Dinner Idea

We had a great dinner tonight and it was so easy. I just have to share.

- BBQ Chicken (4 frozen chicken breast, bbq sauce on top, cover, bake at 300*)
- Dill Red Potatoes (chop red potatoes, boil, add butter, garlic salt and dill)
- Corn

Normally, I try to have a green veggie at dinner but it didn't happen today. For some reason all the flavors were just perfect together and we all loved the meal. It helps that it was super duper easy to prepare! This would be heavenly if you could grill the chicken on a bbq with corn on the cob. Yum!

Wheat Crunch

This is a snack I had all the time as a kid. We could buy it in all different flavors: ranch, salted, bbq, salt and vinegar. We recently got a whole bunch of wheat and I'm trying out different recipes with it. My kids and I loved snacking on this one in particular:

- Boil whole wheat grain (not cracked or ground) for about 45 minutes until soft. They are now called "wheat berries." I've heard you can use these as yogurt toppings or add it to ground beef to make it go farther.

- Take your wheat berries and toast them under the broiler in the oven until firm and crunchy. I did this on a cookie sheet. Season as desired.

I tried to just salt the toasted wheat but it wouldn't stick. So, I added butter then salt. It was so good! It tasted a lot like popcorn. Next, I want to try salt and vinegar. I'm sure you could easily add seasoning salt or ranch seasoning. Let me know what you try!

Corn Bread-- and Bacon-Stuffed Pork Chops

This is as good as it sounds! We had garlic mashed potatoes and green beans as side dishes.

6 pork rib or loin chops, 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick (about 4 pounds)
4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 small green bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 cup corn bread stuffing crumbs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp dried marjoram leaves
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Make a pocket in each pork chop by cutting into side of chop toward the bone.

3. Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Stir in onion and bell pepper. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender; remove from heat. Drain. Stir in stuffing crumbs and water until well mixed. Stir in cheese.

4. Sprinkle both sides of pork with seasoned salt, marjoram and pepper. Fill pockets with about 1/3 cup corn bread mixture. Cook pork in same skillet over medium heat, turning once, until brown. Place pork in ungreased rectangular pan, 13 x 9 x 2 inches. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.

5. Bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until pork is slightly pink when cut near bone.


* This is from, Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook

Chicken Mango (x2)

Layer in crock pot:

3-4 frozen chicken breast
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 can black beans, drained
1 container 48oz Mango Salsa (with peaches) from Costco

Cook on low 6-7 hours. Remove chicken, shred it with a fork, return to crock pot and cook 30 additional minutes.

Serve with shredded cheese wrapped in flour tortillas. Add a green salad on the side.

Yeild: 10-12 servings


Mango Chicken Variation:

1 container of Mango Salsa
1 cup brown sugar
Chicken Breasts

Follow same cooking instructions as above. Serve over rice...or in tortillas!

I was given these two recipes but I actually did my own variation. I used 1/2 the container of salsa, 1 can of black beans and 1/2 cup brown sugar. It turned out really, really good! It made plenty for us and another family. Let me know what works for you!

Divine Chocolate Cake.

I just made this and have been eating it all by myself, and have loved every minute of it! I think you could maybe compare it a little to the chocolate cake at Magleby's, but don't quote me on that. It does have that same type of fudgy, cake-like consistency. Hope you like it!

Divine Chocolate Cake

Image courtesy of "Country Living"

Ingredients:
1 small package of instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 bag of chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate)
1 bag of chocolate cake mix (I use Betty Crocker-"Butter Recipe Chocolate" one.)

Mix it all up and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 min. Best HOT out of the oven. I don't usually add frosting, because it is pretty rich without it, but go ahead if you want to!

Top with- Scoop of vanilla ice cream, Caramel Syrup & Chocolate Magic shell over the ice cream!

Enjoy!!

Speaking of Menu Planning...

Here's another fantastic website I just discovered:

Supercook

You add all the ingredients you have at home.

They give you all the recipes you can make right now.

It's pretty sweet!

Menu Planning

One of the blogs that I follow does a weekly menu. They also post recipes and link them to the menu if it is an item that not everyone would know. I really like looking at it to get ideas when I am menu planning. They are not too extreme because these two sisters have families and have to cater to that as well. But they do a good variety and also give suggestions on their sides they put with it. They also have a lot of other fun stuff to look at too! Enjoy :)

sistersstuff.blogspot.com

Easy Chicken Bake

**Courtesy of the cookbook 101 Things To Do With A Slow Cooker by Stephanie Ashcroft. Love this cookbook! I came home at lunch yesterday to put dinner in the crockpot and didn't have what I needed. So I skimmed my cookbook and found this. I had never tried it, but it turned out very yummy and easy.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I did three large)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of mushroom soup, condensed

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1/4 cup parsley, fresh copped, optional

Place chicken in greased 4 to 6 quart slow cooker. Mix together soup, milk, and seasoning. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on high heat 4 hours or on low heat 8-10 hours. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired. Makes 6 servings.

Served with chicken flavored rice, peas, and stawberries.

Whole-Wheat Pancakes

Breakfast is one of our favorite dinners. I found this pancake recipe last year and have used it over and over. I have used different ratios of white and wheat flour and it's all delicious - even when it's all whole-wheat flour. We didn't find it too hearty.

I haven't ever tried the Strawberry sauce. Let me know if it's good!

Speaking of sides, we like to have our pancakes with whipped cream, syrup and fresh fruit (like blueberries, strawberries, or bananas). I usually make scrambled eggs and/or bacon. Then we'll have apple or pear cut-up on the side. If we're really getting into it, we'll make orange julius or strawberry smoothies.

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup non-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• Strawberry sauce, recipe follows
• Confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Preheat a large nonstick griddle or skillet over a medium-low flame.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). In another medium bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, non-fat milk, honey and vanilla.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to combine them. The batter will be somewhat lumpy.

Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to ladle the batter onto the griddle or skillet. Flip the pancake when the top is bubbling and it is golden brown on the bottom. Then cook until the other side is golden brown. Hold on an oven proof plate in the oven until the entire batch is ready. When all the pancakes are ready, cut them into heart shapes with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Ladle about 1/3 cup of the strawberry sauce onto each plate, place pancakes on top and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if using.

Strawberry sauce:

• 16 ounces strawberries, fresh or frozen (unsweetened, thawed)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Puree strawberries to a chunky puree. Heat them in a small saucepan over a low flame, until they are just warm. Stir in lemon juice and maple syrup.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size about 1/3 cup)