Esther's Chicken

This is a recipe we got from a friend years ago and it's still one of our favorite crock pot meals.

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed with a garlic press or minced
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 pounds skinless chicken thighs

Put all in crock pot on high for a couple of hours, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice.

Oven carnitas

This has become a favorite for us because it is so easy. :) The ingredients are super simple. It comes out flavorful and tender, and the roast itself is so cheap. You only need to do about 10 minutes of prep work then let it cook all day, then 20 minutes of high heat at the end to get the skin crispy.

Ingredients:

1 pork shoulder roast (bone in, skin on. I usually use a half picnic roast about 4-5 lbs. you can use a whole roast if you have a lot of people to feed)
3 1/2 Tbs salt
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

Wash and thoroughly dry the roast. Mix all the spices and rub into all sides of roast. Put roast on a metal rack in a foil covered pan (for easy clean up) :) place roast in 250* oven for 8-10 hours. Remove the roast from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 500*. Change the foil out under the roast to minimize smoking. Place roast back in oven for 5 minutes. The skin should become crispy. After 5 minutes, rotate roast and put back in to crisp the next side. Repeat until all 4 sides have had a high heat roast, then remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes.

Remove the skin and shred the meat, which will basically fall off of the bone. Chop the skin into small pieces and mix it into the shredded meat. Serve with salsa, avocado, cilantro, or whatever you like on a taco. We like to have it with corn tortillas or as lettuce wraps. It also makes fantastic nachos or topping for a salad.

Jungle Rice

1 chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 cup basmati rice
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger root, finely minced
1 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in oven safe skillet and cook chicken breast with garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper, just until chicken starts to get some color. Add rice and stir until evenly coated with oil. Toast rice about 2 minutes. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When at full boil, cover rice with fitted lid and transfer to oven. Bake 15 minutes, stir, then bake another 5-10 minutes.

Warm and creamy bacon dip

Warm and Creamy Bacon Dip

• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 c. sour cream
• 3 oz. cooked bacon, crumbled (or bacon bits.)
• 2 c. Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 c. green onion, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Place in a 1-quart baking dish. Cover and heat in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until hot. Serve with sliced French bread, crackers, and/or chips.

Lemon bars

• 3 cups all purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of butter (3 sticks) melted completley




• 6 whole eggs
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup FRESH lemon juice. 
• the outer yellow zest from 2 or 3 lemons.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix flour and powdered sugar together, then pour the butter over the dry ingredients. Mix together gently, until just crumbly. Lightly spray a 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray, and press the crumbs firmly into the pan in an even layer. Bake for 15 minutes at 350.
3. In bowl whip the six eggs with a whisk until they are uniform and light. Add the sugar, baking powder and flour, and stir to combine well. With a microplane or small grater, zest only the outer yellow skin from two of your lemons, about 2 tablespoons. Add to the egg/sugar mixture. Squeeze the lemons, straining out the seeds and pulp, and add 1/3 cup of juice.
4. After 15 minutes, pull the crust from the oven, and immediately pour the curd mixture over the hot crust, scraping the bowl to get it all. Return to oven it for 45 minutes, or until set.
5. Let cool COMPLETELY before slicing into neat squares. Dust with powdered sugar. 

7 up biscuits

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups Bisquick
1 cup sour cream
1 cup 7-up
1/2 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Mix Bisquick, sour cream and 7 up. Dough will be very soft - don't worry. Knead and fold dough until coated with your baking mix. Pat dough out and cut biscuits using a round biscuit / cookie cutter. Melt butter in bottom of cookie sheet pan or 9x13 casserole dish. Place biscuits on top of melted butter and bake @ 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until brown.

Southern Fried Cornbread

2/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup self rising flour
1/3 cup low fat buttermilk
1 large egg
oil for frying (I used about 3 tbsps coconut oil, but you can use whatever you like)

Combine first 4 ingredients together in a bowl, mixing well. Mixture should be very moist but not soupy. Heat oil in skillet and drop by spoonfuls into oil. Cook til brown on one side and flip (it cooks kind of like a pancake) to brown on the other side. Place on plate with paper towels and blot any excess oil.