Asian Chicken and Orzo Salad

We tried this recipe but it was a no-go. Alex and Jasmine really like the orzo pasta so I'm going to try it in other ways.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/asian-chicken-and-orzo-salad-recipe/index.html

Alex making Linguine in Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic Basil Toast

Linguine in Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic-Basil Toast

Ingredients

• 10 oz. dried linguini
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced or 1 Tbsp. bottled minced garlic
• 2 English muffins, split
• 3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 pint small tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or pasta water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup halved, pitted kalamata olives (optional)
• Grated Parmesan cheese; fresh basil (optional)

Directions

1. Heat broiler. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in bowl combine 1 tablespoon of the oil and about one-third of the minced garlic; brush on cut sides of muffins. Place muffins on baking sheet. Broil, 3 to 4 inches from broiler, for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the chopped basil; set aside.

3. In large saucepan heat remaining oil over medium-high. Add remaining garlic, basil, and the tomatoes. Cook 2 minutes; add broth and sugar. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until tomatoes soften. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in pasta and olives; heat through. Sprinkle cheese and basil.

4. Serve toasted muffins with pasta. Top with Parmesan and basil. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts

• Calories 450,
• Total Fat (g) 12,
• Saturated Fat (g) 2,
• Monounsaturated Fat (g) 8,
• Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 2,
• Cholesterol (mg) 1,
• Sodium (mg) 403,
• Carbohydrate (g) 72,
• Total Sugar (g) 7,
• Fiber (g) 3,
• Protein (g) 12,
• Vitamin C (DV%) 24,
• Calcium (DV%) 5,
• Iron (DV%) 20,
• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Jen's Chicken Salad

Easy Lemon Ice.
This was in my free Kraft magazine that I get. It looked cool but wasn't all that spectacular. Easy though!
1 package of Jello Lemon (3 oz)
1 cup cold seltzer
zest and juice from one lemon
Cool Whip whipped topping in a can
6 fresh strawberries

Add 1 cup boiling water to gelatin mix in bowl. Stir for 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Stir in seltzer, zest and juice.
Pour into 9 inch square pan and cover.
Freeze for 3 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Use spoon or fork to scrape gelatin mix into small pieces. Spoon into dessert dishes. Top with 1 Tbsp Cool Whip and one berry.
Serve immediately.

Shrimp Boil (with Greg's help)

I can't tell you how many times I had to replay the blackberry voice messages from Greg to help myself through this -not a complicated recipe - just wanted to make sure I got it right.

Important numbers = 3 and 15
Get your water with onion, potatoes and crab/shrimp boil to a rolling boil.
Add your shrimp.
Return to a rolling boil and leave for THREE MINUTES.
Then take off heat (add ice cubes if you want) and let it sit for FIFTEEN MINUTES.

EAT.

We also added polish sausage to the pot. We laid the newspaper out and everything on the table to make it as authentic as possible.

Homemade Cocktail Sauce

I don't have horseradish on hand but even without it, we did ok

You can make your own homemade cocktail sauce. Here is how..


2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon horseradish
3-4 drops of tabasco sauce
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce


Combine all the ingredients. If you want a little bit hotter, add more tabasco sauce..

Paula Deen's White Bean Chili

This was almost a hit. Bret and Jasmine both liked it. Alex said it wasn't a "re-do".

The recipe called for collard greens but I used spinach instead. Another difference is that in the FoodTV magazine, it calls for cans of navy beans but on the website, it mentions a bag. I think the bag would work better to give it more of a thick consistency.

• Cook Time

  1 hr 45 min

• Level

  Easy

• Yield

  10 to 15 servings

Close

Times:

Prep

20 min

Inactive Prep

2 hr 0 min

Cook

1 hr 45 min

Total:

4 hr 5 min

Recipe Tools:

• Print Recipe
• Get Card
• Save Recipe

x

Select a Card Size

• CARD3x5 card
• CARD4x6 card

x

Add To My Recipe Box

Add To Select Folder: All My Recipes

Or Create New Folder

Please limit to 20 characters

Adding Recipe

Or Do Not Add

Success

This recipe was added to your Folder_Name folder.

Do not show this message again

x

Add To My Recipe Box

Please sign in to add this recipe to your Recipe Box.

or Create your Recipe Box

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried navy beans
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles (fresh or canned)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

Rinse beans well, cover with cool water, and soak for 2 hours. Drain. Place beans in large pot with chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Serve with cornbread, if desired.

Crock Pot Recipes

So if everyone loves crock pots - what are your favorite recipes? Please share!

Aunt Shela's White Corn Salsa

This recipe is best eaten with Tostitos Lime Chips.

2 cans Shoepeg White Corn
1 medium bell pepper chopped
5 green onions chopped
1 small can chopped black olives
7-8 roma tomatoes chopped
1 bottle Zesty Italian dressing
1 4oz can green chilis
1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
Juice from one lime
Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients and serve.

(lots of GREEN ingredients in this) but with the tomatoes and the corn - it is really pretty.

Toaster OVEN - What do you think?

It is so hot here in the summer that we hate to use the oven. I have been debating on getting a toaster oven. I have never had one and so am still on the fence. I hate things on the counter and don't want another appliance cluttering up my counter.

What do you guys think?
Do you have one? Do you love it? What do you cook in it?

Punch - more like expensive Hawaiian Punch

I didn't like this (way too sweet) but the ladies at the baby shower did. To me if you are going to buy all these ingredients, it would be cheaper to just buy Hawaiian Punch. I won't be making this one again.

RAINBOW PUNCH
1 (6oz) package cherry gelatin (Thanks Ronda but this isn't kool aid mix)
1 (12oz) can frozen lemonade
1 (12oz) can frozen orange juice
1 (46oz) can pineapple juice
1 (2 liter) bottle sprite soda
Blend together until gelatin is dissolved with all juices and lemonade; stir in soda and serve.

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Have you ever made these before? Way easy - I made them for a baby shower and they must have been decent because they all got eaten.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/tea-sandwiches-94145.aspx

Crock Pot Enchilada

This recipe was pretty easy. I cut it in half. The presentation was nice but as Bret said presentation is nothin', if it doesn't taste good. Alex said he liked it but I think that was just because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. Bret ate all that was on his plate but I think he was just hungry. I would make it again but I would use more meat and not cook it on high for as long (as I burned the bottom layer or two).
The part that I liked the best was putting al. foil on the bottom and then when it was done cooking, I just lifted it out using the foil.

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (1 1/2 ounces each) enchilada sauce mix
• 3 cups water
• 2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt to taste
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion, or to taste
• 1 sweet red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, minced, or use mild chile peppers
• 5 to 6 large flour tortillas (8-inch)
• 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1 can (12 ounces) refried beans
• your choice of garnishes

Preparation:

First, make foil "handles." Fold a 30-inch long piece of foil in half lengthwise. Place in bottom of a slow cooker with both ends hanging over top edge of cooker.The foil strip will make it much easier to remove the burrito stack when done.

Lightly grease crockpot. In saucepan, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef with onion, bell pepper, and minced jalapeno or mild peppers. Drain off fat. Stir about 1/3 of sauce mix into the browned beef mixture.

Spoon a small amount of sauce into bottom of the slow cooker.

Spread a small amount of refried beans over one of the flour tortillas. Place the tortilla on top of sauce in Crock Pot, tearing to fit if necessary. Spoon meat mixture over tortilla and then top with a small amount of the shredded cheese. Continue layering until tortillas are used or within an inch of top of crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Lift burritos out by the foil handles and place on serving plate. Cut in wedges; garnish with chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, sour cream, sliced ripe olives, or your own favorite combination. Serves 4 to 6.

Baked Ziti from The Neely's on Food TV

This wasn't a big hit. Bret likes spinach so I thought he would at least like it.
At least there was the back up garlic bread - hard to mess that up!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/neelys-baked-ziti-recipe/index.html

Kathy Ganem's Chicken Soup - chocked full of veggies

No pictures of this one but it was easy to make and Bret loved it because of all the veggies.

1 can green chili
1 can corn
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 sliced zuchinni
1 sliced yellow squash
6 cups of chicken broth
1-2 pounds of diced up chicken (I bought a chicken from the deli and let Alex have a few bites and tore off the rest for the soup)
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon sage
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper

In a large pot, mix all ingredients. Cook till food is tender.

Serve with tortilla chips.
In a skillet, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat. Add cut corn tortillas and minced garlic with cilantro. As tortillas crisp, place on paper towel to dry; salt immediately.

Serve the soup with grated cheese, sour cream, chopped avocado too!