Fried Chicken

So this is a recipe that I received from my friend(AKA Sparkles), a while ago and I have been meaning to make it. Here is her suggestions and recipe. Hope you enjoy!

It can also be baked, which makes it healthier and less greasy :D

I don't typically measure the ingrediants, just kinda eyeball it, but I'll try to give you measurements. You don't have to stick to them exactly. If you have leftover breading mix, you can put it in a ziplock bag and freeze it to use next time. The freezing keeps bacteria from growing and so long as you cook the chicken all the way it's fine.

Breading mix:

2cups flour

1 cup Baking (or frying) Magic (sold in grocery stores near Shake & Bake)

1/2-3/4 cup bread crumbs

couple shakes each (about a tbs) onion powder, garlic powder and poultry seasoning.

Dip mix:

beat eggs (depending on how much chicken you're making) (typically 4-6 eggs for my family) add a splash of milk (or buttermilk) to eggs, dip chicken into egg mixture, then coat generously in the breading mix. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 the amount of time you'll bake depends on the type of chicken. Bone in pieces take longer. Make sure you turn the pieces about half way through so that both sides crisp up.

If I'm making cornbread along with it, I've sometimes added a small glob of the cornbread batter to the egg mix, or just some cornmeal to the breading mix. If you add the dry cornmeal, half the amount of breadcrumbs and add the same amount of cornmeal as breadcrumbs. You can also use crushed cornflakes along with or in place of breadcrumbs

I typically use boneless skinless chicken breasts, fully defrosted, takes about 35-40 mins to bake.

If you decide to fry, use small amount of prefered oil and cook on med/high temp. Turning at least twice so breading doesn't burn.

Divinity

Not my photo. I "borrowed" it from on-line

Ingredients

2 cups Sugar

2 Egg Whites

1/2 cup White Corn Syrup

1/2 cup Water

1 tsp Vanilla
2/3 cup nuts (optional)

Directions

Mix sugar, syrup, and water then DO NOT stir it again. Bring to soft ball (235-245 degrees F). Pour 1/4 of it slowly over beaten egg whites (beaten to HARD peaks). Beat that back to peaks. Cook rest of mixture until almost brittle (also know as soft crack stage 300-310 degrees F). Pour slowly over whites, beating constantly. Continue to beat until creamy (this takes a while and the candy starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl when done). Add vanilla and nuts. Spoon onto wax paper.

Super Moist White Cake

I found this recipe at the taste of home website here and tweaked it to my needs. I have always wanted to find a moist from scratch white cake mix and this worked great for my daughters cupcakes for her birthday. Hope that you enjoy. It is moist soft and just what you want a white cake to be.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (or cake flour)
1 1/2 cups + 2Tablespoons superfine sugar (make your own with a blender)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup butter, softened (no sub.)
4 large egg whites + 1 large egg
1 cup + 2 Tbs milk
3Tbs Vanilla

Directions:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, using a mixer to aerate.
Add softened butter and mix to a "paste".
Add egg whites, one at a time, then mix in whole egg. Beat to build volume after each.
Mix milk and extract, add to cake, 1/3 at a time, beating and keeping the mixture fluffy.

Bake at 325º-350º.
Grease and flour pans of choice:

2-8" or 9" round or square cake pans

1-9"x13" pan, or cupcake tins (using papers).

Check at 5 minute intervals after 18-20 minutes for cupcakes or layer pans, 30 minutes for 9"x13"

Quick and easy Peanut Butter Blossoms

Some of you may recognize the cookie part to be the same as these peanut butter cookies. However this recipe was sent to me from my Aunt and has a little twist from the other cookie. I made mine a little bigger so only got 27 cookies. Easy and so fun. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup granulated sugar.
1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky
1 bag Hershey Kisses

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350
(Unwrap enough kisses for expected number of cookies.)

Mix the sugar into the beaten egg. Mix well to dissolve sugar. Fold in
peanut butter.
Egg mixture consistency is moist and sticky but will dry in folding process.

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Remove from refrigerator and pull off small pieces of dough and roll into
marble size balls.
Place the peanut butter balls on dry cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately add kisses by pushing a kiss gently into
center of cookie.
See below!

Different Alterations
If using dark chocolate kisses, gently push into cookie and let stand if you
want them to hold their shape.
If you want them to puddle, and have just the tip, put into oven for 10
seconds.
Dark Chocolate melts quickly and will not stand up in oven heat.

If using milk chocolate kisses, place a Kiss on top of each cookie.
Push them in slightly.  Place back in oven for 15 to 20 seconds so kiss
adheres to the cookie.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack, or after cooling
slightly, place on plate and place in refrigerator to cool and harden
chocolate.  Milk chocolate Hershey kisses will keep their shape.

(OR for plain PB cookies, Flatten unbaked dough with criss cross pattern
with fork dipped repeatedly into small cup of granulated sugar While on
cookie sheet and before baking)
Makes 45 small cookies 

Banana Cake

This has been a favorite cake of mine to make since whenever I have old bananas I feel resourceful by putting them into the cake. It also was a favorite of my college roommates. In fact I had a few roommates that would have their bananas go bad just so that I would make this. Then it would be gone quickly. The recipe calls for buttermilk for this since I never have it on hand I simply fill my measuring cup with the listed amount and then add 1 tsp lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar. And let it sit for a minute or two. Which creates what I need to replace the buttermilk. You can eat it plain, sift powdered sugar, or frost with cream cheese frosting. So enjoy!

Sift together:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (opt)

Add:
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup mashed bananas (approximately 3 bananas)
Mix for 2 minutes

Add:
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large unbeaten eggs

Fold In: OPTIONAL
2/3 chopped walnuts

Pour in a greased and floured 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degree for 30-35 minutes.

Snowflakes

OK so if you look at this you may say I have never heard it called a snowflake before. Well me either till I thought of it today actually. A funnel cake usually found at your local fair during warmer months. However for our Family Home Evening treat I thought since it was Christmas lets give this a Christmas name. It couldn't be a more perfect way to describe it since like a snowflake there seldom ever is 2 the exact same. You will need a having a funnel with a 1/2" hole or anything with a spout like a tea pot. I got this recipe from my mom's collection of recipes handed down from her Aunt. They are yummy the only difference is I added vanilla. Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of milk
1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt (opt)
oil for deep frying

Directions
Beat milk with egg. Blend dry ingredients and gradually add milk mixture(add more milk if batter is not a pourable consistency), beating consistently till smooth(I did this in the blender, make sure to scrape sides). Holding finger over the bottom of funnel having a 1/2" hole fill funnel with batter. Holding funnel over the oil as close as you safely can, remove finger from the bottom of funnel and drop batter into oil, using a circular motion then a criss cross motion. Well you have pour enough cover funnel with finger again if you still have some in funnel. Fry until cakes are puffy and golden brown, turning once. Remove cakes with tongs or slotted spoon to plate with paper towels to drain. Sift powdered sugar over top and serve. Makes 4 large cakes or up to 2 1/2 dozen cakes.

100% Whole Wheat Bread

I have decided to start making a lot of my own things from scratch. The bottom line is that there is so much added to foods that you buy from the grocery stores nowadays, and I don't want that poison in my body!

This recipe is 100% Whole Wheat, with no added wheat germ or gluten. Totally healthy, totally good! Give it a try!

Ingredients:

1 packet yeast

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1  1/2 tsp salt

1  1/2 TBSP White Sugar

1  1/2 TBSP Nonfat Dry Milk Powder

1  1/2 TBSP Margarine

1  1/4 cups Warm Water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add warm water and margarine and mix well. Knead on a floured surface for at least 5 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Knead 5 more minutes, shape dough and place in non-greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise until double in size.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Of course, if you have a bread machine, just toss all the ingredients in the machine, press the whole wheat setting, and walk away.

Totally easy, and totally good for you!

Enjoy! :)

Chocolate chip cookie dough and fudge!

So my dear friend Coree posted this on facebook and it looks so good I wanted to make sure that I could find it and make it for Christmas. Hopefully she doesn't mind that I have posted this. If she does I will remove it but I am hoping that she doesn't because seriously look at it, that looks GOOD. So here is what she posted regarding it below.

Put them together and what do you get? Umm...Didn't I just tell you? Chocolate chip cookie dough fudge! DUH!!! It's REALLY yummy!!

P.S. The cookie "dough" is not the traditional cookie dough, it is altered to not have any raw ingredients. :P

Cookie dough:

1/3 cup butter, melted
...1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix the brown sugar with the butter until smooth. Add flour and salt and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter in a small quart size ziploc, seal, and press the dough so it is flat in the ziploc. Place flat in the freezer for 10 minutes, or until firm. (It took mine about 20 minutes to be firm enough to cut into chunks and not have them mix like dough with the fudge.)

After dough is firm, cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Fudge:

1 lbs. powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened or whipped cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cream together powdered sugar, cream cheese and vanilla. In a heavy saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate chips, stirring constantly. Add melted chocolate to cream cheese mixture, beat until blended. Stir in chilled cookie dough pieces. Spread evenly in pan. Refrigerate until firm. Remove from pan and cut into squares.

Enjoy!!

Spaghetti -Spaghetti Squash With Chicken Meatballs

I have made Spaghetti Squash for 2 years now. The first year I made this it didn't like it. What I made didn't work at all. This year it turned out great. I decided to make homemade chicken Meatballs with marinara. Just a quick tip for onion dicing do it in the food processor before you make the meatballs and remove what you need for the sauce.

Ingredients
Spaghetti Squash

Meatballs
1/2 large onion diced
3 chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
2 TB garlic powder
1 TB Italian Seasoning

Sauce
1 can Italian Diced Tomatoes
1 can Tomato Sauce
1 small can Tomato paste
1/2 large onion diced
1 large red bell pepper
3 TB Italian Seasoning
3 TB garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees place whole Spaghetti Squash in a baking dish and cook for 1 1/2 hours. While Squash is cooking place meatball ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are mush and balling together,(Basically looks like hamburger). Heat Skillet, add 2 TB olive oil. Roll mixture into desired size meatballs. And brown the outsides of each meatball. Season them with salt and pepper as they cook to your preference. Then in a large pot saute your onions for the sauce in 2 TB olive oil. Once onions become clear add meatballs and pour in all ingredients for sauce except red bell pepper. Let cook on med high. In skillet where you cooked meatballs roast your red bell pepper if you haven't done so already. Keep turning till well blistered and starts to seem softer. Should be a little black on outside. Then with tongs remove pepper and rinse under cold water. Scrape blackened skin off of pepper and cut out the stem and seeds. Then place and blender and puree it. Once pureed add to tomato sauce and allow to cook stirring regularly for 1/2 hour. Then cover and simmer sauce while you wait for you Squash to finish. When Squash is finished remove from oven. Use a hot pad or wash cloth and hold Squash while you cut off stem and cut lengthwise in half. Scoop out seeds and then with a fork scrape out squash meat into a bowl. It should easily start to look like short spaghetti noodles . Then serve with sauce and meatballs. Enjoy!

If you are worried that your kids may not like this my son who likes to turn up his nose at vegetables loved it. Here is a picture.

Brazilian Lemonade

So I found this recipe on Our Best Bite recipe blog. I just had to try making this wonderful drink. Since the first time trying it I have made it several times. Putting this here will just make it easier for me to find. I put a link to the original post so if you would like to check it out and all her extra advice. But I am copying the recipe portion straight from her site. I hope that you enjoy. I will make this in my blender and then I actually like fill my blender with ice once this has been made and stored in my serving picture. I then fill the blender with some of the lemonade 3/4 full, crush my ice, and mix this back in with my drink. So very delicious!

The remaining portion is the recipe from our best bites in her words.

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.

Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you're using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn't test it and it came out a little bitter. If it's bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don't make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.

Arroz Con Leche (Rice Pudding)

So this is something that I really didn't like as a kid. But for some reason since I got older I have made it a few times just because I am in the mood for it. It is a great way to use left over plain white rice for your dinner. My family liked it so I am sharing it with you.
Enjoy!

1 1/2 cups rice
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbs vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs butter (unsalted)
3 Tbs sweetened coconut flakes (opt)
3/4 cup raisins (opt)

In a saucepan mix rice and egg. Add remaining ingredients except raisins. On low heat for 5 minutes continuously whisk mixture. Raise temperature to medium and continue to whisk for another 10 minutes. Raise temperature to high-medium/low high setting. Continue to whisk until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add raisins. Takes about 20-30 minutes till mixture thickens. Remember to keep whisking mixture or you will had scramble egg pieces in pudding also while at higher temperatures if left standing the mixture will burn as well boil over and make a mess. It is an easy recipe. Mostly just requires patience until it is cooked. Hope you like it as much as my family did.

Chicken Marinde

From a Coworker of my husband's. Husband says this is "oh my" and "this is he.av.en.ly"

½ cup Canola oil
½ cup Red wine vinegar
¾ cup Soy sauce
¼ cup Lemon joice
¾ Tspoon Dry mustard
1 Tspoon Minced garlic or ½ Tspoon Garlic Salt
2 Tspoon Salt
1 Tspoon Pepper
1 ½ T Spoon Parsley Flakes


Blend all together and let chicken soak for ½ hour to 1 hour.

Grill and enjoy.

Turd cookies

Also came from a coworker of my husband's.

- 2 of the big bars of chocolate. (W/ Almonds if desired.)
- 1 8 oz. tub of cool whip.
- 1 cup of Vanilla Wafers (crushed to fine crumbs.)

Melt them very carefully (Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each.) Add the Cool Whip. Mix well.
Spoon into a bowl full of the Vanilla wafers and roll until covered.
Place on a cookie sheet.

Cool in the refrigerator until they set.

Tater Tot Casserole

Comes from a coworker of my husband's. Sorry no pictures the emailed pictures were way to tiny to use.







1 lb raw ground turkey

can of Cream of Mushroom soup

1/3 cup of milk

bag of frozen tater tots (approx 24 oz)

grated Colby Jack cheese (also can use cheddar)

2 cap fulls of Liquid Smoke flavoring

seasonings to taste



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with Pam and sprinkle with salt. Place raw ground turkey in pan and spread with fork to break up. Season liberally with Onion salt and regular salt. Spoon Cr. of Mushroom soup onto meat and spread, adding milk in small dollops onto soup. Spread even more until evenly covered. Take 2 caps of liquid smoke and drop by small amounts over the soup mixture. Add frozen tater tots until covered. Salt the tater tots and bakeat 350 degrees for 1 hour, uncovered. (If crisper tater tots are desired, spray the tots with PAM before salting.) Pull out and spread shredded cheese liberally on top of casserole and bake another 5 minutes or until melted.

Spanish Noodles

This is a family favorite that I am guaranteed my boys will go back for at LEAST seconds for. This is just the BASIC recipe a lot more could be added.

Ingredients:

1lb hamburger

1 can corn

Noodles to serve 6

Tomato juice

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown the hamburger. Boil water to cook the noodles to al dente (just before tender). I prefer egg noodles but as you can see elbow noodles work well too. When the noodles are done drain off the water. Return the noodles to the pan and add in the drained can of whole corn, the browned hamburger, enough tomato juice to wet it all and the salt and pepper. Mix and warm on the stove. Serves 6.

Best Brownies

From Allrecipies.com. I just think it's worth passing on, especially since these are the ONLY brownies I'll make now. And since I'm lazy- copy and paste. For the record I think the brownies stand alone just fine if you prefer them without frosting (the picture is without frosting).

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

JoAnne's Hot Fudge Brownie Cheesecake

So this is a rich and very yummy cheesecake. It is also huge. But what can we say we love it and can only enjoy it on rare occasions since it really fattening. You can cut back on fat by using a lower fat cream cheese. I usually do half regular fat and half fat free. It just makes me feel better. So please enjoy it is fabulous!

Ingredients

1 brownie mix
5 pkg cream cheese (8 ounces)
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. vanilla
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 pt. heavy cream

Directions

Bake and cool brownie mix, as directed. A less dry fudge-like mix works best. Line the bottom and sides of 10-inch spring form pan with brownies. Combine cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing VERY slowly. Blend in cream by hand. Use only 1 oven rack at lowest level. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Bake 10 or 12 minutes or until set. Then reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake 1 hour. Cover with foil, if browning occurs. Turn off oven, keep door closed for 15 minutes. Then remove and cool on rack. Cool and drizzle hot fudge sauce. Refrigerate.

Egg in a Basket

During my last 2 pregnancies this is all I could eat for breakfast. I recently tried this and I realized I enjoyed it when I was not pregnant to. And well since it looked so fun I had to take a picture and share this easy recipe. I also use olive oil usually instead of butter and I love the taste of the Cajun Seasoning but you can use Seasoned Salt if you want to.

Ingredients
1 slice of bread
1 egg
2 T butter
1/4 tsp Cajun Seasoning or Seasoned Salt

Directions
Heat on your skillet on medium and add butter. Meanwhile, take a cookie cutter any shape and cut a hole in the middle of your slice of bread. Crack egg in a cup and remove any shells. Place bread and extra piece of bread in skillet separately. Pour egg gently into hole in bread. Cover skillet for 30 seconds. Uncover skillet and flip both pieces of bread over. Cook for 30-45 seconds more. Plate and enjoy!

Raspberry Filling

Ok so I have had a request for this recipe by a few people so here it is. I use this as a filling for my white cake. That I then top with my Cream Cheese Frosting found here. I usually will just by a regular Super Moist White Box Cake and put this in between 2 8" round cakes. I have also used this for a freezer jam by cooking a tiny bit longer and as a syrup by using any berries on hand and even peaches and cooking a little less. The sky is the limit.

Ingredients:
12 oz fresh raspberries
1 cup sugar
2-3 T vanilla

Directions:
Put all in a sauce pan and boil on high constantly stirring until it starts to thicken. Then take off and let cool. Add to cake for filling or put in a container and freeze it works great as a freezer jam as well. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pies and Pie Crust Recipe

So I copied this including the picture since my camera does not work from Our Best Bites . That should be a link directly to this recipe for more pictures of hers. It was delicious. I admittedly did not do any variation of rotisserie like her I used what I had and fried 3 chicken breasts to get what I needed for the recipe. If you want to cut back on some work, my suggestion is go to the super market and get a rotisserie chicken and shred it for this recipe and freeze what you don't use for other easy recipes. Also I used plain potatoes for this and not the red and peeled them since I planned on feeding the insides to my 1 year old and I didn't want him to choke on the skins. I will post my own pie dough recipe for those that would like an easy no fail crust. On the site where I got this she also has a pie dough recipe or if you want you can just buy buy dough at the store pre-made. I hope that you enjoy this as much as we did.


Ingredients:
2 unbaked pie crusts

1 lb. chicken chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 12-16 oz. bag of peas and carrots or mixed vegetables, thawed
1 onion, minced
1 Tbsp butter
5 medium-small red potatoes, diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt (more or less, to taste)

Ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of water (salt optional) to a boil. When ready, add potatoes and boil until tender. Meanwhile, heat about 1 Tbsp. butter in a medium skillet. When the butter is bubbly, saute the onion until it's translucent and fragrant. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream of chicken soup, chicken, vegetables, onion, and potatoes. Season to taste.

Now...the pie can be done a couple of ways. Normally, I make one family-sized chicken pot pie like Dani does, but my most recent adventure in Chicken Pot Pie-Land involved little individual mugs/ramekins of chicken pot pie. It was a big hit! The baking directions are exactly the same, except that the mug pies ONLY have a crust on top (which cuts down on the fat; in fact, you could get away with 1 pie crust if you do it this way).

ANYWAY. If you're making one whole pie, place one pie crust on the bottom of a pie plate, transfer the filling to the pie plate, and then top with the other pie crust. Crimp the edges and then cut a few vent holes on top.

If you're making individual pies in oven-safe jars, mugs, or ramekins, fill the dishes with the chicken mixture and then top with a piece of pie crust slightly larger than the opening of the dish. Crimp the edges, and cut some vent holes. Place pie plate/individual pies on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

No Fail Pie Crust

I got this recipe from Mormon Cooking Authentic Recipes Cookbook I bought a few years back. Love this recipe. It has not failed me yet. I have substituted the vinegar with lemon juice and the shortening with butter at times. I also now make this in my food processor. I put the flour in with the salt and pulse it a few times and avoid the sifting. Then add everything else according to directions and turn it on at the end till it forms into a ball. So Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C sifted flour
1 C shortening
1/4 Cold Water
1 Tbsp Vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 Large egg, beaten


Directions:
Sift together flour and salt, cut in shortening until mixture resembles small peas. In a mixing bowl combine water, vinegar and egg. Pour into flour mixture and mix lightly until all flour is moistened and pastry forms a ball. Divide dough as desired, roll out onto floured surface; line 9 inch pie plate, fill with favorite filling or bake as a pastry shell for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Makes 3 single pie crusts.

Leftover Veggie Tray Stir Fry

I hosted a MoveOn.org party over the weekend and was left with a sizable veggie tray, and since most of the veggies are too hard for Crystiana to eat (Carrots, Broccoli) I thought it might be good to cook them up with some chicken. The result was wonderful, and I just had to share.

3-4 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 c. Broccoli
1/2 c. Sugar Snap Peas
approx. 10 Baby Carrots sliced
1-2 stalks Celery cut diagonally
2 c. Cooked Chicken Breast (I used rotisserie chicken breast meat from Costco)
1 tbsp. Minced Garlic
2 tbsp. Lemon Juice
dash pepper
season to taste (I used some of the garlic bread seasoning from Costco and Soy Sauce to finish)

Put the EVOO in a skillet and heat, then add veggies, chicken, garlic, seasonings and lemon juice. Stir and cover. Let simmer 10 min on med-high heat. Remove from heat, stir and serve!

So simple, and extremely tasty!

Tangy Chicken

From some random recipe I saw online and now can't find again.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken (3-4lbs)
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1/2cup soy sauce
1/4cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves minced

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 4-5 hour is cubed or 8-10 hour if bone remains in chicken.
Serve over hot rice.

Impressions from me. I LOVED this however when I make it again I'll add something to thicken the sauce a little.