Slow-Cooker Barbecue Chicken

This is a favorite of ours. Easy, delicious, versatile.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Chicken

3-4 chicken breasts (can be frozen)
2 C ketchup
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all ingredients (except chicken) in crock-pot. Add the chicken, coating
each piece in sauce. Cook on high 4 hours. Remove chicken and shred/pull
with forks. Return to pot and stir in sauce to coat. Serve on buns.

**leftovers can be frozen and re-heated for sandwiches, or used to make BBQ
chicken pizza (put on a pizza crust, top with favorite cheeses, onions,
etc.) or used to make BBQ chicken burritos (put on tortillas, add refried
beans, cheeses, etc.)

My favorite Chicken Casserole

My Mom got this recipe from a fellow ward member and we've loved it ever since she made it for us. ENJOY!

Afton’s Chicken Casserole

1 cup butter
4 cup herb seasoned dressing (prefer Parisian French Bread Stuffing), dressing should be finely crumbled, not cubed [sometimes you can’t find the Parisian one – so Mrs. Cubbison’s works too]
½ tsp. poultry seasoning
Sprinkle of Italian seasoning
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cram of chicken soup
1 large can evaporated milk
2 cups cooked chicken (about 4 breasts)
½ pkg. Jimmy Dean sausage [I always end up using the whole pkg]
½ cup cooked minute rice [I use regular rice and add as much as I want]
2 Tbsp minced onion (dry is ok)
½ cup finely chopped celery (1 large stalk)
1 jar chopped pimento (optional)
1 cup frozen peas (optional)

Melt butter and mix with dressing mix. Spread ½ of this mixture in a 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning and Italian seasoning. In separate bowl mix soups and milk together. Add chicken, sausage, rice, onion, pimento, and peas. Pour chicken mixture over the crumbs in pan. Top with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Serves 10. Serve with chicken gravy if desired.

NOTE: This casserole can be made ahead of time, covered tightly with foil, and frozen. Allow an extra 15 minutes cooking time if frozen.

Quick Tuna Munchy

Slice of Wheat Bread with a slice of Cheddar Cheese (Tilamook) and then Tuna (the ones in the pouch...Starkist I think, the ones that have all the diff't flavors) Broil until the cheese melts and munch....

My Three Favorite Fondues!!!

Hubby and I used to love having little fondue parties back in the pre-kid days. We'll have to start that up again! It's so fun!! I just served these three fondues at our last Enrichment Night. They are my faves!!

Somerset Fondue
1 small onion, halved
1 cup apple cider
1 tsp lemon juice
3 cups (12oz) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons apple juice
Dash white pepper

To Serve:
wedges of apple (green works best!), cubes of bread (crusty breads/baguettes work nicely)

Rub inside of fondue pot with cut side of onion.

Pour in cider and lemon juice; cook over medium heat until bubbly. Turn heat to low and gradually stir in cheese. Continue to heat until cheese melts.

In a small bowl blend mustard and cornstarch with apple juice. Blend into cheese and continue to cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture is thick and creamy. Season with white pepper. Serve with apple wedges and cubes of crusty bread. Makes about 6 servings.

Blue-Cheese Fondue
1 cup milk
1 (8-oz) okg. cream cheese, room temp
2 cups (8oz.) crumbled blue cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 TBS cornstarch
2 TBS half and half

To Serve:
cubes of ham or sausage and crusty bread

Put milk and cream cheese in fondue pot and beat with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.

Place fondue pot over low heat and gradually stir in blue cheese. Continue to stir over heat until smooth.

In a small bowl blend garlic salt and cornstarch with half and half. Blend into cheese and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes longer or until thick and creamy. Serve with cubes of ham or sausage and cubes of crusty bread. Makes 4 to 6 servings.



Chocolate-Nut Fondue
12 oz Swiss Chocolate bar (with or without nuts)
1 cup whipping cream (you heard me, WHIPPING CREAM, you KNOW this one is gonna taste good!)
2 TBS rum flavoring (I've done this one without- still yummy but the flavoring really does add a nice rich touch)

To Serve:
selection of fruit (orange slices, banana, strawberry, apple), shortbread cookies, hard peanut butter cookies, pretzels, cubed angel food cake, marshmellows Honestly... anything will taste good dipped in this stuff!!!

Break up chocolate and place in fondue pot. Add whipping cream and heat slowly, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts. Stir in flavoring. Place fondue pot over burner at the table serve.

All recipes taken from:

Easy Caramel Fondue

So for the girls night in, last night I made a Caramel Fondue... I threw some stuff together because I couldn't find one on the foodnetwork.com or fineliving.com... so here it is!

Caramel Fondue

14oz bag of Caramels (I used the Kraft ones in the candy aisle)
1/2 cup milk
1/2-3/4 cup Marshmallow Creme

Heat Caramels and milk in a double boiler on medium until melted and mixed. Transfer into Cusinart fondue and heat on setting 3. Add marshmallow creme and mix until melted and color/texture is fondue friendly (;-)... Lower heat to setting 2.5 or 2 and serve with...

Pound Cake
Angel Food Cake
Apples
Pears
Marshmallows
Strawberries
Pineapple
(whatever you feel like)

Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken (EASY!)

This recipe is quick, easy and totally delicious! For a lower calorie dish, substitute with low-fat cream cheese and fat-free cream of mushroom soup (but who wants to sacrifice flavor for a few measly calories?!!)

Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken

4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) or 8-12 chicken tenders
1 package dry Italian dressing mix (or Zesty Italian)
1/2 cube butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Cook chicken, dressing mix and butter in crock pot on LOW for 6-7 hours or 3-4 hours on HIGH. Half hour before serving, blend cream cheese and soup and add to crock pot. Stir and serve over rice or noodles.

Panko-Crusted Chicken

Reading Stephanie's Christmas Dinner list (yum, by the way), reminded me of a recipe we really like that uses Panko (Japanese bread crumbs). I found it on Safeway's website when I first got married and tried it on a whim. It's been a favorite ever since. And it's quick and easy.

Panko-Crusted Chicken

1/4 c. Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c. Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. parsley
4 chicken breast halves
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1 tsp. mustard seeds

In a medium size shallow bowl, blend 2 Tbsp. of the mustard with
vinegar and garlic. In another shallow bowl, stir together panko,
cheese and parsley.

Rinse chicken and pat dry. (I usually cut the chicken in long, thin
strips) Turn each piece in mustard mixture to coat; then roll in panko
mixture, pressing firmly to coat chicken well on all sides.

Arrange chicken in a single layer in a lightly oiled 9x13 pan; drizzle
evenly with butter. Bake at 500 degrees until coating is golden and
meat in thickest part is no longer pink; about 15 minutes.

To make sauce: In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, remaining 2 Tbsp.
mustard and mustard seeds. Dip chicken in sauce as desired.

What we had Christmas Day

Been meaning to post this... it's so easy.

Drink: Pomegrante juice mixed with Hansen's Grapefruit Soda

Appetizer: Baked Potstickers with Sweet Asian Dipping Sauce (Pampered Chef)

Potstickers
1 can (10 ounces) chunk white chicken, drained and flaked
1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts, drained and finely chipped
½ cup thinly sliced green onions with tops
¼ cup grated carrot
1 tsp peeled and finely grated fresh gingerroot
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 egg white, lightly beaten (I just use the whole egg)
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed (I always use more than 1)
24 square wonton wrappers (which is why I don’t understand why they’re called potstickers… potstickers use the round wrappers)
Basil Oil

Dipping Sauce
½ cup red jalapeno jelly
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl combine chicken, water chestnuts, green onions, carrot, gingerroot, soy sauce, egg, mayonnaise and garlic; mix well.
2. To assemble potstickers, place 12 wonton wrappers onto smooth surface. Lightly brush edges of each wonton with water. Place a mounded scoop of filling onto center of each wonton. For each potsticker, fold one point over filling and overlap with opposite point. (or get creative…) Repeat with remaining two points, folding envelope style. Place potstickers on cookie sheet or Pampered Chef’s large round stone. (I baked in my cuisinart toaster oven with foil on the cookie sheet) [they also suggest you spray with basil oil – I didn’t] BAKE 12-15 minutes or until edges of potstickers are golden brown; remove from oven.
3. For dipping sauce, place jelly in small bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30-40 seconds or until warm; add vinegar and soy sauce. Whisk until well blended. Transfer potstickers to serving platter; serve with dipping sauce.


Salad: A Zesty Citrus Salad (I combined some ingredients from two other recipes)
For five of us I used 2 grapefruit, 3 oranges and 2 avocados

I plated each salad individually.
Spinach
Romaine
Carrots (use a peeler to get the nice pasta like strands)
Lay slices of avocados 2-3 or however many you prefer
For the grapefruit and oranges - slice off the peels so that you're able to slice wedges off of them. Do so over a bowl to catch all the juices. Save the juice for dressing. I placed about 3-5 slices of citrus on each plate.
Sprinkle blueberries over the salad

For dressing - combine the grapefruit and orange juices and mix in 1-2 tsp of chili oil. That's it!

The meat of things:

Morton's Marinated Tri-tip (thank you Costco) Just stick it in the oven for an hour or another add'l 10-20 min and it's done.

Chicken Tenders (originally frozen from Costco) marinated in Chinablue Red Pepper Flakes Sauce and a packet of Ling Ling's Potsticker sauce.
For the chicken - after marinating I breaded the chicken with Panko crumbs and then fried those babies.

Sides:
Green Beans...So Emeril did this show where he did a green bean and fennel relish. Well - this is a modified version. There's no fennel. I did bake the onions at 350 for 20 minutes - after they had been sliced and tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper. Then I blanched the green beans and tossed it with the onions and a can of already heated cream of mushroom. Add some of the French's onions and it's done.

Potatoes... Ryan's best friend's wife made this for Thanksgiving - and it was so good ... Betty Crocker Chives mashed potatoes... hello EASY!

Dessert:
Leann Bertoch's Cinnamon Rolls
My Mom used to make these all the time... and they're so good.

1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
1 cube butter
1 tsp salt
Put into a saucepan and bring to almost a boil – take off stove and let cool

In a small bowl combine ¼ cup warm water, 1Tbsp yeast and a pinch of sugar and flour

In a large bowl
4 cups flour
½ cup (or more) raisins

Beat three eggs into milk and add all ingredients together. Stir well. Let raise 2 hours.

Roll out on floured board 1/4” thick to a large circle (I’ve been making it a rectangle because it makes the rolls more even)

Pour ¼ cup melted butter on top. Sprinkle sugar on top (about 1 cup). Sprinkle with cinnamon on top of the sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes.

Glaze with 2 cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla and approx. ¼ cup butter.

And an apple pie from Apple Hill

Chicken Satay stir fry

I got this off of Rachel Ray and modified it to make it better and less "I live in New York and can get lots of ingredients" and more "I live in El Paso and can barely get labels with English on them" It is delish. I don't use a lot of measurements, so good luck with that...

Make a pot of rice, but add a bit of orange zest to it while it is cooking. If you don't have orange zest, add a tiny spoonful of citrus-flavored jam to the water while it cooks. If you haven't got a ha-penny, then God bless you.

Thinly slice some onions and garlic--however many you like. I tend to do 5 or 6 cloves and a whole onion, but you can increase or decrease.

Chop a chicken breast or two into bite size pieces--just use what you have. I have made this heavy on chicken and light on chicken, and it all works out. Throw the chicken and the onion/garlic mix into hot oil in a stir-fry pan. When the chicken browns, add whatever you have on hand for stir-fry. Bell peppers are good, carrots, whatever. Throw in some tofu if you want, whatever.

While that is stir frying:

Combine: 4 T chunky peanut butter, 1 minced clove of garlic, 3 T Tamari or soy sauce (Tamari is better, but dark soy will work), 3 T honey, some crushed red pepper flake, and a healthy spoonful or two of apricot, peach, or orange marmalade or jam. (You can use orange juice instead, but it will not be as thick. I am a fan of apricot jam.) Combine these over low heat, stirring so it does not burn. Glop on top of stir fry. Garnish with some peanuts and some cilantro, if you have it.

Indian food anyone?

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com awhile back. We really liked it. I love anything with curry. You can serve it on rice or I like to serve it on couscous and some Indian Fry Bread on the side. And it's a pretty quick recipe to make.

Chicken Papadoris

Ingredients
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup butter
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 (14 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Directions
1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add pine nuts, and cook stirring frequently, until evenly toasted. Remove from heat, and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chicken, and cook 5 to 10 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

3. Stir onion and garlic into the skillet, and cook until tender. Stir in the pine nuts, soy sauce, and coconut milk. Season with paprika, cumin, and curry powder.

4. In a small bowl, blend the cornstarch and water. Mix into the skillet. Stir constantly until a thick gravy has formed.