Honey Chicken

Adapted From: Mmm...Cafe
 http://mmmcafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/honey-sauced-chicken.html

This is one of my favorite meals. It was the first "Chinese" like meals that I tried in the Crockpot and I LOVE it. I would cook it once a week if the Mr. would let me! Because the sauce is thick, you can't leave it cooking all day long but when you cook it on high it only require an hour and a half. I like to cook it on the weekends when I am running around the house. It really does taste as good as it smells!

The Fixin's
1 lb Chicken
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/8 Cup Chopped Onion
1/8 Cup Ketchup
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Clove Minced Garlic
1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Rice

Let's Cook Dinner
Spray Crockpot with cooking spray
Place chicken in Crockpot and season with salt and pepper
In a mixing bowl combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and red pepper flakes
Pour over chicken
Cook on low for 3 hours or high 1.5 hours
Remove chicken and cut into small pieces
Mix back into sauce
Serve over rice

Grown Up Sloppy Joes

Adapted From: Mel's Kitchen Cafe
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/05/the-best-sloppy-joes.html

I have never made my own sloppy joe sauce before. Normally I just buy the 99 cent can and go on my way. When I saw this recipe I thought it might be good to give it a try. The combination of the homemade sauce and the French rolls make it feel more like a "grown up" meal. I will admit that it takes more work BUT it is defiantly worth it.

The Fixin's

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion

1-2 lb Ground Beef
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2/3 Cup BBQ Sauce

1/2 Cup Ketchup

1/4 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
8 French Rolls

Let's Cook Dinner

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet

Chop onions finely, add to skillet, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes

Add beef and cook until brown and crumbled

Drain any grease

In a mixing bowl combine tomato paste, BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper until well mixed

Pour into skillet, stir, and bring to boil

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently

Brown French rolls in the oven

Serve

Roast Beef Crescent Roll Up's

Adapted From: Food.com and Plain Chicken
http://www.food.com/recipe/crescent-roll-up-sandwiches-351693
http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/02/french-dip-crescents.html

It is no surprise that with my love for all things crescent roll that I would try this recipe! It's a great alternative to a sandwich and just as easy to make. To be honest, deli meat kind of grosses me out, but cooked inside a crescent roll I can't tell the difference! I always double this recipe. The package of deli meat will be plenty for two batches. This way you have left overs! Just pop them in the oven for a few minutes to heat them up the next day! I forgot to take an after picture, so thank you to the other cooks on the internet for posting this awesome picture!

The Fixin's
1 Package Roast Beef Deli Meat
8 Provolone Cheese Slices
8 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing
2 Can Crescent Rolls
1 Packet Au Jus Gravy Mix

Let's Cook Dinner
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Separate crescent rolls into triangles
Spread 1/2 teaspoon of ranch dressing on each crescent
Top each crescent with 1/2 a slice provolone cheese
Cover cheese with 2 slices of roast beef

Roll up crescents and place on baking sheet
Bake for 15 minutes
Serve with Au Jus for dipping
.

Coke BBQ

Adapted From: Plain Chicken
http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/09/slow-cooker-coca-cola-pulled-pork-with.html

Plain Chicken really does post the best recipes. I have tried pork with Dr. Pepper and Root Beer but never thought about cooking with Coke, much less using it to make my own homemade BBQ Sauce. I feel really fancy. This is a great meal, mainly because it is super easy! To cook the pork you only need TWO "fixin's"! That is my kind of meal. I'm sure that you could use store bought BBQ sauce but the Coke BBQ is to die for. It is totally worth the 45 minutes it takes to prepare. It might be a little late for the 4th of July but I'm sure you have a summer party coming up and this would be a great meal to serve!

The Fixin's
2-3 lb Pork Shoulder
16 oz Can of Coke
1 Onion
3/4 Cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Buns

Let's Cook Dinner
Place the pork in Crockpot
Pour 12 oz of coke over pork
Cook on low for 8 hours
Remove from Crockpot, drain, and shred
Serve with Coke BBQ sauce
Finley chop onion
Combine onion, 3/4 cup of coke, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, chili power, and salt together and stir until well mixed
Pour into a large skillet and bring to boil
Reduce to simmer, cover, and let simmer for 45 minutes
Stir occasionally
Serve over pork on buns

Korean Beef

Adapted From: Lizzy Writes
http://elizabethbryant.blogspot.com/2010/05/korean-beef.html

GO MAKE THIS NOW!!! For the life of me I could not get a good picture of the meal but OMG it was amazing. Since my Mother-In-Law was so nice to bring us a whole bunch of ground beef, I have been searching the internet high and low for creative ways to cook it. As I said before, I don't cook with ground beef often and when I do I almost always make tacos. I will be honest I was nervous to make this meal. I have never heard of Korean Beef and did not know what to expect, but I decided to put my faith in all the pinners on Pinterest and try it. The sauce is sweet but not too sweet because the ginger and the red pepper flakes balance it out nicely. The recipe called for 1 teaspoon of red pepper but I only used 1/2 a teaspoon because I am a big baby about hot things. The only change I am going to make in the future is to make additional sauce in a seperate skillet to pour of the rice. We are sauce people and I think some additional sauce would make this even more amazing. I can't wait till tomorrow to eat it for lunch!

The Fixin's
1 lb Ground Beef
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
3 Cloves Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Bunch Green Onions
White Rice

Let's Cook Dinner
Heat a large skillet over medium heat with oil
Add ground beef and minced garlic
Brown ground beef in skillet and drain most of the excess fat, leaving a small amount
In mixing bowl combine brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt, pepper and red pepper until well mixed*
Pour over beef
Sitr and Simmer for five minutes
Top with chopped green onions
Serve over white rice

* For additional sauce, combine the same amounts of brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt, pepper and red pepper in a seperate skillet and simmer for five minutes. This sauce can be used to pour on the rice and meat mixture afterwards.

Chicken Parm Burgers

Adapted From: The Chew
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Chicken-Parm-Burger-Debi-Tschinkel

This recipe came from a Pinterest search while I was trying to find things to cook not in the oven. In the winter I cooked a ton of casseroles. They are so easy to make and pack nicely for lunch the next day. Summer is really making me be creative. I am not a big fan of plain hamburgers and these are anything but plain! We used ground turkey because it was on sale this week but chicken will work too! The only big change we made was to the amount of red pepper. I thought the burgers were a bit spicey so I cut the amount down for the next go around. This is a great summer meal and perfect for the 4th of July!

The Fixin's
1 lb Ground Chicken or Turkey
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce
2 Teaspoons Dried Basil
1 Tablespoon Minced Onion
1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 Cup Breadcrumbs
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
 1/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Hamburger Rolls

Let's Cook Dinner
Mix chicken, oil, sauce and seasonings together in a mixing bowl
Form the chicken mixture into balls
Flatten into burger patties
Combine cheese and breadcrumbs in medium sized dish
Dip patties into the cheese mixture
Put patties on waxed paper and set in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Pour a liberal amount of olive oil in a nonstick fry pan
Pan fry burgers until done and crispy
Drain them on a paper towel
Top burgers with some additional tomato sauce and  mozzarella cheese
Broil until cheese melts
Serve on a crispy round roll