Shredded Barbecue Chicken

This recipe, courtesy of Recipezaar, was a really great, really easy, quick to pull together recipe. (I used the stove top directions.) My sweet Jake said that the flavor wasn't "wow" enough for him but I really enjoyed it and thought the flavor was perfect. It really is simple so what do you have to lose? Regrettably, I don't have a picture! Sorry! The original recipe, including nutritional information, is located here.

SHREDDED BARBECUE CHICKEN
From Recipezaar

4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 1/2 cups ketchup
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
8 buns

CROCKPOT DIRECTIONS: Place chicken breast in the crockpot and cook on high about 3 hours. Stir together all the sauce ingredients. Add the shredded chicken and heat. Serve on buns. (If you want the chicken to be moister you need to cook it on low for 8 – 10 hours.)

STOVETOP DIRECTIONS: Boil the chicken in water on the stove. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients. Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally. Once the chicken is done, shred it with a fork and add to the sauce. Heat through. Serve on buns.

Dunford Potato Salad

This is the famous Dunford Potato Salad that is requested at every party we ever go to. (My mom's maiden name is Dunford.) Unfortunately, there really isn't an "official" recipe... so here is the best I can offer!

DUNFORD POTATO SALAD

6 medium red potatoes, cubed

4 eggs, hard boiled, cut horizontally, vertically, and then sideways (in your hand...)

1 1/2 - 2 cups Mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons Mustard

3 - 4 tablespoons Celery seed

Boil the potatoes until they are tender and then cut into cubes. Place in a bowl and fold in the cut hard boiled eggs. Sprinkle with celery seed. In a separate bowl mix together mayonnaise and mustard. Pour into potato and egg mixture and fold until everything is well combined. Serve immediately or chilled.

*Okay, that is a general idea of the recipe but here is what you look for: 1) Make sure that the eggs are present but not overwhelming. 2) When mixing the mayonnaise and mustard you should be able to taste the mustard slightly, but not too much. The mixture should be faintly yellow, and you should make enough of it to coat the potatoes and eggs very well. 3) The celery seed needs to be uniform in consistency throughout the whole salad. If you need to add more, don't be shy!

General Tso's Chicken

WOW WOW WOW!!! Jake and I are huge fans of chinese food and General Tso's Chicken is Jake's favorite Chinese dish. The verdict? We both LOVED this chicken! There is nothing that I like more when it comes to food than well seasoned chicken and this was phenomenal. Forget paying $30+ for an overpriced Chinese restaurant dish. This recipe was BETTER than any General Tso's Chicken I have gotten anywhere and it was SO easy to make with ingredients I already had on hand! (Okay, so the green onions aren't USUALLY something I just keep stored in my refrigerator, but they were there this time!) Try it! You won't be disappointed!

GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN

1 Lb. chicken breasts (cut into 1" pieces)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. "lite" soy sauce
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice
1/4 c. white distilled vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely grated
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with 3 Tbsp. water
4 green onions, sliced

Dredge chicken in flour and fry in oil over medium heat (in a wok or a skillet) until golden brown and crispy. Drain excess oil. Sprinkle cayenne over the chicken and keep warm on low heat. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sauce ingredients (sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, and ginger) and heat gently. When sauce is smooth and sugar has dissolved, SLOWLY add cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until sauce has thickened to desired thickness. Pour sauce in the wok (or skillet) and stir to coat chicken. Stir in green onion and hot red pepper flakes (optional, but we LOVED the extra kick). Remove from heat and serve.

*NOTE: I cut some of the chicken into small strips for variety and they cooked beautifully. I also didn't have "lite" soy sauce so I used regular soy sauce at just under 1/4 cup. I don't like dealing with fresh ingredients either so I just sprinkled about 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp. of minced garlic in the sauce and used 1/2 tsp. ground ginger.

The Easiest Taco Salad

Okay, let's be real here. How many newleyweds (or oldyweds) with kids have money in abudance AND a lot of time on their hands? I will be amazed if anyone says they do! After a long day of looking after a newborns needs, cleaning house, working out, and teaching piano lessons, I don't have a lot of energy or motivation to put together long recipes with lengthy ingredient lists and obscure ingredients! SO! For all of you in the same boat with me: this is one of our favorite go-to recipes for those nights when we're hungry and want something RIGHT NOW! (Without resorting to fast food.) It takes, at most, 10 minutes to get ready from start to finish and is SO versatile that you can add just about whatever you want to it. The ingredients below are the BAREST OF BARE BASICS to give you a wonderfully tasting recipe at very little cost.

TACO SALAD

1 lb. ground beef

1 packet favorite taco seasoning

1 package iceburg lettuce (with the carrots and cabbage included)
2-4 Tbsp. favorite Ranch dressing

Brown ground beef; drain. Mix in water and contents of taco seasoning packet according to directions on the back of the package. Toss with lettuce and ranch dressing. Serve.

*No. I'm not kidding. That is seriously all there is to it. I like to add some variety now and again with shredded cheddar cheese, tomato, crushed tortilla chips, salsa, corn, etc., etc., etc. Whatever you want to add - throw it in! But what is listed above is really all you NEED! Enjoy! :-)

Sticky Fingers like Wingers!

Yummy! Who doesn't like Wingers Original Sauce? I found this recipe on the internet (can't remember where) and we really enjoy it. I like to double my sauce so that we have some to dip the finished chicken in to. This is really great served with a baked potato! Picture courtesy of this site: FAVORITE FAMILY RECIPES

STICKY FINGERS LIKE WINGERS

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. hot sauce (more or less as desired)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
12 - 16 oz. box frozen breaded chicken tenders

In a saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients, except chicken. Warm sauce, stirring occasionally, while you cook the chicken. Prepare chicken as directed on package in the oven. Toss chicken in sauce and remove with a slotted spoon to a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5 - 7 minutes, or until sauce thickens and becomes sticky.

*Make sure that you use chicken with a crunchy exterior. If you use chicken like chicken nuggets, the breading will just soak up the sauce. It is good to use chicken nugget type chicken if you want to have the sticky fingers on top of a salad.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

Despite what the title may lead you to believe, this soup does not have chicken wings in it - rather it has chicken with the flavor of buffalo wings. We LOVED it. Like, seriously! My husband is not a big soup fan and we ate this up! Below is my modified recipe. The original recipe only calls for a very small amount of hot sauce but you could hardly taste it and so we really turned up the heat!

BUFFALO CHICKEN WING SOUP

6 cups milk

3 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted (10 3/4 oz. cans)

3 cups (about 1 lb.) shredded or cubed cooked chicken

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

2 cups frozen corn (optional) - I added it for more substance

Hot pepper sauce to taste (we used at least 3-4 Tbsp!)

Combine milk and soups in slow cooker until smooth. Stir in chicken. Cover and cook on Low 3-4 hours. Fiftenn minutes before serving stir in sour cream and hot sauce (and corn if you decided to use it.) Cover and contine cooking just until bubbly.

Makes 8 servings. AT LEAST! If you are cooking for just a few people you will want to cut this recipe down because it makes a full crockpot of soup.

*This is REALLY fantastic with some crumbled tortilla chips and cheese on the top!
*Our favorite hot sauce is the Louisiana hot sauce. It has a slight tang to it instead of being just heat.

Skillet Enchiladas

It's been a million years! So it seems... Our place has been under construction and so I haven't had real access to a kitchen while we have been staying with my grandparents. I was so excited to get back home and make dinner again! This was a new recipe I tried and we LOVED it! I got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen - love that site! For a link to the recipe go here.

SKILLET ENCHILADAS
From Real Mom Kitchen

1/2 to 1 pound ground beef (I use the 1 lb)

1/4 cup onion, chopped

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

1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons canned chopped green chilies

Vegetable oil (I use canola)

8 - 10 corn tortillas

2-1/2 to 3 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese, divided

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in the soup, enchilada sauce, milk and chilies. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in another skillet, heat 1/4 in. of oil. Dip each tortilla in hot oil for 3 seconds on each side or just until limp; drain on paper towels. When meat mixture has simmered for 20 minutes, top each tortilla with 1/4 cup cheese. Roll up and place over beef mixture, spooning some of mixture over the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and cook until heated through and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Yield: 8- 10 enchiladas.

*I use flour tortillas (cut in ½ instead of corn tortillas), ¼ tsp. of cayenne pepper instead of the chopped green chilies, and onion powder instead of chopped onion. :-)