Sour Cream Pork Chops

• 6 pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and then dredge in 1/2 cup flour. In a skillet over medium heat, lightly brown chops in a small amount of oil.
2. Place chops in slow cooker, and top with onion slices. Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water and pour over chops. Cover, and cook on Low 7 to 8 hours.
3. Remove chops from cooker.
   
4. In a small bowl, blend 2 tablespoons flour with the sour cream; mix into meat juices. Turn slow cooker to High for 15 to 30 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve sauce over pork chops.

Buffalo Wings

James asked me to help him make some buffalo wings for a football party that he was going to.  I had no clue how to make them and I think I have only tried them once or twice.  I was surprised to find out that they are normally fried.  I try to stay away from frying so I searched for a recipe that didn’t require it.  This one was a hit.

I also went the easy route and did small drumstick instead of wings.  You don’t have to worry about trimming the wings and there is more meat on each piece.
2 lbs chicken wings (about 12 wings)
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp bottled hot pepper sauce (like Crystal or Frank’s Original)
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Create a marinade by stirring together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. (Reserve marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.) Seal bag and let marinate at room temperature for half an hour. When marinating is finished, drain marinade and discard bag.

Broil wings 4 to 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes on each side, until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade.

Serve with Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Julie’s French Bread

Original recipe is found here on Julie’s site, but I am putting here so I won’t lose it.

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 T sugar
2 T dry yeast
1 T salt
2 T oil
6 cups flour
1 egg, beaten (optional)

In a large bowl (I put the dough hook on my kitchen aid for this), combine water, sugar and yeast.  Let stand for about 5 minutes or until bubbly.  stir in salt, oil and 3 cups of the flour.  Stir vigorously.  Add remaining 3 cups of flour and mix well.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Stir down (I turned the mixer on medium high for about 10 seconds or less).  Repeat this process 5 times, which will take 1 hour.  Place dough onto a very lightly floured board, and knead only enough to coat dough with flour so it can be handled (for me it hardly took any extra flour); divide dough in half.  Roll each section into a rectangle, about 9X12″ long.  Roll up from the long side.  Moisten seam with small amount of water and pinch to seal.  Arrange both loaves lengthwise on a large, well-greased cookie sheet.  Place seam side down.   Cover and let rise 30-45 minutes.

Glaze with beaten egg (optional).  use a very sharp knife to gently make 3 diagonal slashes in the top of each loaf.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minuets.  Remove to a rack, cover with a towel (which keeps the crust softer), and serve warm.

Turkey Meatballs

• 1 pound package ground turkey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
   
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, and bread crumbs using your hands. Using an ice cream scoop, form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.
3. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside. Serve with pasta and sauce or however you’d like.

English Muffin Bread

So yummy.  It has the same chewy texture as a regular english muffin.

• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 6 cups bread flour
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1. Warm the milk and water in a small saucepan until very warm (125 degrees F/50 degrees C). Lightly grease two 8×4 inch loaf pans; sprinkle cornmeal inside pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt and soda. Stir milk into the flour mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff batter is formed. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place for until nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool.

Chunky Pasta Sauce

This recipe started off as one thing and turned into something completely different.  I have been trying to find more ways to get vegetables into our menus.  The plan was to serve this with turkey meatballs over pasta with homemade french bread on the side.  When James got home he suggested that we just fore go the pasta and use the french bread to sop up the extra sauce.  It was a good idea.  The sauce was thick enough that it didn’t run all over the plate.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, chopped into coins
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until opaque.  Add carrots and all spices and continue to saute.  Add tomatoes and spinach and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer for 1 hour.

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Chicken:

2 T. minced fresh cilantro

2 1/2 T. fresh lime juice

1 1/2 T. olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 tsp salt

cooking spray

Salsa:

1 c. chopped plum tomato

2 T. finely chopped onion

2 tsp fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Prepare chicken by combining first four ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss and marinate for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle chicken with salt.  Coat a pan with cooking spray.  Cook on medium- high heat for 6 minutes on each side.

Prepare salsa by combining all ingredients except for avocado.  Add avocado and stir gently to combine.

Serve salsa over chicken.

Chicken & Feta Tabbouleh

This was super yummy and perfect for a hot day.  The recipe that I followed said that it was good the first day but great the second.  I would have to agree.  Normally I think of tabbouleh as a side dish but with the added chicken it came out great as a main dish. I substituted cous cous for the bulgur since I could only find a large $7 package and I wasn’t sure it would actually be something that we would eat again.

3/4 c. cous cous

2 c. chopped cooked chicken

1 c. chopped plum tomato

1 c. chopped English cucumber

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1/2 c. (2 oz) crumbled feta cheese

1/3 c. finely chopped green onions

1/4 c. chopped fresh mint

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Gently toss to combine.

Honey-Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread- from Julie

This was the first bread that I experimented with in our mixer.  It turned out great even for a novice like me.  We love that it actually has more wheat flour than white flour, tastes better than that store bought stuff and ends up even costing less than the stuff you buy in the store, unless you are buying the $1 loaf that falls apart when you touch it.

2 cups water
1/2 stick butter
2 1/4 t salt
1/3 c honey (or white or brown sugar)
3/4 c oatmeal
1/8 c vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 c bread flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 T yeast
2 eggs

Microwave water and butter on high for 3 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix salt, sugar, oatmeal, flour and yeast.  Add eggs – mix.  While the mixer is going, slowly add the water/butter mix, and mix until combined.

Put bread hook on mixer and knead for 10 minutes, adding enough bread flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl.  After kneading, cover and let rise 1 hour.  Divide into 2 loaves and put in prepared pans.  Raise, lightly covered for 30-60 minutes, until double.

Bake at 350 for 25-30ish minutes.  Cool on rack.

Make New Friends Carrot Cake

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots

FROSTING:

1/2 cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.