Orange Chicken and Ham Fried Rice

Sorry, my pictures are kind of boring! I need to work on that... 

Quite some time ago, I made Orange Chicken, it turned out really good. I cannot seem to find or remember where the recipe came from, so I did some searching, found a few recipes and did my own thing. Turned out yummy. Now, Ry Ry has a sensitive little mouth, so I wasn't sure I could put the red pepper flakes in without it hurting his little pallet. So, I added them to  mine, he tried it and decided he needed a little kick too, so he put a Teeeeny Tiiiiny bit of red pepper flakes. Then he added hot chili sauce. Which was good. The Ham Fried Rice was super easy as well. I just went to the Deli counter and had them cut me a slice of ham about 1/2 in thick. I should have used our Fry Daddy to fry it, instead I used a wok, (messy, dumb idea) so first, I used vegetable oil, it didn't get hot enough... I like my chicken crispy! So, then I used peanut oil and some olive oil, because it gets a lot hotter!

Orange Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken-
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying)


Orange Sauce-
1 ½ cups water
1/4 C orange juice
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes... or more for your tasting 
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water


Step 1: Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.
Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.
Step 3: Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions. Enjoy.

Ham Fried Rice

1 C rice (long grain)

Ham (see above)

Peanut Oil (1-2 tbsp)

Soy Sauce (2-3 tbsp)

Cook Rice according to package. I use 1/2 chicken broth, 1/2 water. 

You want the rice to be dry, any moisture makes it not fry as well. I generally cook the rice ahead of time then keep in the fridge, or leave it on the stove and make sure all the water has evaporated. 

Get a wok hot with peanut oil, put ham in, cook until heated through (a little browned, too) 

add rice and fry both sides until slightly crispy

add soy sauce and fry about 30-45 seconds

Yum Yum!

Worlds Best Burgers

Ryan LOOOOves his Burgers, I saw this on Pinterest and saw it named worlds best, thought I'd have to give it a try. I myself enjoy burgers as well, so I won't pretend like tho was just because of him. 

I did modify the recipe slightly, after reading reviews. The recipe calls for 1/4 C BBQ and reviewers said they fell apart because too much liquid. That is about the only modification, besides that I also put Pepper-Jack cheese on top too.

I also must say I HATE bbq sauce, but I loved it! These were definitely juicy and TASTY!!!!

Ingredients

Burger

• 1 lbs ground beef 80/20....yes, go for the FAT! 
• buns
• 1/3 cup of grated Monterrey jack cheese
• 1-2 tbsp BBQ sauce.. use Sweet Baby Rays
• season salt to taste
• cracked black pepper
• onion powder
• Garlic powder

Instructions

1. Combine the ground beef, grated cheese, bbq sauce, and seasonings. Shape patties that are about 1 inch thick.
2. Then it is very important to push a ½ inch indent into the center of the patty–this is what prevents the patty from becoming a dome. These burgers stay extra moist because the bbq sauce and cheese are mixed in with the meat.
3. Wait for the skillet to get super hot and then apply a very thin layer of butter to the pan. Place the patties on the pan, indent side up.
4. Reduce heat to medium and allow this side of the patty to cook for about 4-6 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t burn. Then flip the burger over and cook until done.
5. For the sauce: I used a little bit of Mayo. Ryan used more BBQ sauce. The lady who made the recipe used a "secret sauce" what we from utah call Fry Sauce, basically. Mayo, Ketchup, Relish, Worchershestire 
6. Top with toppings of your choice... we used red onion, lettuce and ryan tomato. oh... and Bacon!
7. Be so happy you chose to make these

Served with Salad 

Bulgogi (Korean BBQ) a.k.a. BEST BEEF EVERRRR

Ryan was looking at Food Gawker because I told him he could give me some dinner ideas. Since I make the menu each week, I basically decide what we eat each night. I don't like always making these decisions. He stumbled accross this Bulgogi recipe and I love my beef, so I was game. I went to the Asian Market here in Anchorage (I was super excited!) I bought the meat there, it was rib eye, they had already cut, which was fantastic, becuase I am no butcher! They have bulgogi marinade you can buy, but I thought it would be fun to make my own. The recipe I used has 1200 reviews and 5 stars! I would fully support that rating! I plan on going back to the Asian Market for more fun!

Here is the Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of beef tenderloin, sliced thinly into pieces ½ inch x 2 inches and ⅛ inch thick

Marinade (for 1 pound of beef):

• ½ cup of crushed pear
• ¼ cup onion purée
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 chopped green onion
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs brown sugar (or 1 tbs of brown sugar and 1½ tbs rice syrup)
• a pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 tbs toasted sesame oil

Directions:
1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the sliced beef and mix well.
3. You can grill, pan-fry, or BBQ right after marinating, but it’s best to keep it in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight for a tougher cut of beef. 
• I fried up some rice and cooked green beans (ryan makes them really well)

Pasta e Fagoli Soup

Seeing as it has been FREEZING, I decided I wanted to make Soup. Besides the fact that it makes you warm, it is also great for leftover lunches. 

One of my favorite things is Olive Garden's Soup and Salad Lunch, basically the only thing I eat there, other than their amazing breadsticks ;)

I found a copy-cat recipe online and thought I'd give it a shot. Turned out great! I think it was almost better the next day for leftover lunch. Ryan even text me when he was eating it saying how tasty it was.... which is always a good sign. 

The only thing is I could not find the Dilati pasta it called for. I bought the smallest pasta I could find. I think I put a little too much pasta, it wasn't too liquidy, but when I think about it, I suppose Olive Garden's isn't too soupy either.

Anyway, here goes.. enjoy.

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, diced (1 cup)

5 stalks celery

1 cup carrots, jullienned (I didn't use this, yuk! hahah)

2 cloves garlic, minced ( i did about 3)

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, with liquid

1 (15 oz) can great white northern beans, with liquid

1 (15oz) can tomato sauce

1 (12oz) can V8 Juice

1 TBSP white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp basil

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme

1/2 lb (1/2 pkg) dilati pasta

1. Brown meat in large saucepan or pot, over medium-high heat. Drain off most the fat. 

2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic, saute for 10 minutes

3. Add remaining ingredients, (minus pasta) simmer for 1 hour

4. About 50 minutes into simmering, cook pasta in water with olive oil and salt, cook pasta until JUST al dente. You want the pasta to be a SLIGHTLY undercooked.

5. Add the pasta to the pot of soup and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes 

I topped with a little parmesan cheese. and served with salad and breadsticks. 

Best Mashed Potatoes

I have never in my life made Mashed Potatoes... kind of strange. I made a pot roast... will post later and instead of just adding taters to the pot, I decided I would try my luck at Red Mashed Potatoes.

These were DE-lish! Ryan said they were his favorite ;)

Here is my yummy recipe

 Mashed Red Potatoes

2 lbs Small Red potatoes

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

2 tsp Dill

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm, about 10 minutes. Drain, and place in a large bowl.
2. Combine potatoes with butter, milk, sour cream, dill, salt,and pepper. Mash together until smooth and creamy.

I used an electric mixer, I opted to leave a few lumps in my potatoes :) 

Rachel Ray's "You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Sauce"

According to Rachel Ray, this vodka sauce will get you into any relationship. I made a few adjustments to her recipe, just to add a little something. It was super easy, and doesn't take too much to make either.

We enjoyed it. Also made a salad. 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan in a slow stream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 cup vodka
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 16 ounces pasta, such as penne rigate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn... I didn't use 20 leaves.. Seemed excessive, use what you think is sufficient.
• I added additional:
• oregano, italian seasonings, parsley .. sprinkled probably 1 tsp of each in
• 1 tbsp Parmesan Cheese
• Crusty bread, for passing

Directions

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add oil, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute shallots for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness. Add vodka to the pan, 3 turns around the pan in a steady stream will equal about 1 cup. Reduce vodka by half, this will take about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente (with a bite to it). While pasta cooks, prepare your salad or other side dishes.

Stir cream into sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Pass pasta with crusty bread.

I had the sauce simmer while the water was boiling and pasta cooked 15 minutes... It needs it to thicken.. do not cover! I ended up using bow-tie pasta because we had it. 

Top with Parmesan Cheese. Enjoy!

Mongolian Beef

One of my and Ryan's favorite dishes. Mongolian Beef! It was really easy. Only thing is to make sure your oil is super hot, this way you get it extra crispy on the outside (which we love) Other than that just make up some rice in the rice-cooker and you're good to go! You can eat without rice, but who doesn't love rice?!

Ingredients:

1 lb flank steak

¼ cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon ginger (minced)

1 tablespoon garlic (minced)

½ cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

½ cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons rice wine

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 green onions (sliced)

1 medium onion (sliced)

Oil (for frying)

Step 1: To make the sauce- in a sauce pan heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Add garlic and ginger, stir fry 10 seconds. Add soy sauce, wine and water. Add brown sugar and dissolve into the sauce. Add red pepper flakes. Bring the sauce to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Step 2: Slice the flank steak against the grain into ¼” thick slices. Tilt the knife blade at a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak to get wider cuts. Toss the steak slices with cornstarch and let the beef sit for 10 minutes (this is very important, do not skip).

Step 3: Heat up about a cup of oil in your wok to about medium heat. Add the beef slices to the wok and cook for 3 minutes (or use a deep fryer).  

Step 4: Remove the meat from the wok with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drain all of the oil from the wok expect about a tablespoon. Add onions to the wok and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the steak back to the wok and pour in the sauce. Cook while stirring until the sauce began to bubble.

(Makes 2 Servings)

Roasted Broccoli

I LOVE Broccoli, has always been my favorite veggie, even as a child. This is such a yummy way to make it, especially for someone *cough, Ryan, cough* who isn't particularly fond of plain old steamed Broccoli.

Pre-Heat oven to 400

Broccoli

Olive Oil

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

We just toss broccoli, just enough for how many servings you want. Add a touch or two of olive oil. (Not too much, or you'll get soggy broccoli)

Toss with Minced Garlic

Salt and Pepper

Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes

if you really want to get fun add some cooked bacon and onion. 

Italian Subs-- Baked

Made these last night, or Ryan made these last night if I am going to be honest. His mom made these growing up, turned out tasty.

What you'll need:

Hoagie Rolls

Black Forest Ham (got from deli counter, Boars Head)

Salami (Hard, also from deli counter)

Provolone Cheese, deli sliced

Red onion, thinly sliced

Yellow (banana) Peppers

Dressing:

Olive Oil

Red Wine Vinegar

italian herbs (spice)

Garlic Powder

Mix together

Assembly: 

First, using a basting brush, brush dressing on bottom portion of bread (as much as you choose to use)

Add Ham (again, as much as you choose)

Onion

Dressing 

Salami 

Cheese

Place in a roasting pan, covered in foil

Bake in oven @ 350 for about 25 minutes 

Enjoy!

Thai Chicken and Sesame Noodles

Got this one from Bree as well. Delish!

I added Green Beans to the recipe, if you add a veggie we suggest doubling the sauce. 

I don't think this is too spicy, so if you're worried, you should be fine. I was out of crushed pepper, substituted with Cayenne (essentially the same thing, just ground instead, I believe), I let my hand get a little heavy on the cayenne, Ryan said it was on the verge of being to hot... so next time, I will do as I am told in the recipe. If you're nervous about spice, just half it. 

1 cup Oriental Sesame Salad Dressing (used Newman's Own sesame ginger, lite)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into strips

2 tablespoons each chunky peanut butter and honey (I have two huge jugs of pb, creamy, so I added some peanuts to add some crunch)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

8 oz thin spaghetti, cooked and drained

3/4 cup each shredded carrot and sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Green Beans or veggie of your choice

Pour 1/3 cup of the dressing over chicken in medium bowl; toss to coat. Cover. Refrigerate 1 hour to marinate. Drain, discard dressing.

Mix remaining 2/3 cup dressing, peanut butter, honey and pepper; set aside.

cook chicken in large skillet on medium-high heat about 8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Mix chicken, spaghetti, carrot, onion and cilantro in a large bowl. (i was lazy and used the large skillet I used to make the chicken) Add peanut butter mixture; toss to coat. Serve Immediately.

note: I cooked my chicken with onion and garlic, sprinkled chicken with salt and pepper. 

FOR THE GREEN BEANS 

As I said above, I decided to add veggies, can't remember what Bree added when she made hers, but I like to pretend like I am eating healthier when I add Veggies :)

So, I bought fresh green beans from Costco.

Heat oil in skillet, with some garlic, salt and pepper. 

Used some lemon pepper seasoning, added beans and cook until desired doneness. 

I just topped the noodles with the beans and tossed together. 

ENJOY!

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Ranch Dressing

1 pkg. dry ranch dressing mix

1 Cup buttermilk (consider decreasing to make thicker, if using yogurt or sc)

1 Cup mayonnaise (I used Greek Yogurt, could use Sour Cream)

1-2 tomatillos

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/2 tsp. lime juice

1/2 small jalapeno, seeds removed

Blend together in food processor till smooth–NO chunks! Let dressing sit for a few hours for best taste.

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Buffalo Chicken Tacos
ZipList Add Recipe Adapted from Prevention RD
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into 1 inch pieces
⅓ cup flour
3 tablespoon cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce (Frank’s Buffalo Wing) , plus extra for garnishment
1 Tablespoon olive oil
10 6-inch flour tortillas
Toppings:
Shredded Lettuce
Diced onions mixed with cilantro
Avocado slices
Ranch dressing (I made Cafe Rio Tomatillo Ranch Dressing...will add recipe)
Green onions, sliced thinly
I added Cheddar Cheese, Ryan Colby Jack

Preparation:

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

In a large bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, cayenne, and garlic powder. Season the chicken pieces with pepper, then dredge in the flour mixture.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch oven and once it gets hot, add chicken and cook on both sides – about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Once the chicken is done, set it aside in a bowl and toss with ⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce.

Warm then Assemble 10 tacos, dividing the toppings evenly among each taco. 

Yield: 5 servings, 2 tacos each.

P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef Copycat Recipe:

(Recipe adapted from Food.com)

2 teaspoons vegetable oil 
½ teaspoon ginger, minced 
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped 
½ cup soy sauce 
½ cup water 
¾ cup dark brown sugar 
vegetable oil , for frying (about 1 cup) 
1 lb flank steak 
¼ cup cornstarch 
2 large green onions, chopped
I also added a little bit of hoisin sauce maybe 1 tbsp
Directions: 

Sauce:
Heat 2 tsp. of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.  Don't get the oil too hot.
Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then increase the heat to medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

Beef:
Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.  Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.  Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.  As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and sauté until brown. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.  After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels.  Dab excess oil off meat with a paper towel and add to medium saucepan with the sauce in it.  Put the pan back on the oven over medium/low heat.  Add chopped green onions and let sauce simmer until warm. Serve over rice.

Bacon, Jalepeno, and Cream Cheese Poppers

For Ryan's birthday dinner, I made these for appetizers. I am not a big fan of crescent rolls, so we made some with crescent rolls and also bought wonton wrappers. I thought the crescent rolls would be too bready, but liked them. I preferred the wonton wrappers, Ryan preferred the crescent rolls.

 you will need:

a can of Pillsbury Crescent dough, and/or wonton wrappers

 cream cheese (depending on how much you want to use)

1-2 fresh jalapeños

and about 3 strips of bacon (if you want... I always want bacon... we may have used more than 3 strips) 

These amounts make 16 poppers.

Oven pre-heated to 350 degrees F. 

Chop the jalapeños into small pieces. Clean out the seeds. 

Cut the bacon into pieces and then cook it up. I usually cut it up first cuz then you have nice, neat pieces and it doesn't get too crumbly. Just watch it so it doesn't burn. Unless you like burnt bacon. But that's weird.

Roll out your dough. It's perforated into triangles, but I cut each triangle in half with a pizza cutter and do one popper on each half. Does that make sense? Sorry I didn't take pictures of that part. You can do it without cutting the crescents in half, and they'll just be a little bigger than bite size (and then the recipe will yield 8 larger poppers).

For the wonton wrappers, just dollop what you want into them, close them up.

Layer a small dollop of cream cheese, a piece or two of jalapeño, and bacon. 

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

I love goat cheese, since I was basically introduced to it through Barbara making chicken and goat cheese (I will have to post that recipe later as well). I also enjoy roasted red peppers. Ryan and I enjoyed this, he thought it was a little too "goat cheesy" so next time I may use less, I didn't think it was too much. He just has a sensitive pallet :)

I am a cheater, this recipe has you roast your own red peppers.... didn't want to do that, so I went to the olive bar at Fred Meyer and bought some roasted red peppers instead. The laziness in me, I suppose.
It made it super easy. If you want to do this, skip the first step. I bought two whole roasted red peppers. I also had bought goat cheese from Costco for the above fore mentioned chicken and goat cheese, it is not herbed, so I just threw some herbs on the goat cheese myself.

INGREDIENTS:

2 whole red bell peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fat free half & half
4 oz. garlic & herb goat cheese
2/3 cup grated parigiano reggiano cheese
1/2 cup artichoke hearts (optional)
1/2 lb. linguine, cooked to al dente
salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place red peppers on baking sheet and bake 20-30 minutes until peppers are charred. Remove from oven and cover with foil 10 minutes.
In the mean time, saute onions and garlic in olive oil 7 minutes or until tender. Pour in half & half, goat cheese, salt & pepper. Stir to melt goat cheese into sauce and keep warm over low heat.
Uncover peppers, peel off skin and remove stem and seeds. Chop into large pieces and place into sauce along with parmesan cheese. Stir to melt cheese and remove from heat. Pour sauce into food processor and puree, or use an immersion blender. Place back into hot pan and toss with cooked pasta. Taste and adjust seasonings. Top with more parmesan cheese, pepper, salt and parsley, if desired.

My Mom's awesome Lasagna

Meat Mixture
1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1tbsp parsley
1tbsp bail
1/2 tbsp oregano
2 tsp garlic (i like garlic, so i add more, you could do 1 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 onion, diced
Cheese Mixture:
3 cups (or large container) cottage cheese... yes cottage cheese... its SOOOO good
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese (I use shredded. Mom said she uses a little bit of shredded and grated, I didn't have grated)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1 lb mozzarella cheese (i always seem to buy shredded

9 lasagna noodles


brown beef, drain. Add onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add parsley, basil and oregano, cook until fragrant.
Add diced tomatoes and paste, salt and pepper. Let simmer about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, boil lasagna in water with salt and a little olive oil. Cook until al-dente, drain.
While meat mixture is cooking combine in a mixing bowl cottage cheese, beaten egg, parsley, salt; mix well.
Then, I make my assembly line. Noodles, cheese mixture, meat mixture, mozzarella cheese.
Layer your 9x13 pan, lightly greased in this order. layer pan with noodles, then 1/2 cheese mixture, 1/2 meat mixture, mozzarella and repeat. end with mozzarella on top. You can also sprinkle a little parm on time if you like.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minute (i like the top pretty browned and bubbly)
let rest 5 minutes or so before cutting to let settle.

Copy-Cat Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

My favorite thing at Cafe Rio is a Pork Barbacoa Burrito.. Hot please :) I made it last night, we decided to do Tacos. It was a little too sweet so I am modifying the recipe for next time. I think since I get it in a burrito and they use their hot enchilada sauce over the burrito it cuts out some of the sweet. So, next time I will use more enchilada sauce, less brown sugar and possibly make burritos and do them "enchilada -style"

Here is the recipe ( I lessened the brown sugar, added more enchilada sauce)

CAFE RIO SWEET PORKrecipe from: “One Good Thing” By Jilliee

2 pounds pork roast2 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce (I would maybe add part of a small hot can as well next time)
1/2 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a reclosable bag to marinate, pour in one of the cans of Coke and 1/2 c. brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight. (I’ve done both…they both work.)Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of Coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours. Remove pork from crock pot, drain off liquid, shred pork.Mix together (in a bowl or in the blender) other 1/2 can of Coke, can of chiles, enchilada sauce and brown sugar.Put shredded pork back in the crock pot, cover with sauce, heat just until warmed through.

Beef and Barley Soup

I enjoy me some beef and barley soup. I have not been able to find a recipe I really love, so I take from a few and do my thing. You can also use stew meat if you choose. Occasionally, I will also add potatoes.

1 lb Ground Beef
5 stalks celery
1 onion, chopped
1 cup pearl barley (quick cook kind)
3 cans beef broth
2 cups water
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tablespoon parsley, dried
1 tablespoon basil, dried
1 tsp thyme, dried
1 tablespoon minced garlic
ground pepper
salt

Brown beef in large skillet. Drain excess fat
cook celery, onion and garlic until soft
In a large pot add beef, vegetables and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cheeseburger Soup

This soup is TASTY! The only difference I made was I used REAL cheese not Velveeta. I may have used 3 cups instead of he 2 suggested. 

451055

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (8 ounces) process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

• In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/4 quarts).