"Chinese Takeout" Lemon Chicken Homemade Edition!

This is the easiest way to make lemon chicken.  My family inhales it.  I have to make a double batch every time.  Pictured here is orange chicken.  This time I used orange juice because I only had 1 package of orange jello & no chicken broth. 


Here is the recipe:

1 Tbsp oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut
1 pkg snow peas trimmed
1 small red pepper, cut
2 pkg Lemon Flavor Gelatin (1 for less lemon flavor)
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1/2 C chicken broth
2 Tbsp Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (I add more for the tanginess)
2 Cloves minced garlic

Heat oil add chicken.  Cook thoroughly.  Add snow peas & peppers.  Cook.

Mix dry gelatin mix & cornstarch in small bowl.  Add broth, dressing & garlic.  Stir until gelatin is dissolved.  Add to skillet.  Reduce heat to medium.  Cook until sauce is thickened.  Stir frequently.

I omit the peas (gag.  I'd rather eat dirt than peas) and red peppers (because I have a white girls stomach and it would revolt if I ate anything spicy.) I also add more liquid to make more sauce. 

Pour over rice or eat alone with homemade fried rice or chow mein.

Homemade Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce - AKA: Oh Dear Lord. I've died & gone to Heaven.

This is part three of getting my family away from store bought condiments & preservatives.  So far I have made ketchup & taco sauce.  All with great results.  If you missed my post about my homemade ketchup, go here, & taco sauce go here. 

 

Here in the PNW, Autumn comes quick.  Chilly nights make the tomato skins crack.  I had to get out there in September & pick all the green tomatoes that were left on the vine.  When it was all said & done I had 6 brown paper bag full.  Yesterday, I finally used up the last remaining tomatoes from my garden.  I'm so happy to be able to see my clean counter top. 

 

I decided to make some BBQ.  I tried a recipe from the Ball Canning website, but it was too hot & vinegary for my taste.  Then I came across this little gem from allrecipes.com.  Go here to bookmark it.  Here is the recipe in its entirety:

 

Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce:

1/2 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup bourbon whiskey

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper  

1/2 tablespoon salt 

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/3 cup cider vinegar                                                

2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce                                                    

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste                                                    

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce. 

I played around with the recipe to suit my situation.  For example I wasn't going to use store bought ketchup & paste when I had my own tomatoes.  Secondly, I wasn't going to go out & buy liquid smoke.  Finally, I found out I had no Worcestershire sauce or garlic cloves. 

I peeled & seeded 8 quarts of tomatoes.  Cooked it down to desired thickness.  I added 1/4C of whiskey, I didn't want to over power it.  Then added the onion & garlic powder,  salt, pepper, brown sugar, & hot pepper sauce.  I let it cook a bit more so the alcohol would cook out.  I processed it for 25 minutes in my water bath canner.

 

It came out AWESOME!  I am never going to use another recipe.  My husband wants to use this on the next tri tip we buy.  Try it out & tell me what you think.  Now I am putting my canner away, jars & lids away.

Homemade Taco Sauce

In my house we eat a ridiculous amount of Mexican food, in particular, tacos.  We have tacos at least once a week.  It's just easy & everyone eats them without complaining.  I am trying to cook from scratch & trying not to buy processed food. The most easiest way to start lessening my family's dependence on processed food is with making my own condiments. 

 

I haven't bought taco sauce in the past 2 years.  In my humble opinion, I like my sauce more than the store bought stuff.  That's saying a lot because I am picky about my food.  This recipe is similar to the previous post about making ketchup.  See the post here.  (Yes I am reusing the same pictures.)

Use as many or as little tomatoes you want.  I use about 6-8 quarts of tomatoes.  Peel tomatoes (lightly cut an X into the skin and drop them into boiling water.)  Leave them in the water for about 10 seconds and put them in cold water (ice water is preferred).  The skins will slide off.  Core & cut.  Leave pot uncovered.  Once soft run through food mill to remove seeds.  Unlike the picture, you don't need onions or red peppers.

 

 

 

 

Reduce the tomato mixture to desired thickness.  Cook on low for 4-8 hours stirring from time to time to prevent sticking.  I prefer my sauce a bit thick so when it covers the spoon & doesn't fall off too quickly I know it's done.  The only thing I add after reducing the tomato mixture is my homemade taco seasoning.  If you're using my recipe for taco seasoning, I used at least 4-5 tablespoons full.  I really don't know how much I just pour some seasoning in until I like the way it tastes.  I'm that kind of cook.  I usually can get 6-8 pints of taco from 6-8 quarts of tomatoes.  Have fun & let me know what you think.



 

 

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Do you know what's in vanilla extract?  2 things: Vanilla beans & vodka.  THAT'S IT! The 3rd ingredient is time.  About 3-6 months depending on your desired level of strength of flavor.

First vanilla beans & vodka

 

 

 Cut beans length wise & scrap seeds into jar.

 

Put vanilla beans into jar.

Pour in vodka to cover beans.  Put jar in the a dark cupboard.  Let sit 3-6 months. 

Shake every month or so.  Don't forget to write date on the lid

 

Cost analysis: $5.99 for organic beans, $18.99 for a liter of vodka.  I probably used about $4.00 worth of vodka (overestimate).  So $9.99 total.  The jar holds 1 pint = 16 fl oz.  Amazon has vanilla on sale 8 oz for $10.17.  I made double for the same price & didn't have to pay shipping.  I'm ready to bake some chocolate cookies!

Cinnamon Pear Fruit Leather

I got a 1/2 of tote of pears for free last week.  They are by no means pretty.  It was a lonely tree in front of our schools bus barn.  No spray, no love from anyone, but still produced a lot of edible pears.  And with pears, they all seem to ripen at once.  I'm only one woman.  Now that my husband has a FT job right now (YEA!), he can't help process all the wonderful fruits that the PNW provides.  I saw a recipe somewhere where I could use the oven to make fruit leather.  This is super super easy. 

1. Preheat oven to 170*. 
2. Peel & core pears.
3. Toss them into the food processor.
4. Add sugar & cinnamon to taste.
5. Pour pear sauce onto a silicone lined cookie sheet.
6. Lightly shake the sheet so the sauce is evenly distributive.
7. Bake for at least 4 hours (perhaps more)
8. About every hour or so turn & move (either up or down to the other rack) the cookie sheet.
9. Once cool & dry cut with pizza cutter.
10. Store in a plastic bag or enjoy right away.

I made about 5 tray fulls over the last few days.  My children have eaten all but 4 pieces!  Guess I'm making more!

My Famous Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

OK Jen this one is for you!  I must really love you like a sister if I'm going to share with the world my famous chocolate zucchini bread recipe!  Remember this!  I can no longer take this bread to MoPs, because everyone will have the recipe.

BTW I shred my zucchini & prepackage them (3 Cups) & toss in the freezer for later use, usually during the winter months when I feel like baking.

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 eggs

1 C oil

3 C grated zucchini

2 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 C cocoa

1 C chopped pecans (optional)

1 C chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 325.  Beat eggs until foamy, add oil & sugar, mix well.  Add shreddred zucchini & vanilla.  Mix well.

Combine salt, flour, baking soda & powder, & cocoa separately.  Mix well then add to the previously mixed ingredients. 

Add chocolate chips & nuts.  Mix well again.

Spray 2 loaf baking pans w/Pam.  Split the batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake both loaves at the same time @ 325 for approx 60 mins - Makes 2 loaves.

Recipe: Hot Banana Pepper Mustard

I found this on a canning website & had to try this for my husband.  Our peppers are growing sporadically, so I had to get some of them put up.  I can't handle hot & spicy things, but this is mild with a sweet after taste.  My husband LOVED IT.  It is super easy.

I cut this recipe by 3/4 th.  There was no way I had 40 peppers. 

9-‎10 hot banana peppers

1 C yellow mustard

1 1/4 C sugar

1/4 C honey

1 C vinegar (they had apple cider)

1/4 tsp salt

3/8 C flour

1/4 C water (which I forgot to add).

Blend peppers until smooth. Pour into pot add all other ingredients except flour. Bring to hard boil. Whisk flour & water until smooth & pour into boiling mixture. Continue to boil for 5 mins. Process in water canner for 5-10 mins.  This made 3 of those little jelly jars & 2 bigger ones.  At least enough for a years worth.

Safeway Steal: 6 packages of cream cheese for .42

To be honest I haven't been posting my grocery deals.  It seems like prices are increasing daily, the price I'm paying currently is not my rock bottom price, but I may have to adjust for the never-ending price increases.  But I had to show you this dandy transaction I did today at Safeway.  Just remember a few things:

1. Everything was 50% off
2. I had NO coupons (oh the horror)
3. My children were acting like mental patients b/c the sugar from the FREE cookie hit their systems.
4. PTL I added the coupons from Just 4 U program

The cream cheese was originally $1.79 w/50% off =<.90>.  My Just 4 U price was .97.  If I do the math correctly 97-90=.07!  I guess that they don't take the Just 4 U price into consideration for the 50% off!  It worked in my favor.  This is why I add EVERY Safeway coupon to my card.  You never know when it will work in your favor.

The question you're probably asking is "Why did I buy 6?  What am I going to do with that many?"

1. Cream cheese freeze well.  Once it is thawed, mix it up b/c it does breaks apart.
2. I make a killer Chicken Parmesan Spinach Bundle.
3. I make a killer cheese cake.
4. Here is the recipe.

Thrifty Tip: Homemade garlic powder

Yea I know I can buy garlic powder at the store super cheap, but we're waiting to see if my husband will once again get onto the unemployment line (YIPPEE ~ sarcasm right there folks).  So needless to say that we're trying to save money EVERYWHERE. 

So we're looking at everything we eat or use that we can make ourselves.  What's the first thing you do when you wake up? OK second thing.  Eat breakfast.  I have a habit of having garlic toast for breakfast.  A nice crisp piece of sourdough bread with butter, garlic & onion powder with a diet Dr. Pepper is what gets me going in the morning.  I know I'm weird. 

While munchin down on my breakfast of champions I got a quiet moment to read the label.  Do you know what's in garlic powder?  Dehydrated garlic & some other stuff.  Guess what I did?  Yep.  Made garlic powder!

1. Get a garlic clove, double check to make sure that it has big cloves b/c it's easier to slice.
2. Peel & slice clove .
3. Dehydrate slices.
4. Once dehydrated, ground the heck out of the slices.  (I use our Magic Bullet, b/c grinding things into a pulp is the best thing it can do.)

 

Chicken Parmesan

I was in the mood for something different for dinner yesterday.  I scoured my recipe box and found this gem.  I never tried it before, so glad I tried it.  I was even more excited that I picked up a bunch of bagged spinach for free a while ago, cooked it down & froze it!

Chicken Parmesan Bundles

4 oz cream cheese

1 pkg thawed well drained chopped spinach

1 1/4 C mozzarella cheese divided

6 T grated Parmesan cheese divided

6 sm boneless skinless chicken breast pounded to 1/4inch thick

1 egg

10 crushed Ritz (or other kind) crackers

1 1/2 c spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 375*.  Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella cheese & 3 T of Parmesan cheese until well blended, spread evenly onto chicken breast.  Roll up tightly.

Beat egg in shallow bowl or pie plate.  Mix remaining 3 T Parmesan cheese and crumbs in separate shallow bowl or pie plate.  Dip chicken bundles in egg and roll in crumb mixture.  Place seam sides down, in 13x9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 30 min.  Served topped with the spaghetti sauce & remaining 1/4 C mozzarella cheese.

I did everything but the spaghetti sauce & the swapped out 6 pieces of chicken with 4, but I did cut them in half.  It was delicious.  The chicken wasn't dried out at all.

My fabulous peach cobbler

This is my go-to recipe when I need to bring something to a party.  It is super easy & delicious! Peach cobbler. I have used the same recipe when other fruit is in season.

2 Quarts of peaches

1 tsp cinnamon

1 box of yellow cake mix
1/2 C softened butter
1 egg yolk

These ingredients are part of the recipe, but I don't put it in.  The cake mix is sweet enough by itself.

3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
2 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray baking dish.  Pour in peaches & add cinnamon.  Toss until coated.  Stir together cake mix, butter & egg yolk in separate bowl.  Sprinkle over peaches.  Bake 30 mins or until golden brown.

Blackberries: Oregon's state weed?

Blackberries are abundant here in Oregon.  At this point they are so annoying that sometimes I classify them as a weed.  But I have to admit that I love it on summer days I can send the kids out to eat as much as they want right off the vine.  I think last summer I froze about 6-8 gallon size Ziploc bags for future enjoyment.

Future enjoyment?  Oh yea, my husband has a sweet tooth.  A close second is a berry tooth, any kind of berries it doesn't matter.  So how do I show my appreciation to him for all the hard work he does?  BLACKBERRY PIE.

Here is my recipe for blackberry pie:

Filling:

4 C blackberries

3/4 to 1 C sugar

1/4 C flour

Add all ingredients into bowl, mix, & set aside

Double crust:

2 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 C shortening

6-7 T cold water

Mix together flour & salt.  Cut in shortening until size of small peas.  Sprinkle 1 T of water at a time over mixture.  Mix until dough is moistened.  Cut dough in half.  Roll out over floured surface until size of pie dish.   Put dough into dish & press edges to remove air bubbles.  Add filling into pie dish.  Repeat with second half of dough.  Place on top of filling.  Trim edges of dough, press edges with fork to seal edges, & make slits in top dough for air removal.

Cover edges with foil & place in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Remove foil 7 bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Lasagna - just a bit different

I have a friend who introduced me to this thrifty tip. 

Use cottage cheese in place of ricotta cheese in lasagna.  The thought of cottage cheese makes my stomach turn, but she said ricotta cheese is just a smaller curd.  So I gave it a try.  Know what?  It was good.  I thought I'd hate it, but it tasted just the same.  Give it a try. 

Cottage cheese is cheaper than ricotta.  You can even place the entire tub in the freezer.   AND BTW, I see a lot more coupons for cottage cheese than ricotta now. Enjoy your dinner! 

If you wanna know my recipe for lasagna here it is: 1 can spaghetti sauce, lasagna noodles (either ready to make- add 1/2+ C water to sauce for ready to make or cooked yourself), shredded cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese.  Layer noodles, spread cottage cheese, sprinkle shredded & Parmesan cheese, cover with sauce.  Bake in 375 oven for 20-30 minutes.

Irish eye's are smilin' Part 2

Eureka!  I found a way to make hash browns better!  For those who missed part 1 go here.

Soak the shredded potatoes for a few minutes until the water becomes milky white & has bubbles.  Squeeze the water out of the potatoes, fry in a few tablespoons of oil, & cover.  Cook for at least 5 minutes or until desired crispiness & turn.  I add all season salt to mine & they are WONDERFUL!

PTL for my stockpile!

I just love my stockpile!  I had on my menu Lemon Chicken on Sunday night for dinner & was shocked I didn't have lemon jello :(  What to do?  What to do?  PTL for the lemon's I picked while in California.  See the post here.  Here is the recipe for "Take out lemon chicken":

1 T oil
1 lb boneless chicken
1 pkg snow peas 
1 sm red pepper, cut into strips
2 pkg Jello brand lemon flavor gelatin (was originally 1)
1 T cornstarch
1/2 C chicken broth
2 T Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
2 cloves minced garlic

Heat oil in large skillet on med-high heat.  Add chicken cook through.  Add peas & peppers, coo & stir 2 mins.

Mix dry gelatin & cornstarch in small bowl.  Add broth, dressing & garlic, stir until dissolved.  Add to skillet.  Reduce heat to med, cook 3 min or until sauce is thickened, stir frequently.  Serve over rice

********************************************************************************

While I didn't have lemon jello I substituted lemon juice about 1/4 cup, cornstarch 1 T & 1/2 C corn syrup.  I would recommend to increase the lemon juice to 1/3 for more for lemon flavor, 1/4 C was too mild.  I didn't add peas or peppers because I would be boycotted if I did.  Doesn't it look delish? 

Homemade Taco Salad Bowls

My family has an addiction to Mexican, we can eat it at least once a week, sometimes even twice.  This week I decided to change things up a bit & have taco salad.  I even made the taco salad bowls.  Now this my friends is super duper easy.

1. Ball up a paper towel.
2. Cover ball with aluminium foil.
3. Spray tortilla & foil with spray oil.
4.  Broil until desired crispiness.

Seriously, that's it.  Add your meat, beans, rice, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cheese, etc and enjoy!

Homemade speghetti o's

It's cold here.  We needed something to warm us up.  I searched my pantry to no avail.  Nothing sounded good.  I was remembering back to my childhood days & what we would eat when it was cold.  What food always made me happy on those cold days?  One word "Spaghetti O's".  I thought they were to die for.  But we didn't have any, because there haven't been any coupons for "Spaghetti O's".  Then I thought:

Q:  What are spaghetti o's? 

A:  Small round noodles & tomato sauce. 

Simple enough I can make that.  If I can make homemade sourdough bread & can whip up some noodles in spaghetti sauce.  But instead of opening a jar of sauce I looked through my pantry and found something close to spaghetti sauce, Progresso Tomato & Basil Soup.  I picked it up for 10 cents a can (after coupons of course).  I was given some round noodles & added them to the soup.  I prayed that it would turn out & the children would eat them.  Oh boy did they eat them.  Even my husband said that this was way better than Chef Boy R Dee's!  Tell me what you think.

Homemade Spaghetti O's

Ingredients

1 Can of tomato soup

1 to 1 1/2C of noodles

Couple of Tbs of water (if needed)

Put everything in a pot & heat until noodles are done. 

Irish eye's are smilin'

My Irish ancestors would be so proud of me right now.  I stepped out of my box & made homemade hash browns.  Why?  I'll answer that with another question, "When did Ore-Ida hash browns costs almost as much as a gallon of gas?"  Seriously, it's frozen potatoes with some preservatives added for your enjoyment.  That's it, potatoes.  I could pick up a 10lbs bag of potatoes for a couple of $$ less than a 16oz bag.  10lbs!  That's a lot of potatoes.  There something to be said for the versatility of those little guys.

Everything I did was "old school".  My food processor shredding attachment broke a while ago, so I grated the potato by hand.  It took me about 5 minutes to get everything ready.  And it tasted so much better than the preservative-filled spuds found in your grocers freezer.  BTW I make homemade fries too, but that's for another day.

Homemade Hash Browns

2 medium potatoes

2 tbs oil

Pam Spray

Salt, pepper & garlic powder

Onions or peppers

Spray Pam in pan & add oil.  Heat up pan.  I chopped some onions & added to the pan to give the hash browns even more flavor.  Peel & grate potatoes.  Press potatoes between paper towel to remove some of the water.  Cook to desired crispiness.

"Mama said there'd be days like this"

"Mama said there'd be days like this,

There'd be days like this, my mama said"

UGH. Cold.  I've have an aroma of Vicks & Bengay.  Sexy I know.

But you gotta do what you gotta do, mom's don't get sick days.

So the inevitable question today is: "What's for dinner?"

Praise the Lord I worked my tookis off this summer canning everything I could get my hands on!

Tonight's dinner "Chicken Enchilada Soup"

Cost $2.00

1 piece chicken breast

1 can black beans & corn

1/2 lg onion

2-3 cloves garlic

2-3 tomatoes

1/2 qt of salsa or taco sauce

2 C water

Grill chicken in pan.  Then throw chicken & everything else in the crockpot.  Cook on low 4 hours or until tender.  (I grilled the chicken right out of the freezer.)  If you don't have enough salsa or taco sauce go here to learn how to make your own http://www.thethriftyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-can-make-taco-seasoning.html

Doesn't this look wonderful & filling.  This homemade soup is easy peasy. I have enough to last for at least a couple of dinners for more than 1/2 the cost of what I could get at a restaurant.

Part 2 - My thrifty flour tortillas

Making things from scratch is a new idea for me, being a Cali-girl, my family went to the store to get food.  So when I started looking at ways to save money on things we use often, I went straight to my family's obsession with flour tortillas.  We eat tacos at least once a week.  My family loves to make wraps with them so we can easily go through a package of 10 in one sitting. 

I am in a group called Titus II, which is a women's church group where women share their ideas & knowledge.  I LOVE IT!  It has opened my eyes to a whole new world.  One family actually is self sufficient!  It blew my mind.  They might go to the grocery store once every month or two!  Here is her recipe for flour tortillas.  I have a secret, I sneak one & eat it right off the grill.

4 C of flour

2 tsp of salt

1/3 C of shortening or lard

1 1/2 C of warm water

Combine the flour or salt.  Cut in shortening/lard.  Add water & mix until soft dough forms.  Knead the dough for 1 minute & let sit for 30 min covered.  Divide the dough into 16-18 balls & flatten into disks.  Leave for 1 hour.  Roll out into 10" rounds on floured surface & cook in un-oiled medium hot skillet, turning once.  Let cool & then I place them into a clean empty plastic bread bag.

Titus 2:4-5 "Older women- train the younger women to love their husbands & children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind & to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the "Word of God"