Sweet and Sour Chicken

My family and I love Chinese food and you can say that it is hard to find a recipe that turns out just like it tastes at a chinese restaurant. Well I finally found one!! this tasted so good. I found this recipe at My Kitchen Cafe. I will be adding this to our dinner rotation. Mine does not look as good as hers but hey it tasted good and maybe with a little practice it will look better next time plus I was in a little rush when making it. If you love Chinese you must try this!!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

3-4 chicken breast, cubed
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch or flour
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup oil

Salt and pepper the chicken. Beat the eggs in a bowl and dump in the chicken pieces mix till all coated. In another shallow dish place the constarch(or flour) and coat the egg washed chicken pieces till well coated.Fry in the oil until browned all over but not cooked clear through. Place in a single layer in a 9x13 inch pan.
Then mix the sauce ingredients all together well.
Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 T. ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar~i used red wine but white vinegar would work also
1 T. soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic(use 1 tsp garlic salt for extra sauce)

Pour this mixture over the browned chicken and Bake at 325 for 1 hour. Turn the chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced~about ten minutes. Pour extra sauce over rice and cooked chicken.

Note:do not put more sauce on the chicken while it cooks or it will not come out crispy it will be soggy. I made extra sauce and put it over the chicken and rice on our plates and it was great.
Note: for the sauce on the chicken in the oven I used fresh garlic but for the extra sauce I used garlic salt like the original recipe said.

Chicken Taco Soup

I made this chicken soup the other night and the kids and I really liked. It was simple to make because you throw everything in and cook it in a crockpot. If you are short on time and need to fix a meal and forget about it this is perfect~especially with cold weather on its way!!!

Chicken Taco Soup

1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (16 oz) jar any salsa
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans black beans
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 T. dried parsley
1 T. chili powder
1 pkt. Taco seasoning
1 onion, chopped
1 T-2T. minced, garlic
3-4 chopped chicken breasts
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot, except the corn. Cook for 5-6 hours on high. 30 minutes before you eat. dump the bag of corn in and cook till corn is heated through. Serve with cheese, avocados, limes, and tortilla strips!!!
I make my own tortilla chips/strips by frying cut up corn tortillas in oil till browned~they are so much better than store bought chips!!

What a great fall supper!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Duos

I found this recipe over at Picky Palate. YOu can say that I love cookies. I love to bake them and make all different kinds. So sorry if you are all sick of cookie recipes. If you like Peanut butter and choclate these are a must try. They were so Yummy!! Thanks to Jenny over at Picky Palate for creating them. I added the peanut butter chips to the peanut butter batter because I thought it was a great addition!!

Chocolate Peanut butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookie adapted From Picky Palate
1 cup peanut butter
1 cups sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter chips

Mix ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. set aside

Chocolate Chocolate chip cookie adapeted from Picky Palate
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup baking cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter with the sugars until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix in all the dry ingredients until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Take a Tablespoon of Peanut butter dough and a Tablespoon of Choco Chocolate chip dough and gently press together to form a not so perfect ball of dough. Don't press and roll too much just stick them together and place on a greased cooked sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Let cool on the cookies sheet for 5 minutes before removing!!

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

This recipe is so easy and yummy!! There are 7 ingredients in it and you dump it all in a crockpot and let it cook all day!! Here is a recipe for those of you who like to fix it and forget it!! May kids ate this up quick!!

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts(thawed or Frozen)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup lemon lime soda but I only had an apple soda in the fridge so that is what I used(I don't think it matters what kind other than don't use grape/mountain dew or orange
2-3 T. minced garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper

Place chicken in the crockpot. Mix all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and dump over chicken in crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours. About 10 minutes before serving it. I thickened the sauce with cornstarch because we like a little thicker sauce. I cooked mine with frozen chicken breast on high for about 5 hours. I shredded the chicken a little bit with a fork also. You can leave it whole if you like big chunks of chicken. I cooked my rice with a can of coconut milk in it. I replaced some of the water used to cook the rice with the coconut milk. It gave the rice a good flavor. I also added Sriracha sauce (hot chili sauce)on top of my chicken and rice because I like it spicy. If I didn't need to serve it to my kids I would have added it to the crock pot.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These were so yummy especially if you love peanut butter and chocolate!!! I got this recipe from Coleen's recipes. I adapted it a little bit. I am sure they are great the original way but I love butter in my cookies and she used crisco so I changed that and they still turned out wonderful. These are so easy to make but yet so yummy!! They are a great bake sale item or a great cookie to put in your child's school lunch!!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies adapted from Coleen's Recipes

1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 -3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
36-48 peanut butter cups or caramel cups(I used both and I prefer the caramel cups)

Preheat oven to 350.Cream the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour and baking soda and mix well. Pat the dough into a regular size muffin tin till each cup is half full with dough. Bake for 10- 11 minutes. Take out and immediately press a peanut butter cup or a caramel cup in to each cookie. Let cool in the muffin tin for about 3- 5 minutes. Wait to eat them until the cup sets back up or eat them my favorite way:

When the chocolate is still gooey!! I think that this idea would be good also if you made a chocolate dough and then put mint cups in the middle or even the caramel ones!!!

Cheesy Garlic Swirls

Now don't those look so yummy!! Well let me tell you they were so good. They are so so bad for you but oh so tasty. I found these over at Our Best Bites and let me tell you they did not disappoint!!! I made these as a main dish one Friday night for family movie night and we ate fresh veggies and fruit with them but I think they would be great along side your favorite soup or pasta dish!!

Cheesy Garlic Swirls

dough:
1 T. instant yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 tsp salt
4-5 cups flour
3 T. vegetable oil
1 egg yolk
2 T. cold water

Combine yeast with one cup flour and set aside. Combine the water, sugar, salt, oil, and egg yolk(save egg white for later) in a bowl and mix until combined. Add 2 cups of flour and mix well. Add the yeast flour mixture and mix for 2 minutes or until well combined. Continue to add the reast of the flour until forms a soft dough that barely sticks to your fingers. Knead for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour.

Garlic butter
1 stick butter, no substitutions
1 1/2 T. garlic bread seasoning
Mix together until well combined.

Mozzarella Cheese, diced pepperoni, ham or veggies of your choice

Garlic bread seasoning
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tsp kosher salt
2 T. garlic powder~not salt
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp basil
2 tsp parsley
Mix all together and store in a spice jar or ziploc bag in the fridge. Use to sprinkle on breadsticks or french bread as well.

After you bread has risen, take it out of the bowl and roll it out on a surface dusted with flour or sprayed with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle that is about 18-20 inches by 6 inches. Smear the garlic butter over the dough. Then sprinkle with the cheese. The original recipe just used cheese but I thought adding diced pepperoni would be good so I sprinkled that on top of the cheese. I think it would be equally good with a few diced peppers or onions as well. Just make it like you would your favorite pizza just don't get too many toppings on there. Keep it simple. Then roll up the dough like you would when you make cinnamon rolls. Then use dental floss or a knife to cut into 12 equal slices. Place each slice in a muffin tin. Cover with a clean cloth and let raise while the oven is preheating to 350 degrees. When the oven is ready, bake for about 20 minutes. Keep a close eye on them because during the last ten minutes you may need to lay a piece of tin foil over the top of them so the cheese doesn't burn. I had too. Pull them out and eat them warm. Serve them with ranch dressing or marinara sauce!!


You must try these they are so yum especially if you are cheese and bread lover like me!!!

Fresh Tomato and Basil Pasta

I found this great recipe from Here. I wanted something light and healthy last week on one of our warm summer days. This hit the spot. I adapted it slightly by adding a spoonful of pesto to it. If you want something light for dinner try this!!!

Fresh Tomato and Basil Pasta
2 large ripe, firm tomatoes, diced (2 cups)
1 T fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 oz your favorite kind of pasta
Parmesan chees
Optional~ spoonful of pesto for each serving (a must have for me)

Mix together the diced tomatoes, chopped basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Let marinate on the counter for 30 minutes. Cook past al dente. Drain and toss with the tomato mixture and the pesto. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top. Enjoy!!!

Gooey Butter Cookies

I have seen this recipe for these cookies all over the blogging world and decided that I had better try them out. These were so easy to make and they were so yummy. My kids and my bro-in law and little nephew loved them. Next time I think I will make them with a chocolate cake mix and see how they turn out. I think they would be good with any kind of cake mix not just yellow. If you want a fast easy cookie you must try these out.

Gooey Butter Cookies
1 (8 0z) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 box yellow cake mix (or any cake mix you like. I think chocolate or a lemon one would be excellent)
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in egg and vanilla. Add the cake mix and stir until well blended. Powder sugar your hand well and Roll the dough into 1-2 inch balls and roll balls thoroughly in powdered sugar. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven and leave on cookies sheet for 3 minutes or more before removing from the pan. They are perfectly crispy on outside and gooey on the inside!!!

Before putting them in the oven. I let my kids help so they smashed the balls before I noticed so the cookies were a little bit flatter when the came out of the oven than I wanted but they still tasted great.