Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken

Recipe Adapted From:
How Sweet It Is: Pinterest

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces of beer
32 ounces of barbecue sauce

Preparation:

Season chicken with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Add to crockpot, then add beer and 24 ounces of barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours, tossing once or twice if desired. After 8 hours, shred and add remaining barbecue sauce. Toss chicken to coat and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving to absorb everything. Serve as desired.

Notes & Tips:
A great recipe for the crockpot. Very yummy and easy. I used Killian's Irish Red for the beer. I also didn't have enough BBQ sauce in the fridge so I had to make 2 cups of my own blend to add to the dredges of random BBQ sauce that I had (Famous Dave's Devils Spit & Kraft Think/Tangy). I made my own blend with ketchup and lots of random spices/vinegar. The original recipe says that using a thinner sauce is easier, but I disagree. I would use a thicker one and let the beer do the thinning.

Stuffed Cabbage

Recipe Adapted From:
Pennies On A Platter - Pinterest

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 medium head (about 2 pounds) green cabbage
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup cooked rice (white or brown)
1/4 cup raisins (I use golden)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon paprika
sour cream, for serving (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch pan with cooking spray or oil.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Using a small, sharp knife, cut in a circle all around the stem of the cabbage and remove the core. Place the cabbage in the boiling water. After about 2 minutes an outside leaf will come loose--pull it off and out of the water using tongs. After another minute the next leaf will come loose. Remove and repeat until you have 8 to 10 leaves. Pat the leaves dry with paper towels. Cut out the thick part of the rib from the bottom of each leaf, but don't cut more than a third of the way into the leaf.

In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, cooled onion, rice, raisins, and salt. With the stem side of the cabbage leaf facing you, place a scant 1/3 cup of the beef mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom edge over the mixture and then fold the sides over and roll into a tidy packet. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, broth, and paprika. Pour evenly over the cabbage rolls. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Optional: Serve the cabbage rolls with a big dollop of sour cream.

Notes & Tips:
So I was a little intimidated to make these since they look kind of difficult, but seriously they were so easy to make and really really good. I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce so there was some texture to the sauce. Mat told me this one was a keeper!

Mongolian Beef

Recipe Adapted From:
Pink Bites - Pinterest

Ingredients:

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 teaspoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

Preparation:

Prepare the meat:

First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch (see picture bellow).

Make the sauce:

Heat half of the oil in a large wok at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later.

Cook the meat and assemble dish:

Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.

Serve it hot with rice.

Notes & Tips:
This is one of the best things I've made in a long time. Very easy, inexpensive to make and serves 2, which is great for Mat and I. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and am SO glad I did! I didn't have any fresh ginger, so I used ground and it tasted just fine.

Ramen Noodle Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
4 Packages Chicken Ramen Noodles
2 Chicken Seasoning Packets
1 Package "Good Seasonings" Italian Dressing Mix
3 Cups Cooked Chicken Breast
1 Cup Frozen Peas, defrosted
3/4 Cup Shredded Carrots
1/2 Medium Bell Pepper (any color) Diced

Preparation:

Cook Ramen noodles according to package. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water. Sprinkle with 2 of the chicken seasoning packages from Ramen package. In small bowl prepare the Italian dressing according to package directions. Pour over noodles. Dice chicken (or shred, whichever you prefer). Add peas, carrots and bell pepper. Mix everything in large bowl and put in fridge for at least an hour.

Notes & Tips:

This is a great salad to take to picnics or pot lucks. If you leave out the chicken it would make a good side dish. Also, if you don't have the dressing mix you can just use 1/2 cup Italian dressing.

Venison Burgers

Recipe Adapted from:
Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds ground venison
8 hamburger buns, split
8 slices Pepper Jack cheese

Preparation:

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, mustard and lime peel; cover and refrigerate until serving.
In a bowl, combine the onions, yogurt, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Crumble meat over mixture and mix well. Shape into eight patties. Pan-fry, grill or broil until meat is no longer pink. Serve on buns; top with cheese and mayonnaise mixture.

Notes & Tips:
We are so blessed to get ground venison from our friends Kris & John. I usually use the deer meat for chili or sloppy joes (or sloppy does in this case), but we wanted burgers and had no beef. I liked the mayo that this recipe makes and the deer with little bits of jalapenos was great. They were not spicy since I took all the seeds out of the pepper. Overall a great weeknight meal.

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken

Recipe Adapted From:
Pinterest: My Kitchen Apron

Ingredients:
3 lb. bag of frozen chicken breasts
1 bottle Frank's Wings Buffalo Sauce
1 packet Ranch Dip Mix
2 TBSP butter

Preparation:
Put frozen chicken, wing sauce, and ranch dip mix into crock pot.
Cook on low at least 6 to 7 hours
Using two forks, shred chicken & return to crock pot.
Add butter. Cook on low for an additional hour.

Notes & Tips:
Mat gives this two thumbs up because of how spicy I made it. I gave it two thumbs up because of how easy it was. I forgot to add the butter at the end, which I don't think it made any difference. Also, I bought the wrong type of Frank's Red Hot. I bought the original flavor instead of the buffalo sauce. It was quite a bit spicier, but you know, I think I enjoyed it. I put a little Ranch Dressing on the buns and it toned it down a little.