Squash Casserole

6 cups of yellow squash
1/2 cups chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded carrots
8 oz Pepperidge Farm Stuffing
1/2 stick butter, melted

Cook sliced squash and onion in salted, boiling water for 5 minutes and drain. Stir in shredded carrots. Fold in pimentos, soup and sour cream. Combine butter and stuffing mix. Combine Stuffing in bottom of an 11/8 baking dish. Spon vegetable mixture into stuffing. Top with remaining stuffing. Bake at 350 degrees at 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

"Fruit Soup"

We took this recipe (Honeydew & Lime Soup) from Good Housekeeping:
1 honeydew, chilled
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1/4 c loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 tsp jalepeno hot sauce
salt


And did this instead:
1 honeydew melon
1 c cantelope
5 fresh mint leaves
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1 cup diced, fresh strawberries (next time we'll try diced mango)
Put all (except strawberries) in a blender and puree. Chill and top with strawberries and some mint chiffonades. 6-year-old Abigail helped make this and named it "fruit soup". This seems like a good way to keep an overripe melon from going to waste-alot of times I have gotten a melon that tastes delicious, but the texture is too mushy. If anyone tries the spicy recipe above could you let us know how it was?

Fiesta Chicken & Yellow Rice

This is a meal I threw together from a few leftovers we had. I love the Mahatma Yellow Rice (in a yellow foil pouch), but realize it is full of MSG so I made my own. It's alot cheaper, too.
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked rice
2 T turmeric (this is what makes it yellow-but don't get it on your clothes, counter tops...)
1 T cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
salt to taste
leftover black beans (about 2 cups)
leftover chicken (or shrimp, or pork) (I had 2 cups shredded chicken with baja citrus seasoning-if you don't have this seasoning by McCormick, just use 2 T chili powder, 1 T cumin, some garlic etc.)
1 can diced tomatoes (the spicy kind would be good)
Directions:
Throw this all together, heat and sprinkle with cheese, and sour cream.

Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book. My boys love them!

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer. Add 1/2 cup flour, the sugars, egg, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. If necessary, cover and chill dough until easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. If desired, roll in additional sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten by crisscrosing with the tines of a fork.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-11 minutes. Makes about 36.

Fill The Freezer Friday - Hawaiian Chicken

7 Chicken Breasts
2 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 16 oz can pineapple slices, drained
1 15 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
3/4 cup toasted almonds

Mix corn starch and brown sugar. Add soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger,and red pepper. Mix all together and add fruit. Rinse chicken, drain and pat dry. Cut into bite size pieces. Add to other ingredients and stir lightly.

Freezing
Place in a gallon size freezer bag. Place in another freezer bag. Tuck directions in between. Place in large cereal box for freezing. Separate almonds into a sandwich bag. Tape on outside of bag.

Serving Day
Thaw chicken mixture. Place in slow cooker. Cover and cooke on low for 4-5 hours (or high 2-3 hours). You can add green pepper chunks in the last hour of cooking. To spoon, serve over steamed rice and top with toasted almonds.

Split Chicken Breasts- Part 2

I wanted to post a link to $5 Dinners where the blogger shows you how to actually cut the chicken breast off of the bone and use the bones to make your own broth. I have yet to do this, but I thought some of you might be interestd. $5 Dinners is a blog where the mom tries, and succeeds most of the time, to cook a meal for a family of 4 for under $5. Check out how to do more with split chicken breasts HERE!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Oh, yummy. I love Indian food! This is right up there with curry chicken in my top 5 meals of all times. This has quiet a few ingredients, but it's easy to cook. *Requires time to marinate.
Ingredients:
Marinade
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, grated (you'll also use ginger in the sauce so save the rest)
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (I didn't have this, but I knew that it's in curry, so I just used curry)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric (omit this if you sub-in curry because it's in there, too)
salt/pepper
2.5 pound chicken, such as boneless breasts (if using thick ones filet them)
Directions for chicken:
Mix all these and place chicken pieces into this marinade all day (or even overnight)
Remove chicken from the marinade, scraping off the excess. Season with salt/pepper. Place chicken on cookie sheet and place 8" from the broiler. Broil for 12 minutes, turning once. It will be done when it is slightly charred in spots. You can also grill it. Cool and cut into pieces.
Sauce Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T minced ginger
1.5 T garam masala (you can find this at Holy Land on Sutherland or other ethnic stores, three Rivers Co-Op, Fresh Market, etc)
1.5 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
35 oz can tomatoes and juice
1 cup heavy cream
2 T almond butter (optional)
Sauce directions:
While you are cooking the chicken you can saute the onion, ginger, garlic, and spices in oil in a large saucepan. Cook until onion is tender. Add tomatoes/juice and simmer 20 minutes. Add cream and almond butter and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in chicken and mix well. Serve with brown rice and peas.

Crunchy Onion Chicken

This recipe looks like healthier alternative to fried chicken. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll leave a comment when I do.

2 cups french fried onions
2 tbsp. flour
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 egg beaten (can substitute 1/4 cup of any flavor mustand instead of egg)

Crush fried onions in plastic bag with flour. Dip chicken into egg (or mustard); then coat in onions crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees until cooked through.

Split Chicken Breasts

you either hate them, or you deal with them. I don't know that there is anyone out there that loves them. OK, well maybe there is, but this woman hates bones. I am what other websites call a "skinless, boneless, chicken breast snob." And, I am proud to admit that, I guess. =) I have always wanted to be able to buy the $0.99 per pound split chicken breasts when they went on sale, but I just can't deal with the bone, or so I thought. I was reading one of the many recipe blogs I look at and she mentioned the chicken she was using was some she had cooked in the crock pot and frozen for future recipes. I thought, I wonder if I could do that with the bone in chicken and shred it and use it for other recipes later on. So, with BiLo having their split chicken breasts on sale for $0.99 a pound, I bought two packages (10 split chicken breasts) and tried it. I filled my crock pot up with about 2-3 inches of water, added salt and pepper and put 3 split chicken breasts in to cook on HI for most of the day. I would say approx 6 hours or so. The package I bought had 5 breasts in it, but my crock pot only held 3, so I boiled the other two. I put all the chicken in the fridge to cool overnight. The next morning I started to pull the chicken off the bone and shred it. I did the boiled chicken first, it wasn't as ideal as I had hoped, but i was getting a lot of chicken off of just one breast, so I was happy. Then I started on the ones I cooked in the crock pot, the bones literally fell off. IT WAS SO EASY!!! I was able to shred the chicken with my fingers instead of using a fork. I was so pleased!! I even got more meat off of these three breasts than the ones I had boiled on the stove. I froze the chicken and will be using it for other recipes like casseroles, enchiladas, pot pies, etc. in the future. So if you're like I was, and still am ( I will still only cook with boneless chicken breasts when it doesn't need to be shredded) I challenge you to try this. It was so cheap and it really was easy. Good luck!

Chicken shredded from one split chicken breast (This was actually from one I boiled, I actually got a little more from the ones I cooked in the crock pot.)

My mixing bowl filled 1/2 to 1 inch from the top with shredded chicken from 5 split chicken breasts.

Fill the Freezer Friday - Jambalaya

2 - 1 lb turkey sausage links, large single link
1 1/2 lb shrimp - deveined and removed from shells
1 cup onions, finely chopped and presauteed
2 cups green pepper, finely chopped and presauteed
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 or 3 cups of spaghetti sauce
2 cups white rice prepared with chicken broth

Saute sausage on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until just a little brown. Add shrimp and saute until just barely cooked (about 2 minutes). Add remainder of ingredients and mix lightly.

Freezing
Double line 2 large cereal boxes with gallon siz baggies. Ladle in cooled jambalaya. Seal 1st bag well and tuck in label and directions. Seal 2nd bag well.

Serving Day
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Place in casserole dish and heat until warm in microwave. serve with hot sauce on the side.

Caramel Apple French Toast - Girl Talk Blog

I saw this recipe on Girl Talk.

Caramel Apple French Toast

1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, cubed
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 – 3 large tart apples, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 slices day-old French bread (3/4 inch thick)

In a small saucepan, cook brown sugar, butter and syrup until thick, about 5-7 minutes. Pour into an ungreased 13”x9” baking pan; arrange apples on top. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla. Dip bread slices into the egg mixture for 1 minute; place over apples. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered at 350* for 35-40 minutes.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin & Asparagus - Family Fun Magazine

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 pound fresh asparagus, rinsed and snapped
1 pound pork tenderloin
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

Make the marinade by whisking together the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic, and lemon pepper in a bowl, and reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture in a separate container.

Place the asparagus in a ziplock bag and pour in 1/4 cup of the marinade from the bowl. Work the bag gently with your fingers to distribute the marinade. Do the same with the pork tenderloin, using a second ziplock bag and the remaining marinade from the bowl. Let the meat and vegetables marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a charcoal fire or heat a gas grill to medium-high, and oil the grates.

Add the peanut butter to the reserved marinade and whisk the mixture until smooth.

Grill the tenderloin for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, rotating it a quarter turn at a time, until the internal temperature registers 145° in the center. Remove the meat from the grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes (the internal temperature will rise to 150°). Meanwhile, grill the asparagus spears for 2 minutes per side.

Slice the pork diagonally into 1- to 2-inch slices. It should be juicy and slightly pink inside. Serve the meat and the asparagus with the peanut dipping sauce.

Tabouli with Beans and Feta

Here's the recipe I brought to the Duncans-sorry (Ami, Heather, and Patty) it's taken me two weeks to post it. This is a Cooking Light recipe.
Ingredients:
1 & 1/4 cups uncooked bulgar (You can also use boxed tabouli. If you do that, follow cooking instructions on the box. It may also be spelled "tabbouleh", depending on who makes it -Near East or others...)
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup pesto
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup (3 oz) crumbled feta
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
2 T minced fresh parsley
1/4 fresh ground black pepper
1 (19oz) can chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
4 (7") pitas cut into wedges

Directions:
Combine bulgar and boiling water in a bowl. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Drain any remaining water when done. Combine pesto and lemon juice. Combine bulgar, pesto mixture, tomatoes, and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently. Serve with pitas if you want. I just serve it as a side.

Fill the Freezer Friday - White Chicken Chili

3 lbs Chicken Breast (seasoned and grilled)
1 1/2 cups chopped onions (pre-sauteed)
1 large chopped green pepper (pre-sauteed)
2 cloves garlic
6 cans navy beans
1 can chopped green chiles
4 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp. chili powder
5 or 6 cans chicken broth
1 16 oz bag frozen white corn
2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. In a large stock pot, combine all ingredients, and cook at least 30-45 minutes.

Freezing Instructions:
Double line two large cereal boxes with gallon size baggies. Ladle in cooled chili. Seal 1st bag well and tuck in label and directions. Seal 2nd bag well. Place one cup cheese in a sandwich bag and insert in each box.

Serving Day Instructions:
Thaw chili in refrigerator over night. Warm on medium head on stove top. Serve with chopped green onion, cheese and hot sauce (if desired). This chili goes well with cornbread or tortilla chips.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

I got this recipe from the blog, Domestic Life. It doesn't look super easy, but look yummy!


HONEY LIME CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
Recipe By Phemomenon

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
2-3 tsp. chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large breasts), cooked and shredded
12 corn tortillas
2 cups of Mexican cheese blend, shredded (1 small bag usually is 2 cups)
1 14-oz can of green enchilada sauce (mild or medium, to your taste)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Place the cooked and shredded chicken in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate 30-60 minutes in the fridge, while you prepare tortillas

Heat a large griddle till a drop of water skitters across (about 350 degrees F).
Spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray between each round of tortillas.
Heat tortillas about 20 seconds on each side till warm and golden spots appear.
Remove the tortillas from the griddle and keep warm until ready to use.

Spray the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Add a large spoonful of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish.

Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling. Set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada/cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas.
Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Hot Crash Potatoes

Tonight I grilled steaks, which by the way were some of the best steaks I've ever had in my entire life. =) We actually marinated and froze these steaks quite awhile ago and I thawed them and grilled them. I even put a melted butter, garlic powder, and minced garlic mixture on them once they were cooked and that made them even better! Anyway, back to the potatoes. I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman. They were super easy and DELICIOUS!!! This is my new favorite way to prepare red potatoes. Unfortunately I can't copy and paste the recipe here because it's in adobe, and that and blogger don't get along, so here is the link to her site with the recipe and wonderful step by step pictures and directions. At the bottom is the printable version of the recipe, but if you've never visited Pioneer Woman, you must see her site. It is wonderful! And so are these potatoes, so try them, I promise you'll make them again! =)

Hot Crash Potatoes (with pictures)

Hot Crash Potatoes (adobe printable version)