Annie's Stir-fry

This was SO good!

Place 10 chicken thighs in 9x13 glass dish. (Or about six small-med chicken breasts) I used a cookie sheet

Combine sauce ingredients in quart saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened: (just a few minutes)

1 1/2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 T cold water
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c + 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 garlic clove, finely minced
3/4 t ginger
1/4 t + 1/8 t pepper

Pour sauce over chicken thighs and cover pan with foil. 

Bake at 425 degrees for a total of 1 hour.  

I used a frozen stir-fry mix. 

Stir-Fry veggies to serve with:  1 Onion, 4 carrots, 1 pepper, 2 large bunches broccoli, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, asparagus, etc.

After chicken is done.  Serve over rice and veggies

Brittany Mitchell's Cornbread

...or should I say Corn CAKE! Let's be real, ANYTHING Brittany makes is gold... do yourself a favor and make this, you will not be disappointed.

Bread:
2/3 C Soft Butter
3/4 C Sugar
1/2 C packed Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 2/3 C Milk
2 1/3 C Flour
1 C Cornmeal
4 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

Topping:
1/2 C Butter
1/4 C Honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix 'bread' ingredients together and bake in a 9x13 greased pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Poke with a fork and pour topping mixture over hot bread.

SO GOOD! I am seriously thinking about this for my birthday cake next year!

Notes:
*When I made the topping I didn't have enough to go over the whole cake, but when Kaleen made it, she had way too much. It could be due to our type honey, but just fyi
** I melted my topping together and it flowed better

Salsa Verde Crispy Carnitas

2-3 lbs Pork
Season Salt
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 White Onion
1 16oz Jar Salsa Verde ( we use the Herdez brand)

Method:

1. Cut pork into fourths, and lightly season with season salt 

2. Sear all sides of the pork on a pan or in the Instant Pot 

3. Cover meat with garlic, onion, and jar of salsa verde. Set Instant Pot on manual pressure for 60 minutes.

4. It tends to be a bit more tender if you wait for the Instant Pot to depressurize on it's own however we have done a QR and it is fine too. 

5. Shred your pork and enjoy *sometimes we will 'crisp' it up a bit on the stove ** we eat this meat as a salad topper, on buns, and as taco meat

Chicken Bacon Cesar Wraps

My friend Niki and I went to lunch a couple of months ago, and I ordered the 'Chicken Bacon Cesar Wrap'. It was amazing! So of course I wanted it everyday for a week. I decided Todd probably wouldn't appreciate me spending a small fortune on lunch for a week, so I made my own recipe. My favorite part of this recipe is the 'crunch' in the croutons, so be sure to add them last/right before you wrap up your deliciousness.

Ingredients:
1-2 Cooked Chicken Breast, Cubed
6-10 Slices of cooked bacon, crumble
1-2 Bags of shredded lettuce/shredded romaine lettuce
Cesar dressing
1-2 Cups Croutons

6-10 Flour tortilla wraps

Method:
Mix everything but the croutons together. Add about 1/3 C of the mixture to a tortilla, then top with croutons. Wrap up and enjoy!

Niki Jackson's Instant Pot Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

The first time I had this, it was at a Fall Party, and I begged Niki to give me the recipe, and like the awesome person she is, she sent it within minutes. I made it three times the next month! It's easy and so stinken good!

Ingredients:

1 Small Onion

3T Butter

2 lbs Cauliflower (about two heads)

1 1/2 C Chicken Broth

1 1/2 C Water

1 tp Mustard

1 C Heavy Cream

1 3/4 C Sharp Cheddar

3/4 C Pepper Jack or Monterrey Jack

1 1/2 tsp Salt

Method:

Saute Onion in butter. Once translucent add cauliflower and cover with water and chicken broth. Manual pressure for 4 minutes followed by a quick pressure release. Use an immersion blender to puree ingredients until smooth. Whisk in heavy cream and add cheese, salt, and mustard. Stir until well blended. 

Soooo good! 

Momma Roe's Spaghetti Sauce

The joy of getting a recipe from an Italian is there are rarely exact measurements and each time you make the dish, it turns out different. Kaleen and I had mom tell us what she puts in her sauce. Her sauce is still always better than anything I have ever made, but my kids will eat it when I make it her way so I consider that a win.

Ingredients:
1 lbs Ground Beef
1/4 Onion chopped (optional, I don't put this in as my kids don't like the sauce when I do)
1 Can TRADITIONAL HUNTS Tomato Sauce
1/2 Cup Water (more as needed)
1 tsp Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste


Method:
* Brown ground beef and onion together, drain
* Empty can of tomato sauce and water into medium size pot, add ground beef mixture
* add sugar and salt and pepper to taste, I am a pretty firm believer in people seasoning their own food, because I like my food pretty bland and Todd likes it really flavorful. So I add two or three shakes of the salt and pepper and then I let Todd add his own spices (aka hot sauce)
* Cook it all day on the stove OR
* Put it in the Instant Pot for 15 minutes

Homemade Croutons

This is a pretty easy 'recipe'. Really you can add whatever spices you are craving, or want to add to your dish that the croutons will be on. We have made these a few times for the Cesar Salad Wraps that we make, and they are so good!

Ingredients:
1 loaf of French bread (I get the super thin sliced French in the bakery section of Walmart)
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
2-8 TBsp Butter


Method:
Preheat oven 375. Using a very sharp bread knife cut the bread into tiny squares. I tend to be meticulous, but you could just as easily shred the bread with your fingers. Lay the bread cubes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle the butter over the bread, then season with as much or as little seasoning as you would like. I liked a fair bit of onion seasoning and a little bit less garlic. Place in oven for 10-20 minutes stirring half way through. Take out of the oven when pieces are golden brown... try not to eat them all before using them!