Super Juicy Simpy Roasted Chicken

I found this recipe on allrecipes and just doctored it a bit to my own tastes. It makes the world's juiciest roasted chicken and it's so much cheaper than paying like $6-$7 for the rotisserie chickens at your local grocer.

Ingredients:
1 3-4 lb. chicken
onion powder
salt
black pepper
1/2 stick butter (I use light)
1 stalk/bunch of celery

The Pretty Group Shot ... every family needs one

After you rinse off (and out) your bird, sprinkle the inside and outside generously with onion powder, salt, and pepper. During this process you should crave Funyuns ... it's normal, I promise.

Now, slather that puppy with butter. Butter is good. Say it with me. Butter is normal, natural, and good to me. Tuck some inside the cavity, under skin, and on top of the bird. This will help create a crisp skin and seal the juice into the meat. Plus, butter tastes good.

Now, tuck that celery into the cavity of the bird. Don't make it tight but don't let it wiggle and wobble.

Stick that baby into the tanning bed aka oven at 350 degrees uncovered for appr. 30 minutes per pound. Just make sure the juice is running clear (if you can even tell with all the butter, yay!) and the center of the thickest portion of meat is at least 180 degrees.

I usually take this out of the oven when it's at about 175 degrees in the thickest piece of meat and cover it with foil for about 30 minutes. Then it comes perfectly to 180 degrees and it's tender, juicy, and slap yo mama good.

Okie Stirfry with Beef

Yes, I just went there. I just said Okie Stir fry. Why do I call it that? Because it's more stew-like than Asian and because I'm originally a product of Oklahoma (therefore, an Okie). This recipe is thanks to my Momma because she likes to create funky stuff like this. I like to steal her ideas, put my own spin on it, and then eat it until I'm blue in the face and never want to see a bell pepper again. Enjoy, my Okie and non-Okie friends!

Whatcha Gonna Need:

1 lb. steak (I used thin cut top sirloin) cut into thin strips
1 T of veg oil + 1 T of veg oil, separated
3 bell peppers of any color, cleaned and sliced thin
2 large onions
2 green zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 tub of button mushrooms, sliced
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 container of La Choy sweet and sour sauce
1/2 C. water
8 swirls of the pan of soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
steamed white rice for serving

Let's Get Okiefied ... or umm ... cookin':

Get your beef all chopped up and pretty. Then accessorize it with some salt and pepper. Beef is good and clean, I tell you.

Now we're gonna get tricky. We don't want to cook this beef. We just want to sear it. So, get your pan screaming hot and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. I like the smoke point of veggie oil plus it doesn't smell weird when you fry in it. Okay, onto the beef. Sear it until it's no longer gray. Then turn it and do it again. Then take it off to rest on a pretty plate.

These beautiful strips of goodness are raw as heck in the center but nice and charred on the outside. We like that.

It's time to get your chop on. Slice and half those bell peppers. We had all green today.

Slice those onions into about 1/2 inch slices. Slice quick with a sharp knife and you won't cry. I promise. *sniff, sniff*

Add those to a big, heavy-bottomed pot on medium high heat with your other tablespoon of vegetable oil. Do you wanna know why I like vegetable oil? Oh, I already told you. P.S. I won't tell if you add some salt and pepper right here. In fact, I encourage you to do so.

Slice and halve your squash.

Then do the same thing with the zucchini. You have to because zucchini gets jealous.

Now add all ingredients from the squash and zucchini to the hot tub of peppers and onions. Youc an also throw in the mushrooms, too. It's all good, no worries. Don't forget to salt and pepper again. Layers are good. Kind of like donkeys.

The beef may rest no longer. It's time to add it to the yummies of veggies. Toss it in right on top 'cause it's pretty and good.

Now it's time to accessorize. These ingredients make our sauce. Oh, plus about 1/2 C. of water.

Now, add in your sauce ingredients so your meat and veggies can call themselves stir-fry. And because it's just that good man! Sometimes I always add in crushed red pepper flakes right here ... because I'm a crazy girl. That's why. After this, cover the pot, set the temperature to medium low (or 3 if you're number based) and let it rock and roll to the soft rock for about an hour.


When you come back, your Okie goodness whould look something like this. Oh yeah, baby. I'd get me a spoon and do a salt check right about now.

Ladle your pot of yummy on top of some white rice and say 'Thanks, Heather's Mom" because this is some goooood stuff.

Super Simple Lasagna

Lasagna. Yes, the Italian version of casserole. I said it. I just went and southernized it. What? Ya'll didn't know it was possible? Let's get started!

What you'll need:

A Batch of My Meat Sauce
32 oz. tub of ricotta cheese
16 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese + 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese separated
2.5 oz parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 eggs
1/4 C. milk
One box oven-ready lasagna noodles

Add your ricotta to a pretty pink bowl. Okay, any bowl will do. Pink just makes the food feel pretty.

Then add in 16 oz. of shredded mozzarella to the mix. Also, use the food processor to do your shredding. It will keep you from experiencing bouts of carpal tunnel.

You can also toss in all of your seasoning right about now, too.

Do you have this in your store? It makes me feel slightly less guilty about using parmesan cheese in my lasagna rather than parmigiana. Plus, they add asiago and romano to the mix making us feel really Italian!

Add half of that tub to the mix.

Mix it up and give it a taste. If it needs more salt, give it some. After you taste, add in your two eggs and 1/4 C. milk. This will make it a bit more smooth.

Now, proclaim to the world your culinary laziness and layer your no-bake noodles on top of about 1/2 C. of meat sauce.

Then make your life easier and keep your fingers cleaner by using a butter knife to spread your cheese mixture on top of the dry noodles. Trust me on this one- it is MUCH EASIER to spread cheese on dry noodles than on wet sauce.

Then give that cheese mixture some love and cover it with more meat sauce. SOOOO GOOD. Also, remember you need to use quite a bit of sauce because your noodles will be cooking in it. It will absorb quite a bit of it.

Repeat the noodle layering process until the pan is full.

After you put on your last noodles, top them with sauce and then add the remaining 8 oz. of mozzarella you reserved. Although, now it's more like 5 oz. if your 3 year old has been running in and out of the kitchen taking bites. No biggie.

Bake the pan of goodness covered with foil at 350 degrees for about one hour. Then take the foil off and let the cheese brown for about 10 minutes.

Get your eat on! :-) I know I did!

Family Secret Potato Salad

This potato salad is somewhat of a family secret. At least I am convinced it MUST be my family secret because I always get talked or conned into making it. Just me ... So, now I'm spreading it to the masses so everyone can enjoy some of my homemade family secret potato salad.

Whatcha Need:
5 lbs. russet potatoes (chopped, boiled, and cooled)
8 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped
1 C. mayonaisse (+ a little extra if you'd like)
1 T. yellow mustard
8 oz. full fat sour cream
4.25 oz. chopped black olives
just shy of 10 oz. dill relish
1 medium sized red onion, diced fine
salt and pepper to taste

Let's Get To Spreading the Family Secret!

First off, we just want to dump all of the ingredients except the mayo and mustard into a big ol' bowl.

Now, here is where you create your own family secrets. Do you like mustardy potato salad? Add more mustard. I only use 1 T. but we don't like mustardy potato salad. And, add your mayo now. I start out with one cup.

Get to mixing. This is where it starts to look like a hot mess and you freak out that maybe you added too many ingredients. Worry not, weary one.

It's just not fattening enough. We need more mayo. Momma says so! I added about a tablespoon here and it did the trick.

Ta da! It's done and it's beautiful! YUMMMMY! Now, I made this huge bowl of potato salad for 2 kiddos and 6 adults. We cleared out the whole bowl over the course of dinner and late night snacks. It's THAT good. Yum.

Meat Sauce to the Max

I think everyone needs a good go-to meat sauce that can be used from anything from lasagna to spaghetti to manicotti to baked potatoes (you get the Italian drift). So, this is my basic recipe that I use for pretty much anything Italian. It's super yummy and savory. Plus, you can change out just about ANY meat. This recipe makes enough sauce for a 13x9 pan of lasagna or a big ol' pot of spaghetti.

What You Need:

1 lb. of browned meat (I used ground beef)
2 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
2-3 cloves of chopped garlic (appr. 1 tsp.)
2 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper

Get your meat browning on ... toss in some salt and pepper, too. You don't want your meat to get lonely.

Then strain your meat (you know, so we can call this fat free!!)

Add 2 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes to your browned meat.

Toss in 2 1/2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning ... any brand works. Just make sure it's semi green and makes you wanna say Bonjourno!

Then curse your camera for overexposing your picture of garlic being added to the pan, whilst adding a couple of chopped cloves of garlic to the mixture. Also, this is a good time to toss in some salt and pepper ... about 3/4 tsp. each. That usually does the trick.

Turn your stove onto medium low and let his pot of yummy just simmer until the garlic marries the italian seasoning and the meat gives everyone a hug.

It's good. It's really good.

Egg Rolls and Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 head of green cabbage
2 medium yellow onions
1/2 small bag matchstick carrots
1 C. water
1 T. butter
1 lb. cooked and shredded chicken (or other protein)
egg roll wrappers
oil for frying
cooked white rice

First, you need to get all your ingredients to their happy homes on the stove.

You need to thinly chop 2 medium onions and 1 head of green cabbage. Throw that in a pan with half of a small bag of matchstick carrots. Add 1 Tbsp of butter and 1/4 C. of water. Cover the pan and cook on medium high heat until soft and tender.

In the mean time, cook your chicken and shred it up. You can either sautee the chicken or boil it. You could probably even bake it. I chose to sautee tonight because I was feeling the need for butter.

**You also need to cook up some white rice. Tonight I used a small box of Minute Rice, but you can throw some real rice down, too.**

After the veggies have tenderized, turn off the heat and add about 3 tsps of soy sauce. Now, taste the mixture and make sure you don't need to add salt. Tonight, I needed more salt, but on other nights the soy sauce was rocking the salty front.

These are store bought egg roll wrappers that make your life beautiful and happy with rays of sunshine and leprechauns with pots of gold at the other end of the rainbow. You can find them in the produce section of your grocery store. These are from Target. They are my favorite brand.

Now, lay out your egg roll wrapper and top it with about 2 Tbsp of the veggie mixture. Work fast because if the veggie mixture is hot, it will disintegrate the egg roll wrapper.

Then top the filling with some shredded chicken (or pork or beef or shrimp, etc.).

Roll the egg roll up from the bottom first. Then tuck each side into the roll. Then, before completing the wrap (as shown above), give that little extra corner a swipe of an egg wash mixture (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp of water). This will help it stick together.

Now it's time to take your new egg roll baby for a swim in vegetable oil heated to medium. These babies cook QUICK. Seriously, you need to start check for doneness after about 30 seconds on each side. Also, pull them when they're slightly golden, because they'll darken more afterwards.

TADA! Egg Rolls!! YUMMM!

Now scramble two eggs in a small pan with some butter.


Now, you have a big ol' pot of white rice and some scrambled eggs and half a pot of veggies and some shredded chicken leftover (well, you should!!). Toss all that meat, those veggies, and eggs into the pot of white rice. Then add about 3 Tbsp of soy sauce.

Serve it up with some extra soy sauce and some sweet and sour sauce for the egg rolls. Or, however you'd like really. I'm not that bossy! :-)

Oh, and HURRY before I come and take a bite of your egg roll, too!!