Southwestern Baked Beans

These are hands down the best ever, EVER baked beans I have tasted. And they weren't difficult to make either. Recently I was asked to bring some baked beans to a family BBQ. Typically, I am a big fan of the baked beans recipe in the Lion House Cookbook, but due to a recent move all my cookbooks are still boxed up in the garage somewhere. So... in light of that I resorted to one of my favorite online recipe sites, The Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond never fails me! I only adjusted the recipe slightly. This is now my new favorite recipe for baked beans. They are perfect for all those BBQ's and summer picnics, enjoy and eat away!


10 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced small
1/2 of a green pepper, diced small
3 large cans {28 ounces each} baked beans {I used Bush's, but any brand will do}

Sauce:
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. dry mustard
3-4 shakes of liquid smoke

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Fry the bacon in a deep, large saute pan until bacon has released about 1/4 cup drippings. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Add onions and pepper to drippings in pan and and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Add beans and all remaining ingredients to the pan and simmer. Pour beans into a greased 9 x 13 inch ovenproof pan. Bake until beans are bubbly and the sauce has the consistency of pancake syrup, about 2 hours. Let stand to thicken slightly and serve.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Pioneer Woman.

Bourbon Chicken

This chicken is kind of like a general tso's, and is so delicious! I'm not sure why it's called 'Bourbon Chicken' because there isn't any bourbon in it, but whatever the reason, I'm glad I stumbled across this gem of a recipe!


Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 T. oil {for pan frying the chicken}
Cornstarch {for dusting the chicken}

Sauce:
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 c. light brown sugar
2 T. ketchup
1 T. cider vinegar
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. soy sauce

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan and and fry chicken bits until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok or frying pan and bring to a boil. Add chicken back into the pan. Reduce heat ans simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve chicken over piping hot white sticky rice. Enjoy!


Recipe Source: adapted from Blog Chef

Shrimp and Vegetable Asian Stir-Fry

Obviously I have been really into cooking a lot of Asian dishes lately that are served over white rice. This is one of them! Another yummy and healthy stir-fry recipe that is surprisingly quick and easy to prepare. All you have to do is chop up your favorite vegetables and throw some white rice in the rice cooker (or make on the stove) and it's done! :)

Sauce

4 T. soy sauce

4 T. ketchup

1 tsp. ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 drops Sriracha Sauce

pepper to taste

Favorite Vegetables

onion, sliced (white or purple)

red bell pepper, chopped

red cabbage, thinly sliced

broccoli

mushrooms, quartered

zucchini, chopped

celery, chopped

carrots, chopped

1 lb. uncooked shrimp, deveined

4 T. canola oil

2 T. soy sauce

cooked white rice

Prepare the sauce in a bowl, and let the uncooked shrimp marinate for at least 30 minutes. Set aside and chop your favorite vegetables for the stir-fry.

Heat 2 T. canola oil in a skillet. Add favorite vegetables plus 2 T. soy sauce and cook. Remove from stove when finished and put in a separate bowl/on a separate plate. Add 2 T. canola oil into the same pan and cook shrimp plus marinade. When the shrimp is cooked, add the vegetables and stir-fry everything together. Serve over hot rice.

P.S. If you're not a shrimp fan, chicken or pork would be really yummy too in this dish, I was just in a "shrimp mood" the other day :)

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Pineapple and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Another delicious recipe that tastes like take out! This is the first time I have ever made stir-fry without using a seasoning packet. Making the sauce homemade is super easy, and this dish was surprisingly quick to throw together!

I chopped the vegetables up in the afternoon and put them in a Tupperware, and I let the chicken marinate in the fridge all day. When dinner time rolled around I put everything on the stove in a pan and viola, dinner was served!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 T. soy sauce

2 T. rice vinegar

3 T. vegetable oil

1 T. ground ginger

1 medium red onion, cut into thin strips

1 can pineapple chunks (save the juice!)

3 green onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped into big chunks

3 cloves minced garlic

Sweet and Sour Stir Fry Sauce

5 T. red wine vinegar

5 T. sugar

3 T. tomato sauce

3 T. pineapple juice reserved from can

½ tsp. salt

Combine sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cut the chicken into chunks. Place in a large Ziploc bag and toss with the soy sauce and vinegar. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes, but the longer it marinates the better it will taste.

Cook the chicken in vegetable oil in a pan on the stove for 3 minutes. Set aside in a separate bowl the chicken and all the liquid.

In the same pan cook in vegetable oil the onions, green pepper, and when they’re done add the drained pineapple and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the garlic and ginger; cook everything together. Return the cooked chicken and liquid to the pan. Stir in the sweet and sour sauce and stir fry together for 2 minutes. Serve piping hot over white rice.

Chicken With Mushroom Cream Sauce Over Fettuccine

2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 package sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup white cooking wine or chicken broth
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper


Brown chicken breasts on both sides in a skillet and remove and set aside. Saute onions in a little bit of olive oil. Add garlic and saute, then add sliced mushrooms and saute. Add white cooking wine or chicken broth to deglaze the skillet. Add 2 cans of soup. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine everything as to look like a sauce. Put the browned chicken breast in the sauce to finish cooking, simmering for about 10-15 minutes. Serve over cooked fettuccine. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Penne Pasta { with bacon! }

6-8 slices of bacon, cut into pieces

1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes in juice

1 tsp. sugar

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (or fresh herbs: parsley, basil, oregano, etc.)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/2 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup sour cream

12 oz. of penne pasta, cooked

Cook bacon in a saucepan until cooked through, but not burnt. Drain on paper towels and discard drippings, but do not wipe out pan. Increase to medium-high heat and add tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Stir in sugar, Italian seasoning (or herbs), and salt and pepper. Then add chopped bacon and peas. Cook for 5 minutes, simmering vigorously, stirring every so often. Remove pan from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve over cooked pasta.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

1-28 oz. can diced peeled tomatoes
1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
1-12.5 oz. can Italian diced tomatoes
16 oz. fresh mushrooms
1 lb. ground beef or Italian sausage
1 T. Italian seasoning {or use fresh herbs ~ basil, parsley, oregano, etc.}
diced onion
diced green pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt & pepper


Brown meat on the stove. Then add everything together in the crock-pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Serve over pasta noodles. Top with fresh parmesan cheese. Makes the house smell wonderful all day!