Orange Julius

Orange Julius

Recipe from somewhere online

6 oz Frozen orange juice concentrate (1/2 a can or more to your liking)

1 cup milk

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

8 ice cubes (or more to your liking)

Combine all ingredients except ice cubes in blender. Add 2 ice cubes and blend until smooth. Gradually blend in other 6 ice cubes until smooth.

Chicken and Spinach Casserole

Chicken and Spinach Casserole

Recipe from Martha Stewart Magazine

2 Cups torn bread

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

4 Cups flat-leaf spinach

1 Medium onion, finely chopped

1 Garlic clove, minced

1/4 Cup white wine (I used apple juice)

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 Cups half and half (I used evaporated milk)

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 Cup rotisserie chicken, shredded

Preheat oven to 450. In a medium bowl, combine bread with 1 Tbsp olive oil and salt. Set aside. In a medium pot, heat 1 1/2 tsp oil over medium high. Add spinach and season with salt. cook, stirring, until wilted (2 minutes). Transfer to colander, let cool, then squeeze out water. Coarsely chop.

Wipe pot clean and heat 1 1/2 tsp oil over medium. Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper (to taste). Cook stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 8 minutes.

Add white wine to pot and cook until almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in half and half. Add lemon juice and bring mixture to a boil over high.

Remove from heat and stir in spinach and rotisserie chicken; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish and top with bread pieces. Bakeu ntil braed is golden brown and mixture is bubbling, 8-10 minutes.

Chicken Cacciatore

*Our Best Bites suggestion: White cooking wine is DEFINITELY better than juices but as a note, don't go cheap on cooking wines when you buy them. (I used grape juice.)

*I am going to put they way I cooked it below the real recipe. I didn't want to use the slow cooker and dirty another dish. It worked fine. I dunno, maybe if I had used the cooking wine and the slow cooker this recipe may have been higher rated.

Chicken Cacciatore

Recipe from Our Best Bites

1 lb. chicken breasts or breasts and thighs, cut up

1/4 cup white flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

5-6 cloves or garlic, peeled and crushed or halved

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 cup white wine, white cooking wine, or apple or white grape juice

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp salt (omit if using wine)

1 bay leaf

1 cup sliced mushrooms (or more)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic and onions and stir frequently until onions are tender and garlic is fragrant. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to blender. Increase heat to medium-high.

In a large Ziplock bag, combine flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Add chicekn pieces, seal bag, and shake to coat pieces with flour. Dump the entire back into the hot pan and stir quickly to prevent pieces from sticking together. Saute until chicken is golden. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Turn off the heat under oil.

While chicken is draining, add wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, thyme, and marjoram to the onions and garlic in the blender. Blend until smooth. Place chicken and bay leaf in your slow cooker and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Place chicken and bay leaf in your slow cooker and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. When you have about 1/2 hour to go, add the mushrooms and the chopped green pepper. Cook until mushrooms and pepper are tender. Remove bay leaf and serve over pasta.

*My Cooking Instructions

In a large frying pan or wok add oil and saute onions and garlic pieces. Then transfer to blender. Increase heat to medium high.

Combine flour, salt, and pepper into a Ziploc bag. Add chicken and shake to coat pieces with flour. Dump the entire bag to the hot pan and stir quickly to prevent form sticking together. Saute until chicken is golden, but not entirely cooked through.

Add mushrooms and green pepper and continue sauteing until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are crisp/tender.

To the onions and garlic pieces in the blender add wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, thyme, and marjoram. Blend until smooth. Place sauce and bay leaf into pan with chicken and veggies. Heat until sauce is heated and begins to bubble. Cover, turn down heat to simmer, and let simmer for 20 minutes (or longer). Serve over pasta.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe from Brad Call

1 Cup Peanut butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

Mix ingredients together. Form into balls on a cookie sheet. Flatten using a fork to make criss cross shapes on top. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. (Definitely better to under-cook than over-cook. Also, if you eat them right out of the oven they will fall apart...wait a little bit until warm or cooled.)

Baked Salmon

Baked Salmon

Recipe from an old cookbook...I can't remember the name off the top of my head

4 Salmon fillets

4 Tbsp butter (I tend to use less)

Lemon pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Take out 4 squares of aluminum foil. Place a salmon fillet on each square. Sprinkle lemon pepper on top and place a Tbsp of butter on each. Gently cover each salmon with aluminum foil and stick in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until flakes easily.

Mom's Muffins

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Recipe from my mom

1 Egg

3/4 Cup milk

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

2 Cups flour

1/3 Cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Butter, melted

Cinnamon-sugar mix

Heat oven to 400. Grease 12 medium muffin cups. Beat eggs. Stir in milk and oil. Stir in remaining ingredients all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 minutes. Immediately remove and dip in melted margarine and then a cinnamon sugar mixture.

Cucumber Dill Sauce

*We ate this with an open-faced salmon burger with sharp cheddar cheese and lettuce.

Cucumber Dill Sauce
Recipe from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook

1 8-oz container sour cream
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 tsp dill weed
1 tsp sugar
3/34 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
lemon juice (1/2 of a lemon) (our addition ro recipe)

In small bowl with spoon, mix all ingredients together. Serve with fish.