In Peg Bracken's " I Hate to Cook Book" there are many recipes that are easy & enjoyable to do. As the holiday season approaches, "what's for dinner" becomes more effort after all the other things that need juggling this time of year. So here's a few simple tasty things that don't require a lot of work for those busy evenings.
Coca-Chicken
Salt and pepper 2 to 3 pounds of chicken pieces. Warm about 1/4 of ketchup, and add a cup of coca-cola. Put the pieces of chicken into a casserole, pour over the sauce. Cover the casserole cook for about a half hour (350-375 degrees) Then uncover it, cook for another half hour and you're done.
Bastard Barbeque
Salt and pepper and lavishly garlic-salt a cut-up chicken. put it in a shallow pan and then sprinkle it generously with brown sugar, folowed by dotting it with lots of butter. Bake it uncovered for about an hour at 350 degrees.
Chili Chicken
8-10 chicken drumsticks or thighs , 1/4 jar of chili Seasoning, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, and tinfoil.
Salt and pepper the chicken. Mix the seasoning with the vinegar. Paint each piece with the seasoning and wrap it in foil. Bake them at 400 degrees for 40 Minutes.
October 29, 2011
October 26, 2011
Lemon Cake
A Recipe from the Vt Judiciary I keep meaning to make:
Ingredients
1 box Duncan Hines Lemon Cake Mix
1 box lemon jello instant pudding
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
4 eggs
½ cup lemon juice
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 box Duncan Hines Lemon Cake Mix
1 box lemon jello instant pudding
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
4 eggs
½ cup lemon juice
2 cups confectioner's sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first five ingredients and bake in a greased bundt pan for 1 hour. Mix lemon juice and confectioner's sugar, and pour over cake while hot. Serve with blueberries and vanilla ice cream. (Can substitute raspberries or strawberries for blueberries).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first five ingredients and bake in a greased bundt pan for 1 hour. Mix lemon juice and confectioner's sugar, and pour over cake while hot. Serve with blueberries and vanilla ice cream. (Can substitute raspberries or strawberries for blueberries).
October 22, 2011
Mom's Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3 or 4 ounces of Key Lime Juice
1 9' graham cracker shell
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3 or 4 ounces of Key Lime Juice
1 9' graham cracker shell
Instructions
Combine milk and egg yolks at a low speed. Slowly add juice mixing until well blended. Pour into a 9' graham cracker pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. cool. Top with whipped cream or meringue and enjoy.
Combine milk and egg yolks at a low speed. Slowly add juice mixing until well blended. Pour into a 9' graham cracker pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. cool. Top with whipped cream or meringue and enjoy.
October 19, 2011
Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup coconut
Instructions
In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, margarine and eggs; beat well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, coconut and nuts. Divide dough in half. On waxed paper, shape each half into a roll 2 inches in diameter. Wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm.
Heat oven to 375°F. Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375°F. for 8 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets
In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, margarine and eggs; beat well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, coconut and nuts. Divide dough in half. On waxed paper, shape each half into a roll 2 inches in diameter. Wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm.
Heat oven to 375°F. Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375°F. for 8 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets
October 12, 2011
Caramel Dip
Great with either Popcorn or sliced apple pieces, this is a great easy dip.
Ingredients
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup brown sugar
dash of vanilla extract
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup brown sugar
dash of vanilla extract
Instructions
Combine ingredients well. Enjoy!
Combine ingredients well. Enjoy!
October 8, 2011
Garlic Shrimp
Not to be confused with Shrimp Scampi, Garlic shrimp is my own revved up concoction using off-the-shelf spagetti sauce. And, because I've never measured it all, it comes out slightly differently every time. This is not a low calorie, low fat low cholesterol dish by any means. It is however very yummy. WIth a Salad and garlic bread, you've got a nice dinner here for company too.
You'll need
Shrimp
Butter (real butter, not the fake stuff)
Several Cloves of Garlic
A jar of spagetti sauce (I use Ragu's Roasted Garlic but whatever will do)
Pasta (I like fetticine for this myself, but any pasta will do)
Parmesan/Romano Cheese (whichever you like or both)
I heat some butter up (2 tablespoons or so), then add about 2 minced garlic cloves. While thats getting started, I start heating a pot of water to boil the pasta in. Take the shrimp (shells completely off) rinse them, and then add to the garlic. you don't want to let the butter cook away, nor add too much so I often put a splash of white vermouth in as well. Any dry white wine would work, but I have found cooking with Vermouth works very well. Once the water comes to a boil, drop your pasta in to cook. Using Fetticine I set the timer for 12 minutes. Keep turning the shrimp so the are cooked all the way through. once they are pink (5-6 minutes), add another clove of garlic, and about a cup of the spagetti sauce. I add at this point parmesan/romano cheeses, less than a 1/4 cup, four or so shakes if you're using the quick stuff from the store. Once the shrimp, sauce, garlic and cheese are integrated, add the rest of the sauce. Stir occasionally to keep it all integrated and so the shrimp don't settle to the bottom. When the timer goes off, drain your pasta. The sauce by this point should be hot all the way through, so its time to serve dinner. I find its easier when serving the shrimp & sauce over the pasta to use a ladle so the shrimp gets evenly distributed. For those of us who really like garlic, more can be added. Enjoy!
You'll need
Shrimp
Butter (real butter, not the fake stuff)
Several Cloves of Garlic
A jar of spagetti sauce (I use Ragu's Roasted Garlic but whatever will do)
Pasta (I like fetticine for this myself, but any pasta will do)
Parmesan/Romano Cheese (whichever you like or both)
I heat some butter up (2 tablespoons or so), then add about 2 minced garlic cloves. While thats getting started, I start heating a pot of water to boil the pasta in. Take the shrimp (shells completely off) rinse them, and then add to the garlic. you don't want to let the butter cook away, nor add too much so I often put a splash of white vermouth in as well. Any dry white wine would work, but I have found cooking with Vermouth works very well. Once the water comes to a boil, drop your pasta in to cook. Using Fetticine I set the timer for 12 minutes. Keep turning the shrimp so the are cooked all the way through. once they are pink (5-6 minutes), add another clove of garlic, and about a cup of the spagetti sauce. I add at this point parmesan/romano cheeses, less than a 1/4 cup, four or so shakes if you're using the quick stuff from the store. Once the shrimp, sauce, garlic and cheese are integrated, add the rest of the sauce. Stir occasionally to keep it all integrated and so the shrimp don't settle to the bottom. When the timer goes off, drain your pasta. The sauce by this point should be hot all the way through, so its time to serve dinner. I find its easier when serving the shrimp & sauce over the pasta to use a ladle so the shrimp gets evenly distributed. For those of us who really like garlic, more can be added. Enjoy!
October 3, 2011
18th Century Drunken Chicken
Here's an oven based recipe that we converted to a campfire meal. Pictures of that whole process can be found at MizRebecky's Adventures. Either in the oven or over the fire, this is very easy to do and tasty as well.
Ingredients for a single recipe (we made a quadruple batch):
4 chicken legs-thighs (chicken joints) - we used chicken thighs for easy cooking & cleanup.
1/4 pint cider - we used woodchuck cider.
2 teaspoons English mustard powder - we used pre-made powder. You can make your own by pulverizing equal amounts of brown and white mustard seeds.
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper
1 tablespoon oil - we used olive oil.
2 tablespoons honey
The recipe says to put your chicken pieces in a dish (in a single layer). we were making drunken chicken for many people in a dutch oven, so we piled it all in one pot. I suspect single layer you would get more of a glazed result than we did.
Then combine the remaining ingredients, pour over the chicken and allow to stand for a minimum of 1 hour. Ours soaked for about an hour and a half hile we were off doing other tasks.
Oven bake the chicken slowly in a large oven proof dish/pan for approximately 1 hour, basting the joints periodically as they cook.We put much more marinade in ours, as fire can be much less predictable than on oven, and we didn't want it to dry out. So no basting was done, but periodic stirring was essential. I think we cooked ours more like an hour and a half. The chicken was incredibly tender and tasty.
the recipe suggests Serving hot with steamed greens and mashed or baked potatoes. We had boiled potatoes and a salad to round ours out. We discussed doing it again and maybe having dumplings on top, but that will only work if you approached it with plenty of marinade in the pot.
*The original recipe, done in an oven, can be found at http://www.food.com/recipe/18th-century-drunken-english-somerset-cider-chicken-with-honey-238815
4 chicken legs-thighs (chicken joints) - we used chicken thighs for easy cooking & cleanup.
1/4 pint cider - we used woodchuck cider.
2 teaspoons English mustard powder - we used pre-made powder. You can make your own by pulverizing equal amounts of brown and white mustard seeds.
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper
1 tablespoon oil - we used olive oil.
2 tablespoons honey
The recipe says to put your chicken pieces in a dish (in a single layer). we were making drunken chicken for many people in a dutch oven, so we piled it all in one pot. I suspect single layer you would get more of a glazed result than we did.
Then combine the remaining ingredients, pour over the chicken and allow to stand for a minimum of 1 hour. Ours soaked for about an hour and a half hile we were off doing other tasks.
Oven bake the chicken slowly in a large oven proof dish/pan for approximately 1 hour, basting the joints periodically as they cook.We put much more marinade in ours, as fire can be much less predictable than on oven, and we didn't want it to dry out. So no basting was done, but periodic stirring was essential. I think we cooked ours more like an hour and a half. The chicken was incredibly tender and tasty.
the recipe suggests Serving hot with steamed greens and mashed or baked potatoes. We had boiled potatoes and a salad to round ours out. We discussed doing it again and maybe having dumplings on top, but that will only work if you approached it with plenty of marinade in the pot.
*The original recipe, done in an oven, can be found at http://www.food.com/recipe/18th-century-drunken-english-somerset-cider-chicken-with-honey-238815
October 1, 2011
Popcorn with a Twist
Here's 4 ways to Spice up 2 quarts of Popcorn (a large bowl full)
Ingredients
Italian
1/4 cup butter melted
1/4 cup grated parmesan Cheese
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp popcorn salt
Chili
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp popcorn salt
Onion/ Garlic
1/4 cup melted butter
l/4 tsp onion salt
l/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp popcorn salt
Taco
1/4 cup Melted butter
3/4 tsp taco seasoning
1/4 tsp popcorn salt
Instructions
Pour Mixture over 2 qts popped corn.
Toss to coat evenly.
For crisper corn, Heat in 300 degree oven for ten minutes
Pour Mixture over 2 qts popped corn.
Toss to coat evenly.
For crisper corn, Heat in 300 degree oven for ten minutes
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