Apricot Chicken Bake

1 chicken, cut up
8 oz. French dressing
8 oz. apricot preserves
1 envelope onion soup mix

Place cut-up chicken pieces in a baking dish.  Mix French dressing, apricot preserves, and onion soup mix together and pour over chicken.  Bake for 1 hour at 350.  Serve rice with sauce, if desired.

Alternatively, I used 5 chicken legs (they were on sale for 99 cents a pound) and halved the dressing and preserves, adding about a half a cup of water to replace the fluids, and stuck the whole thing in the crock pot for 5 hours or so.  It came out delicious.  I cooked the rice at the last minute, and it came out sticky, but the sauce made it very edible.

Three Bean Bake

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. ketchup
1 tsp. mustard
2 (16 oz) cans pork and beans
1 (16 oz) can butter beans, drained
1 (16 oz) can kidney beans, drained
1/2 C. water

Cook and drain meat.  Mix everything together in a 3 qt. casserole dish.  Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350.  Great with tortilla chips.  Makes a lot.

Oven Chow Mein

1 lb. ground beef
2 C. chopped onion (I use about 1 Tbsp dried chopped onion)
2 C. chopped celery
1 C. uncooked rice (not instant)
2 C. hot water
1 can mushroom soup
1/3 C. soy sauce

Brown meat lightly.  Add remaining ingredients and pour into 2 quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Serves 6 to 8.  I used beef broth instead of some of the hot water to add flavor.  It isn't as Chinese tasting as it is supposed to be, but is pretty good!

Chicken Salad Wraps

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (or about 1-2 c. of leftover chicken)
1/2 red pepper
1 bunch good lettuce
ranch dressing
tortilla shells

Cut the chicken into thin strips and fry with some garlic powder and a little oil.  Take out of pan and put in bowl.  Slice red pepper into strips, fry for a few minutes until warm but still crispy, put in with chicken.  Cut up lettuce head into the bowl, and toss it all with one or two squirts of ranch dressing.  Wrap in the tortilla shells and eat!

I know this recipe is so simple it isn't needed, but it is my one pregnancy meal (something I sometimes craved) that Andrew liked as well, and its a quick dinner.  It also is easy the wrap up in plastic wrap and take in the lunch box instead of sandwiches!

Easter Bunny Buns

Ingredients:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (I used rapid rise)­­
1 1/2 C­­ warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 1/4 C all-purpose flour or bread flour (I prefer bread flour)
1 - 9 oz package jiffy yellow cake mix or 1 1/4 cups of a yellow or white cake mix
1/4 C butter, melted
Cinnamon Sugar
Colored Easter Sprinkles

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and cake mix. Beat until dough is smooth. Add some flour on the counter and knead any additional flour into the dough. Knead until it is no longer sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes - 1 hour. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll dough into a long rectangle 1/2-inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2-inch wide and 14-inches long. Reserve 1-2 of the strips to cut into pieces about 1/2-inch long and roll into small balls (use for bunny tails).

Rolled-out dough about 1/2 inch thick and 14 inches long

Place one long piece of dough on a greased baking sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop to be the tail

Brush the bunnies with melted butter and sprinkle on a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. You can also leave some of the bunnies plain. Cover the bunnies with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with baking spray. Allow the rolls to rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Remove plastic wrap and bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Let cool and then brush on a simple icing and add holiday sprinkles to the plain rolls. Just add the simple icing to the cinnamon ones.

Icing:

2 C powdered sugar
2 T milk
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 T butter, melted

Directions:

Stir the powdered add the butter and blend with a fork. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and mix until you have the consistency of a pourable glaze. Brush on the glaze while the bunnies are still warm. Add colored sprinkles.

 Note: These bunny buns can be left plain and used as a dinner roll. Just shape, rise and bake the bunnies. When they are finished brush with melted butter before serving.

Recipe Yields - Approx. 20 Bunny Buns

Ice Cream Pie

Graham Cracker Pie Crust (I use homemade, and usually use GF gingersnaps for Andrew's sisters)
1 qt. vanilla ice cream
1 C. fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, whatever

Allow ice cream to slightly soften.  I use my kitchen-aid mixer to mix in the berries.  Dump in the pie crust.  Top with tinfoil and put in freezer.  Use within 3 days so it doesn't end up with freezer burn.  It's not a great freezer recipe in terms of longevity, but it works really well with the soy or rice ice cream we use for the Besendorfer cousins, disguising the taste for the rest of us, and so I've been making it up for birthdays and such as an easy, tasty alternative to the gluten free cake.

Chicken Quesadillas Freezer Recipe

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, chopped (I used just a little dried diced onion, since that's all Andrew will put up with)
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic minced (to taste)
8 flour tortillas
2 C. Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese, grated

In a large skillet, cook chicken with garlic powder and pepper until thoroughly cooked.  Remove from skillet and set aside.  Next, simmer tomatoes, green peppers, onion, and garlic, continuing to simmer until liquid is evaporated.  Remove from skillet and set aside.
Using a small amount of olive oil, fry each side of the tortillas in the skillet, then place on a cookie sheet.  Top 4 tortillas with 1/4 cup of cheese, 1/4 of the chicken mixture, 1/4 of tomato mixture, another 1/4 C. cheese, and second tortilla.  Press gently and place in ziploc freezer bag or tinfoil wrap for freezer.

On cooking day: Preheat oven to 375.  Do not thaw!  Simply place the quesadilla on the cookie sheet straight from the freezer and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is fully melted.  Cut into wedges and serve with salsa, guacamole, and/or sour cream.

Oriental Chicken Wings

3 lbs. chicken wings, separated at the joints (I use my kitchen shears for this, and it is probably the hardest part of the whole thing)
1/3 C. soy sauce
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. chili sauce
1/4 C. honey
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. cayenne red pepper

Combine all ingredients (I generally just eyeball the amounts, and it hasn't come out wrong yet) and marinate chicken in mixture for at least and hour or overnight in the refrigerator, mixing occasionally.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and remove chicken from marinade, saving marinade.  Line a cookie sheet with foil (these are pretty messy) and place the chicken on to bake for 15 minutes.  Brush with marinade.  Bake another 15 minutes, then turn and brush more marinade on the other side.  Bake for another 15-30 minutes (you are baking them for 45 minutes to an hour in total).  The more times you brush the marinade on, the more tender the wings.  Cool, wrap, label, and freeze.

To serve:  Remove from freezer and preheat oven to 375.  Place on foil lined baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, or until hot.
Use within 21 days (they aren't as good after that)

Chicken Pot Pie

4 T. butter
4 T. flour
1/4 t. salt
dash pepper
1 C. hot water (I use chicken broth for extra flavor)
1 chicken bouillon cube (when I doubled the recipe, I used 3, again, for flavor)
1 C. milk
2 C. cooked chicken, cut in pieces (great for leftovers, and I've used both boiled and grilled chicken)
1 C. cooked carrots
1 can green beans, drained
1 potato, cooked, peeled, and cubed
I also add celery, canned or frozen corn, peas, whatever I have in my pantry and sounds good together.

Melt butter, stir in flour, salt and pepper.  Dissolve bouillon cube in hot water; stir into flour mixture, add milk, and stir constantly over medium heat until thickened.  Combine sauce with chicken and vegetables.  Leave to cool while you make the crust.

Crust:
2 C. flour
1 C. shortening
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. cold water

Use fork or pastry tool to combine flour and shortening, add salt and water and use as little handling as possible to combine.  Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or so.  Roll out and make top and bottom crusts, just like you would with an apple pie.

Pour filling into pie crust, put top crust on, and cut a couple of slits to vent.  Cover with tinfoil and freeze.

To finish, I try to remove it from the freezer about an hour before baking it.  Cover the edges with tinfoil until the last 10 minutes or so of cooking to prevent the crust from burning.  Then bake at 400 degrees for 70 minutes or so until crust is brown and mixture is bubbly. These are really fun in the individual sized disposable pie tins, but you have to adjust the time.  This recipe makes 2 regular sized pies or 3 or 4 little ones.