Condiments

Franks Red Hot Sauce is one of my favorite condiments. It's the base for great, authentic Buffalo wings. I love it on omelets. Fry Sauce is a Utah "thing". The story about it is on the back of the bottle or at http://somedudesfrysauce.com/store/ (and we don't really talk like that in Utah.)

Fake n' Bake

I found this recipe a while back. I made the Fake n' Bake coating mix last week and cooked *chicken tenders with it yesterday for a quick snack after church. It was the first time I had used this. I think it was pretty tasty and quick to use. I also made some oven fries sprinkled with Monterey steak grill seasoning and a little kosher salt. I drizzle Yukon gold potatoes with a little olive oil and baked the fries for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees, turning them after 20 minutes of cooking to brown them evenly.
Fake n' Bake
1 cup finely crushed cornflakes
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon crushed parsley flakes
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon celery salt

Mix and store in an airtight container. Use to coat chicken and pork before baking.

*I dipped chicken breast tenders in an egg beaten with a little milk and vinegar before coating them with the mix. Spray a baking pan with PAM, arrange the chicken tenders with a little space between each. Spray the chicken tenders with PAM to help browning. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown.

Yummy Italian Sandwich

I just made this yummy grilled sandwich. I made it mostly with ingredients I buy at Costco. First I sprinkle some Aspen Mills whole wheat bread with some garlic powder and then drizzled extra virgin olive oil over that. Then I turn the bread over and slathered some sun dried tomato spread on the other side of each piece of bread. I sliced some green stuffed olives and put them on one side. I topped each slice of bread with a slice of Provolone cheese. I put a slice of deli turkey on one side and some spinach leaves on the other. Then I put the two sides together and grilled it on low heat. If you have a panini press that would probably be great to use. A couple of weeks ago I made a sandwich like this but used fresh mozzarella cheese and black olives. That was yummy. It's a pretty rich tasting sandwich. I can only eat half. I save the other half for lunch the next day or for a snack later in the day.

Easter Ham Left Overs

This is a great recipe for that left over Easter Ham. Make sure you use the ham hock, it adds more flavor and richness to the soup. I usually make a smaller batch than this, and for convenience I use canned black beans. I also don't usually have bacon in the house so it's fine to leave it out. It is yummier with bacon, of course!

Black Bean Soup

2 quarts water
1 lb. black beans
½ lb. bacon
1 ½ cups diced onion
1 ½ cups diced carrots
1 ½ cups diced celery, with leaves
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
3 Tablespoons cumin
1 ½ teaspoons oregano
10 cups chicken broth
2 ham hocks (or 1-2 cups cooked ham)
½ teaspoons Cayenne pepper
6 Tablespoons lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garnish with Sour cream
Soak the beans in the 2 qt. water, overnight. Drain. Cook the bacon in a large soup pot. Remove from the pot and drain off most of the fat. Reserve a few tablespoons of the fat to cook the vegetables in. Cook the vegetables, except the garlic and beans, in the pot for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme, 1 T. of the cumin and oregano; cook for 5minutes. Add broth, ham hocks and bacon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 2-2 1/2 hours or until the beans are tender. Remove the ham hocks and scrape the meat from the bones; return the meat to the soup. Add the Cayenne pepper, 2 T. cumin and the lime juice. Stir well. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream. Recipe by Joy Philbin

You Kids, Eat Your Vegetables!

This is a yummy way to get those important vegetable servings in each day. If you're trying to be way healthy and cut down on the fat, you can substitute light mayonnaise and light sour cream, but the flavor takes a big nose dive when you do that. And really, don't use the non-fat and then blame me for how bad it tastes. I suggest you use regular sour cream and mayonnaise and just be a dainty dipper instead of a super scooper. It's also important to make this at least 4 hours before serving. It takes a while for those dried onions to soften up and for the flavors to blend. If your're having a party, it's one of those things that you can make a day or two ahead.

Vegetable Dip

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon McCormick Bon Appetit

Mix all of the ingredients together. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving before serving with your favorite fresh vegetables.

Greek Noodles

This is a Snow family Christmas favorite. It is a great side dish with ham. I also prefer to serve petite peas as the vegetable with the meal because it's yummy to mix the peas with the noodles as you eat. I don't know why they are called Greek Noodles. I'm not convinced there is anything Greek about them. But that's what the Snow family calls them. It's also a very easy dish to put together during the busy holiday season. I have made them with low fat and non fat products and they are just O.K. If you want them to be real good you just have to use the richer stuff. We had a bunch (22 people) of the Snow family over here last night for an early Christmas dinner. I'm glad I doubled the recipe. The noodles were going fast.
Thanks to all of the family who came and to those who helped by bringing food assignments. Thanks to my family here at home who helped with dinner. It was great to spend time together.

Greek Noodles
1 can chicken noodle soup
1- 12 oz. Package, fine or medium egg noodles
3 finely chopped green onions
1 pint cottage cheese
1 pint sour cream
Cook the noodles according to the package directions (Cook the shortest length of time recommended) and drain well. Mix together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the cooked, drained noodles and mix well. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13x2-inch greased, glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover. Bake at 300 degrees for 35-45 minutes. This is a good side dish with ham.

The Weather is Chili

It's snowing outside today. Yesterday was a dark, cold, rainy day. I was wondering what to make for dinner. As I was blogging and ran across a blog that had a photo of a cute blackboard with a dinner menu written on it. It said Chili & Cornbread. So, that's what I made. This is my good basic chili recipe. Last night I made it with some chicken I had previously roasted and then froze in a zip-lock bag. That made it even easier. You can make it just the way it is written, but often I will add more vegetables to it. Last night I added a shredded carrot, a rib of diced celery and some sofrito. Sofrito is a spicy mixture of chilis, onions, garlic and tomatoes, they cook with in Puerto Rico. I made sofrito last week for the first time last week and froze portions in small zip-lock bags. So I thought, "Why not throw some into chili." I don't know if it made a big difference, but it didn't hurt. Any way it's a good basic chili recipe. If you want to hide a few extra veggies in it for fun, go ahead and see what works for you.

Vickie's Chili

1 pound extra lean ground beef,
or cooked, shredded chicken
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tablespoon Worchestershire Sauce
1 can (15 oz.) Western style chili beans
1 can (14.5 oz.) Italian style diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. dry mustard
1 bay leaf
¼ cup ketchup
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
Brown the ground beef and the onion. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on medium low heat until heated through, about 30 minutes.