Soyaki Chicken

We marinade chicken breasts in Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce. Then grill them. Then cut them up into strips. I read online that there is a product called Soy-vey, if you can't find Trader Joe's. We also used to make our own marinade, consisting of teriyaki sauce and ginger and it was yummy, but not as good as the TJ's stuff.

I serve this with a plate of mixed stir fry type vegetables (carrots, water chestnuts, onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini) that we cook using this grill wok thing we have (basically a big basket to cook all the vegetables on the grill), and rice. I'm going to try Amanda's fried rice with it.

Alfredo sauce

1-2 cloves of garlic (minced)
butter
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 cups of milk
2T flour
shredded parmesean cheese (or mixture of cheeses)

Melt enough butter to coat the bottom of a medium sized saucepan. Add the minced garlic, sauté until fragrant (don't let them burn!). If you like garlic, add a few cloves, if not, then maybe just one. Add the heavy whipping cream and the milk. Let them warm up. Stir in the flour. Keep stirring it. Keep stirring it. Don't let it settle at the bottom. Keep stirring it.

OK, I know some people start out with an actual roux for this (mixing the butter and the garlic) and I've tried that and it just makes this really lumpy. For some reason, adding the flour after the dairy has worked for me. I went through a thousand batches of inedible alfredo before I finally got it (this was back in Massachusetts when I had nothing better to do than cook anyway).

When it gets frothy (it will get frothy on the heat) move it and dump in some of the cheese and stir it back in, putting it back on the heat again to get it bubbling, then off the heat when it gets too bubly). I use this four cheese blend (in the little plastic containers near the deli) that is delish. I use most of the cheese in the container when I make alfredo.

Serve this over anything. Toast, even. It is soooo good (but not really good for you). Liz will eat it better if it's on the ring shaped pastas or medium shells than on long noodles.

Alternates: add some chunks of ham to make it carbonara; mix it up with some spaghetti sauce for a creamy, zingy sauce.

Emeril-ish Chex Mix

Not dinner food, but yummy all the same

ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons Modified Baby Bam (ingredients below)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
5 cups of mixed types of Chex-like cereal (I like rice and wheat)
1 package (1 of the inside plastic wrapped packages) of Rye Melba Toast
Goldfish, pretzels, cheez-its, whatever else you have on hand

Turn on oven to 250 degrees.

Place the butter in a large baking dish or roasting pan and put in the oven to melt.

Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and add the Worcestershire sauce, Modified Baby Bam, seasoned salt and garlic powder. Stir well to combine.

Add the remaining ingredients and gently toss with a large wooden spoon to coat evenly. I take the plastic bag of the Melba Toast and kind of break them up while they're in the bag--not to crumbs, but to bite-size pieces, then I open the bag and dump them in with the Chex. These are really good with the buttery spices soaked into them.

Return the baking dish to the oven and bake about 1 hour, until crisp and golden brown, removing from the oven every 15 minutes to stir.

Baby Bam is an Emeril Trademark thing. I have modified it somewhat so it's like this:
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

I store this in a little plastic container and I use it to spice my pumpkin seeds when I bake them, too.

Best Damn Cookies Ever!

Who knew an oatmeal raisin cookie could be more desireable then chocolate chip...but this recipe does me in...

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg - beaten

1¼ cups quick cooking rolled oats

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1½ tsp cinnamon

1½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup raisins

(My son hates raisins so I cook one sheet without then put the ½ cup in after. I have some dried blueberries from Costco I want to try...but I'm too afraid to do it...I'll eat the whole batch.)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream together butter and sugars till fluffy and then mix in beaten egg.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Drop on ungreased cookie sheet (I always use parchment paper) allowing 1 inch space between cookies.

Bake in oven 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

Yes...I'm that lame...I took a photo since I just happened to have some baked!

Lazy Eileen's Casserole

Rita told me I haven't posted anything on her dinner blog and I explained to her, I don't really DO recipes.

Seriously, I was asked to bring in our family's favorite recipe for school to post on the board and I sent in this:

1 box of shake and bake
a package of pork chops
a container of Bob Evans ready to serve mashed potatoes
head of broccoli

Open pork chops. Put in shake and bake bag. Pour in shake and bake topping.
Shake.
Put in a casserole and BAKE for 35 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
Set table
Wash Broccoli.
Heat broccoli in microwave. heat potatos.

HOller at family that dinner is ready.

THAT is the kind of meals we have at our house. some kind of a meat, a fresh vegetable I nuke in the microwave..and either some pillsbury rolls, a loaf of bread, or those mashed potatos you get in the cheese section of the grocery store.

Sometimes I get a little wild and we will substitute....Egg Noodles for the potatos and my family thinks I'm the bomb.


BUT...BUT...I do have a casserole that my family loves. I think its okay - its certainly not UNCOMMON. YOu might know it as Tater Tot casserole. I call it Lazy Eileen's Casserole.

Here ya go:

1 Bag of Ore Ida Tater Tots (Yes, you MUST use this brand - they have a special seasoning and crunch up nicely
1 Pound of Ground Meat (I use turkey..you could do beef)
1 Can of Cream of _______ Soup. You pick your type...broccoli, mushroom, chicken
A little evaporated milk (don't use the sweetened kind..did that once YUCK)


Cook your meat and drain it.
Put PAM or some kind of nonstick on your casserole dish.
Dump the meat in the dish.
Dump the cream of ____ soup in the dish, add some evaporated milk.
No, I don't know how much to add...make it soupyish.
Dump the tater tots and stir it up some more.
Dribble some more milk on the tater tots, but not all of it.
Add a lid
Put in 425 degree oven for 35 minutes. Check it to see if it is bubbling yet. Keep checking until it starts bubbling. Remove lid for 10 minutes to brown up the tater tots.

Serve with a smile.
Feed 4 with lunch leftovers for the next day.

Quick Chicken and Dumplings

2 baked and pulled chicken breasts (or if you're feeling really lazy, a pulled apart rotisserie chicken from the deli)

1 can of biscuits (I get the storebrand kind.)

1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine soup and three cans of water in pot (I often make this in the crock pot early in the day. The flavors really meld well and the sauce gets nice and thick.) Add chicken. Tear each biscuit into quarters and toss into the liquid.

On crock pot, keep it on lowest setting for no more than four or five hours. On stove top, boil 10 minutes then reduce to warm for as long as wanted. Salt and pepper to taste.

Breakfast Casserole

1 pound Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage
1 c. cheddar cheese
2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. Bisquick
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 eggs

Brown sausage and cool. Mix all ingredients in bowl and then refrigerate overnight. The next morning, pour into a greased casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. This is nice for company or holiday mornings.