Chicken n' Dumplings

3 bone in, skin on chicken breasts (Remove the skin of ONLY 1 chicken)
salt
pepper
32 oz box of chicken stock
11/2 cups water (give or take)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
dash of cayenne (literally a dash)
1 TBS fresh minced parsley
about 1/2 tsp sage
2 TBS butter
4 tubes of Phillsbury country biscuit (the cheap ones that come in a for pack, small biscuits)

place the chicken, stock and water (you may have to add more water, just make sure it covers the chicken) in a big pot and boil on med heat until it starts to simmer, then turn to low and let it continue to simmer for about an hour and a half (just makes it more tender the longer you simmer)

remove chicken and place on a plate to cool (remove skin and poke holes so it cools faster)

Add remining ingredients (except biscuits and chicken) to the top and continue to let it simmer...u can turn it up to about medium low.

unwrap biscuits and take one at a time and smash it to flatten a little and cut into 6-8 pieces and drop into simmering water.

Once chicken has cooled shredd and return to the pot (discard skin and bones)

Simmer for a little while longer until it thickens. If it doesn't thicken then do a slurry, but it was really thick for me.

This is a really really good recipe. U absolutely must use chicken w/ bone and skin to begin with or its not as yummy. I've tried to cheat but it doesn't work as well. This is a good base recipe and if u want to add veggies then by all means go for it! My picky fiance won't eat it if it has veggies in it!

Salisbury Steak- AR

This is a recipe I found on AR that I tweaked a little. It was actually really good. Christopher gave it a 4, but said he would like it in the dinner rotation.

Everything in red are things that I added to the recipe.

1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup panko crumbs

1tsp parsley flakes

1 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tsp garlic powder

5 sliced mushrooms

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix together 1/3 cup condensed French onion soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, parsley, garlic, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Shape into 6 oval patties.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown both sides of patties. Pour off excess fat.
In a small bowl, blend flour and remaining soup until smooth. Mix in ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, garlic powder, and mushrooms. Pour over meat in skillet. Cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

***You have to double the sauce in this recipe. I served this with rice and it was plenty of gravy for just for just the patties, but not even close to being enough for the rice.

The sauce is delicious. I need to fiddle around w/ the patties a little bit, but the sauce is amazing!

Really Easy Cauliflower

This is really yummy and really healthy. I cut a head of cauliflower into small pieces and boiled it in salt water for about 20 minutes until it was tender.

Once it was done I transferred it to a serving bowl and tossed it with about a tablespoon of McCormick Vegetable Supreme sprinkle stuff. Toss it around and serve warm.

Soooo no butter, no extra salt and it tasted delicious!

Here's a picture of it in case you have no clue what I'm talking about. It's also good on almost any veggie.

Cathy's Banana Bread- From AR

This actually came out very good. Im not a big banana bread fan, but this was good. Christopher liked it as well.

The only change I made was to add a tsp of cinnamon and subed 1/3 of the sugar for brown sugar


1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup margarine
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan, or two 7x3 inch loaf pans. (I used a bunt pan, it took about 45 minutes to bake)
Combine banana and sour cream. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and banana mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; stir into the banana mixture. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan or pans.
Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Beef Stew

This was the best beef stew I have ever had/made in my entire life!!!!

2 LBS stew meat

3 TBS flour

2-3 tbs veg oil

pepper

2 cups beef broth

2 cups water

1 envelope of GOLDEN onion soup mix

1 TBS garlic powder

1 TBS parsley flakes

1 Bay Leaf

6 Russet Potatoes Chopped

3 Carrots chopped

Heat the oil in a big pot to medium high heat

Toss meat in flour and pepper

brown the meat in oil until most of the sides are brown

add beef broth and water and turn the heat up

add the soup mix, garlic, parsley, and bay leaf simmer for about 30 minutes

add potatoes and carrots and simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft

remove bay leaf

serve w/ rice and cornbread

Spicy Spaghetti w/ Meatballs and Garlic Biscuits

Remember the post earlier where we made meatballs and froze them? Well I used those meatballs for this recipe and they were FAB!

Place frozen meatballs on cookie sheet and bake 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

Make Sauce:
10 oz Ragu Traditional Sauce
2 TBS of olive oil
1 TBS minced onion
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1TBS fresh minced parsley
1 tsp brown sugar (maybe add a touch more)
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder (I know, but it needed more!)
1/4 tsp oregano flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1 box of angel hair pasta cooked


heat olive oil and add onion and cook until almost translucent and then add garlic and cook for a second or two.

add everything else and simmer for about 20 minutes.

take the meatballs out of the oven and add to the sauce mixture and simmer for another 20 minutes or so.

I sprinkled w/ a touch of cheese for the photo opt! :)


Garlic Biscuits

Refrigerated Biscuits
2 TBS butter
1 tsp garlic powder
dash of parsley

cook the biscuit according to package directions
nuke the butter, parsley, and garlic for about 30 seconds to a minute until its melted
right before the biscuits are done pull them out and pour the butter mixture on top and thrown them back in for a minute to brown.

They taste so good!

The Famous Mandoline

Meet my Mandoline! Its the best thing since...umm....since my garlic press!!! :) I got it from Christopher for Christmas. And it's red!

Meatballs

These are raw in the pictures, but they were on their way to the freezer so I could have 'homemade frozen meatballs'. Anywho.

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp fresh minced parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground sage
5 cranks pepper mill
salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 TBS worcestershire sauce

Mix it all and shape into balls.

To freeze:
place on a baking sheet making sure they don't touch and freeze.
once they are frozen you can vaccume seal them in a zip lock bag

To bake:
350 until they are done :) I haven't made them frozen yet, but raw they only took about 10-20 minutes.