Oriental Cabbage Salad

*I'm looking for a better dressing...this one is good, but not the best that I have had.

16oz bag of coleslaw mix
1 bunch of scallions
3 oz of raman noodles OR the TINY chow mein noodles in a can. SO YUMMY.
1-2 cups diced chicken breast
1/2 cup canola oil
1 T seasame oil
3T rice wine vinegar
3T sugar
1t salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 1/2 T toasted sesame seeds (I don't use this)
1/2 cuo-1 cup of toasted slivered almonds

combine cabbage, scallions, noodles, chicken.
mix the rest for dressing, pour dressing over VERY LAST MINUTE. so salad stays crunchy. Pin It

GRANOLA

This is such a healthy (as opposed to the other high calorie/high sugar granolas and cereals) breakfast slash snack. I have it every single morning and my son loves it like no other. A big plus on making granola routinely is that you have a perfect food storage item (as you will need oats, molasses, oil, brown sugar, etc.) and once you've made it a couple times it takes only a few minutes to prepare before putting it in the oven.

So here's my mom's infamous healthy/yummy granola:

Mix together in large dripper pan (I use the basin of my oven's grill-looking pan.. you know the ones everyone stores under the stove):

14 C. Oats
1 1/2 C. 100% Bran (optional- but adds the yummy crunch)
1/2 C. nuts or seeds (the de-shelled sunflower seeds- also optional)

Mix together while heating in saucepan:

1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Oil
2 1/2 C. Water
1/2 C. Molasses
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon
3 tsp. Vanilla

Pour mixed liquid over the pan of oats. Mix til there's no dry oats. (Sometimes I even add extra oats if the liquid seems to be spreading well..)
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through and at the end of cooking time. Once pan is done and out of the oven, leave it on your stovetop to let it cool. (Here's when I like to add a couple handfuls of raisins, cran-raisins, or dried berry bits- also optional.) Once it cools, store in an old ice cream bucket, a couple of gallon ziplock bags, or an air-tight container.

If you haven't noticed by the quantity of the ingredients, this will last us a good 2 weeks. I usually eat this cold with milk... my mom warms hers... but sometimes I mix 1/2 granola, 1/2 sugar cereal. Doesn't get better than this. (Unless it does and I just don't know about it yet.) Pin It

Pulled Pork by Paula Deen and Me

I made this pulled pork and it was so delicious! My husband said it was the best ever!-well duh it is a Paula Deen recipe. I only put the dry rub on for an hour and I cooked in a crock pot for 6 hours or so. I also lessened the amount of the apple cider vinegar.. it was alittle strong! I did not have liquid smoke but it still turned out, although I'm sure with it, it would be amazing. That stuff works wonders on meat, giving it that extra dimension of flavor a crock pot just can't do! It also makes gobs of food. Easy and yum! Tell me if you like it.

BBQ Pork Sandwich

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen

Dry Rub:

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons black pepper

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons paprika

1/2 tablespoon cayenne

Marinade:

2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire

1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

4 pound shoulder pork roast 

6 soft hamburger buns 

Your favorite BBQ sauce and some stellar Cole slaw

Directions 

We are going to start out by making the rub! 

Mix the dry rub ingredients in small bowl. Rub the rub all over the roast! Pressing into the meat. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

When your 1-2 hours are done.. combine liquid ingredients and the garlic powder in a crock pot. Remove wrap from pork and place in crock pot.  Cook for 6-8 hours or until fork tender and shreds easily. If using liquid smoke brush it onto the roast every couple of hours.

When done remove from the crock pot  and shred the pork with a fork or tongs into bite size pieces. I placed it back into the marinade to keep the meat moist and warm until ready to serve. 

Now the assembly is quiet important. You really need some good soft buns, (that's what she said! ahh!). Sorry that was out of line! but quality BREAD is important.  So if you have a gas stove or wanna throw on your broiler, toast up your buns!  

Next pile on some meat, with no juice. If you haven't already tried the meat, you will notice that it is pretty tasty with nothing else. But go ahead and throw on your favorite BBQ sauce for good measure. .. and let it ooze on the sides. mmm. Gotta love Sweet Baby Ray's.

Next pile your coleslaw on top. DON'T skip it!! It is so good! If you have never tried coleslaw on a BBQ sandwich- now is the time to start! I like to add in a little paprika and green apples to my slaw. We also have a great and simple recipe for coleslaw HERE if you need one :)

And there you go. In true southern style, a rockin BBQ sandwich.

Finger-lickin good. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

**updated 9/7/2012 by Aubrey

Pulled Pork by Paula Deen and Me

Dry Rub:

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons black pepper

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons paprika

1/2 tablespoon cayenne

Marinade:

2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire

1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

4 pound shoulder pork roast 

6 soft hamburger buns 

Your favorite BBQ sauce and some stellar Cole slaw

Directions

We are going to start out by making the rub! 

Mix the dry rub ingredients in small bowl. Rub the rub all over the roast! Pressing into the meat. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

When your 1-2 hours are done.. combine liquid ingredients and the garlic powder in a crock pot. Remove wrap from pork and place in crock pot.  Cook for 6-8 hours or until fork tender and shreds easily. If using liquid smoke brush it onto the roast every couple of hours.

When done remove from the crock pot  and shred the pork with a fork or tongs into bite size pieces. I placed it back into the marinade to keep the meat moist and warm until ready to serve. 

Now the assembly is quiet important. You really need some good soft buns, (that's what she said! ahh!). Sorry that was out of line! but quality BREAD is important. So if you have a gas stove or wanna throw on your broiler, toast up your buns!

Next pile on some meat, with no juice. If you haven't already tried the meat, you will notice that it is pretty tasty with nothing else. But go ahead and throw on your favorite BBQ sauce for good measure. .. and let it ooze on the sides. mmm. Gotta love Sweet Baby Ray's.

Next pile your coleslaw on top. DON'T skip it!! It is so good! If you have never tried coleslaw on a BBQ sandwich- now is the time to start! I like to add in a little paprika and green apples to my slaw.

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Zucchini Bread

I am always looking for ways to sneak vegetables into my kids little bodies.  This is a great way, they loved this bread!

Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil (I did 1/2 c. oil and 1/2 c. applesauce)

2 1/4 cup white sugar (I did 1 cup brown sugar and 1 1/4 cup white sugar)

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini (I actually did about 3 and it was yummy!)

1 cup chopped walnuts (I left these out so that my kids would eat it)

Grease and flour 2 8x4 bread pans.  Preheat oven to 325 deg.  Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Beat eggs, oil vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well.  Stir in zucchini and add nuts until well combined.  Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake for 40-60 mins (Mine took a little longer than this about 1 hour 10 min) until toothpick comes out clean from the middle.  Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes.  Remove bread from pan and cool completely.  Will store well in the fridge for a week or two, or it freezes well also.  

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YUMDIDDLYUMPCIOUS Chicken Nuggets

This one is your new favorite. You just don't know it yet.

Shredded Wheat crushed to 1 cup
*1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
*1/2 tsp seasoned salt
*1/4 tsp paprika
*1/8 tsp garlic powder
*1/2 cup mayonaise
*1 T. honey
*2 tsp prepared mustard
(about 2) Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 x 2" strips (about the size of a regular chicken nugget)

Combine and stir chicken strips in mixture (All *'ed items) to coat.
Roll chicken in cereal to coat evenly.
Place on rack in shallow baking pan.

Bake 12-15 min at 400 or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. (I cook mine longer cause I love crispiness!)
Makes 25-30

Refigerate Leftovers

I realize these look like something you'd happen upon in a horse pasture, but TRUST me, they don't taste like it!

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Quiche

Ingredients
6 slices-- crispy fried ham or bacon
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cups milk
1 cup Bisquick
4 eggs
Salt & Pepper

To prepare it

Grease a pie dish, sprinkle the bacon or ham, cheese and onion in pie pan. Beat the remaining ingredients in a 15 seconds. Pour over the meat & cheese mix.

Bake on 400 for 30 minutes
let stand 5 minutes to cool before cutting. Pin It

Butterscotch Brownies

Melt together1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
( I just put them in a microwave safe bowl and zap it for about a min and a half)
Stir in
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
2 cups coconut

grease and flour a 9x11
bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes Pin It

THE BEST sweet & Sour Chicken...or pork

I got this from a friend today- and it was divine, definitely the best I have ever made and EASY. I halved it too...

2 lbs pork or chicken (cooked or browned)
2 cups pineapple chunks AND juice
1/2 cup catchup
2 T soy sauce
1 green pepper- chunked.
4 T corn starch
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 t Worcestershire sauce
dash Tabasco
1 cup brown sugar
1 large onion-chunked

Combine all except green pepper and cornstarch. Cook 10 minutes. Thicken with Cornstarch, then add green pepper. Cook until onions are tender. The longer it simmers the better, great in dutch oven. Pin It