Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chicken Coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup oil (Olive or veg)

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
4 TBS ketchup
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 TBS soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

preheat oven to 325

cup up chicken and dip in eggs and then into the cornstarch mixture,

heat up oil in pan and cook your chicken till browned but not cooked through

Place chicken in 13X9 greased pan and pour sweet and sour sauce over the top. bake for one hour. Stir chicken half way through while in oven.

***Jessica Notes:
I like the sauce so I make extra. Just kind of eyeball it or sometimes I will double it. I feel like this amount does not really make enough for the rice as well. 
I also sometimes do all the steps except the cooking part in the oven and I will put the 13X9 pan in the fridge and then an hour before dinner throw it in. Makes the meal seem easier. I don't ever cover with foil.

Enjoy!!! love you

Buttermilk Syrup

We first had this syrup 9 years ago when we were visiting some friends. It's so yummy, but I rarely buy buttermilk, so I rarely make this. The most fun part of making it is adding the baking soda, because the syrup fizzes up like a volcano science experiment. It's best served immediately.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda

Melt 1 cube butter (no substitutes) in a large saucepan. You can cook the butter longer for a stronger caramel taste, but just be careful not to burn it. Stir in 1 cup sugar. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk. Cook until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp baking soda. (Look out! It will bubble and foam.)

Serve immediately over waffles!

Candy Cinnamon Almonds

I could eat these all day!  They are so easy to make. 
1/4 Cup water
1 Cup Sugar
1 T Cinnamon
3 Cups Almonds
Mix the water, sugar, and cinnamon in a pan.  Toss in the almonds and cook over med heat, stirring the whole time.  We halved the recipe and it turned out fine.  (But we did make two batches.)  Pat wanted the almonds to have more of a toasted flavor so he broiled them after.  This is a BAD idea.  It re-melted the sugar and it hardened when it cooled.  Here are some pictures of them cooking.  They turn fast, so don’t walk away!

Banana Nut Bread

• 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 cup mashed bananas
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat egg, dressing and bananas in large bowl with whish until blended.  Mix remeaining ingredients. Add to banana mixture; stir until just blended.
Pour into 9x5 loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove to wire rack and cool completely.

One Pot Wonder Tomato Basil Pasta

This was so easy to make and tasted fantastic! What else could you want in a dinner recipe? I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. The best part was the freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top (the kind you find in the refrigerated cheese section). It definitely brought just the right flavor. I highly recommend making this. I am definitely adding this to my rotating meals.

ONE POT WONDER TOMATO BASIL PASTA

Serves 4 to 6 as an entree

12 ounces linguine pasta
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor)
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (regular broth and NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Crockpot Minestrone

I love this recipe, although it is more like a vegetable soup than a minestrone, in my opinion. Don't leave out the zucchini, they are the best part.

Also, thank you for putting up with a ton of food posts from me.

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy)
• 3 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
• 2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
• extra Parmesan cheese to top (extra pts)

Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.

In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Forty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, Parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and black pepper.Ladle soup into bowls and top with extra Parmesan cheese.

S’more Brownies

Pat traded a batch of ooey gooey brownies for a gym pass…  I know, go figure.  Anyway, these are the brownies he came up with…  S’more Brownies.  If you are looking for a pan filled with a days worth of calories… this is your ticket.  They were so good!!!  He just baked a pan of brownies according to the directions of the box.  Then he topped them with marshmallows, chocolate chips and crumbled up graham crackers.  He then put the pan back in the oven under the broiler to melt and brown the marshmallows.  Oh.  My.  We had to hurry and take a picture before they were devoured!  I mean… look at the smile on Claire’s face as she eats her piece.  That says it all. 

Lemon Strawberry Sorbet

Last Sorbet Recipe! I promise! This one was good, but it tasted a lot like freezer strawberry jam. A little too similar.

We ranked our favorite sorbets tonight and surprisingly, this is how they ranked:

#1 - Lemon Sorbet

#2 - Raspberry Sorbet

#3 - This one (Strawberry Sorbet)

Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Sorbet

1 lemon, seeded and roughly chopped

2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1. Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Puree the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Not my picture. This one
had tomatoes in the guacamole.
Mine did not.

I love guacamole and this 'recipe' sounded fantastic to me. So, while Makayla was eating bacon and pears, her 2 favorite foods, I made myself one of these. It did not disappoint. I had to make myself a second. I think this may be my new favorite food. I do love avocados and guacamole, (as evident in the fact that I even made this pie recipe) but if you don't like avocados then you won't like this. It was gooey, creamy perfection.

Here's the 'recipe'.

1. Heat a griddle to medium heat. Butter both sides of bread (yes, you knew this recipe had to have butter in it somewhere). Place bread on griddle until toasted, then flip over. Add cheese to warm side of bread. Continue cooking bread with cheese, until it's melted. Remove from griddle and spread guacamole on top of melted cheese. Put sides together and enjoy. Then make another one.

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad

Here's another recipe to use your shredded precooked chicken.

I loved this because it was so fresh! The dressing was really good, too! I needed to make more, and so I substituted sour cream for the Greek yogurt.

(this is not my picture)

This one is, though.

Ingredients

for the salad:
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can sweet yellow corn (or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed)
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 head ice berg lettuce, washed and chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 1 cup crushed tortilla chips

Dressing

for the dressing:
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp ranch seasoning
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients together, excluding the tortilla chips.
2. In a small bowl stir all dressing ingredients together.
3. Pour dressing over salad, starting with about half of the dressing.
4. Toss to combine, then gradually add more dressing until it is dressed to your liking.
5. Top with tortilla chips. Enjoy!