Barbecued Chicken Wings (Link)

A couple years ago, we hosted a Super Bowl party at our house (showcasing the products we had won through Panasonic's Living in HD program). As we developed a menu, Mark was insistent we needed some chicken wings to complete our "buffet". He found this recipe online. They were delicious. Since then, we have made them for dinner. I don't make them often but the kids really enjoy them. Since I can get a bag of chicken wings for a few dollars, it is a nice and fairly cheap meal. I made them earlier this week along with some hashed brown potatoes, garlic bread, and some veggies/dip.

I don't feel right posting the recipe since Mark found it online, so I am going to share the link instead.

Becki's Oven Barbecue Chicken

Happy cooking!
Reba

This Week's Menu

Here is the week's menu, a little late.

Sunday: Pizza night (out)
Monday: Barbecue Chicken Wings (recipe link coming), Cholesterol Raising Hashbrowns, Carrots and Snap Peas with Ranch, Garlic Bread
Tuesday: On Your Own Night
Wednesday: Lasagna in a Bun, Chips, Fruit
Thursday: Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Lemon Butter Potatoes, French Bread
Friday: Undecided

What are you having this week?

Reba

Stuffed Burger Bundles

I have been wanting to make these for some time but when it came time to make them, I would ultimately put them off until another day. I don't know why. They are not complicated and are very tasty.

This recipe comes from the kitchen of my cousin and his wife. In fact, in our family cookbook, they said it was the dish that made him propose. My cousin knows good food when he tastes it!

Anyway, here is the recipe.

Meatballs Ingredients:
1 cup seasoned crouton stuffing mix, such as Kellogg's. I think I ended up having to use Pepperidge Farm. It worked.
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 pound ground beef (unless it is my family, then we go for 2)

Gravy Ingredients:
1 10 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp ketchup

*As my cousin's wife suggested, double the soup, sauce, and ketchup, double the gravy and double the fun. I would agree. I would have done this had I had another can of soup. The gravy is really good.

Directions:
Prepare stuffing mix according to package directions.
Combine milk and meat thoroughly. Divide into five patties (about 6" in diameter) on waxed paper (unless you used more meat like I did...).
Divide stuffing evenly into the middle of each patty, then wrap meat around the stuffing to form a large meatball. Make sure meat seals in stuffing all around.

*I will be honest. I didn't evenly divide the stuffing. I just took a small handful, shaped it into a ball, then put it on the "patties" to form the meatball.

Place the meatballs in a 1 1/2 qt casserole dish.

Combine gravy ingredients to make gravy; heat through and pour over meatballs.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.

The gravy is excellent on mashed potatoes. We had ours served over white rice...oh yum. Good stuff. VERY filling!

Reba

Robert's Brownies My Way

I honestly don't know who Robert is. I found this recipe on my friend Beth's blog. All I had to see was "dark chocolate" and "brownies" and I knew I must make them. And I am so glad I did (though when I put on clothes the next day, I wish I hadn't...).

Robert's Bro*wnies My Way" is what they are called:

Ingredients:
6 tbs unsalted butter (I try to always use unsalted butter)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate with 70% cacao (I had about 7 ounces of the 70%, so I had to add a little that was less, like 63%...either way, it is quite a bit of chocolate!)
1 "scant" cup ( just less than one cup) sugar (6.5 oz)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional...I don't think you can ever go wrong with vanilla)
2 large eggs (cold)
1/3 cup plus 1 tbs unbleached flour (I just used some regular flour; it worked))
1 cup nuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Okay, I forgot that part, but it worked anyway.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set directly in a skillet of barely simmering water. (I actually used a double broiler sitting on a saucepan of hot water on the stovetop.) Stir frequently until the mixture is melted and smooth and fairly hot to the touch.

Remove the bowl from the water. Stir in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Add one egg stirring until it is mixed in, then the other egg until mixed in. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon or spatula until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the side of the pan; it is critical that the batter pulls itself together, so don't stop mixing until it does. Stir in the nuts, if using. (Because only a couple of us will eat nuts, I just sprinkled nuts over half the batter once in the pan and kept the other half "smooth".) Scrape the batter into the pan.

Spread the batter evenly in a greased 8 x 8 pan (or you can line the pan with aluminum foil) and make some ridges to make it look better and create texture in the top crust. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (30 for gooey and 35 for chewy), until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs but not totally gooey.

Cool on rack.

Cut and enjoy!

Reba

This Week's Menu

Here is our tentative menu for the week, though it is always subject to change and usually does. And with it being as hot as it is, there are some days, cooking loses its luster!

Sunday: Homemade Pizza and Brownies (recipe coming soon)
Monday: Burger Bundles (recipe coming soon) and rice, carrots and Ranch, French bread
Tuesday: Fall Pork Tenderloin, fingerling potatoes, salad, rolls
Wednesday: On Your Own night
Thursday: Chicken Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
Friday: Breakfast- Pumpkin Muffins, Dinner-Smoothies and Popcorn/Movie Night
Saturday: Eating Out :)

What is for dinner at your house on a hot summer night?

Reba

Overnight Coffeecake

I forgot to take a picture of the complete coffeecake. We had company, and I was quite busy. So I had to snap a photo of the "leftovers" which are now completely gone.

This is a recipe from my mom. We have it for holiday brunches typically. I don't know why I don't make it more often at home though. The kids (and hubby) really like it, and it isn't that hard to make. In fact, you can make it the night before (and I do) then just get up and stick it in the oven. I don't think there is anything healthy about it, but that is what makes it taste so yummy. :)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. (flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon)

Add buttermilk, margarine, and eggs and beat at low speed with an electric mixer until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

Spoon batter into greased and floured 13" x 9" x 2" pan.

Combine "topping ingredients" (brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans). Sprinkle over batter.

Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.

Uncover and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

It can also be baked immediately at 350 for 30 minutes.

I am sure most people know this but if you don't have buttermilk (or if you have some like I did that had already gone bad in just a couple of days), you can "make" buttermilk. Just take one cup of milk and add 1 tbsp lemon juice. Let it sit for about five minutes.

It really is good stuff.

Enjoy!

Reba

This Week's Menu...

Here is the projected menu for the week, always subject to change :)

Sunday: Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, New Potatoes in White Sauce, French Bread, Carrots/Snap Peas and Ranch

Monday: Chicken and Wild Rice (new recipe), garlic bread, salad

Tuesday: On Your Own Night

Wednesday: Homemade Pizza (new for us)

Thursday: Chuck Roast Barbecue sandwiches and sweet potato fries

Friday: tacos/a fiesta!

Saturday: Not sure, but it may involve take out after a busy week...

What is on your menu this week?

Strawberry Refrigerator Sheet Cake

Okay, confession. I call it "poke" cake though I know there is a real "poke" cake out there nothing like this. But when you see the directions, you will understand where I am coming from. There is a method to my madness.

Anyway, this is a family favorite, though I don't make it too often (maybe because I know I will eat it). The recipe comes from my mom.

Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix (since I was making this for a Fourth of July celebration, I used white)
1 package strawberry gelatin
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water

Topping Ingredients:
1 vanilla instant pudding and pie fill mix (4 serving size)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold milk
1 8oz container Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Dissolve gelatin in 3/4 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 cup cold water. Set aside at room temperature.

Mix and bake cake as directed in a 13x9x2 inch pan. Cool cake 20-25 minutes. Poke deep holes through the top of the warm cake (still in pan) with a meat fork or a toothpick. Space holes about one inch apart. With a cup (I actually found a baster easier to use), slowly pour gelatin mixture into holes. Refrigerate cake while preparing topping.

Combine pudding mix, sugar, and milk in a small bowl. Beat slowly with electric mixer until well blended, about 1 minute. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on cake at once. Refrigerate.

I decided to add some colored sugars to go with the patriotic theme. Normally I would just serve it plain.

My kids LOVE this cake.

Enjoy!

Patriotic Pretzels

This is not an original recipe at all, but I wanted to include it anyway. You can find all kinds of versions with just a quick google search. I went for simple and easy.

My daughter really wanted to make a dessert for the 4th of July. She was really wanting to make cupcakes (she just got a new cupcake book she is itching to use). However, since I made a cake last night (recipe coming this week), I convinced her try something different.

We were inspired by my friend Carol, who made some yummy Revolutionary Berries and blogged about it. I started thinking of pretzels students have made me for Christmas and decided we would just put a patriotic twist on it. It was an easy recipe, and my daughter enjoyed decorating the sticks.

Ingredients:
Pretzel rods (the biggest pretzel sticks you can find)
1 12 oz. bag of white chocolate chips (I am thinking almond bark would be good, and I use canned frosting with my students on a similar activity on Constitution Day)
red, white, blue sprinkles and sugars

Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. We followed the directions on the bag. We "cooked" at 70 percent power for a minute, stirred it, then added about 10 more seconds at the reduced power, then stirred again. If you cook it too long, it will get hard really quick. Chocolate is tricky that way. Oh, I just melted mine in a large measuring cup.

Dip the pretzel sticks into the melted chocolate, rolling it to cover about half (or more) of the stick. That was tough. I just had to keep tilting the measuring cup to the side to cover the pretzel as much as I could.

We put wax paper down and then poured the sprinkles on top. That way, my daughter could just roll the pretzel stick in the sprinkles of her choice. It was much easier for clean up too.

Give them just a few minutes, then they are hard and ready to eat.

Yum!

I think we will have to make these for every holiday, changing the sprinkles each time of course...

Happy cooking!
Reba

Creamy Chicken Dip

I was all ready to post a cake recipe for something I made tonight, but instead, I decided to go forth with the creamy chicken dip recipe. It is yummy stuff.

This recipe came from Ms. V, one of my co-workers. She made this toward the end of school, and I had to show self-control to NOT eat the whole bowl by myself. It was just yummy. Oh, when I asked her for the name, she said it was "no name". So I made one up. :)

This is all you need for this "dip".

3 packages of cream cheese
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (the powdery stuff)
1 large can all white canned chicken

Here are the directions...ready for them?

DON'T drain the chicken.

Pour all of the ingredients in a bowl.

Mix thoroughly.

Serve with crackers or chips (I used Fritos tonight).

Yes, that is it.

Simple.

Easy.

Makes a lot.

And really good.

Or at least I think so!

(I am kind of thinking that spreading it on a tortilla and rolling it up to eat a "wrap" of sorts would be really yummy too...)

Happy cooking!
Reba

Our Weekly Menu

Well, I am back home, and that means back to cooking...

Here is our menu for the week:

Monday/July 4th:
Breakfast- Pumpkin Muffins
Dinner- Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Fingerling Potatoes, "Katie" Bread, Black Eye Peas, Salad

Tuesday, July 5th: Mostaccioli, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad

Wednesday, July 6th:
Breakfast- Donut Holes
Dinner- Mom's Night Out/On Your Own

Thursday, July 7th:
Breakfast for Dinner (Pancakes and Bacon)

Friday, July 8th: Undecided...we might be attending a get together

Saturday, July 9th: Undecided, but I am thinking a grill will be involved

What is for dinner at your house this week?

Reba

Back in Town...

I was gone for the week but am back and eager to be back in the kitchen (really). Recipes coming soon!