Category: Recipes

My boss turned me onto this recipe. It’s super yummy and so easy. It’s from the cookbook “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook”.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 pound pork roast or tenderloin
• 2 –  large red bell peppers, cut into strips
• 1/3 cup prepared teriyaki sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Optional Toppings:
chopped green onions
chopped peanuts

Coat slow cooker with pan spray. Put all ingredients except peanut butter in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker, remove all fat, and coarsely chop. Add peanut butter to liquid in slow cooker, stir well until PB is dissolved and blended in with the liquid. Add pork to sauce and toss to coat meat. Serve over hot rice.

When I was in Roatan this year we stayed at Casa Isabella. One of the great things about this place was the great food that Isabel made for us each and every day! One night she made this amazing chicken for dinner. I had to know what it was! She only told me “Lots of garlic, pan fry the chicken until it’s browned, then simmer in a jar of Mushroom Alfredo sauce until fully cooked”. Here is what I came up with – it’s super easy and really yummy!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 2-4 chicken breasts cut into chunks
• 1 jar Mushroom Alfredo Sauce (I like the Classico brand)

Heat olive olive oil on a medium low heat. Lightly brown the garlic then. Turn heat up to medium high. dd the chicken chunks to pan and brown on boat sides (1-2 min on each side)

Once both sides are browned add Alfredo sauce to pan, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 min.

Serve over mashed potatoes or on pasta. It’s super easy and quick to throw together at the end of the day!

Last week I was craving the peanut sesame noodles my mom used to make when I was growing up. Lucky for me when I was in high school my mom typed all her recipes (with a word processor) and gave me a copy of all of them when I first moved out of the house.
Ingredients:

• 1 Lb Chicken Breast (thinly sliced and cooked)
• 8 ounces thin spaghetti noodles, cooked as directed (sounds weird I know but really it’s yummy!!)
• 3 garlic cloves minced (or 1 1/2 tsp store-bought minced garlic)
• 1 1/2 tsp minced ginger root
• 1 cup sliced cabbage
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts (optional)
• 1 bunch green onions chopped

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce*

Tips:
* I forgot to buy the chili garlic sauce and made it without and it was still really good.
* Also you could add or remove veggies based on what your family likes!

Directions:
With the exception of boiling the noodles, I use one large pan to cook this entire meal . Cook chicken, remove from pan and place in a bowl. Chop veggies, combine in pan and add a couple of tablespoons water, cover with a lid. Steam veggies for a couple of minutes or until ALMOST cooked. You don’t want to over cook them or they will turn to mush…yuck!! While veggies are steaming combine sauce ingredients, and microwave for about 45 seconds to soften the peanut butter. Whisk vigorously to create sauce. Once the veggies are cooked add chicken and cooked noodles to veggies. Pour sauce over, mix everything together, and simmer for a couple of minutes to heat back up. The sauce should thicken after cooking.

This is really easy to make – serve with rice or pot stickers if you want. The left over are just as yummy!

With the HUGE batch of spaghetti sauce I always make a lasagna to freeze. This is a great recipe because you make it with normal lasagna noodles and you don’t have to cook them first! It’s super easy and really yummy!

• 4 cups of spaghetti sauce (if you don’t use this recipe use a sauce that has meat in it)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 – 12 ounce package of lasagna noodles
• 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 12 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese

*If you like a really meaty lasagna you could add a layer of browned ground beef or ground sausage. Just note that it may add a little additional cooking time.

Combine sauce, water and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Grease a 9 x 13 pan and layer hot sauce, uncooked lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, and Monterey Jack cheese ending with sauce than garnishing with the parmesan cheese.

To freeze just assemble the lasagna cover tightly with foil then freeze, do not cook this one first. When you are ready to bake it, pull the lasagna out the night before and put in your fridge. Let it thaw all day then bake at 375 for one hour (if it’s not completely thawed it may take more time). Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

This is my favorite salad, it’s one of my mom’s recipes that I grew up with…yum yum, I love to bring to potlucks or to make it for BBQ’s or large groups of people. It’s so easy to make and everyone always loves it! I just made it for our 4th of July BBQ so I thought I’d post it in case anyone wanted to recipe.

Ingredients

1 head Napa cabbage, shredded

6 stalks green onion, sliced

2 cups cold, cooked chicken, sliced thinly (optional)

1 cup toasted slivered almonds

½ cup toasted & salted sunflower seeds

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

2 packages Top Ramen noodles, Oriental flavor

Mix cabbage, green onion & chicken in large bowl.  Put Ramen noodles in a Ziploc bag and break up with a rolling-pin. Pour Ramen noodles into skillet on medium-low heat and toast with nuts, and seeds until just golden. Set aside until the salad is ready to be served.

 Salad Dressing

1/3 cup Chinese Seasoned Rice Vinegar

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

¼ cup sugar

2 Top Ramen seasoning packets from Oriental flavor Ramen

10 drops of sesame oil, or to taste

1 cup salad oil

Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a jar or container with a lid.  Shake well and set stand to dissolve the sugar and seasonings.  When dissolved, add the oils.  Do not mix the dressing with the salad until just before eating.  Enjoy!

This is the recipe I grew up on and my mom has always made. It’s super easy to make and tastes really yummy. I make a whole batch, then package it down into what our family will eat for a meal and freeze it.

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 3 Tbsp minced garlic
• 9 – 15 ounce cans of “Italian stewed” tomatoes, chopped and not drained
• 3 – 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp dried, basil, crumbled
• 3 Tbsp dried oregano
• 3 bay leaves (remove after simmering)
• 2 Tbsp Sugar (optional but good)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper

Brown ground beef; add onions and sauté until the onions are tender. Add garlic and sauté an additional 2 minutes. Stir all ingredients together and simmer for 3 hours. (You can also do this in a crock pot for 3-4 hours). Cool and freeze