Chicken Fried Chicken with chicken gravy and Country Green Beans with Bacon

I have been on vacation for quite a while. My kids started school yesterday and I wanted to treat them to a nice home cooked dinner. That being said. I have only been home a week, and I'm trying to clean up the house from traveling, and my wonderful husband didn't even do dishes while I was away for two weeks. So, I've been trying to dig out of the mess that was and is my house. I don't like having a messy kitchen, it just makes it so hard to get anything done. Especially in my small kitchen. My counter tops have been taken up with mail, dishes, trash, and just stuff... It's been fend for yourself for a few days, while I have been trying to motivate myself to get it cleaned up so I can cook again. I'm back to using plastic and paper for eating off of while I'm trying to dig my way back to normal. I think it also doesn't help that since I sold my kitchen table, I haven't replaced it yet. While I have more room, I have no space. Does that make sense? It does to me. Well. I finally broke down and made a home cooked meal. It was so tasty! I made chicken fried chicken (using chicken breast cutlets) and country green beans with bacon. mmmmm I made extra so I could have seconds and leftovers for lunch today. My husband had two pieces of the chicken. One son had two pieces too... I had one and a half. I made a total of 9 chicken fried chicken's and can I just say, some of the best yet! I think part of what helps them be so tasty is that I brined them for 1 hour before I breaded and fried/baked them. I have a recipe for brining here.

Ingredients for Chicken Fried Chicken

9 chicken breast cutlets

1 brine (can be found here)

2 1/2 cups self rising flour

1 cup corn meal

4 Tbsp seasoning of choice 

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

10 shakes of tabasco sauce

3 tbsp salt (kosher)

3 tbsp black pepper

5 shakes of the cayenne pepper

oil for frying

Directions for Chicken Fried Chicken

Brine chicken cutlets in brine in refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove chicken from brine. Set aside. 

Heat oil in skillet, while dredging chicken cutlets:

Flour Dredge: combine corn meal, self rising flour, seasoning of choice, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. 

Buttermilk dredge: combing buttermilk, egg and tabasco sauce, mix well.

After chicken has been removed from brine, dredge in flour, then buttermilk, then flour again. Set aside. 

repeat until all the chicken cutlets have been dredged. 

check oil to see if it's hot enough by sprinkling a little water in the pan to see if it dances. if it dances then it's hot enough.

*My pan holds three chicken cutlets at a time. 

Preheat oven to 400F. 

While the chicken cutlets are frying about 3 minutes on each side. Until browned. Place foil on a cookie sheet and set aside. After removing browned chicken cutlets from oil. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Once all chicken cutlets are browned from frying. Place cookie sheet with cutlets in the oven to finish cooking for 23 minutes (depending on oven). My cutlets were moist and crispy. 

In a different skillet combine 4 tbsp butter (melt) and 4 Tbsp flour, whisk and then add milk consistently mixing with a whisk until boiling and desired thickness. Add salt, pepper and seasoning to taste. Set aside until chicken cutlets are cooked through. 

Remove cutlets from oven. Serve Warm/Hot. Top with gravy. Enjoy! :)

Country Green Beans with Bacon

Ingredients:

3 cans cut green beans (do not drain)

5-6 pieces cut cooked bacon

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. (the longer the simmer, the better the flavor)

This is so tasty, I love the slight tang and flavor of bacon that are present in this dish. 

Hawaiian Hay Stacks

Tonights dinner comes from my food storage. As I'm getting ready to head on another road trip, I don't want to waste money shopping. I'd rather use it on my trip. Tonight is a use what's in the house kind of dinner. The great thing about Hawaiian Hay Stacks is that you can top it with whatever your family likes. For instance, my kids don't like tomatoes, or much in the way of toppings. It can have peas, fresh celery, tropical fruit, tomatoes, or whatever they want. I've even seen people add olives. not my cup of tea, but as long as you like it, it can go on top. In my opinion, it only requires a few "main" ingredients and then the topping is what ever you want. Here are my main ingredients and my toppings.

Main Ingredients: (Chicken sauce)

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 handful of freeze dried celery
1/4 tsp cumin
a dash of salt
1 can chicken broth
1 can chunk chicken (drained)

Main Ingredient: (Cooked rice)
3-5 cups of cooked rice

After that it's add what toppings you like and enjoy!

Toppings of choice at my house:

mandarine oranges
sweetened coconut flakes
corn
cheese
crushed pineapple
chow mein noodles (kind of a main ingredient - but a topping)

Do you see a theme with it... it's all either yellow or orange. but it's tasty :) My kids love the chicken sauce I made, and can not wait to dish up their own dinner with their toppings. It's summery, beachy and tasty! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. :)

Sweet Pork - Costa Vida, with cilantro ranch dressing

Have you ever eaten at Costa Vida and wondered what they do to their pork to make it so delicious? Or wondered how you can make it at home. I know I have. I LOVE Costa Vida's sweet pork salad. It is my favorite. I get the small it's a TON of food. I wanted one for my birthday but I decided that it was wiser not to spend $7.00 on one small salad. So tonight, I'm making it at home. I had a 6 lb pork shoulder in the freezer and since i'm having company over this weekend, I thought I could make it tonight and serve it again later this weekend. Is that cheating? Well, anyways... i'm thinking tonight will be sweet pork pizza, tomorrow I will have sweet pork salad for lunch and then not sure what to have the other days, but really looking forward to some delicious dinners/lunches with this pork. I have been told that it makes a TON so make sure you freeze some for another day. I haven't tried this recipe before but I'm hopeful!

Ingredients:

6 lb pork roast (pork shoulder or rump works)
water
24 oz coke (I'm using generic cola and added extra to cover meat)
14 oz salsa
3 cups brown sugar

Directions:

Place pork in crock pot and cover 1/2 way with water. cook on high for 6 hours, then remove water, shred pork and place back in the slow cooker, mix together rest of the ingredients, pour over meat and cook another 2-3 hours.

* I have had mine on warm overnight. I had used a frozen pork so it cooked on high for 10 hours. Then I just put it on low for 10 hours with the sauce and it has been in the slow cooker on warm all day. This flavor is so tasty! I'm waiting until the dough is done for the pizza before I turn it off. This is very sweet and so delicious!

Ingredients for cilantro ranch dressing:

1 buttermilk ranch mix packet (dry)
2 cups mayo
2 cups buttermilk or 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup milk (I used buttermilk)
2 tomatillo's (optional)
1 jalapeno, seeded or equivalent slices diced
1/2 - 1 bunch of cilantro (optional you can substitute parsley for cilantro)
1 tbs lime juice (I used lemon juice as I didn't have lime)
1 clove garlic, crushed (I'm using garlic paste as I don't have any fresh garlic or minced garlic)

Directions:
Blend all ingredients with a mixer or food processor. Makes a lot so store in an air tight container.

Verdict: SO YUMMY... it tastes so close to the Costa Vida dish that I don't think I'll ever pay for another salad there again. Well, unless I get lazy and don't have any of this ready. With the dressing and stuff this makes for a perfect duplicate. plus... I think it actually tastes better than the original. If that is possible. Enjoy! I know I am especially with a whole 6 Qt. slow cooker full of yummy sweet pork! MMMMM

Baked Macaroni Casserole with Smoked Turkey Sausage

Tonights dinner was inspired by a dear friend's macaroni casserole. I was going to make it the way she does, but I had to use of some of the stuff in my refrigerator since we are leaving for vacation in a couple of days. So I wanted to use what I had on hand.

I used similar measurements except doubled them since I have 5 people to feed. And they love mac and cheese things. This smells heavenly, and alas, I have yet to try it. It is sitting on my stove, waiting for my dear husband to come home so we can dig in to dinner. I know I'm such a good wife I'm waiting for him. I cooked it in my pampered chef 13X9 stoneware dish. So it will stay warm for 30 minutes. He should be home shortly.

This dish has my kids swarming in the kitchen. Their cheese and noodle detectors must have gone off and are now impatiently waiting for their cheesy noodle dinner.

Ingredients:
Preheat oven 350F

4 cups dried pasta (macaroni, medium shells, penne)
1 pkg smoked sausage (I used turkey)
2 cups shredded cheese
4 cups milk (I used prepared non fat dry milk)
1 can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 vidalia onion
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together, dump in a greased (non-stick cooking spray) 13X9 baking dish, Place in 350F oven bake for 40 minutes.

*Optional - place extra cheese on top 5-10 min before finished baking.

Homemade Fried Rice with Mixed Vegetables

I made orange chicken in my slow cooker tonight. I wanted it to feel like real chinese food... so I made some fried rice. I had never made it before, so like always I searched the web for basic recipes. I found several and read comments on changes other's had made, and then felt confident enough to to make my own. I think this is pretty much my favorite fried rice. It is so tasty, and low sodium as I didn't add any salt to this recipe except for when making the scrambled eggs. I think it also helped that I had plenty of sauce for my orange chicken if I needed any extra flavor. My kids don't usually eat fried rice from the chinese places, even though they order it. Tonight they ate it all up and went back for seconds. They said that it was better because it had corn and green beans in it. I think they are pulling my legs. It's just so good... I hope you like it just as much as I do.

Ingredients

1 bag thawed, mixed vegetables (the one with corn, peas, carrots, and green beans)
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 cup white onion (I had some frozen diced) green onions would be fine too
2 tsp or so of oyster sauce (drizzled on top then tossed for a light coating)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
3-4 cups of cooked rice

Directions:

Scramble in a bowl the eggs, with the salt and pepper. In a Wok or large skillet, heat on high and add the olive oil or vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, scrabble the eggs in the oil, remove and set aside. Wipe out the wok and add in the sesame oil let it get hot. Toss in the rice and stir to evenly spread the oil over the rice. Once the rice has been coated and "fried" with the oil, add in the egg, mixed vegetables and onion. Stirring to incorporate all ingredients. Still over high heat. Then drizzle in the oyster sauce once the vegetables are cook/heated. Evenly distribute by stirring in the oyster sauce to coat the ingredients. Drizzle again with sesame oil for added flavor, toss again. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Verdict...

We all loved it! This is so tasty and looks just like restaurant fried rice. This is an easy dish to prepare. I used my rice cooker to prepare the rice for this dish. It was perfectly cooked. So delicious. If you like take-out chinese. then this is for you. You can add just about anything you like to this dish, shrimp, ham, leftover chicken or beef. Just more vegetables, such as sprouts and cabbage.

Orange Chicken Slow Cooker

Orange Chicken Slow Cooker with Homemade Fried Rice

I don't know if you remember but I love to use my slow cooker. Especially when it's hot outside, or I've got a busy day, or even when it's cold outside. So pretty much anytime. Today is no exception. I have finals this week and so I'm trying to make my life pretty simple. That includes making things in the slow cooker for dinner. I have a hankerin'  (yes - I am Texan) for some orange chicken. Since we are saving every last penny for our trip to the beach next week, I can't very well go out and get some chinese take-out. So, my lucky stand by... check my favorite slow cooker websites such as crockpot365 to see if they've made any chinese food in their crock pots that will help me with my craving... She didn't let me down... She had made orange chicken in the slow cooker... Her's is gluten-free... mine can be made gluten-free. I followed her recipe pretty much to the "T" but I was making for three growing boys who are constantly hungry, so I doubled her recipe, then accidentally added some extra stuff... partly by accident. I was reading the wrong line, but I like it so it works. :) Here's my mishap delicious orange chicken. :)

Ingredients:
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into pieces/chunks (bite size)
1 cup Bisquick mix (can use gluten-free Bisquick mix)
2 Tbsp olive oil (for browning chicken)
1 tsp kosher salt (course ground)
16 oz orange juice concentrate, thawed (I prefer no pulp, but I didn't have any)
6 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp chili sauce

Directions:
Use 4 qt slow cooker for best results -

Dredge chicken pieces in baking mix - shake off excess. Throw away remaining flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on stove & brown chicken on all sides (you may need to do this in batches to evenly brown).  No need to fully cook, just enough to sear the flour and make it stick to the chicken for a nice coating.

Plop chicken pieces into slow cooker.

In a small mixing bowl, combine orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt,  chili sauce and ketchup. mix well, taste, if you need it a little sweeter add an extra Tbsp of brown sugar. For added heat add some extra chili sauce to taste.

Pour sauce over chicken and generously toss coat chicken with the orange mixture. Cook on high 3-4 hours 6-8 hours on low.

Serve with homemade fried rice, white rice, or brown rice.

Verdict:
I had Bryen (my eldest) try the sauce and he says it's better than take-out! Not a bad compliment if I do say so my self. It tastes pretty good. Waiting will be the hard part. But I'm excited about the prospects of chinese at home.

Chicken and Wild Rice with Mushrooms

Tonights dinner is a take on a different crock-pot meal I made a few weeks ago. This one I am adding a can of mushrooms and cream of onion soup instead of the other, to see if it will be even tastier. This was delicious last time I made it. I'm hoping for another good meal. As it's almost 3pm and I'm finally putting it in the crock-pot. It's been a slow summer day, and with it being summer, I don't want to heat the house with the oven and stove. The slow cooker is my friend in the summer more I think than any other time of year. Do you ever feel that way? What is your favorite time of year to use the slow cooker?

Ingredients:
1 can cream of onion soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can sweet corn (drained)
1 6.5 oz can of mushrooms (drained)
1 14oz can of chicken broth
6 oz while rice mix (I used the organic Harvest Medley from Costco)
1 italian dressing dry mix
1 -12 oz bag of frozen crinkle cut carrots
8 chicken tenders (boneless, skinless)

Directions:
Add everything to the slow cooker - cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours until rice is tender and chicken is cooked.

It's just dump and stir, set and forget it.

Easy dinner and delicious.