Thai Chicken

Ingredients:

Sauce:

4 chicken breast halves - steamed and cubed or shredded

1 c. chicken broth

2 T. soy sauce

4 T. chunky or creamy peanut butter

1 garlic clove, crushed *

red pepper flakes to taste (usually about 1/4 t.)

Condiments: (whatever you would like)

chopped peanuts

coconut

crushed pineapple

red, green, yellow diced peppers (Melissa's favorite!)

canned Mandarin oranges (my favorite!)

raisins or Crainsins

chow mein noodles (are those the crunchy ones?)

cilantro, chopped

* I usually just used minced garlic

Recipe:

1. Combine and heat chicken broth, soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic, and pepper until peanut butter is dissolved.

2. Add pre-cooked chicken.

3. Serve over steamed rice with your choice of condiments. *

*I like to make my rice chicken flavored by adding a bouillon cube to the water. So. Much. Better.

Rating: 5 of 5

This is one of our absolute favorite recipes! We love it....so good. The great thing about this dish is that it's new every time you have it because you can make it taste so different depending on what you put on it! And, if you don't like too much kick you have total control over that and can experiment with just the right amount. We, however, like the kick. Oh, and I usually don't have all the favorite condiments on hand, but I usually have enough to make it work! Another perk, this is quick!

Also use the sauce can be used for Satay Chicken Pizza.

Source: Melissa Black

Basil Pasta

Ingredients: (I actually don't know what the measurements are, so I'm winging it)

8 oz. angel hair pasta

3 T. butter *

2 T. basil

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese

* I actually like this better with olive oil instead of butter.

Recipe:

1. Cook pasta al dente. Drain. Add butter until melted.

2. Add basil and Parmesan cheese.

3. Serve alone as a side or under a delicious sauce!

Rating: 3.7 of 5

I like this pasta a lot, but I don't think it does that much for LaDon. It's easy and feels pretty light as long as you don't go too heavy on the butter. Delicious under Corn Sauce Spaghetti.

Source: Vickie Roy's own concoction

Corn Sauce Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 can Italian diced tomatoes

1 can corn

1 can cooked chicken (like the fatty ones from Costco)

2-3 T. olive oil

small palm full of onions

4 shakes of garlic, minced

3 T. Italian seasoning

Recipe:

1. Dump all ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling 3 minutes while stirring.

2. Turn to medium heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

3. Serve on top of Basil Pasta.

Rating: 4 of 5

This was a good one. I think maybe 1/2 to 3/4 can of corn would be better, but I like corn. I would make this again.

Source: my own concoction

Pear Salad

Ingredients:

2 T. pecans, chopped*

2 T. sugar

3 c. green leaf lettuce

3 pears, cored and chopped**

1/2 avocado, chopped

1/2 c. green onion, thinly sliced

* I really like the pecans, so I double them. Candied pecans...doesn't get much better.

**I definitely don't use 3 pears! Talk about a pear salad with a little bit of lettuce on the side! I usually only use 1-1.5 pears.

Dressing:

3 T. red wine vinegar

1 1/2 t. sugar

1 1/2 t. mustard

1/2 t. salt

1 clove garlic

pinch black pepper

Recipe:

1. Over medium heat, cook pecans with sugar. Stir until sugar melts and caramelizes. Pour pecans onto wax paper to cool and break in small pieces. Set aside. *

2. For the dressing, in a blender, or small bowl and whisk, mix together red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 t. sugar, mustard, 1/2 t. salt, and pinch of pepper. Set aside.

3. Layer the remaining ingredients in a salad bowl. Top with pecans and drizzle dressing on top of salad. (For better leftover results, pour dressing over individual servings of salad.)

* I usually double the caramelized pecans....they're my favorite part!

Rating: 4 of 5

A good batch of this is so addicting!! I love it! This is, what I consider to be (when things aren't in season), an expensive salad, so we don't make it a ton. But, we had it this week! When my mom was here this week, I had her make the dressing and I think she actually put in 3 T. of sugar (not 3 t.) and I think I like the extra sugar version better.

Source: I'm not really sure where this particular recipe comes from, but it's inspired by Emily Jones' delicious pear salad that we had at her place a few years back.

Strawberry Bread

Ingredients:

2 c. fresh strawberries *

2 t. white sugar **

3 c. + 2 T. all-purpose flour

2 c. white sugar

1 T. ground cinnamon

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 1/4 c. vegetable oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 c. chopped pecans (optional)

* I actually doubled the amount of strawberries called for which led to a doubling of the 2 t. of sugar

** Doubled the sugar because of the double strawberries

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Lightly grease 2 5x9-inch loaf pans.

2. Slice strawberries and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with 2 t. sugar, and set aside. *

3. Combine flour, 2 c. sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; mix well.

4. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.

5. Make in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Rating: 5 of 5

At first glance this bread does not look appealing at all! I would describe what first popped into my mind when I sliced the bread, but then no one would want to try this recipe. Anyway, the best way that I can rate this bread is by saying: it's a strawberry version of banana bread. Basically, it's much more delicious than it looks. Oh! I also think this would look good, possibly taste good, with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, pg. 282

* So, I had started making this before I realized I had no eggs. So, the strawberries actually sat over night in the fridge. The bread still turned out fine, but as this was a first time recipe, I really didn't have anything to compare it to.

5 Can Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 pkgs. taco seasoning

1 large can tomato juice

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can kidney/red beans, drained

1 can garbanzo/navy beans, drained

1 can corn, drained

Recipe:

1. Brown ground beef with 1 chopped onion. Drain. Put in crock pot and add the remaining ingredients. *

2. Allow soup to simmer for several hours then serve with grated cheddar cheese and tortilla chips. Feel free to substitute the vegetables with ones you like best.

* Instead of browning the beef before hand, I just threw it in the crock pot and mushed it with a spoon after a few minutes. Worked for me, but if you're going to be gone all day I would brown it before hand.

Rating: 3.75 of 5

We really liked this soup. And talk about easy! I love crock pot meals. If you liked the Chicken Tortilla Soup, then you'll probably like this. It tastes very similar to the Chicken soup, but with beef! We also added sour cream to the garnish list. Cilantro also would have tasted good, but the cilantro in the garden has gone to seed.

Source: Jamie's Cookbook, Recipe by Mickey Pulsipher

Golden Sweet Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. yellow cornmeal

3/4 c. white sugar

1 t. salt

3 1/2 t. baking powder

1 egg

1 c. milk

1/3 c. vegetable oil

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 400-degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan. *

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

* Rather than using a 9-inch round cake pan that I don't have, I just divided the batter into 12 cupcakes and adjusted the bake time to 15-20 minutes.

Rating: 3.75 of 5

I really liked this recipe. Most cornbread recipes I've tried turn out kind of dry, but this one is moist and sweet! I loved it! This is now my staple cornbread recipe for chili and soups.

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, pg. 282

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. milk

2 T. vegetable oil

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

Recipe:

1. Beat all ingredients together in a bowl until the dough leaves side.

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gather into a ball.

3. Knead 10 times. Cover with a bowl; let stand 15 minutes.

4. Bake in 425 for 20-25 minutes.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

I thought this dough was really good, but the time to cook was a little too long which made it a little too crisp! Still delicious though.

Source: Alpha-Bakery: Children's Cookbook, pg. 34

Pocket Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough

1 T. vegetable oil *

1/4 c. pizza sauce

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. cooked Italian sausage

1 T. finely chopped onion**

1/8 -1/4 t. garlic powder***

1/4 pkg. (3-oz size) sliced pepperoni

2-3 T. pizza sauce

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

* I didn't use the vegetable oil because I thought the meats would run enough oils alone.

** I didn't add the onion because the sauce is pretty tasty.

*** I didn't add the garlic powder for the same reason as the onion.

Recipe:

1. Heat oven to 425. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

2. Prepare Pizza Dough. Roll into a 12-inch circle. Fold loosely in half; place on cookie sheet and unfold. Brush with oil.

3. Layer remaining ingredients on half of the circle in order listed; fold dough over filling. Turn edge of the lower dough over dege of the top dough; pinch edge to seal.

4. Prick top with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

This was a pretty good recipe. I think it would be great with pineapple and ham. All of the pepperoni and sausage made it pretty heavy, but it's still delicious. The pizza sauce was flavorful enough that I didn't feel like I needed to add the onion and garlic powder. The next time I make these I'll do Hawaiian, as that is LaDon's favorite!

Source: Alpha-Bakery: Children's Cookbook, pg. 34

Orange Chicken Salad

I didn't take a picture of this one either. We had it the same night at the Recipe A Wings.

Ingredients:

1/3 c. sour cream

1/3 c. mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 T. frozen orange juice concentrate

1/2 t. poppy seeds, optional

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, fully cooked, cut into julienne strips *

1 11-oz. can mandarin orange sections, drained OR one 15.5-oz can pineapple chunks, drained

3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 green onions, sliced

salt and pepper totaste

4 lettuce leaves **

* I actually cut out the chicken in this recipe because we were having chicken as the main dish.

** Definitely used more than 4 leaves of lettuce. I used a whole head of iceberg.

Recipe:

1. In a small mixing bowl, stir together sour cream, mayonnaise, orange juice concentrate, and, if desired, poppy seeds.

2. In a large mixing bowl, toss together chicken strips, orange sections, celery and green onions.

3. Pour dressing over chicken mixture; toss lightly to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on lettuce leaves.

Rating: 3 of 5

This is a fairly refreshing salad. Although it's technically a side dish, we think with chicken (which we did not include this time) would be a good enough main dish. The orange flavor wasn't super powerful but not lacking. A good balance. Also, I didn't use nearly as much of the sour cream/mayo mixture as it called for.

Source: Speed Scratch, p. 22

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

1 c. water

3 T. oil

3 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

3 c. whole wheat flour

2 1/4 t. yeast

Recipe:

1. Dump all the ingredients in the bread machine and select the settings of Whole Wheat and baking control on medium. (My bread machine takes about 3.5 hours to go through the whole process.)

Rating: 3.7 of 5

I've always liked wheat bread. LaDon favors white bread. So, I usually make white bread loaves. But, after visiting Emily and having real (come on, making bread in a machine isn't really real homemade bread.....the machine does everything for me!) homemade wheat bread I discovered that the kids LOVE wheat bread. They prefer it over white bread for sure. So, I know make wheat bread for them.

So, this recipe is a pretty good one. It tastes like good homemade wheat bread to me.

Source: Magic Chef: Automatic Breadmaker Recipe Guide, pg. 8

Recipe A Chicken Wings

Sorry! No picture! I totally spaced it!

Ingredients:

1/3 c. butter, melted

1/3 c. soy sauce

1/3 c. honey

1/3 c. hot sauce (like Texas Pete's or the likes)

chicken wings

* I love the hot spicy kick to wings, so I think next time I will decrease the soy sauce element just a little. And, I think I will also toss the wings in flour, just lightly, before dousing them in the sauce mixture. I don't know if that would work, but whatever!

Recipe: (are you ready for very simple wings?)

1. Mix the above ingredients together.

2. Dip the wings in the sauce.

3. Lay out the sauce covered wings on a baking sheet (easier clean up if covered with foil) and throw them in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 400-degrees.

Rating: 4.8 of 5

LaDon and Ally loved these! Talk about vacuum sounds and bone crunching. I, unfortunately, have this weird thing with raw meat. After making them, I couldn't look past the sauce and eat them. (Meatloaf is similar in this way. I love it, but I have a hard time eating it when I know that I was just mushing it all together.) Which, is a huge bummer because the sauce smelled and tasted wonderfully! I think the only way I will be able to eat homemade chicken wings is if someone else makes them for me....which LaDon volunteered to the next time their on the menu :) Lovely husband. I thought the juices from the chicken ran some of the sauce off, so I ended up re-coating about halfway through cooking time. I can't wait to try these again and see how they turn out!

Source: my mother! There is a recipe B, but we just went with A this week. In my childhood memory, both are excellent.