Chicken Parmesan

• 6 chicken breast halves- skinned and deboned

• 1 cup bread or cracker crumbs
• 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tsp Accent salt (or less)
• 3/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp Seasoned salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine melted

Dip chicken in butter and roll in bread crumb mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 35 mins.

Nana Grunewald’s Cinnamon Rolls

2 yeast cakes – dissolve in 1/2 cup warm water

Combine:

• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 cup scalded milk

Grandma Cox’s Dilly Beans

Cook young tender green beans 5-10 mins – until tender to bite. Cool.

For each pint:

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dill seed
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 tsp alum or crystal of alum

Butter Tarts

Melt:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup washed currants
• 1/2 cup light white corn syrup
• pinch of salt

Chocolate Eclairs

Serves 12.

Put in a heavy saucepan and bring to full boil:

• 1 cup water
• 1 stick margarine or butter

Orange Rolls

• 1 package yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk warmed
• 2 eggs beaten slightly
• 1/4 cup shortening-oil

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Rub

1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
5-8 chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise

Toss everything in a ziplock bag and shake/rub the  mixture on the chicken until well coated. If you want to marinate it for awhile before you grill it then add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of oil to the bag as well.

Chili Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Ghee or unsalted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Small onion chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can light kidney beans drained
3 cups of water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
a handful or two of kale torn up in bite size pieces or 1-2 cups parboiled green beans
1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil and ghee/butter, add garlic and heat for 30 seconds.
2. Add onion and bay leaf. Cook until onions are softened.
3. Add everything else and simmer until kale is softened. About 30 minutes.

Mango and Sticky Rice

• 2 cups sticky rice, soaked overnight in water to cover
• 2 mangoes

Sauce 1

• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of salt

Sauce 2

• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup sugar

Drain the rice and place in an even layer in a steamer lined with cheesecloth so the rice does not fall through the holes.  Steam the rice on full steam or high heat for 15 minutes.
While the rice is cooking combine the ingredients for Sauce 1.  Remove the rice to a bowl and mix twith Sauce 1 while the rice is still hot.  Set aside.
Peel the mangoes.  Slice in half as close to the seed as possible, then slice each half into 1/2 inch slices.
Put some sticky rice in a bowl with some mangoes on top.
Combine the ingredients for Sauce 2 and either serve it separately or pour over the sticky rice.  Garnish with a sprinklying of toasted sesame seeds and perhaps an orchid or other flower on the side.
Serves 4
(The original recipe has you put the sticky rice on a banana leaf, then in a bowl;  that’s how the Thai’s serve it.)

Note:  If I use coconut milk instead of coconut cream I usually double the sugar or even more.

Carnitas Meal from Cafe Rio

Shredded Pork

• 4-6 lbs pork loin
• 1 16 oz jar salsa
• 1 can coke (optional)
• 2 cups brown sugar

Directions

Put everything in a crock pot and cook on high for 2 hours. Turn to low for about 4-5 hours more. Open it and shred meat and cook on low for a little longer (about 30 minutes).

Rice

• 3 cups water
• 4 tsp chicken bullion
• 4 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 bunch of finely chopped cilantro
• 1 can green chilies
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 2 cups rice

Directions

Add everything to a 9×13 inch casserole dish. Cover with tin foil and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until liquid is all absorbed. Stir it all up before serving.

Creamy Cilantro Dressing

• 1 buttermilk ranch dry dressing package, prepared according to directions
• 2 tomatillos, husks removed
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 1 clove garlic
• juice from 1 lime
• 1 jalepeno, seeds removed (add seeds if you want it hotter)

Directions

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Store in fridge.

Serve the shredded pork, rice and dressing with or without tortillas.

Bran Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups Kelloggs Bran Buds
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 quart (4 cups) buttermilk
• 5 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups Kelloggs All Bran

Directions

1. Mix boiling water and Bran Buds together and set aside to cool a little.
2. Cream sugar and shortening together.
3. Add bran mixture to sugar and shortening.
4. Add eggs one at time to the mixture.
5. Add buttermilk.
6. In a separate bowl sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.
7. Add wet mixture to the flour mixture.
8. Add All Bran to the mix.
9. Store in a covered container in refrigerator. Makes approximately 1 gallon of mix. Do NOT stir again, just spoon into greased muffin tins.
10. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

NOTE: If you can’t fit all of this in your mixer bowl, pour batter into a larger bowl and mix the last 4 cups of bran in by hand. Also this recipe works best if BOTH kinds of bran are used. This keeps for about 6 weeks in the fridge, and seems to improve with age.

These are the best bran muffins ever!!! Thanks for the recipe Raquel!!!

Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups shortening
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 8 Tbsp milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup packed brown sugar

Directions

1. Cream shortening, white sugar, and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well. Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt and flour. (Instead of using a sifter, I use a pastry cutter to mix the dry ingredients. It saves a lot of time.) Add pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Drop from spoon to cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
3. To make frosting: Cook butter, milk and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over warm cookies. (The icing is pretty runny therefore I found it hard to spread the frosting easily. So I put the frosting a small plastic baggy and snipped the end and iced them all at once that way. )

BBQ Chicken Pizza

• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast marinated in BBQ sauce for at least  2 hours
• 1/4 cup barbeque sauce
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• pizza dough for one pizza
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• crumbled cooked bacon (optional)

1. Heat sesame oil in skillet and add marinated chicken breast. Cook 10 minutes on each side OR sear each side then remove from skillet and cut into smaller pieces and return to skillet to finish cooking. Set aside.
2. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with stone inside and let the pizza stone preheat for another half hour.
3. In a small bowl mix the BBQ and marinara sauces together. Spread evenly over pizza dough. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange chicken chunks and onion slices, and bacon, if desired, on top of pizza.
4. Transfer pizza to oven with a wooden pizza peel sprinkled with corn meal OR begin with your pizza dough on parchment paper and transfer pizza with paper into oven. Bake for 8-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your dough or until cheese is bubbling.
5. Once out of the oven and cooled a bit drizzle some BBQ sauce and sprinkle some cilantro on top and enjoy!

Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 3/4 cup warm water

Directions

1. Add yeast and a couple teaspoons of sugar to the warm water  for about 10 minutes until the yeast is bubbly.
2. Add oil to water/yeast mixture.
3. Mix flour with salt.
4. Add water, oil, yeast to flour and salt until mixture is shaggy. Knead on the counter until dough is smooth and not sticking to counter top, adding extra flour as needed.
5. Put dough in a big bowl that has been sprayed with Pam and place in a warm spot to rise until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

This makes enough dough for 3 12-inch pizzas.

BBQ chicken corn salad

• 4 ears of fresh corn cooked and cut off the cob (see recipe for cooking in the microwave)
• Shredded/chopped iceberg lettuce
• chopped green onions
• Chopped cilantro
• Chopped basil
• Chopped tomatoes
• chopped avacado
• crushed baked tostado chips
• boiled or baked chicken, shredded then mixed with your favorite BBQ sauce (to make it faster you can buy a pre-made rotisserie chicken and shred that)
• Juice from one lime

Dressing: a mixture of your favorite ranch dressing and BBQ sauce … about 2/3 ranch to 1/3 BBQ sauce

Serve with fresh lime wedges to squeeze on top of salad if desired

Pot Stickers

• 1/2 pound of ground pork
• 1/2 medium head of cabbage, finely chopped
• 1 green onion OR  1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
• 2 slices fresh ginger root, finely chopped
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 (14 oz) package of small wonton wrappers
• 5 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice vinegar

1. Crumble pork into a large, deep skillet. Cook on medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the pork, cabbage, green onion, ginger, water chestnuts, salt, sugar and sesame oil. Chill in the refrigerator 6-8 hours, or overnight.
3. Place a tablespoon of the pork mixture into each of the wonton wrappers. Fold the wrappers in half and seal edges with a little egg yolk.
4. In large skillet heat 3 tbsp oil. Fry the wontons until they are slightly crisp on both sides. Add water and boil until the water cooks off turning the pot stickers over occasionally. Add the remaining oil to pan and fry the pot stickers until they are crisp.
5. In a small serving bowl, mix soy sauce and rice vinegar. Use as a dipping sauce for the pot stickers.

Serve with jasmine rice.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Fried Chicken

• 3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour (To make your own self-rising flour use this equation: 1 cup flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt)
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 quart oil for frying

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Combine water and cornstarch until cornstarch dissolves.
3. Add oil and egg to water/cornstarch and beat the egg into the mixture.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ones. It should be slightly lumpy.
5. Add raw cut up chicken pieces to the mixture until well coated.
6. Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees. Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels.

*You can freeze the uneaten portion and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

Fruity sweet and sour sauce

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cold water

1. Mix the first five ingredients together in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
2. Place cornstarch in water and mix until dissolved. Stir the cornstarch paste into the juice mixture, and bring to a simmer. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens, about 1 minute.

*If you don’t have enough maraschino cherry juice you can process some of the cherries in a blender with everything else and then heat it on the stove. I’ve done it both ways and they both turn out delicioso

Serve the chicken over rice with the sauce and eat with chopped steamed green peppers and pineapple chucks.

Broccoli Salad

Veggies:

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 head broccoli
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1 package frozen peas

Cut and mix veggies together.

Dressing:

• 2 cups mayo
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (does not need to be fresh)
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mix together and stir into salad until salad is well coated. Best served chilled.

Corn on the cob in the microwave

Cut both ends of the corn off with the husks still on. Do not remove the husks. Place one ear of corn in microwave for 2 minutes or two ears of corn for 3 minutes. Take the hot corn out and put under cold running tap water and peel off the husks.

Julie’s White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

6 cans white beans (or great Northern beans)
1 1/2 tsp garlic
2 tsp cumin
4 cups diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 cans fat-free chicken broth
2 onions, chopped
2 cans chopped chiles
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
24 oz fat-free sour cream

Directions:

Simmer onions and garlic in broth. Add rest of ingredients. Simmer gently one hour. Can serve with freshly chopped green onions and cilantro. It makes a ton and so you can easily half it and still have plenty.

I’ve made this several times for my roommates and they love it. My roommate Kathleen asked for it this morning and so I’m going to make it again tonight. Thanks Julie!