Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (Jakob's partial to white meat)
salt and pepper
3/4 c honey
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c minced onion
1/4 c plus 2 tbps ketchup
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp minced or grated fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 c water

Serve with:
Hot fried rice
sesame seeds  and green onion to garnish

Directions:
1. Very lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper and place them in the slow cooker
2. Whisk the honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, canola and sesame seed oil, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes together in a bowl and pour over chicken.
3. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours or until cooked through.
4. Remove chicken from juices and set aside (keeping it warm)
5. Pour the sauce into a sauce pan and add corstarch to thicken.
6. Garnish Chicken and serve with fried rice.

Notes:
Quick prep, Flavorful, Sweet, Tangy. Easy go to meal. 

Ribs

This is all dependent on how many ribs you want:

In Bowl combine:
2 cups BBQ sauce (I usually go with honey something or other)
1 package onion soup mix
1 tbsp minced garlic

Directions:
1. Add liner to slow cooker
2. Place rack of ribs in slow cooker, pour some of the sauce. layer remaining ribs and sauce so each rib is coated.
3. Cook on low for 5-6 hours until meat falls of the bone.

Mom Tobler's Beef Stroganoff

In a large frying pan drizzle approx. 1-2 Tbs. olive oil
Saute':
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 -1 1/2 lbs of Beef Sirloin steak or round Steak
when the onions are golden and the steak is almost brown
reduce the heat and add about a Tbs. minced garlic (garlic browns/burns so easily)

Add:
season salt (a few generous shakes)
ground pepper (be generous here also)
Worcestershire sauce ( a couple splashes.)

This is a good point to cover it and reduce the temperature to lowest setting and just let the meat simmer in juices that are in the pan while you fix the salad, set the table or even start cooking the pasta, so the meat can tenderize and absorb the flavors of the seasonings.
(if there are no juices, add the beef broth, but not the flour paste, at this point)

In a separate small saute' pan:
Saute' mushrooms in a chunk of butter (1-2 Tbs.)
Sprinkle with a little garlic salt or powder
As the juices cook out of the mushroom, pour it (the juices) over the meat.
When mushrooms are done... Set them aside.

To the meat add :
2 1/2 cups beef broth or re-constituted beef bullion.
1 Tbs. flour made into a paste with 1/2 cup water
turn up the heat to medium, cook and stir until the broth is thickened.
Taste the gravy at this point and add salt if desired. (the bullion usually makes it salty enough)

Add the saute' mushroom to the meat at this point
or serve them separately is somebody has mushroom issues.

Add about 3/4 cup sour cream (a couple big scoops) to the gravy
Stir until smooth and gravy is reheated (But don't let it boil).

Serve immediately over hot buttered egg noodles and top with sauteed mushrooms (if they aren't in the stroganoff already.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Chicken Salad

  Ingredients:

2 cooked chicken breast halves, chopped

1/2 cup mayonnaise, or to taste 

2 green onions, chopped or 1/4 white onion

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries (such as Ocean Spray® Craisins®) 

1/4 green apple

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste

1 drop of mustard

sliced grapes (optional)

Directions

1. Mix together the chicken and mayonnaise in a bowl, stir to coat well, then stir in the green onions, dried cranberries, apple, pecans, lime juice, salt, pepper, and dill weed. Serve immediately, or refrigerate several hours or overnight (the flavor just gets better).
2. Place on lettuce leaf or tortilla shell to make a wrap. 

Notes: 

Perfect lunch time meal! Fresh

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnut
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 sticks celery

1/2 bag of coleslaw mix
4 -5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1 -2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions:
1. Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
2. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
3. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
4. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
5. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
6. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
7. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
8. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
9. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
10. As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
11. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
12. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
13. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
14. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
15. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
16. Top with"Special Sauce".

Notes:

I think I could eat these every day!

Steak/ Chicken Fajitas

Serves: 8

Yield: 8 fajitas

Ingredients:
3/4 lb top sirloin steak
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 flour tortillas (8 inch/20 cm)
1 -2 onion, we usually use approx. 1-2 depending on size (however much you like,enough to make a good mix with the peppers)
2 small sweet peppers, of your choice (green, red, or yellow)

Toppings

salsa
sour cream
shredded cheese
chopped tomato

Directions:

1. Slice steak into thin strips.
2. In bowl, mix together 1 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, hot pepper flakes, black pepper & salt.
3. Add beef strips and stir to coat, set aside.
4. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in 350° oven for 5-10 minutes or until heated through.
5. Cut onions in half lengthwise and slice into strips, cut your peppers into strips.
6. In large non stick skillet over medium high heat, heat remaining tablespoons of olive oil.
7. Add onions & peppers stirring for 3-4 minutes, until softened; transfer to a bowl and set aside.
8. Add beef to skillet, cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until they lose their red color.
9. Return onions and peppers to skillet; stir for about one minute.
10. To serve, spoon a portion of the beef mixture down the center of each tortilla, top with your desired toppings , fold bottom of tortilla up over filling, fold the sides in, overlapping.

Notes:

DELICIOUS! Quick, simple, slight burn but not too hot. Amazing flavor!

Lasagna Rolls

8 lasagna noodles

1/2 pound lean ground turkey/ beef

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 onion

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 egg- I always forget

1/2 cup ricotta cheese- Optional (Jakob didn't like it)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 T fresh basil, chopped

1 1/2 T fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  When it reaches a boil, salt liberally and drop noodles.  Stir occasionally and cook to just al dente.  You want to leave them slightly more firm since you'll be baking the pasta.  Drain noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add turkey and brown.

In a separate pan add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add 1/2 the basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg.  Add ricotta, Parmesan and remaining basil and oregano and stir together.  Spray pan lightly with cooking spray.  Add enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.  To assemble, on a drained noodle, add a spoonful of ricotta mixture.  Top with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up.  Place seam side down in pan.  Continue until you've used all the noodles.  Top each with a little more meat sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining crushed red pepper flakes.  Bake approximately 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Notes:
- I season my meat more with Italian seasoning & seasoning salt
- I also season my crushed tomatoes before I add them. Or I simply used "Italian Style" Tomatoes
- I keep my meat and tomatoes separate so I can add the left over tomatoes and pour them over the top.
-Assembly. Take one noodle and sprinkle with Mozzarella and Grated Parm. Add meat and tomato. Roll up. Add more meat. Roll up.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chicken Breading:

• 3-5 chicken breast
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup canola oil

Rinse chicken, trim off fat or extras and then cut into 1 inch cubes. season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken into cornstarch and coat all the way and then into eggs. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken until browned. Place in baking dish. 3 chicken breasts can be in a 9x9 but 5 chicken breasts fits better in a 9x13.

Sauce:

• 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

Whisk until smooth. Then pour evenly over chicken. Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides and then put in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. turn chicken and then cook for 15 more minutes.

 

Notes:

Next time double bread the chicken, they weren't very crispy.  Yummy, easy, totally a do again.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs

Ingredients:

32 oz. package of precooked, frozen meatballs (you could use turkey meatballs)

13.5 oz can of unsweetened pineapple chunks (put juice aside)
1 large green pepper, diced
1 cup of brown sugar

2 Tbl. cornstarch
2/3 cup of white vinegar
2 Tbl. Soy sauce

Directions:
Place meatballs in crock pot and top with green pepper and drained pineapple chunks.  In a separate bowl, mix reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce.  Pour sauce over meatballs, pineapple and green peppers.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through.

Notes:
Fast, yummy, add more veggies!