Hot Chocolate

I heart the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate Hot Chocolate" recipe...with a couple minor tweaks...

3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp Hershey's DARK Cocoa
Dash salt
Splash vanilla
1 c milk

Combine dry ingredients in mug. Heat milk to HOT (not boiling). Pour into mug, add vanilla, whisk until mixed. MMMMM...if we had milk, I'd have a cup right now!

Edited to add: For a dry mix, replace 1 c milk with 1/3 c powdered milk and omit vanilla. When you're ready mix, add 1 c boiling water. If you make this in bulk, you'll use 1/2 c of mix for each cup of water.

Kris's Favorite Fried Chicken...with Fried Onions, Fried Potatoes & Gravy

I got this chicken recipe about 8 years ago from "One Million Recipes" - it's a recipe book on a disc. Since that time we have tried a few other recipes but always come back to this one...so, this has become our OFFICIAL Fried Chicken recipe and I am not "allowed" (lol) to try any other ever again. The other recipes are from my grandmother. :-)

• 2 large chicken breasts, cut in 4ths
• Enough Crisco for deep frying

Seasoned Flour

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. garlic salt
• 1 Tbsp. pepper
• 1 Tbsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

CRISPY BATTER

• 1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 beaten egg yolks
• 1 1/2 c. water

1. Heat Crisco to 365 degrees in deep saucepan or deep fryer to a depth of about 2 inches.
2. Combine ingredients for "seasoned flour" mix. Set aside.
3. Combine dry ingredients for "crispy batter" mix. Combine egg yolk and a little of water. Add egg/water mixture and remaining water to dry ingredients.
4. Dip chicken in seasoned flour, then batter, then back in seasoned flour.
5. Fry in hot Crisco for 12 to 15 minutes, or until well browned. (Throw in those clumps of mixture that are created by your coating - extra crispies are always yummy!) Drain on paper towels. If you are frying in batches, I recommend turning your oven to warm and placing the cooked chicken in the oven while the next batch is cooking.
6. When the chicken is done, do NOT throw away your batter - you'll need it. :-)

Fried Potatoes

• 5-6 potatoes, sliced about 1/4" thick
• oil for frying
• 1/4 of a medium-large sized onion, sliced or diced
• 2-3 garlic cloves, sliced
• salt & pepper

1. Heat oil on med to med-high heat. While oil is heating, line a colander (preferably metal) with paper towels.
2. Carefully put potatoes, onion, and garlic into pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let cook for a minute or two, then stir and sprinkle again. If you have a lid, cover the potatoes. If not, it works but takes a little longer to cook through. Cook the potatoes stirring every 1-3 minutes until soft to touch. Place in lined colander. If the chicken is not done, the potatoes will also keep nicely in a warm oven.

Fried Onions

• 3/4 medium-large sized onion, cut into pieces (preferred size)
• leftover fried chicken batter mix

1. Rinse onion pieces. Shake off excess, but do not dry.
2. Dip in flour mix, then crispy mix, then flour mix.
3. Carefully place in deep fryer and cook for about 3 minutes.

Gravy

• 6 Tbsp oil from deep fryer
• 4 Tbsp flour mix from chicken/onions
• 3 c milk

1. Heat oil in pan on med-high until very hot (if you use it immediately after getting from fryer, this will take about 10 seconds).
2. Add flour mix and stir until well mixed and starting to brown.
3. Gradually add milk while stirring.
4. Continue stirring until gravy is completely mixed and has reached your preferred consistency.

Obviously, this meal is SOOOO not good for you...but tastes SOOOOOOOOO good! If you feel guilty, throw in some fresh green beans and corn on the cob. That's what we did! (BTW, the batter is fabulous for anything you have a mind to fry...my excess batter is usually used for experiments.)

Pancakes

Here's a recipe from my mom. She makes the best pancakes ever. Light and crisp at the edges, fluffy in the middle. Mmmmm. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
heaping teaspoon baking powder
2 shakes salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon cooking oil
approx. 2/3 cup milk (soy milk may also be used)
Optional: capful of vanilla, a generous helping of cinnamon, chopped frozen or fresh fruit, ginger

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add egg, oil, and a little milk (1/3 cup or so), and any extras, and whisk together. Add milk until the batter is runny, but not too thin. (If you get it thin, you can use it that way, you'll just have thin pancakes.)

Heat about a tablespoon of cooking oil on the griddle over medium heat. When the oil is hot, pour pancakes onto griddle. (You can tell if the oil is ready by dripping a drop of batter onto the griddle -- if it instantly starts to sizzle at the edges, it's hot enough.) Make them whatever size you want. I like to make small-ish ones for the kids. When the edges start to brown and the middles are bubbly, flip the pancakes over to brown the other side. When that side is browned, remove them from the griddle, add a bit more oil to the griddle to heat, and make another pan full. You'll need to make sure you have a bit of oil on the pan, because that's what's going to give you the crispy edges. Serve with butter and warm syrup.

My new favorite pancakes are with vanilla and a bit of cinnamon. The kids like "purple pancakes," with frozen blueberries -- the juice makes the batter purple. Experiment!

Home Made Beefaroni

I have no idea what store bought beefaroni tastes like so I am not sure how well this compares.

1# ground beef

1onion

2-4 t garlic (depends on how much you like garlic)

1 can tomato soup

2-3 T yellow mustard

shredded cheddar cheese

1# macaroni cooked

I run the onion and garlic through the food processor to almost puree. Dump them in a skillet with the ground beef. Cook til beef is brown. Stir in soup and mustard. Pour over cooked pasta and top with cheese.

Pretty kid friendly, quick and yummy

Chicken fried steak with Milk Gravy

Cubed steak, also known as minute steak or chopped steak. We prefer pork to beef.

Milk

Couple eggs

flour

salt

paprika

Pepper

couple tbs of butter

couple cups of milk

Put milk in 1 pie plate, eggs (beaten) in another and flour with spices in another. Generally 1 t. of each spice per cup of flour. Heat veg oil in a large skillet. The oil ensures good contact with the skillet so don't skimp. Wet each steak in the milk, then dredge in flour, egg, and flour again. Put in skillet and cook 5 min on each side. If they are thick steaks, check for doneness. Remove to a plate covered with foil to keep warm until all are done. When all meat is cooked, melt 3 T of butter or marg. in skillet. This amount depends on how much gravy you want. I generally double it. When the butter is melted and done foaming, add an equal amount of flour and whisk together. Then slowly add milk while whisking. If going with the 3T of butter and flour, generally 2C of milk is right, but once you have made it you can just eyeball it. Heat to boiling and keep whicking until desired thickness is achieved. Serve steaks with an obscene amount of gravy. DH loved mashed potatoes with this, but I just wast twice as much meat. Very Very good with crescent rolls

French Snowflake's Crepes

mix together (using a mixer, or a blender, or a whip works fine, but not too fast, or you’ll get bubbles) :
1/2 liter of milk (2.1 US cup!)
3 eggs
240 g of flour (8.5 oz)
a little bit of salt
(3 tablespoons of oil, none if you add oil in your pan before each crêpe).

Warm your frying pan. Oil it with a piece of butter inside a tissue (this way, there is not much fat, but your crêpe isn’t glued to the pan). Pour a little quantity of dough. Turn your pan so that the dough is even on the pan. It must be rather thin (nothing like pancakes!). When the crêpes comes off (they say 2 min, I have the feeling it’s usually less), turn it to cook the other side. Use a spatula, or launch it in the air and catch it back on the right side, without folding it.

Let it slide on your plate, put sugar everywhere (not too much), roll, and eat while still warm.

Also try nutella, jam, or go more exotic (read "american"!) with vanilla ice and hot chocolate.

Awesome Baked Pork Chops

This recipe also comes from Recipezaar. I am using the exact title that it is listed there so you can check the source and give credit to the original poster.

6 pork chops

Italian bread crumbs

flour

Eggs

Veg. Oil

1 large can of Cream of mush soup

milk.

Heat a couple tbs of oil in a skillet. Dredge chops in flour, then egg, then crumbs. Brown in hot skillet on both sides. Place browned chops in a 9x13. Cover with foil and bake an hour @ 350. After an hour, mix soup with enough milk to make the consistency of gravy that you prefer. Pour it over the chops, recover with foil, and bake for another 20 min. Serve over jasmine rice.

Peach Cobbler

6 Cups peeled and sliced peaches

1/3 C Flour

2/3 C Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 White or yellow cake mix

Butter

Mix together first 4 ingredients. Pour in a 9x13 pan. Pour DRY, UNPREPARED cake mix onto the peaches, breaking up any lumps. Dot with butter.

Bake @ 350 until golden brown on top about 45 min.

Warning, ADDICTIVE!!!

Good Ol' Mashed Potatoes

i bet these would go great with Kris' meatloaf...i might just have to try that.

peel and cut up enough potatoes for your brood. a good rule of thumb is one or two for every eater and one for the pot

boil in salted water until they are "fork tender" meaning a fork easily slides into them but they don't fall apart.

drain potatoes and in a big bowl or even the pan you boiled them in, mix potatoes, milk, butter, and black pepper. i never measure when i am making this so i haven't the foggiest idea how much...just make it moist. add a little at a time until they are as wet as you like them.

use a hand mixer to mash them all up...or go old fashioned and get out granny's masher.

i added shredded cheddar this time and it's yummy.

Italian Pork Chops

in a sauce pan, combine butter, onions, italian seasoning, and garlic. cook until onions go clear. add canned or fresh tomatoes. cook until all ingredients are combined well. in a 9x13 baking dish, lay out pork chops. pour tomato "sauce" over chops and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until done. you could sear your chops first if you want, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Spectacular Meatloaf

This was so good even my husband (long-time meatloaf-hater) liked it!

Ingredients - these are all estimates, as I really didn't measure anything.
6 Tbsp butter
1/4 c sliced onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c green bell pepper, diced
1.5# ground beef (or other ground meat)
4 oz block cheese (I used colby jack)
1 egg
1/4 c bread crumbs
1-2 Tbsp milk (optional)
salt
pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Melt butter over medium heat; add onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Saute or boil until soft then remove from heat to cool. You may want to put it in the freezer for a couple minutes to cool the butter a bit.
3. Mix together meat, cheese, egg, and bread crumbs. Add butter mixture, including excess butter, and mix. If the butter is still too hot, add milk to cool it off.
4. Form into a loaf and place in pan. I recommend using a pan that will allow the fat to drain away from the loaf, as the butter and cheese create more fat than the usual meatloaf.
5. Bake for 1 hr 20 min or until it has reached a safe temperature.

Country Club Chicken

another super easy one...

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup or so of sour cream or plain yogurt
favorite seasoning
8 chicken thighs
1 pkg of bacon

mix soup, yogurt, and seasoning (i used italian seasoning) in a glass casserole (9x13). wrap each piece of chicken in a strip of bacon and place in the dish on top of soup mixture. after all chicken is in the dish, spoon some of the sauce over the pieces. lay the rest of the bacon over the top of the whole deal. bake at 350 for about an hour checking after 45 minutes for doneness of bird.

Spicy lamb with pasta

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
675g/1 and half lb lamb cubed
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 (375g) can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
600 ml/1 pt/2 and half cups water
225g/8 oz pasta shapes
salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat oil in frying pan or crockpot base and fry lamb until brown. Add onion and garlic, fry until softened.

2. Add spices and cook for 1 min. Stir in tomatoes, puree and water. Bring to the boil and season.

3. Transfer to crockpot and cook on high for 4-5 hours, medium for 6-7.

4. Stir in pasta and cook for a further 20-25 mins until pasta is tender.

EASY Chicken Pot Pie

ingredients:

one can each: (drain all veggies but one...doesn't matter which one)
carrots
peas
grean beans
corn
mushrooms
cr. mushroom soup
cr. chicken soup
cooked and cut up boneless chicken
biscuits (canned, home made, bisquick)

in a large baking dish, mix all ingredients except biscuits. season this mixture to your liking. we used garlic powder, dried onions, salt, and pepper. once it's all mixed up and smelling yummy, cover the top with your biscuits.

i baked this at 400 for about 10 minutes. the biscuit tops were done but the bottoms were gooey and the "stew" wasn't as hot as it could have been. i think that lowering the temp and cooking longer might do the trick. remember...it's all cooked already...you are just heating it up and cooking the biscuits.

have fun with it and make it yours. i'd also suggest seasoning the chicken separately. i thought ours was a little bland. dh said to not even worry about putting the left overs away, he was going to "work on it" for a little while longer.

Potato Chip Fish

Submitted by mamabobbs5

Potato Chip Fish

Half of a 5-0z. bag of kettle-cooked salt and vinegar potato chips

4 (5- to 6- ounce) cod fillets, 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick

Salt, for seasoning

4 tsp. light mayonnaise

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place the chips in a gallon-size zipper bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it lightly with cooking spray. Arrange the fillets on the foil and season them lightly with salt. Smear a tsp. of the mayo over the top of each fillet, then sprinkle on the crushed chips, completely covering the top of each piece. Bake the fillets on the top oven rack until they are just cooked through, about 10 minutes.

This was super yummy. I used flounder, cause it's what I had, but it still tasted great. Also, if you don't care for salt & vinegar chips I'm sure you could just use the plain ones, but make sure to use kettle cooked so that the crumbs stay crispy.

Basic white bread

This recipe is stolen from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. My version is older than the one linked here, but I'm sure the recipe is the same in the new one. Best cookbook ever. Buy it.

Anyway, on to the recipe. It's a very basic white bread recipe, great for beginners.

Ingredients:
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups milk or buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter, margarine, or shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, sugar, butter, and salt just until warm (120F to 130F) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (45 to 60 minutes). *Note from the sidebar in the cookbook: You can tell if the dough has doubled and is ready to shape by pressing two fingers 1/2 inch into the dough. Remove your fingers; if indentations remain, it is ready to punch down.

3. Punch down dough (push your fist into its center, then use your fingers to pull the dough edges to the center). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans.

4. Shape dough halves into loaves by patting or rolling. To shape by patting, gently pat and pinch, tucking edges underneath. To shape by rolling, on a lightly floured surface roll each dough half into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Roll up each rectangle, starting from a short side. Seal seams with your fingertips.

5. Place shaped dough halves in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (30 to 40 minutes).

6. Bake in a 375 oven about 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Immediately remove bread from pans. Cool on wire racks.

*Amy's note: the bread can get too heavy and kind of dry if you use too much flour. When you're kneading the dough, add only enough flour so that the dough is slightly sticky -- not enough to come off and stick to your hands, but more like the stickiness of a Post-It note. If you need to make this dairy-free, you can use plain soymilk and vegan margarine, and it will turn out just fine.

Hashbrown Casserole

So easy and so yummy...

in a 9x13 glass dish, put down a layer of frozen hashbrowns (i used the string kind), in a pan, brown up some sausage, add onions, green peppers, whatever you like in an omelet...layer that on top of the hashbrowns. wisk up about 9 eggs and pour over layers. bake at 350 for an hourish. when it's done, put some sliced cheese on top and bake just long enough to melt the cheese and voila...dinner...or breakfast.

Conversion table.


GourmetSleuth

Moroccan Hotpot

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinned
1 large red onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red pepper
100g/4 oz no-soak dried apricots
1 tbsp ground corinader
1 tbsp ground cumin
half tsp tumeric
rind and juice of 1 lemon
300 ml/half pint/1 1/4 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
225g / 8 oz/ just under a cup couscous
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander/cilantro

Method

1)Slice chicken. Peel and chop onion. Deseed and slice pepper.

2)Add oil to frying pan,or if your crock pot has a detachable base, fry chicken until brown. Add onion, garlic and red pepper and fry until soft. Add apricots and spices and cook for 1 min while stirring.

3)Add lemon rind and juice and chicken stock and bring to boil. Season well.

4)Transfer to crockpot. Cook for 5 hours on high, 8 on medium. Stir in couscous quickly and cook for 5 mins. Sprinkle with coriander.

Variations

Lamb instead of chicken is good.

Use eggplant, courgette or beans instead of chicken.

Turkish salad

Ingredients

1 cos lettuce heart
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
half a cucumber
4 tomatoes
1 red onion
225g/ 8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
black olives, for garnish

dressing

3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
salt and pepper

Method

1) Chop lettuce into bite size pieces. Core and seed peppers and cut into thin slices.Slice cucumber and tomatoes.Cut onion in half and finely slice.

2)Put lettuce,peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and onion in bowl. Add feta and mix.

3) Mix olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl. Stir in parsley and mint, season with salt and pepper.

4) Pour dressing over salad, toss lightly to cover with dressing and serve, garnished with olives.

Honey and mustard chicken salad

Ingredients

half a melon ( I use a mix of different types of melon, watermelon adds a splash of colour)
2 kiwi fruit

2 tsp prepared mustard ( heat to your taste, I prefer Dijon)
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tsp runny honey
1 tbsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
5 tbsp olive oil

4 chicken breasts, skinned and boned
1 clove of garlic, crushed
salt and pepper

mixed salad leaves

Method

1) Scoop out seeds and using a melon baller( or spoon)make melon balls.
Peel kiwi fruit cut in half lengthways and slice

2) Make the dressing by combining mustards, honey, lemon juice or white wine vinegar and 2 tbsps of olive oil. Whisk together and season with salt and pepper.

3) Cut chicken in 1cm ( half inch) cubes. Heat remaining oil and fry chicken over moderate heat for 8-10 mins until chicken is browned and tender. Remove from heat and add crushed garlicstir into chicken and season with salt and pepper.

4) Mix chicken, fruit and salad dressing in a large bowl until everything is well coated in the dressing. Taste and season if necesary. Put salad leaves on plate and spoon chicken and fruit mix on to the leaves.

The best grilled cheese ever!

I know what you're thinking. "Grilled cheese? Grilled cheese? She thinks I need a recipe for grilled cheese?! Seriously?!" Yeah, seriously. Because I can guarantee you that if you make a basic grilled cheese, it has never been this heavenly.

What you need:

2 slices of whole wheat bread
A little butter or margarine
2 slices of American cheese (white American is even better)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Garlic powder (to taste)
*Optional, but fabulous: Creole seasoning (gives it a little kick)

Heat up your non-stick skillet or griddle. Lightly butter one side of both pieces of bread and put one piece on the skillet, butter-side down. Layer one piece of American cheese, a healthy fingerful of mozzarella, a sprinkling of garlic powder, just a little sprinkle of Creole seasoning, the other slice of American cheese, and the other piece of bread, butter-side up. When the bottom slice of bread starts to get nice and warm, but not quite yet browned, flip the sandwich over (carefully, the mozzarella will try to escape -- you might want to use two spatulas, or else pick up the skillet and use it to help hold the sandwich together). Sprinkle a little mozzarella on the outside of the now-warmed bread and kind of press it into the bread lightly. You don't need to smash it, but you want it to kind of stick in there. After the other piece of bread is warmed, flip the sandwich and give that side the mozzarella treatment. Now, when your cheese on the inside is getting kind of melty and the bottom piece of bread is browned and the mozzarella on the bottom is nice and crispy, flip it over to brown the other slice of bread. When it's browned, remove the sandwich from the skillet and let it sit for a minute or two to finish melting the cheese and to cool enough to not burn your lips off.

Then eat it, and try not to pass out from the fabulosity.

Brownies

So since I really have other things to be doing, I will post a recipe. I found this recipe over at recipezaar.com. It was posted by a woman named Karen. It is truly unbelievable.

1/2 C Butter, Melted

1/2 C (44 g) baking cocoa

1 C sugar

2 eggs

2 t Vanilla

1/2 C Flour

1/4 t salt

• Whatever floats your boat

• 1-2 cup Chocolate chips(semisweet, white, butterscotch, peanut butter) or raisins or chopped nuts or M&M' or Reese's pieces or miniature marshmallows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease an 8 inch square pan or line with foil.

1. 
   In a medium bowl combine melted butter and cocoa and stir until cocoa is dissolved.
2. 
   Add sugar and mix well.
3. 
   Add eggs one at a time and stir until well combined.
4. 
   Stir in vanilla, flour and salt until just mixed. Do not overmix
5. Stir in "whatever floats your boat"
6. Spread in a greased 8x8 pan and bake 25 minutes at 350.
7. Doubles great to a 9x13 pan

In the Begining

Well,

We were talking about creating a blog for all of us Flybabies to post our favorite recipes. So i took the lead and created a blog instead of doing my dishes, showering or starting a load of laundry.