Pork Chop Sauce

I made this sauce up for dinner tonight on our pork chops! I feel like an accomplished cook now :)

(Sorry for the half eaten food! I was starving!)

1/6 c. Honey

1/6 c. Soy sauce

1/4 t. Minced garlic (heaping scoop)

3 second squirt of lime juice

(I eyeballed the lime so this is a guess)

I basted the pork chops as they were cooking on our grill. Baste frequently.

Cook 5-10 minutes on each side.

Let me know if you make this and if you like it! I'm curious to know if it was just Chet and I!

Posted by Chelsea

Chelsea's Corn Salsa

Posted by Chelsea

This corn salsa has been my family's favorite for years! It never gets old.

It's really simple! Just takes time chopping everything up. I like to chop everything really small so with every bite you taste all the flavors!

1 can corn (drained)

1 can black eyed peas (drained) *frozen doesn't work in this recipe, used canned only*

2 chopped tomatoes

1 bunch chopped cilantro (no stems)

1/2 to 1 bunch chopped green onions

1 envelope Good Seasonings Italian Dressing Mix, mix as per directions with vegetable oil, white wine vinegar and water. 

Mix all above ingredients together.

Just before serving add 2 chopped avocados. Mix, serve, and ENJOY!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Submitted by Chelsea

These cookies are pretty yummy!! It was the first time I had tried this recipe and it was an instant hit with Chet, and myself. Chet said we are no longer allowed to make any other chocolate chip cookie when making cookies! 

The original recipe is by The Gathering of Friends cookbook  |  Volume 4 http://thegatheringoffriends.com/cookbook/volume-four/

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups brown sugar firmly packed

1 1/2 cups butter flavor shortening

4 Tablespoons 1% milk

2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

4 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups Guittard milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine brown sugar and butter flavor shortening in large mixing bowl. Add milk, vanilla, and eggs. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and soda. Mix dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Using a large cookie scoop drop dough on to greased jelly roll pans 4 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes depending on the size of the cookie. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk! 

(These make a lot of cookies! It would be easy to roll the dough in balls like below and freeze them for later use if you don't want loads of cookies around. Instead of greasing the cookie sheet I used parchment paper. It's easy and fast and you usually won't have to wash the cookie sheet after! Win, win!)

Roast Chicken

Submitted by Chelsea

Roasted Chicken (with potatoes and carrots)

I'm FINALLY getting around to post! This recipe has been a favorite of my family for a few years and I just made it for Chet and I last night. The original recipe is from Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa.  It was my first time so I learned a few things I could have done differently that I'll explain later.  I prepared this the night before in the pan and put it covered in the fridge. I text Chet while I was at work the next day and he just had to put it in the oven. Really easy to prepare and easy to cook!  I didn't have a roasting pan or rack so I bought a pretty good quality one at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I used a 20% off coupon and it came to $12.81!. That's a steal for me considering the other ones were over $50!

You will need:

Roasting pan and rack

1 whole chicken (5-6 lbs roughly)

Kosher salt

Pepper

1 large bunch  FRESH thyme

1 lemon, halved

1 HEAD garlic, cut in half crosswise

1 purple onion

Baby Carrots (Ina doesn't add veggies but I prefer it)

Red potatoes 

Kitchen string (I use kite string- just something that won't start a fire)

Butter or Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Remove chicken giblets, remove excess fat, and skin, clear the inside so you can see an opening at the neck area.  Pat the outside of the chicken dry and place on the rack with it facing up. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Now stuff the chicken with the  thyme, garlic and lemon.  Brush with butter or Olive oil- whichever you prefer. (I used Olive oil to make it a little bit healthier) Tie the legs together tight and make sure nothing is going to fall out of the cavity of the chicken. Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken. Tuck the wings into the sides of the chicken. Slice the onion and place rings on top and to the side of the chicken. Scatter the carrots and potatoes on top of the rack. (My rack had large spaces so majority of my veggies fell to the bottom of the pan- this is ok)  Roast chicken for 1.5 hours or until the juices in the leg and thigh run clear. Enjoy!

*What I wish I would have done differently*

Salt and peppered the inside and outside more. Especially the inside--it won't make it overly salt. I was worried it would but I think it ends of giving it more flavor. I used a white onion cause that's what we had at home- should've used a purple onion. Ina uses a Spanish onion.

I removed the majority of fat off of the chicken prior to cooking to make it healthier but I wish I would've left more to give the carrots and potatoes more fat/moisture to cook in. A lot of the veggies were dried out because the juices couldn't cover the pan because there was so little. The veggies directly under the chicken were really yummy! :)

My mom usually takes the skin off when she cooks hers and I did this time too but next time I'm going to  leave it on to see if that'll give it more flavor by trapping it in. The chicken was  REALLY juicy, I wish I would've roasted it a little bit longer to dry it out a little bit.

Okay! There's my first recipe post! I don't have an after picture but I'll post one of my chicken all ready to cook. Enjoy! 

Here's the book the original recipe came from: 

Chicken Spinach Gnocchi Soup

This cooler weather really has me craving soup. But I seem to always make the same ones over and over. I wanted to try a new one and this one definitely didn't disappoint! I've never used gnocchi so I was a little worried to try this, but I'm so glad I did! If I were to make this again I would double the recipe. There was definitely enough for Jorden, Krew, and myself, but I always like leftovers, and there were none tonight. But it was after church on fast Sunday! I loved that this recipe called for lighter ingredients (like the half-and-half) But believe me, it wasn't light on flavor!

Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 a cup)
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups fat free half-and-half
• 1 cup low fat milk
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 16 ounce package gnocchi
• 2 cups cooked, shredded or diced chicken 
• 1 1/2 cups spinach, coarsely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste. 

Directions:

1. In a 4 or 5 quart pot (bigger if you're doubling it), heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the chopped onion, carrots and thyme. Cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots are slightly tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stirring often.
2. Add the garlic. Stir constantly
3. Whisk in the flour and continuously stir until flour is lightly golden. About 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Stir while bringing the mixture to a boil over medium to medium-high heat.
4. Allow to cook, stirring often until the mixture is slightly thickened. About 5-7 minutes. Stir in the uncooked gnocchi and simmer over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
5. The soup will thicken up while the gnocchi is cooking. Stir in the cooked chicken and spinach and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

We served ours with ciabatta bread.

Pizza Muffins

We love pizza and here is a different form...Pizza Muffins!

You will need:
1 tube of Pillsbury biscuits(I have also used Rhodes rolls dough and it was so good too)
Pizza sauce(any brand you like)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
And any pizza toppings you like

First, grease your muffin tin. Use your hands to roll out the biscuits. (Usually a tube of biscuits has 8 and your muffin tin has 12 spots, so I just divided the biscuits in half for a couple of them, or you could just use 2 tubes of biscuits instead.)
Place the rolled out biscuit in tin and put one spoonful of pizza sauce then your cheese and toppings.
And its as easy as that!
Follow your cooking instructions on the biscuit container. Mine took about 11 minutes!  Really quick and easy oh and GOOD!
Submitted by Lacie

Chocolate marshmallow cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup baking cocoa

1 cup milk

Marshmallows

Frosting:

31/2  c. Powder sugar

1/4 c. Baking cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp butter melted

Instructions:

Oven 350

Beat shortening , sugar, vanilla, and eggs.

In seperate bowl, mix dry ingredients. (Flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa. Mix together well and add to the wet mixture. 

Slowly add milk.

Roll into balls by flouring hands and then rolling about 1 tsp of dough into a ball. 

Place on a sprayed cookie sheet

Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place marshmallow on top each cookie. Return to oven for one minute.

For frosting combine all ingredients and beat til smooth and creamy. Spoon over warm cookie. 

Also the frosting we make for the Texas sheet cake would be good on these.

These were my favorite cookies that my mom made for me when I was little.

Posted by suanne