I have been busy putting Christmas stuff away and putting some Valentine’s Day things out throughout February.
My big toe is doing better even though it is very crooked and still swollen. I will go in a couple of weeks to get it checked out.
I have also been cleaning out my files from last year and moving everything ahead to this year all the while collecting items to do my taxes. UGH!
I actually have been thinking about my garden this year trying to decide what and where to put things this year. Just something to look forward to when it is snowing.
But there is something I am really excited to learn this month at the Senior Center is crocheting! That is one thing I have never learned to do that I always wanted to do. So, I signed up to do a beginner’s class! I am really excited and hope that I can catch on.
I have been cooking some different things in my spare time, and I will share some of them with you this month.
My first recipe is Eggroll in a Bowl. I have wanted to try this but just had not done it! It was delicious and so easy to make. I used sausage as the meat but you could ground beef, ground turkey or sausage.
The next recipe is Pork Rinds three ways. I love them and they are not as bad for you as chips and other snacks. These were delicious and great item to serve for the Super Bowl!
The Banana Bread Bars with Browned Butter Frosting was a big hit and so easy. This is a definite try!
The Crockpot Honey Bourbon Chicken is so easy and so good and it tastes just like the bourbon chicken you get at the Food Court. But you do it in your Crockpot right at home.
Another Crockpot recipe I tried is Chicken and Noodles. This recipe is very tasty, and you can use egg noodles or dumplings to finish it off.
The last recipe is for Strawberry Nut Salad using frozen strawberries and crushed pineapple. This is so refreshing to eat. As you can tell I use my Crockpot a lot during the winter months, putting ingredients in and forgetting about it until it is ready to eat, especially if I am sewing, quilting or hopefully crocheting!
I hope you try some of these recipes for the Super Bowl or maybe for your sweethearts since we have Valentine’s Day this month!
My little ditty I have for you this month is: “When you have a friend who checks on you and wants nothing but the best for you without motive, keep them close…..Such souls are hard to find!!!”
See ya all next month!
Eggroll in a Bowl
1 pound of ground sausage, chicken, turkey or ground beef
7 cups of Coleslaw mix
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup green onions, chopped
For a spicy kick, add 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes, optional.
1-2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
Cook sausage and using same skillet stirring and crumbling until cooked through.
Stir in coleslaw mix, garlic, soy sauce and sesame seed oil and stir. Top with green onions and ginger and garlic powder and the rest of the ingredients and add more soy sauce or sweet and sour sauce.
You can also serve it with white rice.
Chicken and Noodles
Crockpot Style
4 chicken breasts
Pepper to taste
1 pack of Italian dressing
1 package – 8 ounces of cream cheese, cubed.
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
Put all these ingredients in the Crockpot and cook at LOW 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and stir good.
Then add 12 ounces of cooked egg noodles or dumplings for 20 minutes to the Crockpot then serve. Delicious!
Crockpot Honey
Bourbon Chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup honey
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
½ cup ketchup
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves minced garlic.
½ cup onion diced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Trim your chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place them in your Crockpot. In a medium bowl, add honey, soy sauce, ketchup oil, garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. Stir well to combine. Pour over the chicken in the Crockpot. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high2-3 hours. When done remove chicken from Crockpot and cut in chunks and add back to mixture.
There is NO bourbon in this recipe!!!!
Pork Rinds Three Ways
1 package of pork rinds medium size bag
1 stick butter melted.
1 ½ – 2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon or more preferred.
Melt butter and place pork rinds in a large bowl. Pour butter on pork rinds and stir well.
Then mix sugar and cinnamon and put on top of pork rinds. Stir or shake well until everything is mixed up well.
Put in a covered container and they will not get soggy.
#1 package of pork rinds #1 stick of butter melted.
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix
Again, melt butter and put on pork rinds. Then add package of Ranch dressing dry and shake well and cover container and they will not get soggy.
#3 1 package of pork rinds 1 stick of butter melted.
1 package of Taco dry mix
Again, melt butter and put on pork rinds. Then add the package Taco seasoning and shake well and cover container and they will not get soggy.
Strawberry Nut Salad
1 tablespoon plain gelatin – usually 1 envelope
½ cup cold water
2 – 3-ounce boxes strawberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water.
2 – 10 ounces packages sliced frozen strawberries, thawed
1 ½ pounds crushed pineapple, undrained- usually 3 small cans
1 cup chopped pecans.
8 ounces sour cream
In a large bowl, mix plain gelatin and ½ cup cold water until dissolved. Add strawberry gelatin and 1 cup boiling water to plain gelatin mixture. Stir until dissolved and let cool.
Add strawberries, pineapple and pecans to gelatin mixture. Place half of gelatin mixture in a 13×9 baking dish and allow to slightly congeal in refrigerator.
Spread sour cream over gelatin mixture in dish and layer with remaining half of gelatin. Allow to completely congeal in refrigerator.
Banana Bread Bars
With Brown Butter Frosting
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup sour cream1/2 cup butter at room temperature
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas mashed.
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts
Brown Butter Frosting
½ cup butter
3 -3 ½ cups powdered sugar or more if needed.
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoon milk
Heat oven to 375 degrees and grease and flour a 15×10 inch jelly roll pan.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter and eggs until creamy.
Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Then add flour, baking soda salt and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts.
Spread batter evenly into pan and bake 20 minutes or golden brown.
Meanwhile for the frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.
Let the butter turn a light golden brown and remove from heat immediately. Watch this carefully because this butter will burn easily.
Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk and whisk together until smooth. It should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting. You can add more powdered sugar or milk if needed.
Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars immediately after taking out of oven.
The frosting is easier to spread while the bars are still warm.