This is how I get my kids to eat black beans....

1 tb Coocking oil
1 md Onion; chopped
1 cn Stewed tomatoes;or diced
1 cn Black beans; undrained (15
1 ts Dried oregano
1/2 ts Garlic powder
Salt to taste
1 lb sausage link; cooked (turkey sausage is a healthy alternative, and they can't taste the difference)

In a skillet, heat oil. Cook onion until tender. Add the tomatoes, beans and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add sausage and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.

Orange Chicken

This is so good, I feel like I don't need to order chinese take out ever again! I used fresh red peppers instead of red pepper flakes, and it wasn't too spicy

Ingredients

* Sauce:
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 2 tablespoons orange juice
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1/3 cup rice vinegar
* 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
* 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
*
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 2 tablespoons water
*
* Chicken:
* 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.
5. Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

One of my New Years goals is to try to make more veggies, and to introduce my family to veggies that I don't normally cook. This week I bought a bag of red peppers. Here is one of the recipes I came up with! P.S. I recently read an article on how good red peppers are for your heart!



Ingredients

* 2 large red bell peppers
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 1/4 cup fresh basil
* 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cups half-and-half
* 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
* 4 tablespoons butter
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 can crushed tomatoes


Directions

1. Preheat broiler. Lightly coat the red peppers with olive oil. Grill peppers under the broiler until the skin is blackened, and the flesh has softened slightly. Place peppers in a paper bag or resealable plastic bag to cool for approximately 45 minutes.
2. Remove the seeds and skin from the peppers (the skin should come off the peppers easily now). Cut peppers into small pieces.
3. In a skillet, cook and stir the garlic, basil,crushed tomotoes, and red peppers in 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes, so that the flavors mix.
4. Place mixture in blender (careful it is hot), and puree to desired consistency. Return puree to skillet, and reheat to a boil. Stir in the half-and-half and the Romano cheese; cook and stir until the cheese melts. Add the butter, and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Ground Beef Deep Dish Pizza

* 2 lb ground beef
* 1 med onion, chopped
* 1 C flour
* 15 ounce jar pizza sauce
* 1/2 C Parmesan
* 8 ounce mozzarella
* 1/2 tsp salt
* dash black pepper
* 1 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 1 T oil
* 1/2 tsp garlic salt
* 1/4 cup fresh oregano or dried works well when fresh isn't in season
* 1 T garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Brown hamburger, sausage, onion. Drain well. Add garlic salt and oregano, garlic pwder. Add pizza sauce. Stir well. Grease a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella over bottom of it. Spread meat mixture over the cheese. In mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, flour, oil, and salt. Pour over meat in pan. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over batter. Bake 30 minutes.

Paula Deen's Krispy Kreme Casserole

I used a box of leftover Donuts from the local donut shop instead of Krispy Kremes, and it was still so good!

1 pinch salt
1 9 0z box raisins
2 egg, beaten
2 4.5 oz cans fruit cocktail, undrained
1 14 oz can Sweeten Condensed milk
2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Butter Rum Sauce
1 stick butter
1 lb confectioners sugar
rum to taste or substitute vanilla flavoring and a little milk

Cube donuts into a large bowl. Pour remaining ingredients on top of donuts and let soak up the liquid for a few minutes. Stir mixture and let sit to soak as much liquid as possible. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioner's sugar. Add rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Happy New Year

I took a few weeks off to spend all my free time with my family, but........

Keep watching while I play catch-up, I have lots of yummy recipes to post!

Crockpot Apricot Chicken

Apricot Chicken

Chicken pieces- I used 6 frozen boneless breasts
1/2 jar apricot preserves
pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 small bottle Russian dressing

Dump it all in a crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. Good served over rice.To serve cut into bite size pieces and serve over rice, adding some of the apricot sauce remaining in the crock pot as a glaze.