I’m on the hunt to find recipes and food we can all eat. It makes preparation and cooking so much easier. This recipe is now added to that list. Everyone loved this and it didn’t make me sick!

I found the recipe on a blog full of recipes but I changed it up a bit.

Gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com

Sweet and Sour Chicken (Gluten Free)

1-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2-6 tablespoons oil, for frying chicken
-or-
Non-stick cooking spray or olive oil for spritzing on chicken for baking

Coating Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown rice flour 1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour 1/2 cup GF pancake mix
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons garlic granules (like Spike)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder

Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons GF soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
Add a small can sliced pineapple with juice.

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized container with a tight fitting lid, mix all coating ingredients together. Add chicken pieces, replace lid tightly, and shake to coat chicken.

2. To Fry Chicken: Add oil to a large, heavy bottomed skillet and heat oil over medium-hot heat. Drop in coated chicken, and fry until chicken pieces are browned and fully cooked. Drain on paper towels.
To Bake Chicken: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spritz coated chicken with olive oil or non-stick cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until chicken is crispy and cooked through. (Can make sauce while chicken is baking!)

3. In a large saucepan, whisk together all sauce ingredients. Heat until mixture boils, whisking/stirring constantly. Mixture will appear reddish-gray at first, just continue to whisk until mixture turns a translucent, glassy, bright red color. It may take 5-10 minutes for this to occur. When mixture turns that wonderful shiny bright red color, take it off the heat. Pour over chicken pieces and toss to coat. Serve over cooked rice or pasta with sauteed veggies!

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beef
1 package of onion soup mix
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup boiling water
1 2-3lb chuck roast
Medium to wide egg noodles

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place chuck roast in slow cooker cover with mixture from bowl. Cook on low 6-8 hrs. Cook noodles according to package instructions.
Serve slow cooker beef over cooked noodles.

Yummy!

I modified the recipe and will post the original recipe with my tweaks in red. I found this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen.

Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne

• 6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound penne rigate (I used a 14.5 oz box of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne Rigate) I used Sam’s Club huge bag of penne pasta. It is cheap.
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each), halved horizontally (I used some leftover cooked chicken)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
• 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 6 cups whole milk
• 10 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (I used 8 oz of button mushrooms) 1 jar of mushrooms instead, it’s what I had
• 1 cup sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces) (I used an italian blend that had provolone in it) 8 oz of Havarti (yummy)
• 1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 6 ounces)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. If you’re going to freeze one, use a disposable foil pan.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta and set aside.
2. While pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.  While chicken pan is still hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown (3-4 minutes) skip this step w/ mushrooms if you are using jar mushrooms. Use a little extra olive oil if needed.(Since I used left over chicken, I just cooked the mushrooms in the olive oil)
3. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot , melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking constantly, gradually add milk;( I added a 1/2 cup of heavy cream) bring to a simmer.  Keep whisking frequently as sauce thickens, about 1 minute more. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat and and gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
4. Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes.  If freezing, place remaining parmesan cheese in a zip-top baggie.  If cooking, sprinkle on top.
5. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Freezer instructions:

To freeze, prepare through step 4 and then let pasta cool.  Cover pan well with plastic wrap.  Place extra cheese in baggie (for topping) on top and then cover entire pan well with foil.  Freeze for up to 3 months.  To bake, preheat oven to 400.  Remove foil and plastic from pan and set cheese baggie aside.  Place foil back on pan and bake for about 1 1/2 hours.  Remove foil, stir pasta, and top with cheese.  Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes (I only did 10 minutes)  or until mixture is hot and bubbly throughout.

I froze ours and then served it to my family later. It was delicious!!!

The orchard would have hot apple cider and sometimes apple cider doughnuts. One didn’t actually chew these doughnuts, but they melted in the mouth with the first bite. Before the cook could finish preparing a fresh batch of doughnuts the hot ones were devoured leaving not even a crumb on the plate.

Several years ago, I stumbled on a recipe for apple cider doughnuts in a magazine. On my next shopping trip, I collected the  necessary items to make these delightful treats. They were delicious.

Enjoy a little bit of Fall with this recipe.

Apple Cider Doughnuts
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup apple cider
4 tbsp. butter, melted
Oil for frying
Glaze
1 1/2 cup confectioner sugar
3 tbsp. apple cider

In a large bowl sift together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and cider. Stir in melted butter. Make a well in the flour mixture and stir in the wet ingredients. Turn the soft dough onto a floured surface and pat into a 1/2 inch high round. Heat 3 inches of oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Then use a doughnut cutter to form rings (or use a glass and poke holes in the rings). Once the oil begins to bubble, use a spatula to carefully lower doughnut into oil. You can cook several at a time-just don’t overcrowd them. Once the doughnuts rise to the surface and begin to brown, flip them over with the spatula. Remove after 2 to 3 minutes or when golden brown. Drain on paper towels on a plate.

For glaze, stir together the confectioner’s sugar and the cider and spoon the mixture over the doughnuts. Yum! Yum!

After dinner, I pulled out my cupcake liners (I keep these on hand) and placed them in two 12 1 cup muffin pans. I mixed up the cake mix according to the directions and scooped some in each cupcake liner.

Next, I added the big suprise, a Hershey kiss, to each one. I used the batter in each cup to make sure it was covered.Both pans went in the oven for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Cool the cupcakes and ice with can cream cheese icing. Sprinkle chocolate sprinkles on top if desired. Now eat!
All I can say is yummerific! There’s something special about chocolatey goodness being found inside an already sweet treat.

Meals are cooked or prepped for the month, usually 20 meals, and then frozen and pulled out when time to eat. There are websites that take the guess work out with menus, shopping lists, recipes and tasks. You can spend a day with a friend and have a month worth of meals for both families.

I am looking into this for our family and would love to have this planned for a month at a time. No more last minute trips to grocery store. Imagine what this would do for my food budget.

Here is the site I have visited the most:

Htttp://onceamonthcooking.com

All for You is one of my favorite magazines. It has great coupons and articles about doing things on the cheap. On their website they have complete meal plans with shopping lists that my family would actually eat EVERY meal in the list.

The menus do not require much preparation, money, or time. I like all three of these.

If you would like to try it with me here is the menu I will be using.