Rotel (drain only 1 can)
1 8 ounce package light cream cheese
8 ounce bottle of light Ranch Dressing
1 tbsp flour
1 rounded tablespoon of prepared cream horseradish
2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Place stew beef in crock pot and pour both cans of Rotel over it. Turn Crock pot on low and cook for 5 hours. Stir in horseradish.

Place package of cream cheese in next, stirring until melted and blended in. Add the ranch dressing, stirring until thoroughly mixed together.

Take out 1/2 cup of the liquid from the crockpot and mix the tablespoon of flour with the liquid in the cup. Pour the flour mixture back into the crockpot and stir until well blended. Turn on high for 10 minutes or until the sauce in the crock pot is thick and bubbly (almost like gravy).
Serve over noodles and sprinkle shredded cheese over top. Makes about 8 servings.

*For less spice, use mild Rotel or 1 mild and 1 original.



I have a very picky husband who doesn't care for. or eat spicy foods. He complained about it all the way back to crock pot for seconds!!! He also said he would definitely eat it again. This is a very flavorful, spicy dish.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mushroom Pork with Apples


2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's® Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 tablespoon honey

8 boneless pork chops, 3/4-inch thick (about 2 pounds)

4 large Granny Smith apples, sliced

2 large onions, sliced (about 2 cups)

    * Stir the soup, water, brown sugar, Worcestershire and thyme in a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the pork, apples and onions.
    * Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or until the pork is cooked through OR 4 to 5 hours on high.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Jambalaya




  • 12 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 1/2 cups green peppers, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 14 oz can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup tomato paste
  • 2 cups chicken broth or bouillon
  • 1 tbsp parsley
  • 1 tbsp fresh basil, minced
  • 1 tsp dry oregano
  • 1 tsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup cooked red chili beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked long grain white rice
  • 12-14 large shelled shrimp
  • 12-14 mussels in shells
 Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. Place all ingredients, except shrimp, mussels, beans and rice, in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Add shrimp, beans and rice during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Saturday Morning Casserole

A great breakfast or brunch casserole

1 loaf French Bread, torn into pieces

6 Eggs
 

1/4 cup Milk

1 cup Spicy Chicken Sausage or your favorite sausage (pre-cooked and sliced)

1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350º and grease baking pan with your choice of oil or butter. Place bread pieces in pan and distribute evenly. Beat the eggs, milk and any spices you desire (salt, pepper, garlic powder…) and pour over the bread. Add the remaining ingredients and bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and a knife stuck in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with sliced  tomatoes or fresh fruit.
Serves: 8-10


*You can used a drained can of mild Rotel to add zest.You can also use a can of 10 refrigerated biscuits pre-baked and torn into pieces instead of french bread to add more flavor.

--OR--

Arrange as stated above and microwave on high 3 to 5 minutes, until egg is done (depending on your wattage). Can be placed in oven on broil for a minute to brown, if desired, or you can use the convection setting on your microwave if you have one.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Meatloaf In The Crockpot

Ingredients:

    * 2 pounds of lean hamburger
    * 2 beaten eggs
    * 2 slices bread, cubed(or 3/4 cups cracker crumbs)
    * 1 Can Drained Rotel (Mild)
    * Ketchup
    * 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
    * Dash of salt and pepper
    * 1 small onion, chopped

Preparation:

Add bread cubes or crackers and worcestershire to beaten eggs. Then add the onion, salt and pepper and can of Rotel and mix ingredients well. Squish all together with your hands. Place in crock pot. Flatten and shape to fit. Pour catsup on top (enough to cover completely) Cook on low 6 to 8 hours (for older crockpots 8 - 10 hours).

*Alternative: Use Original Rotel if you'd like a little more spice and 3/4 cup crushed crackers instead of bread.


The second photo was taken after the meatloaf was cooked and drained.