Chicken Fried Rice by Alex

My husband is obsessed with Chicken Fried Rice, so I tend to make it at least once a month! Also it is another one of those few times I can get my daughter to eat meat! I am a huge YouTube junkie, and I found this on there, I have tweaked it to our taste buds and you can too! 

The ingredients we use are as follows:

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Soy Sauce (to your discretion)

Oyster Sauce ( to your discretion)

2-3 cups of FRESH chopped broccoli

3 eggs

2 cups of 1 day old refrigerated white rice(important to be cold rice!)

2 cups of chopped mushrooms

1 cup of shredded carrots

2-4  cups of bite size pieces of chicken

You will cook in 1 POT & you will need a big bowl, also a mug.

Put your burner on medium high. add 1/2 tablespoon of oil and add in all of your chicken, also add in 6 shakes of soy sauce and about a teaspoon of oyster sauce. Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink on the inside of the largest piece. (any extra sauce/juice will need to go into the mug)

Put the chicken away into the bowl I mentioned above. Next saute your mushrooms and once those are about  done add 1/2 tablespoon of oil & and add the broccoli & the carrots into the pan with the mushrooms, ad 2-3 shakes of the soy sauce and at 1/2 a teaspoon of oyster sauce. I only cook those a little bit bc we still like a crunch on our veggies, but cook them as long as you wish.(any extra sauce/juice will need to go into the mug this time however leave just a little for the eggs to be cooked in)

Place those into the same bowl that the chicken got put in. Crack your 3 eggs into your pot and quickly scramble those, once those are done put them in the bowl as well.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pot and get your cold, left over(day old) rice and add it in, use all the extra sauce that you have stored away in a cup to season the rice with. Add in a little at a time, you don't have to use all of the sauce bc it can make the rice sauggie. Stir Fry the rice, it doesn't have to get black, just stir it and cook it as much as you like the longer you cook it the drier it will be. I suggest tasting the rice at different stages to see if it is at the tenderness you prefer.

Once the rice is cooked to where you like it add in all the veggies and mix it around. Taste it and if you think you need to add any of the extra sauce you can or you can just add more soy sauce!

Hope you enjoy this as much as my family does, it cooks really fast and you can be done with this entire thing start to finish in about 10 minutes!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Chili by Melissa

I saw this recipe on GMA one morning and couldn't wait to try it. It seemed so simple and yummy!! You can find Stephanie O'Dea's Chicken Enchilada Chili here.

11/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce (I used red)

2 (14.5-ounce) cans tomatoes with seasoning (your choice: I used one Rotel and one Hunt's diced tomatoes)

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans with juice (Stephanie uses pinto or kidney beans)

1 onion, diced

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tbsp. minced garlic

11/2 pounds frozen or thawed chicken (thighs, legs, breasts—your choice)

shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream for serving (optional)

In your crockpot, pour in the enchilada sauce, tomatoes, black beans. Drop in the onion, chili powder, garlic, and cumin. Stir. Push the chicken pieces down into the liquid, put the lid on, and set to low for about 6 hours for frozen chicken, 4 hours for thawed. Once chicken is cooked through, shred with a fork.

Top with cheese and sour cream if you prefer. Its that easy!! And its super delicious!!

King Ranch Chicken by Melissa

King Ranch Chicken is a go-to quick and easy meal for us. You'll find its the perfect meal when you have a million things you need to do at home because it doesn't take much attention. I got my recipe from Allrecipes.com. You can find it here. This is how I made ours.

Chicken:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Pepper
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning
Cooking spray

I sprayed the chicken with cooking spray and then seasoned both sides with pepper and Mrs. Dash. Popped in the oven at 400 degrees for 30mins.


Once it was done, I cut it into bite size pieces.

The onion is LARGE so I only used half of it.

1/2 chopped onion
3 c. shredded cheddar
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 can rotel
1 bag chips


Crush the chips and layer them on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish (you could probably go smaller unless you're doubling this recipe - which I wish I'd have done). In a bowl, combine the chicken, 1.5 c. cheese, the soups, and the rotel. Pour over the chips. Top with the remainder of the cheese.


Pop it in the oven on 350 for about 15 minutes; just long enough to get everything warm and gooey.


Enjoy!!


P.s. It smelled so good and we were so hungry that I FORGOT the finished product picture! I'm so sorry!!!

Turkey and Stuffing Meatloaf by Melissa

Hey friends! This summer has been awfully nuts so here's a meal to get you back to feeling wholesome and good. I base this recipe on the Allrecipes Meatloaf with Fried Onions and Ranch Seasoning. I make it the way its written usually, but this time I was short on a few ingredients so I winged it. It was still FABULOUS. I will write it like I made it last night.

Missing the meat, of course. :)

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 packet of ranch dip seasoning
3 eggs, beaten
1 pkg of stuffing mix
1/3 c. ketchup
1/3 c. fried onions (its all I had left)


Mix all the ingredients together making sure they are well blended. Put in a loaf pan and put in the oven at about 400 for 45-60 minutes. It TRULY depends on how well your oven cooks. I made this in my mom's at 350 for 60+ minutes and ended up putting it on 425 for another 30 minutes.




Going in!

 Melissa's almost famous mashed potatoes:
5-6 russet potatoes (enough for your family)
4-6oz. heavy whipping cream
1 stick butter
salt, pepper, garlic powder

Peel and and quarter potatoes. Boil for about 20 minutes (or until mushy). Add butter and cream, 1/2 tbsp of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mash and stir. Finish seasoning to your liking. This is a good base recipe. You can also add cream cheese, real garlic, parsley, sour cream, bacon, cheese. Whatever you like! Get creative. And then post what you did different so we can all try it!


I also served this with some croissants and some canned corn.

Enjoy!

Beefy Rice w/ Mushrooms by Alex

Ok so this is a meal in my house...My husband loves it and it is probably one of the only times you will see my 2 year old eat meat! I like to consider this kind of a "goulosh" It's super easy and pretty yummy! But best of all it requires 3 ingredients!

So easy might I add, I forgot to take pics of those 3 ingredients! lol

Ingredients
1 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 bag of boil in bag white rice
1 can of cream of mushroom

Boil your rice as directed on the box and set aside when done

Brown your meat and add whatever seasoning you normally do. (I typically do s dash of garlic powder salt and cumin)

Once your meat is done, drain any grease, add the cooked bag of rice and the can of cream of mushroom. warm it all together until the cream of mushroom isn't so thick and viola! Easy peasy dinner! Hope you enjoy!

*I've never made sides with this, we usually just eat it with a slice of bread or dinner rolls.



Easy Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches by Melissa

Hey friends,

This is the easiest meal you will ever make... EVER!

3-4 frozen skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle of Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce
Sliced swiss cheese
Hamburger buns

Put the frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot and cover with half a bottle of the wing sauce. Put on low for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender enough to shred with a fork. Shred chicken about 30 minutes before serving time.

Toast buns, top with swiss cheese, add shredded chicken. You can also add lettuce, tomatoes, sliced white onions, avocado, mayonnaise, sour cream, or mustard.

Serve with potato chips!

Its easy, fast, and great for those busy nights that all moms have!

Enjoy!
Melissa

Parmesan and Sage Porkchops by Kayla

I am not a huge fan of porkchops but every now and then I will whip up this delicious recipe!

What you will need:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 pork loin chops

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. In another small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, sage and lemon peel.

Place egg in shallow bowl.

Coat pork chops with flour mixture, dip in egg, then coat with bread crumb mixture.

Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a skillet, brown chops in oil and butter for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Bake uncovered at 425 degrees F for 10-15 minutes

I usually serve with a vegetable and either homemade mac and cheese or a pasta.

Enjoy!!!

(crock) Pot Roast w sides

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried oregno

1 tsp garlic powder

1tsp onion powder

1 stp salt

1tsp pepper

2 tsp olive oil

4 lb roast cover w water

cook on low for 8 hours(perfect for all of you working moms and dads! throw all this in before work and dinner is ready when you get home!)

For the mashed potatoes, I used Betty Croker instant...my husband is OBSESSED with instant, because it reminds him of his grandma! Today I used HEB's Super Sweet Corn, you just microwave-steam it in the bag and it's done, we just added a little salt and pepper!

Hope you enjoy!!

**On a side note, we ate all the sides this day, so with the extra meat, the following day I put it in a sauce pan and added 1/2 a cup of BBQ sauce and warmed it all together and we ate BBQ sandwiches!)

Stuffed Bell Peppers and Non-Traditional Potato Salad by Melissa

I was trying to find a fun recipe for me and the hubs to try while the kids are gone to their Dad's and we decided to try stuffed bell peppers. We've done stuffed everything else, so, why not?

1 box Zatarrain's dirty rice - prepared. We used ground venison, but you can use ground beef, sausage, or turkey! All are very yummy!
1 onion
garlic salt, pepper, chili powder - whatever seasoning you like - taste as you go.
1 can rotel tomatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 green bell peppers

Heat the oil in a small skillet on medium high heat. Meanwhile, dice the onion. Once the oil is warm, saute the onion until translucent. I like to let them get a little brown. Drain the oil and then dump the onions into the prepared dirty rice. Add the can of rotel and season to your liking. We added more chili powder for a spicy flavor.

Cut the top of the bell peppers off, keeping the tops. Rough cut the insides out - it doesn't have to be perfect. Stuff the bell peppers with the rice mixture. I squished mine down tight to make sure they were really stuffed. Lay the tops on.

Grill the bell peppers over indirect heat for about 15-20 minutes. Once the skin gets a little wrinkly and soft, they are done. Keep a close eye; you don't want them to get squishy.

You can serve them with some chopped cilantro on top and/or a dollop of sour cream! SOOO YUMMY!!

Melissa's Potato Salad
Okay I didn't do this but I learned that you should from making this... PEEL the potatoes!!

6 medium russet potatoes - quartered, PEELED, boiled about 20 minutes, and drained
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2-3 chopped green onions
2-3 chopped sprigs of mint
seasonings - again, whatever you like. I used about 2 tsp each of garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

Mix the sour cream and mayonnaise with a splash of milk so it isn't so thick. When its really thick, it mashes the potatoes and we want to keep them cubed. Add the seasonings to the sour cream and mayo mixture. Stir into the potatoes. Top with onions and mint and give it a quick toss.

This is one of the best dinners I've ever made! And it was fun! I hope you try it!!

Melissa

Sloppy Joes by Kayla

Sloppy Joes are one of the easiest, most delicious recipe's known to man. 

What you will need:

2 pounds ground beef

2 medium onions, chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 cups ketchup

1 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons mustard

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

hamburger buns ( I like to buy the ones from the Kroger Bakery)

                                                (I forgot to add the ground beef and buns, sorry!)

What to do:

In a large skillet, cook beef, onions and garlic over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the ketchup, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, Italian seasoning, onion powder and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Serve about 1/2 cup meat mixture on each bun.
Serve on buns.

I use potatoe chips as a side, but have also made potatoe salad

Enjoy!!!