Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken is a quick meal that you throw in the Crock Pot and in 8 hours (on LOW), you're ready to serve.


*We go with drumsticks here at the Chong household.
a) they cook well on the bone.
b) the kids can pick them up -if the meat is not sliding off.

*Pick up a bottle of Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce. (on the shelves at The TEET located in the Asian aisle for about $3)


*Coat the bottom of the crock pot with some Teriyaki Sauce (not too much) prior to putting the drumsticks in.
REASON: It doesn't stick to the liner* or pot. A little olive oil doesn't hurt either.

*Place all the drumsticks in the crock pot.

*POUR the whole bottle of Teriyaki Sauce onto the drumsticks.

*Mix around.

*Throw some seasoning on top. Get creative. (I like to draw 2 lines of Soy on top for that 'burst')

*Cover.

*Place the crock pot in the refrigerator until the next day.

*Side Note: Crock Pot liners rock. No mess. When you're done, all you have to do is throw out the liner and wipe down the pot. No more dealing with washing the crock pot and figuring out what to do with the electric cord while washing.

THE NEXT DAY....

Before you start 'cooking', mix the drumpsticks with a spoon. Get the sauce to mingle with the other drumsticks other than the ones the sauce was hanging out with overnight.

Since we are gone all day, we set our crock pot on LOW for 8 hours and then when the 8 hours are up, our crock pot kicks onto WARM.

WARNING: Your house will smell like Teriyaki Chicken.

Best served with rice. Or on top of a salad. We also go with stuffing and corn.
Plenty of extra sauce to re douse the 'sticks when done.

Stephanie LOVES it as do the girls.

EASY. Prep time and cooking.

Crockery BBQ Chicken

2 Lbs DARK Meat Thighs (it absorbs the flavors better than White meat)

1 Whole Bottle of Favorite BBQ Sauce ( I use Sweet Baby Rays)

You can use any BBQ sauce of your choice

All into Crock Pot

Cook High 4 Hours and turn Low until ready to eat

or If you leave the House Leave on Low cooks while you are at work

Serve with a side of Rice

Or Make yummy BBQ Sandwichs with side of coleslaw

Magic Shell is THE REAL BOSS

We love our sweets in this house....our famous chocolate mousse...

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups milk

1 package (8oz) cream cheese

1 tub whip cream

chocolate chips

use hand mixer to combine all ingredients minus the chocolate chips...mix for ~2 min then stir in chocolate chips.

decorate w/magic shell if desired. :-)

Obviously I don't cook much, based on my lack of posts to this blog. But, I am a good recipe follower and our family loved the pork ass! Thanks Jeff!

Happy Valentine's Day

On those Special Occasions, Stephanie would make cakes with the girls. Here's February 14th special. And yes, it's on a styrofoam dish.


Our new ride.

The other white meat

Chinese Roast Pork
the FAST AND FURIOUS edition!

Here’s something that my dad taught me a year ago.
It’s quick and easy. Prep time is fast and I suggest you marinade it for a day in the refrigerator.

What you need:
* Pork (I usually get something called “butt” and no, it’s not the pig’s ass)
* Chicken Marinade (If not, some soy or teriyaki)
* Red dye
* Sugar













First poke holes in the pork with a fork. (i made a rhyme) Stab it like you mean it. This will allow the marinade to drip into the holes as well as tenderize it.

Once you're done, pour the marinade (1/4 of the bottle) on the pork. If you're using SOY, it should be less because SOY is usually salty.
RUB IT IN.

Then apply the sugar. Sprinkle it all around the pork. *if you want it more sweet, use more.
RUB IT IN.

Once you're done, add a few drops of the red dye. *Is it really necessary? Not really, but it looks good!



Cover it and refrigerate it for the night.

Pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. Give or take your power of your oven.


Occasionally remarinade the pork with the drippings.
*If you're feeling fancy, the last 15 minutes apply HONEY. Another could be with hoisin sauce.







AND THEN SERVE.



Great with white rice. Stephanie puts the pork on a salad.
Olivia and Ellie love it.

Sausage Sandwich

After a long day at work I like to make my Hubby happy with a Super Sausage Sand.

Home make Red Sauce which was chunked up with dice tom and onions.

A yummy roll to hold all the sauce and meat to tie it all together.

enjoy.

IceCream Sandwich Desert

Who does not love a classic Ice Cream Sandwich

It's Rabbit Season

How many times have you seen this place mat at your local Chinese 'gypsy' eatery?


YEAR OF THE RABBIT: Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force.

Time to make some dumplings - Trader Joe's style (i will do a followup)



Last year's pic.

Only at Seaside!

Who wants to split this with me this summer?

My Biggest Nightmare!

The potties at the Indian restaurant by work.

This sauce is THE REAL BOSS

Lee Kum Kee Chicken Marinade Sauce.
A Convenient, Sweet, Ginger Flavored Soy-based Cooking Sauce.
Marinates As It Cooks.

This is it friends. With this bottle of joy you can make any Chinese dish in seconds. Lo Mien? Fried Rice? Chicken or Beef with mixed vegetables? NO PROBLEM! If you want to thicken the sauce, use corn starch.

I even molested a roto chicken with this bad boy for added flavor and it rocked.

Kids will love it because its sweet. You'll love it because it goes with everything, tastes good and is EASY.

Chicken Soft Tacos

In a pinch and you're craving Mexican whip up some chicken soft tacos like so:



Preheat grill to HIGH.
Spray chicken breats with olive oil.
Coat both sides chili powder and cumin (don't open breast, this keeps em juicy).
Cook for 20 mins flipping every 5 min.
Remove and chop up.

We usually hit up the local Mexiceteria for salsa and chips. Homemade guac? lol yeh who has time for that!!

Cook a lot and save for the week, great for a quick taco salad too.

Kids LOVE IT!

Low Fat Guac?

This is great Jeff! Thanks for putting it together and keeping all of us in touch. Gathering around food is always my favorite way connect with friends.

I'm hoping Michelle will add her recipe for low fat guacamole. It was delicious, although, I think I ate enough of it to negate the healthy benefit. Greg's kick ass chicken parm recipe would be nice, too.

PS. No rush in getting the recipes on here, it's just a suggestion.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

Since its so cold outside we decided to make a hearty soup. We found a recipe on Smitten Kitchen.

It was really good. Stephanie and I like it...Ellie loved it, Olivia not so much.



What's in it?
Portuguese sausage, spinach, sweet potatoes and a regular potatoes in chicken broth.

* I tried to add a little Chinese touch with some Red Vinegar to mine, but it didn't taste right.

Easy Recipe
(Makes 8 servings)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguica sausage (found it at THE TEET aka Harris Teeter) or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Spanish chorizo can be substituted)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. (I poured off some of the oil in the pot at this point, but the original recipe doesn’t think this is needed.) Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.

Who's got the herb?

Lately Stephanie and I have been trying to cook. (even though we had McDonald's for dinner tonight). Rather then buy herbs from the supermarkets (expensive) we decided to grow them. This batch, we bought from a Garden Nursery. Hopefully they keep on growing. Basil. Chives.