Summit Hill Chicken

1 (4-ounce) package dried beef
8 strips bacon, partially cooked
4 whole chicken breasts, halved, skinned and boned
1 can cream of mushroom soup (10.75 oz)
1 cup dairy sour cream

Line 13x9x2 inch casserole with dried beef. Wrap 1 strip of bacon around each chicken breast half; place in casserole.


Combine and soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Cover casserole with foil. Bake at 325 for 2 hours; uncover casserole, sprinkle with smoked paprika, and bake 1 hour.

Serve with egg noodles and green beans.

This is the original recipe from the cookbook called "From Minnesota- More than a Cookbook."  It was originally called 'High Tech Chicken," but later renamed by MCJ when he moved to Milwaukee.  It was MCJ's favorite dish when he came home from college, and remains a favorite.  

Better than Dragon King Beef and Broccoli

SERVES 6 to 8
COOKING TIME: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup oyster sauce
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds flank or sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain and cut into 3-inch pieces (Used sliced for stir-fry sirloin and it was tender in 3 hours)
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick coins
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 large heads broccoli, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 pound chopped florets)
• 6 cups hot cooked rice, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS
Make the sauce and preheat the slow cooker. Combine the broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic in the crock of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Stir to dissolve the sugar and set the slow cooker to the HIGH setting.

Add the beef and carrots, cover, and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours. Add the sliced beef and carrots and use tongs to coat with the soy mixture. Cover and cook until the beef is cooked through and tender, 3 1/2 to 5 hours on the HIGH setting. Start checking at 3 1/2 to 4 hours, as flank steak tends to cook faster and may be tender at 4 hours.

Add the slurry and broccoli and cook for 30 minutes more. Whisk the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth (this is your "slurry"). Add to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Add the chopped broccoli and stir to coat the broccoli in the sauce. Cover and cook until the sauce is thickened and the broccoli is tender, about 30 minutes more.

Serve the finished beef and broccoli over hot cooked rice.

Shepherd's Pie

Prep time: 20 MINUTES  cook time: 40 MINUTES  total time: 60 MINUTES  yield: 12 SERVINGS 1X

PIE INGREDIENTS 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 pounds ground beef

1 medium white onion, peeled and diced

8 ounces baby bella or white button mushrooms, finely diced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 cup dry red wine (or you can sub in more beef stock instead)

2 cups beef stock (or vegetable or chicken stock)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs each fresh rosemary and thyme (or whatever herbs you love)

 1/2 cup frozen peas

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

1 batch mashed potatoes (see below)

MASHED POTATO INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 pounds potatoes (either Russets, Yukon golds, or a mix of the two)

 1/4 cup butter

 1/2 cup whole milk, or more as needed

2 ounces cream cheese (or 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt)

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the mashed potatoes.  Follow the instructions here to prepare a half batch of this mashed potatoes recipe.  Once they are ready to go, remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

Brown the beef (or lamb).  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the ground beef (or lamb) and cook until browned, crumbling it with a wooden spoon as it cooks.  Transfer the cooked beef to a separate plate with a wooden spoon and set aside, reserving any grease in the sauté pan that it has left behind.  (Or if there is no leftover grease, add an extra tablespoon of oil to the pan.)

Sauté the veggies.  Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic and sauté for 5-7 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Add in the flour and wine.  Stir the flour in with the veggie mixture until evenly combined, then continue to sauté for 1 minute more, stirring frequently.  Stir in the wine, then use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Add the remaining sauce ingredients.  Immediately stir in the stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, herb sprigs and frozen peas until combined.  Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer.  Then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a low simmer, and continue cooking for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove and discard the bay leaves and herb sprigs.  Stir in the cooked meat  Taste and season the mixture with salt and pepper as needed.

Layer it all up.  Transfer the filling mixture to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and spread it out in an even layer.  Spoon the mashed potatoes on top and carefully spread them out in an even layer as well.

Bake.  Bake uncovered at 400°F for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are lightly golden and the filling has started to bubble up around the edges.  (If you would like the potatoes to be a bit more browned, you can turn on the broiler for 1 or 2 extra minutes, keeping a close eye on the potatoes so that they do not burn.)

Garnish and serve.  Remove the baking dish from the oven, sprinkle a few extra herbs on top if you would like, then dish up your servings while the shepherd’s pie is still nice and warm.  Or store the pie in sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

London's Favourite Pasta (aka Penne a la vodka)

1# Italian sausage links (spicy preferred)
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cheap vodka (Popov)
1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
8 oz. heavy cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. fry sausage.  remove from pan. 
2. brown garlic in the remaining fat.
3. add vodka
4. add a can of whole tomatoes.  simmer slowly. 
5. add cream. 
6. stir in sausage and parmesan.  
7. garnish with red pepper flakes and plenty of parm.  

Taco Soup

1 ½ # Ground Beef,  uncooked and  broken up

1 envelope Ranch dressing (dry)

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 (16 oz) can corn

1   “       can Ranch bean

1  “        can Pinto  beans

1 (10 oz) can Rotel

2 (16 oz) cans Italian stewed tomatoes

Combine all in a crock pot and cook on Low for 8 hours

Top with:

Corn chips

Sour cream

Grated cheese

Granny’s Pot Roast

Pot roast- nice cut of meat.  Usually Bread and Butter, or 1.5-2” chuck roast, arm roast.  Basically whatever is on sale. 

Salt and pepper

2T lard or Crisco.  Heat in pan (medium).  Brown the roast top and bottom.  Remove from pan.

Add roast back on rack.  Turn pan down to low/medium.  Add cup of water, to bottom of rack.  Then steam roast on rack for ½ hour-45 min.  take turkey baster, remove juice put on saucepan, add more water.  Could be for 2-3 hours.

Granny always cooked vegetables in separate pan.  Juli does potatoes in another pan, but carots, etc. in pan.

Roast out of pan.  Remove rack, add meat juice water.  Bring to boil, add flour/water from shaker, boil again after salt/pepper to taste. 

DO NOT WASH PAN WITH SOAP AND WATER.  RUB INSIDE AND OUT (AND RACK) WITH VEGETABLE OIL TO SEASON.  If anything gets stuck, put it in pan with water and boil. 

Chili- St. Paul Style

A good basic chili with which the Jansens grew up. 

---Meat---
1 lb. ground beef
2 onions, chopped
salt, pepper
---Beans---
1 can chili beans
2 can kidney beans
1 large can tomatoes (whole) - I used fire roasted and it was good.
---Spices---
1 T sugar
2 t chili powder
2 T chipotle powder
1/4 t ground oregano
1 t cumin
1 t basil
---Bonus Item---
1 T dried epazote (herb that reduces flatulence) - available at Penzey's


Brown meat and put in crock pot.  Add all the other items.  Low for all day.  Note that a double recipe does not fit in a large crock pot.  Also, I added the chipotle powder (and changed to fire roasted tomatoes) from my Mom's original recipe.  I have had good luck with Penzey's Chili 3000, 6000 and 9000 instead of all of the spices, but the spices are the original version per Mom.

Deedee's Dumplings

Basic Recipe (Serves 12).  Made four batches for 12 people w no leftover

DUMPLINGS
1 - 1/2 C Flour
1 egg
1-1/2 T Butter (Use butter instead of shortening)
1/3 C Liquid (usually chicken bouillon or broth)

Mix this in the food processor.   Roll it out and slice then into 1/2" x 3" strips.  Best to roll out the dumplings and use a lot of flour so they do not stick.  Let them sit for awhile.

MEAT
Use about equivalent of 1/2 chicken per recipe.  If a pre-roasted chicken is used, take the meat off and shred it.  Thighs, etc. have better flavor.

BROTH
Chicken bones put in a pan with onions, carrots, celery, put in oven to roast until it's brown.  Add some water.   Don't skimp on broth.

Deedee likes the vegetable broth.  They do two cartons of vegetable, one of beef, then chicken broth. Throw dumplings in broth for 15 minutes max.  Drop in one by one and stir.
Then throw in the shredded chicken at end and heat it up

If Quinn is present, add one batch.

HISTORY
Recipe came from Grandma J. She always made dumplings with flour, milk, baking soda.  Deedee cold never get hers to turn out, so Deedee played around with recipes and arrived at this final version.  

Wild Rice Meatballs

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

½ cup cooked wild rice

½ teaspoon seasoned salt

½ teaspoon garlic salt

1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

½ cup evaporated milk

1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup dry white wine

¼ teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375. Combine beef, onion, rice, salts, bread crumbs and milk; shape into 1-inch balls. Place in shallow pan; bake 10 to 15 minutes or until brown. In saucepan, combine soup, water, wine and spices.  Add meatballs and simmer 30 minutes.

4 servings

Four Sheet Dinner

"great for your Minnesota grown vegetables"

1½ pounds ground beef

1 cup sliced onion

2 cups sliced carrot

4 cups sliced potato

2 (10¾.ounœ) cans cream of mushroom soup

1½ cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef drain. Place in 13x9x2-inch casserole (if you're using a deeper pan with thicker layers, allow for more time). Layer onion, carrot and potato over meat. Combine soup, milk, salt and pepper.  Pour over vegetables.  Cover with aluminum foil.   

Bake at 350° for 1½ hours.  6 to 8 servings.

Titanic's First Class Dinner Menu - April 14, 2012 (100 years after the great ship went down)

Titanic's First Class Dinner Menu

As served on the Titanic Saturday, April 14th, 1912

First Course ~ Hors d'Oeuvre

Canapes a l'Amiral

Oysters a la Russe

Second Course ~ Soups

Consomme Olga

Cream of Barley Soup

Third Course ~ Fish

Poached Salmon With Mousseline Sauce

Fourth Course ~ 1st Entree

Filet Mignons Lili

Chicken Lyonnaise

Vegetable Marrow Farci

Fifth Course ~ 2nd Entree

Lamb With Mint Sauce

Calvados~Glazed Roast Duck with Applesauce

Roast Sirloin of Beef Forestiere

Chateau Potatoes

Minted Green Pea Timbales

Creamed Carrots

Sixth Course ~ Punch

Punch Romaine

Seventh Course ~ Roast

Roast Squab & Wilted Cress

Eighth Course ~ Salad

Asparagus Salad with Champagne Saffron Vinaigrette

Ninth Course ~ Cold Dish

Pate de Foie Gras

Tenth Course ~ Sweets

Waldorf Pudding

Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly

Chocolate Painted Eclairs with French Vanilla Cream

Eleventh Course ~ Dessert

Assorted Fresh Fruits and Cheeses

After Dinner

Coffee, Cigars, Port

Oysters a la Russe

2 tablespoons vodka

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish (I added a little more)

Dash hot pepper sauce

Pinch salt

Pinch sugar

1 plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

12 large oysters

Coarsely cracked black peppercorns

Directions:

1. In bowl, stir together vodka, lemon juice, horseradish, hot pepper sauce, sugar, salt.

2. Gently stir in tomato and chives.

3. Wash oysters under running water to remove any loose barnacles or sand. Insert tip of oyster shucker between shell halves near hinges; twist upward to open shell. Discard top shell, Using blade of shucker, sever connective membrane that holds oyster to bottom shell. Place open oysters on bed of shaved or crushed ice.

4. Spoon vodka relish over each oyster; dusting with cracked pepper.

Cream of Barley Soup

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup salt pork or bacon, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon parsley stems, chopped

1/4 teaspoon peppercorns

1 cup pearl barley

7 cups beef stock

1 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons whiskey

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In large pot, heat oil over medium heat, add salt pork and cook, stirring often, for two minutes. Stir in carrots, onions and garlic; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are very soft.

2. Meanwhile, wrap bay leaf, parsley stems and peppercorns in cheesecloth, fold over and tie to make bouquet garni. Stir barley into vegetable mixture, cook, stirring, for about 45 seconds. Pour in stock and add bouquet garni.

3. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 40 to 45 minutes or until barley is tender. Remove from heat; in blender or food processor, puree soup in batches until almost smooth but still a little chunky. Transfer to clean pot, cook over medium heat until steaming. Whisk in cream, whiskey and vinegar.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Do not boil.

Minted Pea Timbales

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon salt

4 cups peas, fresh or frozen (thawed)

2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 egg whites

1/3 cup whipping cream

Fresh mint sprigs

Sour cream or crème fraíche

Directions:

1. In large saucepan of boiling water, dissolve all but 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Add peas and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until chilled through; drain well.

2. Place peas, mint sugar, remaining salt, and pepper in blender or food processor; puree until very smooth. With motor running, add egg whites one at a time; pour in cream and blend until well combined.

3. Divide pea mixture among 6 greased 1/2 cup ramekins or custard cups line with parchment rounds.Place ramekins in baking pan; pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of dishes. Cover with foil and using sharp knife, make vent holes at random intervals; bake in 350F oven for about 30 minutes or until tester inserted into enter of timbale comes out clean.

4. Let rest for 2 or 3 minutes; run knife around edge of each dish and turn timbales out onto warmed plates.

Remove parchment rounds.

5. Garnish with a prig of mint and a dollop of sour cream or crème fraíche.

Chicken Lyonnaise

1/3 cup flour

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 boneless chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 small onions, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

2 teaspoons tomato paste

Pinch granulated sugar

Directions:

1. In sturdy plastic bag, shake together flour, 1 tablespoon of the thyme, salt and pepper. One at a time, dip chicken breasts into egg, and then shake in flour mixture.

2. In large deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Place chicken in pan, skin side down. Cook, turning once, for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from skillet and place in 225-degree oven.

3. Reduce heat to medium, add remaining oil to skillet. Stir in onions, garlic and remaining thyme; cook, stirring often, for five minutes or until onions are translucent. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook onions, stirring often, for five minutes or until golden brown.

4. Add wine to pan; cook, stirring, to scrape up any brown bits, for about a minute or until reduced by half. Stir in stock, tomato paste and sugar. Boil for two minutes or until beginning to thicken.

5. Return chicken to pan, turning to coat, and cook for five minutes or until juices from chicken run clear.

Chateau Potatoes

6 medium potatoes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes. Instead of cutting eight sided jewel shapes we cut the potatoes into thick, evenly shaped wedges.

2. Place butter, oil, and rosemary in large, rimmed baking dish.

3. Set pan in 425F oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until butter is sizzling.

4. Pat potatoes dry; place in heated pan and stir to coat with butter mixture.

5. Bake in 425F oven, stirring occasionally, for 35 to 40 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

Punch Romaine

6 cups ice (crushed)

2 cups sparkling wine (champagne)

1 cup white wine

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

2 tbsps lemon juice

2 tbsps white rum (optional)

orange peel (slivered optional)

Simple Syrup:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Simple Syrup: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute or until syrup is clear. Remove from the heat and cool.

2. Makes 1 cup of syrup can be stored in a sterilized container in the refrigerator for up to one month.

3. In a blender combine the crushed ice, 1 cup simple syrup, champagne, white wine, orange juice, and lemon juice. Blend until mixture is well combined.

4. Spoon the mixture into individual dessert cups. Drizzle with rum, if desired, and garnish with a sliver of orange peel. serve immediately.

Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette

1 1/2 lbs asparagus

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

1 1/2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch of granulated sugar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 sweet red or yellow pepper, finely diced

Directions:

1. Holding asparagus halfway up stalk, snap off woody ends at the natural breaking point and discard.

2. In a wide, deep skillet or large pot of boiling salted water, cook asparagus for 3 to 5 minutes or until they are tender but not limp.

3. Drain the asparagus and run under cold water until completely cooled; drain well.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir saffron into 1 teaspoon of boiling water; let stand for 2 minutes or until the threads have softened.

5. Stir in champagne vinegar, mustard and sugar. Whisking, drizzle in olive oil.

6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add asparagus and diced pepper; toss to coat. Serve in individual dishes.





--
We made this on Saturday April 14, 2012.  It was great fun, and the food was excellent.  
Must give credit to this fine blog: http://www.thedragonskitchen.com/

No-Flop Flounder (or Tilapia, or other white fish)

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen (or fresh- what I used) spinach, thawed and draind

1 cup dairy sour cream

1 tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of pepper

1 pound flounder or orange roughy

2 tablespoons butter

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons paprika

½ cup Shredded Swiss (or other that you have on hand) cheese  

Combine spinach with sour cream, flour salt, nutmeg and pepper; mix well. Spoon into shallow greased casserole or baking dish. Rinse fish; dry with paper towel. Place fish on top of spinach mixture in a single layer. Melt butter; brush on fish. Sprinkle fish with salt, paprika and cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

3 to 4 servings

---

Publix is definitely our favorite store here in Florida.  They sell packaged, frozen fish filets of high quality.  I made this recipe one night and crock pot beef stroganoff the next night, because I  bought the 16oz carton of sour cream and used half each night.  

Another Hot Dish!

We're full of hotdish (aka: casserole) around here!  Dan has been very busy trying out new recipes.....
the most recent recipe he tried was really delicious and it was even more delicious the next day!
It is from the Nativity cookbook, that is a treasure full of wonderfully tasty things!
So, here goes another one: 

Lois' Hot Dish

1 lb. ground beef
1T  butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup sliced cooked carrots (fresh is really delicious)
1 pound flat noodles, cooked and drained (we used bow ties, but egg noodles would be good in this too)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef with onion and garlic.  Drain fat.  Stir in tomato sauce, add salt and pepper.  Simmer 5 minutes.  In a bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese, parsley, carrots and cooked noodles.  Mix well.  Spray 3 qt casserole with cooking spray.  Alternate noodles and meat mixture, beginning and ending with noodles.  Top with cheddar cheese.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until hot.
**it can be prepared and frozen.  If frozen, bake at 400 for 1 hour.

Nancy's Porkchops

Nancy is one of my parents very best friends, Nancy Dolan. This is one of her recipes and it truly is a good one. It screams "comfort food" and makes a really nice Sunday dinner in the fall.
One of the ingredients is a canned good that really not be considered a "good." It is something that I would never in a million years serve to my family straight out of the can.
Are you ready for it? it's cream corn. Yuck, cream corn. Who eats cream corn? What ever possessed someone to create such a thing? Well, after making this concoction, you'll be glad someone did. It is delicious! Seriously, delicious!


Nancy's PorkchopsServes 6
1/2 pound bacon, uncooked and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cans cream style corn
6 bone-in pork chops,
1/2 package Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp. Spoon out some of the bacon drippings and set aside (about 5 tbsp). Add chopped onion to the skillet and cook the bacon and onion until the onion is just a little bit browned. Add a generous grinding of fresh pepper. Stir in the cream style corn until well combined.
Lightly pepper both sides of the pork chops and arrange in a 9x13 baking pan. Pour the corn/onion/bacon mixture over the pork chops. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel.
Add the bacon drippings to the skillet and heat over medium. Add the 1/2 package of stuffing and toss to lightly mix the bacon drippings. Spoon the stuffing over the cream style corn, it should lighly cover the pork chops.
Bake at 300 for 2 hours. Serve each chop with a spoonful of the stuffing mixture. Yum!

Enjoy! the stuffing absorbs the liquid from the cream corn and the porkchops are so tender and delicious.

Tater Tot Hot Dish (aka: Casserole if you're not from Minnesota)

Simple and delicious are two things that are key to any recipe that we make. I'd also like to add another criteria for me: not more than 8 ingredients....
I have a ton of cookbooks and recently went through my collection. I pared it down to 2 cubbies in my IKEA shelving unit, which is not many! Anyhow, I discovered that I had cookbooks on the shelf that had 15 ingredients PER RECIPE on my shelf, how about NO!
So, when my mom passed this on to me a few years ago, I realized that it would be a favorite....Not only because it is one of Dan's favorites, but it's got 6 key ingredients to it! Yes, I said 6! and those 6 are things that we have in the cupboard at any given time....
The recipe card dates back to 1965, so it is an oldie but goodie!

Tater Tot Hot Dish

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 cans french cut green beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package Tater Tots

Press the ground beef into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Evenly distribute 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix over the ground beef.
Spread the green beans on top of the soup mix. (note: often, I don't have canned french cut beans, you can use a bag of frozen ones too, I use this more often!) Evenly spread the canned soup over the top of the green beans and then arrange the tater tots on top of the soup.
Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours.

Enjoy, this is a good one!

PW's Simple Sesame Noodles, Pelletier style

A while back The Pioneer Woman had a recipe for Simple Sesame Noodles. I thought the recipe sounded delicious, I love sesame anything! The only problem was that I wanted to make a whole meal out of them....So, I added a chicken breast and fresh broccoli and voila, we had a meal and a huge bonus is that it is now Emily and Louie's favorite meal!


And so, without further adieux:

Ingredients

12 ounces, Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained  (we use whole wheat pasta)
Whisk together:
¼ cups Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sugar
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Pure Sesame Oil
½ teaspoons Hot Chili Oil
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
2 Tablespoons Hot Water

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips and then into bite sized pieces
2-3 tbsp corn starch
2 heads of broccoli, stalks removed and cut into bite sized florets
2-3 tsp canola oil
3 green onions, thinly sliced

In a bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the corn starch. In a large skillet, over medium heat, add 2-3 tsp canola oil. Once the oil shimmers in the bottom of the pan, add the chicken in a single layer. Leave it and let it cook for a minute or two. Stir so that the chicken cooks evenly.
When the chicken appears to be almost done, about 5 minutes, add the broccoli pieces and stirfry. Add 1-2 tbsp of water and cover to steam the broccoli. In a couple minutes, it should be bright green, but slightly crunchy.
Add the noodles to the pan and toss thoroughly with the chicken. Pour the sauce over the noodle and chicken mixture and toss. Sprinkle with the green onions. Serve hot.

Enjoy, we do!