Creamy Balsamic chicken

I tried this 15 minute recipe and loved it.

1 lb. chicken tenders ( I cut them up in chunks)

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp mrs. dash chicken seasoning ( or not if you don't have it)

salt and pepper

1 -15 oz. jar light Alfredo sauce

1 ½ Tbs. Balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle dash and thyme on chicken and place in hot skillet and brown. Remove from pan.

Pour sauce and vinegar in pan and stir. Add chicken. Heat through till chicken is cooked and sauce is hot.

Pour over noodles or rice. ( I used rice.)

BECAUSE WE ARE A SAUCY FAMILY I DOUBLED THE SAUCE.

Seriously yummy.

T-day Turkey

{**Cooking a turkey may be one of those things that

everyone knows how to do already-- but I didn't!

This year was my first turkey, and I just wanted it to 

be flavorful and juicy. I used some tips from Food

Network's Thanksgiving Live show, as well

as some tips from friends and family... and it was

PERFECT! So, just in case you're like me and don't know,

here it is!}

-

Holiday Turkey

---

Turkey

1 onion, largely chopped

1 lemon/lime, quartered

1 orange, quartered

Garlic (I was out of fresh, so I used

a little minced from a jar.)

Rosemary (I used dried, and I

loved the slightly sage-y flavor)

Thyme (Just a little bit)

Oil or butter. Or both.

S&P

Any other seasonings/herbs you like

---

First, after cleaning the turkey, I rotated

putting onion, lemon, and orange into the cavity

(squeezing the juice of the citrus out into the

cavity before tossing it in.) I also added the garlic,

rosemary and thyme with those, too. I filled the 

cavity completely, then tied the legs back together.

-

Next, shook a couple of tablespoons of flour around

in the turkey bag and placed the bag in the pan.

Brush or rub some oil or butter (or both) onto the skin

of the turkey. Add salt and any other seasonings you like.

(I used S&P, a little seasoning salt, garlic salt

and onion salt.)

---

Place the turkey in the bag, add a 1/2-1 c. water and seal.

Cut a couple of slits in the top of the bag.

Cook at 350 for 15 minutes per pound.

---

This was super easy, and so yummy. I'd make

this regularly if I could!

Thanksgiving success ;)

Honey Garlic Meatballs (or sauce for meat)

===

Okay, this one is all about the sauce.

I have used homemade meatballs, with my meatloaf

recipe (see below), and I've also used store-bought frozen

meatballs, if I was crunched for time. Or lazy ;)

This sauce, in my opinion, would also be great for

chicken or pork. It's a bit Asian, but very mild.

===

Honey Garlic Sauce

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 4 garlic cloves, minced

~ 2-4 Tbs. butter/margarine (or oil if you prefer)

~ 3/4 c. ketchup

~ 1/2 c. honey

~ 3 Tbs. soy sauce

(*If you wanted a more Asian, less ketchup-y flavor,

take the ketchup down to 1/2 c. and add 2-3 more T. of soy sauce.)

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1.

In a sauce pan, wok, or small/medium frying pan, melt the

butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook til tender

(you may need to stir to keep from burning the garlic.)

-

2.

Add the ketchup, honey and soy sauce and bring to a boil.

-

3.

Once bubbling, cover and reduce temperature to low.

Let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring so the bottom

doesn't scald.

-

4. That's it! Add the cooked meatballs into the saucepan, or

pour the sauce over the meatballs and mix up.

Serve over rice, with potatoes, or even with pasta.

===

~~~

Meatloaf / Meatballs

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 2 lbs. ground beef

~ 2-4 eggs (depending on how moist you want it,

and how much bread you'll use)

~ 3-4 slices of bread (or you may use bread crumbs if you prefer)

~ 1/2-3/4 c. diced yellow onion, or 2-3 T. dried onion flakes

 or dried minced onion

~ Salt and Pepper

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1.

Preheat oven to 350 for meatloaf, 400 for meatballs.

-

2.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Make sure everything is incorporated.

-

3.

For meatloaf, press into a cakepan, or into

one or two bread loaf pans.

For meatballs, form into 1-2 inch balls and place

on a baking sheet or in a cake pan.

-

4.

Meatloaf will cook about an hour, depending on

how thick it is. Meatballs will typically cook in

about 30-45 minutes.

===

*For meatloaf, we always use this Sweet & Sour sauce,

which you pour over the meatloaf before baking.

It's so delish.

Marinade How-To (and an approximate pork chop marinade recipe ;)

I very clearly remember hearing something on Food Network

that I never forgot about marinades:

To make a marinade, you need 3 things:

an acid, an oil and your herbs/flavoring.

-

I can honestly say that there are a couple of bottled

marinades and sauces that I love, but that after learning that,

I'm also not afraid to whip up my own marinade!

-

So a few weeks ago when all we had left in the fridge was

pork chops, I threw together a few things and it was yum!

(This is not a specific recipe, cuz the husband "accidentally"

threw away my post-it note recipe...)

-

PORK CHOP MARINADE:

-

Mix in a large bowl:

-

2-4 c. soy sauce

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. lime juice (or lemon, or pineapple...)

1 T. sesame oil (this stuff is powerful!)

1/2 an onion, diced (or a couple tablespoons of onion flakes)

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

a couple tablespoons of garlic, sliced, diced or crushed

1/2 c. veg oil

-

Stir and smell- if it doesn't smell like you want it to,

you could add more of any ingredient, depending

on what you think it needs.

Also, there's not much seasoning in this marinade,

other than the salt in the soy, so season your meat when you

cook it!

For pork chops, this was yum.