Red Beans and Rice Plus

I always call this my Jambalya but I guess it really isn't, still good though :)
Ingredients:

1 box red beans and rice
6 oz (I use half of a 12 oz package) kielbasa, sliced into fourths
1 can diced tomatoes, slightly drained
1 celery stalk, sliced
3/4 cup (or eyeball it like I do LOL) frozen pepper & onion blend
Dash of crushed red pepper if you want a little kick

Directions:
Start beans according to box.
Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rest of your ingredients and cook about 15 minutes more, until celery is no longer crunchy. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Enjoy! :)

Pork Steaks w/ Gravy

Ingredients


1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tsp worchestershire

1 bunch green onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 pork butt steaks

Directions

1.Melt butter in a skillet, and mix in the soy sauce and worchestershire. Saute the green onions and garlic until lightly browned.

2.Place the pork steaks in the skillet, cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes on each side over medium-low. Remove cover, and continue cooking 10 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F
 
3. Remove steaks and add a little flour. Stir well, add a splash of milk and stir again. Play with it until you get a nice gravy. Serve gravy over steaks. YUMMY!

Cashew Chicken

Ingredients

4 cups water

8 cubes chicken bouillon

3 tablespoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons white sugar

1 1/3 tablespoons oyster sauce

4 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup cashew halves

1/4 cup chopped green onion

Directions

1.To Make Sauce: Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan; dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water. Remove 1 cup of this broth and mix with cornstarch in a small bowl, then return mixture to saucepan and let thicken. Stir in sugar, oyster sauce and soy sauce; cover, remove from heat and set aside.

2.To Make Chicken Nuggets: In a shallow dish or bowl, flour cubed chicken well and let stand in flour for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, beat egg, milk, salt and pepper together. Remove chicken from flour, dip in egg mixture, roll in flour again and deep fry in a large skillet or deep fryer until golden brown (350 for 5-7 minutes)

3.Place prepared chicken nuggets on a platter; heat sauce over low heat to heat through, then pour over chicken. Sprinkle cashew halves and green onion on top and serve over rice.

BBQ Ham Sandwiches (No BBQ Sauce Needed!) (Slow Cooker)

2 lbs. thin sliced deli ham
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbs white vinegar
2 tsp prepared mustard
hamburger buns

Directions:

1. Place ham in a greased 3 qt slow cooker
2. Mix rest of ingredients (except buns of course!)
3. Pour mixture over ham and stir well.
4. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours, until heated through.
5. Put on buns and your done! YAY!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1.Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a rapid boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners' sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat with mixer until smooth; pour into an 8x8 inch, lightly greased pan. Chill until firm and cut into squares, or whatever shape you want! :)

Beef-A-Roni Burrito

Thanks for the great idea Becky! I jazzed it up a bit and we had it for lunch :)
<---- Andy's second one!

1 box Rice-A-Roni
1/2 Pound Ground Beef
2 1/2 cups Water
1 Tbs Butter
1/4-1/2 cup frozen Pepper/Onion Blend
1/4 cup Frozen Corn
Tortillas
Sour Cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook and ground beef
2. Add rice, seasoning, butter and water to beef
3. Bring to boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 min
4. Add frozen pepper/onion blend and corn during the last 5 min
5. Place mixture on tortilla and top with sour cream and salsa.
You can also use the first 3 ingredients and follow first 2 directions and serve with a side :)

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

1 lb. firm ripe tomatoes, sliced

1/2 lb.  fresh Mozzarella cheese , sliced thick

Italian seasoning

Sugar (pinch)

Salt and pepper to taste



Arrange the tomato slices in an overlapping circular pattern around a flat serving dish (I just used a dinner plate). Sprinkle italian seasoning and sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover the dish loosely with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour (no longer than 2 hours) Slice the cheese and cover with plastic wrap. Just before serving, remove the plastic wraps, arrange the cheese slices in between the tomatoes . You can drizzle  the salad with the olive oil if you like, using a fork if necessary to lift the tomato slices, ensuring that the oil drains through them. (Salad can be refrigerated for up to 30 minutes before serving).
This is simple and good!

Balsamic-Honey Glazed Lamb Chops

8 Lamb Chops
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp dried basil or italian seasoning
A pinch of each salt and pepper
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
4 apples or pears, sliced into wedges.

Directions
Drizzle lamb chops with olive oil and sprinkle with basil/italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Place in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 min on each side.
Remove from skillet and drain any remaining oil. Heat the vinegar and honey, stirring frequently, until boiling. Add apples/pears turning several times. Heat until fruit is just tender.
Add browned Lamb Chops. Turn the chops several times while cooking to glaze. Cook to desired doneness.
Serve with fruit and drizzle with sauce.

Spinach Artichoke Dip W/ Cream Cheese and Sour Cream YUM!

1 (8 oz.) pkg Cream Cheese


1 can (14 oz.) Artichoke Hearts, drained, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup Spinach drained well (can use frozen, defrosted and drained or canned)

1/4 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Pizza or Italian Cheese

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon dried Basil or Italian Seasoning

Shake (1 tsp?) Crushed Red Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt

Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Cream together sour cream, cream cheese, pizza/italian cheese, garlic, basil, crushed red pepper and garlic salt. Mix well. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach (careful to drain this well), and mix until blended. You can store in fridge until you are ready to use. Spray pie pan with cooking spray, pour in dip, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is browned. Serve with toasted bread, veggies or crackers. Also really good cold :)

Simple Snack: Chex Mix

Chex Mix I made last night

3 cups Wheat Chex® cereal

  4 cups Rice Chex® cereal

3 cups Cheerios ® cereal

1 cup peanuts

1 cup bite-size pretzels

12 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

3 teaspoons seasoned salt

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

1.Oven at 250. Melt butter in over & add spices. Gradually stir in cereal, nuts & pretzels. Bake 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Cool on paper towel.  *Best after it sits overnight Enjoy!

I'm new at this so bare with me..French Toast Casserole

I'm one of those people who loves to experiment with her cooking. The problem with this is that when my family LOVES something I don't always remember where I found the recipe or what ingredients I used when making it so I thought this would be a great way to keep track of it all. So for my first recipe:
French Toast Casserole

1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut diagonally in 1 inch slices


8 eggs

2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions

1.Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom. In a large bowl,

beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

2.The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small saucepan, combine butter,

brown sugar and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture.

3.Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
 
This was a big hit, especially with my husband :) And it would have probably been even better with French Bread but I used Wheat because that's what I had in the house.