Chicken & Waffles

Another great standby in our house is Chicken and waffles. We don't really use a 'recipe' but here's how we make it.

cooked, shredded chicken-I use about 2-3 breasts for my 2 adult/2 child family, you can use any type of chicken meat you prefer, or have handy, we just usually have skinless boneless breasts on hand. Put it in chicken gravy in a pot to heat. We use the powdered gravy mix, only because it takes up less space and we can have some on hand all the time. 3-4 packets for the 2-3 breasts. We used to use the jarred or canned stuff, and a handful of times have made our own from scratch, but found it takes too much time :( We also cheat and use frozen waffles. Again, if you've got a waffle maker they're much better homemade, but this meal is usually about quick & easy, as well as delicious.
Once the gravy and chicken is warmed and the waffles are done, just plate it up and eat it up. Yum Yum.

Don't expect any posts over the weekend, as they're almost always our 'cheat' days (frozen pizza or take out) or leftovers from the week. If anything new is cooked however, there may be a surprise post :)

Busy Wednesdays

Wednesdays are busy for us, so many weeks, like this week, we do end up having leftovers or quick meals-my youngest didn't want more of last night's dinner, she choose a sandwich instead. I did not want anyone wondering where tonight's post was :)

Easy Turkey Bake

Tonight's meal is a repeat favorite, and as we've got a busy night ahead, I prepared it yesterday so all I have to do this evening is put it in the oven for 30 mins. We tried the recipe for Easy Turkey Bake off the back of the Stove Top Turkey Stuffing box.
My whole family likes this recipe and we have it at least 3-4 times per year. If we have "leftover" turkey from thanksgiving or Christmas, we use that, but otherwise a 4 pack of Turkey Breasts should do. They're not as easy to find as chicken, pork and beef at the grocery store but they are there-just ask if you can't find them :)
The best part is if you're forgetful like me, once you pick up the box of stuffing at the store, you've got the recipe in your hand and there's no need for a list, unless of course you have half the ingredients on hand already.

EASY TURKEY BAKE
1 pk (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Turkey
about 4 cups chopped, cooked turkey
1 bag (14 oz) frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2-2 cups Kraft shredded Cheddar Cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix stuffing mix and 1 2/3 cup HOT water in a medium bowl just until moistened. Set aside.
2) Spray 13X9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Mix turkey and broccoli in dish. On the stove or in a microwaveable bowl, combine soup and milk, warm until soup is pourable. Pour over turkey mixture, top with cheese then stuffing.
3) Bake 30 minutes or until heated through.
Makes 6 servings.

I suspect since mine will be coming out of the fridge straight into the oven tonight I'll probably have to heat mine just a bit longer.

Enjoy!

Pork Chops in Honey Sauce, Rice and Carrots

Tonight's dinner consisted of Pork Chops in a Honey Sauce, cooked in my crock pot. To accompany it, I made some rice (I used slow rice, but minute rice would have been fine if I'd had any on hand) and drizzled it with some of the leftover Honey Sauce, as well as some Green Giant Glazed Carrots (from your grocer's freezer section). Yes, I took a shortcut, but that's allowed sometimes :)

This recipe took a little bit of forethought-making sure the pork chops were thawed, and starting the meal hours before we planned to eat. I don't always cook like this, but it is certainly a preferred method.

My recipe came from a Crock Pot recipe magazine, from the impulse buy section of the grocery store. I altered it by using pork instead of chicken, like the recipe originally called for. I don't own any rights to the recipe itself, but I can't find a link to the official recipe itself for you, so here you go:

PORK IN HONEY SAUCE
4-6 boneless pork chops
salt and pepper, optional, to taste
2 cups honey
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
2 fresh cloves garlic, minced OR 1 tsp minced garlic

1) Put your meat in the crock pot, season with salt and pepper.
2) Combine rest of ingredients in a medium bowl, stir well. Pour over pork. Cover; cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours or HIGH 3 to 4. (I recommend low if possible, your pork will be juicier and more flavorful)
3) Save extra sauce to drizzle on rice.

RICE:
I used regular white rice, but you can use minute rice or any other type of rice you prefer. Cook according to directions on packet. 1 cup dry rice made about 2 cups cooked rice and that seemed to be way too much for this dish, so I would recommend 1/2 cup dry/1 cup cooked. Spoon some of Honey Sauce over rice on your plate.

CARROTS:
The Green Giant Glazed Carrots made a nice side dish for this meal because they were sweet similar to the other foods, but had a different flavor. I'm sure if you want to make them from scratch, you can find many "sweet" or "glazed" carrot recipes out her in cyberspace. Please check the links I have on the side of the blog if you'd like.

Try it and let me know what you think :)