Sweet and Tangy Chicken

Have you seen this recipe floating around Interest?  If you haven't you must live under a rock....

First of all, this is the best recipe I have ever made. It only took me 4 times making it to get it right...but that's because I wrote the original recipe down wrong and cooked the chicken at 400 degree for an hour...not good!

It does take a while to make this, so for people like me that don't get home from work until 5:30pm and your kids are ready to eat five minutes after you walk in the door, this would probably not work for a week night meal. So I cook this on the weekends when I can start early and have it ready at a decent hour.

I changed the name of this chicken too. Everyone else on the internet calls this "Sweet & Sour chicken". Now, I love me some sweet & sour chicken..but this does not taste like sweet & sour chicken to me. It definitely has an Asian taste, and is sweet with all the sugar in the sauce, but still...not the sweet & sour chicken you'll find at your local Chinese place!

Here is the recipe I snagged from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. (The pictures used is also from her site!)

For the chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks
1 cup cornstarch
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil





For the Sauce:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Dip chicken into cornstarch, and then eggs. (Yes- do it in THAT order~)

Place the chicken carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip each piece over to cook on the other side until nicely golden but not all the way cooked through.

Place in a single layer in a baking dish and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken in the baking dish. Bake for one hour, turning the chicken once or twice while cooking to coat evenly with sauce.

Serve with sides of your choice (I always make rice and steamed broccoli and it's delish!)

My perfect cast for 50 Shades!

Yes, I have read the books....all three of them....twice. My mother probably isn't proud of that, but hey- I'm a married momma, and I had a blast reading them!

There is so much hype about the casting of the movie(s) that people are throwing all kinds of names around like Rob Pattinson and Ryan Gosling. For the most part, I really dislike most of the casting "suggestions" that are going around.

So I though I'd make my own cast, and appease myself into thinking this is how the movie WILL be made..until my hopes are probably dashed in a few months when they reveal who will REALLY be the cast.

So here is my perfect list of who will play whom:

Christian Grey

Henry Cavill
I've scoured the internet trying to find someone else I can picture as Christian- and I just can't. So Henry is my pick!





Anastasia Steele
  

Lyndsy Fonseca


Love her look! google her!


She has a great natural, innocent beauty about her.

Elena Lincoln (Mrs. Robinson)

Ellen Barkin
This pick seems to be a popular choice on many blogs I've read. I think they would have to be careful to make
sure they make her up to look a little younger, but I definitely think it could be pulled off!




I'm completely stumped on who should play Kate, so give me your suggestions!

BBQ Beef Nachos

One of my favorite things to do before my baby was born, was to go to this little dine-in movie theater built in the 40's... not for the movies.... or the gorgeous 40 foot murals on the walls...of even the 300lb+ chandeliers that hang over the dining room....but for the BEEF BBQ NACHOS! These nachos are one of my top 5 favorite foods of all time. Everyone who tried these raved about them.

I promise you will not be disappointed!

  

I found this recipe on Meals at the Muirs.

You could certainly serve it on a bun, but I prefer it over nachos with melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and sour cream.

 

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Chuck roast

Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste

1 bottle Kraft brand Sweet and Spicy Chipotle BBQ Sauce

1  can/bottle Beer (I used Miller Lite)

1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's brand Honey BBQ Sauce

Directions:

1.)  Season all sides of the beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in a large crock-pot.
2.)  Pour entire bottle of chipotle BBQ sauce to cover the meat completely.
3.)  Pour the bottle of beer on top and sides of the meat.
4.)  Cover and cook on high for 7 hours
5.)  Remove roast from crock-pot and discard all remaining liquids.
6.)  Shred beef with a fork and return beef to the crock-pot, and add Sweet Baby Ray's sauce and stir.
7.)  Reduce heat to warm for 1-2 hours or until ready to serve.

* I actually did not cook mine for 7 hours on high. That seemed like way too long, so I did mine on high for 2 hours, then dropped it down to low for the remaining cooking time which ended up being about 6 hours...it was probably done long before then, but I was at work all day so just do what works for you!

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

I am always looking for a good crock pot recipe. I've tried tons, and I can't say they've all turned out great, but this one definitely did!

My grandma makes home-made chicken and dumplings for us all the time, and my husband actually said these were BETTER THAN GRANDMA'S! Shhh!!! don't tell :) Thankfully she has no idea about anything computer related so hopefully my secret is safe with you...and the world wide web.

I saw this recipe on pinterest from confessions of a cookbook junkie, and knew I had to try it.




*photo from Jessica Shuler


I changed a few things because I am a picky, picky person but it still came out wonderfully.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings Ingredients

 

 

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

Onion flakes

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp Oregano

2 cans chicken stock

1 can Pillsbury Grands! Buttermilk biscuits

Directions:

 

Put everything except the biscuits into the crock pot.  Cook on low 6-8 hours until chicken is done.  When chicken is done, shred it with two forks.  About an hour before serving, tear or cut the biscuits into small 1 inch pieces.  The original recipe called for 2 cans of biscuits, but I only used 1 can and it was plenty dumpling/chicken ratio for us! Toss the pieces into the crock pot and stir gently.  If it feels too thick, you can add a cup of water or more chicken stock.  Allow to cook for up to an additional hour to let the biscuits cook. 

4 chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

Meatball Pizza

My grandmother's 75th birthday was last week, and my mother threw her a big surprise party with the whole family...even some from out of town! Along with the party came lots and LOTS of leftovers....mainly meatballs. My sister made the meatballs, and after seeing how many were left over, I'm certain she made enough for 200 people instead of just 20. So what to do with all the leftover meatballs...... Enter one of my new favorite recipe blogs: http://www.plainchicken.com/

It just so happened that Tuesday's recipe was for a meatball pizza! I love it when the stars all align like that!! I had never actually heard of a "meatball pizza" but apparently it's not that uncommon. I make some of my own tweaks to the recipe, and the hubs and I loved it! I actually made it two nights in a row because it was so easy, and I still have meatballs still coming out of my ears.

Ingredients:
1 pillsbury pizza crust (regular not thin)
pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
4 frozen meatballs, thawed and sliced (or left over meatballs in my case!)
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
garlic salt, oregano & parsley
2 tbs butter


Spray your pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray, and roll the dough out to fit the size of the pan.

Melt butter in microwave then add garlic salt, oregano & parsley.  Mix it up and brush it on the pizza dough.

Bake the dough in the oven for 5-8 minutes (if you use Pillsbury pizza dough you do it at 400°).

Take the dough out and put on your sauce, then mozzarella cheese and sliced meatballs.

Then take your ricotta cheese and just dollup little bits all over in between the meatballs and bake the rest for about 10-15 minutes depending on how crispy/dark you want like your pizza. I like mine almost burned to a crisp.... so I think I kept mine in 15 minutes or maybe even more.

Enjoy!

**The first day I made this, I didnt put the butter, garlic salt, oregano & parsley... it still tasted great, so if you need to make it even faster, you can totally skip this step!

***The meatballs I used were party-style meatballs...as in they were originally made in a sweet sauce, not a tomato based sauce, but they still tasted great on this pizza. It even gave it a little sweet hint that was really good!

Crunchy Apple Dip

 

 
I grabbed this recipe from my cousin after she made it for one of my sister's wedding showers a few months ago. It really can't get easier than this! I did change it up a bit but overall, I got the idea from her.... Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Block of cream cheese (softened)
Caramel sauce
2 Chopped up candy bars (Heath, Snickers, etc.)
chocolate chips (optional)

Mix half of the chopped up candy bars with the block of cream cheese, then refridgerate 1 hour (or you can stick it in the freezer for 30 minutes if you're in a pinch).

Shape the cream cheese into a rectangle, and pour just enough caramel sauce over the top to cover it.

Add the remaining chopped candy bars to the top, and chocolate chips if desired.

Drizzle with additional caramel sauce and serve!

This is WONDERFUL to eat with Apples! But I must say, the hubs doesn't enjoy it as much with the chocolate chips...he prefers just the Heath Bar.

Easy Peasy!

ps....I had a hard time picking a photo from all the ones I took, so here are a few more! :P Some with chocolate chips, and  some without.